PicksInSix Review: Henry V - Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Brilliantly Staged ‘Henry V’ at Shakes!
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

The explosive, contemporary staging of Chicago Shakespeare Theater Artistic Director Edward Hall’s “Henry V” that opened Friday is a riveting soldier’s war story dedicated to the modern military code of honor, duty, service and sacrifice and amplifies Shakespeare’s depiction of King Henry V (Elijah Jones), initially perceived as an ineffective leader, to conquering warrior. Hall’s production broadens the intense combat action that is central to the work.

That initial perception is dispensed early on as Henry keenly roots out deception within his ranks and then proceeds to turn an ambitious, undermanned and seemingly unwinnable assault on France into stunning victories at Harfleur and Agincourt and in so doing, claims the hand of France’s Princess Katherine (Courtney Rikki Green).

The modern framing of the piece allows the unique interweaving of Jon Trenchard’s original music and arrangements that include a variety of musical genres all accentuating the storytelling with a deep sense of patriotism and camaraderie that then turns quickly to the shocking realism of the battle. Framed in Michael Pavelka’s industrial metallic scenic and extraordinary costume design presents a strikingly unified vision. The Courtyard Theatre is draped in camouflage netting and bathed in Marcus Doschi’s searing lighting design with Emily Hayman’s pulsating sound to establish a staggering backdrop for Hall’s company of seasoned actors covering multiple roles at breakneck speed.

Hall dispenses with the prologue as a single voice incorporating the company as a chorus of voices who drive the pace of the production. Within the company of commandos arise superb individual performances: the strong presence—and singularly extraordinary entrance—of Jaylon Muchison’s Montjoy; Axejandra Escante’s Dauphin (and also an almost unrecognizable Mistress Quickly); Rachel Crowl’s Fluellen;  Gregory Linington’s Archbishop of Canterbury; and, pretty much every time Scott Aiello (Nym and others) appears with Ronald L. Conner (Bardolph) and Demetrios Troy (Pistol) as the ragtag Eastcheap Three with the Lad (Green). The unique and multi-faceted roles of Kate Fry include the gentlewoman Alice and feature her appealing bilingual abilities as Monsieur le Fer to Green’s thoroughly enchanting Katherine. Sean Fortunato (King of France/Sir Thomas Erpingham) stands out in this exceptionally fine ensemble.

Elijah Jones is HENRY V at Chicago Shakespeare Theater through October 6, 2024.

And there at the center of it all is Jones’s Henry who so tentatively takes the throne at the top, dispatching his distractors and leading the invasion with the courage and the decisive authority of a battle seasoned warrior. Jones portrays Henry the commander as a soldiers soldier and ally, as a disciplined ruler in the negotiations with Muchison’s Montjoy and as Katherine’s enamored suitor.

There are exhilarating moments of brotherhood, humor and song, stirring special effects and deftly creative enactments of justice. At the most intense moments of this brilliantly staged drama, the sometimes dense text emerges with broad clarity, a longstanding objective of Chicago Shakes to bring the more complex elements of Shakespeare’s plays to an ever-expanding audience on Navy Pier.      

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

Chicago Shakespeare Theater
presents
HENRY V
through October 6, 2024

Courtyard Theater
Navy Pier

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PicksInSix Review: Young Frankenstein - Mercury Theater Chicago

Mercury’s “Young Frankenstein” High-Flying Fun!
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

The brilliance of the 1974 film Young Frankenstein comes from the ability of Mel Brooks its director and screenwriter (with Gene Wilder) to alternately pay tribute to Hollywood’s past, while parodying scenes from great films. The stage musical version of “Young Frankenstein”—with music and lyrics by Brooks and book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan—now playing at the Mercury Theater Chicago under the direction of J. Walter Stearns and musical direction of Eugene Dizon, delivers a high-flying fun night with all of that same pathos and side-splitting comedy thanks to some spirited performances and a hard-working ensemble of endless invention.

