Items filtered by date: November 2007

Stepping into the entrance of this 79^th Street storefront immediately transports you to the 1960’s. You quickly realize you are in the headquarters of the Black Panther Party.  Brothers and sisters, both Black and white, are in conversation with each other speaking about liberation and freedom. There is anticipation in the room, something exciting is about to go down. As the lights dim, we are introduced to the distaff branch of The Black Panther Party.

Wonderfully written by India Nicole Burton, “Panther Women: An Army for the Liberation” is a homage to the crucial role played by women in a revolutionary group whose figureheads, with a few exceptions, were men. Burton highlights the lives of three female leaders of the Black Panther Party, Angela Davis, Assata Shakur and Elaine Brown. They incidentally are the only women activists of the Black Power movement who have published book-length autobiographies.

A theme repeated throughout this production was the idea of pity. “I can’t do nothing with your pity”, and these actresses don’t need any of it. Just like the women they are portraying; this is an ensemble composed of strong capable women. Using music from Nina Simone and percussions the ensemble danced, moved, and made you feel every emotion they were feeling. This is a totally immersive production. There is no room to hide, and Director Myesha-Tiara, whom I remember in her role as Annelle in Steel Magnolias at Theatre at the Center, makes use of every inch of space to tell this beautiful and important story. She tells it not only with words but with bodies close and honest.

The actresses are uniformly excellent.  Standouts include Alexis Dupree as Angela Davis whose fugitive on the run scene captured the desperation of Davis, Jerluane “Jae” Jenkins as Assata Shakur, growing up with her grandmother in North Carolina, changing her name, and being the center of the FBI COINTELPRO activities and Taylor Elie Talhame’ as Elaine Brown, who helped the party set up its first Free Breakfast for Children program in Los Angeles. Although their stories are centered, this production spoke of all the women of the liberation. The Black Panther Party was mostly women. They fought for their loved ones, their children, and their communities.  This production examines the organization, the joy and the sacrifice of women in the movement.

Do not let anything stop you from seeing arguably one of the best storefront productions this year. There is plenty of well-lit street parking.                                                                                                    

I expect greatness from this director, this playwright and this cast individually and collectively. Perceptions Theatre is a young theatre company, but it is evident they are here to make an impact.

When: Through May 27

Where: 1825 East 79^th Street Chicago, Illinois 60649

Tickets: $20

Info: www.PerceptionsTheatre.org.

Grease has always been, first and foremost, a stage show. And while the 1978 movie with John Travolta and the late Olivia Newton-John is what lives on in pop culture (as it should), Grease arguably works better on the stage, and this version should get more credit.

Drury Lane Theatre’s production directed by Paul Stancato captures the high school of it all—and the 1950s of it all—in a way the film doesn’t. While the film primarily focuses on the love story between Danny and Sandy, the stage show gives near equal time to all the guys and girls in the group, giving the audience a snapshot of an entire high school class with a range of personalities, quirks, and levels of delinquency.

The story is one we're familiar with: boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy fights to win her back. But in Grease, it's wrapped up in a 1950s bow, complete with greasers, bobby socks, and early rock 'n' roll melodies. And with the structure of the story and songs in the stage version, more of the ‘50s songs are featured as solos throughout, like Marty’s “Freddy My Love” she sings with the girls as backup at their sleepover, and “Those Magic Changes” sung by Doody and the other teens on the bleachers. In the movie, these songs are crammed into the dance scene with Sha-Na-Na singing them in the background. Onstage, they get to be full-fledged moments.

Cast of Grease at Drury Lane Theatre. Photo by Brett Beiner Photography.

Led by Jake DiMaggio Lopez as Danny and Emily Schultheis as Sandy, the Drury Lane cast brings energy and spectacular voices to the musical we know and love. Standouts of the cast for me, besides the two leads, were Alina Taber as a snarky but surprisingly vulnerable Rizzo, who finally breaks her cool girl veneer in her act two song “There Are Worse Things I Could Do”, and Billy Rude as Kenickie, who can be described in much the same way, playing the tough guy most of the time but the production giving him moments of more raw emotion.

The sets and costumes also shine, with 1950s high school hangouts like the diner, the bleachers, and teenage girls' bedrooms portrayed vibrantly through backdrops and set pieces. And the costumes felt realistic for the time period with, like the sets, a dash of bright cartoon-y-ness to match the energy of the score.

Billy Rude and Alina Taber in Grease. Photo by Brett Beiner Photography.

Stancato says in his director's note in the program that he wanted to bring together the grit and realness of the original Grease with the polish and flash of the movie. I think this production does just that. It acknowledges the audience's love for the movie while respecting the edginess of the original 1971 stage version (which, interestingly enough, premeried in Chicago—where Drury Lane's production is set).

