Written by Kristoffer Diaz

Directed by Clive Cholerton

What a knockout play!

Reviewers have opportunity to see so much theater that seldom do they feel a pang at missing one particular opening. Now, I regret  not having seen Victory Garden’s 2009 world premiere of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, and have rectified the omission. What a terrific play! You certainly needn’t be a wrestling fan to enjoy it; you only need be a fan of innovative approach, solid plotting and fine acting.

The play was actually only my second experience of wrestling. At age 26 and in the 8^th month of pregnancy, I scoffed at my over-protective mother-in-law’s warning:  “Don’t sit in the first row. The wrestlers often get tossed out and one may land in your lap.”

“Sure,” I thought. “This woman frets about everything.”

She was right; one combatant came flying over the ropes and barely missed me. We moved several rows back.  While there was no physical danger in the ringside set of Kristoffer Diaz’s brilliant and highly comic drama, plenty of provocative ideas were hurled at us over the ropes:

• The villain controls the winner.
• Wrestling is “the communion of two individuals doing all they can to insure neither gets hurt.”
• Wrestling is essentially a ceremonial ritual of protection.
• The artifice of the ring provides a vivid metaphor
• The reality of the ring is based on the illusions of life.
• The business of managers is to milk and reinforce society’s prejudices.
• The rebellion of stereotypes is short lived
• A loaf of raisin bread can become a symbol of what is important in sport as well as in life (the raisins, of course).

This unorthodox, vibrant satire on sports, business, race, politics and power in the U.S.  is narrated by Puerto Rican wrestler Mace, aka Macedonio  Guerra (Brandon Morris), who has loved wrestling, and played with his brothers and toy action figures since childhood. Video projections continually enhance his narrative. Now, in his adult connection with wrestling, his job is to make himself into a human punching bag so that the other guys look good. As he notes, “In wrestling, you can’t kick a guy’s ass without the help of he guy whose ass you are kicking.” The main person he facilitates is the less skilled but far more charismatic, flamboyant African American Chad Deity (Donte Bonner).

Mace then discovers another charismatic talent in Vigneshwar Paduar (Adam Bashian), an Indian-American rock star who can speak in English, Spanish, Hindi and Urdu, and brings him to the attention of his manager, Everett Olson (Gregg Weiner).  Olson then takes over to create a new wrestling persona garbing him in Muslim robe for his role as an “Islamic terrorist,” with a lethal “Kabbalah-kick.” Ultimately, he will be slated to appear against Chad in a “Pay for View” extravaganza.

Throughout each match – and the wrestlers are amazingly skillful in execution — the audience is involved – encouraged to chant for the winners, and groan at key moments. When Mace says, “The crowd gasps” – the audience is happy to oblige.

The excellent cast is rounded out by Matthew Shaller, a professional wrestler as well as an actor, who played wrestling partners Billy Heartland and Old Glory. Kudos to the fight choreographers (who have also been wrestlers) Pablo Marquez and Dan Ackerman and to the versatile and athletic actors who were able to perform all the necessary gymnastics.

While I might not seek out future wrestling matches, I certainly plan to look for new plays by Diaz. The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity was deservedly on the short list of nominees for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize.

Highly Recommended

Beverly Friend

friend@oakton.edu

Caldwell Theater Company at the Count de Hoernle Theatre, 7901 Federal Hwy. Boca Raton, Fl., 33487, www.caldwelltheatre.com,  561-241-7432, tickets, $27-50 (Students $10),  runs Wednesdays through Saturday at 8  pm, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2 m, through Feb 12. Running time is one hour 45 minutes including a 12-minute intermission.

Written by Neil Simon

Directed by W. F.Wilson

Prisoner captures audience

There is nothing like a Neil Simon play for rounding out the old year and ringing in the new.

This is dark comedy rendered with a light hand.  Clever banter undercuts family angst as fast-paced repartee unfolds the story of a married couple struggling with economic and social problems as vivid and timely today as when the play was written.  When The Prisoner of Second Avenue opened in 1971, the term “downsizing,” was not in anyone’s vocabulary, but Mel Edison (Dan Kelley) and his wife Edna (Derelle Bunn) certainly become its victims and suffer all the resulting pain.

