PicksInSix Review: Disney's The Little Mermaid - Drury Lane Theatre

This ‘Little Mermaid’ Has Got Legs!
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Sparkling performances that shimmer from head to tail highlight director Scott Weinstein’s delightfully bewitching and hugely entertaining revival of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” that opened Thursday at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook. The royal love story—with Alan Menken score, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater, and book by Doug Wright—is anchored by the stunning presence of Sarah Kay as Ariel and her stalwart Prince Eric played by Patrick Johnson. The timeless classic is a heartwarming fantasy adventure in a world that includes whimsical puppets, gorgeous costumes and magical special effects that will take your breath away.

That love story begins when Ariel, who has yearned for a new part of the world, away from the isolation of the underwater kingdom ruled by her father, King Triton (Anand Nagraj) and from her siblings, the Mersisters, saves Prince Eric from drowning. Fleeing from her father’s rage when he discovers what she has done, Ariel is lured into a pact with her evil aunt Ursula (Sawyer Smith) to trade her enchanting voice for the opportunity to explore the world in human form. But it all comes with a heavy price of Disney-style drama.

Ariel’s glistening underwater world is the work of scenic designer Tijana Bjelajac who crafts rock formations and massive stone laid columns together with sheer fabric all highlighted by Anthony Churchill’s projections and Ryan O’Gara’s lighting to simulate the mystical ocean depths and the stately kingdom that bursts with the color and rich texture of the costume design by Ryan Park and Zhang Yu. Those finely-feathered and floppy-finned friends in Ariel’s oceanic sphere—the creative artistry of Chicago Puppet Studio—come to glorious life in Kasey Alfonso’s superbly choreographed ensemble sequences. Music director Ellie Kahn brings out the brilliance in the iconic Menken/Ashman/Slater score performed in fine form by the Drury Lane Orchestra under the direction of Chris Sargent.

Michael Earvin Martin is terrific as the crab companion Sebastian, leading the company in the crowd pleasing “Under the Sea” and “Kiss the Girl.” Maya Lou Hlava’s Flounder, with the array of Sea Creatures, Gulls and Animals, are sure to make you smile. Landree Fleming shines as Scuttle in the playful “Positoovity|Positaggity” and you’ll love the zany antics of Matt Edmonds as the kooky French Chef Louis in “Les Poissons” along with the wonderful, and often hilariously understated, work of Rob Lindley as Grimsby, the Prince’s dutiful Guardian.

Few Disney villains compare in sinister scope to the sea-witch Ursula and Smith’s commanding presence in the role as the cunning sorcerous, with a couple of slippery eel sidekicks like Ryan Michael Hamman (Jetsam) and Leah Morrow (Flotsam) in tow, is magnificent. The trio are chilling in “Daddy’s Little Angel” and Smith brings the house down in a dazzling performance of “Poor Unfortunate Souls.”

It’s a night of fun filled comic chaos that keeps bubbling up with Kay’s marvelous, multi-layered performance at the heart of the show. Her exuberance, youthful charm and soaring vocal talents make Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” at Drury Lane a joy to watch and a destination for the holiday season and New Year.   

PHOTO|Brett Beiner

Drury Lane Theatre
presents
Disney’s
The Little Mermaid
100 Drury Lane
Oakbrook Terrace
through January 12, 2024

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PicksInSix Review: The Full Monty-Paramount Theatre

Paramount’s “Full Monty” Really Measures Up!
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Do not fear. If you are looking for a big, bawdy, unabashed comic revival—with all the twists, turns and pelvic thrusts you can imagine—then Paramount Theatre’s “The Full Monty” is the show for you. Sure, it’s suggestive and saucy, but beyond the boisterousness, it’s a moving story about building self-esteem through dedication, hard work and the support of friends and family. Adapted for the stage by Terrence McNally with a lot of heart there are surprises galore to be found in the music and lyrics by David Yazbek. Add in a terrific cast and you’ve got a winner from top to bottom!

Based on the 1997 hit film about six out-of-work steel workers who decide to bare it all at a local nightclub to pay the bills, the ten-time Tony Award nominated 2000 Broadway musical was reset to middle class America in Buffalo, New York. Jerry Lukowski (Ben Mayne) is struggling to maintain a relationship with his son Nathan (a split role for Will Daly and Ellis Myers) and stuck trying to catch up with child support payments to his wife Pam (Rebecca Hurd) during their divorce. Jerry and his buddy Dave Bukatinsky (Jared David Michael Grant), who is under similar pressure from his wife Georgie (Veronica Garza) to take a security job to tide things over, decide to hatch a plan to make a bundle at a one-night-only strip show at Tony Girodano’s club.

