CONVERSATIONS with Ed Tracy

Inspire. Educate. Entertain.

2902 Villa Lane Benton Harbor, MI, 49022 United States

(312) 880-9691

Conversations featuring authors and influential leaders in the arts, media and business.

Filtering by Category: Theater Review

PicksInSix Review: Lucy and Charlie's Honeymoon - Lookingglass Theatre Company

June 21, 2023  /  Ed Tracy

 
 

Talented Ensemble Drives Lookingglass’s Comic “Honeymoon”
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

Satire is a much-missed tool in our world these days. We are so afraid, it seems, to examine issues from a humorous standpoint for fear of offending someone. The latest offering at Lookingglass Theatre Company, the world premiere of “Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon,” seeks in no uncertain terms to conquer such fears. With a bold concept to play with – bringing a suggestion of a concert stage to a theatrical narrative – the play’s creator and Lookingglass ensemble member Matthew C. Yee (who plays Charlie and also a pretty mean guitar) has presented to the audience a kind of amalgam of styles and targets. And it works to a point.

Charlie Chan (yes, that’s the name… the last name of five characters in the piece) and his new bride Lucy (played to a powerful hilt by Aurora Adachi-Winter) set off on a kind of crime spree that begins with robbing $250 from a convenience store. As it happens, there’s a video made of the robbery, and the couple becomes minorly Bonnie-and-Clyde famous. As time passes, the road party becomes a recognition of the fact that these two newlyweds don’t really know each other that well, and that what they have in common boils down to societal anarchy.

At one stop they meet a unique couple. Bao, a Chinese immigrant (Harmony Zhang with fine comic timing), is a victim of a sex trafficking crime syndicate that Lucy seems to have deigned in a divine way. Her other half Gabriel (Matt Bittner) is supposed to guard his “prisoner” and eventually take her to Martin (the excellent Doug Pawlik), along with some cash payment. Of course that doesn’t really happen. It can be a bit muddy, but also playful at times.

The real strength onstage lies in the ensemble work. Director Amanda Dehnert has worked with Mr. Yee to find performers who can play musical instruments, a not uncommon tact in casting these days. Mr. Yee composed the music, of course, and he leads his players with a mean and fun country approach on his guitar. Mr. Pawlik is a fine guitarist and bassist as well. Cast members alternate their efforts on drums and percussion. On the story’s front, two members of law enforcement – Feinberg (Mary Williamson), who happens to love karaoke music, and Peter (Rammel Chan), Charlie’s pretty straight-laced deputy brother – are working with the FBI to crack the case. Fun work from both actors.

Daniel Lee Smith offers Jeff as an almost Cheech-and-Chong homage. Jeff lives with Grandma (Wai Ching Ho, who steals every scene she has in a shining comic performance), whose wisdom as the matriarch of the Chan clan guides all to a reunion at the family cabin in the mountains. Suddenly Martin, gun in hand, shows up with Bao and… well, the ending should remain a surprise for audience members. All of it sits on a visually entertaining set, designed by Yu Shibagaki, that reminds one of the kitsch side of America – truck stops, flea markets and the like.

Now for the satire. It admittedly becomes a little campy at times, but to Mr. Yee’s credit, few stones are left unturned. There is commentary on the Asian immigrant experience, personal responsibility and ethnicity, and traditions. There are looks at gun ownership and family dynamic, as well as a realization of modern life and the difficulty to assimilate in our country these days. It’s a wide-ranging, often hilarious, attempt to satirize and in its own way, the Yee script certainly makes a definitive point or two. All in all, it’s unique and unconventional storytelling with a dramatic narrative unfolding in a high-energy pseudo-concert venue, not unlike Million Dollar Quartet and Pump Boys and Dinettes, with an artful fusion of country western music and Asian culture.

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

LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY
presents
WORLD PREMIERE
LUCY AND CHARLIE’S HONEYMOON
through July 11, 2023

Tickets

312.337.0665

Website

Program

Health and Safety

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

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

categories / PicksInSix, Theater, Theater Review
tags / Matthew C. Yee, Aurora Adachi-Winter, Harmony Zhang, Matt Bittner, Doug Pawlik, Amanda Dehnert, Mary Williamson, Rammel Chan, Daniel Lee Smith, Wai Ching Ho

CONVERSATIONS: Cabaret ZaZou - Frank Ferrante and James Harkness

June 01, 2023  /  Ed Tracy

 

Cabaret ZaZou recently celebrated its 200th performance in the historic Speigeltent located in the Cambria Hotel.

The current high-flying extravaganza features a non-stop mix of music, comedy and stunning international circus acts in an intimate cabaret setting. Add in Blue Plate’s superb multi-course dinner and specialty drinks, while the ensemble interact and entertain, and Cabaret ZaZou is truly a matchless night out in Chicago’s theatre district!

On the eve of the 200th performance, two of the shows stars – comic emcee Frank Ferrante and singer James Harkness – joined the Conversation to talk about the extraordinary cast and how the show continues to evolve over the course of a long run. PODCAST

 
categories / PicksInSix, Theater, Theater Review
tags / Stan Feig, Frank Ferrante, LiV Warfield, James Harkness, Trio Vertex, Cornelius Atkinson, Isis Clegg-Vinell, Nathan Price, Ulzii Mergen, Viktor Kee, Dreya Weber, Debra M. Bauer, Chuck Webb, Jose Martinez, Phil Seed, Jon Negus, Theodis Rodgers, Jr., Blue Plate Chicago

PicksInSix Review: SHAW vs. TUNNEY - Grippo Stage Company

May 31, 2023  /  Ed Tracy

 
 

Knockout Performances Fuel “SHAW vs. TUNNEY”
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

Yes, it was very unlikely.  It’s also quite profound, this unique relationship that is the bedrock of “SHAW vs. TUNNEY,” the fascinating new play by Douglas Post, that’s now playing at Theater Wit through July 8.  Mr. Post based his play on the unique biography “The Prizefighter and the Playwright” by Jay R. Tunney, the son of former heavyweight champion Gene Tunney.  It's a challenging, thick work of great research and layered emotion, as time passes, beginning in the spring of 1928.  And it entails some explanation.

