It's Noir Before the Dawn in AS YOU LIKE IT at IWU

Shakespeare's As You Like It starts in France, at the court ruled by the usurping Duke Frederick. He's a bad guy, keeping his daughter Celia on a short leash and acting all menacing to her cousin, Rosalind, the daughter of the rightful duke.

To portray the decadent duchy, director Tom Quinn makes Illinois Wesleyan University's current production all shadowy and noir, a vision of urban American in the early 40s, the land of The Maltese Falcon (1941) and The Big Sleep (1946), where thugs wearing Fedoras do their dirty work in dark alleys and snazzy nightclubs.

That's certainly atmospheric, turning Duke Frederick into a kind of hard-boiled Dick Powell character, with Celia and Rosalind dames in high heels not unlike the Jane Greers and Joan Powells of yesteryear, and Touchstone the clown turned into a Joe E. Lewis style nightclub comic.

But once Roz and Celia go on the lam to the Forest of Arden, we lose the noir feel, instead inhabiting a free-wheeling rural landscape where the temperature is cold but the company is warm. With music and food and furs wrapped around our exiled heroes, the dark mood lifts, the season moves from winter to spring, everybody starts getting frisky, and love is in the air. Rosalind meets up with her Orlando, Touchstone romances a local lass named Audrey, and Celia even gets a late-in-the-day suitor.

Geena Barry makes a lovely Rosalind for IWU, looking just as fetching in her boys' cap and trousers as she does in the opening cocktail dress. She matches up well with Ben Mulgrew, a more boyish Orlando than most, and their faux-wooing comes off very sweet and charming.

Elaina Henderson gives Celia a lot of personality, as well, and T. Isaac Sherman shows both sides of the Dick Powell persona, giving Duke Frederick the hard guy Powell from Murder My Sweet and Duke Senior the warm, nice guy Powell from Susan Slept Here or Christmas in July.

Jacques, the gloomy philosopher with the Seven Ages of Man speech, gets a lighter touch from Ian Scarlato, who seems to be playing for laughs in his interaction with Touchstone, here played by Will Henke as a light-footed jokester in a porkpie hat.

In the ensemble, Kate Rozycki, Maggie Sheridan, Mandi Corrao and Will Greenlee do good work adding a certain wild musical streak to the proceedings. That echoes Quinn's director's notes about the wilderness within as represented by the Forest of Arden.

Overall, this is a warm, fun As You Like It, one that looks good and moves well, with lovers and lunatics at every turn.

AS YOU LIKE IT
by William Shakespeare

Illinois Wesleyan University School of Theatre Arts
McPherson Theatre

Director: Thomas Quinn
Scenic Designer: Curtis C. Trout
Costume Designers: Mariah Williamson
Lighting Designer: Stephen Sakowski
Sound Designer: Aaron Woodstein

Cast: Geena Barry, Elaina Henderson, T. Isaac Sherman, Ben Mulgrew, Zachary Wagner, Adam Wallaser, Debra Madans, Marek Zurowski, Zach Mahler, Will Henke, Kate Rozycki, Ian Scarlato, Elliott Plowman, Briana Sarikcioglu, Angela Jos, Joey Chu, Nick Castellanos, Mandi Corrao, Maggie Sheridan, Will Greenlee.

Remaining performances: February 28 and March 1-2 at 8 pm

Running time: 2:40, including one 15-minute intermission

For ticket information, click here.

Got a Fever for Live Performance in February?

 I know it's hard to get used to the fact that it's 2013, but not only are we in a new year, we're now finished with January and dipping our toes in February. No, I'm not ready for Feb. But I'm trying to pretend I am, anyway!

Community Players' production of the operatically inclined farce Lend Me a Tenor finishes up its run this weekend. You have three performances left -- 7:30 pm tonight and tomorrow night or 2:30 pm on Sunday -- with tickets available here.

Red Devils, Debbie Horsfield's play about female football fans in Manchester, England, takes the stage inside the Melba J. Kirkpatrick Lab Theatre at IWU on February 4, 5 and 6, with all performances at 8 pm. Visiting Assistant Professor Christopher Connelly directs this gritty take on "working-class characters festering from a life on the dole, a life where soccer is the only activity to stir the imagination." That quote is from an LA Times review of the play from 1993.

