Theater Review

‘The Mark of Zorro’ Nails Swordsman, Markedly Complicates Cast, Botches Dialect

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 15 May 2008 02:33:55 -0400

CHICAGO – Sometimes less, of course, is more. Live theater often knows that better than anyone. That’s exactly the shrill reminder Chicago’s Lifeline Theatre needed in Katie McLean’s adaptation of the beloved Zorro book by Johnston McCulley.

With 13 actors on stage and 19 additional among management and tech, it’s admirable to see so many components attempt to tick soundly together. Unfortunately, this decision didn’t yield an idyllic symphony. Instead, the choice revealed patently weak links.

Zorro (James Elly, top) teaches Captain Ramon (Robert Kauzlaric) a bloody lesson in “The Mark of Zorro”.
Photo credit: Suzanne Plunkett

“The Mark of Zorro” would have been exceedingly enhanced by replicating the talent of James Elly – who in his Clark Kent-like mode played Don Diego Vega and then played Zorro when it was time for Superman – as well as Rosa de Guindos as Lolita.

His no-romance attempts to woo her were surprisingly comical. Her disenchanted response to his worldly goods is what you’d expect from a highly desired maiden. The two – actually, the three of them – ultimately concocted chemistry as Don Diego Vega took a page from Zorro’s quixotic ways.

As Don Diego Vega, James Elly’s penchant for recurring “fatigue” was a pleasantly unexpected adaptation. Still, some could consider the script hokey and those turned off by the purposefully overdramatic and campy might find themselves repelled.

It’s difficult to know whether dialect coach Elise Kauzlaric was lacking in her critical duty to transform the overall speech of this production or if the predominantly non-Latino cast just couldn’t authentically sell the Latino theme.

While the Persian James Elly nailed the accent, Larry Baldacci and Don Bender also adapted well. Baldacci and Bender deliver sound performances and stand out as supporting characters amid a large cast of many who merely blended in.

I instantly recognized Hanlon Smith-Dorsey from his 2007 production of “Paradise Lost” at the TimeLine Theatre. This time around, he effectively disappears into the character of a friar and interchanges with the role of a governor.

Zorro (James Elly, right) wins the heart of the fiery Lolita (Rosa de Guindos) in Lifeline Theatre’s adaptation of “The Mark of Zorro” by Johnston McCulley, which was adapted by Katie McLean and directed by Dorothy Milne.
Photo credit: Suzanne Plunkett

Manny Tamayo, though, sticks out as the plays unfortunate sore thumb. While no one could possibly come away thinking he lacks energy, there are much subtler ways to redirect it where he’s truly feeling it rather than merely bellowing it. Tamayo is also a director at The Factory Theater in Chicago.

Though it’s unclear why production photography made such a stark statement about Zorro’s mark on James Elly’s back but then never showed it in the actual play, the illustrious “Z” did light up momentarily on a wooden post.

Despite palpable pros and cons in a play that was absolutely too lengthy, the fundamental tenant of romance and the importance of courting is an exquisitely worthy message to bring center stage.

“The Mark of Zorro” runs through June 22, 2008 at the Lifeline Theatre at 6912 N. Glenwood Ave. in Chicago. The play runs on Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. Tickets cost $25.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Chicago’s ‘Shout! The Mod Musical’ an Infectiously Groovilicious, Estrogen-Only Stew

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:17:32 -0400

CHICAGO – Meg Ryan, eat your heart out. Since “When Harry Met Sally,” the salacious Danielle Plisz as Green Girl in “Shout! The Mod Musical” takes Ryan’s infamous restaurant eruption to a whole new level on stage.

“Shout! The Mod Musical” in Chicago.
Photo credit: Ben Strothmann

Blue Girl (Lauren Fijol), Red Girl (Megan Long), Yellow Girl (Maggie Portman), Orange Girl (Amy Steele) and Amanda Danskin in the ensemble match Plisz’s energy in a performance that flips through the 1960s like a musical diva songbook.

All cast members of the Chicago production are local talent. The musical is the story of five fab women in London being liberated as children of the swinging 60s with the hair, heart and soul of the twist-and-shout generation.

Though you miss Mike Myers as the seminal 1960s Austin Powers character, there’s plenty of sass and sauce in this exclusive estrogen stew.

The performance is replete with feel-good tunes you’re sure to recognize (regardless of your age) including “These Boots Were Made For Walking,” “Son of a Preacher Man,” “Shout!,” “Downtown,” “I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself” and many more.

