july/august: brb, guys. + shows you should see.

hey dudes. so if you don't already know i'm getting married in august and july has simply exploded for me so i just won't have time to do four in four in july or august. starting in september i'll be back in the game and i'm super excited about it. i will of course be seeing shows in july and august as i do, but probably not eight of them. see below for my suggestions on what you should see if you have the time over the next two months. see you in september. xo

• THE CASUALS - Jackalope Theatre Company July 11- July 28th
• THE FLY HONEY SHOW - The Inconvenience - July 25- August 3rd
• BEATEN - The Artistic Home - June 30 - August 11
• ROMEO + JULIET - Midsommer Flight - July 27th-August 18th
• THE BURDEN OF NOT HAVING A TAIL - Sideshow Theatre Company - June 29-Aug 4
• TARTUFFE - Court Theatre - June 20-July 21
• BELLEVILLE - Steppenwolf Theatre Company - June 27 - Aug 25
• FACING ANGELA - The Ruckus - June 28-July 28th
• DEATH & HARRY HOUDINI - The House Theatre - June 21st - Aug 11th

remember most shows can be found on hottix.org or goldstar.com if you're feeling thrifty.

enjoy yourself + enjoy your theatre.

june #4: slaughter city

friday night i had the pleasure of seeing prop theatre's SLAUGHTER CITY.

what: slaughter city by naomi wallace

where: prop thtr's space in avondale

accompainiment: dustin

drinkability: cheap bar at the space! hip hip horray!

show length: 2 hours with intermission

out of four: three/four

oppressive work place dramas are all the rage in the shows i've been choosing to see lately! between oracle's THE MOTHER & WAITING FOR LEFTY, SLAUGHTER CITY fits right in, this time in the slaughter houses.

the story follows a handful of workers in a slaughter house, attempting to work through their dirty, hot, messy and offensive conditions while constantly flirting with the idea of striking. of course the repercussions of striking mean no pay, no guaranteed jobs, and scabs to come in and take over their work without the promise of returning when its all said and done. most of the workers can't afford to take that risk, so they continue on and endure physical, mental and even sexual abuse from their coworkers and management in the slaughterhouse.

this was my first experience at prop theatre and i really enjoyed their space. they have 2 stages and i'm curious to see the other, as this was very obviously the main stage. the set is divided into two levels- the main stage floor being the slaughterhouse. chicken wire renditions of slabs of meat hang from the ceilings and the use of them as well as other fabricated hunks of meat was such an impressive creative task. the workers were in constant movement and constant conversation and both flowed effortlessly. 

there really wasn't a bad actor in the bunch but the guys stood out for me in this one. mitch salm as brandon, a troubled sex-driven worker who pines strongly after kyra morris as roach was so smooth and had so much fun with his words that even while he was a grimy character his game of flirtation was fun to watch and listen. linsey falls shows up unexpectedly as the sausage man, working somewhat undercover with cod, played expertly by danielle sharon goepfert. his accent, character, and brooding attitude were a breath of strange and sweet air to this play as he left you constantly wondering "what is UP with that guy?"

my biggest complaint about this interpretation of SLAUGHTER CITY was the utter confusion that the director seemed to have about what time period they wished to set this play in. while we're along for the ride absolutely believing this show in front of us is in the 20's or 30's, suddenly characters have mountain dews in their hands and listen to an iPod with modern music while getting friendly with a pig carcass, amongst an old fashioned sausage maker and tales of factory fires where exit doors were locked and no safety protocols existed. why these choices? as an audience member i was all but immediately taken out for those brief moments.

other than that qualm i enjoyed the production and especially enjoyed getting to read a bit of history in the lobby before and after the show that connected me with what was happening in front of me. the show closes this weekend, so hurry up and see it!

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show's i'm looking at for july:

organic theatre company's caligula

black ribbon theatre's cowboy mouth

the inconvenience's fly honey show

TBA

+ bonus jackalope theatre's the casuals

join me, will you?

june #3: second city training performances//waiting for lefty

friday night i had the pleasure of seeing jay sukow's c-level improv class perform at the second city.

what: a training class performance!

where: the second city location in old town, demaat theatre,

accompaniment: dustin!

drinkability: no booze for sale in this SC theatre (but others do!)

show length: 30 minutes

out of four: three/four

my college/work pal aj recently moved to chicago and almost immediately jumped into the improv scene at the second city. its been super exciting for me to see him become an actor...as it was a funny little idea in the back of his mind for so long, then he finally went out for community theatre and was cast. and cast again. and directed, won a local award, and decided to pack up his things and move to chicago and really give it a go. now he's three classes deep at second city and i finally got a chance to see him perform.

