‘By the Way Meet Vera Stark’

 

By the Way, Meet Vera Stark...

Two stars

Playing on stage at the Den Theatre, you meet an aspiring African American actress, Vera Stark (Ashayla Calvin). She is a personal maid to fading 1930s movie star Gloria Mitchell (Caitlin Jemison), once known as “America’s Little Sweetie-Pie.”

It becomes clear that the two have a very close relationship and have a shared struggle to find success. However, due to race barriers and prejudices it is clearly more difficult for Stark than it is for Mitchell.

Potential roles for Stark and her roommate Lotte (Justice Ford) are limited to stereotypical black slaves, and domestic workers. Each of them is dismayed by this reality but are willing to do whatever they must to get their chance on the silver screen.

Stark’s love interest, Leroy (Bryant Hindsman), is an aspiring musician who encourages Vera to resist the temptation to give into establishment expectations.

Lotte and Vera have a third roommate, Anna Mae (Enama Samuels), who has taken another path entirely by passing herself off as Brazilian. Though her skin is still dark it’s more acceptable in local society as being exotic.

Gloria Mitchell is being considered for a lead role in an antebellum film drama and there is a speaking part for someone to play her maid, Tilley. Stark sees her chance and is determined to grab it.

There is a good amount of humor in the first act derived from Vera and Gloria’s relationship as well as Vera and Lotte’s impromptu auditions as servile slaves for the benefit of the movie’s director.

Though this can be cringe-worthy, it serves as an example of how blacks at the time (and some might argue even now) must adapt themselves to the expectations of people in power in order to advance even to some small degree. So, it is dangerous to try to reconcile the actions of people in the past in order to meet our current expectations.

Vera and Lotte know very well what they are doing but they are determined to work the system to their advantage and they make that clear. In their mind, the joke is on the those falling for their performance. Part of the message in Act One is that many people are masquerading as things they are not in order to find, create or exploit opportunities.

While Act One is reminiscent of a drawing room screwball comedy, Act Two fast forwards about forty years to the 1970s where a panel of cinema experts analyze social changes in film, including the rise of Vera Stark.

The severe difference between the two acts makes this a particularly schizophrenic production to the point of being assaulting. It’s as though after the intermission you have come back to see another entirely different play.

Without giving away any details I will say that I understand the point of Act Two and get what the playwright was after. But in short, Act One was very enjoyable and Act Two was a jumble of ideas that never quite came together. This is a two hour play and Act Two could be cut by half making this a total of 90-minutes and much more palatable.

There are things I really enjoyed about the scenic design of Kevin Hagan in Act Two, such as the use of the movie clip. I am a huge fan of digital theater and using multi-media in live performance. I also enjoyed the use of rear projection for creating scenery in act one. But please fix the arm on the couch. It detracts from the illusion of an affluent apartment in Act One.

I appreciated the use of a kind-of shadow box with translucent scrim to affect the appearence of a TV interview being projected onto a large screen. That was genius.

Ashayla Calvin understands the character of Vera Stark. It is a massive role where she is on stage virtually the whole time and she manages it admirably. Caitin Jemison wears the part of Gloria Mitchell well. Justice Ford as Lotte has the kind of natural delivery that I very much appreciate. Shout out to understudy Enama Samuels as AnnaMae who stepped in at the last minute on the night we attended.

I want to say I loved this play because I feel the actors really put everything they had into it, but Act Two unfortunately drags down the experience. So, I would say if you are a fan of theater who is willing to put up with this production’s imperfections in order to see some interesting technical effects and a really fun first act with a serious message, then it’s worth taking a chance.

Details: The Artistic Home Presents, “By the Way Meet Vera Stark” a play by Lynn Nottage at The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL., now through November 17, 2024. Tickets available at thedentheatre.com or by calling (773). Runtime: 2 hours and 10 minutes including one 10-minute intermission.

Reno Lovison

For more shows visit Theatre in Chicago

 

‘Time Passages’ at Chicago International Film Festival

(Chicago Film Festival photo)

Recommended

In “Time Passages,” film documentarian Kyle Henry takes us through a journey of life and death as he works to come to terms with his mother Elaine’s memory loss and make sense of their relationship.