It is both a surprisingly bombastic piece that also imparts a subtle exchange between two famous men 40 years apart in age – Tunney, the champ, who longs for a different kind of acceptance by the world; and the great Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, who shares his intense interest in the classics and turns out to be a huge boxing fan. Who knew?  Shaw encourages young Tunney to refer to him as “GBS” in their growing dialogue.  In turn, Shaw calls his new friend by his entire name, “Gene Tunney,” during the play.  The verbal battles and fun between the two provide revelations about both men. No stone is left unturned, for sure.

And there is yet a third influence at work here – Tunney’s wife Polly, who openly owns in her pseudo-narrative with the audience a kind of dual role in her husband’s life.  She is both the loyal, encouraging wife who understands her husband’s desire to know those who can intellectually feed him and serves as a teacher of sorts who, because of her example and sacrifice, shows Gene how to love within their marriage.  We see that come to fruition when, during their honeymoon and beyond on the island of Brioni in the Adriatic Sea, Shaw is actually invited to join the Tunneys to continue this beguiling triumvirate. Polly becomes desperately ill with what we discover as acute appendicitis and, well, anything more borders on giving the story’s surprise away. Suffice it to say that what we see is indeed a teacher/student scenario of such rarity that we are left with huge ideas to chew on for conversation.  This ultimately is the best thing about Mr. Post’s script, a revival of the art of pure conversation that inspires and stimulates, where people can disagree – and here, it’s a loud and forceful display – while remaining in good stead.

This is arguably the best work this writer has ever seen from Chicago veteran Richard Henzel as Shaw; so many creative layers of his own presented in a philosophic ball, at once malleable and strong. It would have been easy to see Shaw as monolithic and unbending in such a give-and-take, but Mr. Henzel’s natural humor blends comfortably with Shaw’s own inherent bent. As Tunney, Sam Pearson presents an unpretentious vulnerability and openness – in the character, almost to a fault – as we follow his pursuit of a higher plane of life.

The high point is his tender, open monologue to Polly, professing the love he has learned from her while she lays quite ill, while thunder and rain lay understated like war sounds beneath the action.  Maddie Sachs is a new and appealing actor, showing a versatility in jumping back and forth between character and narrator that is smooth and believable in what could have been a difficult tool to share.  She makes Polly sincere and genuine.

Grippo Stage Company producer Charles Grippo and director Nick Sandys, in deft and quiet touches, both deserve much credit for bringing Mr. Post’s play to the spotlight.  They both recognize that the play itself is the star of the evening. It has the potential to go beyond an audience who knows the historical standing of the characters and earns its language-eloquent unveiling.  It just might be one of those “little engine that could” presentations that captures a growing audience for “SHAW vs. TUNNEY” during its world premiere run at Theater Wit. 

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 CREDIT | Anthony Robert LaPenna

GRIPPO STAGE COMPANY
WORLD PREMIERE

SHAW vs. TUNNEY
THEATER WIT
1229 W Belmont Ave Chicago
through July 8

WEBSITE

TICKETS

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

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

categories / PicksInSix, Theater, Theater Review
tags / Douglas Post, Jay R. Tunney, Gene Tunney, George Bernard Shaw, Richard Henzel, Sam Pearson, Maddie Sachs, Charles Grippo, Nick Sandys

PicksInSix Review: The Gospel at Colonus - Court Theatre

May 22, 2023  /  Ed Tracy

 
 

Infectious… spectacular and from the heart.
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor Ronald Keaton

There is so much to share about “The Gospel at Colonus,” the absolutely marvelous production now playing at Court Theatre through June 11, that one hardly knows where to start – or whether all the praise can fit in here.  Based on the Oedipus trilogy by Sophocles, it views the Greek tragedy – and in this case a specific tale that shows subsequent comparisons to Christian fact and legend – through the energetic prism of the Black Pentecostal Church.  It’s a fascinating adaptation that seems naturally to play into such customs and stories.

Some background: “Oedipus at Colonus” is the middle play in the trilogy.  Oedipus has already experienced what the gods say he will endure.  His father the king is killed in battle by his son’s hand.  In mourning, the son attends his mother Jocasta and, in time, they have three children together.  When that shame is discovered by the world, Oedipus then blinds himself as punishment for his sins and wanders the world for twenty years. Yes, that’s quite thumbnail in description, but it sets up the second play, where Oedipus is now cared for, by first one and then both daughters, as he is guided back to Thebes, desiring now to go home and die quietly.  And of course, nothing is quiet in Greek storytelling.

The versatile Kelvin Roston Jr. gives an Oedipus of great emotion and strength that translates into non-stop passion throughout the play.  As the two sisters, Aeriel Williams (Antigone) and Ariana Burks (Ismene) are both zealous, vulnerable guards of their father’s welfare.  Mark Spates Smith (Theseus, King of Athens) is a calming presence as his character converts to a narrator/minister of the church here. And it’s lovely to watch the wisdom in his work.  Timothy Edward Kane is a smooth, slick Creon, who is Jocasta’s brother, tempting Oedipus to return to his birthplace, so that the fortunes the gods have predicted will not come true and Creon can retain power in Thebes… And on the story goes.

There are so many high points from a talented ensemble, a most entertaining entity this writer enjoyed thoroughly.  Juwon Tyrel Perry portrays The Friend, who first tells Oedipus he cannot enter a holy place, in a stunning vocal turn. Kai A. Ealy as the evil son Polyneices offers wonderful character work, full of depth and deception.  As dual Choragos whose advice Oedipus accepts, Eric A. Lewis and Shari Addison deftly lead the citizenry in alternating moments of huge passion and quiet choral harmonies, all rooted in the Pentacostal tradition of call-and-response that is nothing if not exciting to watch here.  Everyone deserves mention – Jessica Brooke Seals as a knowing preacher of sorts, augmented by a Greek chorus (Jerica Exum, Cherise Thomas, Isaac Ray, Shantina Lynet, Eva Ruwe) who takes the captivating music to emotional heights in a totally unique take of the Court’s classic theatre mode.

