The 25th Annual Putnam
County Spelling Bee By Noble Fool Theatricals By
Dan Zeff St.Charles
– “The
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is one of the most
delightful, and unlikely, musical comedy hits of the new millennium. Who would
expect a show about six nerdy kids competing for a spelling championship to
become a major Broadway hit? Noble
Fool Theatricals is the third theater to present “Spelling Bee” in Chicagoland
in the past few seasons. The musical had a healthy run at the former Drury Lane
Theatre in Chicago and was successfully revived at the Marriott Theatre in
Lincolnshire. Both were excellent productions but the presentation by Noble
Fool Theatricals may be the best of the lot. Add another gold star for artistic
director John Gawlik as he reinvents Noble Fool into a major player in the
regional theater scene. In
95 intermissionless minutes, “Spelling Bee” introduces the audience to six
young people gathered in a high school gymnasium in Putnam County (exact
location unspecified but probably somewhere in middle America). The six will
battle for the local spelling championship and a chance to move on to the next
competitive level. Along the way, we learn a good deal about each participant
and enjoy some pleasant songs and lots of witty dialogue, much of it deliciously
politically incorrect. Along
with the six young spellers, the show includes three adults who run the spelling
competition. Douglas Panch is the school assistant principal who announces the
words and Rona Lisa Peretti is his co-moderator. Mitch Mahoney is a hulking
black man who is “serving his community service” as the spelling bee’s bouncer.
As an added gimmick, the show plucks four people from the audience to join the
six kids in the spelling competition. Each
of the six kids has a back story. They are all geeky types and face some
personal anxiety. The show is a comedy, but it does use the young characters to
score points about young people struggling with excessive expectations or
trying to survive dysfunction home environments, as well as dealing with issues
of self esteem and identity. “Spelling Bee’ is no psychodrama, but it does
point out that growing up is highly stressful, even for champion spellers. What
won over the audiences and reviewers in New York City was the show’s freshness
and charm, qualities sustained at a triumphant level at the Noble Fool. Guest
director Kevin Bellie perfectly orchestrates the spot-on ensemble in delivering
an irresistible mix of humor, singing and dancing, and juvenile passions. The
six young spellers are played by Ian Paul Custer (William Barfee), Samantha
Dubina (Olive Ostrovsky), Chie Isobe (Marcy Park), Erik Kaiko (Chip Tolentino),
Cara Rifkin (Logaine Schwartangrubenierre), and Jack Sweeney (Leaf Coneybear).
They are all superb but first among equals is Dubina as Olive, a waiflike
teenager from a broken home. Dubina is funny, sings expressively, and
altogether creates a character who deftly blends comedy band pathos.
The
adult characters control the action on stage. Michael Weber, who was the best
actor in the Marriott production, returns as the droll Douglas Panch, a
constant hoot as he recites the spelling words and illustrates them in hilarious
politically incorrect sentences. Randolph Johnson delivers tough love to the
losers as Mitch Mahoney. Special
commendation goes to Liza Jaine as Rona Lisa Peretti. Jaine gives one of those
assured, versatile performances that sends the spectator to thumbing through
the playbill to learn more about her. Jaine has a decent resume, but she possesses
the looks and talent for a big role in a big production. Sarah Brown in “Guys
and Dolls” came immediately to mind. One
quibble. The performers need to allow better spacing between the dialogue and the
audience reaction. Too many funny lines were buried in the audience’s laughing
reaction to the previous witticism. All
the technical credits are first rate. The efficient three-piece band is directed
by Peter Storms. Bob Knuth designed the gymnasium interior that perfectly
encloses the action. John Horan designed the lighting, Kimberly Morris the
costumes, and Joseph Fosco the sound. “The
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” runs through June 13 at the
mainstage theater at the Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 East Main Street. Regularly
scheduled performances are Friday and
Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., with additional performances on selected
Thursdays and Saturdays in May. Call 630 584 6342 or visit www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets
are $29 and $39 with dinner packages available. Jambalaya is a solid
choice for on site pre-theater dining. The restaurant is informal and the
prices are right. An appetizer of spicy chicken wings and a steak sandwich entrée
will set up the customer for the abundant pleasures of “Spelling Bee.” The
show gets a rating of four stars. May 2010 Contact
Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com .
