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The Birthday Party at Steppenwolf
I'm not a big fan of theatre of the absurd and this excellent production of a classic Harold Pinter play didn't exactly change my mind. The whole time I thought how much more fun it would be to be on stage acting instead of in the audience (plus, I'm sure the actors have more of a idea what's going on in the script than the audience does). I don't know if I'll ever figure this play out, but they did haul out some of Steppenwolf's best ensemble actors, including John Mahoney (Frazier's dad on TV) and Ian Barford (August: Osage County). Excellent work, but not my cup of tea.
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The Whale at Victory Gardens
Having never seen a show at Victory Gardens, I jumped at the chance to see this potential 2012 Pulitzer prize winner by Samuel D. Hunter, which had an acclaimed run off-Broadway last year at Playwrights Horizon. And, I was definitely impressed: another great theatre space/company in Chicago and a very good play. The "whale" is a 600-pound man, who never leaves his home, trying to connect/make amends to various peeps, including his daughter and ex-wife (and a random Mormon on his mission), as his life draws to a end due to health issues. There are plenty of interesting references to Moby Dick and Jonah and the Whale along the way. At times overly melodramatic (I'm not sure if the script or the direction is too blame for that), there's a lot of heart and humor in this otherwise very sad story. The ending is not exactly satisfying either for a variety of reasons, one being the dissolution of realism into theatrical ether, which seems to be very common in many plays' endings these days. The fat suit is impressive and one wonders if it's being licensed out ala the plant in Little Shop of Horrors.
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Big Fish
This is the latest big Broadway musical trying out in Chicago. It wouldn't be fair to heavily criticize this show since it just finished its first week of previews. That said, it needs work and lots of it. And, it appears that work is being done. When I walked by the theater on Friday night, it let out around 3 hours and 2 days later when I saw it, it was down to 2:45.
This is actually my first exposure to the material and from a newbie's eyes, it is wildly uneven. The first act is largely a series of vignettes, each devoted to one of the characters from the father character's tall tales. This setup continues into the second act, even though by then the father is on his death bed. Unfortunately, these musical sequences are way over-produced with extraneous, lavish choreography and unneeded musical interludes, so much so that the central story of a son coming to terms with his relationship (or lack of one) with his dad is severely waylaid. That said, there are some really great songs in here sung beautifully by the excellent cast, but this really needs to be a smaller show. The scene design consists largely of projections and mostly lacks any theatrical magic, though I liked how the orchestra pit was dressed up to be the river that is central to the story (the musicians themselves can occasionally be glimpsed on a multi-level structure behind the stage).
Norbert Leo Butz as the father is Norbert Leo Butz, but it works better here then in his last big role in Catch Me If You Can. He's rarely off stage and provides the show's humor, but his character is largely off-putting. Kate Baldwin and Bobby Steggert are excellent in the likeable roles, but they have much, much less to do. Things come together thematically in the finale, but it was mostly "too little too late" for me. I definitely will be doing some "compare and contrast" with Tim Burton's movie version soon!
This is actually my first exposure to the material and from a newbie's eyes, it is wildly uneven. The first act is largely a series of vignettes, each devoted to one of the characters from the father character's tall tales. This setup continues into the second act, even though by then the father is on his death bed. Unfortunately, these musical sequences are way over-produced with extraneous, lavish choreography and unneeded musical interludes, so much so that the central story of a son coming to terms with his relationship (or lack of one) with his dad is severely waylaid. That said, there are some really great songs in here sung beautifully by the excellent cast, but this really needs to be a smaller show. The scene design consists largely of projections and mostly lacks any theatrical magic, though I liked how the orchestra pit was dressed up to be the river that is central to the story (the musicians themselves can occasionally be glimpsed on a multi-level structure behind the stage).
Norbert Leo Butz as the father is Norbert Leo Butz, but it works better here then in his last big role in Catch Me If You Can. He's rarely off stage and provides the show's humor, but his character is largely off-putting. Kate Baldwin and Bobby Steggert are excellent in the likeable roles, but they have much, much less to do. Things come together thematically in the finale, but it was mostly "too little too late" for me. I definitely will be doing some "compare and contrast" with Tim Burton's movie version soon!
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