Most notable about this female-only cast is its strength in numbers without a weak link. Each performer embodies a clearly composite personality and effectively etches a lasting memory.

“Shout! The Mod Musical” in Chicago.
Photo credit: Ben Strothmann

As the women evolve with the London times over the course of this soulful period in history, the narrative voices of an influential magazine advise them on how they should behave. While they progress through this story, some listen ever-so vigilantly while others buck the trend of the times.

The musical is based on a backdrop of 1960s events including the FDA approval of the pill in 1960, the founding of Weight Watchers in 1961, the publication of “Sex and the Single Girl” in 1962 (which encourages women to have careers and pre-marital sex) and the introduction of the male contraceptive pill in 1963 (that they don’t use).

As well, women were first arrested in 1964 for wearing topless dresses, the introduction of the mini-skirt came in 1965 along with the world’s first supermodel, the beginning of the hippie movement in 1966, flower power in 1967, the opening of “Hair” in 1968 and Woodstock in 1969.

“Shout! The Mod Musical” in Chicago.
Photo credit: Ben Strothmann

“Shout! The Mod Musical” is marked as an indisputable crowd pleaser not only by these themes and catchy numbers but by its ability to engage the crowd and even launch them out of their seats.

By the end, men and women of all ages were standing, clapping and singing with infectious vigor.

As a testament to the high-energy fitness associated with the musical’s pace, some of the microphones of the performers even unknowingly peaked out from atop their foreheads.

On opening night, a couple of the girls came out of the gate with performance concern but all were on fire by the curtain call.

“Shout! The Mod Musical” runs through June 22, 2008 at the Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place at 175 E. Chestnut St. in Chicago on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.; and Sundays at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Tickets cost $45 to $55.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Chicago’s Political Machine Runs Relatively Swimmingly in Strawdog Theatre’s ‘Old Town’

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 01 May 2008 09:52:37 -0400

CHICAGO – As a testament to its set design, it wasn’t immediately clear if certain structures were naturally part of the Strawdog Theatre space or if they were fabricated specifically for the “Old Town” production. It turned out to be the latter as this story of Chicago’s political machine unfolded with song, dance, wit, a relatively large cast and a 10-piece live band.

In double-sworded fate, this relatively large cast turned out to be both a blessing and also its burden. The story’s set at a fictional hotel on election night where the Weltz dynasty wrangles with the Chicago voting public. Despite characters galore, Kat McDonnell as Cindy Weltz – the daughter of the man who’s currently running but just can’t cut it – melts nearly everyone else away.

Karen Mosher (Shannon Hoag, left) digs up a scandal between the Cook County president’s daughter (Cindy Weltz) (played by Kat McDonnell, center) and campaign manager Daniel Deering (John Ferrick, right) in Brett Neveu’s world-premiere musical “Old Town,” which runs from April 27 to May 31, 2008 at the Strawdog Theatre in Chicago.
Image credit: Don Cardiff

While she’s musically sound, it’s her raw emotion – really it’s her face – that tells the true story every actor strives for. McDonnell (a Strawdog ensemble member) always looks like she’s about to burst into tears, and though she never does and even finds reason to rejoice, she authentically wears her heart on her sleeve.

As well, Strawdog ensemble member John Ferrick plays Daniel Deering with the vigor you’d only find in the campaign manager of a man who’s running for president (not of the U.S. but of Chicago’s Cook County). He’s a two-faced balance between a man who flirts the shady political grey matter and another gentleman who merely longs for love.

While the leader of a musical quartet sounded best when his trio chimed in and the gaggle in general was a nourishing addition to the show, lighting was exactly the focused lens it needed to be. The behind-the-scenes band set an apt mood with the added benefit of actually being there to do so.

“Old Town” direction at the hands of Kyle Hamman fit like a glass slipper. The choreographed movement flowed like a majestic waterfall. Background bodies were always present and neither detracted from the spotlight nor added too much to it, which helped to keep the scene active and feeling like a vital night in Chicago.

While Gregor Mortis nailed casting with decisions in McDonnell, Ferrick and a few others, the play beamed a bright light on some lucid weak links. Alternating between such natural talent and such an unnatural lack thereof drew you in, knocked you out, drew you back in and knocked you back out.

Either a smaller, more focused cast or more McDonnell-like actors and singers would have turned what deserved a bravo or two into a boisterous standing ovation.

