#theaterinchicago

[j-anneal]

@chrisgiffordpiercings, @monsterwannabe, and I had such a wonderful time at #thelightningthiefmusical ⚡️#theaterinchicago #chicago (at Oriental Theatre) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsmFaMehjBV/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1v4co68ncvpjr

[monicalanum2014-blog]

And so I’ve made it to the final week of the challenge.   I’m still working that out in my head. 

This week included everything I’ve loved most about the year…..finding cheap tickets to a play I’d never heard of, at a venue I’d never been to, and just going with the flow and checking it out.  Our group packed a quick picnic, grabbed a blanket, and headed to Oak Park to watch the final play on a lovely summer Saturday evening. 

The African Company Presents Richard III - yes, all of that is the title - was unexpected and really, really good.  I had guessed beforehand that it would be a creative adaptation of Shakespeare……but wow! It wasn’t that at all.  It was about an African American theater company that dared to stage a performance of Shakespeare in New York before the Civil War, when slavery was still commonplace in half of the country and civil rights were not even part of the discussion.  It was about racial prejudice and white supremacy - themes that should be long dead and forgotten by now.  And it was about freedom of expression - the freedom to say the words you want to say, when and where and how and to whom you want to say them, and the right to share the thoughts and feelings of your own heart and soul.  It was about the freedom to stand tall as yourself without needing permission from anyone else. 

Earlier today I found an online review of the play from 2001, several years after it debuted, that described these struggles as difficult to imagine in more enlightened times.  Thinking back to 2001, in what I can see now may have been more enlightened times, it probably did seem the play’s themes were merely interesting as history.   In today’s times, however, they seem frantically and horribly relevant all over again.  They shouldn’t be.  We should still be more enlightened.  But sadly, they are.  And we aren’t. 

All of which - combined with my reflective mood this week - has brought me to a renewed appreciation of how vital theater and creative expression and dialogue must be.  Always.  We must think and consider different perspectives and debate and argue and push one another to new understandings, constantly and continuously.  Without that kind of engagement and vigilance, enlightenment can be lost - much more quickly than it was gained in the first place.   And as we’re learning in today’s reality, the way back is long and cruel and frustratingly slow. 

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And now I suppose I really have to wrap up this final entry and put my funny little theater project to bed.   I have enjoyed it, and I can feel myself dragging this out…..but it’s time, and I’m mostly okay with it.  Today feels like the end of a perfect vacation - it’s best to leave a little sooner than you’re completely ready to go. 

I’ve been so fortunate to have the support and resources needed to work on a project like this.  I’ve had the time and funds to go to the plays, and I live in what may be the most amazing theater city in the world.  Chicago has something like 150 or 200 different theater companies.  I’ve thrown my theater geekiness into high gear for awhile, but only scratched the surface.  I’ve also loved remembering that even after living here for 20 years, I’ve only experienced a sampling of all the great neighborhood and restaurants and people that are just around the corner, everywhere.  The challenge has brought me back to many of the reasons I moved here. 

My friends and I laughingly came up with the idea for the challenge on a whim during the intermission of Moby Dick - our first play - when we saw it last September.  I’m grateful to have such fun and creative friends, who not only don’t think ideas like that are too weird, but actually go along with them.  And other friends who do think you’re weird, but support you anyway.  And then read your weird blog about the weird idea.  It’s truly a gift to have an urban family who has your back like that. 

So…..okay.   I guess I’m finished.  Wow!  This was one of my favorite things I’ve ever done.   

Onward to celebratory drinks.

[monicalanum2014-blog]

So....Tennessee Williams.  Whoa. 

WHOA. 

I went to this performance with a couple of friends who haven't been in our challenge group this year but wanted to help me along as I approached the finish line.  (Did I mention my friends are the best?)  I certainly loved the idea of going to the theater with them, but I also agreed because it seemed like a Tennessee Williams play was something I should see this year.   I mean, what is a theater challenge without one of the great American plays? 

Which led to me a realization.....I haven't seen a lot of great American plays this year.  Only this one by Tennessee Williams.  No Arthur Miller.  No Eugene O'Neill.   In fact, this was the only classic American drama that I remember from my research this year.  And I have been literally trolling through all kinds of websites and mailers and ads looking for interesting plays to see.  And Chicago is a huge theater market. Why is that?  Why so much Shakespeare everywhere, and so few American classics?  (Seriously.  I'm asking.) 

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is, of course, incredible.  It captures perfectly the inbred drama of crazy southern towns and families.  (I spent my childhood navigating a big family and surviving military moves to small-minded towns.  The script nailed all of it.)  I had never seen or read a Tennessee Williams play before, and I learned it takes about 10 seconds into the first act for his genius to permeate the room.  His ability to drive a suspenseful plot and simultaneously enmesh the audience in a dysfunctional web of very flawed and real and vibrant characters is astounding.  The story that unfolds is not comfortable, and I'm not sure it can be called enjoyable - but wow.  It is absorbing and unforgettable. 

After having seen several new plays and plays in development this year, it also struck me how much Tennessee Williams' work has defined and continues to influence American theater.  The complexity and tone and immersion of his work is exactly what the new productions I've seen have been striving for.  This week has given me a new lens to use while watching them. 

