Displaying items by tag: Buzz Center Stage

With Renee Zellweger just having won the Academy Award for her portrayal of Judy Garland, focus on Garland’s legacy has been renewed. Local actresses Nancy Hays and Alexa Castelvecchi, along with music director Robert Ollis, reconstruct an iconic moment in pop culture history. A young Liza Minnelli performed just one time with her mother Judy Garland on the Palladium stage in London in 1964. The evening was recorded, and the album proved a highpoint for both Judy and Liza.

“Once in a Lifetime” is not exactly song for song as they appeared on the album, but this cabaret is a touching tribute to Judy and Liza. With Hays as Garland and Castelvechhi as Minnelli, the two take turns singing their favorite songs from the album and relay the history of how it came to be. Though they’re both dressed in character, this is more of a concert than a play.

What remains impressive about this once in a lifetime evening in 1964 is how great the arrangements were. Each song plays to the strengths of these two legendary performers. Judy Garland was in her prime in 1964 and Liza was about a year away from winning her first Tony Award. The song selection is quite a charming playlist. The evening was a love letter to each other. Given the tragedy Judy would endure by the late 60s (including her untimely death), this album remains a time capsule of a happier time in Judy’s life. It also foreshadows the show business powerhouse Liza would become in her own right.

Both Hays and Castelvecchi dispense with all too easy impressions of Judy and Liza. Instead, they both knock it out of the park in the intimate cabaret space at Victory Gardens’ Greenhouse. Castelvecchi really taps into the bluesier aspect of Liza Minnelli’s vocal range. Hays probably has a better voice in 2020 than Judy had by 1964, and her renditions of the jazzy standards are a real treat. All together, “Once in a Lifetime” is a fun hour and a half filled with the enchanting music of Harold Arlen, George Gershwin and Jerry Herman.

At Greenhouse Theater Center through April 5th

Dan Clancy’s Middletown is a very true-to-life rollercoaster ride involving two couples that befriend each other in the prime of their lives and remain friends through their senior years. They have dinner every Friday night for thirty-three years and share everything with each other – the good and the bad. They lean on each other and, in many ways, become closer than family.

After a series of successful runs around the country over the past few years, Middletown now makes its temporary home in Chicago’s Apollo Theater in Lincoln Park. The mid-sized venue is a cozy home for the play to settle into for its month-long run. The show is different than most as it comes without a set or props and has the actors reading directly from scripts and writer Dan Clancy has his reasons for this. “I wanted to tell a relatable ‘every-person’s’ story in a direct and straightforward manner where human emotions are front and center – without bells, whistles, special effects, or props,’ says Clancy. “I wanted the show to speak for itself.” 

Adrian Zmed (left) and Donny Most in 'Middletown' at Apollo Theater Chicago through March 22nd

And his approach is very effective, perhaps thanks to the caliber of actors involved. In fact, we are given a powerhouse of talent in this show, each actor skillfully navigating their widely-ranged roles through calm waters and rough waves. Sandy Duncan is a sheer delight to watch as Peg as she pairs with Adrian Zmed, who deftly plays her husband, Tom. It’s clear the two love each other no matter what - through the good and bad times – and they meet plenty of challenges along the way that put their love to the test. Donny Most also delivers an outstanding performance as Don, while Kate Buddeke shines as his wife, Dotty. Even though the actors are delivering lines from a script, so convincing is the quartet, it isn’t long before one forgets they are even reading, and we are just lost in a tremendous relationship between two couples.

The shows starts with a bang as the actors charge into the stage area to a Bruce Springsteen song. An enthusiastic Duncan, Most, Buddeke and Zmed each greet the crowd before heading to their assigned locations. It is then Duncan briefly addresses the audience to prepare them for the show while pointing out, “I’m at the age where I’m not sure if I don’t remember something or if I never knew it in the first place.” 

Middletown is a unique theatre piece. The lack of on-stage distractions has theatre goers really focusing on its rich content, which is exactly Clancy’s intention. It also allows for us to grow more intimately with each character. The show has plenty of humorous moments, plenty of difficult moments and a handful of surprisingly heavy moments. Like I said earlier, it’s a rollercoaster ride. Says Donny Most in describing Middletown, “It’s really a wonderful play that takes you through so many different emotions. There is comedy and then there are very heartfelt moments and very dramatic moments in the play. I think it’s something so many people will relate to.” Most continues, “There is something for everybody. It will hit a chord within, and you’ll have a smile on your face, with that recognition, or the pang deep down where you feel the pain and the emotion. It’s that kind of a piece.”

The story in itself is absorbing from beginning to end and its journey through life is sure to be relatable to most that see this play. Though it’s the story of Tom, Peg, Don and Dotty, it’s also the story of so many we know if not our own. Middletown is the story of friendship – the best kind - plain and simple.

Superbly directed by Seth Greenleaf, Clancy’s story hits its target on point and the special cast that has been assembled performs beautifully and truly connects with the show’s audience, making Middletown a masterfully delivered event to remember.

Highly recommended.

Middletown is being performed at The Apollo Theater Chicago through March 22^nd before taking on dates in Tampa Bay and Miami. For tickets and/or more information visit www.MiddletownPlay.com or www.ApolloChicago.com. 

To read our very entertaining interview with star Donny Most, click here.  

Where’s Plano? I’m not sure, but it’s a place some characters of the namesake play like to visit often. Perhaps Plano doesn’t even exist.