Henry tells us his mother was an avid scrapbooker who carefully and thoughtfully arranged family memories into creative visually interesting photo albums. Now, the filmmaker is doing with audio and visual media what his mother did for years with paper and glue. He is trying to carefully arrange her fading memories along with his own into a neat package for safe keeping and for the pleasure of future generations.

An accomplished filmmaker, Henry utilizes a number of visual techniques together with performance art to tell his story. For example, the use of wooden peg dolls with their doll house and car was used very effectively to provide a visual context for recreated discussions with his mother.

We learn that Elaine was an art teacher and Kyle uses a number of artistic film devices to add visual interest. I personally loved where he projected images of his mother’s face onto his own.

I was drawn to this film as part of my review coverage of the 60th Annual Chicago Film Festival. I look for entries that have a Chicago aspect to them and Kyle Henry is a filmmaker currently residing in Chicago. That fact along with a few exterior shots in what I believe to be Rogers Park is the extent of the Chicago connection to Time Passages.

The film does have a wider connection with those of us who have cared for elderly parents and family members as well as those of us who have witnessed a loved one slip slowly into some state of dementia. It may also resonate with those who are beginning to see signs of “old age” within themselves or others around them or who have fears of memory loss.

After all, our memories, as manifestations of our experiences, represent the sum total of who we are. In this way Henry is expressing whether it is necessary for those memories to inhabit a human body in order to be useful or can they have value in another form. That form could be his mother’s physical albums or this documentary film.

The production is as much about the documentarian as it is about his mother, with a certain self-indulgent quality that begs the question as to whether this labor is for his own benefit or for the benefit of the viewer. Is this a film about Henry’s cathartic attempt to reconcile his relationship with his mother or is it a film about us witnessing his mother’s memory loss? I’m certain that it is both and this observation brings me to the one criticism I have of this effort.

I have a favorite expression, “Pick a horse and ride it.” Henry, like many creative people, tries to cram too many good ideas into this one small parcel. No doubt the film is about the relationship of his mother and him, sharing her journey into memory loss.

However, Henry sidetracks into the COVID pandemic, which indeed interjected itself unexpectedly into the plot line and has to be dealt with. But I feel his expansion of the topic had a tendency to pull our attention away from the central story.

The same is true with his subplot of the influence of Kodak on the life of Mid-century Americans, which I love but likewise seems an intruder in this film. I would like to have seen the Kodak segments cut and that idea developed separately in another project.

Looking at other people’s lives is always interesting. We can’t help but to compare our experiences to theirs perhaps in a quest to see if we ourselves are “normal.” Are they the outliers, or are we? But this boarders on being simply a voyeuristic activity. I’m trying to ask myself what is the message and what am I supposed to take away from this film other than a peek into this mother and son relationship?

The film’s overall vibe was a bit oppressive. Elaine was a singer but this production was kind of one note. I wanted a little more rise and fall. We know early on that mom is going to die in the end so that is not so much a climax as it is a race toward the inevitable.

The sidetracks mentioned above were an attempt to break us out of our funk but alas were ineffective. The film needed more of an arc. So lacking that, it was better as a showcase of Henry’s visual storytelling technical abilities and less about the ability to use this experience as a way to speak to a wider audience with a more universal message.

In the end I can say I appreciate this effort and am glad that Henry made “Time Passage”, for the purpose of preserving and sharing some memories and insight into his mother’s life and his.

For those of us who may be going through or have had similar shared experiences of memory loss and eldercare it has value by demonstrating that you’re not alone in your struggle. It is possible that the raw nature of the content can be triggering for those who may have had a similar recent experience that they found traumatic. It may be a wake-up call for some who are not currently aware of how fleeting life can be. In fact, Kyle shares a recording of Elaine telling us basically to enjoy life.

I appreciated a number of visual elements and performance art segments that showcased Kyle Henry’s considerable talents. However, I think “Time Passages” will have appeal to a niche audience but falls short in regard to offering a single larger message to a wider audience.