Apparently I'm not slacking off the deep thoughts as I head into the final stretch!   One more week to go.

[monicalanum2014-blog]

Week 50:  Beehive - The 60's Musical at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre

Beehive: The 60's Musical July 12 - August 26 Created by Larry Gallagher Supporting Sponsors Costume Sponsor Lynn & Doug Steffen

I purchased my tickets for the last three performances of the theater challenge all at the same time, and lined up the dates on my calendar - check! check! check! - to make sure I made the deadline.  (We started the challenge last September 1st, so with the calendar turning to mid-August it was time to get serious.)   The minute I saw the confirmations for those final tickets, it all started to seem like this might happening too fast.  Uh oh. 

Beehive was just what the doctor ordered to dispel those gloomy thoughts.  It was pure fun!  The cast featured six women - amazing voices ! - who sang a collection of songs from the 1960s, starting with girl groups early in the decade and progressing all the way to Janis Joplin. The audience tapped our toes and clapped our hands and sang along.  (Gosh!  What an incredible period of music!) The costumes also reflected the changing fashions of the times.  They were wonderfully retro-cool and highlighted how fashion was an important part of self-expression as this generation of women grew up and began to claim their own voice. 

As an aside, I happened to see Beehive the weekend after Aretha Franklin passed away.  The part of the show that featured her music was especially poignant and beautifully done.  What an incredible talent and creative force.  I don't think there was a dry eye in the house as her songs were sung.  I certainly needed more than one tissue. 

Although it was a revue rather than a play with a scripted narrative, Beehive still managed to impress me with powerful themes.  Together, the progression of the music and styles revealed the extraordinary evolution of women and the women's rights movement over an incredibly short time period - from women singing as groups, largely reflecting the expectations of history and conservative society, to women as independent soloists, making their own styles and rules, singing anthems that were raw and real. 

I was born in the mid-1960s and remember only a child's impressions of the feminist movement - my mother went back to work after my sister was born, Mary Tyler Moore was my favorite TV show, and we learned about the Equal Rights Amendment in social studies class.  That's about it.  Watching and singing along to Beehive, enjoying what appeared to be a fun confection of a musical, I found myself thinking about women's issues today and realizing we haven't made nearly enough progress in the 50 years since.  The women of the 1960s forged an impressive trail in a period of 10 years, and we haven't fought hard enough to push farther. 

It's time for me to spend a lot more time thinking about that.  And deciding exactly what I plan to do about it from my corner.

[monicalanum2014-blog]

Week 49:  Neverwhere at Lifeline Theatre

Adapted by Robert Kauzlaric, directed by Ilesa Duncan.

This week was another experiment for me.  I'm not familiar with the Neverwhere fantasy series on BBC or Neil Gaiman's novel - in fact, I hadn't heard of either one until a friend wanted to see the play.  I did a little Google research ahead of time but mostly went into it having no idea what to expect. 

It was a lot of fun!  I was absorbed into the world of London Below, the plot twists and turns, all the adventures and wonderfully weird characters along the way.  The set was imaginatively staged, and the costumes were beautifully done. I also loved the play's conclusion that it's possible to start over in life - leave an unsatisfying job or relationship, wipe the slate clean of past mistakes, stop being stuck in day-to-day monotony - and throw yourself into new experiences and environments, reinvent yourself, build a new community with people who challenge you in new directions. 

I'm not planning anything that drastic in my own life anytime soon, but it's an interesting idea to broaden your personal world now and then.  In many ways, I feel this theater project has led me do that a bit over the past year.  I've visited new theaters, seen new companies, visited new parts of town, enjoyed new restaurants, even seen several plays I'd never even heard of.  It's been a time of going with the flow, being open to whatever comes along, and allowing myself to think about things quite a bit differently. 

I've been writing a lot this weekend to catch up on my blog entries.  I'd let myself get weeks behind; and as I've caught up, it's started to sink in just how close to the end of the challenge I'm getting.   I have only three more plays left to see - only three more blog entries to write.  I'm not at all sure how I feel about that.  I'm excited to be almost done, and a bit of a break sounds nice......but mostly I think I'm going to miss it. 

See you next week.  

[monicalanum2014-blog]

I love Chicago's Shakespeare in the Parks program.   The opportunity to gather my urban tribe, pack a picnic, enjoy our beautiful summer weather, and watch theater is pretty much my idea of a perfect way to spend an evening. 

That being said, this year stumped me a little because I don't really like A Midsummer Night's Dream.  I've always felt that Shakespeare went off the rails with this one - fairies, kind of mean uses of magic, a weird donkey in the middle of it, and the actors taking on multiple roles just seemed like a jumbled and possibly chemically-altered mess.   So, as I told my friends before the show, I went this year to mostly hang out and honor our summer tradition, with fairly low expectations. 

And I have to retract that whole paragraph and state right here, right now, that I was absolutely WRONG.  Ohmigosh! THIS was my favorite play I've seen all year.  Hands down. 

