This cast creates a spell both with their acting/singing skill making this 80 minute show into a polished art piece that Beckett would enjoy as well as Newley and Brisusse. An Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse Songbook is a most entertaining revue with energetic singers covering a sophisticated songbook of almost forgotten composers. This review is a showcase for a fresh, youthful and amazingly talented newbie – Graham Thomas Heacock.
Gail Rastorfer as Mary Jane Kelly. Photos by Emily Schwartz.
By Aoise Stratford
Directed by Kurt Johns
Starring Gail Rastorfer
Produced by SoloChicago
Playing at Theater Wit, Chicago
Nothing Unfortunate About This Performance
SoloChicago launched with Ron Keaton’s show Churchill, and the second production by the company, which is devoted to one-person plays, is very much a complementary work. The aesthetics of the production of Aoise Stratford’s The Unfortunates, helmed by company artistic director Kurt Johns, are very similar to those of Churchill, also featuring projections by Paul Deziel and music by Eric Backus. But while Churchill depicted a historical titan in the comfort of his own home and was largely derived from his own writings, the character in The Unfortunates is from the opposite side of the social hierarchy, and in a sinister, shadowy environment. Mary Jane Kelly is considered by scholars to be the last definite victim of Jack the Ripper, and what few details of her life are known are sketchy and contradictory. In a truly marvelous performance which spans hilarious satire and social commentary to the deepest pain and sorrow, Gail Rastorfer imagines who Kelly might have been, and restores a living face to someone who is remembered only for being a victim.
So what would you do if there was only one day left to live and the world was going to be taken over by an unpredictable overflowing volcano? This is the premise of the show. There are scammers like Plankton (Nick Blaemire) who claims to want to save the world in order to make money. The hoarders of money like Mr. Krabs (Carlos Lopez) who thinks money is more important than family and tries to claw his way to the top (no pun intended-no yes it was). His daughter Pearl (Emmy Raver-Lampman) is always trying to get his attention without much success. However, when in sync, the two of them together can really belt out a tune Daddy Knows Best (Alex Ebert of Edward Share and the Magnetic Zeros).
Thrillers are a tough genre to make work in live theatre, but when they’re as well-written as Ira Levin’s 1978 Deathtrap, and as well-staged as William Osetek’s current production at Drury Lane, they can be as hair-raising and suspenseful as the best movies.
Riveting, thoughtful glimpse into the life and values of a major 20th Century writer
I’m a fan of one person shows. The skill it takes to present a solo show is daunting, yet playwright turned actor James Sherman has produced a worthy portrait of a near-forgotten literary figure from the 20th Century. Sherman has researched and complied the words of the prolific journalist, playwright, novelist, essayist, and screenwriter – Ben Hecht (1894 -1964). Sherman is favorite Chicago playwright know as “the Neil Simon of Lincoln Avenue” for his comic kitchen-sink plays (See https://www.jamessherman.com/)
Hecht was a major literary artist in the first half of the 20th Century. To appreciate this show more, be sure to read Hecht’s bio at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Hecht. You’ll discover he was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A journalist in his youth, he went on to write thirty-five books and some of the most entertaining screenplays and plays in America. He received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some seventy films. He became an active Zionist shortly before the Holocaust began in Germany, and wrote articles and plays about the plight of European Jews, such as, We Will Never Die in 1943 and A Flag is Born in 1946.
We probably remember the terrific TimeLine Theatre’s production of Hecht’s The Front Page a few years back.
What James Sherman deftly did on stage was to humanize Hecht as an honest person telling his life story from his Jewish origins that moved him from a person who claimed that he had never experienced anti-Semitism in his life and claimed to have had little to do with Judaism, but, “was drawn back to the Lower East Side roots late in life and lived for a while on Henry Street, where he could absorb the energy and social consciousness of the ghetto,” wrote author Sanford Sternlicht.
Ben Hecht
What Sherman accomplished so effectively was to take us on Hecht’s journey from a journalist to a playwright to a screenwriter (whose success made him as much as $100,000 in a month!) to a leader advocate for saving Jews in Europe during World War II and, eventually a homeland for the Jews. The story is presented matter-of-factually by Sherman with nice humor and tads of irony. I was amazed by the skill Sherman demonstrated on stage after many years of absence. I also learned much about how the Jews of Hollywood made sure that none of Jewish life entered into mainstream films. We see how, despite the large paychecks, Hecht thought most of his film scripts contained little art.
The Ben Hecht Show is filled with fine examples of Hecht’s brilliant writing that was expertly delivered by James Sherman. This is an important solo show that contains the wit, wisdom, and commitment of a major public figure to a worthy cause. Hecht’s story is in good hands with Sherman.
Griffin Theatre concludes its 2015-16 season with a Chicago premiere of Bat Boy: The Musical, the camp-horror comedy-cum-social satire based on The Weekly World News article of a half-boy, half-bat found in a West Virginia cave. Featuring a curious story, music and singing of various genres, and many strong, comedic performances, this off-beat musical will find a happily entertained audience in most fans of musical theatre, particularly those hip to its camp-inclined sense of humor.
