Alissa Norby

Maybe, Baby, Buddy Has Found New Groove in Chicago’s ‘Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story’

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:32:28 -0700

CHICAGO – “Wow! I feel like I’m at a rock concert!” “Me too. It’s like I want to rush the stage!”

While overhearing this conversation between two young women at the recent Chicago opening of “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story,” I realized there were no better words to sum up Drury Lane’s recent jukebox-blaring, toe-tapping homage to one of the greatest rock and rollers of all time.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

After experiencing a vastly successful run at the Drury Lane Theatre Oakbrook Terrace, producer Kyle DeSantis has ingeniously transferred this joyous and colorful piece to an intimate Chicago theatre where – judging by the audience response on opening night – it clearly has plans to bop to the top.

“Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story” chronicles the last three years in the life of the beloved musical prodigy from Lubbock, Texas.

Following Holly’s initial partnership with the Crickets to the young talent’s untimely and shocking death, the piece aims to take its audience on a narrative journey with such chart-topping hits as “Peggy Sue,” “That’ll Be The Day” and “Oh, Boy”.

Justin Berkobien in the Chicago musical “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story” at the Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place.
Photo credit: Johnny Knight

But be forewarned: If you’re the kind of theatre lover who likes a balanced and medium-rare flavor to your jukebox musical, this one is sorely undercooked.

Whereas the writers of “Jersey Boys” and “Mamma Mia!” peppered their books with a modest yet satiating amount of dramatic texture, writers Alan Janes and Rob Bettinson of the original 1989 London conception tend to abandon their script at crucial moments.

Justin Berkobien in “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story”.
Photo credit: Johnny Knight

They leave frustrating story voids and plaguing gaps. In terms of dramatic camber, watching “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story” come to life on stage is about the equivalent of viewing a 10-minute snippet of Holly’s E! True Hollywood Story.

In order to placate an assumed audience thirst for more concert reenactments, it seems as though the book favors an unsatisfactory and watered-down version of what’s truly the remarkable story of the legendary career of a young artist. That’s a heavy disservice, too, as surely a musician of such influence warrants more from his biographers.

However, where “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story” lacks in narrative arc development it overwhelmingly succeeds in providing its attendees with unapologetically empty and frivolous fun. Tammy Mader’s direction and choreography are sprite and alive with energy that truly permeates the entire house.

If you’re just looking for a fun show to dance with, sing to and cheer for, you’ve met your match. This is a piece that pulls out all the glottal stops.

That isn’t to say the more serious theatre folk won’t appreciate the appeal of this show as well. It’s quite the contrary. In seeing this piece, Chicago theatre fans have the unique opportunity to experience a remarkably talented young star in a breakout role.

As the musical’s title character, Justin Berkobien establishes himself as a formidable young talent. Masterfully balancing his own refreshing take on Holly’s spirit while still capturing the gawkiness that made the Texan musician such a marvel, Berkobien gives an unparalleled, triple-threat performance.

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It is the cast – led by Berkobien – who make this show a sweet treat. Aided by the talents of John Steven Crowley, Tony Sancho and Tempe Thomas, the level of musicianship these young performers collectively possess is nothing short of extraordinary. This cast alone warrants a trip out to the theatre.

If your heart isn’t racing after every number, you might want to check your pulse.

“Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story” runs through Nov. 2, 2008 at the Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place at 175 E. Chestnut St. in Chicago. The show runs Wednesdays at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets range from $40 to $55. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit here or call 312-642-2000.

For a complete listing of all shows and reviews in Chicago, visit our partner TheatreInChicago.com. For half-price Chicago theater tickets, visit our partner Goldstar.

By ALISSA NORBY
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
alissa@hollywoodchicago.com

Route 66’s ‘On an Average Day’ Brings the House Down at Chicago’s Victory Gardens

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:34:10 -0700

CHICAGO – Chicago theatre often surprises its audiences in the notorious fizzling summer months by providing us what I like to call “Christmas in July”. In this case, though, it’s August and Santa has hopped onto Route 66. He has carried with him in his sack an unparalleled gift from Chicago’s newest theatre company.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Stef Tovar – a Jeff Award-winning actor and American Theater Company ensemble member – recently launched the aptly named Route 66 Theatre Company. It’s an artistic development hoping to cultivate stories that link both the cultures and communities of Los Angeles and Chicago.

Luckily for Chicagoans, the Chicago-based Tovar has decided to mount the company’s first theatrical endeavor at Chicago’s very own Victory Gardens Theater.

Co-produced with the Vs. Theatre Company in Los Angeles, “On an Average Day” tells the bleak and often-darkly comedic story of two long-estranged brothers torn apart by the kind of emotionally distressful past only parents can provide.

