HUNCHBACK AT ROCKEFELLER CHAPEL!

By Venus Zarris

* This is an archived review of Redmoon Theater’s After Dark Award-winning production of HUNCHBACK. -originally published in Gay Chicago Magazine - The current production opening at this week at Rockefeller Chapel is a Redmoon site-specific remount of this brilliant play. I apologize in advance for any misrepresentations that might result in re-running this archived review. Although there will most likely be cast changes and possible modifications to the remount, I feel that this review will give you a good idea of the caliber of work to be expected and will hopefully provide a valuable tool in considering this remarkable presentation.

Coupling Redmoon’s HUNCHBACK with The University of Chicago’s historically breathtaking Rockefeller Chapel is truly a dream matchup, making a perfect addition to this gothic season and a MUST SEE event!*

Seven years ago my dear friend Alonzo said that there was something playing that we HAD to try and see. He called to make reservations but the show was sold out. We took a chance on going to the Steppenwolf Theater in hopes of scoring tickets. We got lucky, but not just because we got great seats for half price. We struck it rich because of the breathtaking play that we saw. Since then I have seen the better part of 1000 plays. If you ask me what is the one show that I would like to see again, and have everyone else see as well, the first show that would come to my mind is Redmoon Theater’s Hunchback.

Imagine my delight when I saw that Redmoon was producing it’s first ever remount and that this was going to be this very show! Seeing this production again is truly a dream come true. Although there are differences from the original staging, the current Hunchback is every bit as spellbinding and ingenious.

Based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel, Redmoon Theater’s Hunchback creates an emotional “organic labyrinth of fantastic forms.” Playing with overlapping variations on visual scale with puppetry and overlapping variations of exposition with interactive idiosyncratic narration, this creative tour de force is also infused with acrobatic physical intensity. It is deceptively casual and self-mocking which only adds to the impact of it’s intelligent humor and poignant emotion.

Jim Lasko’s conception and design are magnificently realized by Leslie Buxbaum Danzig’s intuitive direction. She assembles a talented and wondrous cast and an outstanding design team to bring this visionary adaptation to life. Mickle Maher’s spoken text takes the transfixing visions beyond the exhibition and into the literary with narration that is every bit as evocative as any of the staged magic.

Lines like, “The plague took Paris in it’s mouth and spat out forty thousand lives,” take your breath away as much as the sheer magnitude of the adaptation’s remarkable conception.

The ensemble is playfully endearing and dramatically powerful, delivering the demanding complexity of the unique style of storytelling with complete perception and resolve. Alden Moore creates captivating moments of whimsical humor as well as heartbreaking vulnerability as the puppet Quasimodo as well as in her role as one of the Players. Her performance is an event in and of itself. But it is Jeremy Sher’s delivery of the narrative Author that transcends the already transfixing experience by creating levels of unpredictable nuance. He connects you with the story, location and emotion while simultaneously derailing the already peculiar structure. When I heard of the Redmoon’s remount my biggest concern was the difficultly and complexity of this part. But Sher’s performance not only fits the bill, it sets him aside as one of the most intelligent and gifted actors working in Chicago.

Hunchback is a grotesque and gritty Cirque du Soleil with beguiling content and connection. It sweeps from tortured, to lovely, to explosive, to delicate, to hysterically amusing strokes of imaginative genius. It is exquisitely stylized visual spectacle with enchanting visceral amalgamation.

Consider yourself fortunate to have the chance to experience this brilliant and supremely innovative theatrical marvel. This is like nothing you have ever experienced. It is “beauty that does not exclude or sacrifice the grotesque” and an event to be prioritized at all cost.

4 STARS

(”Hunchback” runs from October 22-25 ONLY at Rockefeller Chapel, 5850 S. Woodlawn in Hyde Park. 312-850-8440×111.)

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Jacques Brel’s Lonesome Losers Of The Night

* This is an archived review of Theo Ubique’s 2008 production of Jacques Brel’s Lonesome Losers Of The Night. The current production at the Theater On The Lake is a Theo Ubique remount of this brilliant play. I apologize in advance for any misrepresentations that might result in re-running this archived review. Although there will possibly be cast changes and possible modifications to the remount, I feel that this review will give you a good idea of the caliber of work to be expected and will hopefully provide a valuable tool in considering this remarkable presentation. *

By Venus Zarris

Theater is a pretty remarkable proposition. A group of people from varied backgrounds and disciplines come together with a unified goal of presenting a piece of work. One might think that this is a recipe for chaos, and sometimes that is the case. But miraculously it is often the ingredients for something entertaining and or evocative. Occasionally it transcends the normal conventions and expectations and the synchronicity of creation lends itself to something exceptionally compelling. It taps a vein of emotions in a way that is rare and unique. This is the case with Theo Ubique’s Jacques Brel’s Lonesome Losers Of The Night.

