While many Chicago bars are closed on Monday nights or hardly doing any business, there is one spot that packs them in.  No, it’s not for Monday Night Football or a Cubs game. They come to Sidetrack Video Bar (3349 North Halsted Street) for Showtune Mondays.

The crowd starts arriving at 8:00 p.m. in order to get a seat on the upper level where they can see the six-by-eight foot video screen. Joel Gray opens the show with ‘Welkommen,’ the opening number from the movie Cabaret.  In four languages the MC tells the patrons that they’re in for a musical treat.

When that number ends, the screen cuts to Betty Hutton singing ‘I Got The Sun In The Morning’ from Annie Get Your Gun.  The next number features Beatrice Arthur and Angela Lansbury reenacting their famous ‘Bosom Buddies’ number from Mame. The Sidetrack crowd is starting to get into the spirit of the classic showtunes. After a break for a five-minute comedy routine featuring  Cher, the VJ decides to capture the spirit of independence and determination. Hence, we see Rosalind Russell doing her ‘Some People’ number from Gypsy. A chorus of bar patrons are singing: “Some people got the dream, yeah, but not the guts…but some people aren’t me.”  We see Mama Rose stealing the gold plaque from her father, thus allowing her and her children a chance in show biz.

An old black and white video of Ethel Merman singing ‘Good To Be Here’ gets a loud response from the Sidetrack patrons.  Next we see a stage full of pretty girls and sailors with a redheaded Patti LuPone singing and tap dancing to the great Cole Porter tune ‘Anything Goes’. This number has become a classic for the patrons of Sidetrack because it impacts the power of a great showtune done with a large ensemble performing a slick tap number. There is not another bar in Chicago where you can watch and sing along to the greatest music from the greatest shows by the greatest artists.  By 10 p.m. Sidetrack Video Bar is almost completely filled.  The tremendous assortment of showtunes from all the great Broadway musicals, MGM musical films and even special PBS concerts are formatted in a way that creates a show within a show.

It’s amazing that over the last twenty years, Art Johnson, Pepe Pena and Chuck Hyde have established the Broadway showtunes musical video format as the basis of a successful neighborhood bar that has become a worldwide attraction.  Sidetrack is known as one of the coolest gay bars in Chicago. The place is home to all theatrical devotees.  Monday night is the best night for the showtunes because all theatres in Chicago are dark that one day of the week. One can find talents like Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane (from The Producers), Colm Wilkinson(from Les Miserables) as well as Oprah Winfrey. All have joined the patrons as they celebrate the greatness of Broadway showtunes.

About 10:30 p.m. the place is full and the atmosphere is electric. ‘Oh What A Beautiful Morning’ begins and the patrons become a chorus. ‘Do Re Me’ follows and is soon complemented by ‘Oklahoma’ and Kate Smith’s ‘God Bless America’.  ‘No Business Like Show Business’ caps the emotions. The crowd is going wild.

If you enjoy great music, great performances or you just can’t see enough musicals, then stop by Sidetrack Video Bar Monday nights from 8 P.M. to 2 A.M. and Sunday afternoons from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Also, if you want to see Sidetrack’s “Best of Broadway” schedule, make sure to stop by Friday evenings from 6 P.M. to 9 P.M. It’s a fun show with a lot of great people.

I highly recommend at least one visit. Keep in mind that if you arrive at 8 P.M., you’re liable to leave at 2 A.M. Everybody does that.

Tom Williams

June 16, 2002  (This article first published in the Wicker Park Voice)

Written & Directed by Emilie Beck

Number of People by Emilie Beck

Produced by Piven Theatre Workshop

At the Noyes Cultural Center, Evanston

Heart wrenching performance by Bernard Beck fuels memory play

Veteran Piven Theatre Workshop member Bernard Beck not only gave a tour de force performance as Leo Gold, a fictional Holocaust survivor but he also gave a masterclass in acting. His 90 minute performance as an aging man confused by memory lapses while muddling between reenacting the horrors of Holocaust and wondering who the audience members are – was a most engaging theatrical event.

