Displaying items by tag: Timothy Edward Kane

After an unexpected delay due to Covid-19, a most anticipated musical has finally opened at the Court Theatre. “The Gospel At Colonus” is the second installment of Sophocles’ Theban Trilogy. The first, “Oedipus Rex” was produced by Court Theatre during the 2019/2020 season to rave reviews. The Third, “Antigone” has a February 2024 production date. We dry our eyes and thank God this gospel is finally proclaimed. It is truly a religious experience.

Like the Black church today, the theater played a crucial role in fostering a sense of community among Athenians in 429 BC. Stories in the Old and New Testaments bear striking similarities to Greek myths. David and Achilles have very similar qualities and storylines. It’s possible that James and John of the New Testament is based on Castor and Pollux, the sons of Zeus, God of Thunder. In Mark 3:17, Jesus named James and John “Sons of Thunder” Coincidence, maybe. It is evident why Lee Breuer along with music composer Bob Telson would adapt “Oedipus At Colonus” into a Pentecostal revival meeting, Gospel and Greek myths go hand in hand, they both tell great stories

The set for “Colonus” is a work of acoustical ingenuity by Scenic Designer John Culbert and Sound Designer Sarah Ramos. The band lead by Mahmoud Khan is raised above the main action. There are no walls for sound to bounce off. You have a bare bones frame of a cathedral, or is it the groves of the Gods? You be the judge. There is a clearing center stage with multi levels, on the top level is an unshaped stone. The music from the 5 piece band is excellent and comes through loud and clear to the mic éd up cast. The costumes by Raquel Adorno gave Athenian village down to the sandals.

Directors Charles Newell and Mark J.P. Hood with Associate Director Taron Patton has curated the best voices in gospel music available in the Chicagoland area. Every single member of the cast is a strong singer. Music Director Hood has updated the feel of the music. Where Bob Telson was inspired by gospel singers of his time, Hood found inspiration in today’s gospel artist like Donald Lawrence, Ricky Dillard and Kirk Franklin. The musical arrangements were fresh and exciting. I heard the most complicated, beautiful vocalizing I have ever heard on stage. I thought my guest was going to stand up and do a holy dance.. she came close. Thanks to the movement design by Cristin Carole, the chorus was alive on stage instead of standing on risers like a choir.

It was especially uplifting to see women in this male dominant production as more than placeholders. Aeriel Williams as Antigone had a strong personality and it showed. Ariana Burks was beautiful in the role of Ismene. Shari Addison’s (who’s daughter is also in this production) sang for the heavens to open. Mark Spates Smith as the preacher/ King Theseus kept the audience involved and shouting “Amen”. Juwon Tyrel Perry and Eric A. Lewis harmonies had the crowd yelling. Timothy Edward Kane as Creon was an interesting and bold move. The male voice carrying the greatest load was Oedipus, and in the hands of Kelvin Roston Jr. we are blessed. Roston bellows one minute and the next he is sotto voce. The vocal gymnastics all these singers exhibit is truly amazing.

“The Gospel at Colonus” is filled with Christian values, as well as Christian music. Oedipus seeking refuge in his old age receives sympathy and grace for his plight. He is forgiven and absolved of his sins. Before his death, he is born anew. He is transformed from a blight on the city of Thebes to a blessing for Athens. Oedipus was taken without lamentations, suffering or pain. Let the weeping cease, he was blessed. It is our Christian hope we can all be so blessed. Bless yourself and see this show.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

When: Through June 18

Where: Court Theatre 5535 S. Ellis Avenue

Running time: 90 minutes

Tickets: $40. - $82.

Contact: www.courttheatre.org

a“There’s no honor in self destruction.” An interesting line to ponder when thinking about what Sam Shepard’s Pulitzer Prize winner ‘Buried Child’ says about our current times. Sadly we lost Sam Shepard recently. Writers Theatre’s production of ‘Buried Child’ serves as a fitting homage. Director Kimberly Senior assembles a dream cast for her well-conceived revival.

Senior is a meticulous director. The attention to minor details of staging makes for an immersive experience. ‘Buried Child’ is a complicated play, reading it can be challenging. Senior’s version is clear. Her grasp of the script and the meaning of Sam Shepard’s words shines through. While it adds a little to the runtime of the show, two intermissions is a wise choice.

This production changes the focus somewhat. Shepard was known for male-driven plays and some critics argue his female characters are underdeveloped. Senior mines the script for a new interpretation; that ultimately the women are the ones who keep the play moving. Shannon Cochran plays Hallie, the matriarch. Her performance is riveting, she stalks the stage doling out anger and jokes. Also playing against type is Arti Ishak as Shelly. This character is ordinarily somewhat meek but here she’s a dominant figure that forces this family to its reckoning.

The male roles are notably cast. Mark L. Montgomery is nearly unrecognizable as Tilden. His portrayal of an emotionally stunted man-child is haunting. Timothy Edward Kane delivers a sort of ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ vibe as the younger son Bradley. His wandering eye contact has an unsettling effect. Larry Yando becomes Dodge. Yando’s an old pro at playing a grumpy old man but the physicality of sickness and depression are palpable.

Shepard wrote this play in the 70s as an observation on the misery of rural American life. Once idyllic places got decimated by closed factories and failing farms. Unfortunately not much has changed for the better in these places, and for that this production seems timely as ever. Kimberly Senior’s production would make Sam Shepard proud. The atmospheric staging and guttural dialogue combined with powerhouse performances will surely leave a lasting impression. A thrilling version for our modern times.

Through June 17 at Writers Theatre. 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe IL. 847-242-6000

Whenever things get hot in America, Arthur Miller comes back in vogue. It's hard to fathom what he would think of today's world though. Court Theatre features Miller's first hit play 'All My Sons' . Directed by Charles Newell, this provocative new production is vibrant and exceedingly well acted.

