Chicago Stage Review


AUTHOR:VENUSZARRIS PUBLISHED DATE:FEBRUARY 20, 2022 LEAVE A COMMENTON DOES A DJ MIXER REPLACE AN AUDIO INTERFACE?
Posted inTHEATRE

Does A DJ Mixer Replace An Audio Interface?

In this blog post, we will explore the question of can a DJ mixer replace an audio interface. This is a common question that arises for those who are looking to purchase a new piece of equipment and want to know what is going to be most useful for them. There can be various reasons as to why you may need one or the other, depending on your specific needs. In order to answer this […]


AUTHOR:VENUSZARRIS PUBLISHED DATE:DECEMBER 5, 2021 LEAVE A COMMENTON WELLINGTON INTERNATIONAL UKULELE ORCHESTRA REVIEW
Posted inORCHESTRA

Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra Review

The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra is a community of ukulele enthusiasts who meet regularly to play and teach others how to play.
They have featured radio stations such as Radio New Zealand National, TV One’s Good Morning Show, and The Crowd Goes Wild on Sky Sports. They have also had some international success with performances in Mexico and Taiwan with their DIY ukulele kit.
This Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra review will explore some of the authentic […]

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AUTHOR:VENUSZARRIS PUBLISHED DATE:SEPTEMBER 25, 2020 LEAVE A COMMENTON BEST CAST RECORDINGS MUSICALS TO OWN ON VINYL
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Best Cast Recordings Musicals To Own On Vinyl

Like Rock, musical entertainment makes a revival for vinyl. New shows like Hamilton and Fun Home and revivals of classics like Hello Dolly once limited to a handful of theater nerds!
Cast recordings of Broadway are also the perfect way of re-experiencing classic works in musical theatre. You should use a record player with built-in speakers to enjoy most of the value of the cast recordings vinyl.
Here we categorized our favorite original cast recordings from […]


AUTHOR:VENUSZARRIS PUBLISHED DATE:MAY 28, 2020 LEAVE A COMMENTON THE MOST FANTASTIC BROADWAY SHOWS FOR CHILDREN
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The Most Fantastic Broadway Shows For Children

Whether living in New York or simply a tourist, you might have heard of Broadway shows as they are very popular attractions to the audience of all ages.
But when it comes to finding a suitable one for your children, especially if you are newcomers, it can be troublesome considering their taste, their available time, and so many more.

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But take it easy, here we are to inform you about some Broadway shows for children so that […]


AUTHOR:VENUSZARRIS PUBLISHED DATE:APRIL 19, 2020 LEAVE A COMMENTON HOW TO BE A GOOD MUSICAL THEATRE PIANIST
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How To Be A Good Musical Theatre Pianist

“How to be a good musical theatre pianist?“ Are they natural-born talents or simply hard-working? What are the necessary qualities and requirements?” Those are probably the most commonly asked questions of any amateur musical theatre pianists at the beginning of their career
But first things first, don’t confuse a theatre pianist with a classical or rock pianist as each type requires different skill sets! Apart from being super sensitive and flexible, a theater pianist […]


AUTHOR:VENUSZARRIS PUBLISHED DATE:MARCH 27, 2020 LEAVE A COMMENTON BEST CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS MUSICALS EVER
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Best Children’s Christmas Musicals Ever

For kids, Christmas has an extraordinary meaning. Because on this day, they will receive unexpected gifts from parents and Santa Claus.

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From these ideas, children’s Christmas musicals with words that speak to the mind of aspirations and fun melodies make them more interested.

Here is a collection of some good Christmas songs that many children loved over time.

Let’s see what those songs are!


AUTHOR:VENUSZARRIS PUBLISHED DATE:MARCH 7, 2020 LEAVE A COMMENTON THE MIKADO – LYRIC OPERA REVIEW
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The Mikado – Lyric Opera REVIEW

Lyric Opera of Chicago
The Mikado
by W. S. Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan

By Lori Dana
If it’s an operetta, it must be holiday time at Lyric. This year’s musical sugarplum is that beloved Victorian chestnut, Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado.  Given a gorgeous art deco makeover by British designer Mark Thompson, this version is set in 1922.

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AUTHOR:VENUSZARRIS PUBLISHED DATE:MARCH 7, 2020 LEAVE A COMMENTON SOFA / CHICAGO 2008 – STREAMS OF ARTISTIC CONSCIOUSNESS
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SOFA / Chicago 2008 – Streams of Artistic Consciousness

By Val Lyle
(preface by Venus Zarris)
Val Lyle is a gifted and renowned sculptor and art educator. VAL LYLE : Figurative Sculpture, Gestural Art, Paper Clay

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We went to art college together a couple of decades ago and have remained beloved friends over these past 20+ years. I received some prepress about SOFA and forwarded it to Val, as she had attended in the past and I knew that she would be interested. This facilitated an […]


AUTHOR:VENUSZARRIS PUBLISHED DATE:MARCH 7, 2020 LEAVE A COMMENTON IMAGES OF A HAUNTING STAGE
Posted inTHEATRE

Images of a Haunting Stage

Chicago is filled with storied of haunted places and haunted theaters. From tiny black boxes to lavish, large scale venues, stories are told of strange occurrences. The old Iroquois, Biograph and Music Box Theaters all have chilling stories, both real life and supernatural. I am sure that there are folks out there with spooky tales to tell about Chicago’s decaying Uptown Theater. But more so than hauntED, this enchanting old movie palace proves to be […]


AFTER DARK AWARDS 2008 (Detail)

2008 After Dark Awards

By Venus Zarris except where noted (*Jonathan Lewis)

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION

“Passion Play: A Cycle in Three Parts” (Goodman Theatre) – This brilliantly innovative dramatic rapture was a prime example of theater’s ability to exonerate us from the banal indulgences of our ever-growing collective superficiality.

The profundity and reach of the writing was matched by the excellence of the Goodman Theatre’s production thereby constructing a convergence of creation that represents theater’s potential to engage us in ways that not only entertain and enlighten but effect a change in the individual conscience that can subsequently impact the collective one.