****************************************************************************************
Over The Tavern
At Noble Fool Theatricals (at Pheasant Run)
By Dan Zeff
St. Charles--“Over the Tavern” is Tom Dudzick’s nostalgic family comedy-drama about growing up Catholic and ethnic in Buffalo, New York, circa 1959. The play’s warmth and humor made it a surprise long-running hit at the Mercury Theatre in Chicago several years ago. Now Noble Fool Theatricals is demonstrating that the play has the legs for a winning revival that should please audiences straight through the end of March.
“Over the Tavern” presents the qualities of a first-rate sitcom, like a feisty old nun from the clicker-snapping old school of Catholic education, a precocious 12-year old, and a Mother-Knows-Best family matriarch, all melded into lots of comic situations. The playwright explores standard domestic issues, like raging hormones among teenagers, conflict between parents and children, and economic stresses, leavened with dark secrets explained at the end of the show.
The
play introduces the audience to the Pazinski family—mother, father, and four
children. They live the blue collar life above the family tavern during the
first generation of rock ‘n’’ roll in Buffalo. The
narrator is 12-year old Rudy Pazinski, a questioning and rebellious lad,
especially when dealing with other members of his family and facing the
dictates of Catholic doctrine. Rudy has issues with his parents, his nun
teacher Sister Clarissa, and his three siblings, older brother Eddie, older
sister Annie, and retarded brother Georgie. While
basically a comedy, “Over the Tavern” has its serious moments, especially when
domestic violence intrudes off stage. The family goes through a series of
crises, emerging stronger, more knowing, more accepting, and above all,
happier. It adds up to a satisfying evening for spectators who enjoy their
plays garnished with a deft blend of touchy feely sentiment, humor, and
intensity. Director
John Gawlik deserves high marks for the staging, notably coaxing winning
performances from four basically inexperienced young actors who play the
Pazinski offspring. Gabriel Harder is a
genuine find as Rudy, a character required to act across a broad emotional spectrum
and deliver a large percentage of the play’s dialogue. For audiences who grit
their teeth every time a cute kid appears on a stage, relax. Master Harder is
the real deal.
Stacy
Stoltz is terrific as Ellen, the wife and mother who must deal with a troubled
and belligerent husband and four children with their own personal problems. Soltz’s
Ellen is intelligent, witty, exasperated, fearful, indignant, and loving as the
occasion demands. She quietly holds the play together in spite of the flashier
roles around her. Scott
Cummins is the play’s closest thing to a villain as the angry father who cannot
communicate with his family. But Cummins humanizes the character as we learn
about the emotional burdens the man has been suppressing. Renee
Matthews does Sister Clarissa to a turn. The old nun is savvy, waspish, doctrinaire,
and ultimately endearing, and the audience eats her up. The other three
Pazinski children are well played by Alex Adams (Eddie), Katrina Syrris
(Annie), and Daniel Velisek (in the difficult role of Georgie). Ian
Zywica designed the authentic and detailed apartment interior. Kimberly G.
Morris designed the period costumes, Joseph Fosco the sound, and Yousif Mohamed
the lighting. “Over
the Tavern” runs through March 28 at the Pheasant Run Resort Mainstage Theater,
4051 East Main Street. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and
Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $29 and $39 with dinner packages available. The Jambalaya
Restaurant is recommended for informal dining (the spicy chicken wings are
mandatory), with numerous television sets going to keep patrons up to speed on sports
action. For tickets call 630 584 6342 or visit www.noblefool.org. The
show gets a rating of 3½ stars. February
2010 Contact
Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com . At Noble Fool Theatricals By Dan Zeff*******************************************
Plaid Tidings
St. Charles – In 1990, Stuart Ross wrote a genial
and intimate little musical called “Forever Plaid.” The show ran for five years
in New York City and then spread throughout the country. I’ve seen four
productions in Chicagoland and doubtless missed a few more.
