Displaying items by tag: Skokie Theatre

South Pacific, with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, is undoubtedly one of my all-time favorite musical theater pieces. This beautiful, lengthy show features some of the most enduring and heartwarming classic Broadway hits of romance ever written, including “Bali Ha’i,” “Some Enchanted Evening,” “I’m in Love With a Wonderful Guy,” “Happy Talk,” “Younger than Springtime,” and the heartbreakingly wistful “This Was Nearly Mine.”

Directed by Pat Henderson with musical direction by Jeremy Ramey, this MadKap production at Skokie Theatre managed to fit a large cast of talented players into a small space, telling a big story with many levels of relevance to today’s events. The musical explores themes of finding a second chance at true love later in life and the challenges of sexual and racial prejudice against women and Polynesians during wartime.

Most theater lovers have seen South Pacific at some point, but if not, the main plot revolves around Navy nurse Nellie Forbush, considered an old maid in the United States, who is sent to the South Pacific during World War II. There, she falls in love with a widower and expat from Paris named Emile De Becque.

Nellie Forbush is portrayed with great depth and emotional range by Willow Schneider. Schneider has a wonderful voice and is a talented actress. I truly appreciated her ability to capture both the responsible, respectable American professional nurse and the love-struck, happy young woman who has found true love later in life. Schneider really shines vocally, expressing the true excitement and joyousness of spirit in the songs “I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy” and “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair.”

The character of Emile De Becque is wonderfully played by Tony Calzareta. Calzareta brings mature, compassionate energy to the character and his amazing singing voice to the classic songs “Some Enchanted Evening” and the heartbreaking “This Was Nearly Mine.” Calzareta truly conveyed the depth of love he found in this young woman—and nearly lost—during these songs and in the scene where Army officials try to get him to risk his life on a mission against the Japanese. He declares that nothing is more important to him than having her love now that he’s finally found her - not any war or request to endanger himself from any government.

Islander and trader Bloody Mary, played by Mariel Saavedra, was a delight with her rich, warm voice and motherly take on having to protect and, at the same time, try to marry off her young daughter to any soldier or islander who has enough money to take care of her. Mariel sang a great rendition of “Bali Ha’i,” the ultimate island siren song, and also “Happy Talk,” where she encourages her daughter and soldier boyfriend to chat about happy things they’d like to do together so that their dreams can come true.

Max Perkel as Lieutenant Joe Cable also displayed his vocal prowess in his segment of “Bali Ha’i” and his finely finessed performance of “You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught”. 

Luther Billis, the fast-talking, somewhat sleazy purveyor of women and cigarettes who operates a secret laundering side-business, was artfully played by Andrew Buel. Buel managed to get some very funny takes in while also conveying the deep loneliness and hopelessness that a lower-level soldier must have faced while scraping by on an island in the Pacific without much respect for their lives. The entire supporting cast of nurses and soldiers had great voices too, and I thought they worked well together, bringing humor and energy to this wonderful musical classic.

I have to give special acknowledgment to the talents of the live musicians working as the orchestra for the play: Musical Director and keyboardist Jeremy Ramey and Andrew Millikan on the second keyboard. As soon as the overture for the play began, it was clear that the music for this production was going to be outstanding. Despite the small number of musicians on stage, I could’ve sworn there was a full orchestra hiding somewhere behind them at times. Ramey and Milliken are exceptionally talented musicians, and every note they played from the beginning to the end of the show soared with the deep romantic and dramatic emotions that a great production of South Pacific deserves. Their musical accompaniment was so captivating that I could have listened to them play the songbook all evening.

My only note regarding production value is that the stage setting could have been a bit more tropical and elegant, with a little more detail in the backdrops and set pieces. However, the creative team was resourceful in its staging considering the smaller stage area for such a large production, so that the aisles and stairs leading up to the stage were used effectively to expand the space.

All in all, the combined talents of this maturely cast production created a wonderful full night of entertainment with a classic, romantic, and enduring Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.

I highly recommend you and your family attend this enlivening production, suitable for audiences of all ages! There is ample free parking across from and next to the theater.

For tickets and more show information, click HERE.

We are all lucky that we’ve gotten to live at the same time and in the same timeline as Stephen Sondheim, possibly the most influential and important composer and lyricist in modern Broadway history. From his most popular musicals — Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Into the Woods, his lyrics for West Side Story — to his more obscure — Anyone Can Whistle, Company, Follies — he’s left a wealth of lyrically and musically rich songs for us to study and enjoy.

The Stephen Sondheim Tribute Revue, directed and produced by 4 Chairs Theatre founder Lauren Berman, showcases songs selected thoughtfully and with care from the catalog of the late, legendary composer, with a talented ensemble featuring Kaitlin Feely, David Geinosky, Lyndsey Minerva, Brian Member, Denise Tamburrino, and Michelle Tibble, accompanied on piano by Tyeese Braslavsky. 

The selected songs range from Sondheim’s early works, like 1962’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Anyone Can Whistle from 1964, even his very first musical Saturday Night, to his later, more well-known works such as Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George.

Pictured: Michelle Tibble and Denise Tamburrino

Each of the ensemblists has a clear, powerful voice, creating the perfect canvas for which to display the complex and varied works of Sondheim. Sondheim always emphasized the importance of trained, mindful vocalists throughout his career — he felt that singing should enhance acting, not the other way around. The emotion comes first, always, and the music and lyrics are there to prop up that feeling, take it out of time for a moment and examine it. These actors deliver on just that.

