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Displaying items by tag: Eric Lindahl

The Total Bent is a musical show so delightful I wish I could shrink it down, put it in a shoebox and show it to all my friends. But you can (and should) go see it full scale at Den Theatre, where it runs through March 10.

Ostensibly the story traces a British record producer’s effort to record a Gospel music prodigy in Montgomery, Alabama. But to be truthful the real story told by playwrights Heidi Rodewald and Stew depict with color and verve the personal journey of a creative spirit – Marty Roy (Gilbery Domally) – as he finds his voice and attains fame on a global stage.

All that is set against a sweeping portrait of the tense interplay between black music and African-American culture as the Civil Rights movement seized the day. It is told through the oedipal battle of a father and son who are at odds around matters, spiritual, social and musical.

The Total Bent features Chicago treasure Robert Cornelius as Montgomery preacher Joe Roy who has built his career as a Bible-thumping televangelist and Gospel music recording artist. This role taps Cornelius's wonderfully expressive baritone, and his stentorian delivery in the dialog.

But it is Gilbery Domally, as Joe’s young adult son, who steals the show, channelling the role of Marty Roy. He is dazzling! Domally is more like a force of nature than mere performer as he traverses a role that sees him evolve from his father’s hidden spiritual musical muse, moving across multiple musical styles and stage personae as he navigates toward his creative apotheosis on the world stage.

All this is told with an acerbic wit, and that ironic twist we get from the likes of Donald Glover, Jordan Peel, and Spike Lee.
From the moment Marty Roy prances onto the stage, we are treated to a continuous critique of his father, and an uproarious and irreverent running commentary on the conflicts between those clinging to the status quo in the Jim Crow South, as Black Power emerged.

Joe Roy is celebrated for his inspiring, traditional Gospel songs. But to keep the song mill moving, he relied on his wife, now gone, and now his son Marty, to pen the music. As the social revolution rocks Montgomery and the South, Marty encourages his father to tap into it in his preaching and singing, and provides him a lovely song with a scathing refrain: “That’s why he’s Jesus and you’re not, Whitey.” Marty asks the Music Director (Jermain Hill, who also plays Deacon Charlie, is a stitch) to do a retake: "Try a less church-y sound," he says. "I am such a pest!" 

Siding with social conservatives, “This protesting stuff is going to ruin everything,” Joe Roy tells his son. “Is there any real money in it?” He advises Montgomery's white people to ride the buses to combat the boycott by blacks that was launched by Rosa Parks. “If our spiritual rights were in order, we wouldn’t need no civil rights,” he advises his African-American followers.

Then Marty Roy skips across to stage right, waves his hand, and offers an explanation to the audience (it's hard to imagine today, but most white people regarded Parks as a villain): “This all be the past, and shit.” Rather than labor in his father's vineyard, Marty sets out to become a secular music writer, and we watch him transform in stages, becoming a James Brown soul singer with carefully choreographed back-ups, to a Prince-like apparition who has continuous bookings in London.

The Total Bent is largely a sung work, with limited amounts of dialog. It is the latest theatrical script by the creative team of Heidi Rodewald, and Stew. The two rose to fame with Passing Strange, which won a Tony, an Obie, and a Drama Critics Circle Award in 2008. Stew (he doesn’t use his last name, See) is a singer, songwriter, and leader of a pop-rock band in Los Angeles called The Negro Problem, which recorded Post Minstrel Syndrome in 1997. As this background suggest, Stew mines a rich vein of “detached black irony” in his creations.

The music is wonderful, two band members also characters: Frederick Harris as Deacon Dennis; and Jermain Hill as Deacon Charlie. Outstanding also were supporting cast members Michael Turrentine as Andrew and Breon Arzell as Abee – the duo deftly taking on a variety of comical roles as church ladies and bumpkins.

Among so many striking aspects of the show, we get to see and hear several songs composed, Joe Roy's sacred version, then a retake by Marty Roy in a profane rock style. One such is "Sinner I Know You're Lost." It's a lovely classic hymn as Joe Roy originates it; but it is transporting when Marty Roy redoes it in a swinging rock style, coupled with the refrain, "I gotta get up on the cross." 

The Total Bent is highly recommended on its own merits, and especially to see Gilbery Domally’s amazing performance. Jointly produced by Haven Theatre and About Face Theatre, it features dummer Christian Moreno on drums, Anthony Rodriguez on winds, Derek Duleba on guitar, and Kurt Shelby on Bass. It’s at the Den Theatre through March 17.

Published in Theatre in Review
Monday, 16 March 2015 00:00

Review: The Full Monty

One can never have enough of imports from across the sea, “The Full Monty” based on the book by Terrence McNally which earned a 2001 Tony Away nomination and based on the movie by Fox of the same name, is no exception.  Currently being performed at the intimate space of Chicago's Theatre Wit, the audience becomes part of the struggle of the men in a town who are just trying to get by. The Full Monty is set in Buffalo, New York, rather than its original setting in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. But that doesn't really matter. 
  
David Yazbek, wrote the script and music for this new interpretation for the cast of twenty, and the audience can tell that with his talent and the work of director John D. Glover, the 2 hour and 20 minute show, draws the audience into the lives of the regular men in Buffalo as they get over their insecurities, fear and doubts through their chances of changing their situation, their jobs and their lives, with one night of stripping.
 
Your heart sympathizes with the mastermind of the disrobing plan, Jerry Lukowski (Garrett Lutz) unexpected along for the ride, his best friend Dave Bukatinsky (Scott Danielson).  Bringing the group up from a two man show, the friends draw in some of the local gentleman from the mill they had all been laid off from, Harold (Eric Lindahl), Malcolm (George Toles), “Horse” (Randy Johnson) and Ethan (Greg Foster). These men come together to overcome their obstacles and support each other in ways they never expected.
 
You will laugh out loud, you will clap along, you will try to sing a long, you will tear up and you will root for the underdog, praying all six of them (the old, the young, the skinny, the round, the hairy and the hairless) will succeed. The Full Monty hits on many topics including obesity, depression, impotency and father's rights to name a few. As much of a show for the working man, father, husband or boyfriend, as it is a treat for the ladies, all walks of life should enjoy The Full Monty.  Although, more of an adult show (parental guidance would be suggested), teenagers would relate to the family dynamic and stand behind Jerry Lukowski’s son, Nathan (played by Kyle Klein II and Seth Steinberg).
 
The Full Monty is playing at Theatre Wit through April 12th. For show info and/or tickets visit www.theaterwit.org.
Published in Theatre in Review

 

 

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