If you like Grease the movie, this show is a must-see.

Grease is playing at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace through June 4, 2023. Tickets available by phone at (630) 530-0111 or at drurylanetheatre.com.

The Little Mermaid at Lyric Opera House is an incredibly beautiful and massive production that holds the audience spellbound from the moment it begins until the final magnificent scene of love transcendent. 

This ballet created by John Neumeier for the Royal Danish Ballet in 2005 was way ahead of its time in that it tackles a lot of somber adult themes including surviving assault, struggles with mental health and physical disability when the little Mermaid is confined to a wheelchair and sees all the healthy young people around her dancing through their lives, falling in love and marrying while she is pushed and carried through human life by the adoring Poet who feels everything she feels. This ballet is so wonderfully choreographed and danced, the music and lighting and set design so sumptuous, that the audience is allowed to fill in their own blanks of this timeless tale of unrequited love through the wordless yet completely emotive dancers of the Joffrey Ballet Company, the highest caliber of dancers in the world today.  

The brilliant Neumeier also created fantastic sets that include giant arcs of white light that represent the moving seas, a starry night that descends into their bedroom and carries the lovers into heavenly bliss. Also impactful is a white box shaped room with a ceiling that frighteningly closes in on the Little Mermaid, as she the incredibly expressive Victoria Jaiani literally "climbs the walls" while struggling to maintain her sanity working out her deep grief and anxiety over human love and life in her final transformation to immortality.

According to the program notes, this production has reinterpreted Hans Christian Andersen's dark yet uplifting fairy tale to include the unrequited love of The Poet, played with wonderful intensity and longing by Stefan Goncalvez, for the Prince (Dylan Gutierrez) a gallant, athletic alpha male. However, the Prince, it appears, is actually more suited for the cheerful blonde debutante Princess (Anais Bueno) that he eventually marries than either the Poet or The Little Mermaid who, in this interpretation, both long to win his heart and marry him, but this amazing interpretation represents archetypes of human personalities not genders. 

Again, it is important to mention this is NOT the Disney version of The Little Mermaid, and there is a scene described as violent in her transformation that has sexual assault undertones as she is stripped naked by the Sea Witch and left on the beach alone. In the 1838 original and the Disney film, the moral message or warning to girls and women was more about The Mermaid giving up her VOICE, when she agrees to be made mute by the Sea Witch who cuts off her tongue as payment for the spell to pursue her beloved Prince. Yet, I loved that Neumeier focuses on the disability that crushes her spirit by sacrificing her beautiful, graceful and strong swimmer's tail because even though she is still able to dance better for the Prince than any human, the Sea Witch has ensured that every step she takes for her Prince will hurt her terribly, "filling her shoes with blood". 

From Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid;

"Every footstep felt as if she were walking on the blades and points of sharp knives, just as the witch had foretold, but she gladly endured it. She moved as lightly as a bubble as she walked beside the Prince. He and all who saw her marveled at the grace of her gliding walk. Graceful slaves now began to dance to the most wonderful music. Then the little mermaid lifted her shapely white arms, rose up on the tips of her toes, and skimmed over the floor. No one had ever danced so well. Each movement set off her beauty to better and better advantage, and her eyes spoke more directly to the heart than any of the singing slaves could do." 

Although her name and the other leads, like The Poet and Prince and Princess are only listed in alphabetical order in the program as a member of the company, this ballet is not a true ensemble piece. 

I want to acknowledge the superb dancer, the superstar who brought to life and danced the lead character of the Mermaid, Victoria Jaiani, throughout this two-and-a-half hour long, highly emotionally and physically demanding role. Jaiani is absolutely stunning and heartbreakingly expressive in this sublime role with every single move of her graceful expressive hands, legs and face. 

"The most eager of them all was the youngest, She was an unusual child, quiet and wistful, and when her sisters decorated their gardens with all kinds of odd things they had found in sunken ships, she would allow nothing in hers except flowers as red as the sun, and a pretty marble statue. This figure of a handsome boy, carved in pure white marble, had sunk down to the bottom of the sea from some ship that was wrecked. Beside the statue she planted a rose-colored weeping willow tree, which thrived so well that its graceful branches shaded the statue and hung down to the blue sand, where their shadows took on a violet tint, and swayed as the branches swayed. It looked as if the roots and the tips of the branches were kissing each other in play."

Stefan Goncalvez as The Poet in 'The Little Mermaid'

The choreography was spectacular and modern, like watching a silent movie wherein the actors express everything they are feeling through their faces and bodies without words. 

