This is a welcome engrossing work that vividly depicts the friendship (and possibly more) between T.E. Lawrence and Robert Graves as the two share common adjustment problems after the horrific experiences of both men in 1920. Robert from the trenches of France and Lawrence from his adventures in the Middle East as he led the Arabs against the Turks in World War I. Warriors have always found problems adjusting to ‘civilian life’ after the tribulations of war.
Jeffrey Hatcher gives us a glimpse into the Lunt & Fontanne’s world as we meet the couple at Ten Chimneys. There is Carl (Lance Baker), Alfred’s pool-playing brother; Louise (Janet Ulrich Brooks), Alfred’s sister and Ten Chimney housekeeper. And, of course, there is Alfred’s dominating mother, Hattie (Linda Kimbrough), who both admires and rules Alfred during his time at Ten Chimneys. Alfred built a house on the estate for Harrie. She hated and ridiculed Lynn, Alfred’s wife, at every occasion.
Somehow director Rachel Rockwell’s current production of Hair has lost something – maybe her take on the ’68-’69 protect musical was too campy – too much like parody because it never comes off as more than a group of ’60’s dressed folks playing hippies. I never believed that the group was real, that they were indeed flower children.
The two maids (sisters actually) role-play their fantasies concerning The Mistress. These games feature one sister playing The Mistress as the other sister plays herself. The roles then are reversed. We see how the line between admiration, love, contempt and loathing becomes obscured during the role-playing. Playwright Genet gives each of the maids—Rich Logan (Solenge) and her little sister Claire (John Arthur Lewis) long speeches that vividly depict their emotional shifts that become tedious and redundant quickly.
With only a few performances remaining in this short-run goodbye embrace from these stunning artists, get there now and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in a fashion that will soon disappear (and how lucky is Chicago that the tour would overlap the holiday?). It may yet return one day in the future, but that’s no excuse to risk not seeing this wonder of the modern cultural landscape.
This long one act dissolves into a pageant of lewd acts, torture and cruelty that occupies us in a most enticing, albeit, dark manner. Although hard to follow at times, Camino Real is strangely intoxicating as we marvel at the cleverness and freshness as the haunting Spanish songs fuel the mood of melancholy.
I must confess that I have never been a real fan of this show finding it an over-produced little show trying to be a big musical. The material begs to be an intimate chamber piece set it a small space with honest actors with strong vocal chops. That is exactly what co-directors Fred Anzevino and Brenda Didier have done with their most fulfilling production of The Light in the Piazza.
As an intriguing mash-up, Pinocchio is full of contrasts and parallels. It’s an entertaining production, but the balance between tragedy and comedy (normally a staple for the Neo-Futurists) here feels disappointingly sided in favor of funny.
The folks at TUTA, under the creative, support of artistic director Zeljko Djukic, have allowed the cast of Kirk Anderson, Jaimelyn Gray, Stacie Beth Green, Trey Maclin and Jacqueline Stone to use their ingenuity skills that include quirky physical comedy with unique singing to mount a world premiere showcase production of the Fulton Street Sessions that almost defies description.
George Frederic Handel’s (1685-1759) first Italian opera composed for the London stage, Rinaldo, in 1711 was a spectacle that introduced Londoners to the joy of Italian baroque opera with its wonderful melodies and rich bel canto singing. The longer I’m exposed to the joys of opera, the more I admire the Baroque style opera with their exquisite singing that allows the performers to demonstrate their craft upon the melodious scores