The two first recruit the depressed and despondent Malcom MacGregor (Adam Fane) and then turn to Harold Nichols (Jackson Evans), a former plant supervisor-turned-dance-instructor to help them put the act together. The men then team up with Jeanette Burmeister (Liz Pazik), an adorably salty rehearsal pianist for auditions. Busting out of the pack at auditions Noah “Horse” T. Simmons (Bernard Dotson) and Ethan Girard (Diego Vazquez Gomez) round out the somewhat dubious, but committed, sextet who hilariously transform into “Hot Metal” before the night is done.

At every turn, Director Jim Corti with choreographer Tor Campbell meticulously move the men from initial awkwardness and insecurity forward. It all plays out against scenic designer Michelle Lilly’s brilliant skyline of Buffalo, framed by a massive, multi-story urban landscape that morphs effortlessly from night club to rehearsal hall where the men perfect their dance steps often in uncontrolled unison when least expected.

Music director/conductor Kory Danielson and the orchestra are in exceptionally fine form with Yazbek’s first Broadway score that features the men in “Scrap,” “Michael Jordan’s Ball” and “Big Black Man” (featuring Dotson in a commanding performance), the women in “It’s a Woman’s World,” and the company in the rousing “The Goods.”  Pazik is a blast in “Jeanette’s Showbiz Number” while Mayne and Grant team up well for “Man” and are joined by Fane in the somewhat dark themed, but clever, “Big-Ass Rock.”

Among the quieter moments, Ann Delany “Life with Harold” is a delight. Mayne is superb in “Breeze Off the River” while Evans and Grant shine in the anthem “You Rule My World.”  The inspirational musical highlight of the night belongs to Fane for his soaring vocal in the hymn-like “You Walk with Me” with Gomez that helps pave the way for the showstopping finale “Let it Go” which is full of bright lights and “Hot Metal” enough for everyone.  

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

PARAMOUNT THEATRE
presents
THE FULL MONTY
The Broadway Musical
through October 6, 2024

23 East Galena Boulevard
Aurora, IL 60506

(630) 896–6666

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PicksInSix Review: Guys and Dolls - Drury Lane Theatre

Shake the Dice. Save a Soul!
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Looking for the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York with tough guys packing heat and cracking wise while a couple of old-time love stories unwind in locales as exotic as Havanna and the Hot Box Club? If so, then, the rock’em sock’em revival of the 1950 Tony Award winning “Guys and Dolls” now playing at Drury Lane Oakbrook is the show for you.  

Director/choreographer Dan Knechtges with co-music directors Roberta Duchak and Chris Sargent, who also conducts, have assembled an impressive ensemble of multi-talented performers for a highly-charged production showcasing the most cherished music and lyrics of Broadway’s legendary songsmith Frank Loesser and a book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows based on Daymon Runyon’s stories and characters. The cavalcade of Loesser hits like the touching ballads “I’ll Know” and “More I Cannot Wish You,” the superb bigtime, song and dance spectacles “A Bushel and a Peck,” “Luck be a Lady,” and “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat,” make Drury Lane’s “Guys and Dolls” a musical extravaganza that pokes good-natured fun of the rough and tough guys and the glitzy glamor dolls from Runyon’s creative imagination.

As the story unfolds, the lovable huckster Nathan Detroit (Jackson Evans) has been unofficially engaged for 14 years to the vivacious Miss Adelaide (Alanna Lovely), headliner at the Hot Box Club. Adelaide is trying to get him to stop gambling and settle down to the life she has imagined all along. Meanwhile, Detroit and his ‘associates” Nicely-Nicely (Nkrumah Gatling) and Benny (Christopher Llewyn Ramirez) are trying to get a spot for some nightly action and stay a step or two ahead of the law in the process.

Against the backdrop of petty larceny and bawdy late night revelry, the dutiful missionary Sarah Brown (Erica Stephan), struggling to make a difference one sinner at a time at the Save-A-Soul Mission, falls hard and fast for the suave, high-stakes charmer Sky Masterson (Pepe Nufrio). When the love table turns on Sky, he finds himself suddenly searching for any way to win her back again including making good on his mark to fill up the evening prayer meeting to impress the zany General Cartwright (Heidi Kettenring) and save the mission from closing.

Drury Lane Theatre presents “Guys and Dolls” through June 9, 2024. More information and tickets HERE.

Stephan and Nufrio are perfect together. Their rich vocals and chemistry shine in the heartfelt Act I closer “My Time of Day/I’ve Never Been in Love Before.” Stephan, one of Chicago’s top performers, is simply marvelous. Nufrio’s smooth and effortless Sky is spot on in “My Time of Day,” and with the brilliant ensemble in “Luck Be a Lady.” Lovely sparkles as Adelaide, displaying excellent comedic chops in “Adelaide’s Lament” and singing, dancing and leading the Hot Box Girls in a sizzling version of “Take Back Your Mink” while chumming up with Evans’s hilarious and heartwarming Nathan for lots of laughs and their touching duet “Sue Me.”