After 22 years on the job, 47-year old Mel has been laid off. To add to the distress, Manhattan is in the grips of a heat wave, and a faulty air conditioner makes the house freezing (like living in 12 degrees).  A prolonged garbage strike results on nasty odors emanating from the street. Neighbors are noisy and inconsiderate. And then to cap it all, burglars ransack their apartment making off with Mel’s seven suits, three sports coats, jackets, trousers, the TV, all the booze (including the

Chivas Regal), and even the Valium!

How can anyone stand all this? Mel can’t, and the result is a nervous breakdown. Kudos to Kelley who covers a gamut of emotions – not missing a nuance in a range from normalcy to paranoia – with great insight and manic humor. Edna as his ever patient, understanding, wife seeks to alleviate the situation by soothing words and actions. She takes hold, returns to work, and encourages him to get psychiatric care. No wife could do more as she schleps home daily to make lunch for him before returning to work.

Enter additional support – a hilarious quartet of Mel’s siblings: successful businessman Harry (Bob Levitt), who is still tormented by the fact that Mel (the baby of the family) was their parents’ favorite, and a trio of rather brittle elderly sisters: Pearl (Phyllis Spear), Jessie (Gail Byer), and Pauline (Margie Elias Eisenberg). This is the first time they have been in Mel’s apartment in nine years, and their desire to help is muted both by various ill feelings and fear of getting too financially involved. The siblings are delightful, and the sisters maintain clear individuality while striking similar ambivalence towards the Mel’s plight.

The acting is terrific throughout, and the lead couple — Kelly and Dunn — compare quite favorably to the original 1971 Broadway cast of Peter Falk and Lee Grant and to the 1975 film stars Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft.

Highly Recommended

Beverly Friend

Stage Door Theatre in Coral Springs, 8036 W. Sample Rd, 954-344-7765, www.stagedoortheatre.com Tickets $38- $42.  Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2 pm, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 7 pm through Jan 29. Running time two hours including a 15-minute intermission.

Words and music by Irving Berlin

Conceived by Ray Roderick and Michael Berkeley

Directed and Choreographed by Jonathan Van Dyke

To Love the Piano is to Love the Pianist (and the Whole Show)

What prolific composer lived for over 100 years and wrote songs spanning seven decades of US history? The answer is, of course, Irving Berlin (1888-1989), whose music plays on long beyond his lifetime, and is especially remembered at this time of year — whenever we hear “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.”

And what about “God Bless America?” “Blue Skies?” ” A Pretty Girl is like a Melody?” “Puttin’ on the Ritz?” “Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning?” “Easter Parade?” and the scores of his Broadway and Hollywood hits? If this list continued to include all his songs, it would be over 900 titles long – and include 19 musicals and 18 movies!

Innovative Ray Roderick and Michel Berkeley had a great idea when they assembled 64 of the best and brightest songs to be sung by six engaging performers, and created a delightful frame to house it all. This is more than a recital or a review; it is a trip through time. The first act incorporates eight scenes, moving effortlessly from a 1910 setting in Alexander’s Music Shop, where young girls sing to promote the sale of sheet music, to 1918′s Tin Pan Alley, a speakeasy, the Lower East Side in the 1930′s during the depression, a glamorous 1940′s ballroom, and the famous Stage Door Canteen. In the second act, the Canteen continues post World War II before moving to on a 1950′s junkyard (to highlight the song “We’re a Couple of Swells”), before entering the world of summer stock (centered around highly amusing auditions for “Annie Get Your Gun”).

The talented cast of six – Robert Arthur, Samantha Bryce, Erin Edelle, Michael Karraker, Will Hutchenson, and Bethany Wagner sing and dance with aplomb, weaving into various combinations to enhance mood and situation, costumed beautifully and presenting  their different roles via song, not dialogue. And there is one more character – the piano itself. While it is sometimes moved, often it remains center stage so that the characters (back to audience) seem to be playing while the real pianist (David Nagy) and his orchestra (Julie Jacobs on Percussion and Rupert Ziawinski on Bass) are lodged behind in the shadows.

 The songs are timeless – as is evident in the lyrics that Bryce sings
hauntingly:

What’ll I do?
When you are far away
And I am blue
What’ll I do?