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Normally, if someone yells fire in a theater you should get out. But Ruhl’s amazing script, Mark Wing-Davey’s astonishing direction and the brilliant kaleidoscope perfect ensemble set the Goodman Theater on fire with a blaze that you enthusiatically tossed yourself onto.

Playwritght – Sarah Ruhl

Direction – Mark Wing-Davey

CAST: Brendan Averett, Joaquin Torres, Keith Kupferer, Brian Sgambati, Alan Cox, Polly Noonan, Craig Spidle, Nicole Wiesner, Kristen Bush, John Hoogenakker, T. Ryder Smith, Tiffany Bedwell, Jeremy Clark, Kyle Lemieux, Ron Rains, Jayce Ryan

Set Design – Allen Moyer

Costume Design – Gabriel Berry

Lighting design – James F. Ingalls

Sound Design – Cecil Averett

Projection Design – Ruppert Bohle

Dramaturg – Tanya Palmer

Production Stage Manager – Joseph Drummond

Stage Manager – T. Paul Lynch

Casting – Adam Belcoure, Vince Liebhart

Vocal/Dialect Coach – Linda Gates

Fight Consultant – Nick Sandys

Artistic Director – Robert Falls

Executive Director – Roche Schulfer

“The Mark of Zorro” (Lifeline Theatre) – Seldom do you ride a continual and exhilarating wave of energetic entertainment during an entire production but Lifeline Theatre’s world premier adaptation of ‘The Mark of Zorro’ delivered a tsunami of charming delight!

This show had everything going for it, both creatively and technically. This magnificently lovable ensemble’s depiction of Katie McLean’s thrilling adaptation, polished off with Dorothy Milne’s brilliantly ingenious direction, created an all ages laugh festival extravaganza that was CRAZY FUN!Adaptation – Katie McLean

Direction – Dorothy Milne

CAST: Hanlon Smith-Dorsey, Robert Kauzlaric, Manny Tamayo, James Elly, Don Bender, Larry Baldacci, Allison Cain, Rosa de Guindos, B. Diego Colon, Eduardo Garcia, Jonathan Helvey, Brian Kilborn, Jennifer Munoz, (understudy) Nilsa Reyna

Choreography/Assistant Direction – Jasmin Cardenas

Scenic & Props Design – Alan Donahue

Lighting Design – John Sanchez

Costume Design – Branimira Ivanova

Original Music & Sound Design – Victoria Delorio

Sound Design – Victoria Delorio

Fight Choreography – Geoff Coates

Dialect Coach – Elise Kauzlaric

Stage Manager – Erica Foster

Production Manager – Cortney Hurley

Technical Directors – Charlie Olson & Joe Schermoly

Scenic Artist – Morgan Cromwell

Sound Board Operator – Robert Ellis

Master Electrician – Brandon Stock

Photography – Suzanne Plunkett

Graphic Design – Kathleen Powers & Rob McLean

“Hunchback” (Redmoon Theater) – Redmoon delivered a beautiful and beguiling, gritty and grotesque, creatively spellbinding triumphant reinvention of Victor Hugo’s classic.

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This was a visionary experience that had to be seen to fully grasp its unconventionally unique and glorious achievement. Incomparable conceptualization combined with outstanding puppetry and performance created an emotional “labyrinth of fantastic forms.” It was funny, frightening, heartbreaking and ‘beauty that did not sacrifice the grotesque.’

Conceived and Designed by Jim Lasko

Directed by Leslie Buxbaum Danzig

CAST: Matt Hawkins, Mary Winn Heider, Katie Rose McLaughlin, Alden Moore, Jeremy Sher, Samuel Taylor, Jay Torrence, Leah Urzendowski, (understudies) Cortney McKenna, Zeke Sulkes

Original Music – Michael Zerang

Spoken Text – Mickle Maher

Assistant Director – Mikalina Rabinsky

Technical Director – Andrei Onegin

Costume Designer – Joel Klaff

Lighting Designer – Ben Wilhelm

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Sound Designer – Mikhail Fiskel

Fight Choreographer – Matt Hawkins

Assistant to the Costume Designer – Aay Preston-Myint

Production Director – Rebecca Hunter

Production Manager – Adam Fox

Production Manager & SM Swing – Caitlin Montanye Parrish

Stage Manager – Denise Olivieri

Assistant Stage Manager – Anna Ashley

Master Electrician – Dustin L. Derry

Build Shop Manager – Michael O’Neill

Build Shop Intern Manager – Samuel Polce

Costume Shop Manager – Anna Glowaki

Production Intern – Caitlin Shaw

Marketing Materials Design – Kass Copeland

Marketing Materials Layout – Donny Harder

House Manager – Sarah Leahy

Box Office Manager – Tristan Tom

Bar Manager – Andrew Wagner

Bar Staff – Brook Stokes

OUTSTANDING NEW WORK

Sarah Ruhl, “Passion Play: A Cycle in Three Parts” (Goodman Theatre) – Ruhl reincarnated sixteen characters and our collective consciousness through three different time periods to create a hilarious, haunting and at times horrifying masterpiece. ‘Passion Play’ was epic in scale, scope and impact. This was an emotional and cerebral journey that planted itself deeply and firmly into your psyche while beguiling your senses.

Ruhl’s writing has the ability to not only observe and duplicate but to distill and deviate the human experience on visceral and existential levels, inducing illuminations that connect this transcendence to the ground by way of humor, drama and passion. She facilitated this collective experience of tribal catharsis and epiphany in a way that was subversively powerful yet beguilingly entertaining.

Anna Carini, “Sweet Confinement” (SiNNERMAN Ensemble) – “There is nothing in this room that can be fixed. We are all fucking broken.”

Playwright Anna Carini did not attempt to illustrate the depression that causes a sudden suicide, but rather brilliantly depicted the aftermath of its effect on those left behind. Her script was clever and terse without being abrupt or ambiguous. Her characters were natural, flawed and compelling creating a story that was realistically startling and emotionally staggering.

