Pride and Prejudice

Based on the novel by Jane Austen

Adapted by Christina Calvit

Directed by Elise Kauzlaric

 Jane Austen would be proud

Even before he is ultimately smitten, Darcy, the proud, arrogant, Byronic hero of Pride and Prejudice comments on Elizabeth Bennet’s fine eyes.  There can be no finer eyes, or eyes used more effectively than those of Laura McClain in the role of Elizabeth at Lifeline Theatre. What speaking eyes she has:  rolling them to express amusement, casting them down in dismay, or glaring out of them in fury. She is a most talented and expressive Elizabeth, a perfect foil for the haughty, arrogant Darcy, nailed in that role by Dennis Grimes. The duo exhibit great casting for this star-crossed pair as they hurtle towards the inevitable outcome. Grimes maintains his stiff stance and haughty sneer throughout, only relaxing when breaking into a most welcome smile at the romantic resolution.

Lifeline presents Austen’s work at its finest, offering a smashing closing production to its 29th season.

Those in the audience could (and sometimes did) recite familiar lines (softly to themselves).  Many will doubtless also attend the Jane Austen Society Spring Gala at the Knickerbocker Hotel next Saturday

But one doesn’t have to be an Austen enthusiast to enjoy the play, or to admire how skillfully it is staged. It is a constant source of amazement to note how much Lifeline does with so little — here, in limited space; there are residences, ballrooms, the lawns of an estate. Kudos to scenic designer Melania Lancy.

And of course, the story is delicious — as always — with the shrill, silly mother (Cameron Feagin) determined to marry off her five daughters; the father who fails to lead his family wisely (Don Bender); lovely but overly conservative oldest daughter Jane (Amanda Drinkall); her next sister, the bright, articulate Elizabeth; the younger girls (Kristy Rivett as Lydia, Kelsey Jorissen as Kitty and Cassidy Shea Stirtz as Mary) ) and, of course, the inimitable, unctuous clergy man who stands to inherit it all, Mr. Collins (Phil Timberlake). Add to this mix the highly (financially) desirable Mr. Bingley (Micah J.LK. Kronlokken), swashbuckling Mr. Wickham (James Gasper), practical spinster Charlotte Lucas (Chelsea Paice) and the overbearing Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Jan Sodaro) and you are in the midst of a charming cast of characters, played to the hilt in this comedy of manners. They bring to life Austen’s contribution to literature: her response to  the overly romantic tradition, her focus on works that  replace false sentiment and strained romance to shine the light of realism on a domestic world — and all with great linguistic skill.

In this adaption, Christina Calvit, captures every nuance. She goes beyond dialogue, to incorporate lines where author speaks to reader — as Elizabeth does just that in the play — beginning with what is perhaps the most famous opening sentence of any English novel:  It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. As Elizabeth speaks, she is interrupted several times, giving these famous words even more weight and humor as they set the stage for all the follows.

Lifeline’s production captures all the high moments of the novel, missing not a beat: the ball where Catherine and Darcy meet, Elizabeth’s the two great and contrasting proposals – from Collins and Darcy, all the wonderful confrontations.

My bumper sticker reads.”I’d rather be reading Jane Austen” but this should be expanded to add, “Or seeing a Lifeline adaptation!”

Highly Recommended

Beverly Friend, Ph.D.

Jeff Recommended 

For more info checkout the Pride and Prejudice page at theatreinchicago.com

Note: For more information on the Jane Austen Society of America (Greater Chicago Region), see http://www.jasnachicago.org

 Lifeline Theatre, 6912 N. Glenwood, www.lifelinetheatre.com, 773-761-4477, Tickets $32-35 ($26 for seniors, $20 for students with ID’s, and for rush tickets a half hour before show time, if available), runs Thursdays and Fridays at 7 :30 p.m., Saturdays and 4 and 8 p.m., Sundays at 4 p.m. through June 10. Run time two and half hours with a ten-minute intermission. Post Show Discussions: May 13, 27 and July 8, 2012.

Simon Callow in Being Shakespeare

At the Broadway Playhouse, Chicago

By Jonathan Bate

Directed by Tom Cairns

An actor for all Shakespeare

One of the best moments in Being Shakespeare is when Simon Callow enacts the scene from Midsummer Night’s Dream where a group of country bumpkins assembles to cast parts for a dramatic sketch. One determined character wants to play all the roles– the romantic hero, the lovely heroine, and even a ferocious lion (and promises to deliver threatening roars).  While this amateur is dissuaded, Callow, in contrast, shows how a fine professional can successfully master highly varied characters. The vignette becomes a microcosm of the play as Callow assumes role after famous role, declaiming some of the bard’s most notable speeches.