Stef Tovar (Jack) and Johnny Clark (Robert) star in “On an Average Day” at the Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater.
Photo credit: Route 66 Theatre Company

John Kolvenbach (celebrated in Chicago for penning the Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s “Love Song”), masterfully allows the relationship between Robert (Johnny Clark) and Jack (Stef Tovar) to slowly reveal the secrecy and desperation that drenches it.

While the tension that Kolvenbach manifests is almost unyielding, he shows his true proficiency in acutely knowing the exact dramatic beats to reel back in. The dialogue is unapologetically real. Its rapidity and diction reflect those of an actual conversation transpiring between two individuals as opposed to a theatrical one.

This yields a result that’s absolutely searing.

The performances by both Clark and Tovar are arguably two of the best Chicago has witnessed all year. These are performers who view and treat acting as a true craft. Being able to watch their work up close is as hypnotizing and surreal as experiencing a glass blower create his sculptures from mere sand.

Stef Tovar (Jack) and Johnny Clark (Robert) star in “On an Average Day” at the Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater.
Photo credit: Route 66 Theatre Company

Living as a hermit in the dilapidated family home, Clark’s deranged Robert soars in his simultaneous pathology and desperation. Robert’s tumultuous and possibly narcotic-driven past remains for the most part unknown to us. We meet the half-starved, mentally unbalanced young man who finds himself on trial for a vicious crime.

Clark skillfully plays Robert with unsettling yet enigmatic accuracy. He raises his vocal octave and adds quirks (or really ticks) to the character that viscerally unveil the decrepit state he’s in. These also impel the audience to wonder whether he will in fact snap in the very theatre.

Clark miraculously pays attention to every last detail of Robert from the way he scratches his beard to the way he throws back a can of beer.

Tovar performs the topically controlled family man Jack. He’s Robert’s older sibling and he’s simultaneously reserved and ready to crack. Tovar is a whiz at revealing the meaty yet unanswered space between every one of Kolvenbach’s lines. He succeeds at captivating his audience.

The chemistry that these actors have created between the two brothers proffers such an authenticity that it almost makes you feel like a peeping Tom looking into another family’s kitchen windows.

Jack returns to visit Robert in his pathetic state in hopes to reach a grisly conclusion. The reunion, though, results in the often edge-of-your-seat discussion of their familial histories. The writing and acting cohesively work to grab you – and hold you – at almost every moment of the work.

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Though reflective of the validity of the writing, the directing might benefit from some added variation in movement. It’s often what the artists don’t reveal that makes “On an Average Day” so mesmeric. The piece climaxes in a stage combat scene so frighteningly real that it puts most Hollywood movies to shame.

This is storytelling at its finest.

Indeed, the entire work takes place in just one conversation between two men (and quite a few beers) in a run-down kitchen. The fact that this angle is so ostensibly minute – coupled with its ability to provide one of the most gripping dramas in recent memory – makes you truly believe that big things really do come in small packages. You won’t want to miss this one.

“On an Average Day” runs through Sept. 6, 2008 at the Victory Gardens Theater at 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. The show runs Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets cost $25. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit here or call 773-871-3000.

For a complete listing of all shows and reviews in Chicago, visit our partner TheatreInChicago.com. For half-price Chicago theater tickets, visit our partner Goldstar.

By ALISSA NORBY
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
alissa@hollywoodchicago.com

Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s ‘Willy Wonka’ Sure to Satisfy Your Child’s Sweet Spot

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:32:35 -0700

CHICAGO – Ah, it’s summer again. Kids in Chicago are playing in the Millennium Park fountains, teenagers are flooding in to see the latest cinema blockbusters and families are enjoying Lake Michigan’s beaches.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

But perhaps an even more important staple of this sunny season is the decision by Chicago theatre producers that it’s the prime time for stage productions to cater to those of us under the age of 12.

Lucky for the youngsters, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater has mounted a delectable stage adaptation of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” called “Willy Wonka”. It’s a musical that’s sure to entice and satiate even the bitterest of audiences. Fans of both Roald Dahl’s original children’s novel and the classic film will revel in this piece.

Only at the end of the play “Willy Wonka” is Willy Wonka’s (Sean Fortunato) purpose revealed. He not only rewards the good and deserving but finds fulfillment of his own search.
Photo credit: Liz Lauren

True to both Dahl’s tale and the movie score from Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Neweley, the production by the Chicago Shakespeare Theater is a goodie bag replete with fun costumes, playful Oompa-Loompa puppets, brightly colored set pieces and a small yet mostly stellar cast.