Presented as part of Steppenwolf’s LookOut Series and directed by Audrey Francis, this Will Arbery’s dark comedy is progressively more disturbing. All of its characters seem to be suffering: Genevieve (Ashley Neal), the outspoken artsy sister, is very unhappy but won’t say why. Her husband Steve (Andrew Cutler) has a split personality disorder, quite literally actually. Anne (Elizabeth Birnkrant) feels un-loved and worthless, and in her quiet desperation she fills her time with killing slugs in her apartment. Her husband John (Chris Acevedo) who is suffering from a “small feet curse” that runs in his family, is “probably gay”. And, according to her cruel sisters, he’s using Anne to get his green card. The youngest sister, Isabel (Amanda Fink), is in most pain because her mysterious illness is spiritual in nature. Which, naturally, makes her a saint. Not to mention that she has a “friend” (Faceless Ghost, played by Andrew Lund), who intermittently acts as her mate and her illness. But if you think the sisters are mad, you should see their mother, Mary (Janice O’Neil). This is no ordinary dysfunctional family, it’s a study in subclinical mental illness: not quite ill enough to seek help, but really, really unwell. Kind of like most of us.

Plano is staged with an admirable efficiency: great use of props (scenic design by Kristen Martino) and clever use of language, which helps to effortlessly span long durations of time and various spaces, bringing continuity to the events without having to change decorations or go through many props. Excellent acting and intimate space that’s First Floor Theater will leave you feeling like you’ve just visited with your own dysfunctional family. It’s funny, all right, but the underlying sadness subtly gets in the way, making Plano more “dark” than “comedy”.

Plano runs through March 28^th at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre. www.FirstFloorTheater.com.

Kids these days…

I went into opening night of Gift Theatre’s production of Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman only knowing that my 16-year-old daughter was excited to be my date. “It’s dark, Dad,” she warned me. Boy, was she right. “But it’s amazing, Dad,” she also assured me. And boy, was she even righter on that count.

So, dark and amazing. The Pillowman is both of these. But what is it?

A buddy cop piece. A murder mystery. The touching tale of two brothers, each all the other has in the world. A warning from some dystopian dictatorship. A volume of grim, gruesome fairy tales. The Pillowman is all of these things, and more. Much more.

I haven’t enjoyed a play this much since Goodman’s Jeff-winning 2018 production of The Wolves. And that’s because — along with McDonagh’s masterful book, Laura Alcala Baker’s visionary direction, and Lauren Nichols and Courtney Winkelman’s dark, stark scenery, of course — the four actors who tell The Pillowman’s story (and its stories within the story) give what’s a pretty soulless premise a whole lot of soul. The four-person cast is The Pillowman’s beating, battered, bleeding, bloody heart.

A word of warning. This play is dark. And shocking. And violent. It’s about child murders. And even worse, childhood trauma. But even more shocking is, coming from the mouths of a couple of the characters, a word I’d figured was too taboo to have to hear in today’s world. The R Word. Of course, its use speaks volumes about the characters who use it. Even as it’s used to describe Jay Worthington’s Michal, a developmentally disabled fellow. Worthington, to his credit, plays Michal with incredible restraint and empathy, never using the character’s condition and lot in life for laughs. Whether climbing the walls or crawling the floor, whether admitting to the unthinkable or revealing unthinkable trauma, Worthington’s Michal draws the eye whenever he’s onstage — an incredible character, but just as incredible a performance.

Michal’s brother Katurian, the play’s main character, is a storyteller and tells this story to us, the audience. Tucked away in some future police interrogation room for the duration of the play, Katurian begins the show with a bag over his head, as in the dark as his audience — us — is. Martel Mannin’s face and expressions do the same heavy lifting that Michal’s physicality do, manufacturing suspense, shock, and sorrow — a lifetime of sorrow. And, along with inventive ways of illustrating Katurian’s twisted children’s tales, Mannin’s face and voice keep the audience enraptured as he tells one story after another, each designed again to suspend belief, to shock sensibilities, and to create a world of sorrow.

In Katurian’s world, his cement holding cell, we also meet the two cops investigating a series of incidents seemingly copied straight from the pages of the fictional storyteller’s fictional stories. Gregory Fenner’s Ariel comes off at first as the prototype “bad cop” (I think one of the two even identifies him as such), threatening (and carrying out) acts of brutality, puffing on a vape, and stalking the concrete cube that is the play’s entire world. But look closer and it’s Fenner’s eyes that tell deeper stories that come to the fore as the play progresses. In Ariel’s eyes, ferocity morphs into fear.

But in a cast where each member could lay claim to being the MVP, my award goes to Cyd Blakewell. Her role, Detective Tupolski — it seems both from the play’s unchanged dialogue and a bit of internet perusing I did after the house lights came on — was written for a man. (Jeff Goldblum played the role in New York.) This is a physical (and violent) play, and Blakewell’s easy and subtle physicality looms throughout, even as others are applying electrodes and murdering children and climbing and crawling and crying and creating dark imaginary worlds, as she just pretends at being the “good cop.” (Full disclosure: when Blakewell first started her bit, my daughter turned to me and said, “It’s mom!” at the same time I turned to her and said “It’s your mom!” so maybe her performance hit close to home.) And it’s the story that Blakewell’s Tupolski tells near the end, using just a blackboard and a piece of white chalk, that was for me the best scene in a play full of contenders.