What’ll I do?
When I am wond’ring who
Is kissing you
What’ll I do?

What’ll I do with just a photograph
To tell my troubles to?

When I’m alone
With only dreams of you
That won’t come true
What’ll I do?

Director Van Dyke wrote, “This tribute to Berlin’s music will make you
want to dance, laugh, go on a first date, shed a tear, hug your partner,
stand in reverence and sing at the top of your lungs.”

That says it all.

Highly recommended.
Beverly Friend

Stage Door Theatre in Coral Springs, 8036 W. Sample Rd, 954-344-7765,
www.stagedoortheatre.com Tickets $38- $42.  Wednesdays, Thursdays,
Saturdays and Sundays at 2 pm, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm,
Sundays at 7 pm through Jan 8.

]]> http://chicagocritic.com/i-love-a-piano/feed/ 0 http://chicagocritic.com/guys-dolls-florida/ http://chicagocritic.com/guys-dolls-florida/#comments Sun, 20 Nov 2011 17:43:59 +0000 admin http://chicagocritic.com/?p=18421 Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser

Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows

Based on characters by Damon Runyon

Directed by Dan Kelley

Take odds on missionaries vs. gamblers

The worst that can be said about this Florida production of GUYS and DOLLS is that it is uneven. The best that can be said is that when it runs true, it provides some terrific moments.

Jill Taylor Anthony provides the very best moments in the role of Miss Adelaide, the doll who has been waiting 14 years for her guy, Nathan Detroit (Justin Lore), to finally tie the knot.  Her timing is terrific; her voice just right for the songs; her demeanor winsome – altogether a winning combination.

This musical is a classic  – considered one of the best ever because of the talents of Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows and based on two charming Damon Runyon stories. It is filled with 20 catchy song-and-dance numbers including these all-time favorites:

A Bushel and a Peck

If I Were a Bell

I’ve Never Been in Love Before

Luck be a Lady Tonight

Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat

Old-timers may well remember the story, but for the youngsters, the plot line consist of two intertwined love stories where the dolls ultimately seek to change their guys and woo them from their gambling ways.

Adelaide wants Detroit to forgo running a floating crap game; Salvation Army Officer Sarah Brown  (Colleen Amaya) seeks to “save” Sky Masterson (Adam Bashian).  It’s missionaries vs. gamblers with love as the ultimate winner.

Memorable scenes include the crap game itself, featuring disgruntled, gun-toting thug Big Jule from Chicago (Jack Livesey), who has come to “shoot craps” no matter what, and a delicious moment in the Mission where Masterson fulfils his promise to deliver a  dozen highly reluctant sinners to be saved.

The names of the characters are as colorful as their garish, pinstriped suits and lively roles; Nicely-Nicely Johnson (Phil Gosselin), Benny Southstreet (John Warren),  Angie the Ox (Leonardo Altafini) and Harry the Horse (Geoffrey Mergele).

Is this a great musical? Yes, without a doubt. Is this a great production? No, it is a competent one with some delightful moments that make it worth seeing.

Recommended.

Beverly Friend

friend@oakton.edu

Stage Door Theatre in Coral Springs, 8036 W. Sample Rd, 954-344-7765, www.stagedoortheatre.com Tickets $38- $42.  Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2 pm, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 7 pm through Dec. 4.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Based on the novel by Carson McCullers

Directed by Hallie Gordon

Play about deaf mute speaks out to audience

What could appear more innocent than an apple with just one bite out of it? That is, until you learn that the apple belongs to Eve and you are in the Garden of Eden.  Situation is everything.

What could seem more mundane than a man shoving his hands into his trouser pockets? That is, until you learn that the man is the deaf mute John Singer (Robert Schleifer) and that his clenched fists express all the pain and anguish of not being able to communicate via sign language to his only friend, Antonapoulos (Jay Reed), who has been incarcerated in an asylum.

The desire for and inability to communicate mark the haunting  theme of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. This is the tale of a mute ironically named Singer, who not only is deprived of the recipient of his innermost thoughts and feelings but who now, in turn, becomes the uncomprehending focus of the thoughts and feelings of everyone surrounding him.