Highlights for me included ensemblist Denise Tamburrino’s solo performance of “Send in the Clowns” from A Little Night Music. Possibly one of Sondheim’s most performed standalone songs, “Send in the Clowns” sardonically comments on the bad timing of love by a woman who’s experienced the ups and downs of it. Tamburrino’s rendition brings the right amount of restraint to the reflective song, letting the emotions on her face and pauses between phrases speak just as much as the lyrics.

Pictured: Brian Pember, Lyndsey Minerva, and Denise Tamburrino

Other highlights were the selections from Company (inlcluding the frantic "Getting Married Today" performed with tact by Lyndsey Minerva, Denise Tamburrino, and Brian Pember) and Into the Woods, Sondheim’s fairy tale-gone-wrong musical from 1987, which included two of the more moving, clear-headed tunes from the show: “No One Is Alone” and “Children Will Listen”, the former sung by the whole ensemble and the latter by Michelle Tibble and David Geinosky.

And finally, another Sondheim gem is uncovered with Kaitlin Feely’s performance of “The Miller’s Son” from A Little Night Music, a song about fantasy and its clash with reality, one of many examples of Sondheim's songs that has stood the test of time and was, in fact, ahead of its time with its witty lyrics and shrewd observations of life.

As Lauren Berman writes in her director’s note, “There are musicals, and then there are Stephen Sondheim musicals.”

The Sondheim Tribute Review by 4 Chairs Theatre is playing at the Skokie Theatre - Performing Arts Center through August 18, 2024. Tickets can be purchased on the 4 Chairs Theatre website. 

We all can do with a little more magic in our lives. Myths and Gods, magic and fantasy, these are the foundations of the stories we’re drawn to. They have a way of pulling us in, making us believe, and letting us escape the world around us, even if it is for only a few short hours. Magic can be found all over Chicago, take it from any die-hard Cubs fan; though it may not happen often, when we see magic, it stays with us. A little bit of that same magic is alive and well on the North Shore as the Skokie Theatre takes on The Lightning Thief: a Percy Jackson Musical.

The Lightning Thief: a Percy Jackson Musical is based on the popular novel of the same name by Rick Riodan. The musical follows Percy Jackson, a 12-year-old boy who newly discovers that he is a demigod and goes on a quest to find Zeus' missing lightning bolt and prevent a war between the Greek gods. With the musical’s book written by Joe Tracz and music by Rob Rokicki, this production has something for people of all ages. The musical first premiered on Broadway in 2014 with a rewrite and expansion run in 2017 though it hasn’t been widely performed in Chicagoland and it’s a shame. The musical is funny, witty, and simply magical.

Skokie Theatre only added to the charm of The Lightning Thief, the intimate vintage theatre lending itself to the production. Do not be deceived. This was no local community or high school production. The talent that brought this mythical story to life could grace any musical stage in Chicago and hold their own. Chicagoans will no doubt know the name P-Jay Adams who portrayed Percy Jackson, their pitch and vocal prowess a slice of magic in plot-moving musical numbers like “The Day I Got Expelled,” “The Campfire Song,” and “Killer Quest!” Adams led the plucky, youthful, and inclusive ensemble cast from the East coast to Los Angeles where the underworld resides. Delivering witty one-liners, embodying the characters of Gods and their angsty half-blood children, The Lightning Thief ensemble cast brought the mystical story to life and made us believe in the magic of the theatre.

While a Chicago theatre goer might not put Skokie or the North Shore on the map by comparison to so many powerhouses within the city, there is some kind of nostalgic magic at Skokie Theatre. Given the opportunity, Adams and many members of the ensemble cast could easily step onto any Broadway in Chicago stage. If given the production budget of a show like Death Becomes Her, The Lightning Thief: A Percy Jackson Musical would have the potential to make a spectacular run in Chicago.

The Lightning Thief: a Percy Jackson Musical is now playing on select dates at the Skokie Theatre located at 7924 Lincoln Ave in Skokie, IL through July 28th. Tickets are now available for purchase here. Lightning might not strike twice so don’t miss your chance to add a little magic to your evening and mock The Gods with your favorite demi-godlike hero.

I remember when my dad, then a much younger man than I am now, had just lost his first parent. Anything—a TV show or a song or a greeting card or something he’d read—that hinted at aging or mortality could be an emotional trigger and start him crying. Most of the triggers were personal, but I remember the time he rented On Golden Pond on VHS. I don’t remember a thing about the movie—it wasn’t about a time-traveling Delorean or a Christmas Eve skyscraper full of terrorists or a theme park full of velociraptors—except that it was about just those two things—aging and mortality—and that long before the movie was even over, my dad was weeping.

All these years later, with me being much older than my dad, who himself passed away a few months back, I guess I’m now the ideal audience, the prime candidate, the mark, for On Golden Pond. I’d forgotten all about that 1980s video store rental incident until I attended the Skokie Theatre’s current production of Ernest Thomson’s play, directed by Wayne Mell and produced by Wendy Kaplan. But as soon as the metaphorical curtain rose, the real-life waterworks began.

The source material, of course, has such heartstrings tugging as its intent, but it requires a talented and sympathetic cast to make it work. And this cast works.