The costume design also by Neumeier was lush and rich in every scene, especially in its ingenious depiction of the underwater world in which Jaiani appears to swim, float and twist in the water like a real fish, suspended in the air by three black-clothed dancers who disappear in the wake of her beauty like puppeteers. 

A final note from Hans Christian Andersen on the relationship between The Poet who watches The Little Mermaid and literally carries and comforts her emotionally throughout her ordeal on earth is that everyone can identify with the Poets' quest to find his own true self and love through the Little Mermaid, who represents his Everlasting  Soul, which is not truly in his control nor is the Little Mermaid his "Creation". 

“Who are you, toward whom I rise?" she asked, and her voice sounded like those above her, so spiritual that no music on earth could match it.

"We are the daughters of the air," they answered. "A mermaid has no immortal soul and can never get one unless she wins the love of a human being. Her eternal life must depend upon a power outside herself. The daughters of the air do not have an immortal soul either, but they can earn one by their good deeds. We fly to the south, where the hot poisonous air kills human beings unless we bring cool breezes. We carry the scent of flowers through the air, bringing freshness and healing balm wherever we go. When for three hundred years we have tried to do all the good that we can, we are given an immortal soul and a share in mankind's eternal bliss. You, poor little mermaid, have tried with your whole heart to do this too. Your suffering and your loyalty have raised you up into the realm of airy spirits, and now in the course of three hundred years you may earn by your good deeds a soul that will never die."

The little mermaid lifted her clear bright eyes toward God's sun, and for the first time her eyes were wet with tears.

"We may get there even sooner," one spirit whispered.

I was so moved by this piece I will see it again before the short run ends. I highly recommend this explosive, hypnotic and mind-bending extravaganza of superb dancers for everyone over the age of 16. 

Through April 30^th at Lyric Opera House. For tickets and/or more show information, click here.

“Damn Yankees,” the vintage 1955 musical comedy at the Marriott Theatre in suburban Lincolnshire, has it all: a witty book, delicious songs, great choreography, and an excellent chorus. From the days when musical comedies were still rooted in operetta, it is truly musical, packed with memorable songs arranged in beautiful harmonies, and a Faustian storyline that gives heft to the drama.

It’s also very funny. Based on a 1954 novel, it tells the story of Joe Boyd (Ron E. Rains) a middle-aged, very rabid baseball fan who sells his soul to the devil to become a baseball great - Joe Hardy (Andrew Alstat) who uses his new-found powers to drive his beloved but terrible Washington Senators to win a Pennant and break the New York Yankees’ years-long lock on winning.

It’s wonderful to see “Damn Yankees” revived in such a definitive production. It is revisited less often than other Tony winning musicals from its era, like Richard Rodgers “South Pacific” (1949) or Frederick Lowe’s “My Fair Lady” (1956) and Meredith Wilson’s “The Music Man” (1957). Perhaps it’s the challenge of creating a convincing chorus of baseball players who can sing, dance and play ball—but director James Vasquez and choreographer James Vasquez have built a winning team here.

“Damn Yankees” breaks out of the box with a big number—Six Months Out of Every Year—featuring a quartet of male fans in dueling counterpoint melodies sung by a quartet of their wives, who lament their husbands’ preoccupation with the baseball. “Six months out of every year/When I’m with him/I’m alone” laments Joe’s wife, Meg Boyd—Daniella Dalli—a rich sonorous singer who carries this classic as well as her major more romantic numbers beautifully.

Soon enough the silky smooth, fast talking devil Applegate arrives. Sean Fortunato is a scene stealer, and knows how to get the audience roaring with his sly humor. After he seals the deal and transforms Boyd into the batting wonder Joe Hardy, Applegate sees he must fully corrupt his soul to lock him in fully as a future denizen of hell.

Enter Lola. Michelle Aravena recreates a character made indelible by the original performance by Gewn Verdon on stage and screen. And she so truly does it, in spades. This Lola is not mimicking Verdon, but is an original creation that I think may be even better than Gwen Verdon’s original. Aravena’s arrival is like a vixen jumping from a birthday cake, and wins the attention of all eyes and ears when she is on stage. She sings and dances—”A Little Brains” and the tango classic “Whatever Lola Wants”—all real time excellence, in one of the most demanding roles on stage.

The baseball chorus is also notably good and convincingly athletic—dance captain is Brian Bandura—with a show-stopping jump rope performance by Ben Broughton. From living room to locker room, the vintage in-through-round Marriott Theatre (originally Drury Lane North) showcases this production of “Damn Yankees” with flair, and nary a bad seat. Highly recommended, “Damn Yankees” runs through June 4 @MarriottTheatre

In the dark of night, a man is digging a hole. Once the hole is deep enough he drops a bundle into it and covers it with dirt. Behind him a little girl looks on. After re-filling the hole, he walks off.

