Catch HAY FEVER This Week at IWU

Achoo! I don't recall anyone sneezing in Noel Coward's Hay Fever, although it would be in character if it were the biggest, most over-the-top sneeze ever. Hay Fever, which first played in London in 1925, is one of those blithe and witty comedies about crazy theatrical people who pull a few unsuspecting "normal" people (i.e., not theatre people) into their orbit and the hijinks that ensue when they do. It's sort of The Royal Family by way of Private Lives.

This one involves Judith Bliss, grande dame of the English stage, and her husband, David, a novelist, who decide to spend a weekend at their country home, with their equally flaky children, Simon and Sorel, in tow. Each of them has asked along a potential romantic partner, but once their guests are there, the Blisses pull all sorts of parlor games and silly tricks that baffle the newcomers. There are misunderstandings when flowery dialogue from one of Judith's hit shows is inserted into real conversations, feigned mad passion, emotional outbursts and all sorts of tempests in teapots. The Blisses are charming, eccentric and self-indulgent, with a sort of 1920s "tennis, anyone?" elegance along with their madcap antics.

Hay Fever may not be revived as often as Private Lives or Blithe Spirit, but it has enjoyed four Broadway productions since it opened in 1925 with Laura Hope Crews (Aunt Pittypat in Gone with the Wind) as Judith Bliss and multiple British productions in London and the provinces. Over the years, actresses as different as Shirley Booth, Constance Collier, Judi Dench, Lindsay Duncan, Edith Evans, Rosemary Harris and Diana Rigg have all played Judith, while Derek Jacobi, Ian McKellen and Sam Waterston have done Simon, and Maggie Smith has played both Myra and Jackie, the female guests in the party.

Illinois Wesleyan professor Nancy Loitz directs the McPherson Theatre production of Hay Fever that opens tomorrow, with Kate Fitzgerald as Judith, Ian Scarlato as David, Abby Dryden and Will Henke as Sorel and Simon, Joey Chu, Jenna Haimes, Forrest Loeffler and Priscilla Moy as the confused guests who wander into the Bliss household, and Alexa Eldridge as the family housekeeper. Debra Madans completes the cast as an understudy.

IWU's production begins Tuesday November 19 and continues through Saturday November 23, with performances at 8 pm each night. There will also be a Sunday matinee at 2 pm on the 24th. For ticket information, you can click here for the box office site, visit the the School of Theatre Arts Facebook page, or call the box office directly at 309-556-3232.

IWU Fall Theatre Season Starts with A CLASS ACT in October

IWU's MacPherson Theatre in Fall 2012

Have you been wondering what's playing this year from Illinois Wesleyan's School of Theatre Arts? I'm happy to say I have some of the answers.

A Class Act, a musical inspired by the life and work of composer Edward Kleban, will be first up for IWU's singers, dancers and actors, with Associate Professor Jean MacFarland Kerr directing and choreographing. You can read more about Kleban in the Masterworks Broadway article linked under his name, but he is probably best known as the lyricist of A Chorus Line. After Kleban passed away at the age of 48, his longtime girlfriend Linda Kline, to whom he'd left all the rights to his work, decided to celebrate his story by constructing a semi-biographical show around a trunkload of his music. She collaborated in that effort with Lonny Price, and the result was A Class Act, which was produced off-Broadway in 2000 and on Broadway in 2001. Illinois Wesleyan's production is scheduled for performances in McPherson Theatre from October 8 to 13, linking up with IWU Homecoming events.

Noel Coward's classic comedy Hay Fever, directed by Professor Nancy Loitz, is up next at McPherson Theatre, with performances from November 19 to 24. Coward wrote Hay Fever in 1924, and it is very much in keeping with the droll, whimsical Coward oeuvre of that time, focusing on the eccentric, self-centered, artsy members of the Bliss family as they gather at their country estate for a weekend. Tennis, anyone? Actually, this party is more about charades and other over-the-top dramatic games that leave their guests nonplussed. But the Blisses will have a great time, as they always do. Broadway casts for Hay Fever have included Laura Hope Crews (1925), Constance Collier (1931), Shirley Booth and Sam Waterston (1970), and Rosemary Harris and Campbell Scott (1985).

IWU's first offering in 2014 will be 12 Ophelias (a play with Broken Songs), Caridad Svich's Ophelia-centered take that jumps off from Hamlet. Assistant Professor Dani Snyder-Young will direct 12 Ophelias at McPherson Theatre from February 11 to 16. As Svich bends the story, Ophelia (and a chorus of guides also called Ophelia) rise from the murky water in Hamlet to contend with somewhat recognizable characters called Rude Boy, R and G, H and... Gertrude. This story's Hamlet (Rude Boy) is still best pals with H (Horatio) but Gertrude is now heading up a bordello. Svich's "mirrored world of word-scraps and cold sex" represents a fresh and unexpected way to look at Shakespeare.