“The Gospel at Colonus” is co-directed with an elegant combination of big choral strokes and intimate individual moments by Mark J.P. Hood and Charles Newell with associate director Taron Patton. A sparse scenic design by John Culbert; the colorful Raquel Adomo costuming; the wonderful, attentive shafts of sharp light in one moment and warm, enveloping light in another by Keith Parham; the complimentary sound layers designed by Sarah Ramos – all eloquent pieces to a puzzle of thick design and story.  All of these elements, expert as they are, grabbed onto the coattails of the exciting, heartfelt gospel blues from the five-piece unit led by Mahmoud Khan. Along with the audience, one could even see Production Stage Manager Kate Ocker clapping along from the stage manager’s booth. That’s how infectious it is – spectacular and from the heart.

Created by Lee Breuer and Bob Telson, the show had its original 1983 production at the famed Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York – after workshops at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and in London – with Morgan Freeman as the preacher and the great Blind Boys of Alabama as Oedipus, in what Mr. Breuer and Mr. Telson called a “eureka moment” in their casting. It is a fascinating adaptation of an exceedingly challenging story to tell that naturally plays into the customs and traditions of Black churches.  I would venture to say that if they saw this production in all its fullness and nuance, they would be quite happy with the result.

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|Michael Brosilow

COURT THEATRE
presents
THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS
5535 S Ellis Ave.
EXTENDED through June 18, 2023

WEBSITE

TICKETS

PROGRAM

HEALTH & SAFETY

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

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

categories / PicksInSix, Theater, Theater Review
tags / Kelvin Roston Jr., Aeriel Williams, Ariana Burks, Mark Spates Smith, Timothy Edward Kane, Juwon Tyrel Perry, Kai A. Ealy, Eric A. Lewis, Shari Addison, Jessica Brooke Seals, Jerica Exum, Cherise Thomas, Isaac Ray, Shantina Lynet, Eva Ruwe, Mark J.P. Hood, Charles Newell, John Culbert, Raquel Adomo, Keith Parham, Sarah Ramos, Mahmoud Khan, Kate Ocker, Lee Breuer, Bob Telson, Morgan Freeman, Taron Patton

PicksInSix Review: Ernest Shackleton Loves Me - Porchlight Music Theatre

May 15, 2023  /  Ed Tracy

 
 

Awakening Adventure Awaits If You Frigidaire.
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Scott Gryder

The chilling atmospheric wind sounds and shadowy aquas across the stage of the Ruth Page Center for the Arts were all too familiar to Chicago audiences at Porchlight Music Theatre’s opening night performance of “Ernest Shackleton Loves Me.” The ship of a set, ice-locked within a bleak Brooklynite kitchen, quickly let us know that a 90 minute quest for adventure and danger was soon to begin.

The dream-like hallucination that is “Ernest Shackleton” combines the mundane struggles of out-of-work electronic music composer Kat with the over-the-top epic tale of 20th century Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. Like two chaotic glaciers passing in the night, their stories collide at paralleling pivotal points of survival for each. While Kat’s circumstance might not be so life-threatening, the unlikely pair team up to face life’s unexpected trials to the tune of Kat’s music. Driven by her unique blend of stylings, Ernest and Kat venture forth to battle physical and emotional odds, conquering their fears, facing their losses and finding themselves along the way.

Seemingly most challenging for a production like “Ernest Shackleton” would be the casting. The sheer scope of talent required to meet the musical demands of playing a multitude of complex instruments and map through unmelodious music was most likely as nearly insurmountable as the “impenetrable” mountains that Shackleton’s crew had to face. But Porchlight’s Michael Unger and Eric Svejcar have done just that. Elisa Carlson’s Kat is spunky and full of defiance, with a musical mood to match that of pop superstar P!nk. Carlson has the punk-rock edge of a stereotypical 90’s New York avant-garde artist layered with the scratchy vocals of Miley Cyrus. Marry that airy tone with the crispness of Andrew Mueller’s tenor and the quality is full and moving. Together, they vocally sail toward their destination with a keen optimism. But it’s Mueller’s shining acting chops that deliver the emotional strength within the scenes. Not only does he delight when dabbling in and out of dating app characters, but his presence as Ernest Shackleton is grounded in awareness, personality and honest discovery, a discovery that is somewhat lacking in Carlson. Mueller brings us a Shackleton with profound optimism and a thirst for adventure comparable only to that of the fabled Don Quixote.

“Ernest Shackleton” is not your typical musical theater musical. Brendan Milburn’s music is baked in synthetic sound, looping tools, and echoes. Along with this less than traditional style, Val Vigoda presents more patter-based, organic lyrics, versus something more strongly singable. Not that the music and lyrics detract from the storytelling, they simply take a few beats to adjust to. The piece’s pacing, filled with the vigorous wit of Joe DiPietro’s book, rides this hurricanic cutting electronic edge, weaving through the mosaic plot. The essence of “Ernest Shackleton” is reminiscent of a Second City sketch, with its blizzard of puns and predictable situational comedy; however, the full scope of the show is quite charming.

Scott Davis’s scenic sails standing at full mast are serene and captivating, boldly bearing Smooch Medina’s wash of location projections and G. Max Maxin IV’s aurora borealis lighting, amidst his unnervingly cluttered hybrid home/studio made up of trunks and toys, instruments, and instrumentation. The use of the large screen TV in Kat’s kitchen was a bit jarring, but it provided an entertaining canvas for Mueller’s many momentary comedic characters and stunning actual film clips of Shackleton’s expedition. The most monumental creative feat was audio engineer Lynsy Folckomer’s maestro-like balance between the massive waves of electronic sound and amplified gabby lyrics.