Scene.

It is early morning. We are in a well-appointed home. In fact, it is an updated Brooklyn brownstone. Brooklyn is my home. I would know it anywhere. The exterior stands stately and proud. The interior is right out of Architectural Digest magazine. There is a floor thru kitchen leading to a dining area. Behind the dining area is a slide away door leading to an office.  Scenic Designer Regina Garcia did a fantastic job conveying not only this apartment, but also the street where it lives. This is the home of Nadima (Jessica Dean Turner) and her lover Rachel (Sydney Charles). Theirs is a happy, solid home, at least it is staged that way. Rachel is a New York City school teacher and Nadima, is a real estate agent, she’s used to staging homes for sale.

When Nadima answers the front door and sees Monique (Ayanna Bria Bakari), her lover’s sister, she practically shuts the door in her face. There is history between these two and it creates much needed tension in this play. It is Rachel who invites her sister Monique and Sam (Kylah Renee Jones, Aliyana Nicole alternately), her niece, into the house. After negotiating with her lover, Rachel allows Monique and Sam to stay, only for Monique to create a convoluted story and leave without Sam a few days later in the middle of the night. 

“Last Night….” takes us back to those nights before life spiraled out of control for this family. We meet Reggie (Namir Smallwood), Monique’s boyfriend, and Sam’s father. We see the love between Reggie and Monique before Sam’s birth.  We see Reggie and Sam playing hand games, games meant to calm as well as teach Sam about life. Whose memories these flashbacks are isn’t quite clear. Through conversations with Nadima we learn of Rachel and Monique’s upbringing. We learn of generational traumas they had to bear, and the guilt Rachel has for her escape... We also start to see this once solid relationship show signs of weakness.

Director Valerie Curtis-Newton has assembled an excellent cast whose major job is supporting the child character of Sam. Sam is the raison d’ étre of “Last Night….”   It is a lot to put on a child, but Jones (on opening night) shows she has the acting chops to not only play this role but to shine in it.

In my opinion, Donnetta Lavinia Grays’ “Last Night….” suffers from a lack of a clear antagonist. There are some beautiful lines and certain scenes are precious, but it lacks a certain dramatic immediacy. Other than Sam, we never spend enough time to truly care for these characters. They seem to have it all figured out anyway, after all, the real problem is buried. The rest is just life.

When: Through May 14

Where: Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St.

Tickets: $48 - $88

Info:  steppenwolf.org

It’s hard to go wrong with ballet. From a toddlers’ class giggling nervously through Swan Lake to the zaniest comic piece by Los Trocoderos, ballet excites, inspires, and delights us. All these occurred at the American Ballet Theatre performance April 14 at the Auditorium Theatre. I was very much looking forward to this performance; American ballet Theatre (ABT) is one of the most celebrated companies in the world. But I hadn’t anticipated just how vigorously and comprehensively they would blow my socks clean off.

The show was in three acts – unusual to have two intermissions in a two-hour show, but as the night unfolded it became clear why it had to be so. Act One was “Songs of Bukovina”. I couldn’t resist googling Bukovina: the region, sparsely populated since the Paleolithic (!), is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided between Romania and Ukraine. The language spoken is Romanian with influences of Moldovan, Transylvanian, and Maramureș. Whew! … try saying that three times fast! Any road, one expects a folk-dance sort of thing, and one would be correct. “Songs of Bukovina”, including ten dancers and led by principals Isabella Boylston and Daniel Camargo, was a celebration of the global genre of folk dance, with brilliantly colored costumes designed by Moritz Junge whirling about the stage. The music in “Songs of Bukovina” is excerpted by composer Leonid Desyatnikov from “Bukovinian Songs [24 Preludes for Piano]”, performed by pianist Jacek Mysinski.

Scene from Songs of Bukovina. Photo by Marty Sohl.

I had noted that the first dance in Act Two, “Touché”, listed Sarah Lozoff as Intimacy Director – a common role in theatrical productions but not, in my experience, customary for dance. I have mentioned in previous reviews my predilection for male pas de deux, and “Touché” gave me the pas de deux of my dreams. It began with Calvin Royal III and João Menegussi standing motionless on the stage and shouting individual words: “No!”, “Come”, “Fuck!”. Slowly they began to move, individually at first but with a gradual transition to synchronicity. Christopher Rudd’s choreography made it progressively more clear that we were witnessing a mating dance, so it was perfectly natural when they began to shed their clothes. Once they were near-naked the dance became more sensual, enhanced by Brad Fields’ inventive lighting – at one point the house lights came up while leaving the stage nearly dark.