Fourteen-year-old tomboy Mick Kelly (Jessica Honor Carleton) an unexpected devotee of Mozart, wants to talk to Singer about music. She is unable to recognize that he cannot  understand, let alone share,  her passion. Benedict Copeland (Walter Coppage), the town’s only black doctor longs to be heard as he has not been heard by his own children. He had wanted to inspire them, lifting them out of racial stereotypes but, instead, has alienated them. Jack Blunt (Loren Lazerine), a boozing drifter spouts forth polemics on the exploitation of the working man. Widower Biff Brannon (Colm O’Reilly) seeks memories of a wife whose face he cannot remember.  And all of this happens on the same stage — the characters remaining visible throughout the play — with only the shifting spotlight revealing which particular episode is underway. This draws the viewers into the midst of the village to become involved with its lonely inhabitants.

Mick, Copeland, Blunt, and O’Reilly all have something they hate and a passion that they love.  All these loves and all these passions spill helplessly over Singer, never penetrating the surface. This deluge of words never reaches anyone who can share and understand them although there is a brief, hopeful moment at the opening of the second act when they all gather in Singer’s room — the only time they are together. However, what might have been never happens — their fountain of words dries up.

Carson McCullers’ brilliant book (written when she was only 23), focusing this tragedy of alienation, is now transformed into a play where once again the heart hunts and yet remains forever lonely, never capturing its prey.

High praise to Adapter Rebecca Gilman for achieving what might at first sight seem to be an impossible task — a drama centering on a deaf mute. A novelist can explore characters from all angles. How can this be achieved on stage with a deaf mute?   Partially via narration, but mostly it is achieved though the nuances of body language and the skill of Schleifer, who is himself deaf. Gilman has remained very true to the book’s dialogue and major moments.

Kudos to a fine, sensitive cast, rounded out with Ann Joseph and Derrick C Cooper as Copeland’s children, and Alan Wilder and Nick Vidal in multiple roles.

This production is part of the Steppenwolf for Young Adults series, which includes educational components to enhance arts for young audiences, teachers, and families.

Those who have never read McCullers superb book have missed a true classic, and while seeing the play cannot replace this experience, it is a fine, and certainly  worthwhile, start.

Recommended

Beverly Friend, Ph.D.

For more info checkout The Heart is a Lonely Hunter page on www.theatreinchicago.com

At Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted, 312-335-1650, www.steppenwolf.org, tickets $15-25. Sundays at 3 pm, Saturdays at 7:30 pm through Nov. 4. Running time two hours and five minutes (with a 10 minute intermission).

Follies at Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Book by James Goldman

Directed by Gary Griffin

Only one play on your list? Make it this one!

On April 4, 1971, the prestigious The New York Times failed to appreciate an extraordinary new Broadway musical. The play got raves in the national press but lack of local enthusiasm caused it to close after 522 performances. This was in spite of the fact that it won the New York Drama Critics Award, was nominated for 11 Tony awards and won seven:  Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (Alexis Smith) Original Score, Direction, Choreography and Scenic, Costume and Lighting Design

Forty years later, on Sept 12, 2011, the newspaper got a chance to redeem itself when Follies once more opened in New York. This time, they got it right!

Oh, not all was lost in the intervening years. Many revivals have been mounted and several of Stephen Sondheim’s songs went on to garner individual fame as singles: Broadway Baby, I’m Still Here, Too Many Mornings, Could I Leave You? and the wonderful torch song Losing My Mind.

Now it is Chicago’s turn! And the recent New York opening — even with such a stellar star as Bernadette Peters — couldn’t surpass the Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s production. If this review were limited to just one word, that word would be magnificent! What a sight for the eyes, what a pleasure for the ears, what a treat for the mind.

While with most musicals, the plot is the least of it, Follies offers an exception, weaving nostalgia into a rather psychological study  of two struggling couples as they revisit their youth and reevaluate their life (and particularly their marital) choices.

The occasion is the reunion of the lovely chorines who graced the former Weismann (read Ziegfeld) Follies 30 years earlier and who now gather for one last time before the demolition of their theater – soon to become a parking lot. Each showgirl appears in two incarnations—as her present self (ranging from middle to old age) and as her younger counterpart, garbed in appropriate glamorous, glittering costume.      There is even a ghostly stunner complete with plumed headdress.