This virtuoso recap of memorable moments from Shakespeare is the best part of the play.

Less successful is what happens between these speeches when Callow, in quiet, informal chat mode, fills in the background and history supplied by historian/author Jonathon Bate. The problem is neither with the history nor the resulting monologues, but with their delivery. Perhaps the theater is just too large and cavernous a hall. Perhaps Callow was tired on opening night, after his afternoon dress rehearsal. Whatever the reason, it was quite difficult to hear and understand his lines. Pertinent, often wry and humorous, comments are lost when he drops his tone or seems to mumble. This is certainly unfortunate as what we could hear was interesting and revelatory.  Miking him would solve the problem.  During intermission, this reviewer sought hearing aids from the theater box office, but lest readers think this was a limited, personal failing, others in the audience also complained about not being able to hear and follow the story.

On a more positive note, the play is very well structured — unfolding a theme which encompasses the “seven stages of man” (from As You like It) with many illustrative speeches. There is no question that Callow is a Shakespeare aficionado who fully believes that the Bard’s plays — both their topics and execution — reveal much of his life.  In the playbill he is quoted as saying, “Being Shakespeare is a voyage of discovery for me which I have found deeply affecting, because he deals with nothing less than all of human life.”  However, full appreciation of the play does depend on some knowledge of Shakespeare and the ability to recognize (and often internally recite) famous speeches.

Visually, the play is well done, as Callow moves around the nearly bare stage, making the most of minimal props, taking advantage of chair groupings, and — especially — enhancing the dramatic moments when standing in front of his large- than-life shadow.

What we saw was effective and what we heard was well worth hearing. What a shame to have missed any of the lines.

 Somewhat Recommended

Beverly Friend

friend@oakton.edu

For more info checkout the Being Shakespeare page at theatreinchicago.com

Broadway Playhouse, 175 E. Chestnut St., 800-775-2000, www.chicagoshakes.com,  Tickets $45-75, runs Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 1 pm, Saturdays at 2 pm and Sundays at 2 and 8 pm through April 29. Run time one hour and 45 minutes (with a 15-minute intermission).

Book by W. S. Gilbert

Music by Sir Arthur Sullivan

Directed by Dominic Missimi

Music Director Ryan T. Nelson

Choreography by Matt Raftery

At Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire

Pirates hijack delighted audience

Dominic Missimi has justifiably been called a force of nature. That’s because Missimi is as talented as a director as he was as a brilliant professor at Northwestern University (personally attested to after taking one of his engaging continuing education courses.)    While he has directed more than 30 musicals at Marriott, 80 at Northwestern and won innumerable awards, he states that Pirates of Penzance is his first Gilbert and Sullivan. We certainly hope it is not the last. What a treat this production is, deservedly getting a wildly enthusiastic standing ovation on opening night.

Of course the plot, as to be expected, is deliciously outrageous. Naive, innocent orphan Frederic (Omar Lopez-Cepero) has reached the age of 21 and is being released from indenture to a shipload of equally orphaned pirates.  He sings that he loves his comrades as individuals but finds them despicable as a group. Therefore, he pledges to wipe them out in future.

Unfortunately, the only woman he has ever seen is his father’s servant, plump, elderly Ruth (Arlene Robertson) who brought him to the ship when she mistakenly misinterpreted the word pilot as the word pirate and set him on this unhappy course when he was only eight. She assures him that she is beautiful in the hopes that we will wed her, and although he has never seen another, he is dubious. And then, he sees another — actually seven others, the giggling, pastel-clad daughters of the Major General Stanley (Ross Lehman), and falls for lovely Mabel (Patricia Noonan).

And so Act I, opening with the swashbuckling pirates, led by their wonderfully vivid, athletic Pirate King (Kevin Earley), takes off to tell the tale. What could go wrong? We must wait for the hilarious complication in the second act. Meanwhile,  Lehman steals the show with his dynamic delivery of one of the most famous songs: the rapid-paced, tongue twisting “I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General:”

 I am the very model of a modern Major-General,

I’ve information vegetable, animal, and mineral,

I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical

From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical

I’m very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical,

I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical,

About binomial theorem I’m teeming with a lot o’ news,

With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse

 Not only does the audience hear and enjoy the original lyrics, but they are treated to a modern stanza which includes references to Steppenwolf, Goodman, and even Chicago critics Chris Jones and Hedy Weiss — much to everyone’s amusement and delight.

