Displaying items by tag: Jessica Tandy

MadKap Productions is pleased to present the Tennessee Williams' classic play A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE for 13 live performances at the Skokie Theatre, 7924 Lincoln Ave in Downtown Skokie from March 27 thru April 26, 2026, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 2:00 pm, with one Wed. matinee on April 15 at 1:30 pm. There are no performances April 3 - 5. Tickets are $42 general admission, $38 for seniors and students and can be purchased online at SkokieTheatre.org or by calling 847-677-7761

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE is considered to be one of the great classics of the American theatre.  When Blanche DuBois, a troubled woman with a dark past, moves in with her sister Stella and her volatile husband Stanley, she learns that genteel pretensions are no match for the harsh realities symbolized by her brutish brother-in-law.  It is an emotionally charged drama that explores desire, delusion, and the harsh realities of human nature

The play won both the Pulitzer Prize for drama and the Tony Award for Best Play.  The movie version won the Golden Globe for Best Picture.  Vivian Leigh won the Best Actress award for her portrayal of Blanche, a role originated by Jessica Tandy on Broadway.

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE stars Hailey Hance as Blanche, with Elyna Mellen as Stella, Nathaniel Kohlmeier as Stanley, and Denis Vorobyev as Mitch.  The cast also features AJ Carchi, Wyatt DeLair, Neil Figuracion, Kimmy Higginbotham, and Dee Dee Logan

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE is directed by Wayne Mell, who founded MadKap productions with producer Wendy Kaplan in 2012.  Set Design is by Brian Wasserman, with Lighting Design by Pat Henderson, Costume Design by Dame Erickson, Property Design by Michael Dwiggins and Sound Design by Elijah McTiernan.  Laine Rogers is the Assistant Director, with Intimacy Direction by Krista Retka and Fight Choreography by Brian Plocharczyk.

COMPANY is the final production in MadKap Productions' 11th season at Skokie Theatre, which started in July with A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM and included productions of PIPPIN, DEATHTRAP, .and most recently COMPANY.

For reservations or additional information, visit SkokieTheatre.org, or call the box office at 847-677-7761

About MadKap Productions

MadKap is celebrating its 11th year at Skokie Theatre and is the recipient of the 2019 Artistic Excellence award from the Village of Skokie Fine Arts Commission.  Wendy Kaplan and Wayne Mell formed MadKap Productions in 2011 and have premiered ground-breaking new plays like Clutter: The True Story of the Collier Brothers Who Never Threw Anything Out and Mr. Shaw Goes To Hollywood,  and Side Effects May Include, the semi-autobiographical account of Seinfeld writer Marc Jaffe's experiences with Parkinson's Disease which toured nationally, raising funds for Shaking With Laughter and The Michael J. Fox Foundation.  MadKap Productions was formerly a resident production company at the Greenhouse Theater Center in Chicago.  In February of 2014, MadKap Productions took over management of the Skokie Theatre with the goal of establishing a full-time performing arts center. 

About Skokie Theatre

The Skokie Theatre was originally built in 1912 and served as the local movie theatre for the people who lived in the Skokie area.  The building fell into disrepair, until 2006 when the Skokie Valley Music Foundation spent over 1.2 million dollars to refurbish it and create a music hall that is unlike any other in the area.  Its 140 comfortable seats, perfect acoustics, and elegant art deco architecture makes it a Skokie landmark.  MadKap Productions took over management of the building in February, 2014 with the goal of establishing a full-time performing arts center.  When not presenting plays, audiences can experience cabaret and concerts, dance, and comedy acts.

Veteran actress Tandy Cronyn, the daughter of legendary actors Hugh Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, helms ‘The Tall Boy’, in a solo performance. The award-winning play centered around the matron of an orphanage and three young boys, all convincingly played by Cronyn, is a meticulous look at what happens to child refugees in the aftermath of World War II.

Written by British playwright Simon Bent and directed by David Hammond, ‘The Tall Boy’ is based on "The Lost," a short story by Kay Boyle. The play premiered in Chicago, Thursday, December 5, at Stage 773 on Belmont Avenue.

The opening scene could easily be depicting the events of today as we see Cronyn, in army fatigues, sitting at a desk attempting to write a memo on how to treat unaccompanied minors or DPs (displaced persons). No force can be used, she notes, but pressure can be applied with carrots – more food rations or other inducements.

The matron is struggling with the situation and what she is required to do. We see her move from one distraction to the next across the simple stage filled with a cot, wooden crates, and makeshift table before finally taking pleasure from a bite of chocolate and settling back at her desk poring over the memo and letters.

The war, which ravaged much of Europe, set refugees – men, women, and small children – on the move in search of shelter, security, and hope. "It's like a puzzle people dropped and broke all over Europe," the matron laments. But as refugees surged across borders, a question that arose among those in power was, "What to do with them?"

That question is perfectly illustrated in the circumstances of the three young boys who have come under the matron's care. The boys, a 15-year-old Czech, a 14-year-old Pole, and a 12-year-old Italian, are vividly portrayed by Cronyn as she seamlessly shifts back-and-forth between each character.

The performance is even more stunning as we watch the ease with which she goes in and out of the varied accents: Not the accents of their native homes, however. The boys, fresh from the care of American GIs before reaching the orphanage, had picked up the accents of their caretakers. They had imprinted with the soldiers, picking up a Southern accent, a Brooklyn accent, and a Jimmy Cagney accent, the matron tells the audience.

