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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PicksInSix Review: ACT(S) OF GOD

Six characters in search of something.

With a teasing setup about a family gathering impacted by a letter that will alter lives, Kareem Bandealy’s dark comedy “Act(s) of God” was already a fascinating curiosity before anyone took their seats at Lookingglass Theatre Friday evening. As the play unfolds, it becomes curiouser and curiouser—a sprawling three-act theatrical experience better to be discovered than recalled.

There is, as advertised, a family weekend in a desert-plains home. It begins Friday, April 13, 2029, in a living room that has a ’60s-era retro-provincial feel. An old-time radio broadcasts an interview on a cosmic anomaly. While Mother (Shannon Cochran) busily sorts the mail, Father (Rom Barkhordar), a theologian, philosopher and narcoleptic, reads nearby. One of the letters is impossible to open. When their son Middle (Anthony Irons) arrives with Fiancée (Emjoy Gavino) and Youngest (Walter Briggs), and the power appears to fail, it becomes clear that other forces are at work, particularly when Eldest (Kristina Valada-Viars) finally drops in.

The deep convictions of Bandealy’s characters form the context of Director Heidi Stillman’s finely paced production about six characters in search of something. Mother provides the spiritual center of the family, a woman whose faith in God is reflected in her two sons, and shared by Father, although the men are skeptical about her conviction that God is a woman. Eldest, a lesbian writer, is more attuned to Father’s pragmatic views. She is at odds spiritually with Mother and Middle, whose grounded nature has brought him success, but little confidence or emotional security with his long-standing Fiancée. The impressionable Youngest has teetered between Mother’s obsessive nurturing and the radical views of Eldest all his life.

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Technologically, we seem to be all over the map in 2029. There are state-of-the-art smart phones and something called “Telepathy 2.0” with wall clocks, Bundt cake, fruit, whiskey and trains. In its most reflective moments, Father recounts parables while Middle references the sciences comparing Mother to lonsdaleite, an element much harder and rarer than diamonds.

When a misunderstanding arises between Middle and Eldest, the resulting pent-up hostilities spiral out of control like any other family where age-old frictions exist, pivoting the trajectory of the work in another direction. It is then that the seasoned ensemble navigates a series of twists and turns on the way to unravelling everything that has come before.  

The versatile Brian Sidney Bembridge’s set and lighting are exceptional feats of engineering. The Mara Blumenfeld costumes, Rick Sims sound—the aural experience of this production is in a class by itself— and the collective skills of a wide-ranging list of technicians and craftsmen, all help to make the otherworldly “Acts(s) of God” a clever, absurdist adventure.

PHOTOS|Liz Lauren

LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY
Presents
ACT(S) OF GOD
through April 7th

821 N Michigan Ave.
(312) 337-0665

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"What do you see in it?"

HARD TIMES

What it's about ... an inspiring adaptation, originally staged in 2001, of the Charles Dickens classic by Lookingglass Artistic Director and Ensemble member Heidi Stillman, who also directs this story about the life and times, and the great divide between the upper class and working class of Coketown, a mining community in the grip of a powerful and arrogant owner who maintains benevolent control until the innocence of circus arts begin to turn widespread despair into hope.

Just the facts ... in and among Mr. Bounderby’s social circle is the upper crust Gradgrind family, a teacher, whose students include his daughter, Louisa, on whom Bounderby has affections, and wayward son Tom, and Sissy, a young girl raised in the circus who is taken in as a ward after being abandoned by her father, a circus clown. The story centers around Louisa’s evolving education and the unravelling of Stephen Blackpool, a common laborer whose morality transcends everyone else. As fate steps in, Blackpool becomes the unwitting victim of the power and greed of those who wish only to hide their darkest secrets from view at the expense of all others. All is not lost as love triumphs, and light, in the smoke-filled recesses of Coketown, ultimately shines through.

What stands out ... Dickens compellingly rich characters spring to life in Stillman’s absorbing production,  which reunites many original cast members with gloriously talented actors who have extraordinary circus and acrobatic skills. The aerial artistry, staged seamlessly with the story in sweeping fashion by Sylvia Hernandez-Distasi, is flawless. The versatile set by Dan Ostling, allows our imagination to trip from classroom to sitting room, from the squalor of a shabby apartment through a busy street to the grandeur of an elegant dining room, and back again, in the blink of an eye, enhanced impeccably by Mara Blumenfeld’s costumes, lighting by Brian Sidney Bembridge and sound by Andre Pluess.

Who to watch ... David Catlin, returning to the roles of Sleary and Stephen Blackpool, Raymond Fox, back as Mr. Gradgrind, and, Louise Lamson, who created the role of Louisa but here plays Rachael, are inspiring to watch together, contributing mightily to the vibrant textural and visual masterpiece. Troy West, once again the irascible Bounderby, brings a chilling level of obstinate authority that is perfectly aligned with the powerhouse performances of Cordelia Dewdney, a sultry Louisa, and Amy J. Carle, the diabolical Mrs. Sparsit. The entire ensemble is superb in multiple roles, however, this story unfolds early on through the eyes of Sissy, played exquisitely by Audrey Anderson, an extremely versatile and captivating newcomer in a breakout role. There is no doubt you will be seeing a lot of performances by Ms. Anderson on and above many stages, but don't miss this one. It’s a gem.

A moment or two to savor ... if you have ever been transfixed by a roaring fire and wondered what you see in it, there is a beautiful moment between Ms. Dewdney and JJ Phillips where the answer is revealed. You will also be in awe of the multi-talented Raphael Cruz right at the top.

Why you should go ... Lookingglass Theatre Company is celebrating their 30th season and an on-going association with The Actors Gymnasium, collaborating to develop engaging, story-centered ensemble productions. Hard Times, first created and produced in 2001, is now presented for the first time in their home since 2003, Chicago’s landmark Water Tower Water Works. A perfect holiday treat for the entire family.

Photos|Liz Lauren

LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY
HARD TIMES
through January 14, 2018
821 N Michigan Avenue (at Pearson)
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 337-0665
TICKETS
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