the set up is this: at the end of your level c class and above you get to finish your training by performing for others- which is the end goal, really, right? this particular night they lined up all the level c classes (i think i counted 10+?) and give them 30 minute time slots in which to showcase their talents they've learned over the last handful of weeks. this class had 12 people in it and it was determined before the show which improv "games" they'd play, with suggestions from the live audience to move their scenes along. after each group got to play their game they concluded the evening with one group game.

one of the best parts about this quick thirty minutes of fun? the show is only $2! its $1 (or free?) if you're a current SC student. aj luckily nabbed us the last couple of tickets before his particular class sold out...something that seems to have never happened previously (kudos, dudes!).

the thing i really loved about this performance is seeing people genuinely excited to perform. when's the last time you saw a group of people that you can just tell are all so nervous, jittery, yet excited at the same time? the best part is getting to greet the students at the end of the show and see how excited they are to perform the skills they've learned.

i'm not sure how often these performances happen, but if you have pals in the program ask when they're performing! its a quick show, $2, and a bunch of laughs.

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bonus show: saturday night i had the pleasure of seeing oracle theatre's WAITING FOR LEFTY.

i don't want to break my rule of not reviewing the same company's show in the same year (or six months if i absolutely have to) as i already shared my thoughts on their production of THE MOTHER earlier this year, but i just want to applaud oracle and its members for once again putting together thought-provoking creative theatre that had me on the edge of my seat for a quick 55 minutes. byob. free theatre. great talent. go see it.

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upcoming june shows:

friday june  24th, 8pm: prop thtr's slaughter city

join me, will you?

june #2: aloha say the pretty girls

friday night i had the pleasure of seeing the brown paper box company's ALOHA SAY THE PRETTY GIRLS.

what: aloha say the pretty girls by naomi iizuka

where: the boho theatre space in rogers park

accompaniment: ally, emily, & jenna!

drinkability: they gave out free beers with the show! horray!

show length: 2 hours with a 10 minute intermission

out of four: two and a half/four

ALOHA SAY...is the perfect example of why i wanted to start this blog. it was my first exposure to that play/playwright, first exposure to a show by brown paper box co., first exposure to the boho theatre space, AND i got to see a friend perform! and i happened to attend with 3 awesome lady friends...so really, it was just an ideal situation.

brown paper's mission statement states that they "..create thought-provoking and accessible theatrical experiences without the glitz of overproduction." they certainly followed through with this aesthetic with minimal props, essentially no set, and all transitions done by a dim of the lights and sound effects curated by the tongues of the actors. 

this show displays an ensemble of eight actors, two of which are brown paper company members and three of which play multiple characters. the first act takes place in nyc with the second in hawaii, as all these "twentysomethings"are on their journeys in life to generally figure it out. the show covers a wide range of twentysomething experiences- breakups, falling in love, moving, pregnancy, getting mugged in the subway (what, not all 20 something experience that?), mindless sex, drunken beach debauchery, and even a little bit of finding out what you as a human are all about.

natural standouts in this show for me were christopher hart (playing both will & derek) and angela mae davis (playing vivian). both had fantastic vocal quality that drew me in and left me excited to hear what they'd say next- as well as an incredible grasp on reality world acting. they were both charming and broke my heart at the same time.

comedy-wise stephanie rohr (wendy) and luke michael grimes (myrna & richard) kept me laughing and entertained on the lighter side of things. wendy is a character who goes after what she wants and isn't afraid to go for it. and as far as myrna: i mean, a fabulous guy playing a woman is always a hit- isn't it?

i was definitely charmed by ALOHA... and enjoyed watching the character's journeys. there were definite weak spots in the show that left my mind drift. i think if the show focused on act 1 and cut most of act II it would be much stronger (in my opinion: as i preferred the realism in act 1 to a lot of the sudden fantasy in act 2). but i did enjoy my time in the tiny boho theatre space and look forward to seeing more from brown paper!