So if you’re up for a very dark evening of entertainment, you’ll be entertained. And if you can get past some pretty unsettling content in order to admire acting and storytelling at its finest, The Gift Theatre’s The Pillowman is for you, now through March 29.

It's been 24 hours since I enjoyed this play and I'm still reeling from the super intelligent "trance-formation" delivered with rapid fire accuracy by Robert Dubac's one man show Book of Moron. Dubac plays out the thought patterns of a man who has traumatically lost a portion of his memory and is trying to "remember what he has forgotten". Along the way he employs the inner voices of His Common Sense, His Voice of Reason, His Scruples, His Inner Moron, His Inner Child, His Inner Moron and His Inner Asshole. Dubac even throws in a little real stage magic to show the audience how his character finds his way to the Truth.

In Dubac's world, even The Truth is a multi-leveled thing and he begins opening the doors in his brain to The Illusion of Truth, The Truth and The Whole Truth and Nothing but The Truth.  Along the way, Dubac uses props like a box he climbs in and out of  to represent our thinking "inside the box" and demonstrates clearly how TV has dumbed down an entire population by bombarding us with 9th grade reading level clichés and factoids about the Kardashians. 

Dubac tackles Sex, Media, Politics, and other inflammatory subjects like abortion and the death sentence with humor by pointing out the inconsistencies in thinking behind each and possibly aggravating all the different groups. But he manages to bring it all together by turning a literal mirror on the audience and concluding that when all the other letters of the "Illusions" are erased from the blackboard of his mind all that is left is "US". 

Dubac points out the obvious thing we have all forgotten that we are people who all share the same heartbeat, the same planet who have much more in our minds that unite us than the "Illusions of Truth" we have been programmed to accept which divide us. 

Dubac is also the author of the one man show The Male Intellect, An Oxymoron? and told the audience he is developing a new show called Stand Up Jesus.

I was completely blown away by his total control of his complex, fast moving text AND his audience’s reactions for 90 straight minutes with no intermission that I went to purchase his DVD The Male Intellect, an Oxymoron? After the show, because that's a subject I really love to examine. 

Dubac welcomed a just few questions from the audience at the end of the show because it was a "union house and he needed to get out of the theater faster than usual" but after the show at his merch table I got to ask him my burning question - he brought up Jesus several times during the show and seemed to be working his way to a higher spiritual "Truth" in the show but never really reached it . So, I asked him "Do you believe in Jesus?" 

Without any hesitation at all he smiled broadly and said "Oh, I AM Jesus!" and I laughed and tapped him on the heart center and said without hesitation, "Me too!" 

The show was so full of provocative ideas delivered in such a way to disarm and inform us that it made me eager to see the process of his developing of his new piece, Stand Up Jesus which he will be workshopping at Zanies next Monday (March 2nd) and Tuesday (March 3rd) here in Chicago.  

Book of Moron was delivered in a way that reminded me of a much funnier version of the 1970's transformational group EST,  "It Is" , The Werner Erhard Training which over the course of 48 hours caused participants to rethink their entire belief systems in such a way as to free their minds from the belief systems that were holding them back. 

Dubac manages to do almost the same thing in a record breaking 90-minute show. 

Enjoying Book of Moron live feels much like slowing down your brain long enough to clean it with fizzy water and then hitting it with a pleasant jolt of electricity to get it started again. 

I highly recommend seeing this marvelous and fast paced show right now, especially for thinking people who have become brain weary and overwhelmed by the last few years of the "fake facts' mentality.

You can catch Robert Dubac’s Book of Moron at Broadway Playhouse through Sunday, March 1^st. for more show information click here or visit www.RobertDubac.com.  

There’s something about a good mystery that keeps us engrossed. Maybe it’s the colorful suspects, maybe it’s the dissecting of clues involved, maybe it’s our own morbid curiosity that comes with murder - after all isn’t Forensic Files still one of the most watched TV shows? We like the detective work, plain and simple – the search for motive and opportunity and the gathering of evidence. And we certainly like the thought that everyone in the room is a suspect, no matter how unlikely they might seem. There’s a reason that Shear Madness has been running for forty years and is now one of the longest running non-musical plays ever (the whodunnit The Mousetrap leads all stage productions with the longest ever run). Well, amateur detectives, get ready because there’s been another murder in Chicago and your help is needed to solve the case. Once a mainstay in Chicago from 1982 through 1999, Shear Madness has returned, this time making its temporary home at Mercury Theater.

Taking place inside Shear Madness, a Chicago salon, life seems normal for the most part until the landlady upstairs is brutally murdered – stabbed repeatedly with a pair of – guess what - shears. But fortunately, Detective Nick Rossetti (Joe Popp) has been working undercover and is on the scene and through a bit of interrogation and deducing we find that everyone has a motive. Suspicion runs rampant as accusations fly everywhere and it soon becomes clear – the audience will need to help in bringing the killer to justice.    

Like in any engaging whodunnit, Shear Madness gives us a handful of intriguing characters and though the play starts off a bit sluggish to the point where one asks themselves where the story could possibly be going, the excitement quickly accelerates once the murder occurs and its direction is no longer in question. After a few scenarios are tossed around onstage, Detective Rossetti asks the audience to participate as the cast reenacts everything that had happened prior to the murder with as much detail as possible. If something is amiss or does not match what had actually happened, theater goers are invited to call out the discrepancy to help the detective put the pieces together. We are then encouraged to toss out any theories we might have to Detective Rossetti during the intermission where he makes himself readily available, at the same time we prepare questions to ask the play’s characters once the second act begins. Yes, we get to interrogate the suspects.