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Chicago South Loop Hotel

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Travelodge By Wyndham Downtown Chicago

Tracy Letts, “Superior Donuts” (Steppenwolf) – Filled with hysterical dialogue, poignant observations and compelling relationships, Letts conveyed a bittersweet and melancholy empathy with this city. There are subtle hints of Algren hidden under his witty sarcasm. It was nostalgic without being maudlin. Every character in ‘Superior Donuts’ is someone that you have met in real life, be that a neighbor, a crazy person on the train or a chatty stranger at a coffee shop or late night diner. He captured today’s Chicago like no other play has done to date. Lett’s personified the city in his charming script but his absorbing story transcended location.

OUTSTANDING ADAPTATION

Shishir Kurup, “Merchant On Venice” (Silk Road Theatre Project) – Kurup created a deceptively profound adaptation, using iambic pentameter as well as Bollywood musical/dance numbers, that was playfully entertaining as well as exceptionally relevant. As much an amusing spectacle of cultural intersections as it was a polemic on theological and ethnic collisions, Kurup’s reimagining of Shakespeare’s classic took on a critically contemporary life of its own.

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The Wit

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Devon de Mayo and Ensemble, “As Told By the Vivian Girls” (Dog & Pony Theatre Company) – This adaptation, of reclusive and obsessively prolific outsider artist Henry Darger’s 15,000 page illustrated manuscript, created a theatrically unique experience that was otherworldly and incomparably ambitious.

It is impossible to fully grasp the source material but de Mayo and his ensemble managed to bring this realm of the unreal to corporal existence. There is a way to rip through the dimensional fabric of reality and visit alternative worlds. You don’t need to master quantum physics. You simply need attend exceptional theater such as this.

OUTSTANDING MUSICAL

“Old Town” (Strawdog Theatre) – With terrific songs and solid performances, this brand new musical about the backroom mechanics of a Chicago political campaign was especially relevant in this election year and actually made politics entertaining. (*Jonathan Lewis)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION

David Cromer, “Our Town” (The Hypocrites) – Cromer masterfully crafted a poignant production with amazing honesty that was painful, charming and profound. He captured small town America with compelling warmth, photographic vision and subversive sophistication creating a heart rendering theatrical triumph.

John Mossman, “Juno and the Paycock” (Artistic Home) – Mossman executed a deceptively intricate, playful and tragic script with complete success and remarkable connection. He took an obscure classic and brought it to heartbreaking life with profound warmth and humor.

Anna C. Bahow, “Sweet Confinement” (SiNNERMAN Ensemble) – Bahow directed with impressive restraint, avoiding potential melodrama while infusing the production with subtle builds and believably explosive pressure releases. She led her young cast to deliver a remarkable and intense realization of this compelling story.

Peter Robel, “The Merchant of Venice” (Bohemian Theatre Ensemble) – Robel created an amazingly intimate chemistry between his cast members as well as between the ensemble and the audience. He crafted an extremely accessible and enthralling revision that focused on the duality of themes and characters creating something fresh from Shakespeare’s classic.

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL

Fred Anzevino, “Jaques Brel’s Lonesome Losers of the Night” & “Cabaret” (Theo Ubique) – Director Anzevino and his eloquent company created rare gifts for their audience and exceptional contributions to the exclusive theatrical choices that Chicago has to offer. ‘Jacques Brel’s Lonesome Losers Of The Night’ was a lovely homage to Brel’s talent and ‘Cabaret’ was a revival that swept spectators away. Both were perfect vehicles for Theo Ubique’s incomparable imagination.

Anzevino proved that he could take a musical classic or a musical obscurity and deliver an engaging evening of incomparable dramatic impact and evocative atmosphere.

OUTSTANDING ADAPTATION/DIRECTION/CHOREOGRAPHY

Tony Lewis, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Queer Tale” (MidTangent Productions) – “Some are born gay. Some achieve gayness. And some have gayness thrust upon them.”

Filled with writhing bodies engaged in undulating erotic naughtiness, this spin on the Bard’s classic made you wish that all of the Shakespeare library could be retold with as much homoerotic delight. Lewis took Shakespeare’s classic comedy, placed it in Chicago’s Boystown, reminded us of how fun it is to be gay and infused the production with a magical red-light cabaret atmosphere complete with some of the best dance numbers seen in any musical. Lewis’s work was visionary on many levels as well as thoroughly engaging, proving him to be a real triple threat!

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY

Marc Robin, “The Full Monty” (Marriott Theatre Lincolnshire) – Although about Chippendales-like dancers, this musical isn’t really a dance show, but Robin gave it a sense of fluid motion rarely seen in even the most lavishly choreographed shows. (*Jonathan Lewis)

Mitzi Hamilton, “Sweet Charity” (Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace) – From the limbs akimbo of Big Spender to the joyous I’m A Brass Band, Hamilton came up with some of Chicago’s best stage dancing all year. (*Jonathan Lewis)

OUTSTANDING FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY

Geoff Coates, “The Mark of Zorro” (Lifeline Theatre) – Coates’s gifted and dazzling fight choreography delivered perhaps the most believable and invigorating swordplay ever seen on a Chicago stage and he accomplished this with a large cast in a relatively small venue.

Normally even the best staged fight scenes tend to break the suspension of disbelief. They look telegraphed, rehearsed and contrived. But Geoff Coates’s thrilling fight choreography added an unparalleled excitement to the action and adventure. Long hours of rehearsal, dedicated exclusively to the fight scenes, paid of in terms of childlike thrills for the audience.

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL INCIDENTAL SCORE

Alison Chesley, “Beholder” (Trap Door) – Chesley created a beautifully haunting and exceptionally evocative ethereal cello requiem that traveled through moods of subtle sadness and atmospheres of reflective sorrow. Her exquisite contribution to the production proved to be crucially salient before the characters spoke a word.

