Glorious Gilbert and Sullivan Opening at Prairie Fire

I asked Kevin Paul Wickart to tell me a little about the upcoming Gilbert and Sullivan show from Prairie Fire Theatre, and here's what Kevin had to say:

"It is, it is a glorious thing to be a Pirate King!" The glory of some of the best music and lyrics of all time comes out in Prairie Fire's lastest show, "An Evening of Gilbert and Sullivan," aka "Gilbert and Sullivan a la Carte." The revue features 29 songs from G & S comic operas, including "The Major General's Song," "Willow, Tit-Willow," and "The Lost Chord."

The songs are brought to life by a trio of vocalists--soprano Danelle Ekhart, tenor Paul Cochran, and baritone Kevin Paul Wickart--under the musical direction of Michael Schneider and accompaniment by Charlie Berggren. The overall production is directed by Phil Shaw.

Rather than grouping the songs by show, the revue instead uses them to highlight the history of the great songwriting duo. The audience is taken on a journey through their triumphs and tribulations as the cast assumes the roles of Gilbert (Wickart) and Sullivan (Cochran), with Ekhart serving as occasional narrator and incidental characters.

Whether you like Gilbert and Sullivan or not--or if you simply aren't sure--you are certain to enjoy the energy and playfulness evident on the stage.


Thanks, Kevin, for the info! I'm a big fan of the movie "Topsy Turvy," which gives a backstage look at Gilbert and Sullivan and some of the performers and personages around them, so Prairie Fire's revue sounds very appealing. Plus, Prairie Fire always excels at G & S. The show opens tomorrow, October 15th, and runs through the weekend, with performances at Westbrook Theater in Presser Hall on the Illinois Wesleyan campus. Tickets are available online or at the door. For more information, visit the Prairie Fire Theatre website.

"As You Like It" Goes Wiild at Eureka College

It’s a cool idea, on paper, to turn the wrestling match in “As You Like It” into Wii boxing and the music into Rock Band. After all, the main characters, lovestruck Rosalind, on the lam from her wicked uncle’s machinations, and brave Orlando, who has been mistreated by his older brother and needs to find his own place in the world, are young, energetic and loose in the Forest of Arden without parental supervision. Rosalind is disguised as a boy, and she’s brought along her cousin Celia and the fool Touchstone, and then meets up with Orlando, someone she already fell in love with at that wrestling match (which he won) and pretends to teach him how to woo her real self. It’s mostly good fun, with another romance from a smitten shepherd and a surly shepherdess tossed in, plus the melancholy Jacques, a forest philosopher attached to Rosalind’s dad, the exiled Duke who hangs out in the woods with his merry men.

The characters are young, their toils are not so different from today’s texting and twittering teens, and putting Playstation and X box into the mix seems like a fun, fresh idea. At Eureka College, director Holly Rocke not only adds video game touches, but gives her actors cell phones to snap pictures with and Homer Simpson slides as a backdrop.

There were a lot more projections than just Homer Simpson, but I’m afraid I’m not a video game person, and I have no idea what most of them were. Gollum from “The Lord of the Rings” popped up. So did actor Orlando Bloom to give us an idea how dishy the Orlando in the play is. But the rest? I just don’t know my Pokemon from my Mortal Combat or any points in between.

And therein lies the rub with this fun idea to bring “As You Like It” into the 21st Century. Adding the pop culture references is great for the kids in the audience, but I fear they lose sight of the Shakespeare, while the old folks can do the Shakespeare, but are lost in the Myst. It might’ve been better to write a new play with the same basic “As You Like It” plot – banished girl, evil uncle, hot guy who falls for her the minute he sees her – and play it out with modern English that suits the light sabers and joysticks the kids are wielding. Kind of like Hollywood turning “Twelfth Night” into “She’s the Man” and “The Taming of the Shrew” into “10 Things I Hate About You.”

But this way… There’s life and joy here, but the language seems well beyond these youthful actors’ range. As a result, the story gets lost, and all anybody is going to remember is that Rosalind was in a football uniform, Orlando dressed like Indiana Jones, and Celia dragged around an adorable yellow stuffed animal that I think came from Pokemon. Oh, and everybody sang “YMCA” at the end.