Eureka College's production of Myth and Bricks, a one-act by Dustin Robert Blakeman, starts February 5, with performances through the 7th. Eureka College senior Jarrod Barth directs and stars in this look at a man, a brick and the relationship between the two.

In Bloomington, New Route Theatre opens Katori Hall's The Mountaintop on February 8, with Gregory D. Hicks starring as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Fania Bourn as the hotel maid he meets on the last day of his life, in a production directed by New Route Artistic Director Don Shandrow. The Mountaintop runs from February 8 to 24 at the theatre tucked inside the YWCA of McLean County. You can reserve tickets by emailing new.route.theatre@gmail.com or you can purchase them at the door on the night of performance. For more information, click here for the Facebook event page for The Mountaintop.

Grammy-Award winning a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock sings in celebration of the sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana on February 9. This all-female vocal group shares "the legacy of African American music through jazz, hip hop, the blues, spirituals, rap, reggae, and gospel hymns." For the complete schedule of events devoted to that sesquicentennial celebration at the University of Illinois, click here.

Although Donald Margulies' Tony-nominated play Time Stands Still looks at love, marriage and commitment, it really isn't what you'd call romantic. Instead, photojournalist Sarah is wondering whether a safe, secure life with her longtime partner James can possibly mean as much as the time she's spent recording war and strife in the world's hot spots. Love? Career? Safety? Danger? Connection? Detachment? Which of these is the most important? Sandra Zielinski directs Time Stands Still for Heartland Theatre, with Cristen Susong as Sarah and David Krostal as James, in performance beginning February 14. Click here for ticket information and here for performance dates and times.

Illinois State University's spring theatre season begins February 21 with J.B., the allegorical verse play by Archibald MacLeish that tells the Biblical story of Job, but set in a circus. Yes, that's right. Job under the Big Top, with a balloon vendor and a popcorn guy standing in for God and the Devil. MFA director Matthew Scott Campbell is at the helm of this ISU production of J.B., with a cast that includes Tommy Malouf in the Job role, Andrew Rogalny, Jr., as the godly balloon man, and Matt Hallahan as the evil popcorn seller. J.B. runs through March 2 in ISU's Westhoff Theatre. Click here for event details.

As the battle between good and evil rages inside Westhoff, ISU's Center for the Performing Arts will host Oklahoma!, the Rodgers and Hammerstein cowboys vs. farmers musical with corn as high as an elephant's eye, a surrey with fringe on top, a girl who cain't say no, and all the attendant box lunches, square dances and souvenirs from Kansas City. Will Oklahoma become a state right before your eyes? Is there any doubt? For ISU, Richard Corley directs Christie Duffer and Robbie Holden as Laurey and Curley, the couple who might just be in love, in this Oklahoma! The show opens February 22 and closes March 2. To see a list of performance dates and ticket information, click here.
Oklahoma? OK!

Over in Urbana, the Station Theatre warms up with Stephen Karam's provocative Sons of the Prophet from February 21 to March 9. The play, which explores a hard-luck family who may be descended from Kahlil GIbran, author of The Prophet, was a finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize. Longtime Celebration Company member Gary Ambler will direct Sons of the Prophet in the Station's cozy confines.

Liz (left) and Ann Hampton Callaway

On the 22nd, the University of Illinois' Krannert Center for the Performing Arts hosts sisters Liz and Ann Hampton Callaway and Boom!, their musical revue for Baby Boomers and everyone else who enjoys the song stylings of Carole King, Stevie Wonder, the Beatles and Joni Mitchell. Click here for more information.

Illinois Wesleyan is offering a little Shakespeare to brighten your February days, with As You Like It, the romantic comedy set in the Forest of Arden, playing February 26-28 and March 1-3 at McPherson Theatre. Assistant Professor Thomas Quinn directs.

And closing out the month, the Opera Program Series from U of I's School of Music presents a semi-staged concert version of My Fair Lady, featuring all the music and the dialogue from the Lerner and Loewe musical. You can see this concert, featuring the work of Eduardo Diazmunoz, Artistic Director and Conductor (as well as chair of the Opera program at U of I), director Ricardo Herrera, and choreographer Rebecca Nettl-Fiol on February 28 and March 1, 2 and 3. For more information about this My Fair Lady, click here.