The refreshing message delivered throughout the expeditions of “Ernest Shackleton” is the constant reminder to never lose our sense of adventure nor to forget the power of hope, even as we grow up. “Ernest Shackleton” is a playful romp, pushing the envelope of musical stylings and overflowing with talent. If you’re looking for adventure, catch this show soon, for “Ernest Shackleton Love Me” is forced to leave port on June 1st.

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  

PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE
presents
ERNEST SHACKLETON LOVES ME
Ruth Page Center for the Arts
through June 1, 2023

WEBSITE

TICKETS

HEALTH & SAFETY

DIGITAL PROGRAM

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

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

categories / PicksInSix, Theater, Theater Review
tags / Ernest Shackleton, Michael Unger, Eric Svejcar, Andrew Mueller, Elisa Carlson, Brendan Milburn, Joe DiPietro, Scott Davis, Smooch Medina, Lynsy Folckomer

PicksInSix Review: Big River - Mercury Theater Chicago

May 01, 2023  /  Ed Tracy

 
 

Mercury Delivers Powerfully Moving “Big River”
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

The seven-time Tony Award-winning musical “Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is now playing in a bold and gritty revival at Mercury Theater Chicago, anchored by the engaging and exuberant performance of Eric Amundson, as the youthful homespun Huck, and a glass-shattering performance by Curtis Bannister as the freedom-longing slave, Jim.

Twain’s 1884 novel, on which the musical book by William Hauptman is based, recounts a coming-of-age story of a young man, desperate to escape an abusive father and a strict authoritarian foster family. Befriending an escaped slave, Huck serves as the narrator on a river adventure that winds its way through a study of race relations, slavery and prejudice in mid-19th century South. The topic is especially relevant these days considering that Twain’s depiction of racial injustice of the era has been banned regularly since it’s publication—despite being required reading in classroom’s throughout most of the 20th century.

Rarely produced regionally at the size and professional scope that director Christopher Chase Carter has so skillfully assembled in the intimate and historic Mercury Theater, “Big River” is stocked with seasoned Chicago talent and exceptional debut performers who together form a universally superb ensemble covering numerous roles. Revealing a true depiction of the underlying drama of the story amid Roger Miller’s highly entertaining and folksy score is the pivotal challenge that director Carter dispatches with a firm hand on the tiller, creating a stark landscape that exposes the racial insensitivity of the time. The no-holds-barred approach is intentionally difficult—we see slave families being ripped apart, chilling frontier justice and hear derogatory racial epithets—but Carter’s daring approach works, and the result is a powerfully moving experience.

The show begins as Huck is disciplined by his court-ordered guardians, the Widow Douglas (Colleen Perry), Miss Watson (McKinley Carter) and company in “Do Ya Wanna Go To Heaven?” Carter chooses to skip through the score earnestly without applause breaks to allow the numbers to coalesce with the story which moves things along from Huck’s fearful treatment at the hands of his drunken father “Pap” Finn (David Stobbe) in the quippy lyrics of “Guv’ment,” the blood pact that Huck, Tom Sawyer (Callan Roberts) and their cronies make in the spirited “The Boys,” Amundson’s silky sweet rendition of “Waitin’ for the Light to Shine” and Roberts letting it fly hog wild in “Hand for the Hog.”

When Huck decides to fake his death and steal away, he meets Jim who is about to escape on a raft. As the river adventure begins, Amundson and Bannister deliver the rousing anthem “Muddy Water.” Huck agrees to assuming “ownership” of Jim to protect him as the two seek to reunite Jim to his wife and children. But almost immediately, a despicable pair of con men—terrific turns for Stobbe as The King and Gabriel Fries as The Duke—lure Huck with promises of wealth in “When the Sun Goes Down in the South.” The two commandeer the raft to Bricktown, Arkansas, shackle Jim in isolation and Huck realizes that his new-found partners are bottom feeders, albeit comical ones. The pair then pose as brothers and heirs of a recently deceased resident and hatch a plan to take things over. When their plan runs aground, Huck and Mary Jane Wilkes (Amanda Handegan) devise Huck’s escape to Hillsboro where Jim has been sold back into slavery.  Handegan’s impressive debut performance includes two gorgeous numbers—“You Oughta be Here with Me” with her sisters Susan (Perry) and Joanna (Haley Jane Schafer) and “Leavin’s Not the Only Way to Go” with Bannister and Amundson who team up again for “World’s Apart.” The performance of the night belongs to Bannister who rocks the house with the soulful ballad “Free at Last.”

The rugged, multi-tiered, post and beam set draped in burlap is designed by Jacqueline and Richard Penrod and includes a central unit that adapts seamlessly with the story. The stage is awash with the auburn hues of Denise Karzcewski’s lighting and gorgeous period costumes by Marquecia Jordan, particularly in the funeral scene and “How Blest We Are” that showcases the talents of Isis Elizabeth (Alice’s Daughter), who I am sure we will be seeing a lot more of in the future. Music director Malcolm Ruhl, conductor Marques Stewart, and choreographer Ariel Etana Triunfo bring the legendary Miller’s beautiful, and only, theatrical score to vibrant life. “Big River” plays through June 11.  