Emilie Beck, Bernard’s, daughter, wrote and directed Number of People with her father in mind to play Leo.  Emilie’s expertly written script wisely spends enough time having Leo deal with his short term forgetfulness indicating dementia’s creep.  She cleverly has little sounds (terrific sound design by Jack Arky) jolt Leo back to his Holocaust days where little anecdotes become vividly relived and spoken,  only to find Leo jolted back to the present by another sound a few minutes later.

Bernard Beck demonstrate how sharp Leo was as a statistician where he sees life in terms of numbers in an abstract metaphor for human existence. We are 1’s, his wife was an 8 and his daughter is an 11. Sprinkling his atheistic beliefs with the randomness of life, Leo makes a case for how we really don’t remember history and how we are doomed to repeat it. He shows vividly how we are all “really the bad guys.”

Bernard Beck’s amazingly honest performance had me remembering my talks with a Auschwitz survivor in the 1960-70’s. Beck referenced “that look” that survivors of atrocities (whether in Yugoslavia,  Rwanda, Cambodia or Sri Lanka) possessed in their eyes. I did see that look and I’ll never forget it.

Beck deftly moves through the uncertain and chaotic world of old age where memory loss completely frustrates life.  Of course, Beck’s powerful (and scary) scenes depicting horrors from his camp days in the Holocaust moved me almost to tears. His memory of almost violently taking revenge on a German boy was a dramatic high point. Beck also tells the story of how Leo worked counting victims of African atrocities (probably Rwanda) by telling us about a young girl who survived a massacre at a church. See had the “look” as well as a razor thin body. He demonstrates how soon we forget.

I can’t remember a more intense and powerful one person show than the one I witnessed as Piven Theatre Workshop with Bernard Beck’s stunning Number of People. Leo’s asks “who will witness?” We must and the Beck’s will show us the way. Number of People is not only mesmerizing theatre but an important cautionary  tale.

Highly Recommended

Tom Williams

Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast

Date Reviewed: March 8, 2010

This review is also posted on www.mytheatreclub.com/articles.php

At Piven Theatre Workshop in the Noyes Cultural Center, 927 N. Noyes, Evanston, IL, call 847-866-8049, www.piventheatre.org, tickets $25, Thursdays thru Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 2:30 pm, running time is 90 minutes without intermission, through April 11, 2010

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Music by Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus (formerly of ABBA)

Lyrics by Tim Rice

Book by Richard Nelson

Driecter by Fred Anzevino & Brenda Didier

Choreographed by Brenda Didier

Musical Direction by Ryan Brewster

Produced by Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre in association with Michael James

At the No Exit Cafe, Chicago

Strong production values saves dated Cold War rock musical

Chess is a dated (1986) rock musical filled with what New York Times theatre critic Frank Rich called it:  “the evening has the theatrical consistency of quicksand” and described it as “a suite of temper tantrums, [where] the characters … yell at one another to rock music”.  I found that assessment to be somewhat true although Theo Ubique’s production made an effort to give the show some heart. That mostly came from Maggie Portman’s fine singing and engaging performance as Florence the main love interest for the two Chess champions.  In 1988, Chess lasted only 2 months on Broadway.

I must confess that I’m not a fan of pop/rock musicals nor disco nor rock-sung recitative. All of these elements were present in droves in Chess. While directors Fred Anzevino and Brenda Didier trimmed Chess, it still is 2 hours and 40 minutes with intermission. Much too long to sustain interest – I’d advise cutting some songs and scenes.

The story involves a romantic triangle between two top players, an American, Freddie (Courtney Crouse) and a Russian, Anatoly (Jeremy Trager) in a world chess championship, and a woman, Florence (Maggie Portman) who manages the American and falls in love with the Russsian; all in the context of a Cold War struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, during which both countries wanted to win international chess tournaments for the  propaganda value.

Chess is anchored by the terrific Maggie Portman whose performance alone is worth the ticket price! Jeremy Trager effectively plays Anatoly as an emotional, caring fellow with heart.  Courtney Crouse plays the American as a crude, raw punk-rocker who yells out his rock anthems more than sings them.  Crouse’ persona gives new meaning to “Ugly American.”

Filled with innovative staging and fine choreography by Brenda Didier, the supporting ensemble danced, acted and sang well. Jenny Guse, Jenny Lamb, John B. Leen, Ben Mason and Travis Walker each had their moments. John Taflan, as The Arbiter and Stephanie Herman, as Svetlana, landed their songs nicely.