The guests reminisce and then perform the routines of their dancing days – shadowed by their ethereal counterparts. The effect is dazzling, especially in the show stopping number Who’s That Woman, where they sing to imaginary mirrors, seeking to clarify their identities.

With his usual effervescent verve, Mike Nussbaum plays Dimitri Weismann, the impresario who reassembles his cast. The story then focuses on two showgirls who married their stage door Johnnies: the pleasant Sally (Susan Moniz) and her salesman husband Buddy (Robert Petkoff) Plummer, and the far wealthier, more sophisticated, edgy Phyllis (Caroline O’Connor) and Ben (Brent Barrett) Stone. The complication is that Sally has always yearned for her friend’s husband Ben.

Act I deals with the interplay between the couples which is also juxtaposed against their younger selves (played charmingly by L.R. Davidson, Andrew Keltz, Adrian Aguilar, and Rachel Cantor).

All is punctuated by the guests who trot out their original routines.

Act II is amazing, taking this even further as the routines become more and more compelling and we are carried back into the vaudeville days of the original, sumptuous follies – now long lost but hopefully not forgotten. This is more than a recap, however, because each specific routine reinforces the original story line. Buddy morphs into a carefree comic, capering with young Sally and his current mistress Marge (Amanda Tanguay) in a hilarious threesome. Sally and Phyllis belt out bitter, impassioned commentaries on their lives and Ben, swaggering in a white suit struts his stuff until overwhelmed by the enormity of his decisions.

The whole play is very much a tribute to the past, with music reflective of the particular time frames. All culminates with the routine ensemble performance of LOVELAND – a parody of the saccharine belief in the curative powers of love:

Time stops, hearts are young,
Only serenades are sung
In Loveland,
Where everybody lives co love.
Raindrops never rain,
Every road is Lovers’ Lane
In Loveland….

Under Gary Griffin’ fine direction, the 40-member cast is excellent – in voice and character depiction —  doing justice to the complexity of the story and the brilliant score. Three songs – and their renditions — are outstanding, a tribute to the poignancy of Sondheim’s melodies and the wit and versatility of his lyrics:  Hollis Resnik who as aging diva Carlotta Campion, brought down the house with her rendition of I’m Still Here, Moniz for Losing My Mind and O’Connor for Could I Leave You.

Highly Recommended

Beverly Friend, Ph. D.

Jeff Recommended

For more info checkout the Follies page on www.theatreinchicago.com

Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier, www.chicagoshakes.com, tickets  $55-$75, Tuesdays through Fridays at 7:30 pm, Wednesdays at 1 pm, Saturdays at 3 and 8 pm, Sundays at 2 pm. (and 6 pm on 10/23). Running time is 2 hours and 30 minutes including a 15 minute intermission, through Nov. 11, 2011. Forty percent parking discount at Navy Pier garages.

Tom Williams’ Reflections on Follies:

Kudos to the fabulous Chicago cast members and to director Gary Griffin for mounting a world-class production of Follies. Congratulations to Stephan Sondheim for his pastiche of Broadway show tunes from the Follies Era (Sondheim defines pastiche as “Fond imitations, unlike parodies or satires, which make comment on the work or the style being imitated.”) Lastly, to Chicago Shakespeare Theater for spending whatever it took to mount a costume and set rich production.  We can hope that each year, Chicago Shakespeare Theater will mount a seldom-done Broadway musical. (Hint: A Tree Grows In Brooklyn)

Highly Recommended

Created and performed by Carrie Fisher

Originally directed on Broadway by Tony Taccone

Princes Leia reveals palace secrets

When life hands her lemons, Carrie Fisher knows just how to make lemonade – and you can imbibe the resulting, very tasty concoction in Wishful Drinking, her one-woman dramatic, autobiographical expose.  Fisher’s particular lemons include alcoholism, substance abuse, depression, bipolar mental illness, and the traumas resulting from a growing up with royal celebrity parents: Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher.

For those in the audience too young to remember the scandal when America‘s sweethearts split and Eddie dumped Debbie for the far more glamorous Elizabeth Taylor, Fisher compares the triangle to contemporary stars Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie. In fact, one of the highlights of the show is when Fisher stands before a large bulletin board filled with photos —a rather bizarre chart of genealogy —  and traces the many marriages, remarriages, random couplings, and offspring generated by her parents and “step mom.”

