Displaying items by tag: Vanessa Copeland

ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL!

Or is it one for all and all for one? No matter: either way it’s a rallying cry during a time of severe political unrest in France, where persistent insurrections incited erratic leadership, oscillating between Royalists and Republicans. The Republicans were the liberals, the political ‘left’ [times change, yeah?], fighting to establish democracy under the motto “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” (not so different from Diversity, Equality, Inclusion). Royalists supported the monarchy wherein kings ruled by divine right and sent the peasant classes to die in wars over personal royal disputes. Playwright Robert Kauzlaric acknowledges the significant homogeneity with 2029. This production of The Three Musketeers is presented by Idle Muse Theatre Company.

Musketeer-wannabe D’Artagnan (Troy Schaeflein), joins the ‘three inseparables’, Athos (Jack Sharkey), Porthos (Boomer Lusink), and Aramis (Xavier Lagunas). Together they challenge the treacherous Cardinal (Eric Duhon) and his retinue of religious rogues: Richelieu (Joel Thompson), Treville (Erik Schnitger), Bonacieux/Jane Felton (Vanessa Copeland), Laporte (Brendan Hutt), Sam Neel (Combat Ensemble), and Buckingham/ Louis XIII, the latter of whom Benjamin Jouras portrayed as deliciously campy!

Director Evan Jackson was assisted by Libby Beyreis, whose experience in Babes with Blades gave her plenty of brio to double as Violence Designer – and isn’t that a terrific title? Most productions I’ve seen have a violence director, but Beyreis designs the violence. Also in the Creative team were Dramaturg Emma S. Rund and Stage Manager Lindsey Chidester.

Jennifer Mohr (another Babe!) was outstanding as Milady de Winter, intertwining lasciviousness with malevolence. Jamie Redwood made an endearing Constance, and Caty Gordon was Queen Anne. I wish the Queen had a bit more insolence toward the King; risky business! Too bad there weren’t any NO KINGS encourager her.

BTW, at the NO KINGS rally Monday I loved the poster Kings NO / Queens YES!   

Laura J. Wiley (lighting designer) and L.J. Luthringer (sound designer and composer) lived up to their reputation(s) for begetting the appropriate spiritus mundi, while Vicki Jablonski (costume designer), Breezy Snyder (scenic painter), and props directors Becky Warner and Tristan Brandon meshed beautifully.

This was a large production, with a cast of 14 (not counting understudies), and at least 22 on the Creative Team. I really do appreciate the creative work backstage, truly I do!

I was truly impressed by the fight scenes; at times a dozen or so scrappers were creating, in that teensy-weensy space, a massive kerfuffle: one false move could cause real trauma. What fabulous choreography! Massive kudos to Violence Designers Libby Beyreis and Brendan Hutt, fight coach Elizabeth Macdougald, and the entire cast… There were but one or two who never took up a weapon.

All four Musketeers valiantly swashed every buckle in sight. All four were also exceedingly fanciable: if you like hunky guys, it’s worth the price of admission just to see them. Which is not to say the rest of the cast was unsightly! Particularly beguiling (to me, anyway) were Joel Thompson (Rochefort) and Benjamin Jouras (as Buckingham; as the King not so much). And Jamie Redwood (Constance), Caty Gordon (Queen Anne) and Jennifer Mohr (Milady) were fully as fetching as they were formidable.

In every review I’ve written I go on and on about Chicago’s wealth of thespian talent so I’m not going to reboot the spiel here; you can check out any of my previous reviews if you’d like to see it. What I will reiterate again [sic] is a fervent plea to seek out these little black box theaters. I won’t go out on a limb and say the acting is finer than in the biggies downtown, but the smaller theaters’ signature appeal of is this: in the enclosed space, cheek-by-jowl with the action onstage, one becomes absorbed in the mise-en-scene, almost participating in the performance. How thrilling!

THE THREE MUSKETEERS plays at The Edge-Off Broadway through April 25.

VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

Idle Muse Theatre Company launches its 20th anniversary season with The Three Musketeers, March 26 - April 25, written by Robert Kauzlaric, directed by Idle Muse Artistic Director Evan Jackson adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas and originally commissioned for the 2010 Illinois Shakespeare Festival, at The Edge Off-Broadway Theater, 1133 W Catalpa Ave. Previews are Thursday, March 26 and Friday, March 27 at 8 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m., with an added Wednesday performance on April 22 at 8 p.m. General admission tickets are now on sale for $30 and $20 for seniors and students with $50 "pay it forward" tickets that assist in subsidizing tickets for those who may not be able to access the production otherwise. Tickets and additional group discounts are available at IdleMuse.org or the Idle Muse Theatre Company Box Office, 773.340.9438.

Idle Muse celebrates 20 years of productions with The Three Musketeers. Based on Alexander Dumas's celebrated 1844 novel, the Jeff Award-winning Robert Kauzlaric adapts the French tale of swashbuckling intrigue, adventure and fellowship as newly-minted musketeer D'Artagnan and the famous "three inseparables," Athos, Porthos and Aramis take on the machinations of a scheming cardinal and his minions.