Back at the mission, Gene Weygandt’s serves up a splendid Arvide Abernathy, Kettenring is a riot and everybody gets in the act when Gatling explodes into the rousing crowd favorite “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat.” Angela Weber Miller’s scenic design, framed in a glistening Broadway skyline, alternates seamlessly between the relatively solemn confines of the mission to the gritty underbelly of the city and the sultry Hot Box Club where Leon Dobkowski’s stunning costumes set the place on fire. All in, Drury Lane’s “Guys and Dolls” is a night filled of 7’s and 11’s for every high stakes roller in the audience.  

PHOTO|Brett Beiner

Drury Lane Theatre
presents
Guys and Dolls
100 Drury Lane
Oakbrook Terrace
through June 9, 2024

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PicksInSix Review: The Matchbox Magic Flute - Goodman Theatre

Reduced Retelling with Epically Goofy Grandeur!
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Scott Gryder

The star-swirled proscenium of the Goodman’s Owen Theatre playfully invoked the essence of a childhood bedroom, ripe with stories to be told, creating the perfect backdrop for the opening night/world premiere performance of Mary Zimmerman’s “The Matchbox Magic Flute.” A spirited reworking of a centuries-old tale, this playful mini-rendition is the perfect introduction to the piece and the artform of classical storytelling, while maintaining a respectful reverence for the opera’s origin.

“The Matchbox Magic Flute” follows the adventures and trials of Prince Tamino, your stock prince charming. Along the way, he makes a bird-brained friend, Papageno, and they are tasked with finding and rescuing the Queen of the Night's daughter, Pamina, who’s been captured by a sinister fiend. A completely family-friendly event, this production takes the original Singspiel source material of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” and powders it with a more floral, playful Gilbert & Sullivan operetta flair.

In keeping with the original operatic style, “The Matchbox Magic Flute” weaves together a spellbinding storytelling through song, with very minimal moments of dialogue, and the star-studded cast commits full tilt. In a way, as the text has been thinned, the characterizations and their goals have been inflated. Of the trio of Ladies, reminiscent of the witchy sisters of Hocus Pocus, First Lady Lauren Molina truly captures the manic intensity of over-the-top subtext, while later naturally transforming into the frolicking and foul beloved Papagena. As Tamino, the always-handsome Billy Rude plays a dependable Prince. Although beautifully layered in vocal range, Rude lacks a solid singing line in comparison to the rest of the cast. Speaking of, watch out, Maria Callas! The fierce, fiery vocals of Emily Rohm’s Queen of the Night truly strike fear in all hearts who share her stage! Even her dress flows with a magma-like rage as her vocal acrobatics sear. And, like mother, like daughter, Marlene Fernandez’s Pamina warbles a range of deep richness, while also enchanting with a soaring soprano. Pair Fernandez with the clownish Papageno of Shawn Pfautsch, part Piglet/part Tigger, and their schmaltzy repartee is endearing and amusing. Most vocally soothing is Keanon Kyles as Sarastro, whose basso profondo delivers chills and thrills.

Whether you’re a fan of the original story, or hardly familiar with it at all, you’ll be truly captivated by Chicago-favorite Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation and direction. Zimmerman is no stranger to this elevated artform, with a resume reaching all the way to the Metropolitan Opera. What she does with “The Matchbox Magic Flute” is combine her knack for musical theater timing with the grandeur strokes of opera, creating a youthful retelling. For the music, while lyrics sometimes edge more toward basic rather than inventive, music adaptors and arrangers Amanda Dehnert and Andre Pluess refreshingly revive these original melodies, succinctly capturing the frothy character motivations.

The more petite venue of the Owen Theatre helps to capture the matchbox concept of the show, further instilling the image that “The Matchbox Magic Flute” could be boxed up and set on wheels to travel from town to town, with a Jack in the Box ease. Even the dual role casting throughout emphasizes the traveling troupe aesthetic. Set designer Todd Rosenthal leans into the collapsible concept with tracked, sliding flats and effortlessly spun walls, painted pastorally and with brocade patterns. And what a delightful concept to have the orchestra in a raised pit at the foot of the stage, bringing the musicians into the action, sometimes literally, within arm’s reach of the vaudeville style stage.

The production elements of “The Matchbox Magic Flute” are so cleanly executed, it’s as if you could simply close the door on the Owen, latch it securely and then carry this marvelous musical moment onto another venue entirely; opening it like a music box to reveal the same darling show on the move. For patrons who don’t fancy themselves operagoers, or for anyone wishing to dabble in the genre, “The Matchbox Magic Flute” satisfies. The sure sign of a winning musical experience is when the melodies linger in your ear as you leave. And how could these tuneful masterpieces not, especially when so daringly and darlingly delivered? Bravi tutti!  

