Dramas

Broadway Shows (Part 2) — 12/20/15

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Being a fan of puppetry, particularly the use of puppetry to push boundaries, I was excited for my third show—the comedy Hand to God.  In fact, Hand to God provided some immediacy for this vacation as it is closing on January 3.

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Tyrone in his opening monologue.

Tyrone—a loud-mouthed, violent, and possibly demonic hand puppet—begins and ends the play with hilarious monologues about the nature of evil (spoiler alert: it’s humans who created evil… not the other way around).  Steven Boyer keeps his hands moving at light speed as Tyrone rants, raves, and attacks both his ventriloquist Jason and the four other characters in this outstanding ensemble cast.

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Broadway Shows (Part 2) — 12/20/15

Broadway Shows (Part 1) — 12/19/15

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I continued my tradition of visiting Manhattan for the weekend prior to Christmas.  None of this year’s shows inspired the same I-need-to-fly-back-to-New-York-to-see-this-show-again reaction that I had after viewing Michael C. Hall in Hedwig and the Angry Itch, but all four were strong Broadway offerings.

I started with Fun Home, the well-deserved winner of the 2015 Best Musical Tony (considering that the runner up was Something Rotten, all theater-goers owe Fun Home a debt of gratitude).  I did my homework by reading Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel prior to the show, and I was surprised Michael Cerveris’s portrayal of Bruce Bechdel involved much greater vulnerability than I had interpreted from the book.

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Gabriella Pizzolo stars as Small Alison.  The adult Alison (Beth Malone) watches and remembers as she tries to create visuals to capture her difficult relationship with her father.

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Broadway Shows (Part 1) — 12/19/15

East of Eden — Steppenwolf Theater (11/13/15)

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Frank Galati’s adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden is a four-character affair.  Yes, the play includes six additional actors performing 10 additional roles, but the spotlight stays focused on the dysfunctional Trask family and their biblical fall from grace.

East of Eden
Adam (Tim Hopper) will soon learn that he is powerless to stop Cathy (Kate Arrington) from leaving.

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East of Eden — Steppenwolf Theater (11/13/15)

Pocatello — Griffin Theater (11/7/15)

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In the past five years, playwright Samuel Hunter has graced the stage with two fascinating products of American society—Charlie from The Whale and Eddie from Pocatello.  While Charlie is literally trapped in his home due to weighing 450 pounds, Eddie is just as isolated by his lack of emotional connections.

Eddie (Michael McKeogh) is the manager of an Italian chain restaurant where the waiters provide unlimited breadsticks and sing a specialized version of happy birthday.  The dining room of this restaurant—complete with a crackling speaker looping “Italian” melodies—serves as the center for the play’s action and as the center for Eddie’s need to feel important.

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Pocatello — Griffin Theater (11/7/15)

1984 — Steppenwolf Theater (10/31/15)

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Fortunately I am allowed more than six words for “good” when writing about 1984, which returned to Chicago at Steppenwolf’s upstairs theater after an original production at Lookingglass in 2004.  Andrew White’s adaptation begins with characters systematically reworking the dictionary to make less room for originality in thought.  The correct words to describe this production would be “double-plus good” except in this dystopian world reviewing a theater show would be a “thought crime.”

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Castmembers Tyrone Phillips, Elizabeth Birnkrant, Adam Poss and Dennis Grimes.  Projection design by Joseph A. Burke.

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1984 — Steppenwolf Theater (10/31/15)

The Tempest — Chicago Shakespeare Theater (10/28/15)

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The most memorizing moment in Chicago Shakespeare’s production of The Tempest is not based on slight-of-hand or misdirection or characters appearing out of thin air and then disappearing just as quickly.  These moments are spectacular, particularly from my “ringside” seat two feet below the action, but the greatest moment involves Larry Yando’s Prospero owning one of Shakespeare’s great monologues halfway through the final act.

The Tempest

 

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The Tempest — Chicago Shakespeare Theater (10/28/15)

Feathers and Teeth — Goodman Theater (10/11/15)

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No genre conveys the unique storytelling power of theater quite to the extent of horror.  Feathers and Teeth at the Goodman Theater is a near-perfect synchronization of sound and visuals that proves that our greatest fears lie just out of our sight rather than within our grasp.

Among the highlights of Feathers and Teeth is the presence of a Foley Artist (Carolyn Hoerdemann) situated in a second-story booth overlooking the play’s action.  The Foley Artist, dressed like a host from a late-night horror movie marathon, uses vocals and everyday utensils to vivify hungry little predators that are all the scarier because they are heard but never seen by the audience.  More importantly, the Foley Artist serves as a disc jockey, playing Nixon-era records like The Who’s “Love, Reign O’er Me” to illustrate the complex emotions felt by Chris (Olivia Cygan), the teenage protagonist tortured both by her mother Ellie’s recent death and by her father’s decision to romance Ellie’s nurse Carol (Christina Hall).

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Feathers and Teeth — Goodman Theater (10/11/15)

Gem of the Ocean — Court Theater (10/9/15)

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Aunt Ester’s house is a place of peace and sanctuary, but that peace does not last long in Gem of the Ocean.  Eli (A.C. Smith) opens the door to a distressed stranger at the beginning of the first act, and when the stranger refuses to leave and return on Tuesday as instructed, he barges through the threshold and a struggle ensues.  And thus, in the middle of these two wrestling men, does Aunt Ester enter.

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Gem of the Ocean — Court Theater (10/9/15)