Bernie Rice’s Norman Thayer is everybody’s aging father (or father-in-law)—that combination of commanding your compassion (pity?) or and respect (fear?) at the same time. Towering, but faltering. Loud, but hesitant. Right, but maybe not as right as he used to be. Henry Fonda might’ve been my grandpa—handsome as all get out, but almost too iconic, too on the nose. But Bernie Rice sure could’ve been my dad—real.

Judy Rossignuolo-Rice’s Ethel Thayer, while dwarfed by her husband, filled the stage whenever she was on it, and played a woman who could be, who should be, a grandma. Her Ethel is just right. Just the right amount of sweet when it’s needed. Just the right amount of wise when it’s warranted. And always the right bit of sass and spunk.

The rest of the cast also fits right in on Golden Pond. Karyn Louise Doerfler’s just the right mix for her role—Ethel and Norman’s somewhat-estranged adult daughter, Chelsea—too. She’s a grown woman, so she doesn’t need any love or validation from her folks. But she’s still their daughter, and still vulnerable enough that she wants it (and, who am I kidding, it doesn’t matter how old we are, we still need that, which is the whole point of the show in the first place).

Chelsea’s stepson-to-be, Billy Ray Jr. is played delightfully and exuberantly by AJ Carchi, themselves a teenager, and one who also convincingly plays a teenager—skulking one second, mischievous the next, and in the end, in need of that same love.

Part of the family for decades is Peter Goldsmith’s rural mailman, Charlie—as quirky and lovable and vulnerable as Norman and Ethel and the rest, but he’s also the heart of the whole thing. Not just because if Charlie loves the Thayers, then we ought to love them, too. But Goldsmith brings a heart and an innocence to Charlie that not only seemed real, but that lit up any scenes he wandered into.

But this cast, and this production, really do create a family—that nostalgic, heart-tugging, greeting card, Norman Rockwell sorta family that maybe only ever existed in our heads. But it exists right now, on the stage of the Skokie Theatre, during their run of On Golden Pond, from now until February 25.

And I’d be remiss to mention the Skokie Theatre, itself. A Skokian of some two decades now, my own self, I’ve visited the charming silent-film-era place during its incarnations through the years. From watching a daughter take part in the long-gone Gorilla Tango Theater to the old black-and-white movies they show in the air-conditioned cool during each August’s Backlot Bash (named for the theater’s surroundings being the location of Hollywood’s pre-Hollywood backlot), I’ve watched it change. The current incarnation—beautifully and lovingly making this theater a home—is celebrating 10 years of creating art, creating community, and creating family, and their current production of On Golden Pond couldn’t be a more fitting way to do it.

At Skokie Theatre through February 25^th.

Laugh-out-loud funny, “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife” from an award-winning script by Robert Busch, is an entertaining domestic comedy in the vein of Neil Simon, very Jewish New York humor. MadKap Productions, which has moved to the Skokie Theatre with this show, has given it a top-notch treatment, with an elegant, very finished set—an expensively furnished co-op apartment on Riverside Drive in Manhattan.

There we find Marjorie Taub (Julie Stevens) suffering mightily on a settee, from a headache brought on by angst over whether her intellectual aspirations (she spends all her time attending heady lectures, museums, and reads Nietsche and Herman Hesse) are all for naught. “I’m just a peasant from the shtetl," she says. "I should be plowing the earth.”

All the while her sympathetic doorman, Mohammed (Ravi Kalani) is installing a designer light fixture he pulled from storage while uttering supportive counters to Marjorie’s self-loathing whines. Her woes are increased by her aging mother, Frieda (Amy Ticho), who lives down the hall, but visits constantly to moan about her bowl movements in graphic detail, between cutting remarks that buttress Marjorie’s self-hatred.

The allergist, Dr. Ira Taub (Peter Leondedis), recently retired and living a self-congratulatory life of helping student doctors, and indigent allergy sufferers in the inner city, tries to comfort Marjorie as well. But it is the arrival of Lee (Aimee Kleiman), a long lost childhood friend, that throws a monkey-wrench in this reliably operating den of neuroses. Directed by Goodman-alum Steve Scott, all this angst-ridden suffering is delivered with line after line of humorous commentary and throwaway jokes.

But as its vaguely Chaucerian name suggests, “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife” is at bottom a morality tale. After a crescendo of crises brought on by Lee, who squats in the apartment and turns out to be quite a gifted grifter, we get a resolution capped with a summary of the moral of the show. So the core of the comedy is dampened a tad in moments when it departs from the humor, to level a dose of somewhat heavy handed preachiness.

Don’t get me wrong, this script is good, and the performances earnest and skillful, with Aimee Kleiman as Lee a cut above (she reminded me of Julie Louis Dreyfus in Seinfeld). But overall the pacing seems slow, and the cast labored over lines that might be funnier if delivered faster and more off-hand. In comedy, it’s all in the timing. Set design is by Wayne Mell (he also does promotion and the house was full), with lighting by Pat Henderson, and truly excellent costumes are by Wendy Kaplan, who also produces the show for MadKap Productions.

Nominated in 2000 during its two-year Broadway for three Tony Awards (it won a Drama Desk Award), “TheTale of the Allergist’s Wife” is a good play well-delivered. It runs through Nov 19, 2023, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 2:00 pm, with one Wed. matinee on Nov 15 at 1:30 pm at the Skokie Theatre, a renovated 1912 movie house that is a gem of a performance space.