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upcoming june shows: 

friday june 21st, 8:30pm: second city: jay sukow's training class

*bonus! saturday june 22nd, 8pm: oracle theatre's waiting for lefty

friday june 29th, 8pm: prop thtr's slaughter city

join me, will you?

june #1: the misanthrope

friday night i had the pleasure of seeing court theatre's THE MISANTHROPE.

what: the misanthrope by moliere

where: the court theatre at the university of chicago

accompaniment: dustin!

drinkability: bad! no byo and no drinks for purchase sans soda & water.

show length: two hours with a 15 minute intermission

out of four: three and a half/four

this was my first experience with both the court theatre as well as the misanthrope, so i went into the evening not really sure what exactly was ahead of me. a college classmate of mine, desmond, appears in the misanthrope as one of only two non-equity actors so i was very excited to see him in action as well as finally catch a show at the court. he was kind enough to get us tickets (as court theatre has pricier tickets than most, ranging from $15-$65. pro tip: always check hottix!) so thanks, des!

i knew walking in to the court that this was going to be highly produced and incredibly well acted and i am so happy to say that it lived up to all my expectations and beyond. at one point i mentioned to dustin that as much as i love "diy" theatre and storefront theatre in chicago, its easy to forget WHAT and HOW MUCH can happen when a bunch of money is behind a production.

the misanthrope was one set, on display as you walk into the theatre. beautiful wood work on the floor (you can catch a glimpse in the photo above), gorgeous gold curtains drape from the ceiling, a fainting chair covered in black fabric sits center stage, and the playing area is almost playground-like with center stage dipping down a step, giving the actors a chance to jump or step from the center to the outside platforms as well as making picturesque levels massively convenient for the director. the fabric on the fainting couch is later removed and the gold curtains drop and its an entirely new bedroom. and its done flawlessly.

other tech highlights include the awesome music score. andre pluess & josh horvath work together in sound design to create classical pieces with hip hop beat backgrounds. it makes for awesome transitions as the attitudes, costumes and general disposition of the actors is quite modern while the language is classical. the star of the technical aspects, though was costumes. my goodness. jacqueline firkins: i hope you win all the awards there are out there for this production. a black and gold motif dresses all the characters flawlessly. the designs are beautiful and left me with incredible costume envy. seriously, go see this show for the costumes alone!

but of course you can't have a breathtaking show without some talent to back it up. erik hellman who plays alceste steals the show for me. from his first few lines i was drawn in at his absolute natural and effortless management of the text. he's also all over the place and the stage, but with distinct and calculated movements. rather: he moves around a lot without flailing incessantly. he makes the perfect rich boy pouty lover and i ate up every moment of his performance.

celimene played by the beautiful grace gealey was number two for me. girl is talented and her musical theatre background stood out in her choices. she also had such a fierce handle on the language as well as the ability to flawlessly rant without tripping up on one phrase. bravo, bravo.

the misanthrope at the court is just absolutely a gem. not too long or overwhelming- just as i was starting to lose focus and gaze out at various places on the stage for far too long the show concluded. it was also kind of a twisted joy to see such a downer ending. you don't get many of those these days, do you?

this show closes this weekend. missed it? won't have a chance to get there in time? no worries, they open TARTUFFE in 2 weeks with the same ensemble of actors. fingers crossed i can catch these players in action again.

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upcoming june shows:

friday june 14th, 7:30pm: the brown paper box company's aloha, say the pretty girls

friday june 21st, 8:30pm: second city training class performance

saturday june 29th, 8pm: prop thtr's slaughter city

join me, will you?

may #4: improvised shakespeare co.

friday night i had the pleasure of seeing (for the third!! time) the improvised shakespeare company.

what: the improvised shakespeare company team
where: iO
accompaniment: dustin, emily, & aj!
drinkability: bar at the space!
show length: a little over an hour with an intermission
out of four: four/four

its funny how opportunities to see shows fall into your lap sometimes. i had been planning for the last couple of weeks to see the hypocrites' ivywild this weekend, until a facebook caption contest appeared for the ISC and i entered and (to my surprise) won tickets to the 10:30pm show on friday. just like that, plans changed. (fingers crossed i still get to catch ivywild before it closes!)

yes, this is my third opportunity to see the improvised shakespeare company. once when my mom was in town i convinced (see: dragged her) to see it (much to her surprise she loved it) and then later we took two friends to see it as well. this third time i think was the most polished of them all, and quite possibly my favorite of all three performances.

here's the deal: a group of 5+ actors (the company is comprised of fourteen actors who rotate performances) come out on stage dressed in simple black pants and tunic-like shirts. they ask for suggestions from the audience to base their improv for the evening around. friday night's suggestion they took from the audience was "sexy handshake", and off they went.

friday the performers were: blaine swen, matt young, ross bryant, brendan dowling and two other actors whose names/headshots were inconveniently not listed on the iO or improv shakes website. :) shortly after the topic is announced one actor steps forward to recite a rhyming prologue...you know, just off the cuff. then the play begins, complete with an act break, obvious scene changes and an epilogue. again...just completely on the spot (as improv goes.)