While out spelunking one day, the Taylor siblings encounter a strange bat/boy creature (Henry McGinniss) living deep in a cave. After it bites their sister Ruthie (Erin Daly), Ron (Kelley Abell) and Rick (Jeff Meyer) capture it in a sack and deliver it to Sheriff Reynolds (Michael Kingston). Not wishing to stir up any publicity during his re-election campaign, the Sheriff delivers the “Bat Boy” to the only person in Hope Falls (pop. 500) qualified enough to handle the anomaly: Dr. Parker (Matt W. Wiles), the town veterinarian. But before Dr. Parker has a chance to kill him, his wife Meredith (Anne Sheridan Smith) becomes strangely attached to Bat Boy and seduces her affection-starved husband into sparing his life.
While Meredith and her daughter Shelley (Tiffany Tatreau) begin teaching the Bat Boy (now renamed “Edgar”) how to speak, paranoia spreads through Hope Falls as its cattle population experiences an inexplicably drop. The answer seems obvious: the Bat Boy must be behind it. And their suspicions are seemingly confirmed when Ruthie Taylor is found dead, supposedly of her bite wound. But as the town arms itself against the fanged menace, something stronger than mere “Christian charity” begins to stir in Shelley Parker’s breast, and she and Edgar must flee in order to save their love and Edgar’s life.
Griffin Theatre’s production of Bat Boy: The Musical delivers exactly what it promises: a riotously entertaining musical comedy that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Though at times the production seems squeezed into its tight space of The Den and the (exceptional) live band drowns out some of the lyrics and dialogue (an issue that I imagine will be rectified), the production as a whole — the performances, singing and choreography — all exhibit the professional quality one might expect from a Broadway production, exemplifying the talent Chicago is fortunate to foster in its black boxes.
To single out any one performance in this production seems impossible: it was expertly casted. From the principal roles all the way down to the chorus, I felt that every member of the cast brought something unique to their roles and that each had his or her own moment to shine. My favorite, however, would have to be Jeff Meyer, whose satirical portrayal of Rick, the knife-wielding redneck, and whose dead-pan delivery as Lorraine, the squirrelly and judgmental townswoman, I found highly amusing, if not laugh-out-loud funny.
Directed by J. Nichole Brooks and Krissy Vanderwarker
Produced by Lookingglass Theatre Company
The Charm and Problems of Vaudeville Revisited
Representation of minorities is one of the most-discussed issues among actors and theatre artists today. Besides that actors of color complain of seldom finding interesting characters with significant stage/screen time to play, offensive practices and stereotypes which Chicagoans may have thought died out decades ago still exist and come up with surprising frequency. Thaddeus and Slocum: A Vaudeville Adventure’s writer, Kevin Douglas, and directors, J. Nicole Brooks and Krissy Vanderwarker, are believers in the Ghanian concept of sankofa, the idea that people have to return to the past to move forward. In a world-premiere drama featuring a plethora of signature Lookingglass acrobatics and early twentieth century vaudeville acts, Douglas and the cast explore the psychological impact of blackface on the white and black performers who used it, the politics of access, and the way racial disparity can taint even the closest relationships.
Wonderful young spirited actress leads sweet production of iconic musical
One of the all-time great musicals, The Sound of Music, contains one of the finest musical scores and is the ultimate “feel-good” Broadway musical. Director Jack O’Brien has mounted a fine Equity National Tour production filled with talented performers, including a darling group of children.
The Sound of Music is set in Austria in 1938 and is the story of Maria (Kerstin Anderson), a loving novitiate who is sent to be the governess to the seven van Trapp children. She teaches the kids to sing and wins their hearts with her unconditionally loving spirit and energy. Maria also falls for the Captain (Ben Davis). The family is forced to flee the Nazis before the Captain is forced to join the German navy. Based on a true story, The Sound of Music is a charming, heartwarming musical treat containing some of the best known show tunes and filled with enough goodness and purity to entertain all ages.
Kerstin Anderson is a wonderful Maria, as she is instantly likable with an innocence and bubbling energy and an outstanding voice. Ben Davis is commanding as the stern naval Captain. Terry Hansen and Merwin Foard effectively land “How Can Love Survive” and “No Way To Stop It.” Melody Betts’s stirring “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” soared.
The seven children were marvelous. Paige Silvester as Lisel and Dan Tracy as Rolf sang nicely, danced, and flirted in “Sixteen Going on Seventeen.” The children were charming, well rehearsed and landed their songs and movements with precision. The “Do-Re-Me” song, led my Anderson’s Maria was special. These kids were so lovable.
The Sound of Music is so sweet, so pure that it can’t help but please. This is solid family entertainment. This National Tour is charming and well executed; it is a star-making role for Kerstin Anderson, still a college student. She anchors a wonderful production. Hurry, you only have through Sunday, June 12.
By Ira Levin