An 86-minute documentary, it is being screened as part of the 60th Chicago International Film Festival October 16-27, 2024. 

Most of the film festival movies are shown only once or twice so this review is aimed at informing you in the hope that you will look for subsequent screenings at other locations in the future or that it might encourage you to consider attending the Chicago Film Festival yourself next year or beyond.

For festival information visit ChicagoFilmFestival.com. For film information visit http://amonumentforidabfilm.com.

 Reno Lovison

Film Festival ‘Light of Truth’

Richard Hunt

4 Stars Highly Recommended

Richard Hunt’s Monument to Ida B. Wells 

Significant public sculpture has a special place in Chicago that might easily have begun with Lorado Taft’s 1922 “Fountain of Time” at the west end of the Midway Plaisance or his 1913 “Fountain of the Great Lakes” sculpture outside of the Art Institute.

What really kicked off the post-modern proliferation of public art was the 1967 installation of the Picasso sculpture in the Civic Center Plaza. The controversy and ultimate acceptance of this abstract colossus ushered in a new era of world class public sculpture that includes thought provoking works by masters such as Calder, Miro, Chagall and Chicago’s own Richard Hunt whose work speaks to and for the African American experience.

The documentary, Light of Truth: Richard Hunt’s Monument to Ida B. Wells, follows Hunt’s creation of a monument to civil right champion and woman’s suffrage leader Ida B. Wells. Using the depiction of his process as an opportunity to showcase each of their contributions to society, he does so within the greater context of the history of the black experience.

Ida B. Wells was born at the dawn of emancipation. She worked together with the likes of Frederick Douglass, stood up for the dignity of everyday people of color by refusing to give up her railroad seat decades before Rosa parks did the same on a Montgomery bus, marched side-by side in Washington D.C. with white suffragettes and carried the message of black American’s struggle for equality as a lecturer around the world.

In the urban renewal period of the 1960s, her name was associated with a low-income housing project on Chicago’s southside. It is on that site that the monument is erected as a tribute to her and as a legacy for the many people who identify this location as their neighborhood and home.

A master of metal work, Hunt manages to fashion tons of steel into forty-foot-tall flickering flames reminiscent of the lightness and brilliance of Aether projecting skyward as though illuminating the heavens.

In this way, Hunt’s creation transcends Wells’ physical form in favor of reflecting her qualities of leadership and courageous spirit of hope.

This informative film by Producer/Director Rana Segal and Chicago based Producer Laurie Little, points out an interesting but tragic similarity that was a turning point for each of these subjects.

For Wells it was the lynching of three prominent black men in her hometown of Memphis while for Hunt, it was the public viewing in 1955 of the disfigured body of Emmit Till, a black teenager brutally beaten by white southerners while visiting in Mississippi.

In Light of Truth, editors Tom Desch and Rana Segal skillfully weave together biographical information about to the two main subjects of Hunt and Wells while providing important historical insight and illuminating the continuing quest to overcome what many call America’s original sin.

The premier of the 67-minute documentary Light of Truth: Richard Hunt’s Monument to Ida B. Wells is being screened as part of the 60th Chicago International Film Festival October 16-27, 2024. For festival information visit ChicagoFilmFestival.com For film information visit http://amonumentforidabfilm.com

Reno Lovison

Jeff Awards announced

 

Goodman Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre tied for the most (six) awards in the category of “Large Theater” when the annual Equity Jeff Awards ceremony was held Sept 30. Red Orchid Theatre received four awards in the “Mid-Size” category.

The Jeff Awards were for outstanding theater work and performances July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024 chosen from 82 productions that were eligible as “Jeff Recommended.” 

To better understand the importance to Chicago’s theater community of these Jeff Awards know that 44 award recipients were recognized from 193 nominees in 34 categories of “excellence in theater production.”

Co-hosted by Chicago entertainers Lillian Castillo and Kelvin Roston, Jr., with actor Janet Ulrich Brooks as announcer, the program featured performances from 10 nominated productions. 