“Old Town” runs through May 31, 2008 at Strawdog Theatre at 3829 N. Broadway Ave. in Chicago. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Sundays at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $20.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Pie Maker, Loony Boy Steal Rightful Spotlight From Sweeney Todd in Chicago Musical

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:17:03 -0400

CHICAGO – While Johnny Depp’s portrayal of the demon barber of Fleet Street in the 2007 film iteration sells you on his fiendish ways, actor and singer David Hess in the musical bobbles more in purgatory rather than living hysterically in hell.

In the musical thriller “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” which has a two-week Chicago engagement now through May 4, 2008, two other supporting characters – the pie-making Mrs. Lovett and the batty Tobias – rise above to take top presence prizes.

The musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”.
Image credit: The Marketing Group

While Hess doesn’t underwhelm and is a sound selection for the lead role, neither does he overwhelm in the ferocious way he needs to. The production with only 10 actors and musicians, which began in 2005 by British director John Doyle as a financial necessity, stayed that personal in future productions as an artistic choice.

“It’s a positive way at looking at smallness and intimacy,” Doyle said about the production. “What we’re all searching for ultimately is the honesty of storytelling. [Central to this production] is the need to make the audience do some of the work. We ask them to use some of their imagination. There’s no barber’s chair, for instance. You can imagine it.”

As well, Sweeney Todd’s victims are taken prey through the reddening of background light and screeching sound – too long and painful to hear, by the way. Indeed, you’re more intimately engaged in each note and calculated decision within the music of legendary composer Stephen Sondheim.

That said, while the 2007 film depiction features a balanced cast with Sweeney Todd as the rightful standout, the musical performance that’s currently touring 20 U.S. cities (ending in June 2008) is decidedly plagued with some weak and undistinguished links. The performance also feels too long.

Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett in the 2007 film as well as Judy Kaye as Mrs. Lovett in the musical both win you over in different ways. They both invade their characters – completely in body and mind – but Kaye in the musical performance adds a refreshing twist of comic relief.

The cast of the musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”.
Image credit: The Marketing Group

The audience craved more comedy, though, whether from her or from the dark and dreary-toned performance in general.

While we’re not handed wit from Edmund Bagnell as Tobias, we’re instead delightfully surprised by his unexpected, standout performance.

Bagnell infuses in his character ornately intense ticks, impeccably overdramatized enunciation (the repeatedly memorable musical line “the demon barber of fleet street,” for example) and is ultimately revealed as one of the stars of the show.

In the concluding ovations, Bagnell won the crowd’s applause – along with Kaye as Mrs. Lovett – even over Hess as story subject Sweeney Todd. Just as so many of the actors were multi-talented musicians, Bagnell is also committed to memory for his uniquely quick-noted violin.

To inject more evil in his wicked ways, Hess should have taken a page from the natural and authentic way Bagnell played the straight-jacketed fanatic.

Alan Rickman was Judge Turpin in the 2007 film whereas Keith Buterbaugh tried in vain to act like him. Buterbaugh had the right idea in his eerie, skin-crawling scene where he fights his sexual feelings toward adopted daughter Johanna, but he ultimately needed more of it to leave a lasting impression.

Lauren Molina as Johanna fit the bill of a shackled, fair maiden and is especially remembered for her lines where she reminds the man who’s courting her for marriage – Anthony (played by Benjamin Magnuson) – that she doesn’t even know his name.

Anthony’s recurring song “Johanna” with the romantic lyric “I’ll steal you, Johanna” is the musical’s standout number as it’s sung in beautiful pitch and screams out in such clear key.

After countless musical performances around the world, what became “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” the musical and then the film (both in 1936 and 2007) first began as the story entitled “The String of Pearls” in 1846. It was published in a British penny dreadful and was likely penned by Thomas Prest.

The musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” runs through May 4, 2008 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre at 151 W. Randolph St. in Chicago every day except for April 28 at 7:30 or 8 p.m. on most nights. Tickets range in price from $25 to $75.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Neil LaBute’s ‘In a Dark Dark House’ Unearths Long-Buried Skeletons in Three-Person Play

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:25:36 -0500

CHICAGO – It’s not in calm seas but within torrential rains when we lay bare our true colors. Lauded playwright Neil LaBute was fixated on testing these human limits and exploring our different styles of conflict resolution when he minted the three-person play “In a Dark Dark House”.