A CHORUS LINE is one of my all-time favorite shows and, having recently reviewed MadKap / Skokie Theatre’s production of HAIR (and loved it), I arrived at the theatre in a very pleasant state of anticipation. And hey! CHORUS LINE actually exceeded my high expectations!

HAIR is, as everyone knows, a musical; so is CHORUS LINE, but it’s even more a dance production, an added challenge for any company. Short answer: choreographer Susan Pritzker did a phenomenal job. The ensemble dancing was tight and coordinated, with excellent utilization of available space. Set Execution by Scott Richardson and Barry Norton optimized that available space by remembering ‘all that’s really needed is the Music and the Mirror’, and Dance Captain Ben Paynic (who also plays Larry) led them brilliantly. Patti Halajian’s costumes were thoroughly authentic and timeless. And I loved her bio, which informed us that ‘she lives alone in a big, haunted house with her 3 cats and 6 sewing machines, all of which demand her constant attention.’ I personally live with only one of each, and they demand constant attention, so I can’t imagine how Patti manages – but she does, she does!

There are always opening-night glitches in the sound system, but I know Sound Technician Brian Bedoya will have the microphones working perfectly by the next show. And speaking of sound, massive kudos to Music Director Jeremy Ramey and Sound Designer Chris Cook. The musical score is the soul of CHORUS LINE, and this production nurtured that soul so tenderly. Master Electrician Maddy Shilts and Lighting Designer Pat Henderson’s lighting worked beautifully to illuminate the dancing and coordinate it with the music. The cast as a whole was magnificent, and Stage Manager Ayla Sweet excelled in bringing this complex and ambitious work to triumphant fruition.

I saw CHORUS LINE on a Broadway stage way back in the late ‘80’s, but I’ve listened to the soundtrack a hundred times. There were some terrific dramatic scenes that aren’t on the soundtrack, providing lovely moments of ‘I didn’t know (or remember) that!’ I assume most folks are also more familiar with the score than the stage production, so I’ll praise the cast individually via the songs.

We begin with I Hope I Get It, instantly showcasing the creative work of choreographer Pritzker and Director Wayne Mell, with Assistant Miranda Coble. As the actors file onto the stage, they appear to be milling about aimlessly, but actually they’re following complex and very well-thought-out ensemble choreography, setting the ambiance. Casting Director Zach (played by Sean M.G. Caron) introduces the 18 characters by having each step forward with their name, birthplace, and age. Nobody just rattles off the data (these guys are actors remember?), and we get our first sense of each person: e.g. Sheila (Erin Renee Baumrucker) establishes herself as a vamp who’s just turned 30 and is “really happy about it” – yeah.

But Zach wants more, and he begins asking people to relate a bit about themselves, particularly what brought them into dance.  The answering songs alternate between playful and poignant: “I Can do That” by Mike (Tyler Meyer) is followed by the more unsettling And, with Bobby’s (Maddy Shilts) ‘uniqueness’ [read: queerness] getting him abused in school and Richie (Khnemu Menu-Ra) admitting “There ain’t no scholarship to life!”.

Next is my personal favorite: At the Ballet, an exquisite and lyrical song about childhood pain. Sheila (Erin Renee Baumrucker) admits “life with my dad wasn’t ever a picnic”; Bebe (Rae Robeson) insists “different is nice but it sure isn’t pretty”, and Maggie (Emma Drazkowski – who is, incredibly, a new graduate – you go girl!) poignantly recalls “… and I’d say, ‘Daddy I would love to dance’”. All three concur that “I was happy … I was pretty … I would love to” … At the Ballet. My companion and I couldn’t resist lip-syncing along. And Drazkowski’s soaring triune “at the ballet … At the Ballet … At the Ballet!!!” was thrilling! Brava!

Kristine (Madison Jaffe-Richter) and her husband Al (Ben Isabel) [who was brilliant as Margaret Meade in HAIR] warble out Sing, a deadal duet very well executed. Menu-Ra (Richie) launches the company into a wonderfully convoluted performance of Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love. We hear painful adolescent confessions from Greg (Trevor Hendrix) and Mark (Jason Sekili) while Judy (Whitney Marie Wolf) wails “Tits! When am I gonna grow tits?!” Marcela Ossa Gómez performs Diana’s Nothing, and next, who doesn’t love Dance 10: Looks 3? Val (Lili Javorka) dishes up a grand slam.

Tension between Cassie (Sarah Sapperstein) and Zach (Sean M.G. Caron) detonates into Cassie’s pivotal solo, The Music and the Mirror. Sapperstein’s voice was awesome! [more about that later – just let me finish the score]. The initial performance of One was brilliantly choreographed and directed, with sections muted to hear Cassie & Zach talk, then the company returning to full voice.

An accident during the Tap Combination spurs Zach to ask the unforgiveable question: “what will you do when you can no longer dance?” Everyone insists, of course, that they’re always going to dance, but ultimately Diana (Gómez) gets real, and her sublime solo draws the company into the gorgeous What I Did for Love. Finally, the spectacular reprise of One featured the entire company, including Vicki (Elizabeth Bushell), Connie (Madelynn Öztaş), and Don (Chandler Paskett). It was totally splendiferous, and though I noticed Paul’s gold lamé hat slipping down over his eyes, Luis Del Valle never missed a step.

When writing a positive review – and I give CHORUS LINE five stars! – I always look for something to criticize, to provide balance, so here’s my criticisms.