When an author writes a hit, thoughts naturally turn towards of a sequel in the expectation that lightning will strike twice. So Ross composed “Plaid Tidings,” increasing his chances of success by making it a Christmas show, hoping that “Plaid Tidings” would become a holiday entertainment perennial like “A Christmas Carol,” “The Nutcracker,” and “It’s a Wonderful Life.
Noble Fool Theatricals has made “Plaid Tidings” its holiday show for this season. Is the sequel as good as the original? Not quite, but it has the same virtues and audiences who enjoyed “Forever Plaid” should find much to enjoy in its new namesake.
In “Forever Plaid” four wholesome and well scrubbed young men had formed a close harmony quartet, calling themselves the Plaids, and performing in lounges and bowling alleys in their town. On night on their way to pick up their uniforms they were instantly killed in an auto accident. The conceit of “Forever Plaid” had the young men returning to earth to perform the show they never presented on earth, a trip down memory lane that surveyed many of the non rock’n’roll hits of the 1950’s and early 1960’s as recorded by the popular white male singing groups of the day.
At the beginning of “Plaid Tidings” the four young men—Sparky, Frankie, Smudge, and Jinx—are back on earth and they aren’t sure why. Eventually, aided by clues dropped by Rosemary Clooney from heaven, they figure out they are intended to perform a Christmas show. It’s a pretty slender hook for a narrative, but it suffices to get the quartet into full Christmas mode, singing all the usual suspects as well as a few golden oldies from the 1950’s like “Sha-boom” and “Hey There.”
Spectators familiar with “Forever Plaid” will recognize numerous bits from the original. Returning is the Caribbean medley, the 3 minute and 10 second recapitulation of the Ed Sullivan Show (which may mean nothing to viewers under 50 but got a great reaction from the Baby Boomer crowd), and the saga of the time when Perry Como was stranded in the quartet’s small Pennsylvania town. The show is fleshed out with Christmas anthems and bits and pieces of other songs, some only a few seconds long. In the spirit of holiday ecumenism, “Plaid Tidings” even injects the Jewish children’s tune “The Dreidel Song” for a few bars.
The problem with “Plaid Tidings” is the book. Granted, the storyline for “Forever Plaid” lacked Shakespearean depth, but it was sturdy enough and original enough to provide an adequate framework for the songs which, after all, is what that show was all about. The book for “Plaid Tidings” is even more slender. For much of the first act not even the members of the quartet grasp why they are on stage, and neither did I. The second act picks up with the show’s main production numbers, notably a very funny hip hop rendition of a Christmas novelty song. That bit indicates how much better “Plaid Tidings” would be with that kind of fresh and creative material. But the humor and stage business too often are silly, even for the modest comic level Ross obviously seeks for his show.
The Noble Fool cast fulfills the “Plaid Tidings” quota of clean cut and enthusiastic young singers. Robert Deason, Sean Effinger-Dean, David Meadows, and Brad Simanski all have solid solo voices and together produce a nice quartet sound in the spirit of the Four Aces, the Four Lads, the Ames Brothers, and other role models from 50 years ago. A few moments of genuine wit leak into the proceedings, most of them improvisations from the performers that indicate the production would have been funnier if the ensemble had been given its head in winging some of the non singing moments.
Still, the large audience at my performance seemed well pleased with the music and antics of the quartet, abetted by on stage pianist Kenneth Jones and bass player Jamie Martinez. The demographics of the spectators leaned heavily toward the generation that heard these songs when they first came out and the nostalgia factor likely enhanced their pleasure.
“Plaid Tidings” doesn’t call for a lot of high concept production values, but the show does benefit from Courtney O’Neill’s basic set design, Jesse Klug’s lighting, Joseph Fosco’s sound, and the costumes designed by Kim Morris. Bob Kiser is the director/choreographer. This isn’t a dancing show but the four young men handled Kiser’s send-up of the Motown type moves with a droll humor largely missing from the rest of the proceedings.