The skeletons buried deep in the past of two brothers are unearthed in an early mid-life crisis that forces Terry (played by Profiles Theatre associate artistic director Darrell W. Cox) and Drew (played by Hans Fleischmann) to experience court-ordered rehab as a brotherly duo.

Profiles Theatre associate artistic director Darrell W. Cox (left) plays Terry and Hans Fleischmann plays his brother, Drew, in the Chicago production of Neil LaBute’s “In a Dark Dark House”.
Photo credit: Thad Hallstein

While Terry is reluctantly agreeable to help with the corroboration of Drew’s vexing story, he’s also skeptical and harbors long-brewing animosities against him. For LaBute, the narrative holds weighty implication in front of Windy City theatergoers.

“This has been a really incredible experience: having a company devote itself to seeing that my work – both full plays and a number of shorter pieces – gets in front of a Chicago audience,” LaBute said about the Profiles Theatre’s decision to devote the entirety of its 2007 to 2008 season to him.

“In a Dark Dark House” first opened in New York in 2007. The Chicago production marks its second performance and Midwest premiere. Also a filmmaker, LaBute’s newest film – “Lakeview Terrace” – stars Samuel L. Jackson and is scheduled for a Sept. 2008 release.

“I started out as a Chicago writer and still consider myself that,” LaBute added. “I’m happy to give even one of my newest plays like ‘In a Dark Dark House’ to Profiles because I know they will take good care of it.”

In the Chicago presentation, Cox clearly shines most brightly as the star of the show and wears the act of the apathetic, raspy, working-class outcast like a glove. Whether animated or meek, all eyes and ears are set squarely on him as Cox nearly single-handedly carries the show.

Though Fleischmann’s character oscillates between the loony bin type and an accomplished lawyer, just sporting a suit doesn’t mean he can pull off a grown and married man with kids. While honestly believing some of his moments of uncertainty, embarrassment and dread as an actor, it was the overshadowing Cox who best consummated what dramatic actors always strive for: true moments on stage.

Profiles founder and “In a Dark Dark House” director Joe Jahraus made an intrepid decision casting Allison Torem as the youthful and naïve subplot. As a real-life junior in high school, this play serves as her professional debut and launching pad into the world of Chicago theater.

In verdict, the choice wielded a double-edged sword. Torem didn’t underwhelmingly stick out like a sore thumb but also didn’t hauntingly command her role like veterans do. Despite some questionable casting and necessary character honing, the play in sum tactfully tackles a valiant subject with candor and pensive storytelling.

“In a Dark Dark House” runs through May 11, 2008 at the Profiles Theatre at 4147 N. Broadway in Chicago. 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 7 p.m. on Sundays. While tickets cost $25 to $30, they are half price with this link.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Chicago’s ‘Brontë’ Masterfully Resurrects Three of Planet’s Most Examined Scribes of All Time

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:13:50 -0500

CHICAGO – Three of the planet’s most examined scribes of all time – a trio of Victorian spinsters, in fact, who are credited with some of the most passionate literature ever written – are resurrected in the meticulous Chicago production of “Brontë” from illustrious playwright Polly Teale.

Susan Shunk (as Charlotte Brontё on left), Rachel
Sondag (as Anne Brontё in the middle) and Carrie A.
Coon (as Emily Brontё on right) in “Brontë”.
Photo credit: Johnny Knight

Teale explores the simply celibate life in which storied sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne mostly only have themselves, their pens and their unbridled imaginations. Was it their chastity that unleashed so much repressed titillation or was such eroticism merely a fiery choice for absorbing prose?

Moreover, why well over a century later do their words still haunt our minds? In her decision to return to the beginning with “Brontë,” Teale says we are fascinated by these maidens because they “broke the mold against all odds” and yet “they were made by it,” too.

Having to publish in pseudonym because only men at that time were permitted the right to write, Teale credits their self-educated father as the sisters’ door-opening and awe-inspiring catalyst.

While they were certainly spurred by their brother’s tumultuous personal life, too, it was their father who resiliently swore by the transformative power of literature and art.

In the Chicago realization of this storied mammoth, director James Bohnen about faces the Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater into the Brontë parsonage in Haworth, West Yorkshire.

Set in the year 1845, the cast clearly co-exists in harmony without a weak link and with authentic conviction. That said, Linda Gillum plays the decisive oddity as she is the sisters’ manifestation in written form who alternates from a feather-obsessed worrywart to an erotic canine.