Annah Zaman, “Questa” (People*s Theater of Chicago) – Zaman’s subtly lovely and simply compelling original music infused the production with an appropriately overwhelming melancholy. It was beguiling, evocative and instinctively elegant.

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG SCORE

“Love Is Dead: A NecRomantic Musical Comedy” (The Annoyance Theatre) Music by Julie Nichols; Lyrics by James Asmus and Andrew Hobgood – Rather than just the standard Annoyance bizarre bill of fair, these songs were mischievously amusing, providing great comic scenes as well as good tunes and the incidental scene change music was fantastic.

“Old Town” (Strawdog Theatre) Music by Mikhail Fiksel; Lyrics by Brett Neveu – Neveu’s lyrics blended political commentary with juicy character revelations, and Fiksel’s music included some torchy ballads and satirical specialty numbers, most notably a press conference played as a tango. (*Jonathan Lewis)

OUTSTANDING MUSICAL DIRECTION

Joshua Stephen Kartes, “Jaques Brel’s Lonesome Losers of the Night” (Theo Ubique) – Kartes’s brilliant musical direction elevated the experience by infusing the performances and production with raw musical vulnerability as well as flawless execution of the deceptively complicated torch songs, ballads and anthems.

OUTSTANDING PIT BAND

“Love Is Dead: A NecRomantic Musical Comedy” (Annoyance) – Jamie Martines’s superb bass work, Jeff DeRoche’s simply sublime drums and Julie Nichols, direction and piano/keyboards, created music that accented the production perfectly as well as stood on it’s own as remarkably excellent incidental jazz.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN A PLAY

Jennifer Grace, “Our Town” (The Hypocrites) – Grace’s performance elevated the production to the highest levels of emotional and human honesty. Her depiction took us on a journey from endearing to engaging and finally to heartbreaking, creating an experience that was truly outstanding in an already outstanding production.

Mark Ulrich, “Juno and the Paycock” (The Artistic Home) – Ulrich’s eccentrically hysterical depiction lit up the audience with laughter by completely immersing himself in the part. He created a character that suspended the disbelief of theater and carried us away with delight. His non-verbal reactions alone were more powerfully captivating and entertaining than most actors can achieve while speaking.

Nicole Wiesner, “Passion Play: A Cycle in Three Parts” (Goodman Theatre) – Wiesner’s multi-leveled, funny, melancholy, intuitive and emotionally evocative performance added uncanny depth and delicate intensity to an already overwhelming theatrical triumph. It is hard to imagine that a performance could add so much to a script that was already so remarkable, but Wiesner’s performance was profoundly beguiling.

Keland Scher, “Much Ado About Nothing” (First Folio Theatre) – Before the play’s exposition even got started the audience was warmed up by and drawn in to Scher’s engaging charm and sweetness. Oftentimes, interactive audience participation roles can prove to be obnoxious, corny or embarrassing but Scher was brimming with playful talent and was as lovable as a cartoon bunny.

Madeline Long, “Soldiers: The Desert Stand” (LiveWire Chicago Theatre) – Long’s dead on performance was both mesmerizing and hysterical, leaving the audience delighted long after leaving the theater. Her depiction of a frenetic adolescent was exhilarating, hilarious and amazingly accurate.

Sadieh Rafai, “Speech and Debate” (American Theater Company) – Rafai’s subtle and broad, physical and intellectual, sarcastic and self-effacing performance accomplished humor on so many levels that it was hysterically beguiling. She created the most eccentric and uniquely hilarious performance realized in a play.

Jerermy Sher, “Hunchback” (Redmoon Theater) – Sher’s spellbinding delivery of the narrative author transcended the already transfixing experience of the production by creating levels of unpredictable nuance, humor and direct connection between the story and audience.

Annabel Armour,“Fiction” (Remy Bumppo) – In a city filled with astounding acting talent, Armour’s versatile skills are exceptional and beguiling. Her honest and commanding performance in ‘Fiction’ took the production to another level of excellence and emotional connection.

Jenn Remke, “Resort 76” (Infamous Commonwealth) – Remke’s portrayal achieved the clarity, chemistry and truth of the script with the most impressive level of effectiveness and showed a glimpse of the excellent production’s even greater potential. Her performance was beautifully staggering.

Andy Hager, “Red Light Winter” (Thunder and Lightning Ensemble) – Hager’s cerebral, idiosyncratic, vulnerable, pathetic and delightful characterization provided the backbone for this production by infusing his performance with heartbreaking honesty.

Polly Noonan, “Passion Play: A Cycle in Three Parts” Goodman Theatre – Noonan created a hysterically beguiling and tragically spellbinding thread that connected this three-act epic to something even more dramatically transformative. She conveyed delicate innocence and profound depth with brilliant humor and honest melancholy.Nick Vatterott, “Love Is Dead: A NecRomantic Musical Comedy” (The Annoyance Theatre) – Vatterott took Don Knotts’s Barney Fife character as a base line and exploded with absurd, idiosyncratic, irreverently astonishing and idiotic foolishness that brilliantly and hysterically stole the show. His performance was something extraordinary in the midst of something delightful.

Adam Kander, “The Merchant of Venice” (Bohemian Theatre Ensemble) – Kander was amazing and commanding in all of his four distinct roles, lighting up the stage with inconspicuous confidence, remarkable presence and enchanting charm.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL OR REVUE

E. Faye Butler, “Ain’t Misbehavin” (Goodman Theatre) – Butler stole the show with her hysterically charming humor, remarkable singing and intoxicating presence. She embodied the bawdy and irreverent comedy as well as the vulnerable humanity of Waller’s compositions.Kat McDonnell, “Old Town” (Strawdog Theatre) – As the unhappy adult daughter of a political candidate, McDonnell’s was a touching portrait of a woman trying to define her identity and strike out on her own. (*Jonathan Lewis)

Summer Smart, “Sweet Charity” (Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace) – Watching Smart high-kick, wiggle her tush and strut her stuff was to witness the makings of a musical comedy star. (*Jonathan Lewis)

Bethany Thomas, “Nine” (Porchlight Music Theatre) – Stepping out of the ensemble to exuberantly belt out the show’s best number Be Italian, Thomas proved the old stage adage that there are no small roles. (*Jonathan Lewis)

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE

“Emma” (Trap Door Theatre) Beata Pilch, David Bettino, Kevin Cox, Gary Damico, Geraldine Dulex, Noah Durham, Jen Ellison, Carolyn Hoerdeman, Jason Huysman and John Kahara – This exceptionally captivating ensemble brought Emma Goldman’s story to life with unwavering confidence, conviction and compassionate truth. It would have been easy to come away from this politically charged material feeling preached to or sermonized but this cast made it real as well as beguiling.