Granted, it’s not easy to find an actor who’s both dancer and diva: when casting Cassie does one choose a dancer who can carry a tune, or a singer who can follow choreography? In Music and the Mirror Sapperstein demonstrated a spectacular set of pipes! but she needed markedly – noticeably! – simplified choreography. Cassie being too good a dancer to dance in a chorus is a key plot point; Music and the Mirror, the only extended solo dance routine of the show, simply doesn’t bear that out. 

An important aspect when displaying any artwork is the frame. In dance, one speaks of the danseur providing a frame for the ballerina; his lifts can make her appear weightless or like a sack of groceries. One must select the proper frame to enhance a beautiful photograph or painting: using a sleek polished chrome frame for an ornate neoclassical painting creates an aesthetic disharmony – a marvelous frame mismatched with magnificent artwork. Zach’s essential role in CHORUS LINE is to frame the work, but I experienced aesthetic disparity between Caron and A CHORUS LINE – a splendid artwork enclosed in a pleasing but disharmonic frame. On the soundtrack I love Zach’s exultant peals of “Five, Six, Seven, Eight!”, proclaiming his passion for music, for dance, for theatre. This passion is critical to Zach’s character, and to the spirit of the show, and I simply did not feel that passion from Caron’s Zach.  This stellar production deserves a concordant frame.

I love CHORUS LINE, and (above paragraphs notwithstanding) I love MadKap’s production of it – I will keep a close eye out for MadKap / Skokie productions!

A CHORUS LINE runs at Skokie Theatre through the weekend of October 8 – a nice long run – leaves you no excuse not to see it!

VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

*Author note: I could not have written this review – nor most of those preceding! – without the knowledgeable and insightful help of my companion Eva Hare. Their encyclopedic cognizance of the modus operandi (as well as modus vivendi!) backstage has enriched my life as well as my reviews.

A CHORUS LINE  originally conceived, directed, and choreographed by Michael Bennett, 1975. Book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante. Music by Marvin Hamlisch. Lyrics by Edward Kleban. Co-choreographed by Bob Avian.

Like any Millennial, my playlists are quite eccentric. Firmly planted within the rotation of 90s rap, boy band battles, and classic oldies rests a plethora of show tunes; Hamilton, Wicked, Hairspray, and the occasional song from shows I've never seen. Give me a karaoke mic and Broadway song choices and I could go toe-to-toe with any musical theater savant. One bucket list item of mine has been to actually see the plays these ballads originate from. As my playlist pulled up the familiar "I Want to be a Producer" it was fate that the opportunity arose to see the play here in Chicagoland, The Producers.

The 2001 Tony Award­winner for Best Musical, adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks’ 1968 comedy film, follows Max Bialystock, the one time king of Broadway producers hungry to strike it rich, and Leo Bloom, an accountant with dreams of someday becoming a theater producer, as they discover that they could get richer by producing a flop than a hit and start by finding the worst show, worst director, and worst actors. When their new production, “Springtime for Hitler,” turns out to be a smash success, the plan is thrown off and the partners lives are thrown into chaos.

This classic production by one of the greatest comedy visionaries of our time, the incomparable Mel Brooks, still stands the test of time even though the satirical shock value are effectively muted on younger generations. It wasn't that younger audience members didn't know the Third Reich references, but like any satirical piece, it eventually begins to lose much of the context that allowed for the bite and tongue-in-cheek humor. What it might lack in context, The Producers still leverages clever 4th wall break with the actors and the audiencr, like when Steve McDonagh as Roger de Bris (as Hitler's understudy) joked with the modern audience about wearing Flippy floppies during his play-within-a-play monologue. And big bang musical numbers like "I Wanna Be a Producer," where Leo Bloom, played by David Heinously, sings about the drudgery of a boring office job and dreaming of something more, makes the play relevant and relatable regardless of your age. The cast were quick and witty, their delivery, interpretations, and full body acting made the play a competition for the show stealer. From Thomas M Shea as a Max Bialystok that rivals Nathan Lane, Kelsey MaxDonald as the sexy and aloof Ulla, Sam Nachison as the funniest pigeon not-so-former-Nazi Franz Liebkind, and the singular force of Eustace J Williams and Carmen Ghia, the friendly one-upping of the cast only enhanced the humor of this timeless play and brought modernity to the comedic gem.

While my trusty playlists have played every song from The Producers musical, I had never seen the play nor adapted movie. I sat somewhat self consciously with musical theater ifficiencados as they sat eagerly for their fifth or sixth viewing of the play. I braced for judgement but received an envied groan of "I wish I could see this for the first time again!" They urged me to expect nothing to be surprised for everything. From the minute the love orchestra tuned to the closing curtain I was entranced and in stitches throughout the play. It was fast paced, witty, with so much action humor the 2 hour run time flew by. I had to bite my lip to stop cackling as "Springtime for Hitler" played and bratwurst clad women danced across the stage like Vegas showgirls, all while an effeminate History heils himself with a bent wrist. Everyone in the audience of every age and creed were doubled over in laughter at some point in this production. Exceptionally cast with some of the best talent in Chicagoland, incredible tech and staging, and an agreed consensus from the musical theater crew that it was one of the best performances they'd seen in the 7th viewing; high praise from those audience members and this writer would concur.

In the days that passed, The Producers tracks have evaded my Pandora and Spotify playlists. When it eventually makes its revival, I'll now have detailed visuals of sequenced dresses, pigeon kissing Germans, walker bearing dancing grandmas, and jailhouse musicals. Don't get the references? Make your way to the northern burbs to see The Producers and text me your reaction when you see the bratwurst, I’d love to see that for the first time again.