Though Dahl is one of the most celebrated children’s writers of all time, he’s most known for his willingness to incorporate solemn and dark themes into the most playful of his novels.

“Willy Wonka” director Joe Leonardo in Chicago demonstrably understands and reveres this. The production gleefully succeeds at taking its audience on a fantastic, chocolate-filled voyage while also paying credence to the more gloomy realities of each character’s plight.

The musical follows the familiar story of the Bucket family. They’re a down-on-their-luck clan residing in the slums of London.

Due to Mr. Bucket’s precarious job position at a toothpaste factory, the family is constantly on the verge of absolute poverty and destitution. The living conditions Leonardo has created clearly reflect their financial situation.

Living under the same patched roof (and in the same bed) are Charlie’s grandparents (represented by Meredith Miller’s ghoulish puppets), parents and young Charlie himself. Remaining steadfast to his message of hope, Charlie eventually scores one of the famous golden tickets from candy mogul Willy Wonka.

In “Willy Wonka,” the children’s journey is strewn with temptations. Augustus Gloop’s (George Andrew Wolff) gluttony – encouraged by his mother (Paula Scrofano) – proves to be his downfall.
Photo credit: Liz Lauren

Charlie then sets off to explore the chocolate factory in all of its delicious glory. Unlike most children’s stories, the antagonists here aren’t evil stepmothers, witches or monsters. They’re the children themselves.

Joining Charlie on his trek to the mysterious land of candy is the voracious Augustus Gloop (played by the golden-voiced George Andrew Wolff), the bratty Veruca Salt (Jessie Mueller), the gum-chomping Violet Beauregarde (Melanie Brezill) and the technology-inebriated Mike Teavee (played by Travis Turner on Hellys).

Though dealing with a noticeable deficit of character development, the actors perform these scrumptiously gluttonous characters with irresistible playfulness. Leading the brat pack is The House Theatre’s Patrick Andrews in the title role.

Unfortunately, he plays the precociously written Charlie a bit too childlike.

However, the wide-eyed and literal kid-in-a-candy-store excitement that Andrews brings to the table is undeniably enjoyable to watch. Also, everyone in the audience under 5-feet tall noticeably looked up (no pun intended) to Charlie as if he were a hero with a candy-cane crown.

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However, the show is by no means ready to head to the Great White Way. Leslie Bricusse’s score and Tim McDonald’s book could definitely benefit from a trip back to Wonka’s inventing room.

With the exception of the songs made famous by the film adaptation (“Pure Imagination” and “The Candy Man”), the score is mostly forgettable along with the actor’s voices (specifically Sean Fortunato’s bland tenor take on Wonka).

But for the most part, the production thrives in its small-scale simplicity. Its age-old message of humility and kindness is still heartwarmingly contagious and its narrative is as fanciful as ever. Judging by the reactions throughout its opening, the kids will eat up every tasty morsel.

“Willy Wonka” runs every day but Mondays and Tuesdays through Aug. 17, 2008 at the Courtyard Theater at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, which is located at 800 E. Grand Ave. in Chicago. Visit here for tickets.

For a complete listing of all shows and reviews in Chicago, visit our partner TheatreInChicago.com. For half-price Chicago theater tickets, visit our partner Goldstar.

By ALISSA NORBY
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
alissa@hollywoodchicago.com

Slideshow: Chicago Play ‘Lookingglass Alice’ at Lookingglass Theatre

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:47:10 -0700

CHICAGO – This six-image slideshow is for production stills from “Lookingglass Alice,” which is a new Chicago play at the Lookingglass Theatre. Our full review of the play by critic Alissa Norby can be found here. All photo credits for this slideshow go to the Lookingglass Theatre.

lookingglassalice1.jpg: Lauren Hirte as Alice in “Lookingglass Alice”
lookingglassalice2.jpg: Lauren Hirte and Jesse Perez, Anthony Fleming III and Kevin Douglas as the Caterpillar
lookingglassalice3.jpg: Lauren Hirte and Lawrence E. Distasi as the White Knight
lookingglassalice4.jpg: Lauren Hirte and Kevin Douglas as Humpty Dumpty
lookingglassalice5.jpg: Lauren Hirte
lookingglassalice6.jpg: Lauren Hirte and Lawrence E. Distasi as Lewis Carroll

‘Lookingglass Alice’ a Proud Chicago Work of Jibber Jabber, Nonsensical Wonderment

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:43:58 -0700

CHICAGO – On the fourth of July in 1862, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson rowed a boat up the River Thames with 10-year-old Alice Liddell. Alice was the daughter of the new dean of Christ Church where Dodgson was employed as a lecturer in mathematics.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Three years later, Dodgson (with the penname Lewis Carroll) wrote of such adventures in a book entitled “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. Much like how the scholar preferred play to academe, the story of Alice celebrates the pooh-poohing of lessons and the embracing of fun-filled fantasy.