Best put, Shear Madness is just plain old fun. It’s a hilarious show that gives us a chance to crime solve along with the detective, some of its funniest moments the participation between audience and cast. Also entertaining are the many references to Chicago and several jokes that have been updated to include todays politics and pop culture. Sure, some of the humor is dated. The show was created in 1980. But it works – and works well. Thanks to Warner Crocker’s well-piloted direction and a superb cast that works well together and can also seamlessly interact with the audience on the fly, we see that funny is funny no matter when it was written so long as it’s delivered well. And no one was off limits. Touching on famous personalities from Taylor Swift to Bill Clinton to Joe Biden to Rod Blagojevich to dot, dot, dot, the play certainly takes its share of swipes. And while some of its jokes might be geared to ruffle a few feathers, the audience clearly takes them as just that – jokes. Even in its more contrived moments where predictable humor is used, a laugh is usually found. In the end it’s a silly comedy, not a show to be taken seriously, and lord knows we could all use a laugh or two.

The show does get a boost from audience involvement and even some good-natured heckling, but it naturally relies heavily on its cast. Ed Kross is a sheer delight to watch as Tony Whitcomb, the flamboyant salon owner, both his well-timed innuendos and physical comedy garnering one laugh after another. Mary Robin Roth as Mrs. Schubert also has many scene stealing moments as does David Sajewich as “used antique dealer” Eddie Lawrence while Brittany D Parker’s Barbara DeMarco hits the mark, as well. Detective Rossetti’s partner Mikey Thomas is played well by Sam Woods to round out an overall solid cast. Joe Popp as Detective Nick Rossetti is perhaps the most noteworthy of the bunch, as his character is kind of the glue that holds everything together in this production. As theater goers bounce one question or theory off the detective (sometimes with spot on observations and often quite absurd), Popp impresses repeatedly never wavering from his character and never absent of a quick, often humorous, response.

Shear Madness is also a play that can be enjoyed more than once. The story has four possible outcomes based on how the audience votes, and even if one gets the same outcome twice, you can be sure the audience participation will differ each and every time.

A unique theatre experience that has the audience laughing as much as it has them guessing, Shear Madness breaks down the fourth wall and delivers two one-of-a-kind fun-filled hours.

Shear Madness is being performed at Mercury Theater through March 29^th. For tickets and/or more information visit www.MercuryTheaterChicago.com.           

When I remember John Denver, it’s hard not to think about crisp country air, clean rivers, pristine mountains and, well, just a healthy planet. John loved nature. It was abundantly clear in his music. His life was cut short at just 53 years old when a plane he was piloting crashed into Monterey Bay, but the folk and country singer left quite an impression on the world in his four decades with not only the music he wrote and performed but also his work as an activist and humanitarian.

In Almost Heaven, a musical revue created by Harold Thau, the singer’s longtime manager, John Denver’s life and music are celebrated in brilliant fashion. Currently being performed at nearby Theatre at the Center in Munster, Indiana, Artistic Director Linda Fortunato skillfully directs this wonderful tribute as William Underwood lends his special touch as the productions’ Music Director to bring Denver’s most memorable songs to life.

(left to right) Actors Steven Romero Schaffer, Tommy Malouf, Sara Geist and Andrew Mueller - Photo by Guy Rhodes

While telling the story of Denver’s life from the start of his music career in the 1960’s through his untimely death in 1997, the musically gifted cast takes turns singing and playing songs that include fan favorites “Rocky Mountain High,” “Annie’s Song,”, “Sunshine on My Shoulders” and, of course, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”. The often-moving story touches on Denver’s anti-war stance despite growing up in a military family, his meteoric rise in becoming a household name, his marriage, his love for a rich, clean environment and the impact his music had on so many people. A particularly touching moment occurs when a letter is read from a young fan in China who shares what a positive effect Denver has left on her and her music teacher – even at a time when it was illegal to listen to his music in their country. We are also made privy to Denver’s shortcomings in his later years, since he, too, is after all human.

A rotating cast commands the three-quarter round theater. Steven Romero Schaeffer, Shannon McEldowney, Andrew Mueller, Sara Geist and Tommy Malouf each deliver strong solo and group performances, beautiful harmonies filling the venue as the five also impress on stringed instruments playing along with the Underwood-led band that also features musicians Malcolm Ruhl and Alison Tatum.

Almost Heaven is a well-crafted musical work that flows at the perfect pace while grabbing its audience from the very beginning - and it never lets go. Whether a fan of John Denver’s already or for those that have been recently introduced to his work, this production is sure to entertain and touch hearts.

Highly recommended.  

Almost Heaven is being performed at Theatre at the Center through March 22^nd. For tickets and/or more information visit www.TheatreAtTheCenter.com.

Each season Joffrey Ballet Company presents a show comprised of works of various influential artists; this winter’s repertoire is a worldly combination of five works by four contemporary choreographers: British-born Christopher Wheeldon’s Commedia, Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili’s Mono Lisa and The Sofa, Chicago’s Stephanie Martinez’ Bliss!, and Chicago premiere of Justin Peck’s The Times Are Racing.

