Highly Recommended
Scaramouche is a stock character in Italian commedia dell’arte who is seen as an unscrupulous, boastful, and often cowardly rogue whose swagger collapses the moment real danger appears.
This City Lit world‑premiere musical adaptation of Scaramouche by Kingsley Day and James Glossman based on Rafael Sabatini’s novel is set in 18th‑century France on the eve of the French Revolution.
After the death of his friend Phillipe (Connor Ripperger) at the hand of the Marquis de la Tour (Kent Joseph), Andre‑Louis Moreau (Ethan Smith) boasts of retribution yet fails to follow through.
Convinced by his cousin Aline (Laura Michele Erle) that he is in mortal danger, Moreau flees, joining a troupe of travelling actors where he in fact takes on the role of Scaramouche.
What ensues is a series of political intrigues and personal interactions that depicts Moreau’s life journey ultimately bringing him to understanding his true self.
In addition to his contribution as co-author, Kingsley Day has done a terrific job with the music and lyrics. The overall style harkens back to a more traditional approach. There are no big soaring production numbers prevalent in contemporary musicals but rather a staggering 30 or so creative melodies and recitatives that feature surprising harmonies that seem perfectly at place in the story’s time period. This is most notable in “A Family Reunion” sung as a four-part vocal quartet in counterpoint reminiscent of a Mozart opera. “Entitled to be Happy” sung as a charming duet by Aline and Moreau sets the tone of their relationship.
Demonstrating a prodigious vocabulary, Day shows he has done his research into the subject matter and lexicon of the period, pairing a variety of complex words in unexpected ways with wry wit and delightful comic effect.
A familiar figure in the Chicago theater scene, Day reveals his considerable acquaintance with Gilbert and Sullivan in several of the numbers, while in “A Brand-New Play” he provides an homage to the rapid-fire patter song of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin made famous by Danny Kaye’s rattling off the names of fifty or more Russian composers. In this case a shorter list of French playwrights. Adding to the humor is Day’s tongue-in-cheek reference to himself with Moreau explaining the secret to writing a good play is to borrow from the best. Which incidentally Day has accomplished brilliantly.
Music Director and accompanist Kevin Zhou with the assistance of Tyeese Braslavsy and musicians Chad Polk, Aaron Kaplan, Matthew Beck, and Adam High introduced this new work admirably including the use of woodwinds and strings to augment the period effect.
The vocal performances of the company were all excellent however about half the cast seemed to lack the vocal power needed to really push their numbers to full effect. This was due in part to the interesting vocal range demanded by Day’s compositions.
The lack of amplification was a factor, which is indeed a feature of modern theater and musical vocal performance generally. I understand that in the small space of the City Lit theater it seems unnecessary but in fact the room does not have ideal acoustics especially when singers are competing against live instrumentalists. Many of the low notes got lost and some of the endings never got the full-bodied top notes they deserved. The performers were hitting the notes but the volume was often quite soft. This is more of an observation than a criticism. It did not detract from our enjoyment of the performance but both my companion and I had the same experience.
Smith as Moreau sets the pace managing the demanding role well, being onstage nearly all the time and participating in ten out of the fourteen musical numbers in the first act.
Each of the supporting actors played multiple roles with perfection beginning with Connor Ripperger (I remember as Pippin at MTW) who has a good strong voice and considerable stage presence. The same is true of Kent Joseph whose stature and voice gave a commanding bearing to The Marquis and a devilish characterization as a member of the theater troupe.
Henry Michael Odum who appears in three roles as uncle; leader of the acting troupe; and fencing master are all skillfully related as they are all mentors to Moreau. Odum gives each a slightly different supportive twist.
Erle as the ingénue Aline and Alicia Berneche as Madame provided full throated performances that helped to bring some appreciated vocal dynamics to the production.
India Huy was perfectly coquettish as love interest Climene while Shea Lee was a scene stealer in her comic portrayal of the elderly maidservant.
The trio of “Royalists” (Kent Joseph, Rushil Byatnal, Ed Rutherford) had their moment in the perfectly evil “Robin Redbreast.”
The set design of Trevor Dotson with raised section and projected background, providing a screen for the onstage musicians, was perfectly suited to the small confines of the City Lit performance area.
The lighting effects of Jackson Mikkelsen was very effective in managing the mood and offering a certain muted vintage quality to the production.
Costumes by Jennifer Mohr were appropriate including the use of scarves and sashes that added dramatic flair to the action.
Physical movement is constrained by the available space but the sword fighting was very well managed and the Ensemble movements of the acting troupe with its homage to Fosse was very funny.
Director Beth Wolf did a tremendous job pulling it all together. The press opening performance was flawless. This cast was well prepared, ready and on-pointe in every way.
This may not have the scale of the modern blockbusters and might seem a bit old-school to some but it is a well-conceived, well written production with a good balance of drama and humor that includes interesting and approachable music and lyrics wrapped in an interesting story. Don’t miss it.
Scaramouche is presented by City Lit Theater Company at 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, Chicago, IL 60660 (on the second floor of the Edgewater Presbyterian Church). Runtime is about 2 hours with one 15-minute intermission. Visit citylit.org for tickets and information.
Reviewer: Reno Lovison