“As Told By the Vivian Girls” (Dog and Pony Theatre company) Jamie Abelson, John Blick, Missi Davis, John Dixon, Matthew Fletcher, Blayne Greneir, Greg Hardigan, Sarra Kaufman, Teeny Lamothe, Nick Leininger, Elizabeth Levy, Laura Mahler, Michael Salinas, Josh Volkers, Marta Juaniza and Sarah Winkler – The dedicated cast created a living-breathing homage to Darger’s bizarre work, bringing his fantastical world to life while embodying his astonishing imagination. This was not a scripted play in the standard sense but rather a manifestation of another realm and this ensemble took on the daunting task, creating scenes both intimate and epic that physically traveled through this inane playground.

“Juno and the Paycock” (The Artistic Home) – Kathy Scambiatterra, Frank Nall, Mark Ulrich, Vic Doylida, Marta Evans, Joe McCauley, Miranda Zola, Daniel Evashevski, Jim Lynch, Darrelyn Marx, Tom McGregor and Matt Roben – This first rate ensemble captured all of the nuance and drama of the simply compelling and eccentrically complex characters with heartbreaking depth and explosive humor. Avoiding melodrama, they delivered a riveting theatrical triumph.

“Sweet Confinement” (SINNerman Ensemble) Cyd Blakewell, Marisa Clement, Dominica Fisher, Jeremy Fisher and Levi Petree – This gifted young cast created bold and provocative, glaringly intimate and urgently powerful theater. Their characters were human and enthralling, leaving the audience jolted by the force of their collective story telling.

“Superior Donuts” (Steppenwolf Theatre Company) Yasen Peyankov, Kate Buddeke, James Vincent Meredith, Jane Alderman, Michael McKean, Jon Michael Hill, Robert Maffia, Cliff Chamberlain, Michael Garvey – This picture perfect ensemble treated the characters as old friends, flawlessly executing the beguiling humor with depth and restrained intensity. They brought Lett’s story to life with fantastic individual performances that created a completely captivating delight.

OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN

Megan Wilkerson, “Psalms of a Questionable Nature” (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble) – Before the action started Wilkerson achieved an ambiguous tension and eerie atmosphere that drew audiences in and lingered long after the production ended. If you already thought that basements were creepy this frightening set proved you right and if not, you found yourself thinking twice before investigating an unfamiliar cellar.

Chelsea Meyers, “Juno and the Paycock” (The Artistic Home) – Meyers’s design was picture perfect, rich, warm and made complete use of the limited space available in the small theater. You were not watching actors on a set, you were peering into the lives of characters in their home.

Kevin Hagan, “A Taste of Honey” (Shattered Globe) & “Candles to the Sun” (Eclipse Theatre Company) – From the wood cabin of “Candles” that beautifully demonstrated the Spartan existence of mining families, to the beautifully dingy and shabby apartment in “Honey,” Hagan’s visual depth and versatility created innovative and exceptionally compelling settings. Excellent detail and impeccable technical execution created complete visual experiences.

Joe Schermoly, “Sweet Confinement” (SiNNERMAN Enesemble) – Schermoly’s striking and realistic rendering of a bright, clean white bathroom displayed in the, black floor-to-ceiling black box setting of The Side Project theater was dazzling. This visual contrast created an indelible impact as the location was suspended in our minds, which foreshadowed the indelible impact of the realistically powerful drama that unfolded.

OUTSTANDING COSTUME & MAKE-UP DESIGN

Kimberly G. Morris, “The Island of Dr. Moreau” (Lifeline) – Morris’s costume, mask and make-up design realized the creatures with splendid creativity and variation while capturing the period and mood of the classic story.

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Chicago Lakeshore Hotel

The Hotel At Midtown

Sophy Hyde Park

The distraction of unbelievable monsters is normally encountered in B-movies but rather on screen or stage, fake effects do the same damage. Morris was able to create distinctly different abominations that worked for the actors playing the parts as well as the audience enjoying the magic.

OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN

Andre Pluess, “Much Ado About Nothing” (First Folio Theatre) – Andre Pluess’s sound design and original composition added even more texture and subtle elegance to this outdoor production, naturally filling the open air with the perfect auditory experience.

There is a lot of competition for your ear while crickets chirp, birds sing, bats click and breezes blow through the trees of this lovely al fresco setting. But Pluess’s incomparable artistry delightfully rose above the organic chorus to gently capture our attention.

OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN

Lee Keenan, “Noir” (The Building Stage) & “Around The World In 80 Days” (LookingglassTheatre) – Keenan’s incomparable work ranged from an atmospheric and shadowy black-and-white film rendering in “Noir” to an explosion of evocative color in “80 Days,” displaying an incredible visual range with equally spellbinding effect.

When Keenan steps in visual wonders are sure to follow and the spellbinding scope of his creative vision is matched by his flawless technical execution.

OUTSTANDING MURAL DESIGN

Patricia Perez, “Questa” (People*s Theater of Chicago) – An urban landscape was simply and immediately rendered by Perez’s exceptional mural design, starkly yet warmly depicting a skyline in ruins. It was a beautiful rendering of something stark and bleak, creating instant atmosphere.