Beloved by millions, it was an unprecedented work of literary nonsense and utter surrealism. While it was adored by almost all, some critics wondered where the line between sense and nonsense should have been drawn. Now in its third year, Alice at Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre is once again face to face with this same question. This time, though, she fails to proffer a clear answer.

Lauren Hirte (left) as Alice and Lawrence E. Distasi as Lewis Carroll in “Lookingglass Alice”.
Photo credit: Lookingglass Theatre

In “Lookingglass Alice,” director David Caitlin doesn’t fear showing his audience an Alice they could barely have dreamt of before (let alone seen before). A hybrid of both “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There,” the play uses both the card-deck symbolism of the former and the chess board structure of the latter to tell its story.

Lauren Hirte, Jesse Perez, Anthony Fleming III and Kevin Douglas in “Lookingglass Alice”.
Photo credit: Lookingglass Theatre

But perhaps what’s most obviously different about this production of Alice is not the unique combining of the novels but the influence of one of the production’s producers: the Actors Gymnasium.

In this version, the characters tumble, jump, fall and fly with the ease of some of the greatest trapeze artists of our times. When I say fly, I mean fly. There are no harnesses, bungee chords or levitating brooms.

When the terrific and audacious Lauren Hirte (Alice) takes wing, she does it about 25 feet off the ground on a mere series of ropes (all in Mary Janes and a dress). Each of her triumphs seemed so unimaginable that it noticeably had the audience thinking “curiouser and curiouser” after each twist and turn.

Caitlin clearly knows how to entertain his audience even when these gymnastic feats are put on pause. There is more tricycle riding, juggling, bouncy-ball throwing, swinging and toppling in this performance than could might feasibly fit into a room.

If it sounds like I’m describing a new “Cirque du Soleil” show that’s loosely based around a celebrated children’s story, then you’re close to the money. As mystifying and engaging as these acts are, they’re just that: acts that serve as audience eye candy.

While watching this production, you get the sense that the artists spent more time on the acrobatics than on Carroll’s classic writing. That truly is a shame (if not literary sacrilege) because the eloquent semantic riddles that comprise the Alice books are truly unparalleled and would have surely been a tasty treat for the Lookingglass audience.

Caitlin’s choice to favor physical tricks over literary treats disappointingly permeates almost all aspects of the show. While Hirte is fantastic in portraying the warm-hearted, head-in-the-clouds Alice, the ensemble actors perform their scenes with such overwhelmingly heightened energy and volume that Carroll’s witty dialogue is swallowed by their very delivery.

Lauren Hirte as Alica and Kevin Douglas as Humpty Dumpty in “Lookingglass Alice”.
Photo credit: Lookingglass Theatre

The humor is updated as well. Forget fantastical dialogue about Jabberwocks and mock turtles. The humor in this Alice includes jokes about fecal matter and girls having cooties.

While everyone in the audience under the age of 10 vociferously enjoyed these jokes, it did make me wonder whether Caitlin believed the audience wouldn’t be intelligent enough or sufficiently well-read to enjoy Carroll’s original humor.

However, the narrative of the piece is refreshingly new (though unapologetically foggy at points). Told through metanarration, the piece explores Alice and Wonderland in an almost existentialist style.

The actual stage managers and lighting crew schlep Alice through her adventure to show that this is in fact no longer Alice’s adventure. Instead, it’s a series of occurrences that are happening to her without her own consent.

The character of Lewis Carroll himself is present at times in the play as a kind of puppeteer who pulls the strings of the story in which Alice now naïvely finds herself.

Even the chess board that Alice must make her valiant and perilous march across is an allegory for the vanishing of innocence and the literal move from childhood to adulthood.

It is a directorial notion such as this that makes many aspects of the Lookingglass Theatre’s production ingenious.

RELATED SLIDESHOW
See our six-image slideshow for “Lookingglass Alice”.

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As fresh and different as it proudly stands, though, the piece also retains the majority of the story’s whimsy and wonder.

The kids in the audience will enjoy this familiar tumble down the rabbit hole with characters such as the mischievous Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the sultry Chesire Cat, that hookah-smoking Caterpillar (who in this production seems to be inhaling more than just tobacco), the vicious Red Queen and that White Rabbit who never seemed to set his watch just right.