The best song in the entire mediocre score was the moving anthem “I know Him So Well” that Meggie Portman and Stephanie Herman reached the heavens singing. Too bad the show didn’t have more tunes like that.

In summary, Chess is a dated 80’s pop/rock musical that tries to do too much yet the folks at Theo Ubique polished and tightened the work into an enticing evening of musical theatre.  Their intimate setting at the No Exit Cafe serves the show well. You’ll probably enjoy Chess more than I did.  I can’t get over so much rock-style singing.  Chess will be a curiosity to some and a fresh new rock musical to others. The sheer production values and stirring performances by Portman and Trager make Chess a treat. Theo Ubique mounts worthy shows.

Recommended

Tom Williams

Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast

Date Reviewed: March 7, 2010

This review is also posted on www.mytheatreclub.com/articles.php

Chess, A Cold War Rock Musical, will continue through April 25, 2010 at The No Exit Cafe located at 6970 N. Glenwood Avenue in Rogers Park.  The performance schedule is Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 7 p.m.  Tickets range from $25-$30 and a dinner package can be purchased for $25 more.  To reserve your spot call 800-596-4849 or online at www.theoubique.org. The Redlins Morse stop is across the street.

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Conceived by Jamil Khoury

Directed by Steve Scott

Plays:
Finding Your Inner Zulu by Elizabeth Wong
Mother Road by Velina Hasu Houston
That Could Be You by Lina Patel
WASP: White Arab Slovak Pole by Jamil Khoury
Bolt from the Blue by Shishir Kurup
A Very DNA Reunion by David Henry Hwang
Child Is Father to Man by Phillip Kan Gotanda

Presented in Association with the Goodman Theatre

At The Historic Chicago Temple Building

Intriguing ideas lead to seven unique short plays

Theatre meets science when a diverse group of playwrights each agree to take a genealogical DNA test and revisit their assumptions about identity politics and the perennial “who am I” question. Self, family, community, and ethnicity are all up for grabs.

The Artistic Director of the Silk Road Theatre Project, Jamil Khoury’s idea for a series of short plays centering on the genealogical DNA test has produced an intriguing evening of theatre. The seven plays contain humor, fantasy, personal revelation and poignancy.

Play #1 Finding Your Inner Zulu by Elizabeth Wong cutely introduces us to DNA as Asian-American basketball player Cricket (Jennifer Shin) wanting to alter her DNA in order to make her tall enough for the WNBA. This is a fascination fantastical journey rich in humor.

Play #2 Mother Road by Velina Hasu Houston is look at family ties blood or genetic ties as Peretua (Jennifer Shin) travels into the Mojave Desert to find Eva (Fawzia Mirza) with whom she shares a mother.

Play #3 That Could Be You by Lina Patel. We meet Addy (Cora Vander Broek), Teddy (Khurram Mozaffar), Cyndy (Melissa Kong) and Gene (Clayton Stamper)–all these are products of their environment or products of their genes? What if we switch roles with them person next to us- would we be the same person or would our new environment change who we are. This play was funny and telling. This smart piece deals nicely with our expectations about genetics, parenthood and identity.

Play #4 WASP: White Arab Slovak Pole by Jamil Khoury is an intelligent, honest presentation by Jamil Khoury of his unique ethnic identity and the Silk Road Theatre Project. Jamil is a WASP – White Arab Slovak Pole. Clayton Stamper deftly plays Jamil as he navigates his character through the cultural confusion with ample doses of humor. This play points out how a person’s name and skin color can produce assumptions about a person. Khoury’s writing sure makes us laugh as well as demonstrating that tags and looks don’t necessarily indicate true character.

Play #5 Bolt from the Blue by Shishir Kurup finds Rishi (Khurram Mozaffar) on the phone and Internet speaking to his mother and his young cousin, Hari (Clayton Stamper) tells Rishi about his depression and schizophrenia and how he tried to commit suicide in Scotland. Lingering in Rishi’s mind is the possibility of DNA spreading the mental disorder.

