Playwright: book by Jackie Taylor, music and lyrics by Jackie Taylor and Michael Ward, et al. At: Black Ensemble Theatre at the Beacon Street Community Center, 1450 N. Beacon. Phone: 773-769-4451; $45. Runs through: Jan. 9, 2011
The story was simple enough when it premiered in 1976: A boy from the hood is hired as a page by the kingdom of Other’s First Family, where he acts as our guide to a world of wealthy parents anxious for their son to marry and a poor girl seeking escape from the projects. But with the passage of time, this scenario came to encompass other themes: An immigrant from Kansas named Dorothy passes Other’s citizenship test. The newly relocated Page’s friends accuse him of forgetting his roots and are refuted. The royal servants overcome the issues arising from their disparate complexions. The King initially disapproves, but comes to accept, the prince’s gay best friend. And in this latest production, our page advises his little sister to shun bad companions.
The fairy tale that launched the saga of Black Ensemble Theatre, in short, has grown in the 24 years leading up to the culmination of the dream first conceived by its founder, Jackie Taylor (another girl from the projects), of its own playhouse, scheduled to open next autumn. But then, the configurations of the fantasy literary genre have always been flexible, reshaping themselves to the cultural parameters of their audiences. If a stretch limo with a chauffeur who looks like Flavor Flav is today’s princess-in-training’s idea of swanky transportation (with another car, piloted by a Denzel Washington lookalike, for the sorceress providing it) —well, why should Charles Perrault complain?
A score ranging from our Fairy God Mama’s reggae-tempo “You Make Me Wish (I Make the Wish Come True) ” and Cinderella’s bittersweet “Don’t Bring Me Souvenirs”—both dating from the original production—to the rap-style “Boys From The Hood” is reason enough to revisit this annual holiday event. But the 2010 text also boasts updated references: When the invitations to the palace party arrive by telegram, a young recipient asks, “Why didn’t they just post it on Facebook?” And while the current production features such BET regulars as Trinity Murdock, Rhonda Preston and Rueben Echoles, it also provides a showcase for emerging talents on the Chicago theater scene like Lawrence Williams, Noreen Stark and Daniel Simmons, among others. Why not enjoy a last look at the room in which real-life Cinderella wishes flowered until they reached fruition?