The production was so imaginative on every level - staging, costumes, music, interactions with the audience.  And RAPPING.  Yes!   The fairies rapped iambic pentameter - somewhat simplified but awfully darn close to the original - and had the audience eating out of their hands.   (Me too!)   I ended up sitting next to a group of middle schoolers - possibly a youth theater group based on their t-shirts - and had the wonderful opportunity to watch them experience Shakespeare for the first time.  (They had raised their hands when the audience was asked before the show who had never seen Shakespeare before.)  They were so absorbed in the story and performances, and I could see pure delight on their faces.  I couldn't help but smile, thinking that a storyteller born centuries ago had just captured the imagination of a new generation. 

This was another brilliant example of taking a classic, honoring it, yet adapting it to modern culture to build bridges across the human experience.  I'm thrilled to live in a city that uses public funds for that purpose and that supports the arts so intentionally. Shakespeare in the Parks is free and travels to many different areas of Chicago throughout the summer.   There is still time to see Midsummer Night's Dream this year, so GO GO GO if you can!

[monicalanum2014-blog]

Ignition is an amazing treasure in Chicago theater.  It's a three-day festival - Friday night through Sunday - of readings of new plays at Victory Gardens.  I learned about it last year and was only able to make it to the second-to-last reading on Sunday.  It was wonderful, and I was so disappointed that I had missed the rest of the weekend.   The 2018 festival dates immediately went onto my calendar.

After a whole year waiting for the do-over, I was determined to do this thing right.   I attended the whole weekend, and it more than met my huge expectations.  OHMIGOSH!  I had so, so, so , SO much fun.

The weekend included readings of six plays that were still in development - one on Friday evening, three on Saturday, and two on Sunday.   In more than one instance, we learned the playwrights had walked in that very morning with new pages or edits for the actors to learn on the spot.   The facilitator used this to highlight for the audience how fluid the creative writing process is, explaining how we might be the only audience to experience this particular version of the play.  Talk about exciting!   It was also impressive to see the actors just roll with that process, get down to business, learn the new pages and edits, and focus on the beauty of the play's evolution rather than being intimidated by the idea of flux or change.  We spend so much time finding obstacles and reasons not to embrace change - it was inspiring to watch a community embrace it as growth and positive energy.

It was also amazing - I keep using big words like that, I know, but I can't seem to find any others - to witness and feel the way the actors created a story and a world with just ordinary chairs, reading stands, and notebooks with paper scripts.  No special lighting or sets or costumes or music - just the power of storytelling and words and facial expressions and human connection.  The plays did tell fascinating stories and addressed timely social issues and themes, but it was that sense of connection running through all of them that impressed me the most - the experience of sitting in a room with other people, sharing words and ideas and emotions, finding common ground, the simplicity of just being together.  Those experiences are rare in our tech-overloaded world, and the weekend reminded me what a treasure they are.

The highlight of the weekend for me was the final play, which ran an incredible FOUR hours (with two intermissions), never losing intensity and almost bullying me through every possible emotion, high to low, laughter to sloppy tears.  I lost complete track of time and still can't quite fathom how the writer and actors did it.  (Seriously, how in the world was that a DRAFT?  It reflected genius I can only marvel at.)

I should also mention the festival is FREE - you only have to RSVP online in advance.  (They also feed you bagels and appetizers and ice cream, and have a cash bar. What?!?!? Yes!)  The first weekend in August 2019 is already blocked out on my calendar!

[monicalanum2014-blog]

Week 46:  20,000 Leagues Under the Seas at Lookingglass Theatre

Professor Aronnax and crew set out to investigate a terrifying sea creature, but are quickly captured by the mysterious Captain Nemo.

For this production, I did advance homework.  Our theater group is a subset of a book club I've been part of for over 15 years; and we decided to read the Jules Verne classic as soon as we heard Lookingglass Theatre would be staging it.   It turns out the novel is scientifically dense - fascinating in its accuracy and detail, but somewhat slow going.  I had managed about half of it by the time we went to the play, but I also remembered the basic premise from seeing the classic Disney film growing up (and mostly from the ride at DisneyWorld, if I'm being completely honest). 

I'm glad I had these frames of reference going in because Lookingglass took Vernes' source material in a new, unexpected direction that made a familiar work really fascinating to watch.   The characters of Monsieur Arronax and Conseil were re-imagined as women - adding a feminist perspective - and a much richer backstory was provided for Captain Nemo - suggesting he was a political refugee engaged in privately-funded terrorism, steeping an already dark character in even darker motives.   With those two strokes, the story was thrown into the thick of issues that are top-of-mind for the modern audience. 

I love it when a production forges connections like that between a classic work and our current circumstances centuries later.   It shows exactly why the work is classic, how the essentials of human life and emotions and relationships are universal, not only across cultures and geography, but also across time. 

It should also be noted that Lookingglass incorporated their trademark acrobatic and visual elements in the production.  The actors used the entire space available, sometimes moving into the aisles; and the lighting and music were immersive, hinting at the claustrophobic prison of the Nautilus.  The play was as stunning and fun as it was thoughtful - definitely worth the homework!