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

Mercury Theater Chicago
presents
BIG RIVER
3745 N Southport Avenue
through June 11

WEBSITE

TICKETS


For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

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

categories / PicksInSix, Theater, Theater Review
tags / Eric Amundson, Curtis Bannister, William Hauptman, Christopher Chase Carter, Roger Miller, Colleen Perry, McKinley Carter, David Stobbe, Callan Roberts, Amanda Handegan, Haley Jane Schafer, Jacqueline Penrod, Richard Penrod, Isis Elizabeth, Malcolm Ruhl, Marques Stewart, Ariel Etana Triunfo, Denise Karzcewski, Marquecia Jordan

PicksInSix Review: The Porch on Windy Hill - Northlight Theatre

May 01, 2023  /  Ed Tracy

 
 

Seared Memories Evaporate on Northlight’s “Porch”
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Music is an extraordinary connector to the people in our lives and to our past. As we age, life-changing memories often linger dormant until they are awakened by a long-forgotten melody that will then burrow into our consciousness, leaving waves of mixed emotions—joy, melancholy and longing. Those feelings intensify in our youth as the music around us serves as the catalyst for the person we are destined to become. But, what happens if, along the way, those brilliantly seared memories evaporate in an instant? The answer to that question can be found in Northlight’s arresting production of “The Porch on Windy Hill,” now playing at Northlight Theatre.

The backstory of this show—billed as “a new play with old music”—is as fascinating as the play itself. Conceived and directed by Sherry Lutken, the writing credits include Lutken and the three accomplished actors and extremely gifted musicians Lisa Helm Johanson, Morgan Morse and David M. Lutken who bring to life the fictional story of a young couple on a musical quest that both satisfies and enlightens us about generational awareness, race discrimination and family dynamics all unfolding on the porch of a family homestead on Windy Hill.

The play, born during the pandemic—which, not surprisingly, has become a theatrical renaissance of sorts with new work that could have only emerged when creative artists were fighting to cope with the isolation of the time—is centered around the relationship of a grandfather and his granddaughter, fractured by decades of silence, fueled by pride, self-righteousness and lack of cultural awareness, who have now found reconciliation through the American folk music that has been the life blood for generations of the family.

The current generation is represented by Mira (Johanson) and her companion, Beckett (Morse), who wind up at the family home of Edgar (Lutken), a Vietnam-era veteran and folk singer for whom music is his salvation. After an incident, Edgar’s daughter abruptly moved to New York with Mira and her Korean husband when Mira was eight, so the visit now is a bit of an uneasy homecoming.  It is not immediately clear at first why Mira has returned, but Beckett, a graduate student, fits right in with Edgar’s folksy, welcoming style and it takes only a minute to realize that the music they will be making comes from another wonderful place altogether. While Beckett provides the documented history of the music, it has always been a part of Edgar’s life, passed down from his family to his daughter and granddaughter all those years ago.

The beauty in the music helps to melt away layers of Mira’s sadness and allows her the strength to both face the issues that have divided the family and to understand, if not accept, her grandfather’s point of view. It takes a few shots of moonshine, an array of instruments and some foot-stomping folk melodies, but Edgar begins to understand things more clearly, too.

The porch exterior set—chalk white siding and weather-worn lattice work—is the fine design work of Mara Ishihara Zinky, right down to the 1960s transistor radio and bird’s nest in the eve. With Lindsey Lyddan’s evocative lighting and all the calming sounds of nature in Rick Sims sound design, the atmosphere is perfect to sit a spell and enjoy the music. “The Porch on Windy Hill” plays through May 14.  

PHOTO|Michael Brosilow
VIDEO|Starbelly Studios

NORTHLIGHT THEATRE
presents
The Porch on Windy Hill
North Shore Center for the Performing Arts
9501 Skokie Blvd.

through May 14, 2023

WEBSITE


TICKETS

(847) 673-6300

HEALTH & SAFETY

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

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

categories / PicksInSix, Theater, Theater Review
tags / Sherry Lutken, Lisa Helm Johanson, Morgan Morse, David M. Lutken, Mara Ishihara Zinky, Lindsey Lyddan, Rick Sims

PicksInSix Review: Damn Yankees - Marriott Theatre

April 21, 2023  /  Ed Tracy

 
 

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

WEBSITE

TICKETS

(847) 634-0200

HEALTH PROTOCALS

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

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

categories / PicksInSix, Theater, Theater Review
tags / James Vásquez, Tyler Hanes, Sean Fortunato, Ron R. Rains, Andrew Alstat, Erica Stephan, Daniella Dalli, Michelle Aravena, Lorenzo Rush Jr., Jonah D. Winston, Michael Kingston, Ben Broughton, Heidi Kettenring, Lydia Burke, Regina Garcia, Jesse Klug, Michael Daly, Teresa Hams, Ryan T. Nelson, Noah Landis, George Abbott, Douglas Wallop, Richard Adler, Jerry Ross, Bob Fosse, Ray Walston, Gwen Verdon

PicksInSix Review: Is God Is - A Red Orchid Theatre

April 17, 2023  /  Ed Tracy

 
 

“Deceptive power fuels “Is God Is.”
 PicksInSix® Review|Guest Contributor Ronald Keaton

There is a challenging, stylish production at A Red Orchid Theatre entitled “Is God Is,” where violence is examined from the standpoint of families and their histories, in a kind of rebellious, yet bracing take by playwright Aleshea Harris that plays at the legendary Old Town theatre through May 28.

Directed in pointed and demanding strokes by the fine Milwaukee-based actor/director Marti Gobel, “Is God Is” tells the difficult story of a family unit wracked by domestic and criminal violence that uses a dose of dark humor to make the hard moments palatable for people to bear—and for an audience to follow in the story.  And does it very well. Harris is an intelligent, resourceful writer whose full mix of familial language and street vernacular grabs us by the scruff of the neck and holds on. It produces moments that are eye-opening and brutally truthful.

Twin sisters Anaia (Ashli Rene Funches) and Racine (Aja Singletary) have scars, physical scars that we are meant to see and be uncomfortable with.  They stem from a fire in their house that was set by their father when they were much younger children, and they’ve been told that their mother (dubbed ‘She’) is dead, that is until a letter comes from her wanting to see them.  As they see She (Karen Aldridge) in her withered, damaged state close to death, they get a chilling request. These three artists—Funches and Singletary in their fun, give-and-take sister dynamic, and Aldridge in a stunning, frightening take as a burn victim facing death—are worth the price of admission.  But there’s more here than meets the eye.

