6-19-09
Boho Pulls Off Impressive La Cage
I can’t say I’ve ever been a huge fan of musical theatre. This is mainly because it’s so rarely done well. There are only so many actors who possess the requisite musical and acting skills to effectively sing the songs and provide the emotional support to carry off the transition between spoken and sung. On the relatively low budgets of most small Chicago theatres, finding non-Equity actors to fill out a cast is even more difficult.
Both of these facts make Bohemian’s production of La Cage Aux Folles that much more impressive. Director Stephen M. Genovese has assembled a core of actors who can support the simple book and still sing the score effectively. At the core is storefront mainstay Michael Kingston as the club owner Georges. When his son Jean-Michel (Patrick Tierney, simple and sweet) comes home and announces his impending nuptials to the daughter of a conservative politician, it falls to Georges to tell his long time partner Albin (the charismatic Kevin Bishop) that he needs to become Uncle Al for the weekend so the visiting future in-laws don’t realize the truth behind their unconventional relationship.
Kingston has an easy presence that contrasts nicely with Bishop’s overwrought and highly styled Albin. The two of them renewing their relationship in parallel with Jean-Michel’s discovery of his own true love makes for a sweet and mature storyline.
Genovese’s production only falls short in the chorus scenes, which clearly were meant for a larger group of Les Cagelles to support the featured performers. The chorus goes at it with vigor and are clearly having a good time, but they don’t fill the stage. And some of the smaller characters move farther in the direction of caricature than is ideal.
But Kingston, Bishop and Tierney at the center give this production of La Cage a strong core that more than overcomes any shortcomings the production may have. It’s nothing particularly deep, but this is a La Cage Aux Folles that hits all the emotion and the humor and that’s enough for an evening with a lot more heart than most of the bigger productions you might see downtown.
La Cage Aux Folles, Bohemian Theatre Ensemble
Chris Jones, Tribune—“I’ve seen other Bohemian productions from director Stephen M. Genovese that really figured out how to make a visual statement in this kind of intimate incarnation. La Cage is mostly a visual jungle that manages to look both cheap and cumbersome at the same time. And, in the rough-and-ready first act, there were too many camped-up scenes that needed nothing so much as the honest expression of genuine feelings. But Herman’s score is so likeable, Fierstein’s book so witty and warm-hearted and the Bohemian players so anxious to please that the show manages to worm its way inside your heart somewhere in the middle of the much stronger second act.”
Zac Thompson, Reader—“Stephen Genovese’s production for Bohemian Theatre Ensemble is moving in places, but it suffers from a fatal lack of chemistry between Michael Kingston and Kevin Bishop as Georges and Albin, and fails to capture either the glitzy panache of Herman’s score or the wry sentiment of Fierstein’s book.”
Ruth Welte, Time Out—“[W]hile BoHo’s production of La Cage aux Folles is pared down—the orchestra’s a quartet and both the set and theater are modest in size—the song-and-dance numbers haven’t been trimmed to fit, turning what could have been a light-stepping charmer into a bloated, slow-moving showboat. Genovese should have edited his vision for a smaller scale. Seeing a line of men in skirts do the splits is pleasantly shocking the first time, still fun the second time, and tedious as hell the following three or four go-rounds. If big production numbers aren’t working with a skeleton crew, they ought to be pruned ruthlessly.”
Dennis Polkow, New City—“And the leads, by the way, are all terrific: Michael Kinston and Kevin Bishop as Georges and Albin, and Patrick Tierney and Kristine Burdi as Jean-Michael and Anne, really both do seem as if each couple are truly smitten with one another. And then there’s the score, some of the best love songs ever written for a musical, though under-appreciated for obvious reasons… Bishop’s performance is a real tear-jerker. But when the show goes for fun, it doesn’t skimp on gaudy spectacle or comedy.”
Brian Kirst, Free Press—“While the budget is obviously stretched and the show doesn’t truly begin to click until a couple of numbers in, all is ultimately forgiven when director Stephen M. Genovese eventually hits his stride, ably accenting both the comedy and pathos of the piece. The entire cast (including a gloriously pompous Debbie DiVerde as Jacqueline and Ryan Guhde whose Jacob completely owns the phrase ‘drop dead hilarious’) frequently shines, but the show truly belongs to the sublime Kevin Bishop as Albin. Bishop provides the production’s heart, proving he is a theatrical star in the making.”