And then — the complication! Frederic is a leap-year baby. His indenture did not promise freedom after 21 years, but after 21 birthdays. He has only had five!

How will it be resolved? If you did not see the answer at the Hypocrites version of Pirates last year, you get a second chance now. In fact, even if you did see their fine production, this one is so different it is well worth attending

The whole ensemble is terrific with strong singing, exceptional performances, and amazing choreography designed by Matt Raftery.  Especial Kudos to Andrew Lupp as the Sergeant of Police and his whole crew of “Bobbies” for their delightful hijinks.

This production of Pirates of Penzance had the hallmark of all great theater — the wish that it would never end, and the desire to go right back to the beginning and enjoy the whole evening once more. Many thanks to the whole Marriott cast and crew– and especially to Director Missimi.

 Highly Recommended

Beverly Friend

friend@oakton.edu

For more info checkout The Pirates of Penzance page at theatreinchicago.com

Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriot Drive, Lincolnshire, www.MariottTheatre.com, 847-634-0200,Tickets $41-$55,  runs Wednesdays at 1 and 8 pm., Thursdays and Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 4:30 and 8 pm, and Sundays at 1 and 5pm.

Editor’s Note: I agree with Beverly’s review of Pirates and let me add that Matt Raftery’s choreography was creative and fun. I was also impressed with the vocals from Patricia Noonan and the boyish charm of Omar Lopez-Cepero. Kevin Earley’s The Pirate King  was a hoot. This was a fun, energetic and delightful G & S worthy of an audience.

Highly Recommended

Tom Williams

Written by Neil Simon

Directed by Michael Leeds

Comedy about Hot Lover Hasn’t Cooled

Overweight owner of a fish restaurant, 47-year-old Barney Cashman (Ken Clement) has been married to the same women — his high school sweetheart — for 23 years. He has been faithful throughout the marriage and, in fact, has had only one other sexual experience, a rather dismal 15 minutes with a dingy prostitute in his brief single days. Now — he hopes — things will be different. Barney is ready for an affair.

The stage for the seduction is set — his mother’s apartment in an afternoon when she will not be home. He is prepared — carrying drinks in his small suitcase, and making sure his hands do not smell of fish.  The Last of the Red Hot Lovers is ready and more than willing as playwright Neil Simon sets him up for three attempts at “getting laid.” No — Barney want more than this. He wants the affair to be romantic — a meeting a soul mates–an unforgettable experience.

And so, the audience is privy to Barney entering his mom’s apartment, lowering the shades so no one can see in, pushing aside the bowl of artificial fruit on the table so he can open his suitcase and take out a bottle of booze. The fun is in the gradual progressions as the scene is repeated with significant variations. The booze moves from scotch to champagne. The glasses evolve from tumblers to flutes. And Barney changes, growing every more involved and more competent. It is all hilarious — filled with snappy repartee and shenanigans.

Kudos to Clement for really nailing the role of an awkward, shy, inept, eager, highly vulnerable man who is more than a mere lothario.

And then there are the women – all portrayed with great skill and aplomb! This comedy is a showcase for actors. While each woman is onstage for only one scene, each gets the opportunity to flesh out her idiosyncratic role when facing off against Barney.

Elissa D. Solomon plays blond, brash, brittle Elaine Navazio, who is eager for the liaison (and a cigarette) but ultimately turned off by Cashman’s sheer verbiage — including his recital of alliterative menu items from his restaurant.  He want to explain his creativity, to talk, to get to know each other (in the available hour and a half) and she wants more — far more. For the second encounter, Shira Abergel takes the role of wild, crazy Bobbi Michelle, the hippy that Cashman picked up in a local park. Now he must become the listener as she pours out fantastic and chaotic tales of her disjointed life. Sex takes second fiddle when Cashman — against his will and better judgment turns on to pot. And the third in this ever downwardly spiraling trio is played by Carol Sussman as Jeanette Fisher, in direct contrast to those who have preceded her. Age-appropriate and melancholy, Fisher, a friend of Cashman’s wife, appears clinically depressed over her own husband’s peccadilloes. Her sighs and sufferings are palpable.

Over this all hovers the unseen presence of Cashman’s fastidious mother who would surely notice if even a couch cushion became out of place in her apartment.

 The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, written in 1969, was a long running Broadway hit with 706 performances and a less successful 1972 film (with Alan Arkin, Sally Kellerman and Paula Prentiss). Now, in the intimate surroundings of the Stage Door Theater, it is in a perfect venue.

Highly 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 March 4. Running time 2 hours and 15 minutes (including a 15-minute intermission).

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