PicksInSix Review: The Audience - Drury Lane Theatre

Brooks Holds Court in “The Audience.”
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

I had the unique opportunity of seeing the original Broadway production of Peter Morgan’s historical play about Queen Elizabeth II, “The Audience,” back in 2015, with the fabulous Helen Mirren and a host of excellent actors in support.  The research into the subject matter is meticulous and well-organized, and if you’re a history buff, you will absolutely love this wonderful creativity.  If you’re not and you keep an open mind, it will lure you in with a kind of picture-book approach of a history lesson, that couldn’t be more entertaining in its turns, and they’re offered by the fine actors seen here. 

“The Audience” takes place during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, specifically focusing on her weekly meetings with the prime minister in office.  It’s not told in a linear fashion, but in a kind of memory focus, so we get an interesting and full scrapbook of storytelling.  There’s even a narrator-on-staff, so to speak—the versatile Jürgen Hooper as the Equerry—to help guide us through the maze of time and place and, well, all the prime ministers, as well as a young Elizabeth (Omi Lichtenstein in an impressive turn) to whom the adult Queen can relate to on occasion.

All the meetings are held in what’s called ‘The Meeting Room’ in Buckingham Palace. It is very simple, accessible staging by director Jessica Fisch. Center stage are two chairs with a small table between them, where all the discussions take place. It might have helped a bit to have the prime ministers and/or the Queen get up and move more often to vary the scene, but that’s nothing that overcomes the fine storytelling.  Ms. Fisch also has created a smooth, absolutely silent scene change habit for those chairs and other set pieces, musically underscored, that actually entertains on its own, thanks to a wonderfully restrained, elegant scenic design by Andrew Boyce.

The entire play is owned by Queen Elizabeth II and taken into charge by the redoubtable Janet Ulrich Brooks, one of Chicago’s truly talented, fascinating actors. She plays Elizabeth from the beginnings of her reign in 1952 by meeting her first Prime Minister, Winston Churchill (an irascible, almost knightly Matt DeCaro), who detests and resists any turn from tradition in the meetings and, indeed, reinforces the Queen’s grandfather, George V, in his insistence on maintaining such structure. The Queen stands up to the great man with questions and methods of her own; they reach a shaky truce of sorts by meeting’s end, and one tips a hat to her resolve.

All the Prime Ministers are at once impressed, shaken and establish their own friendly joust with the Queen.  The first PM appointee Anthony Eden (excellently manipulative and fearful by Mark Ulrich) betrays his reputation with his mismanagement of the Suez Canal affair. Ron E. Rains offers a surprisingly full-bodied and humorous Harold Wilson, thanks to the playwright’s gift of three different scenes with the Queen. (Mr. Wilson did have two separate terms in office, thus justifying what we see.) Susie McMonagle clutches the expected aggressive stance as Margaret Thatcher in a gripping, properly uncompromising exchange with Brooks’ Queen. Both John Major (John Judd) and Tony Blair (Alex Goodrich) leave strong marks on their terms in the office for totally disparate reasons. The Scot, Gordon Brown (Raymond Fox) followed the Churchillian path of Chancellor of the Exchequer in stabilizing the UK’s economy, which led to his PM appointment.  And David Cameron (a second turn by Mr. Goodrich) led the first peacetime British coalition government that voted to leave the European Union in 2016, forcing him to resign.

The richness in history is handled by Elizabeth with varying degrees of attitude, but always in support of each charge. And the many physical changes in Ms. Brooks’ appearance onstage are deftly handled through those aforementioned scene changes with wig and dress by a hugely talented palace staff, both in the story and through the craft. This fine production of a rare play runs at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace through October 20.  