And The Drowsy Chaperone, set to be performed from April 8 to 13, is a fresh and unexpected way to look at the Broadway musical. Assistant Professor Tom Quinn will take the reins of this irresistible romp, centered around a man who immerses himself in the cast recording of his favorite old show, something called The Drowsy Chaperone, until the whole thing starts to come alive right there in his tiny apartment. Bob Martin and Don McKellar wrote the Drowsy book, while Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison contributed its fizzy, infectious music and lyrics. Visiting Professor Saundra DeAthos-Meers will act as musical director, while Jessica Waltrip will choreograph the rambunctious dance numbers. The 2006 Broadway version of The Drowsy Chaperone won Tony Awards for its book, score, set and costumes, and for featured actress Beth Leavel. A movie version is reportedly in the works starring Oscar (and Tony and Emmy) winner Geoffrey Rush as the narrator.

In addition to the above slate of shows destined for McPherson Theatre, there will be three shows in the E. Melba Kirkpatrick Laboratory Theatre, with Treasure playing October 31 to November 2 and two additional shows not yet announced, scheduled for March 3 to 5 and May 22 to 24. A play workshop on April 26 and the Music Theatre Scene Study Showcase on April 19, directed by Associate Professor Scott Susong, finish up the semester.

Last year's shows were still up last time I looked, but you can expect all the inside dope on the 2013-14 season to appear on the Illinois Wesleyan Theatre box office page.

IWU's 9 TO 5: THE MUSICAL Opens Tuesday at McPherson Theatre

Working nine to five
What a way to make a living
Barely getting by
It's all taking and no giving
They just use your mind
And they never give you credit
It's enough to make you crazy if you let it!

Dolly Parton won two Grammy Awards and was nominated for an Oscar for the music and lyrics of that breezy, catchy little song, set to the beat of a typewriter and written for the movie Nine to Five. Parton also starred in the movie, playing Doralee, a smart, good-hearted secretary who bands together with two friends, played by Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, when they aren't treated right at work. Fed up by their sexist pig of a boss who never gives them credit, the three comically turn the tables, trapping him in his own house and running the company by themselves.

The film was turned into a stage musical called, conveniently enough, 9 to 5: the Musical, almost 30 years after the movie, with lots of new songs supplied by Parton and a book written by Patricia Resnick, the same person credited for the screenplay for the original Nine to Five along with its director, Colin Higgins.

This time out, 9 to 5 starred Allison Janney (The West Wing) as Violet, the Lily Tomlin role, Stephanie J. Block (The Pirate Queen) taking over as Judy, the character Jane Fonda played on screen, and newcomer Megan Hilty as Doralee, Parton's role. Like Block, Hilty was best known at that point as a replacement for one of the leads in Wicked. After 9 to 5, she broke out on TV's Smash, the weird musical drama with all kinds of problems, not the least of which is pretending that Hilty doesn't overshadow the competition.

The stage musical is bright and bouncy, with three good roles for women and one -- the dastardly boss -- for a man. On Broadway, Marc Kudisch took that role, earning a Tony nomination along with Janney, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, and Dolly Parton's score. All three actresses were nominated for Drama Desk Awards, with Janney taking it home.

All of that means that there should be plenty of opportunities for Illinois Wesleyan's cast and crew to shine as they present 9 to 5: The Musical at McPherson Theatre starting Tuesday night at 8 pm. Assistant Professor Scott Susong, whose work on shows like Hello Again and Once Upon a Mattress has been terrific in the past, directs this 9 to 5 with a cast of 27, which includes Christine Polich, Lizzie Rainville and Kate Rozycki as Judy, Doralee and Violet, respectively. Josh Levinson plays creepy Franklin M. Hart, Jr. (Or, you know, the Big Bad Boss.)

For this Illinois Wesleyan School of Theatre Arts production, Jean MacFarland Kerr choreographs, while Saul Nache acts as musical director and Saundra DeAthos-Meers conducts.

9 to 5: The Musical opens Tuesday, November 13, and continues through the 18th, with performances at 8 pm Tuesday through Saturday and a 2 pm matinee on Sunday. For ticket information, click here to see the IWU Theatre box office page.

"Promenade" Sprints Through IWU

If you attended anything theatrical in the 70s, whether high school, college or professional, you were likely to run across something absurd, something avant-garde, something existentialist or open or experimental or guerilla. My junior high dipped into Eugène Ionesco. My high school regularly put on Jean-Claude van Itallie. There was Beckett and Pirandello and Pinter at every turn.

