Now Playing: The ISU/Mary-Arrchie "Electra"

The big Illinois State University/Mary-Arrchie Theatre collaboration on "Electra" opened last night, with excellent reviews for the production itself and ISU actresses Emily Nichelson and Caitlin Boho as Electra and her vengeful mom, Clytemnestra.

Writing for ChicagoNow, Katy Walsh notes that family dysfunction like that on display in "Electra" never goes out of style. "Adapter and director Sonja Moser ambitiously attacks this ancient subject matter," writes Walsh. "Moser comes at it from several different angles. It’s part mythology lesson, part rock concert, part school pageant, part mud fight."

Walsh goes on to call "the dynamic harmonizing chorus (Gwen de Veer, Lauren Pfeiffer, Paula Nowak)" brilliant, and single out Boho and Nicholson. "Caitlin Boho (Clytemnestra) [is] outstanding as the statuesque mother," Walsh offers. "Her oration is delivered with commanding majesty. And then as Emily Nichelson (Electra) rants at her, Boho’s emotionless face has two tears run down it. WOW! Nichelson is her own little powerhouse of emotion. She spirals out of control at exhausting speed. And then she sings with divalicious ferocity. ELECTRA is a musical. And the finale is a melodious gift to the gods."

Boho and Nichelson are both reprising roles they played when this "Electra" first appeared at ISU, and they've both been seen on-stage in other roles locally.

Boho was Mary II in Sarah Ruhl's sweeping "Passion Play" last year, and she played Miss Jones in the Frank Loesser musical "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," where she brought down the house nightly with the big "Brotherhood of Man" anthem near the end of the show.

Nichelson appeared as naive Cecile in "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" at the Center for the Performing Arts, and in "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" and "Blackbird" at Centennial West.

"Electra" continues at Mary-Arrchie in Chicago through July 29, with performances on Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 pm and Saturday and Sunday afternoons at 3 pm. Ticket prices range from $15 to $20, and you can order them here.

The Mary-Arrchie/ISU Connection

You should already know that Chicago's Mary-Arrchie Theatre will be hosting a cadre of ISU students (recent grads and undergrads) when they bring Euripides "Electra" to their stage in July.

Matt Bausone, Caitlin Boho, Terrence Budnik, Kelsey Bunner, Gwen de Veer, Matthew Hallahan, Frank Huber, Keith Jackewicz, Russell Krantz, Emily Nichelson, Paula Nowak, Lauren Pfieffer, Danny Rice, Dustin Rothbart, Kadyn Walther and special guest Bert Matias form the "Electra" ensemble under the direction of Sonja Moser, performing July 6 to 29 at Mary-Arrchie Theatre, 735 W. Sheridan Road in Chicago.

Tickets are now available if you want to reserve your spot.

In addition to tickets, you can also support Mary-Arrchie's 60 Seat Campaign on Indiegogo, as the theater seeks to replace its Angel Island seating. As part of that effort, Mary-Arrchie is looking to raise upwards of $3,000 in order to "purchase 60 brand, new cushion-y audience holders for our 27th season." If you are planning to support ISU's "Electra" venture by going to see the show, it is in your best interests to help them out with their chairs venture. Just thinking of your comfort!

They are also offering "perks" for your donations, like shout-outs on Facebooks, high fives from Mary-Arrchie troupe members, a child's drawing of Artistic Director Richard Cotovsky, and, as the numbers rise, T-shirts, posters, season tickets, and dinner out with Cotovsky.

You can see all the details and contribute right here.

So there's "Electra," and there's the 60 Seat Campaign, which will benefit the ISU actors performing in "Electra," and now we also have a new ISU/Mary-Arrchie connection, as Tori Allen, who just graduated from the ISU School of Theatre, is also doing a Mary-Arrchie performance.

Allen wrote and starred in a one-woman show called "If You Like it Then You Should’a Put Some Gin in It" at ISU as part of its Freestage program in April. That show was directed by another alum, Johnny Oleksinski.

Allen announced today that she and Oleksinski are bringing her "Gin" show to Mary-Arrchie for its annual Abbie Fest, with performances scheduled for August 17, 18 and 19. Abbie Fest, which is a three-day celebration of the anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair that took place in 1969, is now 24 years old. And Tori Allen and her "Gin" will be part of the festivities.

ISU Students Part of Mary-Arrchie's "Electra" in Chicago

Chicago's Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company has announced a new adaptation of Euripides' classic "Electra," adapted and directed by Sonja Moser and performed by an ensemble that includes Illinois State University undergrads and recent graduates.

Mary-Arrchie's website makes it clear that this "Electra" is a whole different kind of Greek tragedy. As they put it: "Set in John Deere country, this inventive meta-theatrical adaptation of the famous Euripides tragedy is filled with live rock music, humor, teen angst, and sweet, sweet muddy revenge."

You may remember Electra from your grade school Greek mythology class, or possibly from Eugene O'Neill's "Mourning Becomes Electra," which moves the story to the post-Civil War U.S. In Homer's "Iliad," Electra was the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, the king and queen of Mycenae (sometimes called Argos). Agamemnon was the brother of Menelaus, the one beautiful Helen ditched* to run off with Paris, so Agamemnon went with his brother to wage war against Troy and get her back. To get the wind to pick up so the Greek ships could get out to sea and get their war started, Agamemnon sacrificed Iphigenia, his daughter, which did not sit well with his wife, the girl's mother.

And then we have the Trojan War, wherein Agamemnon hooked up with (or was given, as spoils of war) Cassandra, the good news/bad news girl. (Good news: You have the gift of prophecy, Cassandra. Bad news: No one will believe you.)

Back at home, Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra wasn't happy her husband killed one of their kids to get his boats to move, and she also took a lover. So when Agamemnon got back to town after all those years of war with Cassandra in tow, Clytemnestra (with the help of her lover) offed him and Cassandra. Not happy that their mom killed their dad, Orestes and Electra plotted revenge and eventually killed her, too.

And they were all members of the cursed House of Atreus, which had a history of murder, rape, revenge, incest and general mayhem, even before Clytemnestra knocked off her husband in the bathtub and her children retaliated by murdering her, too.

"Electra" was performed at ISU under Moser's direction last fall, and it is that production moving to Mary-Arrchie with some cast changes and the inclusion of non-ISU students. This time, the ensemble will include Matt Bausone, Caitlin Boho, Terrence Budnik, Kelsey Bunner, Gwen De Veer, Matthew Hallahan, Frank Huber, Keith Jackewicz, Russell Krantz, Emily Nichelson, Paula Nowak, Lauren Pfieffer, Danny Rice, Dustin Rothbart, Kadyn Walther and "special guest" Bert Matias.

Performances are scheduled for July 6-29 with curtain at 8 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and 3 pm on Sundays. Tickets are $20 for adults, with student, senior and group discounts available. You are invited to call 773-871-0442 for information or reservations, or to reserve online through Ticketweb.

If you would like to support the efforts of the ISU students who will be staying in Chicago to take part in "Electra," you can make a donation here.

*Did Helen ditch Menelaus? Or was she abducted? Different writers take the story in different directions.