Delightful "As You Like It" Echoes Sturges and That 30s Screwball Milieu

When screenwriter/director Preston Sturges made a name for himself with screen comedies in the 30s and 40s, he established a corps of supporting players. Frankin Pangborn, Jimmy Conlin, William Demarest, Esther Howard, Robert Dudley, Eric Blore... They weren't leading actors, but they were vivid and funny, making Sturges' movies really memorable. They also kept the tone light and charming, even when Sturges dipped into darker issues, putting them on chain gangs or standing in line for a soup kitchen.

That's the approach director James Alexander Bond takes with his production of Shakespeare's "As You Like It" for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, which is, not coincidentally, set in a 1930s world of society beauties, impetuous swains, local yokels, and a coterie of down-on-their-luck good guys hanging out in the forest away from it all. That means that this "As You Like It" looks and feels a bit like the Preston Sturges version of Shakespeare. Which is, as it turns out, an excellent idea.

In the Sturges vein, Bond has made the background players just as lively as the leads. Yes, leading lady Rosalind, who takes off from court to hide in the woods disguised as a boy, and her love interest, Orlando, another runaway, are the center of the story. Rosalind is one of Shakespeare's most appealing heroines, and Gracyn Mix is lithe and lovely in the role. Mix and Dylan Paul, as Orlando, make a charming pair of lovers, showing lots of  romantic chemistry and painting engaging characters individually.

Mix is tall enough to make her stint in boys' clothes at least as masculine as, say, Justin Bieber, and Paul nicely charts Orlando's course, so that we can always tell what he knows and when he knows it, who he loves and when he loves her.

But, just like in the best Sturges' pics, this pair of lovers are buoyed by the crazy character actors around them, from Henson Keys' double roles as old faithful Adam, Orlando's servant, and a down-home hick in rolled-up overalls, to Alexander Pawlowsky, funny as both a puffed-up champion wrestler (he sports an impressive mustache and a circus strong man look) and a very dim country bumpkin, Charlie Wright as a lovestruck shepherd, Lisa Wartenberg as the peevish object of his affections, Molly Rose Lewis as a lusty rustic, Zack Powell going all Truman Capote as a courtier named LeBeau and then turning up as a Hymen (the god of marriage) seemingly beamed down from the Starship Enterprise, and Nick Demeris, managing to make Touchstone, the one George Bernard Shaw called Shakespeare's most tiresome clown, somehow not tiresome at all. Each character is tart and sharp, adding energy and comedy.

The contributions of a band of wandering musicians are also welcome, with Andy Talen leading the way with vocals and guitar, bringing a little bit of bluegrass into Arden. And the hoe-down dances performed during the evening work quite well, too.

Jacques, the one who has the famous "Seven Ages of Man" speech, is usually portrayed as a brooding, melancholy misanthrope amidst the romantic comedy. But here, Daver Morrison creates a completely unique Jacques, one who has a sort of Grand Thespian way of speaking, as if he were a one-time actor turned away from the stage, still harkening to his former days in the spotlight, but decidedly more down at the heels. It's quite a fascinating Jacques, making his take on "All the world's a stage" that much richer.

Rachel Laritz's costumes are properly pretty for the time the ladies spend in court, and effectively countrified when they move into Arden, which seems to be somewhere in the neighborhood of the Ozarks in this production. John Stark's scenic design, with trees that change from an apple orchard to a forest, adds a cheerful background to the proceedings and lights up nicely when it's time for that Star Trek invasion. (I know it seems strange that there would be a visit from a starship there at the end, but Shakespeare's text does include a curious visit from other-worldly Hymen to bless the marriages being performed, so... A "Star Trek" approach works about as well as any.)

Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake in "Sullivan's Travels"

If you are not aware of Preston Sturges, if "Sullivan's Travels" has never been on your viewing list, you may think this "As You Like It" is more reminiscent of Frank Capra's "It Happened One Night" or Gregory LaCava's "My Man Godfrey" or even Fred and Ginger running off to Brightbourne in "The Gay Divorcee." It doesn't hurt that whenever a plane passes over, we get a few bars of "Flying Down to Rio" as sung by Mr. Astaire to fill the time. Whatever film from the 30s it brings to mind -- or even if you're channeling the Coen brothers' "O Brother Where Art Thou," itself a nod to Preston Sturges -- it all works. It's all in good fun, all romantic and sweet and pretty darn delightful.