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | SCOTT GRYDER received a Non-Equity Jeff Award for his performance in the one-man show BUYER & CELLAR. www.thescottgryder.com

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

Goodman Theatre
presents
The Matchbox Magic Flute
Adapted and Directed By Mary Zimmerman
EXTENDED
through March 24, 2024

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PicksInSix Review: Anything Goes - Porchlight Music Theatre

Blow Gabriel! Murphy is Heaven Sent!
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Porchlight Music Theatre celebrates the Chicago Cole Porter Festival and launches their 29th Season with a sparkling, effervescent 90th anniversary production of “Anything Goes” superbly directed by Michael Weber featuring Meghan Murphy in a big, boisterous star turn as the seaworthy siren Reno Sweeney. The book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman, was adapted for the 1987 Broadway revival from the 1934 original by P.C. Woodhouse, Guy Bolton, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It tells the story of an oceanic crossing with a zany cast of characters with Murphy’s Sweeney at the delectable center of Porter’s most beloved music and lyrics.

Luke Nowakowski shines in the role of Billy Crocker who yearns for Hope Harcourt (played beautifully by Emma Ogea) even as he falls in with a gangster named Moonface Martin (an inspired performance by Steve McDonaugh) and his partner Erma (a scintillating Tafadzwa Diener) who all want to flip the tables on the wedding between Harcourt and Lord Evelyn Oakleigh (Jackson Evans). At the matinee on Saturday, Evans—in one of the most hilarious of his many stage appearances to date—and Murphy create an irresistible comic cosmos in “The Gypsy in Me” that literally brought tears to my eyes. In the end, of course, love conquers all and everything works out, except for a few clay pigeons off the starboard bow and anyone who actually sold their Amalgamated stock.

Under the lush musical direction of Nick Sula, Porter’s rich, melodic score comes vibrantly alive in “You’re The Top,” “Friendship” and “It’s De-lovely.” And when conductor Linda Madonia’s band kicks into high gear, it’s time to clear the decks for Tammy Mader’s rock-solid, toe-tapping choreography—and one of the finest singing and dancing ensembles seen on a Porchlight stage—to blast the big production numbers like “Anything Goes,” and “Blow, Gabriel Blow” straight to the heavens, with Murphy leading the way.

Jeffrey D. Kmiec’s magnificent two-story ship deck is dressed in navy blue and white with seaworthy stairs that frame a series of three revolving doors providing access to the main stage area. Kmiec’s masterfully sturdy design, complete with ship’s railing and arched pylons, reveals more than a few surprises along the way.

Under the steady hand of artistic director Michael Weber, Porchlight Music Theatre has built a superb reputation for developing exceptional new talent. In recent years, on the intimate Ruth Page Center for the Arts main stage, the company has forged full steam ahead through harsh winds and heavy seas to stay on course despite the challenges that the performing arts community has been navigating. Weber and Executive Director Jeannie Lukow’s bold, innovative, award-winning, musical productions include a long list of outstanding veteran performers like the late Hollis Resnick in a memorable production of “Sunset Boulevard,” E. Faye Butler’s showstopping performance as Mama Rose in “Gypsy” and Broadway veteran Felicia P. Fields in “Blues in the Night” who elevate the performances of everyone around them to new heights.

Add the exquisite Meghan Murphy to the company of Chicago’s all-time brightest stars. What a performance. What a show! 

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE
presents
ANYTHING GOES
Ruth Page Center for the Arts
EXTENDED
through March 10, 2024

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DIGITAL PROGRAM

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PicksInSix Review: BOOP! The Musical - Broadway in Chicago

“BOOP! The Musical” Has It All!
PicksInSix® Gold Review | Ed Tracy

When the stunning new show “BOOP! The Musical” arrives on Broadway next year, a new generation will discover the iconic Betty Boop through the spellbinding performance of Jasmine Amy Rogers in the title role, and through the eyes of one of their own—16 year-old pop media phenom Angelica Hale, making her stage debut as Betty’s new pint-sized BFF.  

At the magical moment that Betty catapults into present day Comicon from her cartoon world of the 1930s, she is searching to both escape the adulation of her own time and to satisfy her yearning to discover an answer to the pivotal question: “Who am I?” Upon arrival, she finds a vibrant world in the radiant colors of the rainbow, none of which she knows by name. She also has a predilection to put an ‘L’ in everything, so her new marshmallow world is “plurple.”

It's the black, white and red-hot opening sequence of “BOOP! The Musical” with Rogers as the charming, charismatic, and confident heroine created by illustrator, animator and cartoon innovator Max Fleischer who revolutionized the graphic technology of the day, merging illustrations and live action to create whimsical cartoon series and shorts featuring Betty Boop, Popeye and a cavalcade of quirky characters who morph from inanimate objects to all forms of comic incarnations.

The world premiere of “BOOP!” opened Wednesday at Chicago's CIBC Theatre. After years in development, there is now a dream team in place for the Broadway-bound project directed and choreographed by multi-Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell, the first musical venture by Grammy and Emmy award-winning composer/producer David Foster with lyrics by Susan Birkenhead (“Jelly’s Last Jam”) and book by Bob Martin (“Drowsy Chaperone,” “Elf”). The creative team includes a spectacular scenic design by David Rockwell that is beautifully enhanced by Finn Ross’s projections and Gareth Owen’s sound design, Philip S. Rosenberg’s lighting and the stunning costumes of Greg Barnes.