As an audience member, this writer discovers here the value of truly innovative storytelling, which at first seemed problematic.  The sister’s revengeful quest that follows stretches from the Deep South to California.  At first I wondered why we had so little to work with in accepting the story.  It sneaks up on you, really: murderous acts that Racine and Anaia commit on a lawyer (a wild-haired, almost hippie-like Sherman Edwards), on the father’s second wife (Rita Wicks, whose suburban entitlement is wonderfully ironic) and on the twin…yes, twin sons Riley (a humorously deadpan Donovan Session) and Scotch (Andrew Muwonge in a hilarious turn as a self-aware writer) of this second family. The bodies start piling up like so much kindling wood around a campfire.

At last, Man—the character name for the father – comes home. As Man, Kevin Minor is at once threatening, dark and ironic in his defense of what he did all those years ago.  We first see him in a silent mime during the original description of the fire by She.  We hear his voice share an explanation that bespeaks the cycle of violence that he has instigated, that this family has endured, and that we in the audience take with disturbing ease.

The ending is a surprise that will not be revealed here.  It took getting away from the actual production to reflect upon and fully understand the experience.  The entire 100 minutes of performance does not at all give us an easy ride.  But it makes us think and consider why we accept such violence in our midst with seeming ease, like a Sam Peckinpah film of yore. Makes one wonder if we have indeed become so numb in our society, no matter the form or reason for it, that we put it on an unbecoming list of solutions.  “Is God Is” has that kind of numbing, deceptive power.

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|Fadeout Media

A Red Orchid Theatre
presents

IS GOD IS

1531 N Wells St, Chicago, IL 60610

through May 28

TICKETS

(312) 943-8722

CONTENT ADVISORY

WEBSITE

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

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

categories / PicksInSix, Theater, Theater Review
tags / Aleshea Harris, Marti Gobel, Ashli Rene Funches, Aja Singletary, Karen Aldridge, Sherman Edwards, Rita Wicks, Donovan Session, Andrew Muwonge, Kevin Minor

PicksInSix Review: The Cherry Orchard - Goodman Theatre

April 12, 2023  /  Ed Tracy

 
 

“All Things Come To An End.”
PicksInSix® Gold Review |Ed Tracy

On my first visit to Chicago, I took a brisk late morning walk from Streeterville down Michigan Avenue across the DuSable Bridge to Wacker then North Dearborn and into the lobby of the Goodman Theatre. I was on a quest, of sorts. I browsed the impressive donor wall and peered in on the staff bustling around next door at Petterino’s.

It was mid-March 2002 and I had visited a hundred theaters or more before but could immediately feel the unique energy emitting from this slumbering giant of a venue. The feeling was palpable and inspiring.

I ventured upstairs and—remarkably by today’s security standards—into the Albert Theatre balcony, settling quietly into the last seat on the aisle, watching stagehands prepare for the next performance of the Robert Falls-directed masterpiece, “Long Day’s Journey into Night.”

It was not apparent to me at the time just how much influence one person could have on an institution, particularly when it is in the business of the performing arts and operates at such an extraordinary professional level as the Goodman Theatre. Falls’ work had been recognized with numerous awards, most notably a Special Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre and for directing “Death of a Salesman.”      

An amazing career for someone who had served as Artistic Director at Goodman since 1986. But Falls was just getting started. Twenty years passed before a new generation of artistic leadership would begin writing the next chapter. The foundational work by Falls and longtime Executive Director/CEO Roche Schulfer is an epic story of partnership and passion for the arts.  One need only look at the last six pages of the program to witness the investment by individuals, corporations and foundations whose support has enabled groundbreaking new work and educational opportunities to flourish on multiple stages.

Countless years of opening nights at Goodman were top of mind as I entered the Albert on Monday for the opening of Falls’ brilliant production of Anton Chekov’s “The Cherry Orchard,” a play choice that speaks to his long range vision and embraces a legacy that will be lasting and permanent. Falls is an artist extraordinaire and an innovator who has operated at the pinnacle of his craft through a defining and challenging era for contemporary theater.

This is a production to see and to savor.

Change is inevitable and “all things come to an end” a resoundingly appropriate quote from the play that sums up our human urge to reconcile with the past even as we keep a hopeful eye to the future. Adapted by Falls from a translation by George Calderon, “The Cherry Orchard” bursts with life, love, anguish and longing, showcasing an aristocracy trapped in its social mores, vulnerable yet oblivious to the generational change that is consuming them. It is theater of the highest caliber, a classic running spritely on all cylinders with production values that are rich, textured and sublime.

It is also a play for our time, when our own creative culture is at a tipping point and theater itself in the middle of a seismic shift. Falls has molded Chekov’s vision of the collapse of mid-19th century servitude society into an assessable production that looks and feels very much like it might have at the Moscow Art Theater during its debut at turn of the 20th century. Now enhanced for a modern audience, it emerges with all the joy and sadness that Chekov might have imagined—delightfully entertaining, absorbing and captivating—elevated to new heights by an extraordinary ensemble led by the blistering performance of Kate Fry (Lubov Ranyevskaya) and inimitable Chicago stage veterans including: Kareem Bandealy (Lopakhin),  Christopher Donahue (Leonid Gayev), Matt DeCaro (Boris Semyonov-Pishchik), Alexandra Escalante (Varya), and Amanda Drinkall (Dunyasha) with two of the most endearing and heartfelt stage turns of this or any season by Francis Guinan (Firs) and Janet Ulrich Brooks (Carlotta). 

Todd Rosenthal’s artful scenic design of the estate of Lyubov Ranevskaya, the stunning costumes by Ana Kuzmanic and evocative lighting by Keith Parham, all coalesce to provide the perfect visual tapestry.