As she explores her past, she notes that what happened may not have been funny at the time, but in retrospect, she has been able to plumb the humorous depths to come to terms with herself.

Her very first tale – about awakening one morning to find the house guest who was sleeping beside her had died during the night – transcends what must have been the horror of the experience. As she says, it is not only that he died during his own sleep, he also died during hers. Upon completing the story, Fisher begins the first of her many interchanges with the audience, turning up the house lights to see if they have any questions. Of course, they do, and she fields them with great aplomb and unfailing good humor and wit.

Against a backdrop that moves from strident headlines about her past, through all the Princess Leia depictions, to photos of her passages through the various stages of her life – Fisher is forever engaging.

She displays all the Princess Leia paraphernalia resulting from her role as in Star Wars — – not merely dolls that range from minuscule to life-size but a shampoo bottle, a soap bar and even a PEZ dispenser. She mocks the braided earmuff hairstyle created for the film and quotes George Lucas who asked her to remove her bra for the role because, “There is no underwear in outer space!”

She seems to tell it ALL – or nearly all — and delves into her own marriages and divorces: briefly to songwriter Paul Simon and then to agent Bryan Lourd – who turned out to be homosexual.

Wishful Drinking opened in Los Angeles in 2006 and has been highly successful throughout the U.S., winning the 2010 Outer Critics Circle Award The book version, based on the play, was on the New York Times bestseller list for 14 weeks.

Unfortunately, it will only be in Chicago for two weeks.  For those who want to know what really goes on in the celebrity homes of the rich and famous, who enjoyed Mommy Dearest, by Christina Crawford (Joan Crawford’s daughter), and are now rushing out for the October release of Whateverland: Learning to Live Here, by Alexis Stewart (Martha Stewart’s daughter) – don’t miss this chance to hear Carrie Fisher’s story FIRST HAND!

Recommended

Beverly Friend, Ph.D.

friend@oakton.edu

For more info checkout the Wishful Drinking page on www.theatreinchicago.com

 Broadway in Chicago, Bank of America Theater, 18 W. Monroe St., 800-775-2000, www.broadwayinChicago.com Tickets $25-65. Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 2 and 7:30 pm through Oct. 16. Run time one hour and 45 minutes including a 15-minute intermission.

Snapshots

Book by David Stern

Directed by Ken Sawyer

This album well worth viewing

Take a direct, simple story, unfold it with exquisite care, and the result is a gem of a play opening Northlight’s 37^th season.

The plot of this Chicago première of Snapshots is easy to sum up: Sue and Dan (Susan McMonagle and Gene Weygandt), middle-aged empty nesters, find a hoard of old pictures in their attic.  Sue plans to leave Dan, and is just about to tell him so when they begin to examine the photos and reminisce about their early years together (Act I) before honing in on an examination the ways they have drifted apart (Act II).

The snapshots, originally photos clutched in their hands, become large projections on the paneled walls before actually springing to life in the form of two incarnations of their earlier selves: Susie and Danny (Megan Long and Nick Cosgrove) and Susan and Daniel (Jess Godwin and Tony Clarno). The three couples interact to sing and dramatize specific, emotion-filled episodes that trace the two from their early days in elementary school  – hitting on many rites of passage  —  before moving on to courtship and highlights of their 30 years together.

And what songs they are: 28 drawn from 12 successful musicals – all written by Stephen Schwartz. The melodies are recognizable from many of these shows which include Wicked, Pippin,  Godspell, The Magic Show, Rags, Personals, The Baker’s Wife, Enchanted, Captain Louie, Working, Reluctant Pilgrim and Children of Eden – but the lyrics have been rewritten to fit the new dramatic situation.

Schwartz has said that to his knowledge this has never been done before. That’s why he titles it a scrapbook rather than a review or book musical. For the first time, an original songwriter has revised his lyrics to enhance storytelling. And it works!