With big, boisterous dance numbers, tender ballads, an extraordinary scenic landscape and masterful illusions courtesy of Skylar Fox, “BOOP!” has it all. It's a love story—three actually—but even more it’s a free-spirited and endearing comedy that has a message for all of us about who we are and the impact we can make on the world and the people in it.

At Comicon, Betty collides with Dwayne (Ainsley Melham) a jazz musician and for maybe the first time, Betty senses an attraction. Overcome by her new surroundings, Betty forges a friendship with Trisha (Hale) a young fan and aspiring artist in need of a little confidence of her own. It doesn't take long before we find that Trisha lives with her aunt Carol (Anastacia McCleskey), who serves as manager for the New York City mayoral campaign of Raymond Demerest (Erich Bergen) and Carol’s brother, who just happens to be Dwayne. The hook is set and a youthful love story begins to unfold.

Back in early 30s, the studio directors, Aubie Merrylees and Ricky Schroder, are in a tizzy when they discover that Betty is nowhere to be found. Grampy (Stephen DeRosa) realizes that Betty’s absence will have a disastrous impact on their present and the future, so he embarks on a cross-dimensional journey of his own with his dog Pudgy (the brilliant marionette artist Phillip Huber). In Times Square he meets up with Valentina (Faith Prince) a retired NASA scientist who is still holding a torch for Grampy that was lit 40 years earlier. At first on a quest to find Betty before it’s too late, Grampy discovers that the fire is still smoldering between the two.

The cat’s out of the bag on the secret that Betty Boop is now alive in the present when she shows up and brings the house down at Nellie’s Place, the jazz club where Dwayne is trying to get a regular gig. Once the news is public, the corrupt Demerest, the King of Waste, tries to hitch his dump truck, and whatever else he has at his disposal, to Betty’s instant celebrity. But it’s Betty who turns the tables on the plan and as always, love wins out overall.  

Martin’s book moves briskly and effortlessly with zingers and easter eggs, old and new, along the way. Musically, Foster has infused the score with a plethora of styles from jazz and pop to some socko Broadway show tunes that allow Mitchell a full range of dance routines for the superb, multi-talented ensemble. Among the highlights, Rogers leads the ensemble in the opening “A Little Versatility,” “My New York” and “In Color,” and the show is at full throttle for the truly sensational Act I closer “Where I Wanna Be.”

World Premiere of “BOOP ! The Musical” at Broadway in Chicago’s CIBC Theatre through December 24, 2023.

Price and DeRosa shine in “A Cure for Love” and the touching “Together, You and Me.” Melham joins Schroder and Probst for “Sunlight” and delivers a blissful “She Knocks Me Out.” Hale’s powerful “Portrait of Betty” is a smash and the lovely “My Hero” with Rogers is one of the show’s many highlights.

It all comes down to Rogers though, whose radiant stage presence is all at once inquisitive, vulnerable and decisive as she evolves to the real version of who she will become: a loving role model of strength and independence.

Rogers’s charismatic performance of “Something to Shout About” is a showstopper. After taking center stage surrounded by a glistening celestial panorama, she steps decisively and defiantly forward and, in that one moment, appears larger-than-life, captivating the audience and signaling the presence of a star.

That she is.  

PHOTO|Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

Broadway in Chicago
presents the
World Premiere of
BOOP! The Musical
CIBC Theatre
through December 24, 2023

TICKETS
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Lucy and Charlie's Honeymoon - Matthew C. Yee

Spend a little time speaking with Matthew C. Yee these days and you come away with a feeling that the thoughtful, passionate and committed artist is in the middle of telling one of the most important cultural stories of his life. Not that his debut musical “Lucy and Charlie's Honeymoon,” currently in previews at Lookingglass Theatre, is really his life story but, it is a very unique take on his own Asian heritage. And, as you will hear, one of the characters in the show is based on his grandmother.

The central theme of the show came from a short 2012 on-camera scene in college about an Asian American couple who argue outside of a convenience store that they are about to rob. The dramatic relationship between the two and their aspirations – an alternative take on the American Dream with a country western musical twist – compelled Yee to write the first draft of the show a few years later. That work then attracted creative artists and friends who helped move the project along to the point where the opportunity for a production at Lookingglass materialized.

Chicago audiences have surely seen the multi-talented Yee over the last decade plying his craft at Steppenwolf, Writer’s Theater and Paramount, among others, in a developing career that led to a role in the Broadway production of “Almost Famous” last year. Along the way, he has been collaborating on the show with a wide range of artists in Chicago’s rich creative community.