In fencing, touché means “touched”. Fencers who have been hit may call out “touché” to acknowledge the touch. If, however, no hit was actually made, the fencer's adversary would say, "pas de touché" (in English: no touch) to indicate that the hit should not be counted. Via Woodkid and Ennio Morricone’s music, and the danseurs’ brilliantly controlled balletic motion, this spell-binding pas de deux was enhanced by the aura of pas de touché, a tempestuous ambience that saturated the dance. The standing ovation continued through three curtain calls.

Touché

There was a brief pause between “Touché” and “Some Assembly Required”, during which I reflected that I did not envy the dancers who would have to follow Royal and Menegussi’s sensational performance. But Katherine Williams and Jarod Curley rose to the challenge. “Some Assembly Required” could have been simply a hetero apologia to “Touché”, but Clark Tippet’s choreography and Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner’s staging did a fine job on its own merits. The brooding atmosphere of “Touché” was lifted by Kobi Malkin and Emily Wong’s performance of William Bolcom’s Second Sonata for Violin and Piano, setting a more frolicsome tone to ready the audience for “ZigZag”, a sprightly medley of Tony Bennett songs (with a very special duet with Lady Gaga).

“ZigZag”, a work for 14 dancers, premiered in October 2021. This performance included four of the original principals, Devon Teusch, Luciana Paris, Cassandra Trenary, and Joo Won Ahn, with the addition of Aran Bell and Blaine Hoven.

“ZigZag” was a perfect finale, a dazzling whirlwind of music and movement. The Tony Bennett medley included such favorites as What the World Needs Now, I Left My Heart in San Francisco, and It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing. Costumers Wes Gordon and Carolina Herrera dressed the chorus in bumptious black-and-white polka-dot tutus, setting off the principals in bright primary colors. Jessica Lang’s choreography evoked a blooming Spring season with It’s De-Lovely, Blue Moon and Springtime in Manhattan., and Derek McLane incorporated artwork by Bennett in the scenery. The final song, How Do You Keep the Music Playing, brought the audience to its feet, where we remained through several curtain calls.

I’ve made no secret that my favorite piece was “Touché”, and the ovation and curtain calls demonstrated that I wasn’t alone in that. However, the brilliance of “Touché” was intensified by all the works surrounding it, as a diamond’s luster is enhanced by its cut and setting.

American Ballet Theatre is only in Chicago for a brief stay, but where- and when-ever you have a chance to see them perform, you will not be disappointed.

“Jagged Little Pill,” Alanis Morisette’s 1995, 16X platinum album, with 33 million copies sold, is her declaration of the terms of her self-emancipation. Timelessly truthful and inspirational, it remains an emotional catalyst for generations of people.

The album is at the core of Broadway in Chicago’s “Jagged Little Pill,” which opened Wednesday for a limited run (through April 23) at the Nederlander Theatre in Chicago. Nominated for 15 Tony Awards in 2021 following a pandemic caesura, this long-awaited Broadway roadshow is unlike other jukebox musicals— “Tina” or “Donna Summer” or “Carole King”—in that it is not a biography of Morisette. And unlike Sarah Bareilles’ “Waitress,” or The Who’s rock opera “Tommy” (coming to Goodman this summer) “Jagged Little Pill” doesn’t follow an inherent album-based storyline.

Rather, it was the emotional inspiration for a show written by Tony and Academy Award winner Diablo Cody (Juno, Tully), lyrics and music from Morrisette hits such as “You Oughta Know,” “Head Over Feet,” “Hand In My Pocket,” and “Ironic”, as well as brand new songs written for the show.

Like the album it relates an internal emotional journey, not of Morrisette, but of an upper middle class American family—rich turf for drama, from Ibsen to Chekov to Williams. “All happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” as Tolstoy notes, and we watch the Healy's go their own way from ostensibly happy to quite a mess. But never fear, this is a Broadway musical and they make their way back to the road to redemption to deserving standing ovations at the end.

Heidi Blickenstaff reprises her role from the Broadway production as the mother, Mary Jane Healy, with Lauren Chanel as her adoptive daughter Frankie, Chris Hoch as her husband Steve, and Dillon Klena as Frankie’s older brother Dillon. Blickenstaff has both the sensitivity to deliver Morrisette’s soulful sentiments, and the Broadway belt to go full throttle. Chanel is perfectly expressive of Morrisette’s range and when joined by her first love-interest, Jo (Jade McCleod) we have a duet providing great renditions of the album melodies, woven so beautifully to the storyline. Klena is also notable singing Morissette as older brother Nick as is Rishi Galani as Frankie’s other love interest.