The cast has remarkable voices, clear and compelling and their dramatic ability marches the timbre – moving from humor to nostalgia with ease as past and present intermingle and advice is exchanged back and forth, neatly breaking barriers as they address their earlier selves. It is an imaginative tour de force – brilliantly executed. What might be clunky in other hands, flows smoothly under the expert direction of Ken Sawyer.

Kudos to Jack Magaw for the multi-level set, Karl Christian for musical staging, Steve Orich for Musical direction and arrangements,  and to the orchestra: Chris Sargent, Scott Reed, Paul Dallas, Jeffrey Handley and Marc Hogan.

While Act I is stronger than the slower second act, by play’s end the viewers responded to much that reached their hearts.  On opening night, not a few wiped away tears as they joined the rest of the audience for a standing ovation.

Recommended

Beverly Friend, Ph D.

Jeff Recommended

For more info checkout the Snapshots page on www.theatreinchicago.com

Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie, 847-673-6300, www.northlkght.org. tickets $25-65 ($10 for those under 25, subject to availability), Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays at  7:30 pm, Wednesdays at 1 pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm,  Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30, Sundays at 7 pm through October 23. Running time 2 hours and 10 minutes including a 15-minute intermission.

Created and written by Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton and Chris Wink

Directed by Caryl Glaab, Todd Perlmutter, Michael Quinn, and Bill Swartz.

Artistic and Musical collaborators, Larry Heinemann and Ian Pai

 Pulsing show never misses a beat

Mime meets music, meets comedy, meets multimedia in shows in New York, Boston, Las Vegas, Orlando, Berlin, Tokyo, on tour throughout the U.S., on international cruise ships and – most fortunate for us – right here in Chicago!

Warning: Whatever you do, arrive for Blue Man Group on time. If you are late, all Hell breaks loose – lights flash the words “YOU ARE LATE,” the blue trio points at you, the audience takes up the chant, a spotlight follows you and a huge move screen displays your entire arrival – walking down the aisle and getting your seats. So, be on time!

You may even want to be early, because so much happens right from the start. Suspended, brightly lit words scroll by, directing activities to engage the audience. They announce celebrities (if there are any) to be introduced and applauded. They even extend intros to a few ordinary people. If there is a birthday in the house, you are directed to say – but not sing – “Happy Birthday.”

Then, the show begins – and what a show it is: innovative, fanciful, fun-filled, a true spectacle. What the world needs is more mime –and here it all is. The three blues are studies in nuance and non-verbal communication – from the pertinent turn of a head to the gesture of a finger – everything becomes clear. The Blue Men can be slapstick or poignant; they capture and display emotion easily and with aplomb and wind us around their drumming fingers with each and every shtick. Their individual facial features may be blurred by the blue, but oh those speaking eyes!

Sketch rapidly follows sketch in this brand new show. Highlights include a brilliantly executed exploration of huge Gipads as the three weave in and out of these communication devices in amazing sequences.  Then there is the tribute to plumbing as they beat out rhythms from huge pipes, which they expand and contract to vary pitch. Much is new, and yet nothing is lost from the old, including odd, original instruments and the show stopping drumming on paint barrels –with all the attendant splashing. Those seated  in the front rows huddled under rain slickers to protect their clothing. And, there is the grand finale with streamers, and giant balls floating through the air to be tapped and sent aloft again and again by eager, engaged members of the audience.

This continually pulsing show certainly includes the audience, especially when two are singled out to join the thee Blues on stage. Whether they are really guests or shills is debatable, but in either case the shenanigans are great fun.

This unique, multi-sensory theatrical phenomenon provides a magical treat for the whole family: not to be missed.

Note: There is an open casting call for men and women between 5’10 and 6’1 tall and athletic, with superior drumming and acting skills.  Currently there are approximately 90 Blue Men, worldwide. So, if you fit the bill….

Highly Recommended.

Beverly Friend

friend@oakton.edu

 Briar Street Theatre, 3133 N. Halsted St., 773-348-4000, www.blueman.com/chicago. Tickets $49-$64. Thursdays 8 pm, Fridays 7 pm, Saturdays 4, 7 and 10 p.m., Sundays 4 and 7 pm in October and 1 and 4 pm in November. Running time one hour and 45 minutes without intermission. Open run.

