4-14-06
Bertolt Brecht is Alive and Well
and Living in Urinetown
Jon Frazier and Roni Geva in Urinetown
If you asked the young audience at the Mercury theatre last Sunday when I was in attendance, many of them would probably not even know who Brecht was, and those who did would probably lack much familiarity with his work. But the author’s familiarity is written large. From the narrator’s entrance (a laconic cop played by Jon Frazier) and his first line (“Welcome to Urinetown…the Musical), which hearkens to Threepenny Opera, to the structure, which screams St. Joan and the Stockyards, to the focus on a broad contemporary issue and the self-referential theatricality, Brecht’s influence is everywhere.
Fortunately, it’s also well done. The story has a few slow spots in the second act, but nothing to make its audience restless—and the score is a blast. The cast too, acquits itself well, from Jon Frazier’s straight man to Christine Sherrill’s Penelope Pennywise to Michael Buchanan’s Bobby Strong (the one import—the rest of the cast is comprised of local actors). Even the supporting characters, particularly Sarah Hayes and Jon Runnfeldt, acquit themselves admirably. It’s also nice to see a full out musical that uses theatrical devices rather than special affects. Bobby Strong’s plunge from the top of a high building works particularly effectively and is one example of director Tom Mullen’s imagination.
Unlike Brecht, authors Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis allow themselves to have fun with their project, even when it doesn’t serve the socio-political conversation they’re having. Even so, Urinetown’s environmental message is clear (and clearly stated at one point late in the show) and it doesn’t take much imagination see Urinetown as directly analogous to the present gasoline situation (company profits rise as the shortage continues, and research for a good alternative proceeds slowly, if at all). In addition to having something interesting to say, Urinetown has an extremely entertaining way to say it. Just don’t tell the audience they’re watching latter-day Brecht. It could kill the buzz.
Urinetown—Mercury Theatre
Chris Jones, Tribune—“Let’s say at the start that Mullen’s dedicated Chicago Urinetown is a full-blown rendition of the 2002 Tony Award-winning spoof musical about a corporate takeover of urinals, as written and composed by the brilliant former Chicagoans Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann. It is well sung and staged with attention to detail. It is populated by professionals from Chicago and well beyond, and performed with eye-popping gusto. And it nearly busts its collective gut trying to please. Which also happens to be its most obvious flaw… the style of Urinetown will always require a certain throwaway quality, a note of laconic cynicism, a dark kind of truth. That’s what’s missing here.”
Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—“Not only does the show look fabulous in the intimate, brick-walled, 300-seat confines of the Mercury, but it features a hugely talented cast possessed of amphetaminelike energy and a perfect understanding of how to attack this blend of tongue-in-cheek satire and theatrical valentine. Tom Mullen’s sharp, economical direction doesn’t miss a trick or a piece of shtick, and he sees to it that every clever lyric is understood. Brian Leoffler’s wildly funny and exuberant choreographic pastiches are priceless. And Michael Sobie’s musical direction is exceptional.”
Justin Hayford, Reader—“Since the most unconvincing elements of unconvincing musicals are the actors bent on showing how much they mean everything, a Urinetown cast is presented with a unique opportunity to play in a giddy realm of sardonic fantasy. That’s how things should be in Urinetown, and that’s how they were in the original Broadway production and, to a lesser extent, the touring show that played here in 2003. But director Tom Mullen’s staging never makes the leap into giddiness because the satire isn’t focused. Every moment of the New York production felt steeped in Broadway lore, but Mullen’s show seems disjointed, jumping from one absurdity to the next.”
Dennis Polkow, New City—“Urinetown is to musical theater what Airplane! is to disaster movies: a shameless and hysterical send-up of the form that depends as much on the straight-faced delivery of its performers as the material itself… Virtually every line and scenario in the show has obvious and subtle undertones from other shows—often simultaneously—and untangling and identifying them all will keep aficionados of the form blissfully occupied while the novices who hate musicals will still get plenty of belly laughs by ridiculing the aspects that annoy them the most.”
Tim Sauers, Gay Chicago—“When great material is placed in the hands of skilled artists and technicians, the result can only be victorious, and this surely is the case with this production. Kotis and Hollmann pen a thoughtful work, astute with its politically timeless subject material: Brechtian-inspired elements, self-conscious heightened sense of theatricality and overabundance of musical-comedy parody not to mention the constant flow of physical comic bedlam, verbal puns and sight gags. Brian Loeffler choreographs one challenging showstopping number after the next, and the cast executes without a missed step.”
Dealer’s Choice—Shattered Globe Theatre
Kerry Reid, Tribune—“Director Steve Scott’s ensemble delivers the sort of lived-in performances that convince us these men have worked together for years. [Playwright Patrick] Marber’s dialogue captures the good-natured insults and not-so-harmless gibes of those stuck in dead-end jobs with both precision and a great deal of wit, very little of which is forced or overplayed. Doug McDade’s Stephen is the most interesting of the half-dozen men. By turns avuncular, testy, insecure and compassionate, McDade delivers the kind of smart and understated performance that serves as the linchpin in plays of this nature.”
Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—“I’ll lay my cards right on the table with this one. Shattered Globe Theatre’s production of Dealer’s Choice, by British playwright Patrick Marber (best known for his sad and sexy drama-turned-film Closer), is sensational. It has some of the finest writing, most riveting acting and ultra-sleek direction (by Steve Scott) to be found on any stage at the moment. And coming directly on the heels of the company’s superb revival of The House of Blue Leaves, it is just added proof that Shattered Globe is on a roll.”
Lawrence Bommer, Reader—“Six poker players, whether sharks or marks, reveal more than their hands in Steve Scott’s crackling revival, a visceral look at the psychology of losing and the loneliness of victory. Anchored by Kevin Hagan’s elaborately detailed sets, the action ratchets up to a game whose stakes are nothing less than a man’s emotional custody of his son. Doug McDade gives the father an unforced wisdom and reflexive decency, but the performances that linger are the portrayals of contagious desperation, especially Raymond L. Chapman’s as a manic schemer.”
Loose Knit—Actor’s Workshop Theatre
Kerry Reid, Tribune—“Though the performances are generally on point and Rebeck is a master of the quick comeback and shorthand solutions to longtime problems, the contrivances of this script feel stitched together. Curtis handles the narrow shoebox space of the theater well, and among the performances, Eric Hoffmann’s hateful Miles is a standout. It’s easily digestible and eminently forgettable fare.”
Brian Nemtusak, Reader—“Glib TV writer Theresa Rebeck makes an agora of a women’s knitting circle, airing all manner of thirtysomething gripes: workplace unfairness, marital disillusionment, the general shortage of acceptable men. Rebeck gives all the actors a juicy rant or two, but again and again she overshoots the mark, more or less forcing them into look-at-me hysterical performances of the most nausea-inducing order. As the tone lurches back and forth between sitcom silliness and Lifetime-channel sobriety, Rebeck’s insistence on female powerlessness in the battle of the sexes grows perplexing: is she deluded or just being disingenuous? Whatever the case, this whiny pre-Sex and the City cultural artifact wastes the efforts of a talented cast.”
A Whistle in the Dark—Seanachai Theatre Company
Kerry Reid, Tribune—“Though aspects of [playwright Tom Murphy’s] 1961 early classic about a troubled family of Irish expats in England, A Whistle in the Dark, feel dramaturgically creaky and predictable, it is still an astoundingly powerful piece of work. Seanachai Theatre Company’s revival, directed by Jeff Christian, is so explosive it’s a wonder that the walls of the downstairs studio at Victory Gardens are still intact.”
Jack Helbig, Reader—“In 1960, Dublin’s Abbey Theatre rejected Irish playwright Tom Murphy’s debut effort. It’s not difficult to see why: this hard look at a violence-prone working-class Irish family eking out a living in Coventry, England, pulls no punches. Nor is it surprising, given Murphy’s gifts as a storyteller, that one year later the same play would be a hit in London. In Seanachai Theatre Company’s spirited if sometimes slow-moving revival, director Jeff Christian and his cast, who range from good to great, succeed at re-creating Murphy’s relentlessly unsentimental world. Even when ‘Da’ sings a sweet old Irish air, we sense the cruelty and barely suppressed anger behind his beguiling lilt and tear-filled eyes.”
Lawrence Bommer, Free Press—“Murphy’s potboiler inspires some terrific acting. Jeff Christian’s cast alternately freezes in ferocious tableaux or charges right into the mayhem. [John] Kishline’s foul-tempered, macho patriarch fulminates with speechifying blarney and splenetic bluster. [Coby] Goss’ decent, ineffectual Michael dams himself up with good but wimpy intentions that, of course, perversely lack the energy of his bullying family… But the big kudo goes to Waller for his meaner-than-life Harry, a muscular lout of such constipated machismo his bitterness against anyone successful is frightening to behold.”
Emily Lee, Gay Chicago—“Seanachai is a fine company of artists with a solid body of work. That it chose to produce this sad piece is, while surprising and unfortunate, ultimately forgivable. Given that director Jeff Christian does absolutely everything he can to wring some continuity and purpose from the script and that the cast, especially the always-remarkable Dan Waller, does some very fine work, the company deserves some credit for putting up a production as savvy as this is. However, when a play is described as an “overlooked masterpiece” or “little-produced gem,” it is best to stay away, even when the producing company is as brilliant as Seanachai.”
Mary Shen Barnidge, Windy City—“The dynamics of blood feuds, family against family, are not so removed from those of the surrogate ‘families’ to be found in our own urban culture. And if Murphy’s indignation allows his exploration of aggravating factors—unemployment, alcohol, ethnic prejudice—to become protracted, and if Jeff Christian’s otherwise capable staging makes for a curiously abrupt, however inevitable, showdown (perhaps the result of opening-night adrenaline depletion in a play requiring the vocal stamina of field sergeants), there is no denying the intense commitment brought to the characters by a hard-working ensemble.”
Quote of the Fortnight:
“There’s a certain risk to portraying Judy Garland in a theater in Greenwich Village: The audience is likely to know more about Garland than the actress playing her.”—Mark Kennedy in a feature on “The Property Known as Garland” in the Free Press.