Jerry Nunn, Windy City—“Placing the orchestra in the balcony was a creative touch. The movable pink set pieces added a spark. But what really brought the show to life were the characters. Although the director/set designer, Stephen M. Genovese, could have tightened things up a bit, audiences this summer should break out of their own cages and go see this highly entertaining colorful extravaganza.”
The Arabian Nights, Lookingglass Theatre
Chris Jones, Tribune—“Well, you can’t go back. Arabian Nights is not what it was on that heart-stopping night in 1992. It is better. The multi-ethnic actors—some from that same cast, some new—are more mature and thus probe deeper. The text, honed and published in the intervening years, is richer. The new production, which has already been acclaimed at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and deserves to end up on Broadway—is sharper, faster, more polished, more exciting. It’s also more present and spontaneous—the great Andy White tells his stories with delicious improvisational aplomb—as if everyone intuitively understands that great storytellers constantly adjust their narratives, based on how they land with an audience.”
Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—“The exuberant and sensual (if a bit overlong) revival of the show that opened Saturday at Lookingglass plays more beautifully, passionately and humorously than ever—from the thrilling prologue, with its explosion of drumming, swiftly unfurled Persian carpets, glittering lamps and harem dancers, to its finale of exhausted storytellers rolling in tandem as they fitfully sleep and dream. And it possesses all the mystery, exoticism, energy and spiciness of a Silk Road bazaar of times past, even as its poetic meditation on things spiritual, on the psyche of despots, and on male-female tensions suggests enduring questions.”
Kerry Reid, Reader—“Conceived and produced during the 1992 gulf war, Mary Zimmerman’s intricate stories-within-stories adaptation of lesser-known tales from “The Book of One Thousand and One Nights” has all the heart-stopping visual beauty and whimsical stagecraft that made her a critical darling. But there’s no laurel-resting in this stunning revival, featuring a nimble mix of longtime ensemble members—including Louise Lamson as a luminous Scheherezade—and newcomers playing a variety of roles. Whether relating a prolonged fart joke or marvelous etchings of faith, loss, betrayal, and acceptance, Zimmerman finds the soulful truths that make up our enduring humanity, and does so with only the barest hints of polemic.”
John Beer, Time Out—“Mary Zimmerman’s 1992 production of The Arabian Nights at Lookingglass established the director’s gift for theatrical spectacle in the service of classic adaptation. Wisely eschewing the flying carpets and genies of Disneyfied imagination, Zimmerman located the crux of this epic fabric of tales in its celebration and examination of narrative itself. For all its sumptuous visuals—Daniel Ostling’s glittering set design, awash with carpets and antique lamps, and Mara Blumenfeld’s lavish costumes—Lookingglass’s revival keeps the focus firmly where it belongs: on the hypnotic power of storytelling, a power that literally preserves Scheherezade (Lamson) from the murderous, misogynistic wrath of King Shahryar (Artzberger).
Dennis Polkow, New City—“More moving than the stories themselves—which by and large have been reworked to emphasize slapstick and vaudeville-like comedy—are the family members of the princess: a sister that stays to hear so as to spend the princess’ last moments with her, and a dutiful father who comes to the palace each morning with his daughter’s burial shroud, only to find that she has been given a reprieve for another night to finish a story. There is much here that is fresh and to be admired, to be sure, especially the sense that captivating stories are as important as our daily bread, and that they teach us how to live and ultimately act as a redemption for an embittered and depressed king who nowadays would probably just be given Prozac and would just doze off for the night.”
Lawrence Bommer, Free Press—“Seamlessly flowing, the tales can get gnomic, crude, erotic, precious or profound as they tell of a merchant turned madman when the woman he rejected tricks him into a worse entanglement, a poor man who finds his fortune in his dreams…and a wonderful bag whose surreal contents are improvised each night by different actors. Magic mirrors, the stories reflect the central plight—demanding humanity from a slowly relenting Shahryar. Scheherezade works like theater, turning us into children hungry for one more story before sleep. Mary Zimmerman’s once and future adaptation remains an inexhaustible classic.”