In The Next Room or the vibrator play

Directed by Sandy Shinner

At Victory Gardens Theatre, Chicago

All the right vibes: electricity fuses marriage and intimacy

Highly recommended! Now you needn’t to read all the way to the bottom of this review to learn the assessment of this terrific Chicago Première of In the Next  Room or the vibrator play.

Who would ever think that such a topic could be molded into a drama? With wit, humor, and compassion, Sarah Ruhl takes historical fact – the medical use of vibrators to calm female patients suffering from what was diagnosed as hysteria in the late 19^th century – and innovatively weaves it into a tale of love on many levels, including but certainly not limited to the physical.

Dr. Givings, played with handsome, cold assurance by Mark. L. Montgomery, treats unhappy women with this new electric device. Thomas Edison and the new science capture his pioneering imagination, impelling him to conduct his own experiments. He is delighted with the results — when his machine stimulates the women into happy paroxysms (aka orgasms). Sensitive to science, he is insensitive to the human drama surrounding him.

We meet the good doctor’s capable nurse, Annie (Patricia Kane), his wife Catherine (Kate Fry) and two patients. The first, Polly Noonan, plays uptight, restrained, girlish, unhappy Sabrina Daldry, dominated by insecurities: she fears light, and being touched, and is totally distressed.  Sabrina is accompanied by her unsympathetic husband played solidly by Lawrence Grimes. The second patient is somewhat of a surprise, appearing at the opening of Act II.  Vivid, mercurial Leo Irving (Joel Gross) is a stressed male, an artist blocked creatively from his work and desperate for release. One more character rounds out the fine cast – Elizabeth (Tamberla Perry), hired by the Givings to wet nurse their infant.

While the doctor is able to stimulate his patients, he fails to do so for his wife. And the story becomes a tale of love on many levels: love for one’s mate, love for ones work, love for those of the same sex, and love of ones child. While the new gadget provides impetus and breaks new ground (so to speak), it is merely a means to an end. For this reason, the play has universal appeal, forever timely in its exploration of emotional as well as physical intimacy.

That is not to say that it does not provide highly comedic moments. Who would ever expect to see a series of vibrator “treatments” depicted on stage – albeit quite discretely, under the doctor’s draped sheet. Also to the designer’s credit and for historical accuracy, the vibrator itself bears no resemblance to current sex toys. Rather it appears to be a round rotating pad connected to a large cabinet on wheels.

What results from the physical vibrations resonates far beyond medical treatment to trigger sympathy and understanding between men and women. This encompasses not only female sexuality but also female fertility.  Not only is Catherine lonely and unfilled sexually, she is also unable to produce sufficient milk to feed her infant daughter. She is reluctant to hire a wet nurse, distressed that this woman has recently lost her own child, worried that her baby and the woman will bond and exclude her from the mother/daughter equation. Interestingly, 37-year-old Ruhl wrote the play while nursing her own newborn.

In recent interviews, both Ruhl and director Sandy Shinner have stressed the underlying theme of having to  pay for essential intimacies — what should come naturally – marital sexual pleasure and the ability to nurse one’s own child.

Sometimes tender, sometimes almost farcical, the play really belongs to the outspoken, brave, curious Catherine.  She listens at the door of her husband’s examining room, wonders at the rapturous noises emanating forth, and takes matters into her own hands, especially in a delightful scene with Mrs. Daldry when they mutually explore the new gadget without benefit of the doctor.  Fry is extraordinary in the role, capturing diffidence joined by determination to learn what is going on and how she, herself, may benefit. Her every facial expression and gesture reveal the inner woman.

It is no wonder that in the final scene between Catherine and her husband, she comes out on top – literally as well as figuratively!

The Next Room was deservedly nominated for three Tony Awards in 2010: for Best Play, Best Featured Actress in a Play and Best Costume Design.

Once again – Highly Recommended  – with one caveat: not for children.

Beverly Friend

friend@oakton.edu

For more info checkout the In The Next Room page on www.theatreinchicago.com

Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. 773-871-3000, www.victorgardens.org. Tickets are $20-$50. Runs Tuesdays, through Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Wednesdays at 2 pm, Saturdays at 4 pm, Sundays at 3 pm. Running time two and a half hours (including 15 minute intermission), through October 9. Valet parking is available for $11 for all performances except weekday matinees.