Here’s the press release announcing the Jeff noms for Equity:

Chicago Theatres Shine in Outstanding Jeff Nominated Productions of 2008-2009 Season

Goodman Theatre and Drury Lane Oakbrook
Top List of Award Nominees

50 Years of The Second City to be Spotlighted
at The Jeff Awards

Thursday, August 27, 2009 – Chicago, IL.   The Jeff Awards today announced 179 nominations in 35 categories for Chicago Equity theatrical productions which opened between August 1, 2008, and July 31, 2009. The Jeff Awards sent judges to the opening nights of 141 productions offered by 57 producing organizations. From these openings, 98 Equity productions were “Jeff Recommended,” which made them eligible for award nominations.

The 41st Annual Jeff Awards ceremony, honoring excellence in professional theatre produced within the immediate Chicago area, will be held on Monday, October 19, at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, 9501 Skokie Boulevard. A pre-show Appetizer Buffet will run from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and the Awards Ceremony, directed by Michael Weber, will begin at 7:30 p.m. The Second City, celebrating 50 years as a producer, will play a featured role at the Jeff Awards ceremony. Advance purchase tickets, which include the ceremony and the pre-show buffet, are $75 ($55 for members of Actors’ Equity Association, United Scenic Artists, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and The Dramatists Guild of America). The evening is black tie optional and the public is cordially invited to attend. To purchase tickets, visit the Jeff Awards website at www.jeffawards.org. For more information, contact Equity Chair Diane Hires at equitywing@jeffawards.org. Read the rest of this entry »

By Nina Metz

Theater is about showing.  Don’t tell us something is sad or tough or funny or complicated.  Show us, and leave the exposition to book writers. There are exceptions, of course, and you can catch two fine examples currently in town with “Diversey Harbor” (Theatre Seven at the Greenhouse) and “Pumpgirl” (at A Red Orchid). The scripts are verbal landscapes—closer to books-on-tape or something you’d hear on “This American Life.”  You have to adjust your ears and listen—really listen or you’ll miss the story.  The story is the payoff.

The cast speaks only in monologue, and they never interact with one another on stage.  Done right, their stories will bloom inside your head.  Done right, characters that remain offstage are just as vivid as the ones you see.  Done right, images become fixed in your mind—the backseat of a car littered with crumbs and soggy potato chips; an empty bowling alley where muddy footprints appear out of nowhere.  Done right, your senses become engaged in unexpected ways—the smell of gasoline becomes smashed cherries dunked in vinegar. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the press release from AROT (updated August 13, 2009):

A Red Orchid Theatre’s 2009-2010 Season to feature

The World Premiere of Craig Wright’s Mistakes Were Made

Featuring Oscar Nominee Michael Shannon;

Mike Leigh’s Abigail’s Party

and the return of the holiday hit,

A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant

CHICAGO, IL—A Red Orchid proudly announces its revised 2009-2010 season, featuring the World Premiere of Craig Wright’s Mistakes Were Made, directed by Dexter Bullard and featuring Ensemble Member and Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon and Ensemble Member Mierka Girten; the return of the smash holiday hit, A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant featuring members of the A Red Orchid Youth Ensemble & guests; and Academy Award nominee and Palme d’Or winner Mike Leigh’s Abigail’s Party, directed by Shade Murray, to feature an all-Ensemble cast.

Flexible Season Subscriptions are on sale now through the A Red Orchid box office,

(312) 943-8722 or www.aredorchidtheatre.org Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

Two prisoners of an unnamed totalitarian dictatorship, tortured daily for reasons they know not, ruminate on philosophical questions that result from their state of helplessness and ignorance. The dialogue, well-timed if not overly memorable, is at its best when it nimbly darts between the easy irony and dark humor that results when the men, one empirical and one sentimental in outlook, try to figure out the world around them and fail wildly. At worst, and more often, the speech is somewhat stilted and its rhetoric forced; the greatest irony in a show about problems of meaning-making is that it succumbs to the temptation of trying to sound clever. There’s also a problem in knowing how to take their clichéd situation; one of the prisoners, in attempting to understand the layout of the prison, points out that the world has a few basic structures that have proven themselves over time to work, and this logic is clearly borne out in the structure of the play, which can’t quite seem to decide if it’s playing with conventions of the genre or merely stuck in it—is the torture chamber of a prison in an unnamed totalitarian dictatorship a metaphor for life itself (“We come here involuntarily, we’re smashed daily, and our only escape is death”) or is it a literal setting, seemingly indicated by the grotesque appearance of a torturer delivering a detailed, beyond-gory monologue about the methodology of a murder? That said, “The Unseen” makes important if not original inquiries into what we can know and beautifully explores the kinds of religious and other anti-intellectual impulses that take the place of failed reason and empiricism, and it’s at moments very moving. Technically the show is sound, if not striking, with smart use of lighting that makes audience both prisoners and panopticon; but in the end, the ideas turn out to be far more interesting than the dialogue, characters and production as a whole. (Monica Westin)