With a 15-minute intermission, the performance’s top-drawer staying power helps you disregard its relatively lengthy time commitment. As a notice to the red-ink department, though, the grandeur of the subject matter sometimes lends to excessive gabbing that can dash out one ear just as swift as it scurried in the other.

More so than her sisters, Carrie A. Coon as the second-eldest Emily epitomizes the readily regarded phenom who died after a fleeting blaze of genius as realized in “Wuthering Heights”. It was her sole novel.

Susan Shunk (as Charlotte Brontё on left), Carrie A. Coon (as Emily Brontё in the middle) and Patrick Clear (as Patrick Brontё on right) in “Brontë” at the Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater in Chicago.
Photo credit: Johnny Knight

Susan Shunk plays the eldest, Charlotte (best known for famous British novel “Jane Eyre”), and Rachel Sondag rounds out the trio as the youngest, Anne, who history has overshadowed in favor of her more fêted sisters. Sondag typifies Anne’s more sharp, realistic and ironic writing style as a stark contrast to the romanticism exemplified by Charlotte and Emily.

Patrick Clear as Patrick Brontë – who plays their curate father and changed the family’s last name from Brunty to Brontë – masterfully oscillates from a temporary blind man to various other characters through the devices of dialect and mind/body renovation.

Gregory Anderson as the brother, Branwell, delves deeply into the mind of a man who was regarded by the family as its most talented member. Plagued by insurmountable expectations, though, he was driven to binge drinking. Only one scene in this production, though, harks back to the central addiction that launched the meeting of his grim reaper.

Together, these five Brontës stand the test of time as one of the most imperative stories in which to immerse in both written and theatrical form. This Chicago production of the family’s legend would sell even the Brontës themselves on the sweeping meaning of their message.

“Brontë” runs through May 4 at the Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater at 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. on Sundays. While tickets cost $35 to $40, they are half price with this link.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

‘Ceres’ a High-Octane Probe Into Chicago’s Slippery Investment Banker Slope

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:35:08 -0500

CHICAGO – Tucked surreptitiously at the way-way-way-off-Loop location of the Prop Thtr – Chicago’s oldest-surviving non-equity theater in the area – the signature that is “Ceres” is its high-octane energy. The cast act in harmony much in the same way as the “X-Men” character Juggernaut: once their momentum is synthesized, it can’t be stopped.

The theme is carried consistently from the instant “Ceres” lights up all the way through its curtain call. All throughout the middle, The Factory Theater troupe allows theatergoers to feel like privileged voyeurs in the lions’ den of high-volatility investment brokers who crook all their rules, loyalties and ethics in order to make the coveted sale.

Gretchen Carter as Ivy in the Chicago production of “Ceres”.
Photo credit: The Factory Theater

The 1992 film “Glengarry Glen Ross” – perhaps the quintessential exploration of sales in cinema – is shrewdly referenced in “Ceres” to imply partial inspiration. Beyond the Al Pacino machination examination, Chicago writer Heather Tyler acknowledges having drawn a direct muse from “sitting in a room stuffed with attorneys and answering some questions one Thanksgiving”.

Set against the milieu of the Windy City’s financial district and honed specifically on the suspect actions of a furtive assemblage called Unit 57, the ensuing outpouring explores the explosiveness, backbiting camaraderie and infidelity often triggered by the towering profit demands of corporate governance.

Chicago director Angelina Martinez – who took on this play with full realization that right and wrong often aren’t blatantly black or white – sets in motion the dangerous “grey area” with a Chicago cast of nine stage actors and a dozen more film actors. A film is presented in tandem with what’s live on stage and is creatively projected onto the stage’s far wall.

While the film crew had a decidedly more grave air about them, the stage crew sometimes fell victim to zealously delivering their lines while neglecting to feel them and understand their intentions.

While film sound was sometimes a screechy issue on preview night, the production will likely iron out that kink. The title “Ceres” has questionable relevance about a planet that never was and perhaps would have been better served as a variation of “Money Talks,” “Get Outta My Way, Sucka” or “Swindling is the Life For Me – Or is It?”.

While auxiliary topical research would have been a credibility improvement and supplementary lasting lessons from the story as a whole would have left us more fulfilled, Gretchen Carter’s Ivy character importantly and ultimately probes the double-edged ethics sword inherent in this profession – amid a probe, in fact, into her unit’s overall profiteering practices – and leaves us with the message to question the beast even if it’s lavishly feeding the cow.

