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

WEBSITE

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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

WEBSITE

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

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PicksInSix® is a registered trademark of Roxbury Road Creative, LLC

PICKSINSIX Review: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

“OH GOD HOW I MIST YOU!”

Oh pod how you tease… Seymour Krelborn has a lot of problems. He lives and works at a flower shop on skid row. His boss is not very nice to him. He is in love with his co-worker Audrey who is being abused by her boyfriend, the sadistic dentist who enjoys causing pain. Then there is the sick plant he discovered during a solar eclipse that he has been fretting over. Nothing works, no matter what he tries. “I’ve given you plant food and water to sip. I’ve given you potash, you’ve given me zip! Oh god how I mist you. Oh pod how you tease. So please – grow for me.”

Captivating performances… ‘Little Shop of Horrors’, now playing at Drury Lane in all its joyfully macabre and touchingly poignant splendor, is the product of the first collaboration of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken — an early ‘80s time capsule for the team who later developed Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’, ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ before the 40 year-old Ashman succumbed to AIDS in 1991. The Drury Lane incarnation, keenly directed and choreographed by Scott Calcagno with musical direction by Roberta Duchak, includes a top-notch company led by the captivating performances of Kelly Felthous and Will Lidke whose star-crossed love story — like just about everyone else — runs smack into the jaws of a ravenous leafy bottom feeder.

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Richly enjoyable comic romp… Things are looking up for everyone early on around the Mushnik Flower Shop. Seymour has a thing for Audrey who imagines a better life of her own. And while business is booming, Mr. Mushnik worries that Seymour’s new-found popularity could disrupt the first real opportunity in years to balance the books. Of course, there is only one key ingredient that helps make Audrey II, the aforementioned bottom feeder, grow. Once things start to sprout there is no turning back for the young and ambitious Seymour whose wish to escape the dead-end prospects of a skid row existence to live happily-ever-after with Audrey are only a few gallons of hemoglobin-enriched plasma away. It is all a clever setup for the dark and richly enjoyable comic romp that follows.

Powerhouse voice… Kelly Felthous is on fire as Audrey with a powerhouse voice that flows effortlessly through the beautiful anthems ‘Somewhere That’s Green’ and ‘Suddenly Seymour’. Felthous evokes a truthful innocence that aligns perfectly with Will Lidke’s frenetically awkward charm. Ron E. Rains is perfect in the role of Mr. Mushnik, and shows off some nifty footwork in ‘Mushnik and Son’ with Lidke. Steven Strafford, in multiple roles including Dr. Orin Scrivello D. D. S., nails ‘Be A Dentist’ and ‘Now’. Rounding out the ensemble in plain sight is the fabulous trio of Melanie Brezill (Ronette), Candace C. Edwards (Crystal) and Melanie Loren (Chiffon) who, with Strafford, make the cast appear much larger than it is with split-second costume changes and high-energy numbers including the title song and ‘Skid Row’ where Edwards particularly shines.

Eerie and fiendishly fun… Audrey II is voiced by the incomparable Lorenzo Rush, Jr. and animated by puppeteer Matthew Sitz. The teaming of these two seasoned performers bring the eerie and fiendishly fun Martin P. Robinson designed plant to glorious life. Rush’s deep, booming, blues vocals in ‘Git It’ and ‘Suppertime’ rock.

Be careful what you wish for… 1313 Skid Row is realized in the efficient and rugged staging by Kevin Depinet, enhanced by Ryan O’Gara’s lighting design and Linda Myers costumes. Chris Sargent directs The Little Shop of Horrors Band in this throughly entertaining musical sendup that just might have you whispering, “Be careful what you wish for.” and “Don’t feed the plants!” on your way home.

PHOTOS|Bruce Beiner

Drury Lane Theatre
Presents
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS 
through October 28, 2018
100 Drury Lane
(630) 530-0111

WEBSITE

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

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