PicksInSix Review: Amélie - "A Feeling of Absolute Harmony" - Kokandy Productions

Amélie - "A Feeling of Absolute Harmony"
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

The Chicago premiere of “Amélie: The Musical,” now playing in an exquisite Kokandy production at Chopin Theatre that opened Saturday in the intimate Downstairs Studio, is based on the 2001 award-winning French film written by Jean-Pierre Jenet and Guillaume Laurent. It was adapted for the stage—book by Craig Lucas, music by Dan Meese and lyrics by Meese and Nathan Tysen— and debuted in 2015 at the Berkeley Repertory Theater followed by a brief Broadway run in 2017, a UK tour in 2019 moving to the West End for a summer 2021 run.

The Kokandy production is directed and choreographed by Artistic Director Derek Van Barham with music direction by T. J. Anderson and Anna Wegener. The already lush and whimsical score has been enhanced with additional instrumentation that, in the talented and capable hands of twelve superb actors/singers/musicians, create a glorious experience of sight, sound and song. “Amélie” fits perfectly in the Chopin space and has all the makings of a colossal hit for Kokandy.

Amélie Poulain is a dreamer who overcomes early childhood isolation, and unimaginable loss, using all she has learned for good, to approach the world with wonder and spreading playful joy to everyone around her. Along the way, she builds confidence and develops a circle of friends and mentors who help her gain her own independence, ultimately, revealing the elusive love and affection she has yearned for all her life.

Aurora Penepacker is simply mesmerizing as Amélie, displaying a captivating stage presence that is only surpassed by her stunning vocal abilities. Penepacker, whose star shone brightly last season in Writers “Great Comet,” delivers a multi-layered performance, bursting with enthusiasm and beguiling charm, that is delightful to watch. True to the original story, Penepacker’s Amélie leads us through the mystery of a 40 year-old tin treasure box; the forging of romantic relationships at the café where she works; healing the broken heart of a co-worker; and, bringing peace and solitude to her grieving father.

All the while, the evolving relationship with Nino Quincampoix (Joe Giovannetti, in top form), the object Amélie’s desire, becomes her passionate focus. It is not just how Amélie attracts Nino, the shy and earnest collector of discarded subway photo booth images, but the interconnecting paths of all of the unique characters who serve as narrators to move the story along. Even though this feels very much like a collaborative ensemble experience throughout, Amélie’s parents Amandine (Rachel Carreras) and Raphael (Kelan M. Smith, who also covers Bretodeau), Sonia Goldberg’s Gina (“Window Seat”) and Jon Patrick Penick (Collignon/Julien Dufayel) and the company’s Act I closer “Goodbye, Amélie” leave memorable impressions.

The fine work of dialect coach Carrie Hardin is evident. The vast instrumentation—I lost count at twelve—and the quality of the musical performances is a credit to every member of the company—backed up by Kara Olander and Anna Wegener—who contribute to the exquisite harmonies. “Amélie: The Musical” has it all from an outstanding, energetic cast to an accomplished technical team—sound design by Matt Reich, mixed and engineered by Lynsy Folckomer and Mackenzie Hahn, set and lights by G “Max” Maxin IV and costumes by Rachel Sypniewski—all combining for a rich and robust vocal and instrumentation mix that is in a word: Magnifique!  

PHOTO|Michael Brosilow

Kokandy Productions
presents
Amélie
Chopin Theatre
Downstairs Studio
1543 W. Division Street
through September 28, 2025

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PicksInSix Review: Into The Woods - Kokandy Productions

Ensemble Vocals Dazzle in Kokandy’s ‘Woods’
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

This was the very first time in all the years I have worked in the theatre that I have seen a full production of “Into the Woods,” the Sondheim/Lapine creation from 1997, currently produced by Kokandy Productions and presented at the Chopin Theatre in Chicago through December 22. It’s a show of far-reaching ambition and clever story and character. Drawing from the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, the authors have brilliantly created a place that is mostly referred to as ‘the woods,’ and every Grimm story one can remember is weaved throughout the plotline. “Into the Woods” purports to show what happens when a fairy tale ending isn’t really that happy in the face of real-life situations that affect such feelings and moments.

You name it, it’s there—Cinderella and her stepsisters and mother… Jack and his beanstalk, with his mother constantly trying to keep the boy in line. Oh, and giants not seen but certainly heard. Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. Rapunzel and her long golden hair. A Witch who moves in and out of all the tales. Two young, full-of-themselves Princes, whose total delight with themselves eventually take them on separate journeys. There are even two characters that Mr. Sondheim and Mr. Lapine create out of thin air—a Baker and the Baker’s Wife. At least I don’t know what story they are in, but they are smartly used to plant the image of magic beans into Jack’s mind as he sells them the family cow, Milky White. And throughout the action, there is a Narrator who plays a Mysterious Man, guiding the players and the audience through the minefield of ‘the woods,’ learning lessons about life and death and how to survive.

And that’s just Act I. Act II takes an entirely different turn, as all the characters realize that life is not at all the happily ever after ending offered by the Brothers Grimm. Cinderella marries one of the princes, who turns around and has a quick tryst with the Baker’s Wife. After killing one of the Giants, young Jack discovers that the Giant’s wife wants revenge and intends to kill him for the death and thievery he has caused. Meanwhile, the Baker and Wife have had a child and discover just how difficult parenthood can be in maintaining a loving family. And on and on the story goes as one character after another learns different, but appropriate lessons on growing up. Taking responsibility. Realizing (painfully at times) that they can be better people than they might have been in the past. As a lyric goes: “children will listen.”

The plot and background are being laid out carefully here, because this is how thick the storytelling has to be to get everything told that the authors wish to include. The Lapine book is articulate and, despite all the plot twists, highly entertaining to watch. The Sondheim score is one of the most challenging ever written for the theatre, with intricate lyrics and music stylings that draw from the Romantics and patter songs a la Gilbert and Sullivan and even a jazz turn or two. His brilliance can never be overstated.

Kokandy Artistic Director Derek Van Barham and music director Nick Sula have taken over the lower level of the Chopin space in a stylish manner and, with single colorful lights augmenting the G Max Maxin IV lighting design and the posts in that space decorated to be imagined trees in the forest (also Maxin IV), the cast moves about with ease and energy.  My favorite idea in the entire production was the placing of two pianos at centerstage—the staging is in the round, by the way—and the two musicians Ariana Miles and Evelyn Ryan almost stole the show as they showcase their two-piano arrangement of one of the most formidable scores in the Sondheim canon flawlessly, all while reacting to characters approaching them with personal charm and grace.

“Into the Woods” is truly an ensemble piece, much like the great “Sweeney Todd,” and the actors need to be on their game to compliment each other doing the same. The vocal work is quite dazzling. There were standout moments – Madison Kauffman offers a simultaneously vulnerable and strong Cinderella who becomes a Princess not always willing to rule; Kevin Webb’s Baker is achingly tender and confused and ultimately learns his lesson well about fatherhood; Stephanie Stockstill as the Witch lovingly chews every bit of scenery as a proper witch should; and August Forman’s Narrator is a calming, sometimes even charming influence amid all the chaos that boils up in ‘the woods.’  

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | RONALD KEATON received an Equity Jeff Award for the performance of his one-man show CHURCHILL. www.solochicagotheatre.com  Coming soon, his new solo play “Echo Holler.” www.echoholler.com

PHOTO|Evan Hanover

KOKANDY PRODUCTIONS
presents
INTO THE WOODS
Chopin Theater
1543 West Division
through December 22, 2024

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CHOPIN THEATRE

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