Aurora Adachi-Winter and Yee star as Lucy and Charlie in the show about two first generation Asian Americans who meet, fall in love and then decide to start a life of crime together. Yee termed the genre of music “Countrypolitan” – a mix of the “Nashville Sound” of artists from the 40s through the 70s that he was drawn to in his youth – and credits the diverse cast who both sing and play instruments throughout for broadening the overall vision for the production.

“Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon” is directed by Amanda Dehnert and features: Matt Bittner, Wai Ching Ho, Rammel Chan, Harmony Zhang, Doug Pawlik, Daniel Lee Smith and Mary Williamson.

There is much more about the show in our conversation with Matthew C. Yee, whose passion to realize the exact intersection of storytelling, music and theater is playing on stage now at Lookingglass. PODCAST

The development process: “I started working on this story in 2012. … a little scene for an on-camera class that I was taking in college about a couple arguing outside of a convenience store about how they were going to rob the convenience store. I sat on that for a long time and it was always just ruminating… these two characters who were in love with each other, but very, very bad for each other. They sort of battled each other in a lot of different ways and I wanted to expand that into something bigger.”

“I started working on an expanded version in 2016-17. We did a read of it at the Steppenwolf’s Front Bar and from there I turned it into a full-length play. It was still very, very rough… we had a reading of it with some friends and our costume designer, Sully Ratke, an artistic associate at Lookingglass, who passed it along to Heidi Stillman, the artistic director. Heidi contacted me and she's like, “I want to do a reading of this. We should get a cast together. I want to hear this out loud.” And so we did that in 2019… then Phil Smith and Heidi said they want to do a full production. … We were going open in the spring of 2020 and that didn't happen, for obvious reasons. And then we kept working on it… doing workshops when we could. …a zoom version we shared on the internet. And then we were going to do it in the spring of 2022 and “Almost Famous” on Broadway happened. And so we pushed again and then here we are.”

The story: “Without giving too much away… this couple, Lucy and Charlie, who are first generation Asian Americans, fall in love at a time in their life when they are trying to figure out who they are and how they fit into American culture. And they're having trouble. And Charlie especially is having a lot of trouble figuring out what it means to be an Asian American, especially a male Asian American. There is a lot of baggage that can come along with being a male Asian American. They fall in love and they get married after knowing each other for two weeks. And they have this brilliant idea that they are going to start a life of crime together because nothing else has worked. And they think that this is going to be a really beautiful, romantic sort of American outlaw cowboy story, that they are going to go out west and live this outlaw life together. They end up meeting a woman along the way who has come from China to help her sister, who months before also had come to America in search of her American Dream. They start to suspect that something bad has happened and they try to rescue this woman and things don't go well because she doesn't want to be rescued. She doesn't think that she needs to be helped by these people. And they all also don't know what the hell they are doing. They become this trio and go on this adventure together. And from there, you should come see it because a lot of other crazy stuff happens.”

The music: “I wrote the music in the style of mid-century, Americana country western folk expanding from the 1940s to the 1970s. I got really interested in something that people call “Nashville Sound” or sometimes it's called “Countrypolitan”… country music mixed with pop music and Americana… It's a style that can feel very insular because a lot of us think that it belongs to a specific group of Americans. I wanted to change that perception. I was really excited to have a cast of Asian Americans playing this music because it is the music that I grew up with and I've loved for a long time… so I wanted to take the feeling that I had as a kid that it was weird that I liked this style of music and I wanted to bring that on onto the stage.”

Bao’s Song: “Our character Bao, who is the woman who has come from China, has this dream of reuniting with her sister, moving out west and living in the mountains together. She talks about seeing an old movie in China, an American western… cowboys who stole gold and went to live in the mountains together. And she loved that idea and she wanted to live that adventure. So, “Bao’s Song” is very much the ‘This is what I want song” that tells you all about who she is as a person, where she's come from and what she wants out of life.” (Editor’s Note: Listen to a featured performance by Yee of “Bao’s Song” on the podcast.)

On Collaboration: “One of the benefits of having all of these people that I've worked with for a long time in the room and who have worked on this project for a long time is that they know what the vision is, they know what's inside my head, and they're able to help guide me in ways that we just wouldn't be able to do if these were new people we had just cast. They understand me and what I'm trying to get at and they understand that no matter what state the text is in, it's going to get to a place that it's going be the best version that it can be. So, there's a lot of trust that they put in me, and there's a lot of trust that I put in them that we're going to figure out what this is together.” PODCAST

Comments have been edited for length and clarity.

REHEARSAL PHOTO| Sarah Elizabeth Larson
PRODUCTION PHOTOS|Liz Lauren

LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY
presents
WORLD PREMIERE
LUCY AND CHARLIE’S HONEYMOON
In previews
Opens June 3 - July 11, 2023

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312.337.0665

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Program

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MotherFreakingHood! Sara Stotts

If only children came with a user manual there might be fewer twists and turns along the journey.

But then again, no birthing guide could produce the kind of hilarious observations that co-writers Sara Stotts and Julie Dunlap have realized in the hilarious musical “MotherFreakingHood!” now playing at Mercury Theater Chicago’s intimate Venus Cabaret.

