Pictured Malkovich, # 3 The Full Monty. #4 Whitman. #5 Harry Connick, Jr.
‘Thirty days hath September, April, June and November’ the old catch tells us. But every one of those months—and the longer months and February, too—has more than 30 theater openings. The enthusiastic—no, make that fanatical—theater-goer can see a show every night of the week and matinees, too, and still not see everything Chicago and its suburbs have to offer in the way of professional theater.
So one must pick and choose. Even vastly knowledgeable and internationally celebrated theatrical opinion-makers such as me must make choices. If I wish to have happy domestic life (that is, if I ever expect to get laid) I’d better not spend every night in a playhouse or I’ll never have a chance to play house. OK, enough with the puns. Here are a baker’s dozen of shows in April, May and June that I have on my personal don’t-miss list, some because they are theatrical events, some because of high-profile artists attached to them and some—believe it or not—because I think they’ll be wonderful shows!
Take Me Out, About Face Theatre in association with Steppenwolf, April 2-May 1—This is the gay man’s must-see show of the year, Richard Greenburg’s Tony Award-winning play about a great baseball slugger—think Sammy Sosa in his prime—who publicly comes out of the closet. About Face has assembled a fine cast featuring company co-founder Kyle Hall and Tom Aulino in leading roles in this comedy-laced tale of the star, his business manager and the public and private attitudes of his team mates including an ornery redneck pitcher. It would be a worthy play even without its celebrated fully naked team shower scene.
Patriots, Neo-Futurists, April 9-May 4—For this world premiere examination of what patriotism means and who qualifies as patriotic, the Neo-Futurists have selected polar opposites to examine and interlock: long-lived South Carolina segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond and poet Walt Whitman, the Gay Father and Brother of Us All. From the battlefields of the Civil War to the teaming waterfront of Brooklyn, Whitman was there, while Thurmond’s life spanned the entire 20th Century, more than 50 of which he spent as a Senator. Wow, what an idea!
Lost Land, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, April 10-June 5—We need say only one word: MALKOVICH! The play might be a piece of crap, but it won’t make any difference with the charismatic and enigmatic star on stage. In fact, this world premiere about Eastern European politics after World War I should be quite good as it’s a world premiere from the pen of the very capable and bright author, Stephen Jeffreys. FYI: Malkovich also is co-designing the costumes. Bet you didn’t know the boy could sew.
Bus Boyz—MPAACT in association with Prop Thtr, April 10-May 15.—A world premiere by gifted actor and writer Nambi E. Kelly, this is a coming-of-age story about a young woman coming terms with a variety of boys and men who ‘drive’ through her life, her long-absent father chief among them. In the process, the girl becomes a woman and comes to terms with herself.
The Nose, greasy joan & company at the Athenaeum, April 23-May 29—We don’t know much about this one, except that it’s a new adaptation of a work by the great 19th Century Russian satirist, Nikolai Gogol, about a man who loses his nose. The combination of Gogol and greasy joan’s reputation for intriguing and well-crafted theater is enough to warrant attention. We expect greasy joan to be in our face with The Nose.
Wicked, Ford Center/Oriental Theatre, May 1-June 12—This is one of the big shows of the year for Broadway in Chicago, the popular novel adapted into an award-winning Broadway hit with a score by Stephen Schwartz. If you don’t know, Wicked is the backstory of the Wizard of Oz witches, both good and bad, both green and otherwise. We don’t want to give it all away, but let’s just say that they started off as friends and that wicked sometimes can be a matter of interpretation. Tickets are selling well for the six-week run.
Silk, Goodman Theatre, May 2-29—Anything by adapter and director May Zimmerman is interesting, particularly since she’s a prime visualist who combines scenic and movement elements with music and sound in the most sensuous ways. Adapted from a novel, this tale of an earlier time is about a Frenchman who buys and sells silk worms. His travels to the East take him to the unknown islands of Japan where he falls in with a powerful warlord and his beautiful mistress.
Martin Furey’s Shot, TimeLine Theatre, May 7-June 19—This world premiere drama from Chicago actor-turned-writer Maureen Gallagher concerns a prize-winning photojournalist and how he snapped the picture that made him famous. It’s about a lot more, too: friendship, grace on the field of battle, personal demons and where the line between news gatherer and human being blurs or dissolves. The first-rate TimeLine should do well with Gallagher’s dark but moving story.
The Full Monty, Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place, May 18-July 10—This delightful Americanized version of the hit Brit film is the opening show for the new, $6 million Drury Lane Theatre on Michigan Avenue, which makes is a premiere theatrical event. For those who’ve been living in Oz, The Full Monty is the story of working-class guys with the blue-collar blues who salvage their self-respect by putting on a strip show. There’s even a sweet gay angle in it. David Yazbek’s fresh pop score is a treat.
Seven Guitars, Congo Square Theatre at the Duncan YMCA, May 22-June 25—Set in 1948 in the Pittsburgh Hill District ghetto, seven characters (the so-called guitars of the title) meet to mourn a blues musician who figured in their lives. The poetry and rhythm of playwright August Wilson’s dialogue provide the music-like aural riffs of Seven Guitars, one of the best in Wilson’s great 10-play cycle of the African-American experience in the 20th Century. Congo Square is precisely the right troupe to do Wilson’s work proud.
Thou Shalt Not, Circle Theatre (Forest Park), June 1-July 10—Therese Raquin, Emile Zola’s potent tale of lust and forbidden sexuality in 19th Century France, had its erotic factor increased when it was turned into a musical set in steamy New Orleans. Alas, even with words and music by the steamy son-of-New Orleans, Harry Connick, Jr., Thou Shalt Not didn’t succeed on Broadway. Circle Theatre, however, has a habit of turning Broadway sow’s ears into Chicago silk purses. There are rumors that the sexy Connick himself will be in town to see it.
Gilgamesh, Red Moon in association with Steppenwolf, June 2-July 10—The Epic of Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, is the world’s oldest known cycle of heroic tales, from the Mesopotamian basin of civilization. There have been numerous stage adaptations of the Gilgamesh tales. This one features original live music by Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan, plus the puppets, masks and ingenious mechanical objects for which Red Moon is known.
Hillbilly Antigone, Lookingglass Theatre, June 4-July 10—Another world premiere in which classical literature finds itself transposed to an American setting. This time, the great Greek family tragedy is placed in feuding Appalachia at the turn of the last century. Lookingglass also is adding original music by Richard Sims to be played and sung in an authentic, 19th Century bluegrass style. The musicians and cast have been training at the Old Town School of Folk Music.