The Goodman Theatre’s awards were for “The Penelopiad” as an Ensemble (Play) and for Original Music in a Play (Samuel Davis), plus “The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at the Celebration of Their First One Hundred Years” for E. Faye Butler as Perfomer in a Supporting Role and Scenic Design by Arnel Sancianco). Also, Scenic Design by Todd Rosenthal and Costume Design by Ana Kuzmanic for “The Matchbox Magic Flute,” brought awards to Goodman. 

Steppenwolf Theatre was recognized with awards for “Purpose” for Production (Play), Direction (Phylicia Rashad) and New Work (Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins), plus for “Little Bear Ridge Road” for Direction (Joe Mantello), Performer in a Principal Role (Laurie Metcalf) and New Work (Samuel D. Hunter).

In the musical category Marriott Theater and Drury Lane Productions tied for the most awards with four. 

“Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” at Marriott Theater received awards for Production, Direction (Jessica Fisch), Performer in a Principal Role (Kaitlyn Davis) and Performer in a Supporting Role (Andrew Mueller).

At Drury Lane, “Ain’t Misbehavin” garnered awards for Production, Ensemble, Direction (E. Faye Butler) and Performer (Lorenzo Rush Jr.).

For all Equity Awards visit  Homepage | The Joseph Jefferson Awards (jeffawards.org)

Jodie Jacobs

Fidelio speaks to modern audiences

 

Dimitry Ivashchenko as Rocco, Elza van den Heever, Leonore and Russell Thomas, Florestan perform in Lyric Opera's production of Beethoven’s 'Fidelio.'

Dimitry Ivashchenko (Rocco), Elza van den Heever (Leonore) and Russell Thomas, (Florestan) in Lyric Opera’s ‘Fidelio.’ (Photo by Todd Rosenberg)

4 stars – Highly recommended

Lyric Opera of Chicago expounds on freedom of expression in this captivating, uplifting production of Beethoven’s Fidelio.

Florestan (Russell Thomas) is being held as a political prisoner for speaking against the corruption of prison administrator Don Pizarro (Brian Mulligan).

Don Pizarro wants Florestan silenced for good and employs the aid of his director of security, Rocco (Dimitry Ivashchenko), who refuses to murder Florestan but agrees to dig a secret grave if his boss will actually do the killing.

Florestan’s wife Leonore (Elza van den Heever) manages to disguise herself as a young man, getting a job at the prison with the intention of finding a way to free her husband.

While working at the prison, Rocco’s daughter, Marzelline (Sydney Mancasola), a secretary in his office, falls in love with Fidelio who is actually Leonore in disguise. (The opera used to be known as “Leonore.”)

Leonore uses Marzelline’s infatuation with Fidelio to gain favor with Rocco who ultimately engages Fidelio to help with the digging of Florestan’s grave. That gives Leonore the opportunity needed to at least see her husband and try to affect an escape.

Fidelio has a happy ending and thus is a story of Good triumphing over Evil. Most importantly, it is a story of hope combined with the courage to speak truth to power and to stand up to tyranny and oppression in order to right a wrong.

Elza van den Heever, Russell Thomas and company in "Fidelio" by Lyric Opera of Chicago. (Todd Rosenberg)

Elza van den Heever, Russell Thomas and company in “Fidelio”at Lyric Opera of Chicago. (Photo by Todd Rosenberg)

Fidelio is the only opera written by Beethoven, which in spite of the storyline, has a lightness that provides each character with lyrical arias and artful contrapuntal trios. It also offers the outstanding Lyric Chorus led by Michael Black, beautifully harmonious choral pieces.

The musicality of the overture has resulted in four versions of various lengths that have become part of the musical canon for orchestras worldwide since it was written. The Lyric has chosen to present the shorter version conducted by Enrique Mazzola in order to proceed with the dramatic performance.

The set design of Alexander V. Nichols is comprised of a gigantic, roughly forty-foot square, two-level cube of assembled gray steel pipes and screens, that rotates to display both the prison office and holding cells.

In Act II, the cube is reset to depict the subterranean basement where the “secret prisoner” is confined. The prison office is decorated with typewriters, filing cabinets, and water coolers while workers and prisoners are costumed in modern dress presenting an overall twentieth century vibe.