Play #6 A Very DNA Reunion by David Henry Hwang finds teenage Bob (Clayton Stamper) with his real DNA family that includes Cleopatra ( Fawzia Mirza), Genghis Khan (Anthony Peeples), Ninja dude (Khurram Mozaffar) in his bedroom while his parents keep bugging him to find a job. This funny play spoofs the imprecise science of DNA.

Play #7 Child Is Father to Man by Phillip Kan Gotanda finds a man (Khurram Mozaffar) reflects on his dead father in a emotionally wrenching monologue of self discovery about being a child, a parent and a man. Quite poetic and beautiful, this short play explores both the intimacy and the remoteness of family.

I enjoyed the diversity of styles as each of the seven playwrights put an artistic spin on the issue of DNA, heredity and environment as each contribute their take on who they are as part of the American melting pot.  the acting was outstanding, particularly from Clayton Stamper. Kudos to Jamil Khoury for shepherding this project on to the stage.

Recommended

Tom Williams

Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast

Date Reviewed: March 7, 2010

This review is also posted on www.mytheatreclub.com/articles.php

At The Historic Chicago Temple Building, 77 W. Washington St., Pierce Hall (corner of Washington and Clark streets), call 312-857-1234, X201, www.srtp.org, tickets $34, Wednesdays thru Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 4 & 8 pm, Sundays at 4 pm, running time is 2 hours, 15 minutes with intermission, through April 4, 2010

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By Ernest Hemingway

Adapted by Eric Ting and Craig Siebels

Directed by Clive Cholerton

Caldwell Theatre Company

At the Count de Hoernle Theatre

Once More Plumbing the Depths with ‘Papa’ Hemingway

No good book has ever been written that has in it symbols arrived at beforehand and stuck in…. I tried to make a real old man, a real boy, a real sea and a real fish and real sharks. But if I made them good and true enough they would mean many things

Ernest Hemingway speaking about The Old Man and the Sea.

In adapting this famous novella for the stage, Eric Ting and Craig Siebels have made the work good enough and true enough to do Hemingway justice.

What a brilliant adaptation of this allegorical tale, and what a daring and daunting task to portray such a celebrated story. Following its 1952 debut in Life Magazine (where over five million copies of the magazine sold out in two days), the novella became a Book-of-the Month selection, and, later, received the Pulitzer Prize. It was specifically cited when Hemingway won the Nobel Prize, and this timeless piece with its universal themes has since become an international classic.

Now Santiago’s famous battle to catch and bring home a giant marlin, after 84 fruitless days fishing off the Cuban coast, comes to life on a Florida stage. Interplays weave between the old-timer, the young lad he mentors and another man — a small character from the book in an expanded role — who becomes many things: a musician reinforcing the rhythms of the speeches, the focus of specific memories, and the echo of a narrator, alternating with the young lad.

The boy himself transcends his role in the original text moving in and out of the old man’s hallucinating memories as he struggles to catch the fish. In one brilliant moment, he becomes both an imaginary ally helping Santiago pull on the line and the fish itself, struggling against the old man’s strength. The fish, forever present and forever unseen takes on the qualities of a Moby Dick – a love/ hate object for the old fisherman.

Act I delineates the epic struggle between man and fish as Santiago, sitting in his small boat, center stage, pulls on the imaginary line and wraps it around himself, all the time talking aloud to the fish, to himself, to God.

The actual catch is left to the imagination and in Act II, we are beyond it, safe with the old man in his beach shanty as he hallucinates and relives both that moment, and the tragic aftermath of shark attacks on his “treasure.” The effect is far more effective and moving than the attempt to show it “all” in the 1958 Spencer Tracy film version.

David Pendleton is perfect in the Santiago role portraying a wiry old salt — who is nearly as obsessed with baseball as with fishing — as both strong and fragile, carrying him from moments of despair to the heights of triumph in his three-day saga with his nemesis.  Ishmael Cruz Cordova as the boy, Manolin, captures all the hero worship and compassion of an adolescent moving into manhood. Leajato Amara Robinson as Cienfuegos, makes a unique contribution to the story by combining music with narrative to reinforce the action. He is the only one in this cast of three who appeared in debut of this work a year ago at its world premiere at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Conn.

