November 2011: Chicago

Follies at Chicago Shakespeare

Broadway got the wrong Follies! I had mixed feelings about the current Broadway revival when it played in D.C. based both on the show itself (mainly the book) and the actual production. But, I was so blown away by this year's other major production of Follies that is was almost like seeing a completely different show! Gary Griffin's staging brought the audience into the action and masked almost all of the book's problems. Playing out on a deep 3/4-thrust stage, the audience is sitting backstage among the reunion's party-goers with the orchestra/the play's "on-stage band" truly on-stage on the other side of the theater's proscenium. This was the first time I've ever really liked Chicago Shakespeare's theater space, which I've only ever seen set up for shows using the proscenium only. The main playing area for this production is where the center "orchestra seats" are usually located (typically lower than the stage with no rake) and the ghosts and actors make great use of both of the theater's aisles. Griffin easily and effortlessly pulls the audience's attention from one scene/area to another and the musical numbers start up organically whether they are the reunion's production numbers or the characters' monologues/conversations. There are also a host of nice details that Griffin puts into the show that aren't in the script too, including giving the rich, aging theater-owner Weisman a young bimbo girlfriend. Love it!

This was a rare opportunity to see English/Australian actress Caroline O'Connor in the United States and she was perfect as Phyllis! Unlike Jan Maxwell's one-note, angry Phyllis in D.C./NYC, O'Connor gives us a full portrayal of this complex character. Thankfully, Phyllis is also appropriately costumed in Chicago, appearing at the reunion as a politician's stately wife and not in a sexy dress cut down-to-there-and-up-to-there like Maxwell is. Such a change makes a huge dramatic contrast with Phyllis's cut-loose appearance in the "Loveland sequence." The rest of the company (including other well-known actors like Brent Barrett as Ben among a host of unknown-to-me's) is similarly outstanding and easily bests the Kennedy Center's. I will give another shout-out to local Chicago actress Hollis Resnik for the most thrilling performance of "I'm Still Here" I've ever seen (and I'm including non-Follies related performances and various screenings). Starting as a one-on-one conversation with Weisman, Resnik and Griffin's "I'm Still Here" builds naturely, eventually drawing the attention of the male waiters and later the other party-goers. By the end of the song, "I'm Still Here" could be interpreted as a "We're Still Here" for all the ex-showgirls. Perfect! I could actually write a ten-page essay detailing why this is the better production, but no one would believe me since unfortunately this one's limited run ended shortly after I saw it. Brilliant theatre!!!

Clybourne Park at Steppenwolf

Speaking of brilliant theatre, it's easy to see why this play won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, though based on a different production. This two-act play imaginatively takes place in the house that the Younger family from A Raisin in the Sun is going to move into. No knowledge of A Raisin in the Sun is required and this play firmly exists on its own. The first act takes place in the same year as A Raisin in the Sun as a white family in a white neighborhood is getting ready to sell their house to a black family. As you can imagine, the neighbors are less than happy. The second act takes place in modern day as a young white couple attempts to tear down the house in the now blighted-but-becoming-yuppified neighborhood in order to build the house of their dreams, also to the dismay of their neighbors. Interestingly, many of the second-act characters have ties to those in the first act. Needless to say, this play is about one thing: RACE. But while taking on such a serious issue, the play also provides plenty of humor. This play and production is the best I've seen since that previous Steppenwolf triumph, August: Osage County. A different production of Clybourne Park is set to open at the Mark Taper Forum in L.A. early next year and is supposed to move on to Broadway in the Spring, but it's hard to imagine a better production than this one. Bravo to the terrific ensemble of actors, director Amy Morton, and set designer Todd Rosenthal. Brilliant work!