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| Brett Beiner

Drury Lane Theatre
presents
The Audience
100 Drury Lane
Oakbrook Terrace
through October 20, 2024

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PicksInSix Review: The Lord of the Rings-A Musical Tale - Chicago Shakespeare Theater

“We Hobbits Like A Good Tale!”
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Wizards, Hobbits and Elves have taken up residency in a Middle-earth all their own at Chicago Shakespeare Theater with the U.S. Premiere of the adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece “The Lord of the Rings-A Musical Tale” that opened Friday in The Yard, CSF’s state-of-the-art 700-seat venue. The show, directed by Paul Hart, boasts awe-inspiring special effects, whimsical puppetry and a superb, multi-talented Chicago cast to tell the story of Bilbo Baggins (Rick Hall), Gandolf (Tom Amandes), Frodo (Spencer Davis Milford), Samwise (Michael Kurowski), and the rest of Fellowship of the Ring who save mankind from destruction.

With book and lyrics by Shaun McKenna and Matthew Warchus and music by A. R. Rahman, Värttinä and Christopher Nightgale, “The Lord of the Rings” incorporates actors as singer/musicians in what is largely a play with music versus a traditional musical. Characters move throughout The Yard’s massive space, in, out and above the audience with eye-popping surprises along the way, not the least of which is the impressive entrance and commanding performance of Tony Bozzuto as Gollum, who is everywhere all at once.

The dense story of the journey to Mordor by Frodo and Sam to destroy the ring in the foundry where it was forged has been streamlined in such a way that those not familiar with the story can follow the evolving action even if many of the characters come and go in the blink of an eye. There is more than enough here for loyalists as well although the overall pace would be improved by reducing the 2 hour and 45 minute run time, not including the 15 minute intermission.

There is remarkable, and often startling, puppetry early on—and one additional confrontation that took everyone by surprise—which when combined with the live action sequences elevate the mystical nature of the piece. Those familiar with Peter Jackson’s film trilogy will not be disappointed, but may do well to manage their expectations as this show is more about the characters and story.

Chicago audiences are fortunate to have the premiere here at Shakes through September 1. Later this fall, the production travels to the 2,379-seat Civic Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand, the locale that Jackson chose for Hobbiton, the mythical shire that today is an international tourist destination for Tolkien enthusiasts.  At three times the size of The Yard with an expansive proscenium and lift system, the Civic, built in 1929 is an atmospheric theatre—one of only seven in the world—with a unique skyscape of stars and clouds which will surely allow audiences an enhanced experience for the show.

So it was natural for me to feel that in its present form, “The Lord of the Rings-A Musical Tale” still has some room to coalesce for its next date with destiny. Staging Tolkien’s epic fantasy is a high order for the stellar cast of Chicago-based talent who are leading the way and more than up for the task. An adventure of a lifetime for sure.

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

Chicago Shakespeare Theater
presents
The Lord of the Rings - A Musical Tale
through September 1

The Yard
Navy Pier

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PicksInSix Review: Judgment Day - Chicago Shakespeare Theater

“WHAT GOES ON IN YOUR HEAD?”
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

There’s a deliciously hilarious show now playing in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, a spritely, unabashed, comic romp that centers on a deceitful and wretched lawyer named Sammy Campo (Jason Alexander) who gets what everyone wants out of life: a second chance. The world premiere of “Judgment Day,” with a whip-smart, no-holds-barred script by Rob Ulin that’s loaded with laughs, casts the irrepressible Alexander as one of the most crass and insincere bottom feeders you will ever imagine, thanks as well to the crisp satiric direction of Moritz von Stuelpnagel.

Right at the top, coming on the heels of one of his greatest and most sinister of schemes, the throttled Sammy suffers a massive heart attack. During Sammy’s near-death experience, he is greeted in purgatory by an Angel (Candy Buckley) who appears to him as his former Catholic school teacher. No salvation here, though, as she welcomes the idea that Sammy will finally and forever be “attacked by pecking birds” and boiled in “flaming diarrhea” in Hell to pay for his sins.  

But, since there are always technicalities when you are dealing with matters of Heaven and Hell, Sammy is miraculously restored to the living, armed with a new mantra to accumulate points for good deeds that will realign the trajectory of his afterlife upward. All the insincerity that follows, spewing effortlessly from the irreverent Sammy Campo, begs the question: What will it take to turn this self-centered manipulator into a person worthy of the glory of Heaven?