As You Like It
by William Shakespeare

Pritchard Theatre, Eureka College

Director: Holly Rocke.
Scenic Designer: Marty Lynch
Costume Designer: Nicole Wheeler
Lighting Designer: Marty Lynch
Sound Designer: Emily Simpson
Stage Manager: Chris Funk

Cast: DJ Blume, Rahmell Brown, Caitlin Closner, Erin Cochran, Becky Collins, Jacob Coombs, Cat Davis, Tiffany Davis, Bradley Gabehart, Julie Gautschy, Taryn Hefley, Scott Herman, Sami Hubbard, Tim Jenkins, Kayla Koeppel, Kesenia Marten, Alyssa Martin.

Running time: 2:15, including one 10-minute intermission

Box office: 309-467-6363

Remaining performances: October 13-16 at 7:30 pm, October 17 at 2 pm, with a post-show discussion following the October 14th performance

"The Bald Soprano" and "The Lesson": Going in Circles at Krannert Center

At some point in my academic life, I had a French language textbook written by absurdist playwright Eugène Ionesco. I don’t remember much about it, except that instead of the usual “How are you today?” and “Can you tell me how to get to the library?” it contained interesting dialogue like “Your nose looks like a circular staircase.”

For me, that pretty much sums up Ionesco. He’s going to go a direction you don’t expect, he isn’t going to make a whole lot of sense, and the people in his plays may end up going in circles. “The Bald Soprano” and “The Lesson,” the two one-acts chosen by the U of I Department of Theatre to open their fall season, are quite different from each other, but either one could contain the line “Your nose looks like a circular staircase” with no problem at all.

“The Bald Soprano” is the more absurd of the two, with no plot and no real characters, just a quartet of proper British people, a maid and a fireman, and a lot of nonsensical dialogue about buttered potato jackets, a family where everybody is named Bobby Watson, the curative powers of yogurt, how baffling it is to run into your spouse, and a desire for fire. Commentators have suggested that it illustrates the futility of language and communication, and that certainly seems apt.

“The Lesson” is more sinister, with an increasingly frustrated professor, an impossible student, and a maid whose main function seems to be to act as the professor’s clean-up crew after he loses his temper.

Both are directed by Tom Mitchell on a bright white pop art set designed by Moon Jung Kim. “The Bald Soprano” gets four off-white comfy chairs and a big clock with only one hand, while “The Lesson” has a blackboard and sturdy wooden tables and chairs, but it’s still minimalist and strange enough to create the mood.

The best part of “The Bald Soprano” is the over-the-top gestures from Jeremiah Lowry and Neala Barron that bring to mind Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks. Except this would be the Ministry of Silly Gestures. That part is funny and fresh and definitely works to set up the absurdity. Still, this production, using a new translation by Tina Howe, seems too long by at least 15 minutes and moves from absurdity to annoyance well before the curtain.

After the break, we see “The Lesson,” which is also funny at first, with Doug West and Jaclyn Holtzman nicely showing how inane education can be. The opening night audience, filled with both professors and students, understood that part of “The Lesson” quite well. But then the play gets darker and creepier, and the pace speeds up and then slows down, and Howe’s translation goes completely off the rails. I’ve never seen audience members leave during a performance at the Studio Theatre, but we had several departures this time. Forewarned is forearmed: There is shouting and violence in “The Lesson.” It gets ugly.

Remember what I said above, about being too long and moving from absurdity to annoyance? That goes double for "The Lesson."

If you like Theatre of the Absurd, if you have seen “The Bald Soprano” and “The Lesson” before and you know what you’re in for, you may very well appreciate this double bill. Otherwise… You may find these plays like a circular staircase that goes absolutely nowhere.

The Bald Soprano and The Lesson
by Eugène Ionesco, translated from the French by Tina Howe

Studio Theatre, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

Director: Tom Mitchell.
Scenic Designer: Moon Jung Kim.
Costume Designer for “The Bald Soprano”: Amy Senffner.
Costume Designer for “The Lesson”: Jessica Trier.
Lighting Designer: Brianna Sue Johnson.
Sound Designer: Robert Dagit.

Cast of “The Bald Soprano”: Jeremiah Lowry, Neala Barron, Nile Hawver, Julia Skeggs, Anastasia Pappageorge, Evan Johnson, Thomas A. Schleis.

Cast of “The Lesson”: Doug West, Jaclyn Holtzman, Sara Heller.

Running time: 2:25, including one 20-minute intermission

Box office: 217-333-6280, www.KrannertCenter.com

Note: This review originally appeared in the Champaign News-Gazette.

Discovery Walk, Part the Third

Today has been my day off from the Discovery Walk, after six days in a row of performances. We have two more days, with 16 performances each day, and then we will all say goodbye to the Discovery Walk for 2010.