María Irene Fornés, the Cuban-American playwright behind "Fefu and her Friends" as well as the book and lyrics of "Promenade," the musical currently on stage at IWU's McPherson Theatre, is part of that same tradition, although "tradition" is probably the wrong word to use for a kind of theater whose primary focus was upending it. Fornés is associated with the Off-Off-Broadway movement, with an exploration and deconstruction of society and culture and what we used to call "the Establishment." I've seen varying numbers of Obie Awards associated with Fornés, although nine seems to be the most popular choice, but it's still clear that she has had her finger on the pulse of the theatrical world Off- and Off-Off Broadway for quite some time.

"Promenade," which was created in 1965, is part of the brighter, lighter, earlier part of the Fornés ouevre, and the Al Carmines score reflects that. His music is peppy and lively, even when the Fornés lyrics attached are about getting kicked in the head.

And there's a reason there are lyrics about getting kicked in the head. The two main characters in "Promenade" are sort of everymen, schlubs, Regular Old Guys, who happen to have numbers instead of names because they begin the play in a prison cell. Numbers 105 and 106, played and sung very nicely by Will Henke and Isaac Sherman for Illinois Wesleyan, tunnel their way out of jail, initially landing themselves in the midst of a posh society party. At the party, we see a coterie of rich fatheads playing an endless game of Change Partners, a lady pop out of a cake, a saucy maid who has an eye for jewelry, and an interruption from the jailer (Peter J. Studlo as a combination Inspector Clouseau/Station Inspector from "Hugo") who is on the trail of the escaped prisoners. There's a detour into a battlefield, a celebration of Spring, and another party with an Alice in Wonderland flourish. And that's what constitutes a "Promenade."

There isn't any particular rhyme or reason to where they go or what happens to be happening, but it's all performed with good humor and commitment from the ensemble here. IWU Associate Professor Jean MacFarland Kerr directs "Promenade" at McPherson, so it stands to reason that the choreography and staging would stand out. And they do. The dance moves are sharp and smart, and they create a sense of movement that helps the play stay entertaining and fun, instead of just inexplicable. I especially liked the prison break, the exchange of jackets, and the Maypole sequences, in terms of staging, and the general pace and tone of the piece.

Also on the production side, Bernadette Brennan's scenic design is handsome and effective, sort of industrial chic, with layers and levels and a nifty plastic kiddie slide, and Marcia K. McDonald's costume design is fun and bouncy, with lots of entertaining details in terms of boots and wigs and furbelows.

The ensemble as a whole is quite strong and quite tuneful, thanks to Musical Director Saundra DeAthos-Meers, who also conducts a lively orchestra. The Alphabet People (Misses I, O and U and Misters R, S and T, played by Jenna Haimes, Laura Martino, Abigail Root, Joseph Chu, Josh Levinson and Ben Mulgrew) play it big and as absurd as they can be, functioning nicely as a reminder that the rich are stupid and silly, plus they sound good when they sing and look good in their formal wear and déshabillé. I also enjoyed Caitlin Borek, very snappy and sardonic as the maid; Roz Prickel as Miss Cake, who adds good energy as the girl who jumps out of the cake; Rachel C. Grimes, another excellent singer who plays Mother, running around looking for her missing children; Marek Zurkowski and Zach Mahler as various characters, but best as a pair of soldiers who aren't sure why they're at war; and Michael Holding as a buffoon of a politician who keeps threatening to send people to jail.

I'm not sure what it all amounts to, to be honest, since Fornés seems quite content to let it unfold every which way and not mean anything at all. Kudos to Jean MacFarland Kerr for keeping the show's sense of humor at the forefront, and to her cast for jumping in and performing the heck out of Fornés' words and Carmines' music.

PROMENADE
Book and lyrics by María Irene Fornés and music by Al Carmines.

McPherson Theatre
Illinois Wesleyan University School of Theatre Arts

Director: Jean MacFarland Kerr
Set Designer: Bernadette Brennan
Lighting Designer: Stephen Sakowski
Sound Designer: Ian Scarlato
Costume Designer: Marcia K. McDonald
Associate Costume Designer: Zach Wagner
Music Director/Conductor: Saundra DeAthos-Meers
Assistant Conductor: Blake Brauer
Choreographer: Jean MacFarland Kerr

Cast: Will Henke, Isaac Sherman, Caitlin Borek, Peter J. Studlo, Rachel C. Grimes, Michael Holding, Roz Prickel, Jenna Haimes, Laura Martino, Abigail Root, Joseph Chu, Josh Levinson, Ben Mulgrew, Marek Zurkowski, Zach Mailer.

Remaining Performances: April 4, 5 and 6 at 8 pm and April 7 at 2 pm.

Running Time: 2 hours, including one 10-minute intermission

For ticket information, contact the box office at 309-556-3232 or visit www.iwu.edu/theatre.