Mary Shen Barnidge, Windy City—“The cast of Lookingglass regulars, along with several auspicious newcomers, deliver performances encapsulating the essence of ensemble playing—not an inch of the stage picture is ever allowed to lapse into stasis, wherever the principal focus may lie. Lucky Chicago playgoers may recall many of this company’s projects in their fledgling state, but our reward with this revival is to revisit the creativity that earned it international acclaim, honed and polished until it shines like Aladdin’s magical lamp.”
Oedipus, The Hypocrites
Nina Metz, Tribune—“Director Sean Graney’s Oedipus clocks in at barely an hour, but it is a completely immersive atmospheric experience that bears all the trademarks of its creator, which isn’t a bad thing at all. Graney’s tricks have yet to grow old. His adaptation of the Sophoclean tragedy (for his company The Hypocrites) boasts a script as lean as anything by Caryl Churchill, and a production as gaudy as anything by Baz Luhrmann. It’s an intriguing mix, and one that Graney repeats continually in his work. You can recognize one of his shows a mile away.”
Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—“You’ve got to hand it to director Sean Graney. The guy has a distinctive ‘theater of cruelty and redemption’ vision when it comes to rethinking theater classics. And while some might take issue with his punk-meets-recycling plant version of Sophocles’ Oedipus—that founding drama of Western civilization—his new production for the Hypocrites, with its undeniable strangeness, primal energy, colloquialisms and occasional laughs, seems utterly right both for the play and our times.”
Albert Williams, Reader—“Oedipus has a lively immediacy, though the actors sometimes rush their lines in an attempt to add urgency to the proceedings, which prevents the play from accumulating tragic power. Still, Jared Moore’s lighting and Mikhail Fiksel’s sound design create memorable moments of terror and awe—flashes of lightning and cracks of thunder, the haunting barking of distant dogs, and a shocking blackout when Oedipus blinds himself.”
Kris Vire, Time Out—“Happily, parsing Graney’s impulses feels in this instance like a worthy exercise (though a passing familiarity with the source text is recommended, lest you feel excluded by so many in-jokes). He’s deeply indebted to a feverishly committed cast; Wilson as the headstrong motherlover of a king and the always-fascinating Stoltz and Kays in multiple roles turn in arrestingly athletic performances. Still, Graney needs to keep asking himself, “To what end?” The use of promenade here seems like a less-justified shadow of his electric staging of Edward II last fall. He’s in danger of the device becoming just another trick up his sleeve.”
Web Behrens, Free Press—“In his ambitiously immersive environmental staging, the detailed art-installation set by Courtney O’Neill reflects the chaotic psychic landscape of Oedipus. Yet Graney and his nimble actors—Halena Kays, Stacy Stoltz and Steve Wilson—are bold enough to also introduce some wink-wink comedy into this 50-minute whirlwind, balancing out the overwhelming tragedy. Graney also gives the story a Bush-era currency, as dense Oedipus resorts to torture to extract information from a blind prophet. None of these 21st-century updates feel gratuitous nor heavy-handed.”
Jonathan Abarbanel, Windy City—“No, the question isn’t production values or execution, but far more fundamental: Why? Why present Oedipus this way at all? Is it a new approach, a re-imagining (as Court Theatre folks say) of a seminal work of Western theater, thereby shaking out the accumulated fustian to make the work pertinent to a new generation? I think not, because this version is content merely to gut Oedipus and rob it of context, grandeur and impact. Quite literally, Graney and cohorts reduce Oedipus to a colorful and circus-like ‘Classics Illustrated’ comic.”