At the end of the day, it’s still a story that audiences of any background and age can enjoy. Faults aside, the dream-like world of play and wonderment that the Lookingglass creates is unadulterated. By the end of the night, so many out-of-the-way things happen that you surely begin to believe that nothing is truly impossible.

“Lookingglass Alice” runs every day of the week except for Mondays and Tuesdays at various times through Aug. 31, 2008 at the Lookingglass Theatre at 821 N. Michigan Ave. in Chicago. For tickets or more information, visit here or call 312-337-0665.

See our six-image slideshow for “Lookingglass Alice”.

For a complete listing of all shows and reviews in Chicago, visit our partner TheatreInChicago.com. For half-price Chicago theater tickets, visit our partner Goldstar.

By ALISSA NORBY
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
alissa@hollywoodchicago.com

Chicago’s Goodman Theatre Sings Lively New Tune With Fats Waller’s ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’’

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:39:20 -0700

CHICAGO – If you were to visit Harlem in the 1920s, you might have found yourself in a nightclub exploding with hot keys, cold booze and swingin’ dances about as far from the stylings of “So You Think You Can Dance” as possible.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

The likes of Duke Ellington and Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong were striking up the band (or the trumpet) at The Cotton Club, Connie’s Inn and Small’s Paradise.

It was the Harlem Renaissance, which was a time of new cultural pride and creation for the African-American community that would go on to influence almost all areas of music, art and dance for years to come.

Left to right in “Ain’t Misbehavin’”: Alexis Rogers, Parrish Collier, E. Faye Butler, John Steven Crowley and Lina Kernan.
Photo credit: Liz Lauren

But now you don’t need a time machine (or an old record player) to relive those times. That toe-tappin’ music is kicking it up in a major way downtown at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre.

“Ain’t Misbehavin’” is a musical revue of the tunes of one of the most inspiring musicians of all time: Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller. Having influenced such musical immortals as George Gershwin, Louis Armstrong, Count Bassie and Thelonious Monk, Waller’s music was truly revolutionary. This show strives to do nothing but celebrate just that.

The Chicago production of “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” which is based on an idea by Murray Horowitz and Richard Maltby Jr. with music by Fats Waller, is directed by Chuck Smith.
Image design credit: Kelly Rickert

With a book by Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby Jr., “Ain’t Misbehavin’” originally opened on Broadway in 1978 and went on to win several Tony Awards that year (including best musical).

The original run saw its way through 1,604 wildly successful performances and positioned itself as the predecessor of the current plethora of jukebox musicals on the Great White Way.

But don’t go in expecting the “Jersey Boys”. Even with this new mounting, “Ain’t Misbehavin’” is still a musical revue and not a full-throated musical.

Director Chuck Smith knows it, too. Smith’s aspirations are small and simple yet fully realized. The eight-piece band proffers a sound of a big swing orchestra that will truly knock your socks off.

The set is nothing short of eye candy. Brilliantly and simplistically designed to evoke a nightclub ambiance, it transports you back to a 1920s Harlem swing club.

The only thing missing seems to be that the Albert proscenium theatre is made up of seat numbers instead of cocktail tables. But what truly drives this production – like must incarcerations of the show – is its stellar cast.

“Ain’t Misbehavin’” employs only five cast members to carry almost 30 of Waller’s most famous tunes including “Honeysuckle Rose,” “This Joint is Jumpin’” and “The Jitterbug Waltz”. E. Faye Butler brilliantly leads the cast, which also includes Alexis Rogers, Parrish Collier, Lina Kernan and John Steven Crowley.

Lina Kernan in the Chicago production of “Ain’t Misbehavin’”.
Photo credit: Liz Lauren

Butler glides through Waller’s numbers effortlessly. She flawlessly transcends between head and chest voice and offers a gripping vibrato to her belt. Her starring number is the second act’s “Mean to Me” where she not only shows off the versatility of her vocal prowess but of her emotional intelligence and range as well.

Lina Kernan’s sensually smooth crooning and Alexis Rogers’ lively dance and comedic skills combine with Butler’s talents to make nothing short of a powerhouse female trio.

Unfortunately for the production, there is a discrepancy between the musical competency of the females and the males of the cast. John Steven Crowley’s vocals for the most part are appeasing to the ear drums, but with a throaty placement that sounds granulated and subdued, his musicianship is more suited for a piano bar than for a large auditorium.

Alexis Rogers (left) and Parrish Collier (right) in the Chicago production of “Ain’t Misbehavin’”.
Photo credit: Liz Lauren

He also tends to favor speak singing for many of Waller’s tunes, which would have benefited from more of a legato style.