As the story goes: Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (the great and versatile Chicago actor Sean Fortunato) is fighting the family legacy to make his own name, right down to the pronunciation – “Fronk-en-steen.”  He’s a university professor and lecturer who is constantly denigrating his grandfather’s work, calling it the “ravings” of a lunatic mind.  Now that his grandfather has passed away, he is called to Transylvania to settle the family estate. He leaves behind a fiancé Elizabeth (a fine comic performance by Lillian Castillo), who is a truly spoiled girl that he really doesn’t love, it seems. There is a fun song – “Please Don’t Touch Me”— at the pier where Frederick is about to depart that showcases the terrific ensemble that is immensely valuable in this production.  While Elizabeth is distressed that he is leaving right before their wedding, she accepts the inevitable.

Frederick arrives in Transylvania, meeting Igor (Ryan Stajmiger in an energetic turn), hiring a tall demure assistant named Inga (the lovely and talented Isabella Andrews) and meeting the boss of the house, Frau Blücher (Mary Robin Roth, who steals every scene she’s in – cue the horses).  Frederick is convinced, in time, by reading his grandfather’s record on his work – a book entitled “How I Did It” – and assumes the responsibility to replicate the recreation of life at last.

The Monster (the wonderful Andrew MacNaughton, who makes a role with nifty footwork and practically no dialogue a truly enjoyable experience, because he’s enjoying it himself) comes to life and runs to the countryside and freedom.  Jonah D. Winston is an articulate Inspector who rouses the hoi polloi to action against the Monster. There’s an unforgettable scene with the blind Hermit (Samuel Shankman in great voice – “I was going to make espresso…”)

In this production, the ensemble leaves a strong mark on the story, particularly when choreographer Brenda Didier is putting them through their paces.  Playing everything from Elizabeth’s “staff” to the citizenry of Transylvania to passengers at the pier to tap-dancing fools and supporting the Monster and Frederick and, well, everyone else in a finale of impressive tap dancing that’s fit for the Ritz!

I’ve always been a huge Mel Brooks fan but that’s not a requirement to enjoy this stellar laugh-out-loud night of frivolity that’s playing through December 31.  

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | RONALD KEATON received an Equity Jeff Award for the performance of his one-man show CHURCHILL. www.solochicagotheatre.com  Coming soon, his new solo play “Echo Holler.” www.echoholler.com

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

Mercury Theater Chicago
presents
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
3745 N Southport Avenue
through December 31, 2023

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PicksInSix Review: Damn Yankees - Marriott Theatre

A DEVIL OF A GOOD TIME!
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Looking to fill your breezy summer evening with the crack of the bat and a stadium-size offering of blockbuster musical numbers mixed with an offer of immortality? All these merge in “Damn Yankees,” the 1955 award-winning hit with book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, lyrics and music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, choreography by Bob Fosse and starring Ray Walston and Gwen Verdon. “Damn Yankees” received seven Tony Awards, spawned a hit film, and is playing now in a robust and rollicking revival at Marriott Theatre that’s a devil of a good time!

The musical, based on Wallop’s “The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant,” holds up well nearly 70 years later even with a cluster of eye rollers in the script that require a special comic touch these days. But all is forgiven when this time capsule begins delivering a string of socko company numbers like “Heart,” “Shoeless Joe from Hannibul, MO,” “Who’s Got the Pain,” and “The Game” in showstopping style. And that’s exactly what happened—twice—at Wednesday’s opening performance with the top-flight talent assembled by director James Vásquez and Tyler Hanes’s Fosse-infused choreography.

Vásquez has stacked the lineup for laughs, too, with Sean Fortunato in a wickedly sardonic performance as the devious devil Mr. Applegate who grants the wish of Joe Boyd (Ron E. Rains) for the Washington Senators to win the pennant. With a slight of hand, a whiff of smoke and a change of name, Applegate creates Joe Hardy (Andrew Alstat) whose youth, power and abilities will pick the hapless Senators out of the cellar and into the World Series for the small price of Joe’s eternal damnation. As the team rises in the standings, the story clings to some detective work by ace reporter Gloria Thorpe (Erica Stephan) whose curiosity threatens to expose Joe before he can finish the job and lead the team to victory.