The page has now been turned. We can only dream that the next glorious chapter of Goodman Theatre history will be as exciting, and satisfying, as this one. “The Cherry Orchard” plays through May 7.  

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

GOODMAN THEATRE
presents
THE CHERRY ORCHARD
EXTENDED through May 7
Albert Theatre
170 N. Dearborn St.

(312) 443-3800

WEBSITE

TICKETS

GOODMAN THEATRE HISTORY

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

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

categories / PicksInSix, Theater, Theater Review, PicksInSix Gold Review
tags / Robert Falls, Kate Fry, Kareem Bandealy, Christopher Donahue, Matt DeCaro, Alexandra Escalante, Amanda Drinkall, Francis Guinan, Janet Ulrich Brooks, Todd Rosenthal, Ana Kuzmanic, Keith Parham, Roche Schulfer

PicksInSix Review: A SOLDIER'S PLAY - Broadway in Chicago

April 07, 2023  /  Ed Tracy

 
 

Fistfuls of alternating power and hate.
Guest Contributor Ronald Keaton|PicksInSix® Review

“They still hate you!”  The words ring out as the first moments in witnessing a murder. They are accompanied by a seeming prisoner’s work song from soldiers in an impressionistic barracks– the set piece of the painful, eloquent “A Soldier’s Play,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by American playwright Charles Fuller, whom we lost last October.  And it’s all deftly staged by the marvelous director Kenny Leon and now revived through Roundabout Theatre Company’s 2020 Tony Award-winning production on tour throughout North America and at Broadway In Chicago’s CIBC Theatre through April 16.

It’s a phrase with a fatalistic implication, as uttered by a drunken Sergeant Vernon C. Waters (a masterful presence throughout by Eugene Lee) from the 2nd floor of a US Army barracks set design by Derek McLane.  It’s stark and hazy, both at once, reflective of a time (the Deep South in Louisiana during World War II) that shows how stunningly small the progress for the civil rights movement in America was in its segregated military from the Civil War to these moments.

Captain Richard Davenport (a stylish, emotional Norm Lewis), a Black Army officer, has been sent to Fort Neal, Louisiana, to investigate the killing. He is received at first with mocking and almost disbelief by Captain Charles Taylor (William Connell), who expresses his displeasure with Davenport questioning anyone, no matter their race, because of their low regard in a military placed in the old Confederacy…A Black officer?  AND a lawyer?  Indeed, the initial suspects are local Klansmen. Then later on, two bigoted white soldiers (strong turns by Matthew Goodrich and Chattan Mayes Johnson) fall under Davenport’s suspicion.

The story is told in atmospheric flashback sequences, as Davenport’s piercing questions create memories for the audience to absorb, through each man’s story in the unit being questioned. Sgt. Waters–ambitious, of strong intellect and self-regard–treated the soldiers in his unit as almost sub-standard, making them fit into the stereotypes he views as “holding our race back.”  But in that same regard, he belatedly realizes in his drunken state that his white ‘superiors’ will never allow him his equality, no matter how much he might emulate their own behavior and attitudes.  For those actions and his persecution of the soldiers he commands, Waters is murdered while uttering his own death knell–they do still hate him.  All of them.

Mr. Lewis offers a strong military man who is not afraid to take charge of the investigation.  His Davenport acts also as a kind of gentle, principled narrator who guides us through the maze of this complex tale.  Mr. Lee is magnetic and grabs his moments in fistfuls of alternating power and hate.  Mr. Connell’s Captain Taylor is properly doubtful and disdaining.  For this writer, the strength of the story lies with the men in the barracks.  The one modicum of respect given them (if one can call it that) is that all these men are baseball players from the Negro Leagues, and they play ball against white teams every Saturday during the season.  They are skilled athletes who fiercely bond together in that baseball experience, even as Waters denigrates them for doing so.  Our eyes and hearts are drawn to the wonderful Sheldon D. Brown as CJ Memphis, a gentle and pure soul who is driven to suicide and a fine, prickly Tarik Lowe as Peterson, who challenges Waters with his own misguided passions.  There is a host of clear, articulate characterizations from a topnotch ensemble of artists–Howard Overshown, Branden Davon Lindsey, Malik Esoj Childs, Alex Michael Givens, and Will Adams.

A SOLDIER’S PLAY - at the CIBC Theatre through April 16, 2023. Broadway in Chicago

As the albatross around the country’s neck, the battle of racism in America continues as a piercing-hot specter to face, to understand and to deal with in all its forms.  Mr. Fuller’s forceful, passionate prose makes us do so with issues that still tragically ring true in our contemporary world.  Mr. Leon, one of our great theatre craftsmen, shows us in his wily direction straight-on how such issues stand up and make us stare. And wonder.  And in moments good and bad, take action to address.  A full experience here to view for us all.

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|Joan Marcus

BROADWAY IN CHICAGO
A SOLDIER’S PLAY
CIBC Theatre
through April 16, 2023

TICKETS

WEBSITE

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

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

categories / PicksInSix, Theater, Theater Review
tags / Eugene Lee, Derek McLane, Norm Lewis, Charles Fuller, William Connell, Matthew Goodrich, Chattan Mayes Johnson, Sheldon D. Brown, Tarik Lowe, Howard Overshown, Branden Davon Lindsey, Malik Esoj Childs, Alex Michael Givens, Will Adams

PicksInSix Review: Happy Days - City Lit Theater

March 24, 2023  /  Ed Tracy

 
 

“No longer young, not yet old.”
 PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Days begin and end with an alarm and brilliant flashes of light to signify the passage of time among the chaos of “Happy Days,” Samuel Beckett’s tragicomic vision of the world. There in the middle of it all is Winnie – effervescent in her curiosity, confidence and optimism that belies an undertone of futility even as she is hopeful for the promise of every new day. Winnie is immobile from the waist down, a mound of clutter, dirt and refuge consuming her – perhaps the compounded weight of life’s challenges… or a reflection of our wasteful society.