Sammy first makes a pact with Father Michael (Daniel Breaker), a conflicted priest who jeopardizes his own well-being by ruffling the feathers of the by-the-good-book Monsignor (Michael Kostroff) by helping Sammy. There’s the hard luck story about Edna (Meg Thalken), a member of Father Michael’s congregation who is being evicted from her house for non-payment of her dead husband’s insurance claim. The third opportunity is the reconciliation with his love-lorn wife Tracy (Maggie Bofill) and son Casper (Ellis Meyers). As the relationship with Father Michael develops, Sammy reconciles with Tracy and settles in with Casper. Soon, even his steadfast and delightfully direct assistant Della (Olivia D. Dawson) begins to recognize glacial changes in Sammy’s demeanor. But the question of salvation remains to be answered and this is where “Judgment Day” must meet its maker.

In its best and most hilarious moments—and there are many—Ulin’s script clips along much like a television sitcom, dealing with our hard fast perceptions of spirituality, morality, sex and love. The lawyerly, contrary point of view that Alexander’s self-centered despot espouses is perfectly counterbalanced by Breaker’s everyman character. Ulin allows Father Michael to complete our thoughts at Sammy’s outrageous observations at every turn, whether in the confessional, on a stakeout of insurance adjuster Jackson (Joe Dempsey) or simply finding consolation and ultimately friendship on a park bench.

Beowulf Boritt’s scenic design elements transition from Sammy’s office to the confessional and Tracy’s home all framed in a massive faux stained glass backdrop that offers otherworldly opportunities for the combined efforts of Amith Chandrashaker’s lighting design, Mikaal Sulaiman’s sound and Tilly Grimes costumes. The open design allows Alexander full range of mobility, stepping in and out of scenes in search of his comic salvation in this highly entertaining piece that feels very much like it was heaven sent just for him.  

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

Chicago Shakespeare Theater
presents
World Premiere
Jason Alexander
JUDGMENT DAY
through May 26

The Yard
Navy Pier

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PicksInSix Review: Joe Turner's Come and Gone - Goodman Theatre

Riveting Performances Drive Goodman’s “Joe Turner”
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

“A man forget his song, he forget who he is”… It was a line shared by Bynum Walker, a ‘conjure man’ whose awareness of life and people is reflected in Walker’s role as the compass, the conscience of “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” the staggering August Wilson play now at the Goodman Theatre through May 19.  There are several themes that flow throughout the play, all expertly articulated by Mr. Wilson—the song inside us all, identity, search, discovery, prejudice, the effect of money, the comparison of status, the supernatural, on and on.  It quietly inspires us to follow on one hand, then forcefully repels us with its stark reality on slavery and its influence on culture and society.

The story is so thick and full of imagery that it’s a real challenge to distill its essence in this forum.  It ostensibly takes place in and around the steel mills of 1911 Pittsburgh, focusing on the boarding house of Seth Holly (an easy, yet riveting portrayal by Dexter Zollicoffer), who charges guests a weekly rate “up front” and works at turning scrap metal into dustpans; and his wife Bertha (an elegant and comforting TayLar), whose natural ease belies her character’s real moral center in the house. And there’s a cast of wide-ranging tenants and visitors, whose performers all deserve kudos.

There’s the aforementioned Bynum Walker (Tim Edward Rhoze is eloquent, rock-steady and takes Walker’s purpose into firm hands); Rutherford Selig (a stoic, wonderfully deadpan Gary Houston), a peddler and ‘peoplefinder’ who visits the house on Saturdays; Herald Loomis (a dynamic presence from A.C. Smith), whose life was forever altered by ‘Joe Turner’, being kept in slavery for seven years, and whose search for his wife is both heroic and tragic; Mattie Campbell (the wonderful Nambi E. Kelley), a woman waiting for her own man to come home, but who wants to find direction through the eyes of others; and Jeremy Furlow (Anthony Fleming III in a real star turn), playing guitar, romantically preying on women and fighting his bosses all the way to unemployment.