“Ceres” runs through April 26 at the Prop Thtr at 3502 N. Elston in Chicago. 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays; 7 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets cost $20.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Ray Bradbury’s ‘The Martian Chronicles’ Inventively Come to Life in Chicago Church Theater

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:01:50 -0500

CHICAGO – There was opportunity aplenty for director Kristina Schramm to miss this mark and leave theatergoers with acidic resentment. Tasked with the tall order of bringing to life Ray Bradbury’s classic anthology “The Martian Chronicles,” though, she wasn’t bested by the oddity of the undertaking.

Instead, the cast and crew of this Chicago production inventively transformed the Lincoln Square Theatre – set squarely within a North Side church – into Mars where Martians roamed with normalcy.

Instead of E.T. descending upon Earth, though, earthlings in this twist of storytelling pervade the aboriginal Martians in their native land for exploration, dreams of dollar signs and even succulent hot dogs.

Bradbury was used to reversing the traditional pendulum of the written word through the toils of his own path for fame, which he realized at the nascent age of 30.

He churned out succinct vignettes when publishers kept requesting traditional novels. His novel approach, in fact, turned into his trademark.

Making full use of a spacious, open stage to embody the story of these stories, Schramm and her gang don’t make quick use of the illustrious words from 1950. They take the time to serve them justice. Just like in Bradbury’s ink, Schramm uses a “future history” structure whereby the plots gel as chapters in a larger chronological narrative skeleton.

Lighting (by Casey Diers) and audibles (sound design by Geraldo de Oliveira and original music by John Bohnert) especially play a starring role in making you feel at home on Mars and fuse naturally with in-the-moment acting.

Benjamin Hailie in his second character as the kingpin of a freak show was dealt a particularly double-edged sword in that he mastered his material even though Schramm should have seriously abbreviated that tangential subplot.

Liz Ladach-Bark as the mysteriously deadpan narrator was hauntingly memorable and the play without her would have left a gaping void. Costume designer Nathan R. Rohrer excelled at the opportunity to transform his subjects into Martians. His use of masks effortlessly identified the difference between the disparate species.

The naming of these Martian extraterrestrials – on which Bradbury has inflicted the cancerous touch of the human race – rings with hilarity even when said in monotone. Imagine calling your friend, Bill, by the name III, NNN, RRR, TTT, UUU or WWW.

As well, Jae K. Renfrow as XXX was most certainly not at all reminiscent to Vin Diesel’s “xXx” and Chicago’s reenactment of “The Martian Chronicles” in general stands on its own with distinction.

“The Martian Chronicles” runs through March 30 at the Lincoln Square Theatre at 4754 N. Leavitt in Chicago. 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 6 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets cost $15.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Chicago Transit Authority Serves as Melodic Muse For Original Chicago Musical ‘Stuck’

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:31:23 -0500

CHICAGO – If you don’t live in Chicago, you’ll have either never heard of the Chicago Transit Authority or you’ll think it stands for something aside from the mass-transit system that it is. If you are a Chicagoan, though, it’s inconceivable not to know about the CTA and certainly improbable to have never used it.

After all, it’s the system that’s such a critical function that everyone loves to hate and can’t escape. Don’t we realize, too, that the very act of being disgruntled critics together itself yields the all-important result of, well, bringing us together?

All that contempt – the sights, sounds, smells, threatened doomsdays and political provocations galore – has served as a musical muse for La Costa Theatre company member Riley Thomas. With it, he has crafted an original musical from a company that in the past has only put up well-known musical works from other brilliant minds.

For Thomas, the evolution of the performance – which its PR scribes are comparing to the cult-favorite film “The Breakfast Club” but actually more feels like “Rent” in their bond over something collectively maddening – “has been an eternity and a blur all at the same time,” he says.

Just like actors willingly project themselves on stage to bear their hearts for the judgment of their patrons, Thomas will be remembered for willingly and admittedly putting himself behind the curtain and reaching within himself for something honest and novel.

And he nails it.

The cast of “Stuck”.
Photo credit: La Costa Theatre

Armed with natural lyrics that flow like water in their portrayal of local concepts all Chicagoans know all too well, Thomas also directs what’s boasted as a “powerhouse of talent”. While there were moments where pitches were especially challenging based on the limits of one’s range, it’s indeed accurate to tag this group as a powerhouse and surprisingly without a weak link.