I have mixed feelings about this. It's been fun, I love the actors and volunteers I've been hanging out with, and I love Lucy Orme Morgan, the person I'm portraying. She is a force of nature, and it's really fun to play her. But it's also been challenging, with freezing temperatures last weekend and the prospect of hot hot hot happening tomorrow and Sunday, plus a whole lot of interesting things popping up along the way. I've been interrupted by squirrels throwing acorns, a very long siren, a few trains, and a pair of tap-dancing teens. (I think they were communicating in Morse Code, but I'm not sure.) One early day, I was visited by about a dozen people who spilled out of two vans right next to where I was performing to visit the graves of their ancestors. My character was related to them, too, and when I told them that's who I was, one of them said, "I know you!" as if I really were Lucy Orme Morgan. That's not something that happens every day.

Since this may be the only time I ever do this, I already know it will be bittersweet turning in these final performances.

Until then, I thought I would tell you about a few more of the characters you'll meet if you decide to come out to Evergreen Cemetery on Saturday or Sunday. This trio includes tragedy and comedy, as befits theatrical proceedings. First up is Helen Davis Stevenson, the lady of constant sorrows. Unhappily married, this prominent citizen became a little too attached to her children, following them to college and worrying about them to excess even when her own health became compromised. Kathleen Kirk wrote the piece and plays Helen, in what Judy Brown, who runs Illinois Voices Theatre and shepherds the entire dramatic process, calls an Oscar-worthy performance. It's good to add a few tears to the mix, and Kathleen definitely provides those.

William Van Schoick, one of the founders of the Bloomington Pork Packing Company, is on the lighter side of the theatrical aisle. His pork place was more than a little smelly, and it caused quite a stir among Bloomingtonians who didn't appreciate the stench in their neighborhood. Ron Emmons plays Van Schoick with an irascible wit and good curmudgeon spirit. Emmons also wrote the Van Schoick speech, so if you visit, be sure to yell "Hogwash!" at him.

And last up today is Daniel Foster, a larger-than-life political character who served several terms as mayor, pulled in support from both parties, and definitely knew his way around palm-greasing, vice and liquor as a way to get out the vote. Todd Wineburner gives Mr. Foster a Dickensian polish, with a shiny badge on his lapel that says "Mayor," just in case anybody forgets the office Foster once held. He's funny and energetic, with a politico's bluster and a way with words. John Kirk wrote the Foster piece, a full-bodied rant about blue-nosed Republicans and ladies of the evening as well as the bogus (in his opinion) charge that got him indicted for official misconduct.

That's Todd over there on the right, showing off his best Daniel Foster oratorical style, complete with "Mayor" badge.

Remember, you only have four chances left to catch the 2010 Discovery Walk at Evergreen Cemetery. Your last chances are at 11 am and 2 pm on Saturday and Sunday.

See you at the cemetery!

Discovery Walk, Part Deux

As I write this, we are past the halfway point, with some 56 performances of our individual pieces left. Tomorrow, we'll see more school groups, with the general public returning to Evergreen Cemetery on Saturday and Sunday.

Whew. I knew this would be a challenge, to keep my wits about me during all these repetitions of my speech, and I was right! But the weather today was so impossibly gorgeous that I can't complain. I'm not usually outside that much, so getting to sit in a beautiful place with sun and breezes and charming squirrels trying to pelt me with walnuts... Well, it was quite pleasant, as my character, Lucy Orme Morgan, might say.

From chatting with my husband, who was a tour guide yesterday, and some of the children who've passed through, I now know that there are two characters who stand out as audience favorites for the younger set. They seem to like Grace Jewett Austin, the society reporter and fashion columnist who had a thing about elephants, and Christoph Mandler, the German immigrant who rolled cigars for a living and also sang and danced with a home-made dance partner.

That's Grace up top, portrayed by Irene Taylor, resplendent in her red cape. She extols the virtues of wearing color, tells a bit about her life as a reporter, and fills the audience in on her elephant collection. I happen to know she has already received a lovely picture of several elephants as a contribution to the collection, with another offer to bring some sort of elephant toy back later. Her costume is also a big hit, but you'll have to come to the walk if you want to know the particulars. And if you've already done the walk and you know the big secret, don't spoil it for everybody else, okay?

Christoph, played by Michael Pullin, does some show and tell, as well. He not only dances with Matilda, his doll of a dance partner, but he shows his audiences how to make their own cigars. That's not something you see every day. Michael reports that he hasn't yet sent any cigars home with the youngsters, but he thinks he could probably get a few new customers if he tried. I'm sure their parents are happy he hasn't actually sold any cigars, though.