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Homewood Suites By Hilton Chicago Downtown South Loop

Hampton Inn Majestic Chicago Theatre District

Chinatown Hotel Chicago

Chicago Parthenon Hostel

Freehand Hotel Chicago

James Scalfani, “Questa” (People*s Theater of Chicago) – Scalfani’s explosive interior cityscape design of neon color on black box walls created homage to the vibrancy of New York with a black light painting on black velvet effect which evoked a contrast of vitality and desolation. This evoked the city’s heartbeat as well as the contrasting emotions in the lives of Bumbalo’s characters before the play even began.

OUTSTANDING OVERALL TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT

“Noir” (The Building Stage) – The awe-inspiring rendering of a black-and-white cinematic setting created a celluloid illusion that was so complete you wondered where the projection booth was located?

Film can oftentimes seem theatrical but seldom does theater seem so cinematic and never to this detailed extent. The ONLY thing that slightly broke the ‘black and white film’ impression was the inside of the actor’s mouths. The beautiful and incredibly stylized atmosphere was absolute.

Conception and Direction – Blake Montgomery

Creation – David Amaral, Eddie Bennett, Sarah Goeden, Fannie Hungerford, Chelsea Keenan, Daiva Olson

Costume Design – Meghan Raham

Lighting Design – Lee Keenan

Sound Design – Kevin O’Donnell

Scenic Design – Lee Keenan, Meghan Raham, Blake Montgomery

Stage Management – Sheena L. Young

Assistant Lighting Design – Ryan Williams

House Management – Max Wirt

“The Island of Dr. Moreau” (Lifeline Theatre) – From the visually spectacular opening storm and shipwreck, complete with frightening lightning and thunder, to the fantastically grotesque creatures to the evocative original music and sound design, this show was a visceral transportation to a frightening world.

Bringing a monster filled fantasy so vividly and believably to life requires exceptional artistry. Lifeline Theater stranded us on an island of ghastly delights!

Adapted by – Robert Kauzlaric

Directed by – Paul S. Holmquist

Scenic Design – Tom Burch

Lighting Design – Kevin D. Gawley

Costume & Mask Design – Kimberly G. Morris

Original Music & Sound Design – Victoria Delorio

Props Design – John Henningsen

Violence Design – Richard Gilbert/David Gregory

Dialect Coach – Elise Kauzlaric

Assistant Lighting Designer – Stephen T. Sorenson

Assistant Sound Designer – Tim Hill

Stage Manager – Kimberly Percell

Production Manager – Cortney Hurely

Technical Director – Charlie Olson

Sound Board Operator – Robert Ellis

Master Electrician – Brandon Stock

Photography – Suzanne Plunkett

Graphic Design – Kthleen Powers/Rob McLean

“As Told By the Vivian Girls” (Dog and Pony Theatre Company) – Dog and Pony created a paradigm shift to another realm by transforming the Theater on the Lake building into a live-action fun/haunted house adventure that brought artist Henry Darger’s 15,000+ page illustrated manuscript to three dimensional life.

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They endeavored a project as exigent as Darger’s work is unique. You entered the Theater on the Lake and, in this choose-your-own-adventure staging, your paradigm shifted to another reality. “As Told By The Vivian Girls” was a Darger inspired experience that stretched the boundaries of conventional theater by creating a journey through one artist’s conceptualization of another artist’s imagination. You followed 15 characters on separate, overlapping scenes that depict war, play, obsession and fantasy.

The scale and execution of this undertaking was nothing less than extraordinary.

Devised by Devon de Mayo and Dog and Pony’s Ensemble

Directed by Devon de Mayo with Krissy Vanderwarker & Heather Rafferty

Stage Manager – Farah Joyner

Set Design – Vanessa Conway

Costume Design – Catherine Tantillo & Erin Fast

Costume Construction – Carissa Sexton

Assistant Stage Manager – Elfira Karim

Choreographer – Allison Kurtz

Lighting Design – Matthew Gawryk, Bryan Back, Liz Cooper

Projections – Heather Jones-Pryor, Joanna Jones

Props Design – Judi Gottberg, Dan Pellant, Megan Razzo

Fight Choreographer – Shannon O’Neill

Sound Design – Steven Ptacek

Production Manager – Beth Stegman

Set Consultant – Chad Kouri

Costume Technician – Carrisa Sexton

Publicity – Marta Juaniza

Casting Director – David Dieterich

Graphic Designer – Rod Hunting

Event Coordinator & Fight Consultant – Faith Noelle Hurley

Photography – Timmy Samuels, Starbelly Studios

Box Office Manager – Jon Ravenscroft

Assistant Projections Designer – Joanna Jones

“A Passage to India” (Vitalist Theatre of Chicago in association with Premiere Theatre & Performance) – The splendid technical design and execution of this epic production created the world of the story beautifully with compelling versatility and engaging atmosphere.

‘Passage’ took the audience on an ambitious journey, no passport required. Every element of this production transported us to another time and place with vivid stylized texture and warmth. The cultural, locational, and emotional rendering was lavish. And as if traveling to 1920s India on-stage wasn’t enough, the experience was complete with a thrilling elephant ride, courtesy of Ron Naversen’s thrilling life sized puppetry.

Adapted by Marin Sherman

Directed by Elizabeth Carlin-Metz

Producer for Vitalist Theatre – Robin Metz

Producer for Premiere Theatre & Performance – Patricia Acerra

Scenic Design – Craig Choma

Lighting Design – Richard Norwood

Costume Design/Prop Manager – Rachel Sypniewski

Sound Design – Gregor Mortis

Choreography – Alka Nayyar

Associate Director – Jaclynn M. Jutting

Assistant Director – Brian Conley

Stage Manager – Heather Courtney

Associate Producer for Vitalist Theatre – Max Traux

Dialect Consultant – Tenera Marshall

Cultural Consultants – Kamal Hans & Alka Nayyar

Stage Violence – Christopher Hiiard

Technical Director – John Szasz

Master Electrician – Kyle Anderson

Master Carpenter – Jake Hebert

Textiles Artists – Allison Smith (lead artist), Margo Shively, Mikah Berkey

Wardrobe – Broadway Costume & Knox College Department of Theatre

Properties – Knox College Department of Theatre

Special Properties – Zarda King, Ltd.