'All My Sons' first appeared on Broadway in 1947, establishing Arthur Miller as a major playwright. Though considered among his best, there's an amount of melodrama here that later Miller works would shed. In this dark play, he examines the moral and psychological effects of WWII on ordinary Americans.

John Judd plays Joe Keller, the good-guy neighbor type who has just arrived home from prison. He's been acquitted of manufacturing faulty airplane parts that caused plane crashes in WWII. His partner remains in jail having accepted all responsibility. His adult son Chris, played by Timothy Edward Kane survived the war while his brother Larry did not. On an ordinary summer day Chris invites Larry's former fiance and daughter of Joe's business partner, Annie (Heidi Kettenring) for a visit. Chris' mother Kate (Kate Collins) cannot reconcile that Larry is dead and is slowly unraveling.

Newell takes this script in an interesting direction. The central conflict is Joe, a normal guy with a huge moral dilemma. "I know you're no worse than most men, but I thought you were better." Miller writes. It's through Kate Collins that Newell puts the emphasizes on the women's narrative of this play though. Kate's dialogue swings from reality and delusion so rapidly. Collins' interpretation has an eerie Blanche DuBois quality to it. This is also a story about a woman losing her grip in a time when life was supposed to be cheerful.

Heidi Kettenring brings Annie to the foreground in this version. With 'All My Sons' Miller wanted to show how aspects of the war effected all parts of America. Many women were left widows. Social constructs made finding love more challenging for women. Kettenring captures every scene she's in. Her portrayal of a lonely woman with few options is haunting.

Newell's production is artful. The staging is vivid and unique. When every theater company is offering Arthur Miller, it's cool to see how these works are being reinterprated to appeal to a new generation. For some, two and a half hours of classic American theater sounds like a school field trip. Newell's production proves that there's always a new way to see a play.

Through February 11th at Court Theatre. 5535 S Ellis Ave. 773-753-4472

Court Theatre’s production of Harvey tells the fable of Elwood P. Dowd.

Played wonderfully by Timothy Edward Kane, Dowd is an independently wealthy bachelor whose immense warmth and engaging demeanor earns him friendship readily with everyone. This includes the 6’ 3½” tall white rabbit, Harvey, who for most of the play, only he can see.

Elwood lives on the estate of his late mother, where his sister, Veta Louise (Karen James Wodistch) and young adult niece Myrtle Mae (Sarah Price), have moved from Des Moines, with hopes of climbing the social ladder. But they are thwarted by Elwood’s eccentric behavior – his ongoing conversations with Harvey are off-putting to polite society. They decide to have him committed to a mental institution.

Harvey won a Pulitzer in 1944 for playwright Mary Chase (beating Tennessee Williams the Glass Menagerie, no less), and became a movie with James Stewart in 1950 –  the version of Harvey people know. No one would get these scripts confused; Williams is objectively the better writer. 

Yet Harvey has momentum, and even reaches a moment of power – which is why it is beloved by many.

Chase’s character Elwood P. Dowd reminds us of Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump, someone floating above the fray, dispensing homespun wisdom and soothing the turmoil of those around him. (The play was revived famously with Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons in the lead on Broadway five years ago.)

Director Devon de Mayo has maintained the piece in its 1944 time frame, almost a requirement given the script. Artifacts of period mental healthcare like shock therapy, hydrobaths, and a vaguely sadistic undercurrent among the hospital staff are unsettling, and form the basis of much of the humor: As Veta attempts to commit Elwood, she ends up in a cell instead. Upon her escape, she tells of being forcibly stripped and placed in a hot bath by an attendant she describes as a “whoremaster.” I think that was cut from the film.

Chase has also delved into Irish myth with Harvey. The rabbit is a Pooka, in Celtic lore a shapeshifter that could tell the future, and visit outcasts to improve their lives. 

Court Theatre’s production of Harvey goes for the broad humor, and a sort of mad-cap pacing from screwball comedies. And the audience was laughing from the get go, though I was not caught up in the frivolity, at least not right away.   

Timothy Kane as Elwood P. Dowd provides the anchoring performance for all the froth on stage. Kane is a most remarkable comedic actor – hilariously funny in One Man-Two Guvnors at Court Theatre last year.

Kane’s Elwood hooks us in a soliloquy on how to live properly, building soon after to the climactic scene that gives the play it’s heft.

Here Kane turns on Elwood’s magic, playing admirably against Amy Carle, who also shines in the scene as cabby E.J. Lofgren. Elwood is about to be treated at the mental institution to end his visions of Harvey, when the cabby appears, angrily demanding the fare be paid before Elwood gets his treatment.

But then the cabby succumbs to Elwood’s charms as he pays her. When Elwood exits to meet his fate and loose his Pooka, the cabby explains to the family that other patients he has driven who are treated also lose their goodness, and become just like regular people – mean spirited and venal. That's why she wanted to be paid first - to get a bigger tip.

This scene is a clincher and saves the play. 

Maybe it is the writing, or perhaps the timing and delivery were a bit off, but it felt as though every character in this production were defining their role independently of each other. The chemistry worked reasonably well between Lyman Anderson, MD, (Erik Hellman) and Ruth Kelly, RN (Jennifer Latimore brought a grace to the role). Woditsch, Price, and A.C. Smith as William Chumley, MD didn’t make me laugh. And it seemed Jacqueline Williams was a too dour for the role of Judge Mara Gaffney - perhaps not a good casting choice.  

Kudos on the set and lighting. Harvey plays through June 11 at Court Theatre in Hyde Park.