This Florida production is only the second time the play has been mounted. Hopefully, it will not be the last. Watch for it, Chicagoans!

Highly recommended.

Beverly Friend

friend@oakton.edu

This review is also posted on www.mytheatreclub.com/articles.php

At the Count de Hoernle Theatre, 7901 Federal Hwy. Boca Raton, Fl., 33487, www.caldwelltheatre.com,  561-241-7432, tickets, $34-55 (Students $10 half an hour before the performance),  runs Thursday through Saturday at 8  pm, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2 m, running time is 85 minutes with a 12-minute intermission  through March 28.

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By Joshua Aaron Weinstein

Directed by Rebekah Scallet

Produced by Live Wire Chicago Theatre

At the Viaduct Theatre

Contemporary urban squatters tent city saga fizzles

Live Wire Chicago Theatre has mounted a world premiere drama by their Executive Director Joshua Aaron Weinstein – Lower Debt – now running at the Viaduct Theatre in Roscoe Village.  This rambling work about a group of dispossessed folks squatting in an abandoned urban lot is a cliche ridden muddled story that tries to cover too much in  90 minutes.

We watch black and white film footage that introduces us to each character except for the two women and the man who take over the space and set up camp. The time is during an uncertain contemporary economic climate – a sort of 21st Century Grapes of Wrath.

Lower Debt is an urban fable centered around a collection of mysterious folks who gather into a community for some strange reasons never made clear. The squat is run by Claude (Malcolm Callan) with his wife Val (Melissa diLeonardo) and her sister Wendell (Annie Rix).  Claude is an uptight nasty fellow who runs the squat with an iron fist. We never fully learn the background of these three. They seem to be escaping a horrible incident and they are fearful of all strangers.

They take in cash boarders: Ames (Tamara Anderson) a walking pharmacy, Rash (Josh Johnson) a taxi driver with loads of compassion for Leah (Miriam Reuter) – his dying girlfriend.  Damon (Glenn Proud) is an alcoholic panhandler. The vague script never gives plausible background reasons why these folks need to be living in squealer since they seem to have cash? Only CW (Brian P. Cicirello) seems to be there due to being downsized from his copywriter job.  CW seems to be looking for the muse to help him finish his screenplay.

The plot rambles on with several episodes that defy plausible explanation.  The press notes state that the tent cities residents are “all searching for another way to live.” Okay, but why tents in a dirty industrial park? I could go on with more ‘why’ questions but Lower Debt ultimately fails as the story is a contrivance that is filled with doses of flowery language that comes off as pure ‘playwright speak’ that is inconsistent with the presented character. The slow pacing made me weary. I also never cared enough about any of the characters to interested in their problems. The CW and Rash characters could be  developed more. The show sure needs a tighter focus. Too many unanswered questions. Playwright Joshua Aaron Weinstein needs to rethink this work.

Not Recommended

Tom Williams

Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast

Date Reviewed: March 6, 2010

This review is also posted on www.mytheatreclub.com/articles.php

At the Viaduct Theatre, 3111 N. Western Ave, Chicago, IL, call 312-533-4666, www.livewirechicago.com, tickets $12 – 410 industry/seniors, Thursdays thru Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm, running time is 90 minutes without intermission, through April 4, 2010

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By Madeline Olnek

Directed by Meghan Beals McCarthy

Produced by Caffeine Theatre

At the Lincoln Square Arts Center (at Berry Methodist Church)

Quirky comedy speculates on the life (and loves) of Emily Dickinson

Caffeine Theatre follows their acclaimed production of Under Milk Wood with another fine ensemble piece – Wild Nights With Emily by Madeleine Olnek. Emily is a quirky comedy that smartly attempts to solve the mystery of the recluse poet’s life – Emily Dickinson (1830-1886).

Playwright Olnek has weaved a well crafted comedy that deftly skips around in time and space, switching narratives in an energetic and clever comical exploration of Dickinson’s life, her poetry, and her possible forbidden love.

Emily Dickinson (Jessica Bennett) was rarely published during her life time and, upon her death, hundreds of her poems were found. She spent years living alone with few visitors.  As people close to her compete to tell their version of her life story, this fun play utilizes cross-dressing, Dickinson poetry and an understanding of Emily’s alleged homosexuality.