More of a musical journey than a narrative play, we move from song to song immersed in the feelings of the singers and their intimate interactions. Lovingly conceived by director Fred Anzevino and translator Arnold Johnson, and brilliantly executed by musical director/pianist Joshua Stephen Kartes and a stunning cast of four, this distinctive production harkens back to a time of raw musical vulnerability found in the musical musings and laments of torch songs, drinking ballads and anthems of friendship, reflection and love.

Jeremy Trager is hauntingly intuitive as the worldly Bartender. Jenny Lamb is seductive as well as tragically vulnerable as the Whore. Eric Martin is sentimentally exposed and compelling as the jilted soldier, Man 2. And Chris Damiano is playfully candid and engaging as Man 1. Together, they sell the songs with unbridled conviction, instinctive nuance, delicate tenderness, playful bravado and breathtaking harmonies.

You enter the wonderfully quaint little venue of No Exit Café, far north of the hustle and bustle of the Loop and nestled next to the Red Line elevated train tracks, and are relocated to another time and another place. But the time and place are more so the setting of altered emotions and atmosphere, rather than a specific location. You are transported to comradery, inebriation, celebration, passion, longing, betrayal, loss, and melancholy.

Director Anzevino and his eloquent company create a rare gift to the audience and an exceptional contribution to the exclusive theatrical choices that Chicago has to offer. Jacques Brel’s Lonesome Losers Of The Night is a lovely homage to Brel’s talent and the perfect vehicle for Theo Ubique’s incomparable imagination.

4 STARS

(”Jacques Brel’s Lonesome Losers Of The Night” runs through July 12 at Theater On The Lake, 2400 N. Lakeshore Drive. 312-742-PLAY.)

Wed, Jul 8: 7:30pm

Thu, Jul 9: 7:30pm

Fri, Jul 10: 7:30pm

Sat, Jul 11: 7:30pm

Sun, Jul 12: 6:30pm

Theo Ubique Theatre Co.

Chicago Park District: Events: Theater on the Lake

Once Upon A Time (or the Secret Language of Birds)

By Venus Zarris

* This is an archived review of Redmoon Theater’s 2007 production of Once Upon A Time (or the Secret Language of Birds). -originally published in Gay Chicago Magazine - The current production at the Theater On The Lake is a Redmoon remount of this brilliant play. I apologize in advance for any misrepresentations that might result in re-running this archived review. Although there will most likely be cast changes and possible modifications to the remount, I feel that this review will give you a good idea of the caliber of work to be expected and will hopefully provide a valuable tool in considering this remarkable presentation. *

Tonight I saw a brief trailer for the new film 300. It is an adaptation of a Frank Miller graphic novel telling the story of an epic battle from ancient Greece. The trailer is well done and the film promises to be a visual extravaganza. It is also apparent that this potential ‘blockbuster’ will rely heavily on computer-generated imagery. Good work stands on its own, no matter how it is created, but more and more the imagined reality of a story is being told with the artificial reality of technology.

Yes, there are brilliant artists producing some of these projects but it seems to me that no matter how compelling the end result, there is still a shadow of sterility cast over something that exists in the realms of computer generation. Animation, in the traditional sense, is two dimensional. Computer generation might be visually three dimensional but it lacks the organic reality of humans actually portraying what you are viewing. Some films could not succeed on the levels that they have if it were not for this new technology. Certainly films such as The Lord of The Rings Trilogy could not have come to the screen as successfully as they did before this new creative option. But there is something to be said for real people rolling up their sleeves and physically creating all of the components that realize the telling of a story. This is one reason why theater is so profound. Regardless of the technical advances used on and off stage, you can still touch all of the elements that converge to create the end result. It is tangible. It is handmade. It is alive.

Redmoon Theater’s Once Upon A Time (or the Secret Language of Birds) is like nothing that you have ever seen. It is a brand new antique and an old fashioned real-time video animation. Once Upon A Time tells the story of Emily, “who wished more than anything she could talk to birds.” When a mysterious bird thief robs the city of it’s fine feathered friends, Emily joins forces with a sad retired wrestler to save the city from the loss of music and dreams.