AS YOU LIKE IT
By William Shakespeare

Illinois Shakespeare Festival
at Ewing Manor

Director: James Alexander Bond
Costume Designer: Rachel Laritz
Scenic Designer: John Stark
Lighting Designer: Julie Mack
Sound Designer/Composer: Michael Rasbury
Stage Manager: Jayson T. Waddell
Voice/Text Coach: Kevin Rich
Fight Director/Choreographer: Alex Miller
Dance Choreographer: Greg Merriman

Cast: Dylan Paul, Henson Keys, David Price, Andrew Rogalny, Jr, Alexander Pawlowski IV, Amanda Catania, Gracyn Mix, Nick Demeris, Zack Powell, Matt Penn, Charlie Wright, Kate McDermott, Trevon Jackson, Andy Talen, Devon Nimerfroh, Michael Gamache, David Sitler, Daver Morrison, Molly Rose Lewis and Lisa Wartenberg.

Remaining performances: July 1, 6, 8, 12, 14, 20, 27 and August 1, 5, 7, 11

For ticket information, click here.

Shake Up Your Summer With Shakespeare and Sheridan at the ISF

Although it has been feeling like summer lately, the midsummer tradition that is the Illinois Shakespeare Festival still seems far away. Yeah, well, it's not. In fact, four weeks from tonight, on June 28, the ISF summer season will open with a backstage tour, some jazz in the courtyard and the official opening night of "As You Like It."

That means you are well-advised to make reservations now if you want those cool Platinum Plus seats, which come with a free (non-alcoholic) beverage, premium parking, and the ability to exchange your tickets if you feel like it.

This summer's line-up, which they're billing as "a season of LOVE, LIES, DECEIT, AND SECRET IDENTITIES," goes with 2 Shakespeare and 1 Other, with "As You Like It" opening on the 28th, "Othello" on the 29th, and the third choice, the delightful comedy "The Rivals," written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan and first performed in 1775, bowing July 19th. This year's Theatre for Young Audiences choice, "The Comedy of Errors," begins on Wednesday, June 11th, with a 10 am performance.

The poster art for "As You Like It" would seem to indicate that they're emphasizing the Forest of Arden/Leafy Green aspect of the show, and Rosalind, the heroine who dresses as a boy when she goes on the lam in that very forest, looks like she's dressed in 20th century garb. The 30s, maybe? Of course, the poster may be a complete misdirect, even though the people in the picture have been identified as Gracyn Mix and Dylan Paul, and he is definitely playing Orlando. Paul was Romeo last year at the Festival, in case you saw that and remember his good looks and athletic performance.

"Othello" looks more Elizabethan as represented here. And a lot scarier, as it should. The actors in this banner are Daver Morrison and Amanda Catania, who will be presumably playing Othello and his ill-fated bride Desdemona for Shakes Fest this summer. One other fun fact about the production: Former Artistic Director John Sipes will be returning to the Festival to direct it.

And "The Rivals" looks properly late-18th century, what with the powdered wig and the frock coats, not to mention the weaponry. I remember a production of "The Rivals" at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival years ago, and it was one of the funniest and best things I've seen there. It offers excellent roles for both men and women, with pretty Lydia Languish and handsome Jack Absolute as the lovers thwarted by her guardian, Mrs. Malaprop, and his rivals for her affections, Bob Acres, a country squire, and Lucius O'Trigger, a hot-headed Irishman. This time, the actors in the poster are Alexander Pawlowski and Dylan Paul. Paul is almost certainly Jack Absolute, with Pawlowski as Bob Acres, perhaps.

In addition to the Theatre for Young Audience shows, the Festival also offers pre-shows, jazz music, different backstage tours, catered box suppers, ice cream socials and post-show discussions. As well as, of course, a stroll around the lovely grounds of Ewing Manor.

Although not much info regarding the casts or crews of the shows has been released as of yet, you can keep an eye on the Illinois Shakespeare Festival Facebook page for updates.