Puppetry – Ron Naversen

Sound Board Operator – Brian Conley

Marketing and PR Director – Helen H. Drysdale

Production Photography – Bonnie Bandurski

Videography – Vince Singleton

Production Assistants – Saras Gil, Samantha Newport, Tali Haberkamp

Graphics – Reed Studios

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SOFA / Chicago 2008 – Streams of Artistic Consciousness

AUTHOR:VENUSZARRIS PUBLISHED DATE:MARCH 7, 2020 LEAVE A COMMENTON SOFA / CHICAGO 2008 – STREAMS OF ARTISTIC CONSCIOUSNESS

By Val Lyle

(preface by Venus Zarris)

Val Lyle is a gifted and renowned sculptor and art educator. VAL LYLE : Figurative Sculpture, Gestural Art, Paper Clay

We went to art college together a couple of decades ago and have remained beloved friends over these past 20+ years. I received some prepress about SOFA and forwarded it to Val, as she had attended in the past and I knew that she would be interested. This facilitated an artistically alchemical reunion, a meeting of old friends on a weekend bender that could best be described as an ALL-OUT ART OVERDOSE.

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What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, or in this case even more passionate about the boundless creativity that encompasses art in all of its brilliant manifestations.

We would have had an amazing time if the weekend was spent on the couch chatting and reminiscing but we decided to save that trip for our older age. Instead, more culture was chocked into 2 1/2 days than most experience in 10 years.

I asked Val to write her impressions of the trip, an artist’s vision of her whirlwind weekend in the Windy City. Here are her thoughts…

SOFA / Chicago 2008

A weekend of culture and dialogue, art, theatre and great food.

What makes great art?

 

“You’ll need the full range of tonal scale, from light to dark, you’ll need variety in mark-making including wide to narrow, light to heavy, excellent composition to move the eye around the page and activate the entire space, and for this assignment you will need engaging content. We are moving from “how do we draw” to “why do we draw.”

My college lecture from the day before is stuck in my head on a loop. I am looking forward to four days in Chicago! It’s mid-semester, a dangerous time for teetering between shifting gears and stalling out. This trip is a top-shelf cultural break from my routine of teaching art and making art in rural Tennessee/Virginia.

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It is a chance to see the 16th annual  SOFA exposition (Sculptural Objects and Functional Art), 100 international galleries representing several hundred blue chip art object makers from around the globe. A chance for creative nourishment and renewal, and a chance to visit my friend Venus’s household.

We lived next door twenty five years ago under mammoth, Spanish moss draped live oak trees in Sarasota, Florida. I followed art to New York City, she followed theater to Chicago, and I am excited to have a local tour guide. Should have guessed she’d save the best for last.

What makes great art great?

After a marathon nine hours of world class art and lectures at SOFA on Chicago’s Navy Pier (on two hours sleep) I retrieve my carry on suitcase just as my hosts pull up to whisk me away. There’s barely time for greetings and silly gifts before we are in a darkened theater facing a constructed set of convincing period and structure that is physically impossible in the space.

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I won’t lie-I was off balance, reminding myself it was “theater”, while still whipping my head around to find the true corners of the room, orienting myself to the ceiling and lighting apparatus, and mentally trying to gage how much of this sensation was my lack of sleep, how much was my eye-stigmatism warping space, and how much was space warping around me. “You’ve seen Dorian Gray before, right?” Venus asks as the lights dim.

Over a feast of mom and pop food at “Garcia’s” on Lawrence Avenue (try the guacamole!) we discuss the impressive play THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY by Lifeline Theatre in detail. Venus tells me this is a medium sized theater, but it seems smallish to me. The steep arrangement of audience seats and near two-story set gave me the sense of a funhouse where the back rows curve up to meet the top of the facade.

Venus explained that many of the sets in this theater were “stacked” vertically due to the “short” stage. I ask candidly how should I separate the writing from the performance, from the set design, costumes, and dazzling special effects, while contemplating critiquing the play?

This dialogue developed over the entire four days, being shifted back and forth from the visual arts to the theater, giving each of us insights into the other’s world of expertise.

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“What were you most impressed with at SOFA today?” she asks me. “The fearless pursuit of vision,” I summarize. “These showcase artists are not held back by any of the set rules- Permanence? Scale? Cost? Shipping? Not an issue! Only the pure pursuit of passionate vision matters. All the barriers are blown out of the water.

“But what does that look like?” she pressed me, with honesty and trust that only occurs between old friends or strangers.

 

“At SOFA there are big shiny things, things that sparkle and that dwarf you. There are so many hybrids of the next-latest thing based on a combination of the last- latest things that you can actually trace artist’s developments within the show to the first ‘original’ work. When you actually come upon a new, truly original work, it’s stunning. It’s jaw-dropping. There is nothing else like it in the show.

For example, there is a Dutch artist named Marian Bijlenga represented by CERVINI HAAS GALLERY who creates huge wall works, made out of little bits of fiber color nothings, hues and textures in spots the size of a half dollar that have surprising detail and texture with delicate fringe around them. Hundreds of these “dots” of eye-candy, are applied about 10 to 20 inches apart in a systematic and scientific pattern predetermined by the artist onto water soluble fabric with a minimum number of lines of almost invisible thread.

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When the fabric is washed away, the network is displayed on a large wall with lighting that makes the lines disappear. The textiles float magically several inches off of the wall, defying comparison or description. I think of Wassily Kandinsky’s paintings of music, with accents, staccatos, compositions flowing around the wall, but better.

‘Consider theater companies,’ begins Venus. ‘The big ones have enormous budgets. You expect dwarfing shiny over-the-top effects, costumes, and stage design. But when you see a performance like Dorian Grey, where a deeper than the deepest blood red light flashes on a quivering just -hung by the neck body, or the startling sound of a weapon’s unexpected discharge sends the whole audience vertical two feet, you realize it’s not the budget that makes the play.