At A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N Wells, (312)943-8722. Through March 1.

What makes Chicago’s theater world special? We picked up the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly for clues. In the cover story, “CSI” star William Petersen explains his decision to leave his role as one of the top paid actors in television, earning a rumored $600,000 an episode, to move back to Chicago and Chicago theater: “It was too safe for me at this point. So I needed to try and break that, and the way to do that, for me, is the theater.” EW went on to credit Petersen for much of the show’s success, notably bringing a theatrical ensemble philosophy to play in its production. Or consider the runaway success of Steppenwolf’s “August: Osage County,” which transferred to Broadway,  receiving critical acclaim and multiple Tony Awards, not by shaking it up with Broadway “names” but instead by virtually transferring the Steppenwolf production intact, with the addition of lead producer and fellow Chicagoan Steve Traxler. What makes Chicago theater—or for that matter, Chicago dance or any other form of performance practiced on our stages—special? We’d contend it’s the power of the ensemble, the spirit of collaboration that champions artistic risk-taking and subordinates the commercial. And so, in that spirit, the critical ensemble responsible for Newcity’s ongoing stage coverage presents our take on the most influential people on and offstage in Chicago. Read the rest of this entry »

Top 5 Shows

“Caroline, or Change,” Court Theatre

“A House with No Walls,” Timeline Theatre

“The Glass Menagerie,” Steppenwolf Theatre

“No Darkness Round My Stone,” Trap Door Theatre

“The Birthday Party,” Signal Theater

—Monica Westin

Top 5 Shows

“Jon,” Collaboraction

“A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant,” A Red Orchid

“Be More Chill,” Griffin Theatre

“Men of Tortuga,” Profiles

“Picked Up,” Neo-Futurists

—Nina Metz

Top 5 Theatrical Experiences

“Caroline, or Change,” Court Theatre

“Columnibus,” Raven Theatre

“As You Like It,” Writers’ Theatre

“The Comedy of Errors,” Chicago Shakespeare Theater

“Romeo y Julieta” (Staged Reading), Chicago Shakespeare Theater/Shakespeare in Español

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Guilty Pleasures

“Jarred: A Hoodoo Comedy” by Tanya Saracho, Teatro Luna

“Speech and Debate” by Stephen Karam, ATC

“Dead Man’s Cell Phone” by Sarah Ruhl, Steppenwolf

“The Little Dog Laughed” by Douglas Carter Beane, About Face Theatre

“After Ashley” by Gina Gionfriddo, Stage Left Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 New Plays

“Kita y Fernanda” by Tanya Saracho, 16^th Street Theater

“The U.N. Inspector” by David Farr and James Sherman, Next Theatre

“Dead Man’s Cell Phone” by Sarah Ruhl, Steppenwolf Theatre

“Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat” by Yussef El Guindi, Silk Road Theatre Project

“Superior Donuts” by Tracy Letts, Steppenwolf Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Revivals

“The Maids,” Writers’ Theatre

“The Lion in Winter,” Writers’ Theatre

“Requiem for a Heavyweight,” Shattered Globe

“Plaza Suite,” Eclipse Theatre Company

“The Birthday Party,” Signal Ensemble Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Play Revivals

“Our Town,” Hypocrites

“The Lion in Winter,” Writers Theatre

“Requiem for a Heavyweight,” Shattered Globe

“Journey’s End,” Griffin

“M Butterfly,” BoHo

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Memorable Productions by a Smaller Theatre Troupe