They were college roommates who took an interest in writing songs together. Then, several years – and, at last count, seven children – later, they were inspired to turn real-life maternal experiences into a free-wheeling, fun-filled musical comedy about motherhood. 

Co-writers of MotherFreakingHood! (l-r) Julie Dunlap and Sara Stotts and director Heidi Van.

The show first debuted in 2013 in Lawrence, Kansas with Dunlap directing and Stotts in the cast. With director Heidi Van and a new cast on board, the show moved on to Kansas City in 2015, was a featured selection in the New York Musical Festival in 2017 and played to sold-out houses at The Blackbox Theater in Kansas City last fall.

The show is now playing at Venus Cabaret where the top-flight Chicago-based cast includes Jacqueline Jones, Leah Morrow, Tafadzwa Diener and Maya Rowe in a fast-paced musical comedy about friendship and child-rearing. 

Sara Stotts joined the CONVERSATION shortly after the show opened to talk about the production from the moment of theatrical conception. PODCAST

Conception: “Well, it all started with my co-writer Julie Dunlap. We were at a significant birthday of mine – let's just say there's a couple digits in it and they're not small. Anyway, we had friends and family there… friends of mine from Second City, from when I was doing the Second City, they had created a band called “Listening Zoo.” They sing all original songs about funny stuff. Like “Darn you Tom Hanks for making me cry again!” All really funny and we had a wonderful time. And then at some point after the party, I got a call from Julie saying, “You know, we could write funny songs about motherhood.” And I thought she was still drunk, quite honestly, because that's just insanity… So, a few months later, songs just started coming out of me. I mean, I just was barfing out songs while I'm brushing my teeth in the bathroom. I called Julie and I said, “You know, Julie… I don't know if you were serious about this, but I've kind of started writing some songs. She says, “I've written three songs!” and it was on.”

Truth in storytelling: “All of the songs are absolute truths. One of the sayings about doing improv is truth and comedy. You know, it's funny because it's true. I mean, we're not making this stuff up. Some stories are a little bit embellished for comedic purposes, but it's based on true stories. That's why it's so relatable to mothers because they've lived it, they've gone through it and we're just putting a funny lens to the absurdities of motherhood.”

The beating hearts of the show: “It's about three women who get pregnant and one's a first-time mom, Rachel, who's terribly excited to get pregnant. And she's so naive and she has no idea what she's getting into, and therefore she's excited. The second mother is Angie. She's had a baby… right on time and she's going to have another baby and it's going to be a girl because she already had a boy and everything goes for her as planned. The third mother, Marsha, she had three kids. She was ready to send her daughters through high school and college. She was not planning on this at all. And she's, let's say, cantankerous. She thought she was done. She thought she would get to retire.” 

The early years: “We first put it up in Lawrence, Kansas. That's where Julie lives. She directed it. And I got to play the role of Marsha… We did rewriting and then we were picked up by a production company to do a production in Kansas City in 2015. At that point, we picked up Heidi Van, who is our current director. She lives in Kansas City. And she could relate totally to the show because she has two kids. She's a mom and her comedic timing is insane. What she does, not just with our script, but the action, the physical funniness of it… she's brilliant!... we were selected to go to New York City for the New York Musical Festival which was a huge honor… after that we wanted to bring it to Chicago in 2020, but I don't know if you've heard of the musical called “The Pandemic?” Yeah. That ran for a long time… and occupied every theater. So, we had to put it to bed for a while. … Heidi has a theater in Kansas City called The Black Box Theater and we did 10 shows. Sold out. It was great! Great reviews. We won an award from Broadway World for the Best New Musical in the Kansas City region. That was an honor! From there, we made it to the Venus Cabaret Theater here in Chicago.”

Cast of MotherFreakingHood! at Mercury Theater Chicago (l-r) Jacqueline Jones, Tafadzwa Diener, Maya Row and Leah Morrow.

Chicago cast: “They are just so hilarious. The way they connect with the audience… they are so comfortable. We've got Tafadzwa Diener playing Rachel, the young mom. We've got Jacqueline Jones playing Angie the second time, mom… Leah Morrow, who's playing Marsha the third time mom and then we have Maya Row playing the “Every Woman” character. She plays multiple different characters throughout. It is so fun to see them bring these characters alive. Every production's going to be different. Every actor is going to interpret it their own way and bring their own brilliance to it. This cast is having so much fun and there is so much fun coming out of the audience.”

Not just for the moms: “We get great reactions from dads. When we did the Kansas City Show, it was funny because my husband came out of the bathroom at intermission as says: You should hear what the reviews are like in the men's bathroom. These guys are loving it!” We always get good reactions from the guys because we don't exclude the men who made us mothers. We never say anything bad about it, but men go through the same things. The men go through the same absurdities. We are just telling it from our lens as women, but they get a huge kick out of it. They can relate.”