Nichols also utilizes projected images during the overture to suggest Leonore’s decision to take on the persona of Fidelio. Onstage video monitors are used to create a more contemporary atmosphere, and in the case of Florestan, to project his inner turmoil and torture induced fantasies.

It’s interesting to see how easily this 18th Century music and story transforms to modern times making this a potentially very accessible opera for younger audiences or those who may be uninitiated to this theatrical genre.

This is aided by the fact that there are no traditional recitatives but rather short bits of easily digestible spoken dialogue that bring the story together between musical numbers.

Twenty-first century audiences will appreciate the portrayal of a strong female hero and the allusions to political oppression that continues to be perpetrated throughout the world.

DETAILS: “Fidelio” is at the Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago, on select dates through October 10, 2024. Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes with one intermission. For tickets and other information visit Lyric Opera.

Reno Lovison

For more shows visit Theatre in Chicago

 

‘Inherit the Wind’ revives fundamental conflicts

 

Prosecutors Tom Davenport (Christopher Kale Jones, left) and Matthew Harrison Brady (Alexander Gemignani) confer with defense attorney Henry Drummond (Harry Lennix) as a potential juror (Terry Bell) looks on in "Inherit the Wind" at Goodman Theatre.

Christopher Kale Jones, Alexander Gemignani, Harry Lennix and Terry Bell in “Inherit the Wind” at Goodman Theatre. (Photo by Liz Lauren)

Recommended

The Goodman Theatre reminds us that the more things change the more they remain the same in this production of “Inherit the Wind,” a classic courtroom drama directed by Henry Godinez.

The 1955 play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee was written as a vehicle to shed light on the anti-communist proceedings of the McCarthy era. But, the story resonates with us again in 2024 as many of the same and several new public conflicts are debated between those holding opposing political ideologies as well as fundamentalist religious beliefs versus scientific discovery. (Think book-banning in some libraries and schools>)

Small town schoolteacher Bertram Cates (Christopher Llewyn Ramirez) is on trial for breaking a state law that prohibits the teaching of evolution.

The prosecution is aided by the bombastic self-important fundamentalist, bible thumping Matthew Harrison Brady (Alexander Gemignani).  Cates is represented by famed Chicago lawyer Henry Drummond (Harry Lennix), a publicly demonized, clever defense attorney known for taking on difficult and controversial cases.

The premise is a fictionalized version of the infamous 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial where three-time presidential candidate and former secretary of state William Jennings Bryan argued for the prosecution and Clarence Darrow served as defense attorney for science teacher John T. Scopes.

The authors do not suggest that religion and science are irreconcilable but rather that this chasm has occurred because one group strives to stand still, hanging on to the status quo, while the other strives to advance human knowledge with a willingness to see where it leads.

For over a half century this play has been produced by hundreds (maybe thousands) of production companies of every size and skill level, including one movie and three television versions. Drummond and Brady are epic characters every serious actor would be happy to have a chance to play. It is a clash of titans utilizing witty, thought provoking, well written dialogue as their chosen weapons.

In this production Harry Lennix as Drummond wears the part well, articulating every word with clarity as though they have sprung extemporaneously from his own mind. It is the kind of performance we have come to expect of a Goodman production.

Alexander Gemignani as the dogmatic Brady is a worthy adversary for Lennix. When the two are on stage together you can feel the charge of energy flowing between them.

Ryan Kitley provides a stirring performance as hellfire and damnation preacher Reverend Jeremiah Brown.

Alexander Gemignani and Harry Lennix (Photo by Liz Lauren)

The use of the young boy, Howard (Thomas Murphy Molony), as a witness to proceedings was not something I remember in previous productions. Yes, he is literally a witness for the prosecution but he is also present virtually throughout the play witnessing the interactions of the principal players both in and out of the courtroom. He represents the future and it is his responsibility to bring forth the “truth,” whatever it may be, to the next generation.

