Category Archives: Theatre

Aftermath: Ken Kaden’s Adaptation of Nick Hornby’s “A Long Way Down”

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Wow…

Seriously… just wow.

Ask any thespian on the planet about shows, movies, etc that they are most proud of and I am sure they have one. Not that they have to… but chances are they do.

For a long while I was most proud about a role in a musical theatre production that people still remember to this day. However, after having been blessed with the chance to run lights for Ken Kaden’s adaptation of Nick Hornby’s “A Long Way Down”, I find it mildly ironic that the role I played in this production wasn’t onstage (not that I would have wanted it… hits too close to home) but rather off. Not only that, but it happens to tie in with my day job.

Figures doesn’t it.

But enough about me. This is Ken’s show, Ken’s production and for his first time in adapting a book in such a way that makes sense for stage and doing it well… Not only that but directing for the first time and putting all this together for the first time, yeah, it is a job not just well done… but WELL DONE.
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Reflection: Ken Kaden’s Adaptation of Nick Hornby’s “A Long Way Down”

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There are few shows that bring comedy into a serious issue and still resonate with the audience… and yet Ken Kaden has managed to keep that vary spirit of Nick Hornby’s novel “A Long Way Down” via his staged adaptation.

But first a little about “A Long Way Down”:

In his fourth novel, New York Times-bestselling author Nick Hornby mines the hearts and psyches of four lost souls who connect just when they’ve reached the end of the line.

Meet Martin, JJ, Jess, and Maureen. Four people who come together on New Year’s Eve: a former TV talk show host, a musician, a teenage girl, and a mother. Three are British, one is American. They encounter one another on the roof of Topper’s House, a London destination famous as the last stop for those ready to end their lives.

In four distinct and riveting first-person voices, Nick Hornby tells a story of four individuals confronting the limits of choice, circumstance, and their own mortality. This is a tale of connections made and missed, punishing regrets, and the grace of second chances.

Intense, hilarious, provocative, and moving, A Long Way Down is a novel about suicide that is, surprisingly, full of life.

Yep… you read that right, funny but in a very thought provoking way even Ken admits as such via the Facebook invitiation:

Some oddities about “A Long Way Down!” :
1. It’s about suicide, and we hope to make you laugh.
2. It’s a staged reading, and most of the lines are memorized.
3. It’s not a musical, and music is important throughout.
4. One of the characters is famous, and nobody likes him.
5. Admission is free, and we hope you will give generously to a worthy cause.
6. It is first-come, first-served, and we hope to turn no-one away.

So now that you are semi-familiar with the adaptation and realize that it will open this coming weekend, why am I writing about it now?

Simple..

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Review: Theatre of Western Springs’ Ghosts in the Machine

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Show: GHOST IN THE MACHINE
Stage Manager: Jon Mills 		Location: The Theatre of Western Springs
Director: Rick Snyder


This was a very last minute decision to see this production and really it was because one of my friend wanted to see his friend (whom I am also familiar with) in it and I was curious enough with what little of the premise I was able to construe to want to see what it was about.

So first the quickie:
Acting: love
Staging: love
Set Design: love

Fairly simple, no? According to The Theatre of Western Springs website…

The story begins with a common situation – that of a missing fifty dollar bill – and spins it into intriguing questions of probability, chance and the complexities of musical composition. A man programs a computer to compose music at random, but in the middle of all the binary coin-tossing the computer gives him much more than he asked for. A concurrent mystery surrounds several people who find themselves suspecting and distrusting each other over the issue of a lost or possibly stolen fifty dollar bill. Originally produced at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, Ghost in the Machine is an entertaining and brisk mix of sex, mystery and metaphysics.

So below is the cast list and beyond the break my thoughts:

CHARACTER ACTOR
Wes Westlund Mike Janke
Nancy Westlund Laura Leonardo Ownby
Matt Carroll David M. Rodriguez
Kim Goldfarb Sharon Kushiner
Ali Schumann Noor Hamdi
Llewelyn Harper James Murphy

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Fleeting: Miss Saigon Characters (Wish List: Round One)

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Still no update on whether or not a Miss Saigon film is a “go” but I figured that as an extension of my original “wish list” in regards to a possible Miss Saigon film adaptation… I’ll provide my idea / vision of the character breakdown for various character parts.