What lies out of reach is of no consequence. It is the absorbing performance of Kayla Boye, unfolding in a blazing stream of consciousness that is at once confounding and compelling, pushing artistic boundaries in an altogether new direction.  Captivating and buoyant in the first act – playfully taunting the unseen Willie and ripping through Beckett’s tacit observations on marriage, life and love with thoughtful, knowing elegance – Boye’s Winnie is immeasurably aged by her all-consuming surroundings in the second act, weighed down by it all from the neck down, searching for the last shards of hope and promise with only her voice and time-withered expressions left.  Singularly startling, daring and marvelous.

“Happy Days,” as with many Beckett works, restricts the actor’s movements, thereby limiting the tools of their trade. What remains here is a one-on-one experience with the audience. Combining passion and power in the abstract, the play then delivers a moving, not-so-final resolution that begs the existential question: What is it meant to mean?

I have been ruminating on that one for several days.

Boye, a triple-threat Chicago talent who has also written, produced and toured her critically-acclaimed Elizabeth Taylor biography “Call Me Elizabeth” is directed here by Jon Dambacher, who is also designer. The mound of recycled materials and stark lighting, utilizes the intimacy of the City Lit Theater space to full advantage. This is at its core a quiet work about the evolving nature of Winnie’s situation.  It is our eagerness to align our curiosity and expectations with the playwright’s intent that keeps us riveted to the piece.

Developing solo projects of this caliber takes courage and stamina that only a few gifted actors possess. Boye is certainly up to the task. To venture outside a comfort zone and tackle a formidable work of this scale and substance is a worthy ambition that both matures the artist and the audience. A rare and welcome combination indeed.

PHOTO|Kàchí Mozie


KB PRODUCTIONS
presents
Samuel Beckett’s

HAPPY DAYS

Directed by Jon Dambacher

Starring Kayla Boye

CITY LIT THEATER
 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue
Chicago, IL 60660

through April 2

TICKETS

WEBSITE

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

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

categories / PicksInSix, Theater, Theater Review
tags / Kayla Boye, Jon Dambacher, Samuel Beckett

PicksInSix Review: The Comedy of Errors - Chicago Shakespeare Theater

March 17, 2023  /  Ed Tracy

 
 

Comedy of Errors – “Thanks. Very Much!”
PicksInSix® Gold Review | Ed Tracy

In perhaps one of the most inspired and hilarious opening scenes in recent memory, Barbara Gaines launched her final stage production as Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Founder and Artistic Director not with a hearty hail and farewell, but instead a hilarious delivery.

Four of them actually.

The seafaring journey that follows for two sets of identical twins at the center of chaos and confusion is just the beginning of a wild and wondrous adventure. Gaines’s uproarious, over-the-top adaptation of “The Comedy of Errors” is really two shows, in fact, weaved together as one. Shakespeare’s tale of mistaken identities, mischief and mayhem is framed by an altogether new and fascinating story all its own—magnificently conceived by Gaines and brilliantly written by Ron West—that is set on a 1940 London soundstage. The developing storylines of the players is underscored by terrific musical performances, frequent Luftwaffe bombing raids, live Foley sound effects and just the right amount of hijinks and slapstick.

The play centers around the twins who are separated soon after birth by a shipwreck at sea.  Now adults in Ephesus, Antipholus from Syracuse (Robert Petkoff) and Antipholus from Ephesus (Dan Chameroy), along with their servant twins, Dromio of Syracuse (Ross Lehman) and Dromio of Ephesus (Kevin Gudhal) find themselves confounding Adriana (Susan Moniz), the wife of Antipholus of Ephesus, her sister Luciana (Melanie Brezill), the merchant Angelo (Brezon Arzell) and virtually everyone else.

Lehman also plays Dudley Marsh, the director of the film storyline and married to Veronica (Moniz) who is having a torrid affair in plain sight with Emerson Furbelow (Petkoff). Meanwhile Lord Brian Hallifax (Gudhal) is forever posturing for and expanding upon his stage real estate at every opportunity with hilarious consequences. Add to this powerhouse quartet the likes of Phil Sullivan (Chameroy), a dashing, aviator and crooning heartthrob for the charming Lillian Castillo (Marian), with the accident-prone stage manager Charles Chittick (William Dick) and you have the makings of a comic ensemble that’s on fire all night.

A spectacular set design by James Noone evokes the grandeur of filmmaking in a bygone era. It’s a gem that benefits from the stagehands quietly and effortlessly moving on and off in the context of the film shoot. The Courtyard Stage is awash with color and detail from Ken Posner’s lighting design, Mieka Van Der Ploeg’s stunning costumes and Lindsay Jones’s crisp sound and original music.

In a show filled with superb featured character roles, Ora Jones (Abbess), Adia Bell (Fanny) and Bruce A. Young (Monty/Duke) all stand out. Greg Vinkler shines as the ruddy Admiral Philpot and as his brother Eddie Philpot, funnyman Bill Larkin provides the oft-repeated phrase of the night that everyone will be saying to Barbara Gaines in appreciation of her decades of commitment to making Shakespeare accessible to everyone: “Thanks. Very Much!”

PHOTO|Liz Lauren
Barbara Gaines|Joe Mazza

Chicago Shakespeare Theater
presents
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS
Courtyard Theater
Navy Pier
through April 16

WEBSITE

TICKETS

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

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

categories / PicksInSix, Theater, Theater Review
tags / Barbara Gaines, Ron West, Robert Petkoff, Dan Chameroy, Ross Lehman, Kevin Gudhal, Susan Moniz, Melanie Brezill, Brezon Arzell, Lillian Castillo, William Dick, James Noone, Ken Posner, Mieka Van Der Ploeg, Lindsay Jones, Ora Jones, Adia Bell, Bruce A. Young, Greg Vinkler, Bill Larkin

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Copyright 2014-2024

Roxbury Road Creative, LLC

Powered by Squarespace