these guys are truly professionals. we all know from the little bit of improv rules that are discussed in tiny fey's bossypants or more recently from tobias funke ("yes, and, yes, and, yes, and") that the number one rule of improv is to agree to what your partner gives you and continue to move the show forward. these guys did this flawlessly! not only are they moving a story forward with different plot lines running simultaneously but they are doing all with an emphasis in shakespearian verbiage and tone.

there's simply no need for me to say anything more about the performances i've seen than this: these guys sell out their houses twice a night every friday for a reason. they're incredibly talented, incredibly funny and all work well together. as far as i could tell everyone got ample stage time and they all supported and included each other throughout the show. that in itself is impressive.

the only thing i'd like to see in future ISC shows is the addition of some females! as far as i can tell from the shows i have seen as well as the cast listing on their website - this group involves no females whatsoever! while one might argue that in shakespeare's time there were no females allowed on stage... this is the modern age, dude! i'd love to see some lady talent up there.

go see them. every friday night, 8pm & 10:30 at iO. buy tickets in advance!
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shows i'm considering for june:
-the hypocrites' ivywild
-the brown paper box company's aloha, say the pretty girls
-prop thtr's slaughter city
-TBD

join me, will you?http://www.improvisedshakespeare.com/

may #3: big love

friday evening i had the pleasure of seeing strawdog theatre company's BIG LOVE.

what: big love by charles l. mee

where: strawdog's space, 3829 n broadway.

accompainiment: dustin!

drinkability: beer & wine for purchase at the space. wine for me, champagne of beers for him.

show length: 100 minutes, no intermission.

out of four: three and a half/four

i've been excitedly curious about this show since i got strawdog's season announcement postcard in my mailbox many many months ago and saw my talented pal michaela petro laughing wildly in a wedding dress and wielding a chainsaw. i knew nothing about this show, but i knew i couldn't miss it. so, i nabbed a couple of tickets on hottix (love me some hottix) and headed to the theatre.

big love is the story of fifty brides on the lam from greece from their fifty grooms...who also happen to be their cousins. (you can now imagine why these fifty brides have fled on their wedding day.) the 'fifty' are represented by twelve women (and conversely 12 men are their grooms) with three women mainly highlighted from their group: olympia (played by sarah goeden), thyona (played by michaela petro) & lydia (played by stacy stoltz). they stumble into the home of piero in italy who reluctantly takes them in for dinner & a promise for a short stay. soon after the grooms find their brides and come in in tuxes, demanding to be wed. thus the struggle of the show. should these brides give in and marry their grooms? should they wait for true love? should they marry at all?

the biggest thing i loved about big love was all the commentary on men vs women, marriage, love, and equality. i'm about two and a half months away from being married myself to a man whom i chose (big love's marriages are arranged sometimes even before a child is born) so it was extra interesting to not only watch the show itself but walk out and have so much to talk about.

the only confusing part to this show was the addition of songs. i most definitely wouldn't call it a musical. i almost hesitate to call it a show with music. there were a handful of songs (both original as well as mash ups of popular contemporary jams...which were definitely decided on per strawdog as 'call me maybe' was not around in 2000 when this show debuted) peppered in which definitely added to the show in an interesting way...but in the end confused me as to what their role was and why mr. mee (or simply strawdog?) chose to add them in...and not make it a musical or the songs more prevalent.

standouts for me in the show were the performances by michaela as thyona...a woman who knows what she wants (and better yet: knows what she doesn't want), clad in fishnets and military boots she urges the women around her to stand strong and isn't afraid to threaten death to any man who gets in their way. she is manipulative, smart and cunning, but when she breaks...you break with her. 

her groom counterpart, constantine (played by shane kenyon) came off as a bit cheesy and overdramatic when he led the grooms on stage for the first time. he appears as a playboy who has no control over his temper & is consistently being held back by his 11 other teammates. later on in the play in an exhaustive scene with the two grooms paired with the leading females, he gets the chance to go on an exhilarating tirade of the expectations of men in the eyes of women/society. my opinion on the over-the-top-uncontrollable-unlikeable character totally shifted for me. (you know its a good sign of a good performance when dustin can sense i'm so impressed that he tells me to put my acting boner away)

the ending was sudden for me... mostly because i was left wanting more. cheers to the cast of big love and to strawdog for this show. go see it, you only have 1 more weekend.

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upcoming may shows:

saturday may 25, 7:30pm: the hypocrites' ivywild

join me, will you?