At the end of the evening, the Plaids were eagerly pondering still other revivals of their celestial careers, perhaps celebrating Easter, the Fourth of July, Arbor Day, Flag Day—you name it and maybe a show could be there. Stuart Ross has himself a franchise in the Plaids, and if the Christmas show isn’t up to the original, it’s still good enough to keep its fans happy.
“Plaid Tidings” runs through December 27 at the Pheasant Run Resort Mainstage Theatre, 4051 East Main Street. Performances are Wednesday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 5 and 8:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Additional performances will be added during the holiday season. Tickets are $29 and $39, with meal packages available. For light and informal dining just a short distance from the theater, the Jambalaya restaurant is recommended. The prices are reasonable, the service pleasant and efficient, and the chicken wings delectable. Call 630 584 6342 or visit: www.noblefool.org.
The
show gets a rating of three stars. Nov. 2009 Contact
Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com.
************************ Married Alive! At
Noble Fool Theatricals By Dan Zeff ST. CHARLES—“Married
Alive!” had its area premiere in 2007 at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire.
The musical was a modestly entertaining humorous look at love and marriage as
portrayed by two married couples, one young and eager and the other older and
world weary. “Married Alive!” clearly was destined for a thriving life on
the regional theater circuit with its small cast, single basic set, and
minimalist musical accompaniment (two pianos). This show is especially targeted
at middle aged and senior citizen audiences who presumably will recognize their
married selves, then and now, and get a giggle out of the sexual innuendo and
situations. The show has some local roots, being written by Chicago actor
Sean Grennan (Leah Okimoto composed the music). The show is really a sequence
of sketches strung together with no narrative coherence other than the desire
to make viewers smile at the joys and tribulations of marriage from the
overheated sex of the newlywed period to the laid back and rueful senior
citizen era. Grennan’s dialogue and lyrics are often sharp and witty and
Okimoto’s score is serviceable or better. All in all, a decent production would
reward audiences with two hours of pleasant comic amusement with just enough
touchy feely sentiment to break up the farcical elements. The show is
reminiscent of a blockbuster hit of the 1990’s called “I Love You, You’re
Perfect, Now Change,” also a revue that digs a little deeper into love and
relationships. “Married Alive!” breaks no fresh ground in subject matter in
the male-female sweepstakes. It covers all the usual thematic suspects—deciding
whether to have a baby, the tribulations of raising the baby, mid life crises,
sexual dysfunction, in-laws problems, communication difficulties between
spouses. The show’s original title was “From Niagara to Viagra,” which gives
you a good idea of the revue’s sensibilities. The Marriott premiere earned faint praise. The Noble Fool
revival receives much higher marks, thanks primarily to a dazzling triple
threat performance by an irresistible pixie of a performer named Megan Long.
She plays the young bride with a joyous blend of energy, powerful singing
chops, deft comic timing, and just plain charm. Long displays a marvelous
ability to be cute without being cutesy. Long is complemented by Justin Berkobien as her youthful
husband and Matthew Jones, who reminds one of a thinner John Goodman, and Anne
Gunn as the older married couple. This is an exceptionally high quality cast
for a Noble Fool production and hopefully bodes well for the performing level
of future shows. They all reach a comic pinnacle in the in-laws-from-hell
Thanksgiving dinner scene, with Long playing temperamentally opposite twin
sisters while the other three characters getting bombed on holiday liquid
cheer. The A list cast maximizes the show’s comedy without
descending into silliness, and there are opportunities galore for less
disciplined and talented performers to get silly. Child rearing is portrayed
literally as a battlefield. The decision to have a baby (or not) is rendered as
a fiery religious revival meeting. But it all works in this production, which
means that director Rachel Rockwell has guided her ensemble shrewdly and with
savvy comic timing. One advantage the Noble Fool staging has over Marriott is the
intimacy of the theater. Marriott has a large in-the-round playing area. Noble
Fool has a small proscenium stage that perfectly accommodates a show that often
has just two characters in front of the audience. Kevin Depinet’s scenic design
consists of a basic all-purpose set with performers and stagehands rolling
props on and off the stage from scene to scene. It’s very efficient and keeps
the action moving at a sprightly pace. This isn’t a dancing show but Rockwell provides plenty of
agreeable choreographed movement. Somewhere behind the scenes, music director
Valerie Maze and Kevin Disch provide excellent musical accompaniment on two
keyboards. Yousif Mohamed designed the lighting, Elizabeth Flauto the costumes,
and Josh Horvath the sound.
