Jason Huysman, Liz Fletcher/Photo: Dean LaPrairie

RECOMMENDED

Tennessee Williams’ classic 1955 play gets a solid, breezy production by the Raven Theatre. Not content to stage a nostalgic Southern melodrama, the production confronts Williams’ themes of personal honesty, sexuality and social mores head-on.

On a sprawling Mississippi plantation, the Pollitt family has gathered for Big Daddy’s sixtieth birthday. Believing this to be his last birthday, his wife and children are determined to make a last impression on him that will secure them a healthy portion of his will. Only Brick doesn’t seem to care, too caught up in his alcoholism, former athletic glory and closeted homosexuality.

Liz Fletcher, as Maggie, and Jon Steinhagen, as Big Daddy, dominate their major scenes in part due to their sheer verbosity, but Jason Huysman’s Brick never really rises to the challenge set by his scene partners. When things get hot, they get really hot, although the climactic storm winds die down a bit too easily. Ultimately it’s a luscious, passionate portrayal of the desperate search for truth. (Neal Ryan Shaw)

Raven Theatre, 6157 North Clark, (773)338-2177. Through December 19.

Michael Dailey, Kendra Thulin and Rob Skrocki/Photo: Chris Ocken

Businessman Grant Matthews (Michael Dailey) tours the country with estranged wife Mary (Kendra Thulin), drumming up support for a possible presidential bid. His idealism sours as a politico boss (BF Helman) and Matthews’ flashy mistress Kay (Kristina Johnson) force him to compromise his beliefs.

Russel Crouse and Howard Lindsay’s 1946 Pulitzer Prize winner creaks occasionally; the exploration of political deal making is still relevant, but the Thomas Dewey jokes may be lost on the 2010 crowd. The performances are serviceable but the piece needs the urgent idealism of a “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and never quite achieves it.

Geoff Button’s direction lets the pace drag a bit; the first and second acts are in sore need of the popping satirical energy of the third. Marianna Czaszar’s set is utilitarian early American and period quaint, but Joanna Melville’s costumes commit a couple above-the-knee gaffes. The Republicans would never stand for such immodesty. (Lisa Buscani)

The Strawdog Theatre Company, 3829 North Broadway, (773)528-9696, through November 13.

Natalie DiCristofano & Robert Sandy Elias/Photo: Scott L. Schoonover

One of the most widely produced plays in recent history, “Proof” still hasn’t seen a Chicago production in four years. Chicago Fusion Theatre ends the streak with this all-new staging of the Hyde Park-set play, allowing a brand new audience to laugh at in-jokes about Evanston and local microbrews.

The prodigal daughter of a renowned yet mad mathematician, Catherine is left to sift through the 103 notebooks her father left after his death. Her sister Claire has flown in from New York for the funeral, and a former student of their father’s seems to be digging for his own piece of the intellectual treasure trove.

Scenic designer Scott L. Schoonover replaces the iconic front porch with an incomprehensible abstract set on which characters are constantly scribbling math formulas. Never exactly sure of where they are, the actors nevertheless turn in some fine work, with the glaring exception of company member Nilsa Reyna as Claire. A heartfelt yet uneven rendering.  (Neal Ryan Shaw)

Chicago Fusion Theatre at the Royal George Theatre, 3rd Floor Gallery Theatre, 1641 North Halsted, (312)988-9000. Through November 14.

By Valerie Jean Johnson

Cutting through the pitch-blackness, a flicker. A faint, pulsing light reveals a large, somewhat pod-like circle. Slowly, the expanse is illuminated, revealing a scatter of similar circles across the stage floor covered in sand. Water drips from somewhere overhead, as five bald figures, powdered stark white and cloaked in long, stiff white shrouds, lie in fetal crouches within halos of soft light. A sixth, identical figure stands stoically in the middle of this strange, vaguely ominous landscape. And then, the dance begins.