There are a few actors on stage who provided acceptable performances but might take this opportunity to tune into Mr. Lennix masterclass on dialogue. Getting the lines out is admirable, and luckily, Lawrence and Lee provide lines that are difficult to mess up, But taking it to the next level requires understanding exactly what you are saying so that the words sound like they are your own and the audience understands the nuance behind them. No doubt this will improve over the run of the play.

The interesting set design by Collette Pollard features a suspended circular diorama lowers the ceiling. It contributes to the sense that the action is taking place within a confined space but also within the context of a small town someplace in the universe.

A beautiful parquet floor similarly grounds the actors providing a sense of place that keeps the action in the center of a rather large stage. The furnishings are sparse allowing us to stay focused on the actors. 

Back in 1925 the trial was about Darwin’s theory of evolution versus religious fundamentalism. And now, in 2024, almost 100 years later, we are again hearing from similarly opposed factions as they, once more, argue what should and should not be covered in schools.

DETAILS: “Inherit the Wind” is at the Goodman Theatre, 170 N Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL through October 20, 2024. Runtime is around 2 hours and 15 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission. For tickets and more information visit www.goodmantheatre.org

 Reno Lovison

For more shows visit Theatre in Chicago

Noises Off might not be your cup of tea

 

James Vincent Meredith, Rick Holmes, Amanda Fink and Audrey Francis in "Noises Off" by Steppenwolf Theatre Company. (Michael Brosilow)

James Vincent Meredith, Rick Holmes, Amanda Fink and Audrey Francis in “Noises Off” at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. (Photo by Michael Brosilow)

Recommended

 A rather incompetent troupe of actors are expertly portrayed by a considerably expert cast in Steppenwolf’s revival of Michael Frayn’s classic British comedy, “Noises Off.”  Directed by Anna D. Shapiro the farce kicks off the ensemble theater company’s 49th season.

“Noises Off” is a three act play within a play spoofing the genre of the popular mid-century English drawing room comedy while simultaneously poking fun at the actors and crew that produced them.

In our first act, director Lloyd Dallas (Rick Holms) labors valiantly to guide his cast through the dress rehearsal of this unknown play. It is immediately obvious that the cast is having serious difficulties remembering their stage directions and lines while struggling to understand the motivation behind their character’s activities.

In Act II we experience, essentially, the same first act but from a backstage perspective where it has become increasingly clear that during their time on the road interpersonal dramas between and amongst the cast has led to further confusion on stage and beyond.

The term “noises off” refers to noises heard offstage but ironically much of this act is done in very energetic pantomime.

Ora Jones, Francis Guinan, Rick Holmes, Audrey Francis, Amanda Fink...

Ora Jones, Francis Guinan, Rick Holmes, Audrey Francis, Amanda Fink and Vaneh Assadourian in “Noises Off” at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. (Photo by Michael Brosilow)

In Act III, the characters’ acting has not improved and neither has the relationship of the company as the play devolves into hilarious chaos.

This is broad comedy not unlike a television sitcom full of sophomoric jokes and slapstick physical humor. In this way it is just pure laugh-out-loud fun which this opening night audience seemed to appreciate and enjoy. But it might be safe to say that this may not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Conceived in 1970 and first performed in 1982, the humor is largely derived around poking fun at the quickly fading middle class morality and the stuffiness of the 1950s exemplified by a woman in underwear with falling pants, nose bleeds and false pomposity, plus, allusions to the high tax rate in the U.K. that was causing people to flee the country.

I saw “Noises Off” about thirty years ago and my recollection was that I thought it was okay. I was anxious to see if my opinion had changed. Essentially it has not. It’s fun. It’s funny. But with one or two exceptions it is not the kind of humor that makes me laugh out loud.

The character of Garry Lejeune (Andrew Leads) has an unmistakable, scattered, John Cleese (Fawlty Towers) vibe which is quite comical and a kind of staple of the period – a fellow who is outside his depth and working earnestly to participate in things often beyond his understanding or ability.

The well-constructed, attractive set designed by Todd Rosenthal is a Tudor style country house with many doors offering an opportunity for much coming and going typical of a farce. It definitely contributes to the confusion and comedy.