It doesn’t take long for Joe to realize that he’d rather be home with his wife Meg (Daniella Dalli) than face Applegate’s mounting pressure to stay within the baselines. As Joe begins to waver, Applegate enlists the services of Lola (Michelle Aravena), an irresistible temptress, to woo Joe back on his team. But even Lola’s sexy and sultry advances fail and Lola instead conspires to help unravel Applegate’s plan. As the clock ticks down, things start to heat up in Joe’s world.

In addition to the many memorable individual highlights in the show—Aravena’s playful, coy “A Little Brains, A Little Talent” and the steamy “Whatever Lola Wants” are truly topflight and Fortunato knocks “Those Were the Good Old Days” out of the park—the ensemble’s work throughout, and especially in “Two Lost Souls,” a dark, smoky ode to Fosse that virtually oozes up from the underworld, is phenomenal.   

In a cast of venerable Chicago talent, Lorenzo Rush Jr. stands out as the Senators coach Van Buren who leads the ensemble in “Heart” and plays some solid work with Jonah D. Winston and Michael Kingston. Erica Stephan steps up front and center for the crowd-pleaser “Shoeless Joe” that includes the amazing jump rope talents of Ben Broughton. Heidi Kettenring and Lydia Burke team up on the sidelines as kooky, adoring Senators fans, spreading gaiety and a little fog around on Regina Garcia’s sharp and versatile set. With Jesse Klug’s surreal lighting effects, Michael Daly’s subterrain sound and truly gorgeous 50s era costumes by Teresa Hams, the stage is awash in vibrant color to match the music directing talents of Ryan T. Nelson and Noah Landis’ orchestra, and to make Marriott’s “Damn Yankees” the show to see in Chicago.  

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

MARRIOTT THEATRE LINCOLNSHIRE
presents
DAMN YANKEES
through June 4, 2023

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(847) 634-0200

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PicksInSix Review: Othello - Court Theatre

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A SINGULAR KIND OF OTHELLO
Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. It is a long title for what is generally a longer play. At over 3600 lines, it’s among the Bard’s longer pieces and would generally take around three hours to perform. Not so with the production currently playing at Court Theatre. It is compact, judiciously and smartly edited, and fits admirably into the hands of co-directors Charles Newell and Gabrielle Randle-Bent in a challenging and engaging 100 minutes or so. A real and unusual feast for all one’s senses. The presentation, a world of balletic physical battle, where few people touch each other (a marvelous response to the COVID battle we currently wage), is a uniquely timeless setting that also gives pointed contemporary commentary. It is accompanied by a complimentary soundscape created by the fine sound designer Andre Pluess. This writer admits that, at first, this use of an original body-expression language to help further the action was, in a word, unusual. It does take a little time to adapt to the way this Othello is offered. But in time, the audience is eventually taken into this new reality, and the new language itself becomes a character to understand and appreciate.

There is no “place”, per se, for all the action.  Indeed, the physical set makeup enacted by designer John Culbert and Court scenic artists has five separate seating areas of roughly 50 patrons onstage along with a small section of the traditional gallery offering another 50 seats or so.  The cast works in the bordered aisles among the audience, resplendent in costumes by Rachel Adorno and Gregory Graham in the stark hues of Keith Parham’s lighting design.  Additionally, canvased scaffolding and platforms hover over the main playing areas, all further comments on the continuing transition of time in this production and our present pandemic war. Whether or not it’s intended—and I give the Court folks all due for intent whenever I see a play there—it’s an effective theatrical contour.

The story itself is one of extreme jealousies—of power, of property, of love.  The script editing by Mr. Newell and Ms. Randle-Bent changes the focus of the story from one dominated by Iago’s treachery to one that shapes Othello’s foibles and weaknesses more succinctly.  And Kelvin Roston, Jr.’s visceral, physical Othello spares no quarter in his difficult transformation from arrogant leader to suspicious lover to murderous husband and, finally, to his own demise.  Mr. Roston shows us, in deep and short bursts, how the mind is deceived and how quickly he accepts such manipulation until he finally recognizes what he’s done, and what has happened to him.