Keep in mind I prefer to stay away from “fantasy casting” so don’t be expecting me to do any “name dropping” as it were. Though thinking this through I think it would be best if I broke this down into two posts… one for the Vietnamese only characters and another for the non-Vietnamese cast. Also (time-permitting) I’ll list out all the side characters from the original Miss Saigon musical that have bit parts in the songs that I think are significant enough to have decent cameos (if necessary).

So to make my life easier (and I’ll explain why in the next post) I’ll work on the non-Vietnamese characters first… these will include the obvious: Chris, John and Ellen… and I will add in “The Engineer” as well to which I will explain at the end of this post, but first:

CHRIS and JOHN
I think this would have been obvious. Americans… doesn’t have to be the stereotypical blond haired / blue-eyed Americans… or Caucasians, but heck anyone that you can see from the Army at some point during the 1970s. Sure the traditional look from musical theatre between Chris and John is one African-American and the other Caucasian, but it isn’t absolutely necessary. What is more necessary is how they look… do they look like they have been through the military boot camp of evil and tossed into an exotic place like Vietnam and rampaged through the jungles of the city of Saigon and not know what the heck is going on? Do they look worn down by the stress of war to the point that they are about to break?

ELLEN
So by extension Ellen (though obviously American) I feel should have a quiet strength to her. Someone that is steadfast, but not overbearing. A light at the end of the tunnel, someone who worked to be a sounding board for Chris for so long and is not only incredibly patient, she stands her ground… after all she is willing to “fight” Kim to keep Chris.

THE ENGINEER
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Review: Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Celebration

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In early December of 2012, I was fortunate to have a show that I was originally in rehearsals for… to be postponed until spring of 2013. Why fortunate? Because it gave me a chance to see a concert celebration for the music from Final Fantasy… and I have yet to miss a concert since the tour began five years ago and have come through Chicago how many times since then?

The Final Fantasy Concert holds a special place in my heart… it is where I met one of the first people that I knew from the online world and were friends with (well before the internet became littered with predators and crazies). So naturally it became a habit for me to want to see the concert every time it comes through Chicago… there is a bit of nostalgia that comes into play.

This year was no different and yet meant the world… for this time around it was the Distant Worlds Official Final Fantasy 25th Birthday Celebration. Since Chicago is known to be the kick off city for the first North American Tour of the Final Fantasy Concert series it made sense to have the Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Celebration to be in Chicago.

Now I would typically write my own review of the concert… but I am lazy and there are already people online that have put their own two cents of the concert. So I will just link to one such blog post by another concert go-er…

Just click on the break to see the set list that was featured at the 25th Celebration concert… and some of my quick impressions.

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Fleeting: After Les Mis… Now What?

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It was said time and again that if Les Miserables made a killing in the box office then Cameron Mackintosh would focus his attention on bringing Miss Saigon to the silver screen as well. Well with that possibility becoming clearer and clearer everyday, you’d think I would go and update my wish list of what I would like to see happen with Miss Saigon. Well the truth is, not much has changed and as thus instead I’ll simply do another round up of musical productions that people are sniffing around for a big screen treatment.

RUMORED to be in DEVELOPMENT
Wicked
Considering how there is already a Wizard of Oz movie about to be released by Disney in March (Oz the Great and Powerful) that is a kind of prequel to the Wizard of Oz, I am not really entirely sure having another Wizard of Oz prequel would be overkill in the current yeah.

Thankfully out in the wonderful world of IMDB it appears that the currently slated date would be sometime in 2014.

Interesting… very very interesting.

Jersey Boys
Also… that same article mentions that the Jersey Boys appear to be in the development phase for a film adaptation. And yet… according to IMDB there is no real set date for the film to be released… but it does mention that such a film is currently in development.

FUN!
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Review: Profiles Theatre’s Hellcab

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Last week I had the pleasure to see a friend of mine in Profiles Theatre’s production of Hellcab. The first thing I said to him about his performance was that it took til almost the end of the show for me to be any where close to certain as to which character he played.