The genius of “Noises Off” is the rapid pacing and repetition which is why I believe this play is attractive to actors. Much of the same dialog is repeated in each act but each time with much different action going on that requires a wide range of performance skills.

In the end, I recommend seeing this because it is simply a laugh-a-minute classic comedy well performed but with the caveat that the broad humor might seem dated and too obvious for some.

DETAILS: “Noises Off” is at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N Halsted Street, Chicago, IL, through November 3, 2024. Runtime: 2 hours 40 minutes with 2 intermissions. Fir tickets and more information visit Steppenwolf.org.

Reno Lovison
For more shows visit Theatre In Chicago.

Must see this amazing show at Writers Theatre

“Natasha, Pierre & the Comet of 1812” at Writers Theatre with cast and Evan Tyrone Martin, center, as Pierre. (Photo by Liz Lauren)

 4 stars

The title, “Natasha, Pierre & the Comet of 1812,” doesn’t offer a clue that this show, taken from a segment of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” is not a play but an operetta. Just don’t expect only classical music.

Writer/composer Dave Malloy has created a witty, period piece worthy of any opera house but he combines a variety of musical beats including hip-hop. And, instead of hidden in a pit, the orchestra is up high, divided into stage left and right boxes.

Magnificently sung with grand costuming by Raquel Adorno and backed by inspired scenery design by Courtney O’Neill, “Natasha…” looks and sounds like an award winner. The Broadway production won two Tony Awards in 2017.

 

A young woman and a man stand in profile facing each other. She has long dark hair gathered at her neck and wears a white dress with a tapestry shawl. He has dark hair gathered in a bun with white streaks on top of his head and wears a red frock coat with a large embroidered heart visible on the back.

Aurora Penepacker (left) as Natasha and Evan Tyrone Martin as Pierre. (Photo by Liz Lauren)

Basically, a romantic tale of looking for love (and sometimes sex), the operetta is set in the upper society of Moscow in 1812 where a naive Natasha waits for Andrey (Matthew C. Yee) to whom she is engaged, to return from the Napoleonic Wars.

It starts off with Mary (Julia Wheeler Lennon) trying to care for hers and brother Andrey’s ornery father, Prince Bolkonsky (Rob Lindley). 

But wait, there are also some fun and well sung “arias.

In Act I, a dissolute Pierre (Evan Tyrone Martin) brings the house down with his soaring “Dust and Ashes.” In contrast, in Act II Maya Rowe as Natasha’s friend and cousin Sonya, beautifully sings “Sonya alone.”

Working their magic behind the scenes are director /choreographer Katie Spelman and music director Matt Deitchman, the duo from Writers Theatre’s award winning “Once.”

DETAILS: “Natasha, Pierre & the Comet of 1812,” is at Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Ct. Glencoe, now through Oct. 27, 2024. Running time: 2 hours plus one intermission. For tickets and more information visit writerstheatre.org, and call (847 242-6000.

Jodie Jacobs

For more shows visit Theatre in Chicago

Superb voices and music plus creative staging make Rigoletto a must see

 

Igor Golovatenko sings the title role in "Rigoletto," with Mané Galoyan as Gilda, in Lyric Opera's current production of the Verdi classic.

Igor Golovatenko as Rigoletto and Mané Galoyan as his daughter, Gilda, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. (Photos here by Todd Rosenberg)

 

Four Stars

Even non-regular opera goers would recognize “La donna è mobile.” Among the genre’s most famous arias, it is sung by acclaimed Mexican tenor Javier Camarena making his Lyric Opera debut as the Duke of Manua in Verdi’s Rigoletto. It translates as “Woman is fickle.”

But audiences have to wait for it. The opera has several good arias appreciated by the audience. However, “La donna è mobile” comes in Act III.

Instead of fully turning the lights on and off, director Mary Birnbaum, artistic director of Opera Saratoga and also new to the Lyric, has divided Act II into basically two scenes.

That works beautifully with the dark and tense mood she has created in what is an exceptional Lyric production. The second scene becomes Act III which takes place at a dwelling owned by an assassin.

The aria sums up one of the opera’s two main themes – the duke’s attitude towards women and that vengeance is dangerous.