One aspect of the production is particularly inventive: choreography by Beyoncé collaborator Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. With Morrisette’s sensitive reflective lyrics (in a vein with Natalie Merchant, Sarah McLachlan, or Jewel) Cherkaoui and director Diane Paulus (known for Sarah Bareilles’ “Waitress) created dance avatars who are visually similar to the actors, but dance at major numbers relieving the leads from having to hoof it big numbers in ways that would seem out of character or clash with the underlying material.

At the other extreme, the potential for this approach can also be seen in an intimate pas de deux in which Mary Jane Healy confronts her inner demons with her dance double, Jena VanElslande. It’s a tour de force.

Another show stopper for creativity is a scene at a pharmacy played forward, then later reprised in reverse, as Mary Jane examines her path to drug addicition, a family secret until it became an undeniable plague. The recount of her growing addicition to oxycontin, graduation to harder drugs, and the crisis and intervention that led to her recovery are very accurate. 

Highly recommended, “Jagged Little Pill” runs through April 23 at the James Nederlander Theatre in Chicago.

Robert Falls is back! Well, for a short time at least to direct his adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard.” Falls retired as the Goodman Theatre artistic director in 2022, but his productions of Chekhov’s classics have become events to anticipate. “The Cherry Orchard” is the endcap to Falls’ Chekhov series that began with ‘Three Sisters’ and has included “The Seagull” and “Uncle Vanya”. Each a definitive production that was met with critical acclaim. “The Cherry Orchard” is no exception, in fact, it might even be his best.

“The Cherry Orchard” premiered in Moscow in 1904, just a few decades after the end of serfdom in Russia. The story follows Lyubov Ranevskaya (Kate Fry) as she returns to her family’s estate after years of living abroad. The estate has fallen into disrepair and unless the taxes are paid, Lyubov is certain to lose the property her family has held onto for centuries. Her childhood friend, a former serf, Yermolai Lopakhin (Kareem Bandealy) eagerly awaits her return, and offers her family solutions that would allow them to keep the estate. It’s also implied Yemolai is in love with Lyubov. As with any Chekhov play, the lives of the serving class are also highlighted in all their unrequited loves and general discontent.

This “The Cherry Orchard” is a veritable who’s who of the Chicago theatre scene. Kate Fry plays Lyubov with an almost manic vacillation between childlike naiveté and a crazed addict. Her powers are immediately illuminated from the moment she walks on stage. Regular Goodman player Amanda Drinkall plays the maid Dunyasha. Her giddy and absurd physical humor brings a much-needed sense of humor to a role that doesn’t offer much kindness to the family accountant Semyon—played with as much physical humor but perhaps more guttural pathos by Will Allan. Chicago stage favorite Janet Ulrich Brooks returns with another wonderful performance as the governess/trickster Charlotta. Her sleight of hand magic tricks make you wonder if she really is magic after all. Perhaps nobody is as affective as Francis Guinan as the servant Firs, who may just be the last vestige of serfdom on the property. The pottering body language and stammering delivery are devastating.

Adding to the roster of Chicago theatre staples, set designer Todd Rosenthal’s staging is nothing short of epic. There’s a striking blend of minimalism mixed with the kind of over-the-top spectacle that Goodman audiences expect. While it’s not always a necessity to have larger than life sets, some occasions just call for it and a theatrical event like this is fitting to pull out all the stops. Costumes by Ana Kuzmanic play nicely against Rosenthal’s backdrop.

If you’re going to see a classic, the team behind “The Cherry Orchard” is your best bet. Robert Falls has had an influential career turning Goodman Theatre into the institution it is today and Chicago audiences will likely continue to be enchanted by his work for years to come. His own adaptation of “The Cherry Orchard” digs deep on the idea of what it means to be free. It also showcases some terrific performances from some of Chicago’s most beloved performers. This production feels like a love letter to the theater that made Robert Falls the mastermind Chicago has come to expect. You won’t be quick to forget this epic night at the theatre.

 Through April 30 at Goodman Theatre. 170 N Dearborn. www.goodmantheatre.org.

By the time Charles Fuller’s “A Soldier’s Play” debuted on Broadway in January 2020 it was already a classic in American theatre. It premiered with the Negro Ensemble Company in 1981, winning the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1982. It was adapted to film and was nominated for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for the Late Great Adolph Caesar at the 1985 Academy Awards. After 40 years it finally graced the Broadway stage just before the death of its playwright. According to Fuller, his refusal to change the line “You’ll have to get used to Black people being in charge.” at the producer’s demand, prevented the show from going to Broadway sooner. I personally believe the universe was waiting for just the right director to bring the majesty of this play to Broadway. The only director filling that role is the talented Kenny Leon.