Opening the performance is Commedia (created in 2008), which takes us to the French-influenced 1920’s world of dance. For this piece, Christopher Wheeldon drew inspiration from Igor Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella Suite”, which was originally composed in 1920 for a ballet featuring harlequin costumes by Pablo Picasso. Commedia is the longest piece of the evening, with several scenes set to the beautiful, albeit occasionally disturbing, Stravinsky’s music. It starts out with a group dance (Sinfonia) which sets the tone for a gorgeously expressive and athletic ballet. Dancers are wearing very Picasso-ish black and white harlequinade costumes designed by Isabel Toledo, which also bring out the whimsical nature of Wheeldon’s choreography. This ballet is mesmerizing in its entirety. Pas des deux dances (such as Serenata by Brooke Linford and Yoshihisa Arai, and Gavotta by Gayeon Jung and Edson Barbosa) all have some hypnotic fluidity that takes one’s breath away. The ballet’s highly creative choreography is only matched by Joffrey dancers’ exquisite skills, resulting in a piece that is simply stunning.

After the first intermission, the next three pieces are united by a common theme of modern courtship. Mono Lisa and The Sofa, both choreographed by Itzik Galili, playfully explore the nature of romantic relationships. Mono Lisa, created in 2003, features the fabulous Victoria Jaiani and Stefan Goncalvez. He likes the girl; she plays hard to get – the old game of cat and mouse. Percussive sounds of an old typewriter set to a cool bit (original music by Itzik Galili and Thomas Hofs) create intensity, as in some futuristic tribal music.  Completed by the dancers’ precise moves and skilled acrobatics, Mono Lisa is decisively void of any romantic quality. This is further enhanced by the set design consisting of steel frames and bright lights.

 Galili’s second piece of the evening, The Sofa, has certain elements of a pantomime. The sofa on the stage becomes piece de resistance, where the couple fights for space and independence. The boy is a little aggressive towards his girl, but then he gets a taste of his own medicine in a comical gender-reversal twist half-way through the dance. Danced by Temur Suluashvili, Anna Gerberich and Fernando Duarte, it’s a fun and highly energetic piece set to music by Grammy Award-winner Tom Waits.

Included in the program is Chicago choreographer Stephanie Martinez’ ballet The Bliss! which she created for the Joffrey Ballet Company as a part of an Igor Stravinsky evening. For this piece, Martinez was inspired by Mildred and Robert Bliss who commissioned Stravinsky to compose Dumbarton Oak Concerto for their 30^th wedding anniversary. On stage there’re six handsome topless male dancers, possibly looking for a testosterone-fueled action. A pretty girl enters and a scene out of Michael Jackson’s video “The Way You Make Me Feel” immediately comes to mind. It’s a mating game, no doubt, full of flirt and seduction. A beautiful as well as an interesting piece whose many different flavors and textures develop as it moves through Stravinsky’s music.

The program concludes with The Times Are Racing, Justin Peck’s so called “sneaker ballet” for 20 dancers. Dancers wearing street clothes (costumes by Humberto Leon) including shirts with word-messages such as “defy”, “change”, “protest”, “shout”, and “fight”, move with purpose and grace. Set to the last four tracks of Dan Deacon’s album America, it’s a very youthful and explosive ballet, which draws its inspiration from a variety of dance styles. Featuring an incredibly expressive dancer Edson Barbosa, as a boy lost in the city, exploring and seeking, trying to learn and ultimately fit in.  

Through February 23rd

http://joffrey.org/

Chicago is just days away from ‘Middletown’ hitting the stage with its nearly four-week run taking place at the Apollo Theater. The play, produced by GFour Productions (Menopause the Musical and Fiddler on the Roof), kicks off on February 27^th and centers around two couples that share the roller coaster of life together – the highs, lows and in-betweens. But Middletown is different than most stage productions in that the actors read directly from scripts with minimal use of a set.

“I wanted to tell a relatable ‘every-person’s’ story in a direct and straightforward manner where human emotions are front and center – without bells, whistles, special effects, or props,” says writer Dan Clancy, best known for his play The Timekeepers, which ran Off-Broadway and in Israel for 13 years. “I wanted the words to speak for themselves.” 

The play also comes with a powerhouse quartet of actors comprised of Sandy Duncan, Donny Most, Adrian Zmed and Kate Buddeke. The talent in this show is undeniable and coupled with a work that has already received such critical acclaim (including a Carbonell nomination for ‘Best New Work’ in 2017), Middletown should be on everyone’s radar over the next couple of months.

A fan of his while growing up, I had the chance to catch up with cast member Donny Most fresh off recording some new tracks in Nashville for his upcoming album. Most, probably best known for his role of Ralph Malph on Happy Days, has not only left an impression with his acting work, he has also worked behind the camera as a director. But perhaps most impressively (this coming from a fellow musician), Most has recorded a handful of albums, his latest ‘D Most Mostly Swinging,’ an ode to the standard singing greats. Most, who began studying music at an early age, clearly has the chops to take on such a monumental task, even taking his act on the road with ‘Donny Most – Sings and Swings’ tour. 

Most’s career is well-rounded, and he really seems to enjoy the change of pace. Looking forward to taking the live stage again and spending time in Chicago, the veteran actor/musician talks Middletown, his path into both an acting and music career and even has some fun stuff to say about his Happy Days pals.  