The Producers A Mel Brooks Musical is now playing a limited engagement through August 20th in the Center Theatre at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie. Tickets are available at https://northshorecenter.org.

Whenever I review a theatre company for the first time I get a bit of "first date nerves", especially when a suburban company (unabashed City snob, c’est moi) is doing such an iconic show. The stakes were even higher cos this was my first time seeing HAIR – I was a little too young in 1968 and somehow never got a chance in the intervening years (never mind how many).

Skokie Theatre Company proved I was in good hands. The cast members greeting guests on the street set the mood, and I was charmed when Woof (Sam Hook) blew me a kiss from the stage. And then Dionne (Niki-Charisse Franco) began to croon the opening bars of ‘Aquarius’ and I relaxed. I knew I could sit back and enjoy the show.

HAIR includes copious profanity, overt drug use and full-frontal nudity, but there was so much MORE to love! Let’s start with the music: several of the songs, from ‘Easy to be Hard’ and ‘Good Morning Starshine’ to the iconic title song are still around today, but I hadn’t realized how very many songs are in Hair: 27 in Act One alone, and all wonderful: ‘Donna’, ‘Hashish’, ‘Colored Spade’, ‘Air’, and the fabulous ‘Initials’. And who knew HAIR had an actual plot? The cast was enormous: nine principals plus five in The Tribe – and each better than the last.

I could say HAIR was flawless, but that would set you wondering just how much of the Kool-Aid I drank; besides, there were a couple of teensy flaws. Sound Designer Chris Cook needs to make some small adjustments with the microphones -- for the most part the soloists came through, but I missed much of Crissy’s (Bridgett Martinez) solo. Mind, this sort of readjustment is routine for first-weekend performances, and my sitting in the front row may have been part of the problem.

Scenic Designer Scott Richardson and Props/Set Decorator Barry Norton wisely kept it simple: the tie-dye background effectively recalled the era, and multiple levels gave Director Derek Van Barham (with Asst. Directors Miranda Coble and Brennan Urbi) plenty of options for staging. Urbi, as Movement Asst, did a hell of a job with nearly continuous dancing and cavorting; good job he had the aisles to expand into. Beth Laske-Miller’s costumes were spot-on, evoking the flower-child tie-dyed-hippie-freak symbols of protest. She accentuated the principals just enough to distinguish them without dissociating them from the Tribe as a whole. And I loved the pansexual vibe that Intimacy Director Christa Retka achieved. Overall, the mood was effervescent, unselfconsciously joyous and totally infectious: we were all drawn into the Tribe.

I love seeing shows with this companion cos I learn so much from them. In one of my early I reviews I asked them, “Just what does a Stage Manager do?” Their reply: “Make certain every person and every prop is in exactly the right place at precisely the right time.” Their guidance let me appreciate what a phenomenal job Stage Manager Amanda Coble did with HAIR. Keeping a cast of 14 on cue through every moment of a 90-minute first act (and the 2^nd act as well); staging, with Musical Director Jeremy Ramey, a total of forty songs, at least 36 of them ensemble pieces … she pulled it off without a bobble.

My companion’s standard for Light Design is ‘if you notice the lighting, they’re doing it wrong.’ Lighting Designer Pat Henderson met, even surpassed this standard with a basic kit used to full advantage. She utilized every possible source of illumination, stage lights, house lights and spotlights, using one particular center-stage spot super-effectively. I loved Musical Director/Conductor Jeremy Ramey’s brilliant idea of placing Shraga Wasserman (Berger) and Joey Chelius (Claude) in the band during Sheila’s (Alexandria Neyhart) solo ‘Easy to be Hard’, bringing the men into the scene and the song without choreography or lines.

Okay, what am I forgetting? Director … stage manager … music … intimacy … aha! The cast!

In a word, ridiculously talented. Okay, that’s two words, and they aren’t mine but Julie Peterson’s (Jeanie), but I’m totally with her on this, for both cast and crew. There was not one single weak voice in the cast, not one. I saw Shraga D Wasserman play Roger in RENT and, though I wrote a ‘Highly Recommended’ review, I remember that Wasserman’s talent outshone the rest of the cast, making for a slightly unbalanced production. No such problem here! Wasserman’s Berger was as good or better than their Roger in RENT, but the cast of HAIR was so stellar that their genius fit in seamlessly. That face of theirs! like living Silly Putty, so incredibly mobile.

I already mentioned that Sam Hook (Woof) stole my heart when he threw me a kiss, and my infatuation grew with his every appearance on stage. It’s hard to believe he’s still a student; I hope he stays in Chicago so I can follow his career.

Claude (Joey Chelius) had perhaps the heaviest dramatic role and his acting was most definitely up to it during the hallucination sequence and the finale. Hud (Justice Largin) was gorgeous and ‘I’m Black’ was a brilliant piece. I already mentioned that Niki-Charisse Franco as Dionne wowed me with her opening performance of ‘Aquarius’, singing with near-operatic potency. The other three principal women, Sheila (Alexandria Neyhart), Jeannie (Julie Peterson), and Crissy (Bridgett Martinez) had equally powerful voices. Ben Isabel was absolutely hilarious as Margaret Meade.