Iago.  One of the great villains in Shakespeare, whose motivations are constantly characterized (and rightly so) as true evil.   But here, the wonderful Timothy Edward Kane—whose stunning turn in An Iliad at Court remains alive in this writer—actually makes Iago seem almost vulnerable.  It doesn’t last long, of course, because of all the control that Iago exerts throughout the story.  Mr. Kane imbues Iago with an almost touching, I-am-forced-to-do-so aura that is quite unique from other portrayals. Amanda Drinkall’s Desdemona was, at once, delicate and strong in standing up to Roston’s Moor.  A refreshing presence and relief from the intensity of the plot, even as she has her own to proffer to her husband and is unfortunately rejected. A striking and articulate presence, she is.

Two nice surprises in the evening. One was Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel as Emilia, Iago’s wife.  It’s a role that could be hugely difficult, as Emilia seems to accept much of what Iago says and wants with no explanation to her, until she realizes her husband’s truth.  Ms. Gonzalez-Cadel’s death scene, being murdered by her husband, capped a far-ranging portrait from an actor new to me.  More, please. Then there was Court stalwart Erik Hellman’s intense Roderigo, who combines with Iago in the manipulations to wound Cassio, gets wounded himself, and then ultimately is betrayed and killed by the very man he works with.

Sean Fortunato is his stylish, confident self in dual roles of Brabantio and Montano. Sheldon Brown, whom I’ve seen at About Face Theatre in the city, is energetic and clear-eyed as Cassio, one of Iago’s lieutenants and victims in the charade of evil. Darren Patin aka Chicago Drag Queen Ari Gato is simply invigorating as Bianca, Cassio’s lover. And starting at the top of the production, Karissa Murrell Myers’ Duke presents proper authority and wisdom, clear and concise.

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | RONALD KEATON received an Equity Jeff Award for the performance of his one-man show CHURCHILL www.solochicagotheatre.com

PHOTO|Michael Brosilow

COURT THEATRE
presents
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice
through December 5, 2020

5535 S. Ellis Ave. (map)
Chicago, IL 60637
(773) 753-4472
info@courttheatre.org

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PicksInSix Theater Review: "Twelfth Night" Writers Theatre

A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE ON ANY NIGHT!
by Jonathan Bourne

Say “what you will,” you will love the exuberant production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” now playing at the Writers Theatre in Glencoe through December 16th.  

The play opens to the aftermath of a shipwreck on the shores of Illyria. Twins, Sebastian (Luce Metrius) and Viola (Jennifer Latimore), each believe the other has drowned. Viola is so distraught she decides to dress up as a man in order to secure employment with the local duke, Orsino (Matthew C. Yee). The Duke is in love with Olivia (Andrea San Miguel) and he sends his new manservant, Cesario/Viola, to plead his case.  Olivia, however, is having none of it because she has also just lost a brother and wishes to remain cloistered for seven years of mourning.  Everything backfires when Olivia becomes enamored with Cesario/Viola and Cesario/Viola falls in love with Orsino!

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The subplot involves Olivia’s servant, Malvolio (Sean Fortunato) who is indignant about the boisterous and besotted antics of Olivia’s household, which includes her uncle, Sir Toby Belch (Kevin Gudahl), Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Scott Parkinson) and others. Malvolio, however, is such a priggish killjoy that they decide to play a cruel practical joke on him. Suffice it to say that it involves forged letters, unrequited love, yellow stockings and crossed garters.

Deftly directed by Michael Halberstam, the performances are all first-rate. Nevertheless, Sean Fortunato as the Puritanical Malvolio and Scott Parkinson as benighted Aguecheek merit special mention.

Visually, the production was entirely captivating. The set by William Boles looked like some sort of sunny Adriatic Brigadoon rising out of the Illyrian sea.  The costumes by Mara Blumenfeld were an explosion of bright floral prints and all worked perfectly. 

Quite simply, “Twelfth Night” is delightful. A wonderful experience on any night! Don’t miss it!

PHOTOS|Michael Brosilow

WRITERS THEATRE
Presents
TWELFTH NIGHT, OR WHAT YOU WILL
through December 16th
325 Tudor Court
Glencoe
(847) 242-6000

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