Ken Payne - Thank you for giving me the opportunity to chat for a few minutes. I’ve been looking forward to this and it’s a thrill to speak with you.

Donny Most - Sure. I appreciate that. Thank you very much.

Ken - Oh, you bet. So, I read that you originally started out studying engineering and then went into business. And then I saw that you landed Happy Days on your third audition and what was that like?

Donny - You have some of it right, but you are missing some key elements so let me expand the picture a little bit. What happened was, I grew up in Brooklyn, New York and at a pretty young age I started really wanting to pursue acting, singing, all that. Initially, I went to a private studio in Manhattan to a class to learn singing and dancing and acting. I was like thirteen, fourteen years old when I got picked to be part of a professional revue they put together with the teenagers and I was singing in the Catskill Mountains one summer at all of those nightclubs up in the hotels for the summer. So, I was really going after it from a pretty young age. Then I switched my gears after that summer and started working at an acting workshop and it was a much more serious class than I had been doing previously. The one prior to that was more focused on music.

Ken – So quite the switch of direction at that point.

Donny – Right. So now I was switching my focus to acting. I was in this class for a couple of years while I was in high school. Through that teacher, I was introduced to a manager and I started going out on auditions in New York and read a lot of commercials. I did about 40 commercials over the next four years, and some of that was while I was going to Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. So, I was involved in a theater club at Lehigh and was driving into Manhattan a lot for these auditions and doing commercials and back and forth a lot. I got my engineering and business degree because my parents wanted me to have a college degree - and something as a backup, as opposed to majoring in theater. After my junior year, I went out to California for the summer to make some contacts for after I graduated. I wanted to expand the possibility because most of TV and film was being done in LA and not in New York, so I wanted to have that as an option as well. So, I went to Los Angeles for the summer, went on auditions and landed a few guest starring roles. I was supposed to go back to Lehigh for my senior year after the summer, but the agents convinced me that I had some good momentum going and that it would be silly to stop that flow. “Take six months off of school. You have something cooking, let’s see where it can go.” So, I did. I decided to take six months off and stayed out in LA and landed another role. And then I got nothing for several months and I thought “oh, I made a big mistake,” but then the audition came up for Happy Days. I think the three that you mentioned is because I went back a second time and then they called me back a third time for a screen test. But I had already landed guest starring roles on three other shows before Happy Days.

Ken – Gotcha. Your Wikipedia page makes it sound like you jumped into Happy Days out of nowhere. I was like WOW, that’s pretty fortunate!

Donny - Yeah, Wikipedia page… I thought I should fill in the blanks.

Ken - It sounds like you were into music at a very young age and I noticed that you tour as a musician with ‘Donny Most Sings and Swings’ - which I thought was super interesting. You cover many standards, which is one of my favorite types of music and I thought that was fascinating.

Donny - Great!

Ken - Is that something you are still doing today? Touring as a music act?

Donny - I am still doing it. I haven’t been doing it quite as much as I was about a year or two ago because I got very busy with film projects and other theater projects. I was doing a movie over the summer in Michigan called Lost Heart with a great production company called Collective Development, Inc. It was my second film with them. I also acted in a film with them a year ago called, MBF: Man’s Best Friend, which was actually just released a month ago on Amazon Prime. It’s a really interesting film. Pretty powerful movie and I play a defense attorney defending a wounded vet in the film. It’s a dramatic role and completely different from my past. After Lost Heart this past summer, I did the play Art up in Canada. And then I came back and did a little more music. I did a show a few weeks ago, a cabaret in New York, for two nights. And this past Friday night, I was a guest with Linda Purl, who I’ve done some shows with. She is an actress/singer, as well. So, I’m still doing music but not as much only because I got busy with a few different projects. And now I’ve got Middletown coming up. On that note, I’m near Nashville and I just came out of a meeting because I’m recording with a producer here. We are having a session tonight. We have done four songs so far and I’m doing another four this week. And after Middletown in Chicago, I’ll do the last four songs. So, yeah, I’m juggling the singing and acting, which I love. I love mixing them up and going from one to another.

Ken – We’re certainly looking forward to having you in Chicago. As far as Middletown goes, what was it that attracted you to work on that project? I know the play has a stellar cast with Sandy Duncan, Adrian Zmed, Kate Buddeke and yourself.

Donny - The play is the thing. I really liked the play a lot. And I’ve also worked with Adrian before. See, we’ve done this play in the spring for the first time at a theater in Las Vegas, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts. I did it with Adrian and then we did it at Bucks County Playhouse in Pennsylvania and now we are doing it in Atlanta for a week and then coming to Chicago. I’ve done a tour with Adrian, a Broadway tour of Grease years ago, and Adrian and I have also played ball together- we are on the same softball team. So, I knew it would be great to work with Adrian. I have not worked with Sandy, but I’ve heard great things about her, as everyone knows with her reputation from people who have worked with her. And the play itself, more than anything, because if you don’t like the material, you know, it’s nice to work with friends and people you like, but you have to love the material. So, it’s really a wonderful play that takes you through so many different emotions. There is comedy and then there are very heartfelt moments and very dramatic moments in the play. I think it’s something so many people will relate to.

Ken – Based on what I’ve read about it, I think you’re exactly right when you say the play will hit home for many theater goers.