The Who’s Tommy, Circle Theatre
Nina Metz, Tribune—“There’s uncertainty in director Jeffrey Cass’ staging, and not all his decisions are good ones. Something vital is lost when a recorded track (as opposed to a live kid) sings a duet with Tommy’s older self (‘See Me, Feel Me’). That’s a pretty significant departure from Des McAnuff’s (Jersey Boys) original production… That said, from ‘Sensation’ onward, the production finds its footing. The ensemble includes a terrific Gerald Kelel as weaselly Cousin Kevin, Darcy Wood as groupie Sally Simpson and a nasty, full-voiced turn by Jon Landvick as Uncle Ernie.”
Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—“From first note to last of this ‘see me, feel me, touch me, heal me’ tale, it is movement, set to a rock beat, that is the principal mode of expression. And while Jeffrey Cass gets directorial credit for the Circle production, it is Kevin Bellie, the company’s ever-inventive choreographer, who deserves the kudos for deftly capturing decades of popular dance styles, and for staging the memorable wartime parachuting scene. Bellie also has devised the show’s exceptionally elaborate projection design, with Bob Knuth’s Union Jack-emblazoned set as backdrop.”
Jack Helbig, Reader—“The Who’s ambitious rock opera has gone through numerous incarnations since it was first released as a concept album in 1969. But it’s never quite overcome two basic flaws: the characters are undeveloped, and Pete Townsend’s story is so fragmented as to be nearly incoherent at times. Still, a well-paced production and a strong cast like the one assembled for this spirited Circle Theatre revival can keep things moving fast enough that the audience doesn’t have time to notice. The Circle production is further enlivened by Kevin Bellie’s energetic, witty choreography, and by a six-piece band that really knows how to crank those tunes.”
Christopher Piatt, Time Out—“It’s a testament to the infectious score that we regard Tommy so affectionately. Specifically, we think of it as the show about the deaf, dumb, blind kid who becomes a religious pinball hero rather than the one about the deaf, dumb, blind kid who gets molested by his uncle, mutilated by his cousin and who witnesses his father’s murder at age five. Here the numbers that sound best are those sung by the titular torture victim; piercingly blue-eyed McGunn hits high notes literal and figurative. Kevin Bellie’s frenetic choreography is too large for his breadbox stage, and his dancers can’t quite execute it in unison. Surprisingly, though, the choreographer also did the lively projections, which help tie the show together.”
Fabrizio O. Almeida, New City—“My biggest kudos, however, are for choreographer (and Circle artistic director) Kevin Bellie; it’s his best work to date, especially with the famous Act One ‘Sensation’ dance break and the ‘Pinball Wizard’ sequences. He effortlessly folds period-specific moves like the Jerk and the Pony into an athletically demanding and infectiously high-energy whole… This is an exuberant and oftentimes sensationally staged evening of musical theater, and it’s easily one of Circle’s most ambitious and accomplished productions to date.”
Brian Kirst, Free Press—“Director Jeffrey Cass concocts detailed stage concepts for every layered progression of the tale. Kevin Bellie’s choreography, though, is often too broad for the tiny performance space and gives too much Las Vegas flash to what seems have initially been a drug induced rock tale. The talented cast is similarly highlighted by the performers who best mix rock’s edge with a gritty stage presence (particularly the soulful Bear Bellinger, the rugged Cameron Blume and the exuberant yet grounded Darcy Wood). Meanwhile, Michelle Pickett, Eric Lindahl, Alex Turner and Tom McGunn all give amazingly rich and wearied performances.”
Mary Shen Barnidge, Windy City—“The challenge in replicating Townshend’s score of non-stop pop is to invoke the excitement associated with the original instrumentalists while still keeping the lyrics intelligible to youngsters for whom every word is not etched in memory. The body microphones were sometimes spotty on opening night, but sound designer Peter J. Storms, musical director Carolyn Brady Riley and her six-piece band supply the requisite dionysic rush, while a cast led by Tom McGunn, Alex Turner and Dylan Angel Manianglung-Lainez generate enough sparkle to light up the corner of Circle and Madison even on a stormy night as dark as the troubled times from which our hero emerges triumphant.”
Quote of the Fortnight:
“Since the best musicals allow characters to sing what can’t be said, you’d think George Bernard Shaw’s plays would make rotten musicals.”—Tony Adler reviewing Writers Theatre’s production of A Minister’s Wife in the Reader.