However, there was just enough doubt in me that I leaned over to my friend (his wife) after the show and ask, “your husband was the blind man, right?” Typically I am pretty good at playing “spot my talented friend” be it on stage or on film… in this case, not realizing which one was my friend was a feat in itself.

If you don’t already know the general production of Hellcab, it is a slew of scenes of various people and their interactions with the cab driver (the main character who was on stage for the entirety of the production). However, instead of having a small slew of actors playing multiple roles, each individual role was cast with a different actor… making this the largest cast production of Hellcab (that I know of to date).

However, considering the concept of this anniversary season of Profiles Theatre is it really any surprise that they would go all out?

When walking into the theatre for your seats the first thing you notice is that there is a full-sized cab sitting in the middle of the stage. The roof was sawed off and both passenger seats were taken out… but for the most part the cab was all there and in reasonable working condition (well reasonable enough).

What do I mean?

Well the cabbie is able to turn left or right and you can see the tires actually turn. The cab’s headlights were working for some of the scenes set in the middle of the night. (Though being an engineer I am kind of curious if they were run from the cabbie in the scene or from a separate tech crew… I should probably ask my friend but I digress).

Since there are so many characters outside of the cab driver, I won’t be able to run through them all (mainly because I don’t remember who they were, or which actors / actresses played what)… so what I’ll do is just notate the highlights.

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Review: The Theatre of Western Springs’ Sylvia

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Late last year a friend of mine and I were talking about attending The Theatre of Western Springs’ Sylvia. I mentioned that I would like to go as long as I had someone to go with and they felt the same. When word came around that there was a special announcement occurring after Opening Night my friend called me up and we decided that would be the day we would see the show.

So before I break it down here is the quick list:
Acting: Like
Directing: Like
Set Design: Love
Overall: Like
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Fleeting: Chess the Musical (Film Adaptation)

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While driving to rehearsal one day I was listening to Seth Rudetsky and he mentioned how the musical Chess could be adapted into a movie if there is a stronger script and then segued into a song from Chess… but it got me thinking if Chess could actually be adapted for film? Particularly with the (arguable) success of Les Miserables.

So I decided just for the hell of it to listen to the Chess in Concert at Royal Albert Hall featuring the vocal talents of Josh Groban, Adam Pascal, Idina Menzel and Kerry Ellis.

If there were ever a song that really drove the point of this musical home it would be “The Deal (No Deal)”

Paying close attention to the lyrics you can’t help but notice how every character within the piece is their own version of chess for whatever their own reasons are.

Chess the musical wasn’t just about the chess game, but the game of life and how everyone was trying to manipulate everyone else to get what they want in the end… from front to end everything was a chess game.
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Review: How the Grinch Stole Christmas

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Show: HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS
Produced by: 		Location: Cadillac Palace Theatre
Director:

So first we have the famed Dr Seuss book which inspired a film adaptation with Jim Carrey and now there is a stage musical production? Riiiiiight…

I was cautiously curious about this stage production but my date for the evening wanted to see it (of the choices presented to him) so I figured, “how bad could it be?”. As it would turn out, I had more fun in this quick 90 minute production than I had originally anticipated… go figure.

Considering I saw this back in mid-December, there is much that is bound to be forgotten, but I will try to recall as much as possible:
Acting: like
Singing: like
Choreography: like
Set Design: love
Figures doesn’t it?
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Review: Wheaton Drama’s It’s a Wonderful Life Radio Show

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Show: IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE RADIO SHOW
Produced by: 		Location: Wheaton Drama
Director: Sean Ogren

Earlier in December of 2012, a friend of mine and I went to Wheaton Drama to see a bunch of our friends in the holiday radio show “It’s a Wonderful Life”. When I say “a bunch” I mean I knew a fair number of the case right of the bat… (I know that is considered par for the course for me). Anyway what is different about this particular radio show was the addition of a children’s dance troupe from Geneva.

Before I move on here were some first impressions:
Acting: like
Singing: like
Choreography: meh
Staging: like
Sound Effects: love

One of the first things I noticed is that while the audience was trickling into the theatre, various members of the cast were already fully in character, interacting with the audience. It was strange having this sense of being transported into a different decade completely and feeling a sense of being part of the live audience for such a production.