The impact of the show on personal and professional lives: “It makes you appreciate your family more. I do get a little mom guilt because I was already busy and now I've made myself busier… I'm sure my kids would love for me to be home a little bit more… what I love is that my kids' first musical experience in New York City was seeing “MotherFreakingHood!” and I just got a kick out of that. It wasn't “Rent” it was “MotherFreakingHood! That just gave me a, a huge kick. They have been really supportive and I think it's good for them to see we're making fun with them. We're not making fun of them, we're making fun with them.” PODCAST

Excerpts have been edited for length and clarity.

PRODUCTION PHOTOS| Liz Lauren

Mercury Theater Chicago
presents
Chicago Premiere
MotherFreakingHood!
A Musical Comedy

Venus Cabaret
3745 N. Southport Ave
through June 11, 2023

Tickets
(773) 360-7365

Official Show Website

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

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PicksInSix Review: Love Actually? The Unauthorized Musical Parody

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Laughter, Actually, Is Here In Chicago!
Guest Contributor | Scott Gryder

If you search online for the most popular holiday movies of our time, Richard Curtis’s 2003 Love Actually is found in the top 10 of multiple lists. Love Actually? The Unauthorized Musical Parody, now playing at the Apollo Theater through January 2nd, only enhances the original, beloved plot. Whether you’re a diehard fan of the movie, or even a casual lover of general pop culture, Love Actually? will tickle your tinsel!

With the fast-paced hullabaloo execution of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the musical parody Love, Actually? delivers character work harkening back to the genius of Forbidden Broadway, but with a punchier, indelicate wit. Based on the iconic holiday hit, writers Bob and Tobly McSmith resourcefully recreate the rom-com using the names of the actors who originated the roles of each character, resulting in comic gold. And Basil Winterbottom’s music charmingly clips along, making sure that no gag or moment overstays its welcome.

Of course, in order to recreate a Hollywood star-studded cast, you must assemble an all-star, all-Chicago ensemble, who can mutate through an assortment of recognizable character parts with a precision that would make the cast of SNL turn holly green with envy. Each celebrity character was brought to life by Ann Delaney, Jake Elkins, Ryan Foreman, Dan Plehal, Amanda Walker, and Christopher Wayland with almost frightening accuracy, not to mention the required use of a wild variety of accents coupled with musical prowess. Considering the level of commitment required to counterfeit the famous mannerisms and vocal stylings of each celebrity, layered over the practical physical demands of quick-changes unseen by the audience, I was floored to be reminded at curtain call that this entire circus of over 50 characters was brought to life by a mere six performers.

I was initially apprehensive as soon as the first mock celebrity sighting landed center stage. Could frenetic humor at this level sustain itself? Would it grow wearing over the next 85 minutes? In short: no! Not only were the scene transitions technically seamless, with the choreographed use of minimal props and furniture, but the minute the laughter began to subside, another sparkling impression or ludicrous lyric would catch the audience off guard. And music director Ethan Andersen and sound designer Matthew Fischer present this unfamiliar musical material with clarity and understanding through precise diction and balance.

Director Tim Drucker pushes the limits of absurdity with a driven, commedia dell'arte-style physicality, while Brooke Engen’s choreography (originally co-choreographed with Tiffany Engen) refreshes musical theater conventions with a made-for-TV holiday special shine. Set designer Joshua Warner’s farcical element of festive red doors trimming a stunning proscenium-size glitter-wrapped backdrop was a gift in itself; literally. And the ice-rink themed stage floor was a whimsical holiday touch. Brandon Baruch’s brilliant lighting was not only practical, assisting in the execution of flowing transitions, but it served as a comical tool in and of itself, highlighting shenanigans and creating sight gags. Much like the famed backstage peek of Noises Off, one can only imagine that the action behind the scenes, juggling the magical layering of Dustin Cross’s costumes and Conor Donnelly’s hair/wigs, would be just as entertaining as the madness onstage. The flurry of Love Actually? joyfully jostles the audience as if we were inside a giant snow globe, being bombarded by “snowflakes” of sassy scenes and campy musical numbers.

So often, when catching a parody piece, I find myself hungry to watch the original source material; however, Love Actually? is such a winning tribute that I am actually wholly satisfied. If you’re looking for holiday cheer, give yourself the gift of Love Actually? The Unauthorized Parody Musical. Oh, and just try not to leave the theater working on your Keira Knightly smile... grimace?... smile.

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | SCOTT GRYDER received a Non-Equity Jeff Award for his performance in the one-man show BUYER & CELLAR. www.thescottgryder.com  

PHOTO | Timothy M. Schmidt

Right Angle Entertainment
presents
Love Actually? The Unauthorized Musical Parody

Apollo Theater
2550 N Lincoln Ave
through January 2, 2022

TICKETS

(773) 935-6100

CHICAGO CAST

SHOW WEBSITE - CHICAGO & NEW YORK

HEALTH & SAFETY

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