The Three Musketeers cast includes Troy Schaeflein~ (he/him, D'Artagnan); Jack Sharkey~ (he/him, Athos); Boomer Lusink (he/him, Porthos); Xavier Lagunas~ (he/him, Aramis); Jennifer Mohr~ (she/her, Milady); Joel Thompson~ (he/him, Rochefort); Eric Duhon (he/him, Richelieu); Benjamin Jouras (he/him, Louis XIII/Buckingham);  Erik Schnitger~ (he/him, Treville); Vanessa Copeland (she/her, Jane Felton/Bonacieux); Brendan Hutt~ (he/him, Laporte); Sam Neel (he/him, Combat Ensemble); Jamie Redwood~ (she/her, Cosntance); Caty Gordon~ (she/her, Queen Anne); Ian Saderholm (he/him, u/s D'Artagnan) Elise Soeder (she/her, u/s Milady); Emily Pfriem (she/her, u/s Constance, u/s Jane Felton); Emely Cuestas (she/her, u/s Queen Anne); Alex George (they/them, u/s Porthos); Malachi Marrero (he/they, u/s Rochefort); Rick Adams (he/him, u/s Combat Ensemble); Derek Preston Ray (he/him, u/s Louis XIII/Buckingham) and Alex Hultman (they/them, u/s Laporte, u/s Aramis).

The creative team includes Robert Kauzlaric (he/him, playwright); Evan Jackson~ (he/him, director);  Tristan Brandon~ (he/him, health and safety officer, props designer); Libby Beyreis~ (he/him, assistant director, violence director); Lindsey Chidester~ (she/her, stage manager); Beth Bruins~ (she/her, assistant stage manager); Kati Lechner~ (she/her, production manager, health and safety officer); Erin Alys (she/her, intimacy director); Brendan Hutt~ (he/him, violence director); Emma Rund (she/her, dramaturg); Jeremiah Barr (he/him, technical director, master carpenter); Laura J. Wiley~ (she/her, lighting & projection designer); L.J. Luthringer~ (he/him, sound designer and composer); Vicki Jablonski (she/her, costume designer); Breezy Snyder~ (she/they, scenic painter); Mara Kovacevic~ (she/her, house manager); Mario Mazzetti (they/he, dialect and voice direction); Elizabeth MacDougald~ (she/her, rehearsal fight coach); Caty Gordon~ (she/her, marketing and social media); Michael Dalberg~ (he/him, Idle Muse literary director) and Becky Warner~ (she/her, props designer).

~ Denotes Idle Muse Company Member

ABOUT ROBERT KAUZLARIC, PLAYWRIGHT 

Robert Kauzlaric is a Chicago-based playwright, actor and director. He has written more than a dozen theatrical adaptations which have been performed in nearly forty of the United States, as well as in England, Ireland and Canada. His adaptations include The Island of Dr. Moreau (Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Awards: Best Production-Play and New Adaptation), The Picture of Dorian Gray (Non-Equity Jeff Nomination: New Adaptation), Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (Non-Equity Jeff Award: New Adaptation), The Three Musketeers (commissioned for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival), Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone and The Woman in White, and a musical version of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. For children, Kauzlaric has written musical adaptations of Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith's The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! (called "one of the best children's shows of the year" by The New York Times), Peter Brown's Flight of the Dodo, Mo Willems' Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed and Richard and Florence Atwater's Mr. Popper's Penguins, as well as a fanciful twist on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, called Lions in Illyria.

ABOUT EVAN JACKSON, DIRECTOR

Evan Jackson serves as the artistic director of Idle Muse Theatre Company, a position he has had the honor of holding since the company's inception. He has directed 16 previous productions for Idle Muse Theatre Company, including last season's Jeff-nominated Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The School for Scandal as well as the Jeff-recommended What the Weird Sisters Saw and Jeff-nominated The Last Queen of Camelot. At Idle Muse he also directed Upon this Shore: A Tale of Pericles and the Daughters of Tyre, Best for Winter, being a short Shakespeare adapted from the Winter's Tale and other works, Equivocation, as well as The Lion in Winter and Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure (both Jeff-Recommended). Other favorite Idle Muse productions include The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Talking Cure, Rites and Sacrifices, a world premiere by Chicago playwright Jennifer L. Mickelson, Enchanted April, and The Scullery Maid. He was also director and co-adapter of the original Shotgun Shakespeare: What the Weird Sisters Saw with Idle Muse company member Tristan Brandon. Outside directing projects include several short plays in the Martin de Maat New Works Festival at Boxer Rebellion Theatre and two summers serving as assistant director for Shakespeare on the Green in Lake Forest. Jackson is a graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University, where he received his MFA in directing.

ABOUT IDLE MUSE THEATRE COMPANY 

Idle Muse Theatre Company's mission is to produce theatre that is transporting,  timely and true. The company was established in 2006 by theatre artists interested in exploring the relationship between individuals and the worlds they inhabit. Seeking to create production opportunities, they established a modern 'guild' of players and environment where theatre artists of different experiences and backgrounds could develop their craft. Today, IMTC remains focused on the following core values:

Transporting: We believe that great theatre removes both audience members and  artists from their respective reality and transports them to another world.

Timely: We believe that human connection can be accomplished through  meaningful, relevant, and accessible storytelling here and now.

True: We believe in unflinching honesty in the playing and storytelling.

Since 2022, Idle Muse Theatre Company has instituted a profit share model with artists and team members for each production. In addition to any stipend or payment for services, a full 50% of all box office revenue is reserved and divided evenly among the cast and production team.

Idle Muse Theatre Company launches its 20th anniversary season with The Three Musketeers, March 26 - April 25, written by Robert Kauzlaric, directed by Idle Muse Artistic Director Evan Jackson and adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas at The Edge Off-Broadway Theater, 1133 W Catalpa Ave. Previews are Thursday, March 26 and Friday, March 27 at 8 p.m. with the press opening Saturday, March 28 at 8 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m., with an added Wednesday performance on April 22 at 8 p.m. General admission tickets are now on sale for $30 and $20 for seniors and students with $50 "pay it forward" tickets that assist in subsidizing tickets for those who may not be able to access the production otherwise. Tickets and additional group discounts are available at IdleMuse.org or the Idle Muse Theatre Company Box Office, 773.340.9438.