Off to the side of the stage was a couple of tables that were set up for what it would appear to be the “sound effects” guys for the production. Helmed by R J Ogren and Peter Lemongelli, I knew instinctively that we were in for a real treat.

The radio program was hosted by Randy Knott (also known as Count Carl-Magnus in VTG’s A Little Night Music) who was cracking jokes towards the audience and the sound effect guys. However, who really stole the pre-show was Steve Schroeder and his antics of dinging a bell and pointing randomly “and you get wings” *ding* “and you get wings” *ding* “and you get wings”… well you get the idea. That damn guy keeps stealing the show no matter where he is at… but I digress.

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Review: Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear’s Cinnamon Bear

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Show: THE CINNAMON BEAR
Produced by: Transco 		Location: Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear
Director: Ben Dooley

Just around the holiday season “Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear“ does a radio show and this past year is no different. In fact what was on hand in the repetoire of 2012 was a condensed version of The Cinnamon Bear… from what I understand there were 26 episodes of programming (or approximately five hours) to wade through and trim into a 90 minute live radio show. And did they succeed… Although I am not familiar with the original programming I thoroughly enjoyed what I was able to listen to in what was available.

According to the website:

Since 1938, Chicago families have gathered around the radio and delighted in the holiday adventures of Judy, Jimmy and the lovable Paddy O’Cinnamon as they traveled through the weird and wonderful Maybeland in search of their missing silver star to adorn their Christmas tree–the clock ticking as Christmas Day comes closer and closer. On their magical journey they meet all sorts of exciting characters. Some of them are friendly, like Queen Melissa, while others are not so nice, like the Wintergreen Witch. But all of them are memorable.

[…]

So join us as Judy and Jimmy discover their silver start is missing and they embark on their wondrous journey into Maybeland to bring it back. Along the way, we’ll meet the Crazy Quilt Dragon, Nicky Frudle, Jack Frost, and we’ll even head up to the North Pole to visit Santa Claus himself.
Fun for the whole family (perfect for children of all ages) here’s your chance to see and hear this show come to new life, packed with delightful music, wonderful characters, and exciting adventures that every child will enjoy.

But really what is there to say about it?
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Review: BrightSide Theatre’s Company

Show: COMPANY
Music and Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Book: George Furth 		Location: BrightSide Theatre
Director: Jeffrey Cass
Music Director: Justin Potter

Acting: like
Singing: like
Set: meh
Staging: like
Choreography: Could do without

Standouts: Jess Iovinelli as Amy, Michelle McKenzie-Voigt at Joanne, Peter Sipla as Robert

So my friend got me to be her date for “industry night” at BrightSide Theatre for Company. Company was one of those shows that liked a lot of the songs, but the book is either hit or miss depending on what the actors and director bring to the table.

For the most part… the show did well. I would be the first to admit that there were moments that I was scrunching my face up in all sorts of strange contortions because of the choreography or movement that the actors were doing. In fact… to me movement is suppose to either move the story along or enhance it, and in this production Company the movement work detracts from the singing and acting to the point that it probably hinders the singing and acting. But I digress.

The first number to really catch my attention was “The Little Things You Do Together”, particularly the lines that were sung by Joanne as portrayed by Michelle McKenzie-Voigt. Just everything she did during this number was drawing my attention with ease and in a very good way. You knew right off the bad the kind of character she was and I was waiting with anticipation (maybe not that extreme) until her big moment towards the end of the production to decide if she was worth waiting for…

The next number to really catch my attention was “Getting Married Today” particularly one Jess Iovinelli who portrayed Amy the young lady who was about to be married to Paul. The frantic undertones during her moment was not just spot on but hilariously funny. In fact… her performance was so engaging I went to my friend and whispered “she is worth the price of admission”. And I stick to that… in hindsight there were other reasons overall that made the show worthwhile but I am getting ahead of myself.

During the second act the song that did it for me was Michelle McKenzie-Voigt’s moment in the spotlight with “The Ladies Who Lunch”. Granted the Chicago Theatre Review made mention that it appears that Michelle’s rendition of the song was a bit forced… but I thought that in a lot of ways this was more of her character choice and it appeared to be rather seamless to me.