Parrish Collier brings a terrific exuberance to each of his numbers. His rendition of “The Viper’s Drag” is absolutely entrancing. Though he clearly has more than ample dance training, Collier’s vocal chops leave a great deal to be desired. He fares well in the group harmonies yet he is unable to match the others in solo pieces.

Based on the Harlem stride piano movement, Fats Waller was known as the “King of Stride”. Stride was a style of piano in which the left hand plays a constant beat (or rhythm) while the right hand plays the melody. This balance of anchor and tune is just as much a requirement of jazz as it is a staged musical revue. In this sense, though, “Ain’t Misbehavin’” gravely misses the beat.

The book is filled with many frustrating ambiguities. It’s not clear who the characters are, what their placement is in the piece or if they are even characters to begin with. There is very little time between each number, which results in a lack of development and chronology. The only scenes we are given consist merely of silly jokes that range from the mildly vulgar to full-on slapstick.

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Revues often run into this problem. Whereas there is a sensible order to writing music to express a story, it is often difficult to come up with a story for preexisting music. In this vein, Smith’s directing serves up more problems than solutions.

He tends to treat each individual number with its own independence such that each song rings so autonomous that you wonder what’s holding everything together.

But despite these setbacks, “Ain’t Misbehavin’” is a true gem. With legendary music, terrific performers and tight choreography, it’s sure to be a summer favorite. Grab a date, sit back, relax and get ready for a sweet night on the town.

“Ain’t Misbehavin’” runs every day of the week except for Mondays at various times through Aug. 3, 2008 at the Goodman Theatre at 170 N. Dearborn St. in Chicago. Tickets range from $23 to $78 and can be purchased here or via phone at 312-443-3800.

For a complete listing of all shows and reviews in Chicago, visit our partner TheatreInChicago.com. For half-price Chicago theater tickets, visit our partner Goldstar.

By ALISSA NORBY
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
alissa@hollywoodchicago.com

Slideshow: Chicago Play ‘Superior Donuts’ From Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright Tracy Letts

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:14:40 -0700

CHICAGO – This seven-image slideshow is for production stills from “Superior Donuts,” which is a new Chicago play from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts. Our full review of the play by critic Alissa Norby can be found here. All photo credits go to Michael Brosilow.

superiordonuts1.jpg: Ensemble member Jon Michael Hill (left) and Michael McKean in “Superior Donuts”
superiordonuts2.jpg: Jon Michael Hill (left) and Michael McKean
superiordonuts3.jpg: Jon Michael Hill (left) and Michael McKean
superiordonuts4.jpg: Michael McKean (left) and Jon Michael Hill
superiordonuts5.jpg: Ensemble members Yasen Peyankov (left) and James Vincent Meredith
superiordonuts6.jpg: Michael McKean
superiordonuts7.jpg: Jon Michael Hill (left), Cliff Chamberlain (middle) and Robert Maffia

‘Superior Donuts’ From Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright Tracy Letts a Chicago Dish, Albeit a Stale One

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:06:25 -0700

CHICAGO – I wouldn’t have wanted to be Tracy Letts on Saturday afternoon. After winning both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for his opus “August: Osage County,” he had to have been feeling the tremendous pressure being placed on his newest work and first comedy “Superior Donuts”.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

With a slew of Chicago critics, New York critics and high-end producers in attendance, the audience expectations on June 28, 2008 before the lights went down on the Steppenwolf Theatre’s main Chicago stage were almost palpable.

This begs the question: What happens when a celebrated playwright who has swept almost every theatre award imaginable for his famous family drama attempts a follow up to his artistic breakthrough?

Well, if you’re looking to catch another pre-Broadway hit, you may want to look elsewhere. For one thing, “Superior Donuts” is self-aware, unambitious and almost lackadaisical. “August: Osage County,” on the other hand, delved into the meat and potatoes of the human experience, this one merely attempts to scratch its sugary surface.

Ensemble member Jon Michael Hill (left) and Michael McKean in “Superior Donuts,” which is written by ensemble member Tracy Letts and directed by ensemble member Tina Landau.
Photo credit: Michael Brosilow

Having just finished the script in Jan. 2008, Letts describes “Superior Donuts” as his “love letter to Chicago”. As an Oklahoma native, Letts was encouraged by the ethnic diversity and pride that filled the city’s streets to tell a story reflecting this culture.

Though his abilities as an artist and playwright are almost inarguable, Letts’ “love letter to Chicago” seems to begin with the phrase “roses are red, violets are blue”. It’s too derivative to be substantial.