Then there’s Molly Cunningham (Krystel V. McNeil, in a strong rendering of a character with conflicting impulses), a single woman on her own road, whose huge strain of independence tempts all the men in the house; Martha Loomis (Shariba Rivers skillfully inhabits her with both a sense of obligation and a feeling of dread), Herald’s wife, who is finally found after all the years of separation; Zonia Loomis (a simply heartbreaking presence by Kylah Renee Jones), who has accompanied her father on this endless quest at the tender age of 11; and Harper Anthony (the charming Reuben Mercer), whose scenes with Zonia result in a first kiss and a realization of growing up.

The grand Goodman spirit Chuck Smith, an avid and long-supportive interpreter of Mr. Wilson’s cycle, directs this play like a symphony conductor, with all the crescendos and quiet moments we can witness, as well as displaying Mr. Smith’s own deep affection for the playwright’s words and thoughts.  The not-so-abstract and stylish set design by Linda Buchanan shows an authority in understanding what’s needed to help tell this complex story.  And here’s something I’d like to mention.  It takes a real professional to keep this moving so smoothly and to affect how an audience perceives it all; the production stage manager Mars Wolfe surely had Mr. Smith’s vision in hand like it was personal.  Exquisite work.

Finally.  We began our reaction here with a referral to song, that we create our lives (or should) with a message of some kind.  Mr. Wilson recognizes that our message is indeed a song inside us, waiting to come out and be recognized in a world that doesn’t always know to do that.  “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” is a truly extraordinary piece of theatre, of storytelling, of the song that resonates for all of us within the human spirit. 

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|Liz Lauren

GOODMAN THEATRE
presents
August Wilson’s
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

NOW EXTENDED
through May 19

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PicksInSix Review: Guys and Dolls - Drury Lane Theatre

Shake the Dice. Save a Soul!
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Looking for the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York with tough guys packing heat and cracking wise while a couple of old-time love stories unwind in locales as exotic as Havanna and the Hot Box Club? If so, then, the rock’em sock’em revival of the 1950 Tony Award winning “Guys and Dolls” now playing at Drury Lane Oakbrook is the show for you.  

Director/choreographer Dan Knechtges with co-music directors Roberta Duchak and Chris Sargent, who also conducts, have assembled an impressive ensemble of multi-talented performers for a highly-charged production showcasing the most cherished music and lyrics of Broadway’s legendary songsmith Frank Loesser and a book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows based on Daymon Runyon’s stories and characters. The cavalcade of Loesser hits like the touching ballads “I’ll Know” and “More I Cannot Wish You,” the superb bigtime, song and dance spectacles “A Bushel and a Peck,” “Luck be a Lady,” and “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat,” make Drury Lane’s “Guys and Dolls” a musical extravaganza that pokes good-natured fun of the rough and tough guys and the glitzy glamor dolls from Runyon’s creative imagination.

As the story unfolds, the lovable huckster Nathan Detroit (Jackson Evans) has been unofficially engaged for 14 years to the vivacious Miss Adelaide (Alanna Lovely), headliner at the Hot Box Club. Adelaide is trying to get him to stop gambling and settle down to the life she has imagined all along. Meanwhile, Detroit and his ‘associates” Nicely-Nicely (Nkrumah Gatling) and Benny (Christopher Llewyn Ramirez) are trying to get a spot for some nightly action and stay a step or two ahead of the law in the process.

Against the backdrop of petty larceny and bawdy late night revelry, the dutiful missionary Sarah Brown (Erica Stephan), struggling to make a difference one sinner at a time at the Save-A-Soul Mission, falls hard and fast for the suave, high-stakes charmer Sky Masterson (Pepe Nufrio). When the love table turns on Sky, he finds himself suddenly searching for any way to win her back again including making good on his mark to fill up the evening prayer meeting to impress the zany General Cartwright (Heidi Kettenring) and save the mission from closing.

Drury Lane Theatre presents “Guys and Dolls” through June 9, 2024. More information and tickets HERE.