 

(The Duke’s palace)

They bring down Rigoletto, the Duke’s hunchback jester sung by Russian  baritone Igor Golovatenko who appeared at Lyric as Rodrigue in Don Carlos, and Rigoletto’s daughter, Armenian soprano Mané Galoyan who makes her Lyric debut as Gilda, the lass who falls for the Duke when he comes to her disguised as a penniless student.

Both are outstanding in their vocal and acting interpretations. Plus, Gilda gets her own aria, “Caro nome” in Act I, (“Caro nome che il mio cor” (Sweet name that made my heart) that sets her character in spite of the Duke’s later betrayal of her love.

Originally a Victor Hugo play called Le roi s’amuse (“The King Amuses Himself”) Verdi turned the story into a drama-tragedy that moves back and forth between the Duke’s frivolous loves and lifestyle and Rigoletto’s hatred of that lifestyle and his worries about the previous Duke’s curse. Indeed, one of the early titles to this opera referred to the curse.

Add in Rigoletto’s over-protected, naive daughter and audiences know this can’t end well.

Conducted by Music Director Enrique Mazzola with superb insight and shading, the Lyric Orchestra skillfully brought out Verdi’s perfectly colored contrasts in mood during the story’s fateful progress. Kudos also to the entire company

In addition, the opera’s contrasting atmosphere was enhanced by costume designer Jane Greenwood and set designer Robert Innes Hopkins. 

Details: “Rigoletto” is at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, 20 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago specific times now through Oct. 6, 2024. Language: Sung in Italian with projected English titles. Running Time:2 hours and 35 minutes, including 1 intermission. For tickets and more information visit Lyric Opera.

Jodie Jacobs

For more shows visit Theatre in Chicago

 

Love and marriage are all in an extended family in the hilarious ‘The Cottage’

 

L-R   Joel Ottenheimer, Shannon Bachelder, Melody Rowland, Elizabeth Bushell (Standing), and Philip J. Macaluso. (Photos by North Shore Camera Club)

 

Four Stars

You practically need a score card to keep track of who is doing “it” with whom even though two brothers and their current and past lovers and spouses all makeup somewhat of an extended family. They all pop into “The Cottage,” a small but attractive country house 90 minutes outside of London.

The year is 1923. The tone is that of a British farce but don’t expect a strong English accent or a lot of popping in and out different doors. Guests properly enter from the front door.

What we have is a very funny play by Glenview native Sandy Rustin that has come to Citadel Theatre in Lake Forest straight from its Broadway run.

At first, we see the morning after a once-a-year affair between Sylvia (Elizabeth Bushell) and her brother-in-law, Beau (Philip J. Macaluso). Before Beau can dress and leave for his office others in this casual, but unanticipated gathering come knocking at the door.

First to pop in is Beau’s regular lover, Dierdre (Melody Rowland) because Beau’s office told her he could be found at the family Cottage. Next to stop by are Beau’s brother, Clarke (Joel Ottenheimer), with his sister-in-law, Beau’s wife, Marjorie (Shannon Bachelder). Sylvia, who’s slightly ditsy, thinks she may have sent a telegram to Clarke about wanting a divorce.

They hear Diedra’s husband, Richard (John Dooley), knocking on the door. The problems now is that Sylvia said her first love was called Richard but she believes he died and Diedra admits that her Richard keeps killing her lovers.

And so, Act I ends with everyone hiding and Richard coming in with a gun.

 Well directed by Jack Hickey, the entire cast is terrific. In addition, there is superb scenic design by Eric Luchen and properties design by Audrey Tieman. The house is charming and those cigarettes that Beau keeps snagging turn up everywhere.

No letting on here what happens in Act II. Go see this wonderful, comic play but don’t tell anyone else what happens. 

Details: “The Cottage” is at Citadel Theatre, 300 S. Waukegan Rd., Lake Forest, IL now thro0ugh Oct. 13, 2024 Running Time: Two hours. For tickets and other information visit Citadel Theatre.

Jodie Jacobs

For more shows visit Theatre in Chicago.