For thirty-five years, esteemed Butoh dance company Sankai Juku, with founder/director Ushio Amagatsu at the helm, has been crafting its singular performances, acclaimed by audiences in both its native Japan and around the globe. Through a collaboration between MCA Stage, The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, and the Harris Theater, the company makes its auspicious Chicago debut with a one-night only performance of its signature work, “Hibiki: Resonance from Far Away.” “I have always known that Chicago is a great city with a vibrant cultural life,” says Amagatsu via email, “and I was very happy to hear that our North American tour producers Pomegranate Arts had arranged an engagement of my work. Many years ago, we had the opportunity to perform in the outlying area, but this is our first time in the city… . It is a great honor.” Read the rest of this entry »

"Toda una Vida" with Zoltan Katona and Monica Cervantes/Photo: Cheryl Mann

By Sharon Hoyer

Last year, the founder of Luna Negra Dance Theater left the company to take charge of Ballet Hispanico in New York. Under Eduardo Vilaro’s leadership, the company established itself not only as a forum for Latino contemporary choreographers, but a presenter of some of the most imaginative, passionate and technically accomplished modern dancing in Chicago, period. Personally, I was sad to see Eduardo leave our city; he is kind, accommodating, generous with his time for rehearsal visits and interviews, and always a delight to speak with. Upon my visit to a Luna Negra rehearsal for the upcoming fall program, I knew very little about his successor, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, beyond his past choreographic contributions to the company.

From what I saw, Ramirez Sansano is staying true to the company’s vision. His own new piece, “Toda una Vida,” is equal parts playful and emotional, a duet—a wrestling match really—originally inspired by Sansano’s parents and their enduring marriage. The piece is set to two Boleros, starting with Ravel’s famous composition, the couple on opposing corners of a stage bisected by a long tube. They sidle and flirt and glance at one another, gradually working their way to the divider, stealing steps across the line, building to first contact with the same slow fire that fuels Ravel’s repetitive score. The dancers, brought along to Luna Negra by Sansano from his own company, own a unique movement style and maintain it (at least halfway through the piece, as far as I saw) even after they start sharing axes and tossing one another about. Tall, lanky Zoltan Katona moves energy and shifts through levels like a capoeirista marionette; tiny powerhouse Monica Cervantes spins, tumbles, leaps onto and over Katona. He in turn lifts her with a shin or forearm and she takes a short flight to land, spin and tackle him again in a blindingly intricate series of gravity experiments. Like most intimate relationships, it is alternatively, sometimes simultaneously, both play and battle. They grapple with one another the way young couples do, with sexual aggression and childlike affection, all the while Ravel’s epic, iconic melody climbing a sonic mountain, step by step. Read the rest of this entry »

Stravinsky Violin Concerto rehearsal/Photo: Herbert Migdoll

A spacious, sun-lit studio in the Joffrey Tower hums with activity. A pianist hammers repeatedly through a few bars of Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto in D, the solo violinist tuning and the musical director flipping through pages nearby. A few dancers do the same, lightly marking steps, eyes intent on their piece of mirror. The photographer from the Trib who rode up in the elevator with me situates himself near a visiting artist from Milwaukee who sits in a corner, sketching. Ashley Wheater, the artistic director, walks about, conferring with soloists and musicians, then draws everyone’s attention and rehearsal begins.

This morning, the company is working on George Balanchine’s “Stravinsky Violin Concerto,” part of its Fall “All Stars” program—a tribute to New York City Ballet legends. The opening Toccata section of “Stravinsky” is vibrant and painterly: dancers enter and exit in groups of five, building to a grand ensemble finish to the movement, the shapes they trace through space giving a strikingly literal visual shape to the rigorous, intricate strokes in the score. Two duet sections follow, the first an angular, modernist pas de deux peppered with isolations and distorted motions accenting aural dissonances. The second is more lyrical, tender and danced by three different couples throughout the ten-performance run. Read the rest of this entry »