Peter Oyloe as the irate goth guy sticks in your head and it doesn’t surprise you to learn he has a Best Actor Jeff Citation, Terry Price in his Shakespearean homelessness has stage presence and beautiful bass while – dang, girl! – the petite Samara Smith tells it like it is with gargantuan attitude you can’t help but laugh at and fall in love with.

Recording artist Jeanne T. Arrigo bags the play’s tear-jerking number upon musical reflection of what’s said to be the greatest pain a mother can feel, Jennifer Knox convinces you she’s a moneyed student at DePaul University floating along life on a silver platter and Jesús Martinez Jr. eloquently reminds us so often the most important thing in the world is providing safe asylum for our children.

Together, these six foreigners – who’d never be caught dead outside their unsolicited situation of being stuck on a Chicago El train while it’s undergoing complications – bring to life the breakthrough that an initially awkward circumstance can uncover how alike we all really are.

While Thomas deems his musical manufacture the introduction of Billy Joel to musical theatre in a result he hopes will land on people’s iPods, “Stuck” is lauded for not just bellyaching another trite grievance on something that’s so simple to scorch and instead finding meaning and music within.

The cast of “Stuck”.
Photo credit: La Costa Theatre

“Stuck” runs through March 16 at the La Costa Theatre at its new space at 3931 N. Elston in Chicago. 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 4 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets cost $20.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Theater: ‘Dreadful Penny’s Exquisite Horrors’ Wickedly Flirts With Fear, Fantasies, Faults

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:22:33 -0500

CHICAGO – The minds who bring alive this risqué Chicago remount took their time to unearth their manipulatively seductive emcee.

They spent five years, in fact, to dig the now-coined “Dreadful Penny’s Exquisite Horrors” up from its resting place and rework the production into the quintessence of sex, violence, fear, fantasy and all the faults that make humans humane while also quite the contrary.

Jennifer R. LaTurner and Mike Simmer in the Chicago
production of “Dreadful Penny’s Exquisite Horrors”.
Photo credit: Tantalus Theatre Group

Based on Matthew Rossi’s original iteration by a similar name (“Dreadful Penny’s Midnight Cavalcade of Ghoulish Delights”), writers Alexandra Herryman and Glen Cullen with direction by Cullen send a clear message we already all know: we’re both saints and sinners.

While that concept isn’t novel, the way the performance illustrates the point decisively flirts with a new message: not only do we sin, but many of us do and hide it or want to and deny it.

Jennifer R. LaTurner as Penny incites her human slaves to embrace their humanities no matter how exquisite and no matter how vile. Her character and delivery of the unassailable seductress take some warming up to not only for audiences but for herself as well. She grows more comfortable in her own skin as the show wears on.

While each of her workhorses have clearly defined trades, Mike Simmer as the freak rises above and best believes the emotion behind his actions. As well, Amy Sherman as the victim persuasively squirms in her focal role and Mallory Schuh as the dancer sells sex with style.

While the play has been put up in the past and clearly workshopped tirelessly this time around, a healthy dose of fine tuning would better suspend your disbelief for longer instead of creating momentary lapses where you remember they’re acting.

Props go to the overall topic of tackling the taboo and theatre’s ability in general to shine a spotlight on what we’re too busy to consider in our fast-paced Chicago lives.

Cullen wants to impel you “to an uncanny sideshow of longing and desire where all manner of monstrosities are revealed and reveled in and nothing is forbidden” so you can choose sanely come back to a better place than before.

In retrospect, I realized some of the difficulties with performance believability were derived from some of the choices in the story and its warts-and-all presentation even right out of the gate. As is, you’re somewhat slighted that this is disturbing solely for the purpose of disturbance without a higher purpose.

Cast members are clearly more comfortable breaking their own fourth walls than audience members are being sucked into them.

While the performance’s purpose is to dramatize reality and embellish our demonic traits, it’d more easily ease onlookers in had it started with a more everyday scene. Then going guns blazing and unleashing the fury of everyone’s ghastly enigmas would not only build for excellent climax but also more convincingly remind you this fiction is derived from fact.

“Dreadful Penny’s Exquisite Horrors” runs through March 29 at the Bailiwick Arts Center at 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. 10:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets cost $10. A trailer for the production from the Tantalus Theatre Group can be viewed below.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com