“Multi-Purpose Doom,” Sandbox Theatre Project

“The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler,” Dog & Pony

“Termen Vox Machina,” Oracle Productions

“On My Parents’ 100^th Wedding Anniversary,” Side Project

“The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” (original mounting), Gift Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Directors

Ann Filmer for “Kita y Fernanda,” 16^th Street Theater

Charles Newell for “Caroline, or Change,” Court Theatre

Sean Graney for “Edward II,” Chicago Shakespeare Theater

William Brown for “As You Like It,” Writers’ Theatre

Greg Kolack for “Columbinus,” Raven Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Musicals

“Caroline, or Change,” Court Theatre

“Grey Gardens,” Northlight Theatre

“Tell Me On A Sunday,” Bailiwick Theater

“The Full Monty,” Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre

“All Shook Up,” Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 New Musicals

“Caroline, or Change,” Court Theatre

“Grey Gardens,” Northlight Theatre

“Songs for a New World,” Porchlight

“The Ballad of Emmett Till,” Goodman Theatre

“I Am Who I Am: The Story of Teddy Pendergrass,” Black Ensemble Theater

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Musical Revivals

“Tell Me on a Sunday,” Bailiwick Theater

“Sweet Charity,” Drury Lane Oakbrook

“1776,” Signal Ensemble

“Jacques Brel’s Lonesome Lovers of the Night,” Theo Ubique

“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” Circle Theatre

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Worst Musicals

“Shout! The Mod Musical,” Drury Lane Water Tower

“Avenue Q,” Broadway in Chicago

“Dirty Dancing,” Broadway in Chicago

“Russian on the Side,” Royal George Theater

“Gutenberg! The Musical,” Royal George Theater

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Worst Musicals

“Dirty Dancing,” Broadway in Chicago

“The Kid from Brooklyn,” Mercury Theater

“Gutenberg! The Musical!,” Royal George Theatre

“Jekyll & Hyde—The Musical,” Bohemian Theatre Ensemble

“Sweeney Todd,” Broadway in Chicago

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Operas

“Manon,” Lyric Opera

“The Abduction From the Seraglio,” Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia

“Lulu,” Lyric Opera

“Porgy and Bess,” Lyric Opera (second cast)

“Don Giovanni,” Chicago Opera Theater

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Productions of Shakespeare

“As You Like It,” Writers Theatre

“Comedy of Errors,” Chicago Shakespeare

“Much Ado About Nothing,” First Folio

“Merchant of Venice,” Boho

“Twelfth Night,” City Lit

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Touring Shows

“Saint Joan,” Shaw Festival Canada, Chicago Shakespeare

“Cirque du Soleil: Kooza,” United Center

“The Drowsy Chaperone,” Broadway in Chicago

“My Fair Lady,” National Theatre London, Broadway in Chicago

“Jesus Christ Superstar,” Broadway in Chicago

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Holiday Shows

“The Christmas Schooner,” Bailiwick Theater

“A Dublin Carol,” Steppenwolf Theatre

“A Christmas Carol,” Writers Theatre

“Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular,” Rosemont Theatre

“The Seafarer,” Steppenwolf Theatre

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Comedy Shows

“Impress These Apes,” Blewt!

“Shatter,” Pat O’Brien’s solo show at Second City e.t.c.

“Steve and Jordan, Respectively” i.O. Theater

“Brother, Can You Spare Some Change?” Second City e.t.c.

“PennyBear: A Collection of Miniature Plays and Curious Diversions,” Apollo Theater Studio

—Nina Metz

Top 5 Female Performances

Janet Ulrich Brooks, “Golda’s Balcony,” Pegasus Players

Christina Anthony, “Brother, Can You Spare Some Change?” Second City e.t.c.