Marc Grapey, Tom Amandes

RECOMMENDED

Fifty years after his superlative one-act “The Zoo Story,” a stunning confrontation of class, dehumanization and loneliness between two men on a bench in Central Park, Edward Albee has added a first act, “Homelife,” that does more harm than good in attempting to clarify and frame the second. “Homelife” gives a backstory for Peter, the formerly archetypal upper-middle-class businessman whom desperate boarding-houser Jerry tries to connect with in “The Zoo Story,” but “Homelife,” which revolves around a cliché-ridden, stilted set of exchanges between Peter and his wife about passion and sex, manages to be utterly banal and overly precious despite descriptions of anal rape, circumcision and unnecessary repetition of verbs like ‘fucking’ and ‘jamming.’ Moreover, it’s painfully self-conscious about parallels with “The Zoo Story” (“symmetry” is an oft-repeated word between the couple in conversation). “Homelife” is simply dead in the water despite valiant and deeply intelligent efforts by actors and director Dennis Zacek. “The Zoo Story” is another story—Marc Grapey as Jerry is a true revelation in the second act, which in its richness and vibrance throws into relief just how derivative and hollow “Homelife” is. “The Zoo Story” is just as funny, dark, haunting and sharply-written as ever; and that it’s worth sitting through the first half to see speaks volumes. (Monica Westin)

At Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 North Lincoln, (773)871-3000. Through October 31.

Photo: Joan Marcus

RECOMMENDED

How “The Lion King” became king of the Broadway jungle is one of those lion’s tales so odd, it could almost be made up. 1994, the year that the original animated version of “The Lion King” was released to theaters, was also the year that Disney Theatrical, the stage arm of the Disney company, opened its first Broadway production, “Beauty and the Beast.” Though a huge commercial success, the show was snubbed by the Tony Awards, having been nominated in nine categories but only winning Best Costume Design.

That was taken as a clear message to Disney from the theatrical community that such ready-made shows that did not depend on the talents and contributions of that community were not going to be acknowledged by that community. To its credit, Disney got the message, and when it set out to transform “The Lion King” from cartoon to stage, it allowed director Julie Taymor a complete re-imagining of the property that was so stunning that it won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Read the rest of this entry »

Kevin Bishop, Casey Chapman/Photo: Emily Granata

RECOMMENDED

It’s unfortunate it’s the case, but Black Elephant’s inaugural production of “Gross Indecency” couldn’t come at a more opportune moment.  Given the spate of news stories involving gay-bashing and bullying, its message is more than timely. Director Michael Rashid’s eye for context makes the production all the more astounding.

In a gay bar in the modern day, a number of bar patrons decide to stage a production of “Gross Indecency,” eschewing English accents for the most part and making the best of their largely leather and tennis shoe wardrobes. Following Oscar Wilde’s litigious conflicts involving his alleged homosexual affairs, the play ends with his ultimate banishment from society and imprisonment.

What’s remarkable is that Rashid made sure the framing device follows a narrative arc as well. Rather than simply dressing his actors up as two-dimensional queeny barflies, he has them be moved by the story they tell as it ultimately reflects their own. Sometimes the two worlds collide awkwardly—for instance, it’s unclear why the bar patrons would have an intact copy of a period magazine—but details like that can be forgiven in an otherwise lovingly handled production. (Neal Ryan Shaw)

Black Elephant Theatre at the Raven Theatre, 6157 North Clark, (800)838-3006. Through November 14.

Catherine Lord and Larry Adams/Photo: Rich Foreman

Kudos to Light Opera Works for once again digging into the canon of classic neglected works of the American musical-theater tradition for this year’s “Second Stage” presentation rather than presenting another revue as became custom for a few seasons.

“I Do! I Do!” was the third follow-up to Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones’ stellar success “The Fantasticks,” which opened in 1960 and would go on to break all records and play until 2002. Even in 1966 when “I Do! I Do!” opened, however, “The Fantasticks” had already been running for six years.

Written for Broadway veterans Mary Martin and Robert Preston, “I Do! I Do!” is a two-person show that traces the effect of marriage on a couple across a fifty-year period from the turn of the twentieth century. Since neither performer could sing at that point, the songs are largely recitative and require Broadway-style sprechstimme in the manner Lerner and Loewe had perfected for Rex Harrison in “My Fair Lady” and for Richard Burton in “Camelot.” Though Ed Ames did have a hit with “My Cup Runneth Over” at the time, none of the songs are particularly melodic, which makes it an odd choice to be staged by a company known for bringing high musical quality to its productions. Read the rest of this entry »