with director Jessica Redish’s smart remounting of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along. Don’t let any memories of past productions of Merrily stop you from enjoying this superb production. The stage craft, the excellent performances, and the marvelous chorus blended together to create a most engaging and heartfelt musical.
Utilizing Brian Sidney Bembridge’s large dollhouse set to depict a grand manor house surrounded by trees and loads of open space, El Nogalar live both in Cekhov’s world and Saracho’s world where class pressure and social turmoil threatens traditional families land and lifestyle in contemporary Mexico.
We see Anne Sheridan Smith move effectively from being Mae West – with her swagger, distinct voice and seductive walk and sexy talk to a cocky, brash and outspoken contemporary actress – Jo. Smith deftly changes persona. Smith sure has Mae West’s husky voice down pat and she presents West’s act aptly. Mae West surly lives in Anne Sheridan Smith’s convincing performance.
It just seems almost cheap, somehow wrong, to sum up last night’s performance with mere words. It seems insufficient to recount, in any way, what happened without having your hands wrapped around the neck of the person you’re explaining it to.
What is perhaps most enticing about this show is the issues it deals with: death foremost amongst them, of course, but the questions of what is nature, what is natural, and what is human are also vital in the libretto. Miranda, when she is struggling with whether or not she should join those she loves in the System (a question that remains unanswered), says that she does not want to go, because it is death that defines us; a sentiment shared by Solon, when he told Croesus that he cannot tell if someone has lived a happy life or not until he knows how they died.
The Hot L Baltimore is a play about the haunting effects of time on a group of social misfits all of which are scared by the ghosts from their past. Their lost dreams led to their personal decay and ruin just as their refuge from the cruel world is about to be demolished since their home – The Hot L Baltimore – will soon lose to the wrecking ball. This is a slice of life drama about the bonds of community that binds a group of homeless survivors holding on and surviving without much of a safety net.
We see how wacky Hazel is as she mumbles her way through a running monologue about a hunter in a forest. When her housemate, Shelly (Briana DeGulio) – Hazel’s surrogate daughter comes home from a long day as a waitress in the small town dinner, they plan an evening of board games while
Told with humor, loads of heart with quirky yet lovable characters, From Generation to Generation is a cute bouncy musical featuring a nice assortment of non-Equity players. A family saga filled with history, Jewish tradition and a memorable score awaits.
It is fitting that a story of a military unit – the Scottish Black Watch infantry of the British Army – be hosted before more than 600 souls at a former Army National Guard Armory in Rogers Park. Black Watch is an interesting blend of theatrical styles including songs, marches, personal interviews, stylistic combat and training movements with intense emotional outpouring that deeply tells the story of soldiers serving the British Army in Iraq.
The reality, however, is something else: my notes from the show read like director’s notes from the first rehearsal, not a critic’s from opening night. This I lay at the feet of Brian LaDuca, who clearly has no earthly idea what he’s doing and has no business directing, especially something as difficult to execute as Shakespeare. The language was shaky, the speech too fast, the conception of the play poorly designed and executed.