Ensemble members Yasen Peyankov (left) and James Vincent Meredith in “Superior Donuts”.
Photo credit: Michael Brosilow

The story takes place at the establishment of the piece’s title. Superior Donuts is an Uptown Chicago donut shop that seems to be home to more decrepit furniture, grease and graffiti (the main wall reads “pussy” in spray paint) than tasty pastries.

Michael McKean plays a schmucky owner named Arthur Przbyszewski. He’s a passive and unobservant yet lovable, ex-1960s war protester who halfheartedly runs the shop he inherited from his Polish father.

Citing Starbucks as the monstrous evil villain, Arthur laments the oncoming gentrification of a part of Chicago that was once rich with diversity and vibrant with the hope of a better future for its inhabitants. McKean portrays Arthur with respectable subtlety and charm.

He also manages to ease through Brechtian monologues that had the potential to muddle and halt the action.

Just when Arthur is pondering selling the shop to Max Tarasov – a stout Russian immigrant with his eye on business expansion (played charmingly by Yasen Peyankov) – in walks catalytic Franco Wicks to assist him in the fry shop.

Wicks is a young, bright and energetic African-American boy who plans to make a name for himself with his own opus: his great American novel. Almost a direct metaphor for “August: Osage County,” Wicks sees his own story (“America Will Be”) as his one-way ticket out of a lackluster town.

It’s also his payback ticket for the whopping debt that needs to be paid due to a few rather unbelievable dealings with loan sharks. New ensemble member Jon Michael Hill is a lightning bolt on stage in this role. Supremely gifted and energetic, he brings a fresh air not only to the piece but to the entire Steppenwolf stage.

After some frustration, Franco and Arthur soon develop a sweet yet painfully contrived friendship that’s all-too reminiscent of movies like “Dangerous Minds” and “Finding Forrester”. Here we see the typical relationship between the white elder in desperate need of a new breath of life and the tenacious yet troubled, inner-city teenager who will be doing the breathing.

“I hate to break it to you, but the Grateful Dead ain’t gonna hire another guitar player,” Franco spews before a trite, dopey, guy-gets-a-makeover scene that’s more Disney gimmick than literary device. Franco also helps Arthur learn to be more romantically assertive with a harsh yet coquettish cop (Randy Osteen) who’s blatantly more interested in the shop’s owner than its oily delicacies.

It is scenes and structures like these that lead to the déjà-vu feeling of the show.

It’s a story that’d ring true for many audience members: a tale of a beloved but rough town whose very soulfulness is being lost to big business. Still, it’s chock full of the absurd: campy bad guys clad in overcoats, overused “Star Trek” nerds-are-funny jokes, jabs at Starbucks and even some unsettling jeers at the gay community.

The second act falls victim to an ineffective stage combat scene, after-school special dialogue and a predictable ending.

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See our seven-slide slideshow of “Superior Donuts” production stills.

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The acting is proficient, though, and the set, lighting and directing are all more than pleasing to the mind. While unexpected, it’s ultimately the script that leaves the piece feeling vapid. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I had seen this same show many, many times before.

But for all its cliché silliness, “Superior Donuts” delivers a treat to the proud Chicagoan. The script is infused with gleeful references to Roscoe Village, Old Town, Jefferson Park and even the loose cougar that recently made its way through our neighborhood streets. Letts clearly loves this town and he knows his audience does, too.

With Chi-town quips that would make you just as proud of our hot dogs and deep-dish pizza as it would our rich history, the show really does feel like our city’s story. That would ultimately do well for anyone’s palate.

“Superior Donuts” runs every day of the week except Monday at various times through Aug. 24, 2008 (extended from Aug. 17) at the Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre at 1650 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. For tickets or more information, visit this special link for free to half-price tickets!

For a complete listing of all shows and reviews in Chicago, visit our partner TheatreInChicago.com. For half-price Chicago theater tickets, visit our partner Goldstar.

By ALISSA NORBY
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
alissa@hollywoodchicago.com

Chicago’s ‘Relatively Close’ is Concrete Proof That Death is Easy, Comedy is Hard

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:30:51 -0700

CHICAGO – Forget the Year of the Rat. This is the year of the dysfunctional family reunion.

With Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “August: Osage County,” the Broadway remounting of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and the Tony-sweeping revival of “Gypsy,” 2008 has been saturated with some of the finest performances of relational drama that theatre has seen in years.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

Now comes “Relatively Close,” which is a new work by Chicago playwright James Sherman that has just as great of aspirations as the previous three yet is too convoluted to achieve any of them.

The show, which is a Victory Gardens co-world premiere with Illinois State University, tells the story of the Levy sisters from Chicago. They are three women who set out (with bitter spouses in tow) to the Michigan lake house of their recently deceased parents to settle the affairs of the estate.