Which leaves The Tribe: Jonah Cochin, Jack Chylinski, Cristian Moreno, Chevy Dixon Saul, and Hannah Silverman. I reiterate: there was not a single weak performer! Jonah Cochin stood out for his delightfully bawdy contribution to ‘Black Boys’.

HAIR revived a lot of old memories for me, both good (dyeing my own love beads) and not-so-great (nightly body counts on TV). The rebellions of the 60’s/70’s shaped what American culture is to this day, and HAIR captured it all: peace and protest, music and drugs, love and fury. In 1969 HAIR was the counterculture’s manifesto. Today it’s a documentary, and a must-see!

MadKap Production's HAIR is being performed at Skokie Theatre through July 30^th. For tickets and/or more information, click here.

After its successful run of Book of Merman, MadKap Productions decided to take on a brilliant, little known farce comedy - Neil Simon’s Rumors. Quick, witty dialogue is the name of the game in this fast-paced story that revolves around an upscale dinner party where everything that can possibly go wrong, kind of does – and then some. When Ken Gorman (Nathan Dale Short) and his wife Chris (Erin Renee Baumrucker) throw a 10^th anniversary party for New York’s Deputy Mayor, Charlie Brock and his wife, Myra, a gunshot in Charlie’s room changes everything and speculation between the hosts and their six invited guests runs rampant and riotously spirals into every direction possible. As one challenging scenario unfolds after another, the absurdity gets funnier and funnier. Truths become distorted and the lies told are modified more and more as emotions are let loose amongst this normally reserved group of friends. Let’s just say this dinner party is a complete train wreck – and it couldn’t be more fun watching it unravel.

Simon’s Rumors starts with a bang (literally) then gains more and more steam until it becomes a full-on expose of the emotional underpinnings of the upper class. Thanks to Wayne Mell’s outstanding direction and MadKap’s mature and very talented cast that effectively take on a slew of quirky characters, we are presented with one helluva hilarious production that rarely stops to catch its breath. While the entire cast deserves big props, Landon Cally truly takes command of the stage in just about every scene he takes part in as Leonard Ganz, better known as “Len”. Cally’s rapid-fire line delivery and ability to display such a wide range of emotions really drew me into the action. Julie Peterson also shines as a highly animated Claire Ganz, who could easily be mistaken for one of the very popular Housewives of New York, and veteran Chicago actress SarahAnn Sutter gets big laughs as Cookie.

Neil Simon, a Pulitzer Prize Winner, was one of the greatest Jewish writers of all time, and this choice of his little-known comedy Rumors by Director Wayne Mell at this moment in history with anti-Semitism on the rise worldwide is so perfect and timely.

One of the couples is hit by a car on the way to the party in their three-day old BMW, but they do not stop to go to the hospital. Instead they arrive breathlessly with excitement at the party, the husband with whiplash and the wife with a bloody lip. When they get there they find their best friend, Charlie, passed out on Valium having shot a bullet through his ear. His wife is nowhere to be found.

The first rumor that his friends attempt to quell is that Charlie, a Deputy Mayor, has tried to commit suicide.  His friends know that suicide is legally a crime and at that time ANY "criminal behavior" including mental illness was perceived by society as a way to ruin one's life and work. So they begin to make an effort to cover up what they think has happened before the rest of his friends even arrive. 

This is also kind of a fun whodunit, so I don’t want to give it all away, but the genius that Simon conveys through this particular farce is that even though each person ends up literally injured in some way - including back spasms, a bad cut in the kitchen, temporary deafness, etc., etc., - none of the partygoers actually leave to go home. Simon cleverly and compassionately shows that each of these bored, jaded, overworked and overly intellectual couples have nothing more exciting to go home to.

They have individually, and as couples, grown so bored with their lives and have been accustomed to playing certain restrictive and prescribed roles for their partners and each other by coloring within the lines on a daily basis. They have lost touch with everything real and genuine in their partners and sadly in their get togethers as well… until this night.  

Landon Cally and Julie Peterson in 'Rumors' at Skokie Theatre

In fact it is perfect Neil Simon humor and irony that the group of friends are finally forced to dance gleefully and laugh together in order to protect their friend’s reputation, that they all realize they have been lying to each other unnecessarily. By teaming up together they finally realize that laughter and friendship is the balm that each and every person present individually discovers they need deeply in order to be their best, most alive and genuine selves no matter how flawed or funny they have become as couples and as a community.

This quote from Simons' huge hit  and 1965 Tony Award Winner "The Odd Couple" really describes how every unique character in Rumors grows into a new person under pressure and finally have the chutzpah to "Throw their G-d Damned cup! 

“([FELIX] (suddenly stands up and cocks his arm back, about to hurl the cup angrily against the front door. Then he thinks better of it, puts the cup down and sits)

OSCAR. (Watching this) Why didn’t you throw it?
FELIX. I almost did. I get so insane with myself sometimes.
OSCAR. Then why don’t you throw the cup?
FELIX. Because I’m trying to control myself.
OSCAR. Why?
FELIX. What do you mean, why?
OSCAR. Why do you have to control yourself? You’re angry, you felt like throwing the cup, why don’t you throw it?
FELIX. Because there’s no point to it. I’d still be angry, and I’d have a broken cup.
OSCAR. How do you know how you’d feel? Maybe you’d feel wonderful. Why do you have to control every single thought in your head? Why don’t you let loose once in your life? Do something that you feel like doing—and not what you think you’re supposed to do. Stop keeping books, Felix. Relax. Get drunk. Get angry. C’mon, break the goddamned cup!”