The play opens on an U.S.  army base in Louisiana in 1944 during World War II. Tech Sergeant Vernon C. Waters, (an excellent Eugene Lee) drunk and staggering out of his mind, has been brutally murdered.. Waters is a self-hating, sadistic evil man. He takes out his anger on his men. He hates his white comrades for who they are and his Black comrades for who they are not.

To investigate this crime, the Provost Marshal General’s office in Washington sends Capt. Richard Davenport (the debonair Norm Lewis), a Black lawyer. The white officers are shocked at the sight of a Black officer they may have to answer to. The Black recruits are bursting with pride to see one of their own in a position of leadership.

Davenport, despite roadblocks to his investigation prides himself on following the clues and getting to the truth of the murder. He meticulously interviews enlisted men both Black and white to understand why Waters would be a victim of murder. Based on interrogations and flashbacks we learn the murderer can be anyone even the very men in his charge.

Director Leon gets the best from this uniformly stellar cast.  Among the standout performances are the exuberant Alex Michael Givens as Corporal Ellis, our very own Sheldon D. Brown as Private C.J. Memphis, a simple guitar playing man and William Connell as the skeptical Captain Charles Taylor.

The two-level scaffolding set with bunks and footlockers works well, showing present action up front while when necessary showing what’s happening in the background. Scene changes were effortless and clean. The flashback effects were greatly assisted by Lighting designer Allen Lee Hughes lights. World War II military attire were realistic thanks to Costume Designer Dede Ayite.

Although it did not affect my enjoyment or enthusiasm for “A Soldiers Play “it must be stated, one of the major themes in this play is COLORISM.  “A Soldiers Play” is not just a murder mystery as Roundabout Theatre Company’s production would have you believe. Omitting colorism does a disservice to the script.  Fuller was extremely clear about casting. “A Soldiers Play” is Fuller’s exploration of Blacks’ attitudes toward each other as well as toward the white military community he was once a part of.   Rule of thumb, if you must ask a playwright is it alright to do something, you probably shouldn’t be doing it.

“A Soldiers Play” is a classic from the Negro Ensemble Company demonstrating fearless writing, professional execution and top notch acting, for that it should not be missed.

When: Through April 16

Where: CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St.

Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes

Tickets: $35-105 at 800-775-2000 

www.broadwayinchicago.com

After its successful run of Book of Merman, MadKap Productions decided to take on a brilliant, little known farce comedy - Neil Simon’s Rumors. Quick, witty dialogue is the name of the game in this fast-paced story that revolves around an upscale dinner party where everything that can possibly go wrong, kind of does – and then some. When Ken Gorman (Nathan Dale Short) and his wife Chris (Erin Renee Baumrucker) throw a 10^th anniversary party for New York’s Deputy Mayor, Charlie Brock and his wife, Myra, a gunshot in Charlie’s room changes everything and speculation between the hosts and their six invited guests runs rampant and riotously spirals into every direction possible. As one challenging scenario unfolds after another, the absurdity gets funnier and funnier. Truths become distorted and the lies told are modified more and more as emotions are let loose amongst this normally reserved group of friends. Let’s just say this dinner party is a complete train wreck – and it couldn’t be more fun watching it unravel.

Simon’s Rumors starts with a bang (literally) then gains more and more steam until it becomes a full-on expose of the emotional underpinnings of the upper class. Thanks to Wayne Mell’s outstanding direction and MadKap’s mature and very talented cast that effectively take on a slew of quirky characters, we are presented with one helluva hilarious production that rarely stops to catch its breath. While the entire cast deserves big props, Landon Cally truly takes command of the stage in just about every scene he takes part in as Leonard Ganz, better known as “Len”. Cally’s rapid-fire line delivery and ability to display such a wide range of emotions really drew me into the action. Julie Peterson also shines as a highly animated Claire Ganz, who could easily be mistaken for one of the very popular Housewives of New York, and veteran Chicago actress SarahAnn Sutter gets big laughs as Cookie.

Neil Simon, a Pulitzer Prize Winner, was one of the greatest Jewish writers of all time, and this choice of his little-known comedy Rumors by Director Wayne Mell at this moment in history with anti-Semitism on the rise worldwide is so perfect and timely.

One of the couples is hit by a car on the way to the party in their three-day old BMW, but they do not stop to go to the hospital. Instead they arrive breathlessly with excitement at the party, the husband with whiplash and the wife with a bloody lip. When they get there they find their best friend, Charlie, passed out on Valium having shot a bullet through his ear. His wife is nowhere to be found.