And through this compelling point of view, we learn of the boys' powerful connections with those U.S. servicemen and of their desperate desire to join them in the U.S.

One boy, in particular, Tall Boy, the one with a Southern accent picked up from his army buddy, Charlie, a black man from the South, is convinced they will be reunited. Charlie promised him.

But it is up to the matron to gently explain the state of race relations in the U.S.

The young boy, faced with the harsh realities of war for most of his life, is again forced to face another harsh reality: All those who fight for freedom are not necessarily free themselves.

What makes ‘The Tall Boy’ resonate with such an eerie sense of Deja Vue is the feeling that this story could easily lead the evening news today. The anti-immigration sentiments rampant in the U.S. and across Europe in the 40s are just as prevalent in many countries now. And the term, unaccompanied minor, is just as much a part of our lexicon in 2019 as refugees from war-torn countries from all over the world whether in Latin America, Northern Africa, or the Middle East, desperately search for shelter, security and most of all hope.

History is a repetitive teacher, it seems, and the governments of countries worldwide are recalcitrant students when it comes to the state and status of refugees and the ultimate question, "What to do with them?"

In a Q&A session after the performance, Cronyn discussed how she acquired the rights to this story and commissioned a stage adaptation from Bent. She worked with Hammond over eight years developing and tightening up the script as well as working on her ability to assume multiple characters and accents without hesitating or missing a beat.

‘The Tall Boy’ first premiered in August 2012 at the University of North Texas, and in the following year, was presented by The Clarence Brown Theatre restaged for their Carousel Theatre by Bruch Reed.

In 2014 the play moved to New York playing three sold-out performances on Theatre Row on 42 Street as part of the United Solo Theatre Festival, where it won the Best Adaptation Award. In 2015, it played The John Drew Theater at Guild Hall in East Hampton as part of the 2015 JDT Lab new play series.

The award-winning play returned to New York in September at the 10th Anniversary Solo Festival as one of the shows invited to participate in its "The Best Of" category featuring critically acclaimed and audience favorites from previous Solo festivals.

‘The Tall Boy’ is now in a limited run at Stage 773 through December 15. For more information, visit www.stage773.com.

If you saw "The Gin Game", a timely play about the coming together of two lonely but feisty seniors at a run-down nursing home, when you were younger - you should see it again now at Drury Lane. 

John Reeger and Paula Scrofano, a long-time married couple who met at Northwestern University and raised a family while carving out distinguished theatrical reputations for themselves, play these roles with gusto and finesse. 

Taking on the roles of Weller Martin and Fonsia Dorsey, like other great acting couples before them - Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy or Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke, John Reeger and Paula Scrofano pull out all the emotional stops to reveal the inner turmoil of seniors who have been left alone at the end of their lives to basically die in a dilapidated nursing home because they have both lost everything they own to their children or the state and are on Medicare.  

As they discuss and complain intermittently about all the problems seniors are still facing today, like poor nutrition, lack of stimulation in adult activities, and having their most precious belongings stolen, the audience sadly realizes that nothing has changed for seniors affected by catastrophic illness and the increasingly unreasonable, high costs of healthcare since "The Gin Game" first came out. 

Videographer Mike Tutaj, lights up the shabby, depressing and realistic set design by Katherine Ross with a series of beautiful and poignant slideshow type images from a variety of nursing homes that the audience can really identify with in how nursing homes are run today, especially if you are not wealthy enough to be placed in a fancier gated community.

Ross Lehman directs this very talented couple, Reeger and Scrofano, with an understanding and yet demanding pace that sets the characters on fire as their life stories come tumbling out one dealt card at a time. Over a series of gin games (often humorously played out), our characters get to know each other better and better while reluctantly revealing how their own personal tempers and foibles contributed in part to the broken relationships with their children. 

I saw the play years ago but this time, having dealt personally with the placement of four family members of different ages each with debilitating disabilities and dwindling financial resources beyond their control, I found it even more satisfying to watch. The crowd I joined at the opening was mostly between the ages of fifty and ninety-years-old and undoubtedly related to these very same, sad and lonely circumstances that are inevitable for so many senior citizens, as perhaps many younger audience members realized the same for their aging parents or grandparents. 

I can't rave enough about the fine performances by the semi-retired John Reeger and Paula Scrofano. The pair push each other’s buttons as only a real married couple can and display a sharp sense of timing and emotional flexibility rarely seen in younger actors. The couple also show off their fine comedic mastery.  

I highly recommend this thought provoking, totally timeless and relevant production in which Reeger and Scrofano use every single word, every gesture to brilliantly drive home the message that senior citizens are every bit as sharp and full of emotional and physical needs for fulfillment and daily entertainment as their younger counterparts.

This is a darkly funny and meaningful production the entire family young and old should see together, if only to wake up and realize we all will be old someday, and, if we don't make changes to preserve and increase the coverage of Medicare and Medicaid, we are dooming ourselves and our children to retirements that look more like "jails for those who have lived too long" instead of clean and comfortable homes to retire in. 

"The Gin Game" is being performed at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook through August 13th. For more information visit www.drurylanetheatre.com.