Neil Simon considered Rumors his own first true “farce“ first produced back in 1988, Rumors is eerily ahead of its time in the comic portrayal of the lives of the rich and almost famous politicians that we know daily see and consume  as reality television. Rumors is quite a departure from the other 30-some plays he had written. On deciding to write a farce comedy, Simon was quoted in an interview with the New York Times.

"I was going through some difficult times...I wanted to work, because work is always a cathartic process for me, and I thought it would be really good just to get into a comedy. This is completely different for me...It's unlike anything I've ever written. It's my first farce." In describing the play, he said, "The play started with the idea of doing a farce...The next thing was to do it as an elegant farce, because the farces in Moliere's days were generally about wealthy people. These aren't extremely wealthy people, but they are well-to-do. So, I decided to dress them in evening clothes. There was something about having them dressed in evening clothes that I thought was a nice counterpoint to the chaos that was happening in the play. And so, I picked a reason for them to be dressed elegantly, and it was a 10th anniversary."

MadKap Productions also does this play right with its inviting and roomy set, which puts us theater goers in the midst of a dinner party while also giving its cast the spaciousness to let loose. In fact, the theater space itself is a wonderful place to take in a staged production. MadKap currently makes its home at Skokie Theatre after a nice run at The Greenhouse Theater in Chicago’s Lincoln Park. Just a twenty-minute or so drive from northern Chicago (depending on traffic), Skokie Theatre is a beautifully renovated movie house with ample, and comfy, seating that offers parking right next door and accessible public parking right across the street. This is the perfect show to introduce yourself to MadKap if not already familiar.

I highly recommend MadKap’s Rumors at Skokie Theatre for an enlightening night of classic comedy for audiences of all ages.

Rumors is being performed at Skokie Theatre (7924 N. Lincoln Ave, Skokie) through April 23^rd. For tickets and/or more show information, click here. Next up is Hair beginning June 3rd.

On a rather ordinary winter day, I settled in to binge-watch Big Little Lies on HBO. In the show, the community of upper-class suburbia signs a petition to ban a musical from performing in the local theater. The play was against the community values, they argued, handling issues of racism, porn, and most dreadfully sex. The bit of the whole thing was that the play had puppets and those puppets simulated sex (gasp!). Watching the outrage of the characters in the show and the eye-rolling of the show’s protagonist of her narrow minded community members, I promised myself if the show ever came to Chicago I would be front row center. Luckily this fool’s spring, that show has officially come to Chicagoland; that show was Avenue Q.

Avenue Q can best be summed up as a satirical parody of PBS’s Sesame Street. The musical comedy features puppets and human actors with upbeat, clever, and catchy music and lyrics exploring adult themes. It won Best Musical, Book, and Score at the 2004 Tony Awards.

We arrive on Avenue Q with Princeton, a bright-eyed recent puppet college grad questioning the very thing I did after graduation with the song “What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?”. Princeton, like most of us, wonders what happens now in his life, how can he afford rent? What will he do for a living? What is his purpose? Princeton and his neighbors, both puppets and humans, are all young adults facing problems after school ends and the real world begins. They navigate and explore these issues often through song, problems dealing with money troubles, job issues, sex ("You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want (When You're Makin' Love)", homosexuality ("If You Were Gay"), unrequited love, racism ("Everyone's a Little Bit Racist"), and wondering when and how you can chase your dreams. There are incredibly relatable numbers that explore why we’re here and what the hell we’re supposed to be doing (“Purpose”), and longing for a more simplistic life (“I Wish I Could Go Back to College”). The musical also boasted profanity, fucking puppets, and I feared I would be asked to leave the theater when I couldn’t stop laughing when the puppet Kate-Monster and her puppet neighbor Trekkie Monster sing about the beauty and awe that is the internet “The Internet Is for Porn.” The Northlight production added some hilarious digital elements to the play during stage prep and scene changes, such as funny NYC facts and signs (free wi-fi ON don’t use for porn/free wi-fi OFF they used it for porn) and play-on-word counting videos like Sesame Street (5-4-3-2-1, 1 Night Stand) to prep for a sex scene in the musical.

Avenue Q is a simultaneously well-known and obscure musical. Many audience members had seen the show while I had only heard of it in recent pop culture. It came out the same year I graduated high school and has aged incredibly well. What once might have seemed outrageous to audiences and critics at the time are rather tame by today’s standards. Some older and more current reviews point not to the content but to the mocking or disparaging parody of the groundbreaking show Sesame Street. To me, Avenue Q is merely the grown-up version of Sesame Street or the big brother who returned home jaded from college and moved in next door because they can’t afford rent. It’s the show that Sesame Street could have become if acquired by HBO from PBS. Said another way, Avenue Q is the Cards Against Humanity to Sesame Street’s Apples to Apples. The show’s humor grounds itself in the realness of stepping out as an adult in the world and it is why it is still relevant and relatable today. I can see it quickly becoming a cult classic amongst younger generations who embrace parody, satire, and humor in an otherwise brutal world.

Avenue Q plays at the Northlight Theater (9501 Skokie Blvd) in Skokie. Northlight Theater continues to deliver incredible productions, and its 2023 lineup is filled with incredible shows. The theater is easily accessible for Chicagoans and suburbanites with a sense of humor. Tickets are available at Northlightcenter.org.