Author: Colin Douglas
Heart and Soul
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Walking into the Drury Lane Theatre the theatergoer’s mouth may fall open in wonder. The entire stage has been magically transformed into a beautiful Bronzeville cabaret nightclub, circa 1939 Chicago. This is thanks to the artistry of Andrew Boyce’s plush and classy Scenic Design, and accented by Lee Fiskness’ moody and sometimes melancholy Lighting. This lavishly detailed Art Deco night spot is reminiscent of New York’s Cotton Club or the Savoy Ballroom. Draperies, crystal chandeliers and lighted alcoves and arches frame a set that’s dominated by two movable platforms and stair units, the onstage domicile for the six musicians. The stage is adorned with several small tables and chairs and highlighted with champagne glasses and twinkling petite lamps. The scene provides a comfortable environment for both the five talented performers and a six-member onstage band, led by conductor and pianist, William Foster McDaniel.
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Ya Gotta Have Friends
The Hot Wing King
If you’ve ever wondered what love looks like, I’ve got a wonderful play for you. Katori Hall’s infectious, joyful Pulitzer Prize-winning play is a portrait of every kind of love: allegiance affection and profound amour. The story is set in urban Tennessee on the evening before and the morning of Memphis’ famous World Championship Hot Wing Contest & Festival. It focuses on a group of African-American men, both gay and straight, all bonded by friendship, respect and a love for each other. Ms. Hall’s two-act dramatic comedy beautifully illustrates that, as Bette Midler sang, “Ya Gotta Have Friends.” It also supports the old adage that one’s family into isn’t necessarily the one you were born into, comprised of blood relatives; but rather it could be the people whom we choose.
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If You Can’t Love Yourself
Zac Efron
As Gay Pride Month spins toward into its final weeks of celebration, with the Pride Parade on Halsted just around the corner, an exciting, highly entertaining and enlightening new play is captivating audiences in Old Town. In the inaugural production of this brand new theatre company, audiences are treated to a fab look at the gay experience, as lived by two very likable Asian-American men. Co-written by David Rhee and actor Wai Yim, this absolutely hilarious, often deeply moving original 90-minute comic/drama provides a profound, empathetic look at what it means to be a minority in America.
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Those Gifted Girl Groups
Beehive: The 60’s Musical
For so many audience members, especially those who identify as “Baby Boomers” (like me), Marriott’s scintillating Summer show is a musical montage that promises to bring back a flood of fond memories. Do you remember “The Name Game” and “My Boyfriend’s Back”? If you grew up in the 1960’s, the Golden Age of those gifted musical Girl Groups, you most certainly do! This revue is the soundtrack of your lives, my friends. For younger audiences, this magical musical will offer a historical retrospective of an important decade. Featured in this one-act wonder are many of the catchy pop and rock & roll songs that we sang along with and set our feet dancin’ in the streets.
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Unexpected Humor
Little Bear Ridge Road
Ethan, Sarah’s adult nephew, unexpectedly shows up at her door one night in rural Idaho. Their reunion is uncomfortable, for reasons the audience will soon learn. Due to complications from many years as a meth addict, and possibly due to issues created from contracting Covid, the young man’s father has recently passed away. Ethan has driven from the Northwest coast to settle his father’s estate and, perhaps, reconnect with his estranged Aunt Sarah, his dad’s sister. The two, as Ethan acknowledges, are the last remaining members of Fernsby family, and they both have some unfinished business with which to attend.
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Button!!!
Corduroy
A cuddly little Teddy Bear wearing green bib-top overalls has two goals in his department store world of toys: to find a friend to take him home and to find a Button!!! And that’s the entire plot of Don Freeman’s 1968 picture book. The story’s always been so popular that this picture book’s never gone out of print and libraries can’t keep it on their shelves. It’s rated by the National Education Association among the Teachers’ Top 100 Books for Children. The author followed his book with four sequels, but the original story remains the most popular.
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Stand Up
The Salon
Based upon the playwright’s sister’s real-life experience running a beauty parlor on Chicago’s South Side, there’s a fictitious Salon called Bernadette’s. We’re told that it opened its doors back in 1974 by a sincere, empathetic woman who wanted to offer African-American men and women a safe place to spend an hour or two with good people. Bernadette’s not only became a place to get a shave, a trim or have your hair styled by professionals, but it turned into a sanctuary, a place to Stand Up and be seen and heard. Senior stylist Mama T, and her staff that includes Monique, Johnny and MJ, played music, sang along and danced and shared news and gossip with each other. There was a definite community feel to the Salon.
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Night Waltz
A Little Night Music
Set in Sweden around the turn of the century, this lushly romantic musical is a multigenerational celebration of Amour, sometimes as folly, but mostly as a powerful life force. After the Liebeslieder Quintet opens the show and sets the mood with a gently swaying “Night Waltz,” this operatic Greek Chorus” often returns to comment musically on the characters. The five gifted artists who comprise this chorale include Peter Ruger, Mizha Lee Overn, Michael Penick (also cast as Frid, Madame Armfeldt’s caregiver), Madison Kaufman (who later plays the Egerman’s saucy maid, Petra), and the exquisitely talented Tessa Newman (who steps out of the Quintet to portray Desiree’s precocious young daughter, Fredrika). Throughout the next two-and-a-half hours, this magnificent musical eavesdrops on the loves, disappointments and tangled web of affairs enjoyed by the various star-crossed individuals.
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A Way to Be Good Again
The Kite Runner
Amir is a young man riddled with guilt. Back when he was a child, Amir’s lifelong companion, his devoted servant and best friend Hassan, became the victim of a horrific tragic assault. But Amir simply cowered in the shadows, standing by and watching, doing nothing to defend his friend nor anything to assist Hassan afterwards. He has never told anyone about the brutal attack and Amir’s guilt over his cowardice has forever haunted him. But one day he receives a mysterious phone call asking Amir to return to the Middle East, telling him, “There is a way to be good again.”
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Everything’s Alright
Jesus Christ Superstar
Guitarist extraordinaire Paul Compton takes the spotlight centerstage, captivating the audience with the ominous opening chords of the show’s overture that sets the mood and fills the entire theatre with sound. This glorious rock-opera score, led by Phil Videckis’ accomplished onstage band, is heavy on electric guitar, keyboard, bass, brass, reeds and percussion. It’s a lush and layered new sound for the Meiley-Swallow Hall stage that may surprise the faithful BrightSide Theatre fans. Theatergoers who are unfamiliar with this musical will soon realize that they’re in for an edgy, very modern retelling of Christ’s final days on earth. However, the fans of this show will thrill to the promise of a rock musical that broke new ground, back in 1971. Because in BrightSide Theatre’s stellar new production, truly “Everything’s Alright.”
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