Based on some of Emily’s early association with Susan Gilbert (Dana Black) that found the two inseparable for many years, Olnek presents the two in a forbidden lesbian affair. The ensemble work here is spirited and quite funny. Black and Bennett  produced fine stage chemistry as their sensual sparks were quite realistic.  The use of humor didn’t diminish from the stories heart as female-to-female relationships are depicted as romantic despite being forbidden in the 19th Century.

Director Meghan Beals McCarthy keeps the action and the laughs rolling in her 90 minute one-act. Wild Nights With Emily is a pleasing, sweet  and light-hearted romp that gives Emily Dickinson a new image. This show is fun and worth a look.

Recommended

Tom Williams

Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast

Date Reviewed: March 6, 2010

At the Lincoln Square Arts Center, 4754 N. Leavitt, Chicago, IL.call 312-409-4778, www.caffeinetheatre.com, tickets $15 – $20, Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 3 & 8 pm, Sundays at 7 pm, running time is 90 minutes without intermission, through April 11, 2010

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By George F. Walker

Directed by Rob Chambers

Produced by Theatre Mir

At Chicago DCA Theater

Unfunny parable unfolds as a over-acted cartoon

Canadian playwright George F. Walker’s 1987, Beautiful City, is called a parable but it plays like  a silly comic-strip fable that simply collapses due its manic, over-the-top performances.  Filled with buffoonish over-acting, especially by Yosh Hayashi, as Tony Raft – the gangster  obsessed with building condos and a mall in the intercity; Mira Vasiljevic as Gina Mae Sabatini,  the witch with powers to change people; and Jeremy  Kahn, as Stevie Moore, the young want-to-be but not-too-smart criminal, Beautiful City is a mess. Those three main characters were so exaggerated,  so loud, and so much clowning that their characters were reduced to caricatures.

In beautiful City, we meet  an architect with severe stomach pains, his shaky brother, a wacky hospital volunteer,  a ditsy witch, a ‘modern’ police detective, and a crime family led by a stern matriarch. The cast tries to push the comic elements too hard replacing comic timing with screaming, physical gestures and strange accents.  The cast acted like players on meth or speed.

The opening night audience, filled with many friends of the cast, hardly laughed as there wasn’t much hoot about. The uneven pacing, the multiple blackout scene changes, and the short episodic scenes each contributed to a thin story that was both predictable and devoid of humor.  The social satire played like a Saturday Night Live sketch but without the humor. This flat show was too goofy to be funny. I blame the writing, the over acting and the clumsy staging.

When you attempt to mount a biting satire that is a cartoon fairy tale complete with a witch -  don’t play it silly because you lose the sharp bite necessary to sustain the satire. Beautiful City lacks plausibility. The shallow characters gave us no one to cheer for especially as the confusing action deteriorated into fluff.  I couldn’t find much to admire in this two hour long off-kilter attempt at comedy.

Not Recommended

Tom Williams

Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast

Date Reviewed: March 5, 2010

This review also posted on www.mytheatreclub.com/articles.php

At the Storefront, 66 E. Randolph, Chicago, IL, call 312-74208497, www.dcatheater.org, tickets $25 – $20 seniors, $15 students, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays a 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm, running time is 2 hours with intermission, through April 3, 2010

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By Carlos Murillo

Directed by Margot Bordelon

Produced by Theatre Seven of Chicago

At Chicago Dramatists Theatre

Smart murder mystery a stinging parody of realty TV, film and documentaries

Carlos Murillo’s Chicago premiere of Mimesophobia (or before and after) – defined as “the morbid fear of slavish imitation.” Murillo’s overwritten work suffers from him trying to use too many styles. The work is framed as a reality TV show, documentary re-enactment description of a film script and a murder mystery all rolled into a 100 minute show.   The result is a theatrical exercise that is an intelligent, funny  satirical look into the American obsession with violence. Our voyeuristic instincts make murder and the cult of celebrity into a fun spectator sport that we can’t get enough of.