Donny – For sure. Middletown is about two couples who have been friends for 30 something years and they have dinner every Friday night. You see them at the beginning when they are a little older, but then you go back to see how they became friends and the audience goes on this journey with them as they go through life whether it be their friendship, and having children, and marriage challenges, and then getting older and dealing with all kinds of things. It’s a real rollercoaster. I love that kind of material where it runs the gamut. It’s not just a comedy. It’s not just a drama. It’s like life is- it combines the two in a way that is very fulfilling. So that’s the main aspect. And also, that they are doing the design of the play was not to do it - you know how Love Letters was done by the actors reading the script. It’s similar in that regard. We are reading. There is some staging and minimalist kind of staging, but it’s pure. It’s pure storytelling with great characters and great words and great vehicles for actors. So that was interesting to me to do it in that manner. It really works. I didn’t quite know what to expect, but it surprised me when I did do the play how powerful it was doing it in this fashion.

Ken - So this story, about two couples meeting together for some 30 years, I looked it up and it looks like you have been married for about 38 years, if I’m right?

Donny - Yeah, it will be 38 in a couple of weeks.

Ken - Congratulations! I was wondering if this play had any parallels in your own life. And maybe that was also something that kind of grabbed your attention when considering this role.

Donny - Um, I would say that I was aware when I was reading it that I was like, “Oh wow, this is sort of uncanny about marriage and something from my life,” but there were enough moments in the play that, yes, I felt like I had experienced this, and I think everybody will have that same kind of feeling and reaction. There is something for everybody, you’ll recognize, it will hit a chord within, and you’ll have a smile on your face, with that recognition, or the pang deep down where you feel the pain and the emotion. It’s that kind of a piece. There wasn’t anything that was like, “My god, this is my story,” but there was enough in there that everybody will feel a connection to it.

Ken - When was the last time you visited Chicago and what are you looking forward to the most? You are going to be here for almost a month.

Donny - Yeah. I am looking forward to it. I was in Chicago, I performed at a place called Andy’s Jazz Club about three and a half, four years ago with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra. I always enjoyed the city very much and I’m looking forward to taking it in and being in the downtown area. You know, I grew up in New York, so it has a similar feel to me in terms of a cosmopolitan kind of a city. There is so much to do and the bustle of it and the variety of it and the food and the music and everything that a great city has to offer. I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to play softball in Wrigley Field a couple of times. Happy Days had a softball team and we played at Wrigley Field before their regular game with the Cubs. We were playing there, twice. And I was with another team called the Hollywood Allstars, a celebrity softball team that played at Wrigley Field, so I think I played at Wrigley like three times. That ballpark holds a special place in my heart, being a huge baseball fan growing up. Unfortunately, I will be there right before the new season begins, so I won’t get to go to a game, but it will just be great to be back in Chicago again. I’m really looking forward to it.

Ken - So, as far as Middletown goes, after the Chicago run, are there any plans to continue this play with the same group of actors in other locations?

Donny - They are talking to other theaters in other cities and I know they are lining them up. I think there will be a break after Chicago. There will be a bit of a break until they have coordinated them all. But the plan is to do it. The cool thing about it is when I did it in Las Vegas last spring and in Buck County, Cindy Williams played my wife and Didi Conn was playing Adrian’s wife. But they weren’t available, so in Atlanta, Didi is going to be able to do it, but then she’s not available after that. That’s why they brought Sandy [Duncan] in and a local actress that has done a ton of stuff in Chicago and stuff on Broadway, Kate Buddeke.

Ken – Sure. Kate is great. We are very familiar with her work here.

Donny – Kate is playing my wife. I’ve met her on Skype and she is lovely and I know she has done a ton of theater so I’m looking forward to working with her. What I was getting at, is that I think they will have some select pool of actors that work for this, but if some aren’t available, then you have this group doing the play in this city. And then it might be a mix and match for the next one. That kind of thing. Keep doing it and who knows, maybe it will go Off-Broadway. It’s all kind of fluid right now. I know they are lining up other theaters as we speak.

Ken - That is great to hear because it sounds like a terrific show and we are excited to have it run here in Chicago’s Apollo Theater. So, back to Happy Days because I have to ask for all the Chicago fans of that show - I was curious if you are you are still in contact with any fellow cast members at all, and it sounds like you have been with Cindy Williams.

Donny - Yeah, Anson [Williams] and I are tight, maybe tighter than we have ever been. We see each other and talk to each other all the time. As a matter of fact, he filled in for me, after Bucks County Playhouse. They had a production in Delaware, and I couldn’t do it, so Anson filled in for me for that particular run. Anson and I, we are in constant communication. And then the others - I happened to see Scott Baio just the other day. And Ron [Howard], he’s a very busy guy, but we will stay in touch by email and I’ll see him once or twice a year, that kind of thing. I had lunch with him about eight, nine months ago out in LA. And Henry [Winkler], I spoke to just about two, three weeks ago, and we are supposed to get together for lunch once I get back from Chicago.

Ken - That’s always good to hear because you watch these shows, we grow up with them, and sometimes you find out later that the cast never speaks to each other afterwards and it pops the bubble a little bit.