The first rumor that his friends attempt to quell is that Charlie, a Deputy Mayor, has tried to commit suicide.  His friends know that suicide is legally a crime and at that time ANY "criminal behavior" including mental illness was perceived by society as a way to ruin one's life and work. So they begin to make an effort to cover up what they think has happened before the rest of his friends even arrive. 

This is also kind of a fun whodunit, so I don’t want to give it all away, but the genius that Simon conveys through this particular farce is that even though each person ends up literally injured in some way - including back spasms, a bad cut in the kitchen, temporary deafness, etc., etc., - none of the partygoers actually leave to go home. Simon cleverly and compassionately shows that each of these bored, jaded, overworked and overly intellectual couples have nothing more exciting to go home to.

They have individually, and as couples, grown so bored with their lives and have been accustomed to playing certain restrictive and prescribed roles for their partners and each other by coloring within the lines on a daily basis. They have lost touch with everything real and genuine in their partners and sadly in their get togethers as well… until this night.  

Landon Cally and Julie Peterson in 'Rumors' at Skokie Theatre

In fact it is perfect Neil Simon humor and irony that the group of friends are finally forced to dance gleefully and laugh together in order to protect their friend’s reputation, that they all realize they have been lying to each other unnecessarily. By teaming up together they finally realize that laughter and friendship is the balm that each and every person present individually discovers they need deeply in order to be their best, most alive and genuine selves no matter how flawed or funny they have become as couples and as a community.

This quote from Simons' huge hit  and 1965 Tony Award Winner "The Odd Couple" really describes how every unique character in Rumors grows into a new person under pressure and finally have the chutzpah to "Throw their G-d Damned cup! 

“([FELIX] (suddenly stands up and cocks his arm back, about to hurl the cup angrily against the front door. Then he thinks better of it, puts the cup down and sits)

OSCAR. (Watching this) Why didn’t you throw it?
FELIX. I almost did. I get so insane with myself sometimes.
OSCAR. Then why don’t you throw the cup?
FELIX. Because I’m trying to control myself.
OSCAR. Why?
FELIX. What do you mean, why?
OSCAR. Why do you have to control yourself? You’re angry, you felt like throwing the cup, why don’t you throw it?
FELIX. Because there’s no point to it. I’d still be angry, and I’d have a broken cup.
OSCAR. How do you know how you’d feel? Maybe you’d feel wonderful. Why do you have to control every single thought in your head? Why don’t you let loose once in your life? Do something that you feel like doing—and not what you think you’re supposed to do. Stop keeping books, Felix. Relax. Get drunk. Get angry. C’mon, break the goddamned cup!”

Neil Simon considered Rumors his own first true “farce“ first produced back in 1988, Rumors is eerily ahead of its time in the comic portrayal of the lives of the rich and almost famous politicians that we know daily see and consume  as reality television. Rumors is quite a departure from the other 30-some plays he had written. On deciding to write a farce comedy, Simon was quoted in an interview with the New York Times.

"I was going through some difficult times...I wanted to work, because work is always a cathartic process for me, and I thought it would be really good just to get into a comedy. This is completely different for me...It's unlike anything I've ever written. It's my first farce." In describing the play, he said, "The play started with the idea of doing a farce...The next thing was to do it as an elegant farce, because the farces in Moliere's days were generally about wealthy people. These aren't extremely wealthy people, but they are well-to-do. So, I decided to dress them in evening clothes. There was something about having them dressed in evening clothes that I thought was a nice counterpoint to the chaos that was happening in the play. And so, I picked a reason for them to be dressed elegantly, and it was a 10th anniversary."

MadKap Productions also does this play right with its inviting and roomy set, which puts us theater goers in the midst of a dinner party while also giving its cast the spaciousness to let loose. In fact, the theater space itself is a wonderful place to take in a staged production. MadKap currently makes its home at Skokie Theatre after a nice run at The Greenhouse Theater in Chicago’s Lincoln Park. Just a twenty-minute or so drive from northern Chicago (depending on traffic), Skokie Theatre is a beautifully renovated movie house with ample, and comfy, seating that offers parking right next door and accessible public parking right across the street. This is the perfect show to introduce yourself to MadKap if not already familiar.

I highly recommend MadKap’s Rumors at Skokie Theatre for an enlightening night of classic comedy for audiences of all ages.

Rumors is being performed at Skokie Theatre (7924 N. Lincoln Ave, Skokie) through April 23^rd. For tickets and/or more show information, click here. Next up is Hair beginning June 3rd.