Despite the long opening monologues by the work’s twin narrators Brian (Brian Golden) and Jessica Thigpen (Jessica/Beth – the mother), Mimesophobia unravels as part murder mystery, part reality TV show with a glimpse into the creation of a film by Henry (Michael Salinas) and Aaron (Brian Stojak). Playwright Murillo structures much of the work using  a  film script description complete with camera shot directions. This effectively paints the action in our minds eye as it evokes humor and wit from the camera point of view.

The work dodges between Hollywood and Hyde Park Chicago as it tracks one family’s tragedy. Henry and Aaron want to cash-in with a film while Cassy (Cassandra Sanders) wants to reconstruct her murdered sister Shawn’s (Cyd Blakewell) diary in order to solve her murder.  The work demands our full attention as it moves  briskly between forms to tell the story. Sprinkles of wit, satire and raw humor propel this challenging work.

The journey into our obsession with our ‘need-to-know’ mindset contains much spot-on timing and verbal acumen from the entire cast – especially Brian Golden, Jessica Thigpen and Cyd Blakewell.  The media, the message, the facts, and the need to be dramatic converge to make us question why we feel the need to open doors we know are better left unopened? And why do we consider that to be worthy entertainment?

The parody of film making and the satire of TV recreations works well here. This provocative play has many levels of meaning that contain cautionary elements about contemporary entertainment.  Theatre Seven Chicago has a fast paced, well performed show that risks information overload but ultimately delivers a troubling commentary. It is well work seeing.

Recommended

Tom Williams

Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast

This review is also posted on www.mytheatreclub.com/articles.php

At Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL, call 773-853-3158, www.theatresevenofchicago.org , tickets $12 – $24, Thursdays thru Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 3 pm, running time is 100 minutes with intermission, through April 4, 2010

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The Marriage of Figaro

Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte

Opera buffa in four acts in Italian

At the Lyric Opera Chicago

The perfect cast excels in the perfect opera

My favorite opera – The Marriage of Figaro – is a joyous romp filled with lovable characters, sublime music (three and a half hours of Mozart -who could ask for anything more?) and superb voices. Seeing Figaro is like spending an afternoon in heaven! The angels couldn’t have sounded better.

Mozart (music) and da Ponte (libretto) wrote Figaro in 1784 and it was first produced in Vienna on May 1, 1786. It quickly became a major hit propelling Mozart into opera stardom.  The Lyric Opera’s splendid production has all the opulence of 18th Century Europe with period-perfect costumes and rich sets by John Bury with wigs and makeup by Richard Jarvie.

Figaro contains sweet music, sardonic comedy, and a stinging reflections on love and life — Mozart demonstrates his genius with this masterwork.

I agree with the quote: “Figaro, the count’s whip-smart valet, is set to marry Susanna, the Countess’s comely maid. But the Count wants Susanna for himself! Enter Figaro with a scheme that cuts him off at the pass and teaches everyone a lesson!” Figaro has a terrific story filled with plausible situations and funny bits.”

Besides the melodic, sophisticated score, Lyric Opera has cast Figaro with fabulous actors who are also major star singers. Kyle Ketelsen has the charm and machismo to go alone with his impressive bass-baritone voice.  Danielle De Niese commands the stage as the spirited and beautiful Susanna. She captures our hearts with her charm and her strong magnetic appeal. Her soprano soars.

Anne Schwanewilms’ Countess Almaviva was impeccably sung and acted by the veteran soprano.  Mariusz Kwiecien playboys the scheming Count Almaviva with a devilish twist. His baritone rocks the house. Joyce DiDonato plays the page boy Cherubino deliciously while her mezzo-soprano is clear and sharp. You’d be hard pressed to find a more polished production–so wonderfully staged filled with  many hilarious and truthful moments.

If you can only see one opera this year–let it be The Marriage of Figaro at the Lyric Opera – its like being on a cloud on the way to heaven. What a wonderful afternoon of art I experienced–I only wish all of you were with me to share this special work.

Highly Recommended

Tom Williams

Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast

Date Reviewed: March 3, 2010

This review is also posted om www.mytheatreclub.com/articles.php

At the Lyric Opera Chicago,  20 N. Wacker, Chicago, IL, call 312- 332-2244, www.lyricopera.org, tickets $20 – $207, Running time is 3 hours, 40 minutes with intermission, through March 27, 2010

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