“Married Alive!” runs through October 31 at Noble Fool
Theatricals at the Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 East Main Street. Performances are
Thursday at 8 p.m. (through September only), Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 5
and 8:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $28 and $39 with dinner
packages available. Call 630 584 6342 or visit www.noblefool.org. The show gets a rating of three stars. August 2009
For patrons who want to make an evening of it, the Jambalaya
restaurant, a short walk from the theater, is recommended for Cajun style
food in a casual atmosphere at reasonable prices. The chicken wings are
delectable.
************************ Altar Boyz By
Noble Fool Theatricals at Pheasant Run Resort By Dan Zeff ST. CHARLES—“Altar
Boyz” is in its fourth year in New
York City and has played a couple
of successful runs in Chicago.
Now it’s receiving a high-energy production by the Noble Fool Theatricals.
That’s a pretty heady track record for one of the more improbable hits of the
new millennium. “Altar Boyz” satirizes the up-with-people approach to
Christianity in the form of a concert presented by five young men out of the
Back Street Boys-‘N Sync mold. The young men sing and they glide around the
stage with synchronized Motown-style dance moves—all in the service of the
Lord.
The musical is funny and entertaining, buoyed by a bouncy and
often witty score by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker and an equally witty
book by Kevin DelAguila. That’s what the show is. What it isn’t is silly,
slightly offensive, or cloying and sentimental, a considerable accomplishment
for any show that deals with religion, however lightly. “Altar Boyz” runs a tight 85 minutes with no intermission.
But that allows plenty of time for the talented young men on the Noble Fool
stage to amuse and charm the audience with their upbeat message of Christian
good cheer. The show is really more about show business than hard-core
religion, though there are droll tweakings of theological bits, like one member
of the group urgently cautioning a colleague not to mention evolution, in any
context. Four fifths of the Altar Boyz are Roman Catholic, after all. The show’s characters cover a lot of demographic bases. All
five assume Biblical names. The leader is Matthew (Mike Arthur). Mark (Robert
Deason) is gay (or is he?). Luke
(Courtney Crouse) is the tough guy, a dim bulb loaded with attitude. Juan (a
really good performance by Edward Fraim) is the Hispanic member of the group.
Abraham (Frank Joseph Paul) is the Jewish altar boy and the group’s chief
songwriter. The slender storyline leans on an electronic contraption
called the soul meter. It consists of a couple of TV screens mounted at the
rear of the stage that register the number of souls in the audience which still
need to be saved. As the show progresses, the number goes down until it sticks
stubbornly on the number four. Who those four unsaved souls are is a mystery
solved at the end of the evening, providing the only bit of semi serious drama
in the show. The songs are a canny mix of ballads, rhythm and blues, and
even a rap number. As a typical example of the score’s catchy and droll lyrics,
consider “Jesus called me on my cell phone/No roaming charges were incurred/He
told me that I should go out in the world/ and spread his glorious word.” The show includes audience participation, always tricky, but
at my performance the boys brought a young woman onto the stage who proved to
be a perfect foil for Matthew’s romantic/ecclesiastical crooning. The lads in the Noble Fool ensemble all sing and dance and
act with limitless exuberance under John Gawlik’s spot-on direction and the
ebullient choreography by Gil Mata. Brett Rowe directs the fine on-stage
four-piece band. Colleen Tovar designed the set, John Horan the lighting,
Kathleen Cowell the costumes, and Mike Tutaj the video. Patrons who arrive at the resort well ahead of the
performance should consider dining at Jambalaya, an informal restaurant that
features Cajun food. The prices are reasonable and the chicken dish I ordered
was exceptional, though the menu leans heavily to seafood. Jambalaya is also a
comfortable watering hole for drinks before the performance or perhaps to watch
the evening’s sports events on the several TV screens above the bar. “Altar Boyz” runs through July 12 at Noble Fool Theatricals
at the Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 East Main Street. Performances are Thursday
and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 5 and 8:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets
are $28 and $39 and meal packages are available. Call 630 584 6342 or visit www.noblefool.org. The show gets a rating of 31/2 stars. May 2009 Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com.