Erin Barlow, “Red Angel,” LiveWire

Sarah Goeden, “13 Dead Husbands,” Sansculottes Theater

Rachel Quinn, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” Circle Theatre

—Nina Metz

Top 5 Male Performances

David Cromer, “Our Town,” The Hypocrites

Usman Ally, “Celebrity Row,” American Theater Company

Steve Wilson, “Red Angel,” LiveWire

Edward Thomas-Herrera, “The Last Days of Beast,” Live Bait’s Fillet of Solo Festival

Daniel Behrendt, “Beggars in the House of Plenty,” Mary-Arrchie

—Nina Metz

Top 5 Out-of-the-Box Performances

“Inner Space,” Joffrey Ballet’s American Moderns

“Walking Mad,” Hubbard Street Dance Winter Series

“The Young Ladies Of…,” About Face Theatre

“Dr. Egg and the Man With No Ear,” Redmoon Theater

“One on One,” Hubbard Street Dance Winter Series

—William Rogers

Top 5 Dance Shows by Chicago Companies

“The Sky Hangs Down Too Close,” Lucky Plush Productions

“Nuevo Folk,” Luna Negra Dance Theater

“De-Evolution of Mudwoman,” Breakbone DanceCo

“Vintage Modern,” Same Planet Different World Dance

“American Moderns,” Joffrey Ballet

—Sharon Hoyer

Top 5 Overrated Productions

“Dave DaVinci Saves the Universe,” House Theatre

“Dirty Dancing,” Broadway in Chicago

“Shining City,” Goodman Theatre

“The Glass Menagerie,” Shattered Globe Theatre

“Scenes from the Big Picture,” Seanachai Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Theatrical Disappointments

“Dirty Dancing,” Broadway in Chicago

“Les Miserables,” Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre

“Yohen,” Silk Road Theatre Project

“Richard III,” Strawdog Theatre

“Macbeth,” Greasy Joan & Co.

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

 

RECOMMENDED

Look closely at any religion and it’ll seem ridiculous. The Bible is chockablock with the bizarre and unlikely. Most people are fine with it, I would argue, because these stories have become normalized. Get enough folks believing in something and suddenly it doesn’t seem insane.

Personally, I think it’s all hooey. Give me rational individualism any day. But I get why people gravitate to religion, and why others clutch at it with white knuckles and unwavering conviction. Life is tough and fucked up; religion offers structure and solace and a code of conduct spelled out in no uncertain terms. Religion is the answer to all the questions nagging at the corners of your mind. It defines and shapes your outlook on life, and I’d put my own agnostic atheism in that boat, as well. It’s all a type of religion, no matter what you call it.

Which brings me to “A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant,” a weirdly entrancing musical from 2003 currently in a totally modest, totally stupendous production at A Red Orchid Theatre. The cast is comprised entirely of preteens and, geez, these kids are hilariously cute. Najwa Brown plays the spunky narrator: “Today we relate the life of L. Ron Hubbard,” she solemnly intones.

The show is a half-snicker away from full snark, but directors Lance Baker and Steve Wilson have done something very cagey here. (The show is created by New Yorkers Kyle Jarrow and Alex Timbers.) Their child actors play it straight—with those super-duper smiles and an amateurish kiddie-pageant performance style—but there is something much deeper and more affecting going on here.

Look, far as I’m concerned, the Church of Scientology is ludicrous. But no more so than any other religion. You think aliens are a stretch? Then why is a “sky god” so easy to swallow, as Bill Maher might say? Religion is an elaborate con job. That doesn’t mean it’s bad.

We all have an emptiness that needs to be filled with something, and L. Ron—which sounds like “Elron” from the mouths of these kids—wasn’t exactly off the mark when he pointed to emotional baggage as one of the roadblocks to a happy life. His methods are nuts, granted, and it’s hard to see his church as anything more than a money-and-power-making venture. But the religion resonates with someone. A lot of someones, actually. It seems hypocritical to treat it as any more of a joke than other religions.

And that’s what makes the show work. Directors Baker and Wilson openly acknowledge the wackness that is Scientology, but they don’t treat it as a punchline. They do, however, have an awful lot of fun with it. The kids explain the bizarro auditing process with a perky puppet show. They dance the robot. They sing their little hearts out and clap to the music and I defy anyone to resist their enthusiasm. Aria Szalai-Raymond (in a brief turn as Mother Hubbard, plus a harried New Yorker) has a very mature energy that stands out—she is poised but funny. And Chaz Allen, as L. Ron himself, is strangely, perfectly in command. I can’t remember the last time I saw young actors this good.

But the show is so much more than a stupid comedy about Scientology. Jackson Callinor plays an old army buddy-turned-IRS agent looking to bring L. Ron down, and there are wells of emotion just beneath the surface of his face. This kid is a real actor and he brings a palpable soulfulness to the role. L. Ron works his magic, but the end result leaves Callinor’s character just as bereft as ever. Which path to take? And then, blackout. Wow. (Nina Metz)

At A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells, (312)943-8722 or www.aredorchidtheatre.org. Fri 8p, Sat 7p & 9p, Sun 3p. $20-$25. Through January 4.