From left: Dexter Zollicoffer plays Arthur, Usman Ally is Yousef, Laura T. Fisher plays Beth and Penny Slusher is Jan in Chicago playwright James Sherman’s newest family comedy “Relatively Close”.
Photo credit: Liz Lauren

We are told (but never shown) that the sisters are radically different from each another despite having supposedly been close in their youth. This proves to be the first pitfall in Sherman’s script.

The eldest sister, Jan, represents your typical money-hungry, pompous and greedy Republican. She’s running for alderman of the 46th Ward. This is a character development that clearly proved to Sherman that his script should be replete with cliché “Chicago-is-a-dirty-politics-city” jokes.

Jan’s husband, Yousef, is unfortunately about as identical to Jan as Mary-Kate Olsen is to Ashley Olsen. Next we have the middle sister, Beth, who’s a promiscuous librarian who has had more husbands than Elizabeth Taylor. The youngest sister, Marlene, is by far the most enjoyably nuanced character to watch.

From left: Wendi Weber is Marlene, Penny Slusher plays Jan and Laura T. Fisher plays Beth in “Relatively Close”.
Photo credit: Liz Lauren

Renting her body as host to almost every psychotic drug on the market, Marlene is a lovable albeit socially inept and precocious young woman. She even goes so far as to use a puppet – Lucy the Slut (wait, I mean Lilly) – as a means to become acquainted with new faces.

The plot’s central conflict revolves around the sisters’ inability to decide on a fate for their not-always-beloved lake house. Focused on the monetary value, Jan wants to sell it and horde the commission.

Beth yearns to turn it into an artist colony (though we are never told why) and Marlene – overwhelmed by its sentimental value – wants it to stay in the family.

After this somewhat ambiguous and underdeveloped central plot point gets established, the next two hours of the show run amok with stereotypical sisterly grudges, paper-thin jokes and inter-family affairs. Even the setup of the family is formulaic: a Jewish family who spends more time in therapy than it does at Shabbat dinner. Woody Allen made that work with wit.

Unfortunately, Sherman chooses to spend more of his time on hackneyed jokes than on plot and character development. That’s a shame, too, because the issue of siblings dealing with a parent’s death and leftover affairs has the potential to lead to great storytelling.

From left: Wendi Weber plays Marlene, Laura T. Fisher is Beth, Daniel Cantor plays Ron, Dexter Zollicoffer is Arthur, Penny Slusher plays Jan and Usman Ally porrays Yousef in “Relatively Close”.
Photo credit: Liz Lauren

The biggest issue with the script – aside from Sherman’s seemingly never-ending supply of stock characters – is its jokes. That’s a problem because it’s supposed to be a comedy. With typical “white-guy-trying-to-be-black” lines, jeers at “Brokeback Mountain” and jabs at Yiddish grandmothers, all of the jokes almost seem to be taken from a recent “Saturday Night Live” episode.

Beth’s husband (an African-American scholar) at one point tells Marlene’s adulterous spouse: “I’m black enough to kick your ass!” Lines like these were not only flat but they were uncomfortable.

In addition to Marlene’s husband (Ron), Beth’s teenage son (Dylan) is another character of a “white guy trying to be black”. When not frequently bustin’ out with the latest Kanye West lyrics, he is whining his emo way through the lack of Internet access and iPod accommodations at the cabin.

These are the type of punch lines and characters that would ring true to a community theatre audience rather than a Chicago theatre audience.

However, despite Sherman’s struggling book, the actors give more-than-admirable performances. Wendi Weber valiantly stands out as Marlene: the cute and awkward ventriloquist sister. Though having much more to work with than her co-stars, Weber portrays Marlene with the proper and endearing idiosyncrasies her character necessitates.

She is a breath of fresh air to the piece, and even when dealing with sometimes mechanical scenes, she knocks every line out of the ballpark. Dennis Zacek’s directing and John Stark’s set design are also commendable. They both work in tight harmony to evoke a natural feel and setting that serve as a perfect vessel through which the Levy family dismantles.

Ultimately, however, the “Relatively Close” strong points can’t overcome its floundering writing. As much as I would like to, this is one family vacation on which I would rather not embark.

“Relatively Close” runs every day of the week except for Mondays at various times through July 13, 2008 at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theatre at 2433 N Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. For tickets or more information, visit here or call 773-871-3000.

For a complete listing of all shows and reviews in Chicago, visit our partner TheatreInChicago.com. For half-price Chicago theater tickets, visit our partner Goldstar.

By ALISSA NORBY
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
alissa@hollywoodchicago.com