************************** Some Enchanted Evening: The Songs of Rodgers and
Hammerstein At
Noble Fool Theatricals By Dan Zeff ST. CHARLES—Noble
Fool Theatricals had a nice little winning streak going this season with its
entertaining revival of “Drood” and its chirpy staging of “I Love You, You’re
Perfect, Now Change.” If the company didn’t exactly take a step backward with
the current production of “Some Enchanted Evening: The Songs of Rodgers and
Hammerstein,” it certainly marks time with its presentation of this unchallenging
90-minute revue. The revue’s title says it all. The show is a reprise of the
songs of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, mostly from their musical
comedies, especially “South Pacific,” “Oklahoma!,” “The King and I,” “The Sound
of Music,” and “Carousel.” The evening also includes a few numbers from the
team’s less popular musicals as well as their motion picture and television
work.
The revue originated in 1983 as a concept by Jeffrey B. Moss.
The Noble Fool acknowledges Moss on its poster for the show but largely
disregards his concept. In the 1983 revue, the first act involves a group of
five members of the backstage crew (a seamstress, a property mistress, a
carpenter, etc.) who unexpectedly are drafted into the roles of the singers
scheduled to star in the revue. The role
reversals allow a fresh spin on the familiar songs, leading to the second act,
which is a straight concert rendition of R&H hits and near hits. The Noble Fool omits the first act show-within-a-show idea.
Instead, it presents the entire revue as a concert, with no dialogue, no plot,
and very little linkage between songs. It’s purely an “And then they wrote…”
production. Of
course, nobody need apologize for staging an evening of Rodgers and Hammerstein
music, considering the iconic status of so many of their numbers. But the very
familiarity of the songs works against the show. Without some freshening up of all those
famous numbers, the show settles into an “I’ve heard that song a hundred times”
groove. Indeed, the opening night audience actually started to sing along with
the cast a couple of times, only to be abruptly cut off when the performers
moved to the next tune. The
ensemble of three women and two men are decent performers, though one of the
performers isn’t ready for prime time yet. Easily the best of the singers is
Catherine Lord, who has graced countless musical productions throughout the
Chicagoland audience over many seasons. Lord really knows how to sell a song,
and her rendition of “The Gentleman Is a Dope” was one of the evening’s few
highlights. Director Bill Jenkins moves his ensemble
around minimally and doesn’t extract much energy from the song after song
presentation. Bob Kiser contributed a bit of rudimentary choreography. One
individual who distinguished himself was Tom Clear, the piano accompanist, who
was tasteful, musical, and unflappable throughout the evening. Hopefully “Some Enchanted Evening” is
just a pause in the company’s ascent into a major regional theater purveyor of
quality light entertainment. “Some Enchanted Evening” runs through
November 1 at Noble Fool Theatricals at the Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 East Main
Street. Performances are Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 5 and 8:30
p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. There are also several Thursday performances at 2
p.m. Tickets are $27 and $38 with meal packages available. As always, the
Harvest Restaurant is recommended without reservation. Call
630 584 6342 or visit www.noblefool.org. The
show gets a rating of 21/2 stars.
Sept.
2008 Contact
Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com.
************************
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
by Noble Fool Theatricals
ST. CHARLES—“I
Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” is heading toward the completion of its
12th year in New York City.