Beautiful two-dimensional cut-out puppets unfold the story on a detailed miniature stage as close-up images of the action are simultaneously projected on a large screen set above the magnificent mechanical contraption of the toy theater.

While the story is told with vivid and captivating narration, impressively provided by Lindsey Noel Whiting, tiny delicate creations with moving parts, at the hands of gifted performer/puppeteers, bring the fantastical world to life. It is a play, a puppet show and a cartoon. But mostly it is a magically charming story told with unbridled creativity that draws heavily on lost arts from the past combined with cutting edge art from the present. The result of this fusion of techniques is a production that defines unique and embodies Redmoon’s distinctively inventive form of spectacle theater.

Creator/Director Frank Maugeri utilizes the brilliance of Kevin O’Donnell’s music and sound design, Kass Copeland’s puppet design, Erik Newman’s toy theater design, Tracy Otwell’s toy theater scenery and Angela Tillges’s art direction to realize Joe Meno’s heartwarming tale with unparalleled imagination.

There are so many ‘exclusively Chicago’ moments that you can find on the stages in this city but Once Upon A Time (or the Secret Language of Birds) is unquestionably an ‘exclusively Redmoon’ experience that will sweep you away. It will transform the weary eyes of jaded adults so that they can see as children again and is sure to mesmerize viewers of all ages.

4 STARS

Once Upon A Time (or the Secret Language of Birds) runs Jun 24 - Jun 28 ONLY!

Wed, Jun 24: 7:30pm

Thu, Jun 25: 7:30pm

Fri, Jun 26: 7:30pm

Sat, Jun 27: 7:30pm

Sun, Jun 28: 6:30pm

@ Theater On The Lake

2400 N. Lakeshore Drive Chicago

Box Office: 312-742-PLAY

Chicago Park District: Events: Theater on the Lake

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Uncle Vanya TUTA Chicago

Click here Uncle Vanya TUTA Chicago to read a 4 STAR review by Venus Zarris of Uncle Vanya, playing at the Chopin Theatre through June 28.

Home | TUTA, Chicago

:: Chopin Theatre ::

By Venus Zarris

Director Carlo Lorenzo Garcia treats Chicago to a brilliant US premiere of playwright Douglas Maxwell’s beguiling script. If there is ONE reason to bundle up and venture out into the otherworldly arctic tundra, it is to be sure to see one of the closing weekend performances of Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company’s incredible OUR BAD MAGNET.

It stands as a shining example of why Off-Loop theater in Chicago is one of the biggest reasons why this city is incomparable. You can spend $95 on a ticket to Dirty Dancing the musical, a by-product of a product, or you can spend about $20 on OUR BAD MAGNET which is thrilling bona fide theatrical art.

Maxwell is a storyteller of the highest order. His non-linier tale tells of three 9-year-old boys who befriend a sad misfit with the ability to write fantastical fairy tales. He constructs his characters beautifully by deconstructing stereotypes. They are warm and real, flawed and funny. The development of the story shows lovely and unpredictable dramatic architecture, gently transporting us from real to make-believe and ultimately creating an unpredictable emotional cross-over that is both tragically heartbreaking and endearingly enchanting. The ending is poignantly staggering.

The deceptively simplistic surface of the story requires intuitive complexity to execute successfully and Garcia compiles a wonderful ensemble to do so. The engaging performances create connection with the characters. You care deeply about these boys/men and that created compassion fuels the humor and drama. The undeniable and compelling chemistry between the characters is splendid.

Garcia stumbled on the script at a bookstore, read it through in one sitting and knew he had to tell the stories on stage. His magnificently realized vision is an outstanding achievement.

Not since The Hypocrites’ The Fourth Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide has the profound emotional impact of childhood fables been so beautifully created. Garcia is a gifted young director to be on the look out for and OUR BAD MAGNET is a powerfully enchanting and uniquely entertaining show NOT TO BE MISSED!

4 STARS

(”OUR BAD MAGNET” runs through January 18 at Angel Island, 735 W. Sheridan. 773-871-0442.)

Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co. - www.maryarrchie.com

FINAL WEEKEND OF MUST SEE SHOW!!!

Thursday thru Saturday @ 8pm                                                                                                                            Sunday @ 7pm (CLOSING NIGHT!)