It’s visual and auditory genius, bits of colored transparency film, a touch of well placed smoke and scrap wood.’ The conversations begin to merge and I can’t always  remember who said what. The red and the smoke were accents. The set design must activate the whole space, move the eye around with a variety of textures and colors.

What makes really great art really great?

The unexpected! The unimagined. The never before conceived. The original?

Day two of the Chicago Odyssey brings another dimension into the world of fine craft and fine art-that often blurred, often argued, yet rigid and unyielding distinction. I make a bee-line to familiar top-notch galleries like Ferrin and Duane Reed.  Great new-to-me galleries leap out from the rest like browngrotta and Next Step Studios and Gallery. Brief greetings with old friends and chance meetings over shared dining tables make new friends at SOFA. The square footage of art is staggering. It took me the full two days just to walk up and down every single isle and pause briefly in front of each gallery to try to absorb their particular aesthetic and statement. It was all I could do to scribble notes on the floor map as to which ones I needed to research further online.

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There were multiple lectures simultaneously for two days straight that were put on by the leaders in each of their respective fields-information that is not easy gotten elsewhere. Yesterday I learned I was a lost member of the gentle fiber arts clan. Today I learn that Asia, China in particular, is already in control of the world aesthetic, being the most powerful and wealthy country and therefore the dominate aesthetic, and the sooner we wake up to embrace every aspect of what this means deeply, the better.

Artist Li Lihong’s series at Dai Ichi Arts of ceramic McDonald Golden Arches decorated with traditional Asian ceramic brushwork is haunting and un-nerving. I wanted them badly. KEIKO Gallery is also noteworthy with it’s contemporary Japanese Arts and Crafts. I could have attended all lectures and skipped the enormous exhibition and felt the trip well worthwhile. I tried to do both.

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There was constant film screenings and two different live demo areas, one for hot glass and one for woodturning. There were too many publications to count, and a room to teach you how to inventory your collections digitally.

 

That evenings’ theater entrée is Radio Macbeth at the Court Theatre. SITI Company  adapts the Shakespeare classic, followed by extensive discussion over the best pizza that I have ever had in my life at Ricobene’s on 26th Street, and I ate a lot of pizza in New York City. When I learned that all the plays we were going to see were adaptations, I was mystified.

Why would one want to go see a play you’ve already seen before? I risk losing the respect of my friend by actually asking her. She patiently explains they are such classic themes, such great material, that you are hoping the production brings new life, a new interpretation or twist to it. She does admit that done badly, it can be terrible, and that is always the gamble of adapting familiar material.

The dialogue inevitably makes the comparison, why would you want to re-visit a master painting or sculpture? Because it is so profound you cannot possibly absorb it all in one sitting! Not to mention that the same piece will have a different impact on the same person, from one day to the next. Try changing the lighting on Michelangelo’s Pieta, thereby giving it intensely different emotions.

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Try changing the lights on Shakespeare’s Macbeth! And the year, and the context, then blur heavily which plane of reality exists, whether you are watching performers perform, or they are watching each other perform, in and out of context…sparse stage set with changing flood-spot lights focus on the performance. Here’s a case where they could have blown a lot on fancy stage craft, but didn’t need to and were smart enough to know the less-is-more aesthetic. I’m deeply impressed.

Day three in The Windy City is sleeping in, gourmet home-cooked breakfast, rummaging through stacks of complementary art magazines and show cards, playing with the pooches, and the grand theater finale.

Bo Ho Theatre’s Bernarda Alba – a musical is an adaptation with an original musical score and live accompaniment in a 30 seat bread-box of a black box theater that I’m guessing is, no kidding, 20 feet by 35 feet. OK, now I get the “small” and medium size theater comparison part, and realize that most of the plays I’ve ever seen have been in auditoriums because that is the ONLY theater venue in many of the towns I have called home.

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There are 10 excellent women actors, often inches from the front row, singing their hearts out until the wooden risers in the chilly theater quiver along with your soul. It was one of those ‘OK-now I can die and go to heaven because it can’t get any better than this’ plays. Better just to stop at excellence than risk contamination.

How did it touch-no grab me on so many levels? How can it be so ambiguously about the mystery of the human experience, and yet so very specific? How can it be so ultra-women’s rights and be set in the worst of rights denial? How did I just witness one of the most electrically charged sexual scenes ever, with only one actress on stage? My jaw is still agape to think about it. Right up there with Edward Albee’s The Goat, or, Who Is Sylvia in my limited theater palette.

We duck into Heartland Cafe, the neighborhood restaurant/store happening establishment, next door from the Heartland Studio Theatre for me to pick out thank you chocolate for the chef at home and appropriate souvenir stickers from the recent political events. Next we steal time to drive through a beautiful old cemetery, for the pure shared absorption of art and culture, emotion and beauty as the last of the stubborn fall colors face the blustery snow-specked sky along the lake.

I turn to Venus and ask her the unasked; “What makes great theater?”

She thinks, then answers, ”There’s the obvious, the production, the theater company, the given performance, the stage craft like we’ve been talking all weekend about, is the stage interesting all the way around, believable, functional, but on a deeper level, which is what I think you’re eluding to, is “Does it give you an emotion?-Does it make you happy or sad or angry or whatever-does it get you in the gut!? Is it believable? Are the characters believable; is the story believable, do you care?”

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Can you sense that actor has put so much of themselves into that role that it makes you want to cry-or whatever emotion you should get from it?

We pause in the midst of giant scarlet fans of maple trees, huge oaks look like they are on fire next to weeping granite angels of every size and form.

“It’s really Alchemy, then, isn’t it? No set formula, no recipe, no media will guarantee success. It’s magic when it’s right. Just like the visual arts.”

There must be a full range of light to dark, so that we can find our bearings. There must be variety in mark-making, whether with voice, music, or pencil, for emphasis and interest. There must be well placed focal points, and texture. But most of all, there must be engaging content. Is it believable on some level? Do you get the sense that the artist has put so much of themselves into it that you are given to care?

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