RECOMMENDED

Apparently for a while Mierka Girten was known around town as the actress with Multiple Sclerosis. I never knew about it, and I’ve seen her in a number of shows over the past few years. In this one-woman memoir, Girten is sarcastic and self-deprecating as she reveals what life has been like since being diagnosed with M.S. sixteen years ago while a grad student at DePaul. (Her doctor’s announcement is staged as a game show called “Whoops! You’ve Got a Disease.”)

Girten’s life philosophy: “To face my problems head on and ignore them.” I’ve been there, lady. She’s not afraid to make fun of herself (there were some Wet N Wild makeup years in junior high) and she is upfront about her suicide attempt (600 pills, geez).

I don’t know, me-and-my-big-struggle shows tend to feel so clichéd (Larry Grimm directs), but Girten is extremely likable and she’s figured out how to let you in without sucking you dry.

The M.S., by the way, is in remission—though maybe not permanently. Talk about a statement that packs a punch. (Nina Metz)

At A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 North Wells, (312)943-8722 or aredorchidtheatre.org. Fri-Sat 8p, Sun 7p. $20-$25. Through November 2.

Often, one of the biggest inspirations for a person to become an actor is the desire to inhabit a world other than their own, the challenge of “becoming” another human being. But for actress Mierka Girten, company member of A Red Orchid Theatre and writer/performer of the company’s season opener “With or Without Wings,” starring as herself in her own life story may be the richest, most rewarding role of her career.

Girten’s one-woman show, which first debuted in 2001, chronicles her devastating 1992 diagnosis and subsequent battle with Multiple Sclerosis with incredible honesty and surprising humor. Girten takes the audience on a ninety-minute journey from childhood to present day,  playing not only herself, but a whole cast of characters from friends and family to healers and not-quite-healers.

“[The play] started as journal entries mostly,” says Girten. “Friends [who] found my story interesting and funny…encouraged me to keep writing.” Girten crafted the journal entries into a play, which she shared with her friend Michael Thomas, who challenged her to dig deeper, and helped her to adapt the play into what is now an extremely candid personal portrait of the triumphs and defeats of living with this complex and debilitating illness.

Girten (who is now in remission) was inspired during the first run of “With or Without Wings” to create the Mookie Jam Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to benefiting artists with MS. And both Girten and director Larry Grimm, a fellow company member at A Red Orchid, agree that this play is as much about educating people and raising awareness about MS as it is about putting on a great show, full of energy and humor.  “I think that everyone has their own story to tell,” says Girten, “and I think telling our stories can bring people together. We should be able to laugh [at our challenges]. If I hadn’t been able to laugh, I don’t think I’d have gotten better.” (Valerie Jean Johnson)

At A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells, (312)943-8722, through November.

RECOMMENDED

There are certain types of plays A Red Orchid does very well, and the searing, grasping comedy of working-class Brits is a genre this theater has down cold. Three London cabbies arrive at a shabby sports center for the big ping-pong—sorry, table tennis—tourney, but the distractions are many. “It’s a dog-eat-dog-turd world,” one of them says, and it’s a profound insight in their mindset. (Simon Block’s script is directed by Robin Witt.) Like the guys of “Ax Men” and “Deadliest Catch,” these are men being men, chaffing whenever the domestic intrudes. Eric is the dedicated family man with stress at home, and as played by Nigel Patterson, he is a wildly agreeable pain in the ass, tender yet harsh. Oscar is the lifelong bachelor and the ultimate enigma, and Daniel Rivkin’s performance leaves just enough out of focus. You never fully grasp what motivates this lone ranger, and that’s just as he would have it. Rounding out the trio is Bob Turton as Tony, the battered Labrador pup looking for approval as he soils the carpet. He is youngest of the men and the one with the most to lose on this night. All three are intense and tension-fueled, sweating with their tiny paddles and lobbing resentments across the room with a recklessness that is disquieting—and in all honesty, funnier than it should be. (Nina Metz)

At the Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 North Wells, (312)943-8722.  This production is now closed.