The revue has played in more than 400 cities around the world, including a long
and prosperous run at the Royal George Theatre in Chicago several years ago. It
may be the great date show of our time. “I Love You…” is now being presented by Noble Fool
Theatricals at the Pheasant Run Resort in a production that easily establishes
why this work has attracted so many customers in so many places over so many
years. It’s funny, imaginative, and leavens its entertainment value with
spot-on in sights into the games males and females play today as they meet and
attempt to match. The team of Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Rogers created an intimate
vehicle for four performers who play about five dozen characters (the costume
changes backstage must be a track meet). The show comes in at just under two
hours, blending sketches and songs about being single, being married, and being
parents. None of the subject matter is new, but it’s delivered with
charm and flare. While the evening should be fun for all demographics, the
twentysomethings and thirtysomethings in the audience should particularly
recognize themselves and their experiences in romance and domesticity. It’s all
sold with irresistible enthusiasm and versatility by the four performers under
Tom Mullen’s sprightly directing. The first half of the show explores the rituals of the dating
scene, from the tension-filled first date through the manipulations and
gamesmanship that lead to the altar. The insecurities and false bravado of the
male-female social dance are nailed in one number after another (only a shrill
scene at the Joliet prison seems out of place). After the intermission the revue enters the minefield of
young married life, which mostly means the obligations and distractions and
pleasures of parenthood. The evening ends on a touchy feely note with two
numbers, the first a husband’s quiet hymn across the breakfast table to the
woman he has loved for 30 years. Finally, an elderly widower gently hits an on
elderly widow at a funeral home viewing for a deceased person neither of them
know. The viewing becomes the senior citizens equivalent of a singles bar,
demonstrating that the sparks of romance still glow even when there is snow on
the roof. The revue doesn’t touch on the dark side of the man/woman
mating encounter. There is nothing about cheating partners or sexually
transmitted diseases. Potentially serious themes like the loneliness of the
single life are examined with a light, if rueful, touch, especially in the
number called “Always a Bridesmaid.” And the show is strictly heterosexual,
something of a novelty in the mid 1990’s, when “I Love You…” opened and gay
oriented musicals seemed to dominate the New York stage. But the light touch
doesn’t diminish the many truthful contact points scattered throughout the
revue. The Noble Fool revival is beautifully served by the ensemble
of Charissa Armon and Amy Olsen, representing the women’s half of the
equations, and John Sanders and Karl Hamilton, representing the men. They can all sing and act and strut through
Stacey Flaster’s bright and deft choreography.
The show doesn’t shy away from stereotypes, so we get males
fixated on the TV screen during football season and women who immerse
themselves in shopping, both to the helpless aggravation of the opposite sex.
But stereotypes are built around a grain of reality and the opening night
audience obviously had no difficulty recognizing and possibly identifying with
the assorted characters on stage. The production benefits from the efficient musical
accompaniment provided by the duo of music director Ken Jones (keyboards) and
Paul Bauer (percussion), both perched above the stage behind a scrim. Don
Conley designed a sleek modernistic all-purpose set that takes the action from
street corners to interiors with the addition and subtraction of a few props slid
on and off stage. Jennifer Kules designed the lighting, Kimberly G. Morris the
costumes, and Joseph Fosco the sound. While “I Love You…” breaks no new ground, it consistently
amuses and occasionally stimulates with its tuneful songs and witty lyrics. DiPietro
and Rogers have taken on a well-mined subject and turned it into a show that is
cute but never cutesy. The performances by the ingratiating Noble Fool foursome
bring it all to exuberant and thoughtful life. “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” runs through July 19
at Noble Fools Theatricals, 4051 East Main Street. Most performances are Thursday and Friday at
8 p.m., Saturday at 5 and 8:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $27 and
$38 with dinner packages available. The Harvest, one of the classiest
restaurants is metropolitan Chicago, is highly recommended. Call 630 584 6342. The show gets a rating of four stars. May 2008
For more information, contact www.noblefool.org
**************************
Drood
at the Noble Fool Theatre
By Dan Zeff
ST. CHARLES—Charles Dickens died before completing his mystery novel “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.” The unfinished story led to a cottage industry among English literary scholars competing to provide the most logical solution to the story. The puzzle attracted Rupert Holmes, who in 1985 wrote the songs and book for a musical comedy adaptation of the Dickens original, first called “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” and then, part way through its hit Broadway run, reduced to “Drood."