As for the center of the production, Peter Sipla deserves more than a mere commendation for his interpretation of Robert but also for going through the production whilst getting over a sinus infection. Very well done, he hit the highs and lows of his character as he observes the couples around him until finally hitting a moment with Joanne when she presses him that she would “take care of him” to which his soft spoken blink and you would miss reply of “then who would I take care of?”. This epiphany leads him into his heartbreaking rendition of “Being Alive” which… considering that his nose was red and it would appear that he was still under was still pretty darn good.

One of the things that my friend and I noticed right off the bat was that each of the five couples had amazing chemistry with one another from the “karate” fight between Sarah and Harry (Julie Ann Kornak and Matt Gidson respectively) to Jenny and David (Sarah Page and Dan Maxon). From Susan and Peter (Katy Harth and Peter Durkin) to Amy and Paul (Jess Iovinelli and Steven Attanasie)… and finally Joanne and Larry (Michelle McKenzie-Voigt and Jim Heatherly)… the chemistry between each couple was not only realistic, but palpable too. You could actually believe them to truly be couples. Not a weak couple in sight.

As for the three single ladies… none truly stood out for me, which I found to be rather odd because for some reason the “single” characters (outside of Robert) felt weaker overall than the “coupled” characters, not that this was the intent but it did have a feeling of people are stronger when with someone than alone.

Of the three single ladies (Amy Stricker as Marta, Angela Bubash as Kathy, and Allison Sill as April) I actually enjoyed Kathy and her moving dialogue with Robert. April was pleasantly airheaded and “dumb” but I felt she oversang her solo a bit. It was too nice and pretty… which maybe fits, but it seemed off to me. Marta during her moment in “Another Hundred People” did rather well but seemed to fall flat through her dialogue moments after having such an impact in her couple of lines in the opening song.

However, a lot of thing could probably have been rectified and cleaned up if it weren’t for the fact that it felt suspiciously like the actors were focusing more on the choreography (or movement in accordance to some people) than on their vocals. But again, since I already mentioned this before… I’ll stop.

Overall this was a good production and one with enough highlights to make the price of admission worthwhile for me. Heck… I would not mind going back to watch the standouts again because well… they were worth it.

UPDATES: Changing up the Review process

So I am going to try a new thing when talking about shows that I have seen… since I have a bad habbit of over chatting. At the top of the post I will have a list of points that I either liked, loved, or could do without… then if there were any standouts I would list them.

Once the basic bullet points are over then if you would like to read more in detail then I would do so as I normally would.

Hopefully this would help more in understanding what I was trying to say in the first place.

So the first thing anyone would see when coming onto my blog at the top would be the typical table breakdown of the show, director, musical director, and the creators. Afterwards for musicals I would include my instant thoughts of acting, singing, staging, set, choreography… and finally I would list the standouts and any other quick thoughts that I believe are rather important.

Then after the break I would go into my usual song and dance breaking everything down even more if you want to know the whys behind the whats.

Why am I am changing it up (again) well… after seeing Company out in BrightSide in Naperville with a friend earlier this week I realized that in every show I have gone to I would say something of the following:
– Acting: meh
– Singing: liked
– Set: meh
– Staging: loved
– Choreography: liked

Then I would proceed to go into details of the whys… by doing it this way I think it would give you the readers a chance to do a quick look of my “instant thoughts” as I call it and then if you have time could continue to read.

Would I go back to some of the past reviews and use this system? Probably not, it would take too much time, might as well just start with now.

Review: Live Arena Tour’s Jesus Christ Superstar

This cannot be considered a true review because I haven’t seen the production in its entirety, however… what I have seen (which is more than plenty) is enough for me to warrant putting my thoughts down on a post and continue on my merry way.

I’ll be brutally honest… first… if I were to do the last year all over again, I would participate in this show once and that is it. Once is more than I am able to stomach and there has to be a damn good reason as to why I would want to participate in the production a second time and in all honesty it wasn’t worthwhile. So by extension I have been adverse to actually since any kind of production of JCS on stage… unless it is for a damn good reason.

Well is Melanie Chisholm and Tim Minchin good enough reasons? After the following live performance with Mel C as Mary, Tim Minchin as Judas, and Ben Forster as Jesus… For me hell yeah!

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