Donny - Yeah, we were very lucky that we had such a great relationship - and got along so well - and it was a very fortuitous casting, whatever you want to call it. You must give the Happy Days’ producers and the casting people a lot of credit. It was one of those things that happens occasionally where you bring a group of people together and they just hit it off professionally and personally - and we really did become a family. It sounds like a cliché, but it totally was the case with our group. So, we will always have that. I saw Marion Ross not that long ago and she is still doing amazingly well. I think she is 91-years-old and she looks like she could be my age. She’s amazing. We will always have that feeling. It’s almost like when we see each other, it’s like seeing your cousins and aunts and uncles, that kind of feeling. You could be away from each other for a while, but you still have that bond and you have all those feelings for each other.

Ken – Fantastic! So, I’ll just finish with one more question, I wanted to backtrack since you mentioned that you are recording in Nashville and are currently laying down some tracks and will be recording some more after this run. Are these standards that you are doing? And, when can we expect to hear the new music?

Donny - Good question. There are some standards that are going to be on this one, but not quite as much, it’s a little different. I have a CD that is out now called “D Most: Mostly Swinging” and those are all great standards with a big band and it’s “mostly swinging”. Those are all jazz standards that [Frank] Sinatra’s done and Bobby Darin and all the people that I loved growing up and listening to. What happened is I was introduced to a producer in Nashville and he saw what I was doing, and he really liked it. And when we talked and he came out to LA for something and we met, he said he thought I should do something more in his wheelhouse, but he also thought it would be a good move for me. It wouldn’t be just strictly the jazz kind of thing and that style. It’d be a little more contemporary, but we could still maintain some of the jazz feel while maybe including songs that weren’t jazz standards but were standards to my generation - songs that they were well known songs from the late sixties, maybe seventies, from  the classic rock era - open it up a little bit more so it wasn’t just the jazz standards. So, it’s a whole new thing, it’s a little different, but I’m enjoying it because we are still able on some of the songs to put in some of the jazz feel that I love. But I also love a lot of the other music. I have an eclectic kind of taste. It was a renaissance of music in the late sixties when after The Beatles and after classic rock. People were doing all kinds of mixing rock with jazz, or rock with folk, or rock with blues, progressive rock, all kinds of things. It was so experimental. So, I grew to love a lot of that music as well. It’s kind of fun for me to integrate some songs that are not part of the old jazz standards and do some of the stuff from a different era of my life. I’m enjoying that. ***

Be sure to catch Donny Most along with Sandy Duncan, Adrian Zmed and Kate Buddeke in Dan Clancy’s Middletown during its run at The Apollo Theater (2540 N. Lincoln Ave) February 27^th through March 22^nd. For tickets and/or more information visit www.apollochicago.com.

Drury Lane has wowed audiences over and over with big song and dance productions. Not only recognized for its intricate choreography, the theater has also been known for its dazzling sets and stunning costume design. From ‘42nd Street’ to ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ to ‘West Side Story,’ impressive musical stage adaptations have practically become common place. In Drury’s latest endeavor, ‘An American in Paris,’ the theatre pulls out all the stops.

Based on the 1951 Academy Award Winning film of the same name that starred dancing greats Gene Kelley and Leslie Caron along with Oscar Levant, Georges Guetary and Nina Foch, ‘An American in Paris’ is the epitome of a big song and dance musical. Taking place in Paris, where love is always the theme, the story revolves around Jerry Mulligan (Josh Drake), a vivacious expatriate who wants to make it as a painter. It’s not long after World War II and Jerry is stricken with the city and has no plans on returning to the U.S. anytime soon.  Jerry’s neighbor, fellow G.I. and friend, Adam Hochberg (Skyler Adams) is a struggling concert pianist who tells us the story - that gets a bit complicated once his long-time friend and associate, French Singer Henri Baurel (Will Skrip), and talented dancer Lise Dassin (Leigh-Ann Esty) get introduced. Turns out the three fellas all have eyes for Lise, and though they talk to each other about their newly found love, they have no idea they are referring to the same person – thus the song “S Wonderful”.

The dancing scenes are certainly the highlight in this production and Josh Drake makes the most of his opportunity as Jerry to astonish the audience with his fancy footwork every chance he gets. Though Drake’s acting comes across a bit rigid, he more than makes up for it with a strong voice and eye-popping dancing prowess. Drake is flat out exciting every time his feet begin to move. Leigh-Ann Esty as Lise also startles with her graceful moves, making the most complicated of motions seem effortless. Also, well-cast is Will Skrip as Henri who is not only very funny in the role but is capable of belting at any given moment – and does so with power and flair. Skylar Adams might just offer the best all-around performance in this dynamic musical as Adam Hochberg, giving a well-balanced display of vocal ability, dancing talent when called upon and strong acting. The already superb cast also gets a lift from Erica Evans who shines as Milo Davenport and a Drury ensemble that is ever-reliable.

Karl Green goes all out with fantastic costume design. According to an Instagram post a few weeks prior to the show’s opening, the team had already spent nearly 2,400 hours on costumes, greatly surpassing the theatre’s average of 1,000 hours per show. And it shows, with costume changes aplenty, each detailed to perfection.

The dance scenes are memorable (thanks to Dance Captain, Allyson Graves) and many of the songs unforgettable such as George and Ira Gershwin’s “I’ve got Rhythm” and “(I’ll Build a) Stairway to Paradise”. ‘An American in Paris’ is a story of perseverance, passion for life, but mostly love. 

Highly recommended.

“An American in Paris’ is being performed at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook through March 29th. For tickets and/or more show information, visit www.drurylanetheatre.com.