Stephan and Nufrio are perfect together. Their rich vocals and chemistry shine in the heartfelt Act I closer “My Time of Day/I’ve Never Been in Love Before.” Stephan, one of Chicago’s top performers, is simply marvelous. Nufrio’s smooth and effortless Sky is spot on in “My Time of Day,” and with the brilliant ensemble in “Luck Be a Lady.” Lovely sparkles as Adelaide, displaying excellent comedic chops in “Adelaide’s Lament” and singing, dancing and leading the Hot Box Girls in a sizzling version of “Take Back Your Mink” while chumming up with Evans’s hilarious and heartwarming Nathan for lots of laughs and their touching duet “Sue Me.”

Back at the mission, Gene Weygandt’s serves up a splendid Arvide Abernathy, Kettenring is a riot and everybody gets in the act when Gatling explodes into the rousing crowd favorite “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat.” Angela Weber Miller’s scenic design, framed in a glistening Broadway skyline, alternates seamlessly between the relatively solemn confines of the mission to the gritty underbelly of the city and the sultry Hot Box Club where Leon Dobkowski’s stunning costumes set the place on fire. All in, Drury Lane’s “Guys and Dolls” is a night filled of 7’s and 11’s for every high stakes roller in the audience.  

PHOTO|Brett Beiner

Drury Lane Theatre
presents
Guys and Dolls
100 Drury Lane
Oakbrook Terrace
through June 9, 2024

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PicksInSix Review: Highway Patrol - Goodman Theatre

Like Nothing You Will Ever See.
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

It may appear glamorous, but the life of a lead actor in a hit television series is, by all accounts from those in the know, a bit of a grind. Long hours in preparation memorizing lines, early morning makeup calls, missed holidays and family gatherings, and the interminable wait time between takes are a way of life for the months that the show is in production. Around the edges of all this activity, it’s a challenge to maintain somewhat of a normal life and to keep the business side of entertainment moving forward while maintaining a personal life. And then there are matters of the heart. And sleep. And wine.

The charming Dana Delany, whose career includes a string of long-running hits like China Beach and Body of Proof— the kind of success that most actors can only dream of having—appears to be one of the fortunate ones who can take all it in stride, even as she admits there has been little time to pursue the joy and the fulfillment of what it means to have a meaningful relationship. Even when those opportunities did come along she could not always be present and things went nowhere.

All that changed in October 2012 when Delany was wrapping up the last few months of filming Body of Proof which is the point of reference for the opening scene of “Highway Patrol,” a fact-based memoir of sorts that peers into Delany’s daily life on and off the set. The network has asked the usually private Delany to embrace Twitter to build a social following for the show. Although somewhat reluctant at first, Delany soon dives in enthusiastically and the interaction with fans begins to fill a void in her life.

One of those fans is an inquisitive young boy named Cam (Thomas Murphy Molony) who was different. He was encouraging, thoughtful, brave and persistent. The relationship between the two deepened, encouraged by her friend and fellow actor, Peter Gallagher, due to the nature of Cam’s terminal disease and in cooperation with Cam’s guardian and grandmother Nan (Dot Marie Jones). In a few short weeks, Delany was communicating regularly to make the boy’s final days bright and meaningful, sending photos and telling his story to close friends and to those around her on the set.

“Highway Patrol,” which opened Tuesday night at Goodman, is based on Delany’s digital archive of her experience in text messages that have been curated by playwright Jen Silverman. Delany, a superbly engaging central star who has an arresting presence on stage throughout the play, is narrative storyteller. The show—created by Delany, Silverman, director Mike Donohue and scenic designer Dane Laffrey—moves with precision over the course of two-acts, retelling a captivating story that, at times, defies belief except that at every turn we know this all happened. Delany gives a stunningly poised performance, as if she were recounting these events in a more intimate setting than Goodman’s 856-seat Albert that was filled to capacity.

That same ease of delivery is highlighted in Molony’s endearing performance as Cam who is making his Goodman debut. And although it would be unfair to give more away about their relationship in what becomes a fascinating and intriguing thriller, watching Delany’s story unfold made for a marvelous night of theatre. Like nothing you will ever see.      

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

Goodman Theatre
presents

HIGHWAY PATROL
through February 18, 2024

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