Holmes converted the serious novel into a larky show-within-a-show, building to a conclusion in which the audience votes to select the killer of Edwin Drood, a young man who disappeared one stormy night in the English cathedral town of Cloisterham. Holmes did not invent the audience participation gimmick. Playwrights have employed it for generations and area playgoers can experience a similar exploiting of the device in “Shear Madness” in downtown Chicago.
The Noble Fool is reviving “Drood” in a high-spirited production bolstered by a large company of young and eager performers. The pleasures of the evening come down to an audience’s tolerance for broad and facetious comedy. This is very much an audience friendly show, with the actors encouraging the spectators to sing along and the characters mingling with the customers in the aisles.
The show begins with the introduction of a seedy Victorian English musical hall company led by an actor known as the Chairman. The troupe is preparing to perform its musical version of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” in a provincial music hall. The members of the company morph into the characters in the novel, never hesitating to break character to milk the audience for vaudeville style laughs or to bicker among themselves.
The plot centers on Edwin Drood, soon to be married to Rosa Bud, an alliance arranged by their now deceased fathers and not to the liking of either party. The outward villain is John jasper, a drug addicted music teacher in love with Rosa, his pupil. A collection of supporting characters includes the usual assortment of Dickens grotesques, like a sinister set of twins from Ceylon named Linda and Neville Landless. Then there is the Reverend Crisparkle, the Princess Puffer (who runs a London opium den), a local layabout named Blazzard, and a tipsy gravedigger named Durdles. A young woman named Flo is also in the mix, for no particular reason except, as the Chairman comments, “for sexual titillation.
Holmes has written a large score, a few of his songs serious, most of them tongue in cheek, none of them memorable. The music is designed to amplify the plot and characters, but none of the songs will send the viewer out of the theater humming a melody.
At the end of the evening, the audience chooses from among six suspects in the murder of Edwin Drood. After the audience selection, the show moves to one of the pre-written endings. On opening night, the audience voted in Rosa Bud, who then stepped forward to sing her reason for the murder, and a pretty logical reason it was. A final plot twist ends the show, throwing into confusion everything we’ve seen before.
The Noble Food staging is led by Richard Marlatt as the Chairman, our guide through the Dickens story and the foibles of the music hall troupe. The Chairman also steps in as the Cloisterham mayor after the actor signed to play the role jilts the show. The Chairman delivers a few salty asides along the way that briefly raise the show from PG to PG-13, but it’s all harmless fun.
The Noble Fool ensemble includes several solid trained voices, notably Julie Bayer as Rosa Bud and Kenneth Kendall as John Jasper. There are also good contributions from Anita Hoffman, who looks like she stepped out of a Hogarth caricature, as the Princess Puffer and Cat Davis as the music hall company’s male impersonator who takes on the role of Drood. The best acting in the production comes from Darci Nalepa as Helena Landless and Jeff Diebold, who looks a lot like John Cleese, as Neville Landless. Tiffany Topol was continuously fetching as Flo, the character with nothing to do in the story except look fetching.
The physical production nicely captures the second rate look of the provincial Victorian music hall, thanks to Bob Knuth’s sets. The period atmosphere is colorfully rendered by Kimberly Morris’s costumes. John Horan designed the lighting and Joseph Fosco the sound.
Kevin Bellie wears the hats of director and choreographer. As director he keeps the pace sprightly and deftly balances the low comedy and pseudo melodramatic elements in the plot. His jaunty choreography involves the entire ensemble. This is a show with a lot of movement, well executed by the high-energy cast. But “Drood” ultimately relies on the good will of the audience. Those who like their musicals jovial, clever, and pleasantly silly should be entertained. The Noble Fool people certainly expend maximum effort to put the show over.
“Drood” runs through April 12 at the Noble Fool Theatre at the Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 East Main Street. Performances are Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 5 and 8:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $27 and $38. Dinner packages are available, with the Harvest restaurant recommended. Call 630 584 6342. For more information contact: www.noblefool.org
The show gets a rating of 3 1/2 stars.Feb. 2008
Contact us : zeffdaniel@yahoo.com