So that's what awaits you at the Discovery Walk. Come out Saturday or Sunday, at 11 am or 2 pm, to see Grace and Christoph and the other six folks who are not offering elephant or cigar madness!

All Kinds of Discoveries at the Discovery Walk

As you know if you've been keeping track of my blog, I am performing in this year's Discovery Walk at Evergreen Cemetery. I am playing a lovely woman named Lucy Orme Morgan, a suffragette (apparently "suffragist" was a less derogatory term at the time, but "suffragette" was sort of adopted by the women themselves, losing the negative connotations. I like "suffragette" because it reminds me of "Suffragette City," a song by David Bowie. I never have had a clue what "Suffragette City" means, but it was a fun song when I was 12) and social reformer who played a crucial role in organizing and creating a home for girls in the late 19th century.

This is my first experience as an actor in the Discovery Walk, although I have written for them before and acted as a tour guide. My husband is a tour guide again this year, and I am enjoying seeing his friendly face at the head of a group when they round the bend in front of me.

So far, we have completed one weekend, with a total of 32 performances each, and two weekdays, with a total of 48 performances each. We are, as it happens, at the halfway point. I wasn't sure how difficult that would be, with so many repetitions, and I have to say, it is definitely challenging! But today, while we had school groups in attendance, the weather was gorgeous, the kids were great audiences, and I definitely enjoyed myself. It helps that my character's great passion was taking care of children. I think how Lucy Orme Morgan would've reacted to all those charming faces, and that makes me smile when I'm looking out at them.

There are eight groups traversing Evergreen Cemetery during a session, and eight characters for those groups to visit. The characters include a longtime zookeeper at Miller Zoo (played by Bob Thurmond, shown above with Tori Allen as the Griotte who helps tell his story); the mother of a presidential candidate; a society reporter and fashion columnist with national influence (I wrote this one); a (possibly) corrupt mayor; a singing and dancing German immigrant who made and sold cigars; a man invested in packing pork until the stench angered his neighbors; and an incredibly successful inventor with vision problems who could barely see his own customers.

The Discovery Walk has been fascinating in each of the roles I've played, mostly because I am not originally from Bloomington-Normal, and I don't really know its history all that well. I love history, though, so I enjoy getting to meet the characters who made these towns and this area what it is. Plus, Judy Brown, who runs the creative side of the proceedings for Illinois Voices Theater, attracts some terrific actors to play these folks. So you'll see sterling performers like Kathleen Kirk (playing Helen Davis Stevenson this time), Rhys Lovell (as inventor William White, seen above showing off one of his inventions), and Todd Wineburner (taking the role of former mayor Daniel Foster).

Schools will continue to visit this week, with public performances open again on the weekend.

I will blog again about my Discovery Walk experience, so look for more posts and more pictures later. In the meantime, buy your tickets at the McLean County Museum of History, the Garlic Press or Evergreen Cemetery, and come out to Evergreen Cemetery to join us at 11 am and 2 pm on Saturday and Sunday. I'll be the one with the big red rose on my hat!

On the Horizon in October

I've already discussed the Evergreen Cemetery Discovery Walk 2010 (instead of just writing or acting as a tour guide, I'm performing this time) and it starts TOMORROW. Do not miss! I'm playing Lucy Orme Morgan, a strong proponent of social welfare programs for children, one of eight characters from Bloomington-Normal's past featured this year. You'll find tour times and ticket prices here. As a sneak peek, I'm showing you the picture (at left) of me in my Lucy Orme Morgan finery.

Urbana's Station Theatre continues Annie Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation, which may be this year's hottest play, through October 16th. Director Mikel Matthews was kind enough to share a script with me (it still hasn't been published as far as I know, although it's been tapped for the 2010 Best Plays yearbook) and I can verify that Annie Baker's writing is crisp, funny and insightful, and she makes a lot out of those silly exercises anybody who's ever been in an acting class is familiar with.

The Art Theater in Champaign is showing Oliver Stone's South of the Border, what they are calling a "divisive documentary about Latin American leaders." The Art promises speakers for almost every showing from tonight through October 6th. FMI or the full schedule, try their website.

The Normal Theatre opens its LGBT FEST with a new documentary called Stonewall Uprising on the 5th and 6th, followed by Howl, starring James Franco as poet Allen Ginsberg, on the 7th, and Leading Ladies, a ballroom dance movie filmed right in Champaign-Urbana, on the 8th.

One of my favorite musicals, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, opens at ISU's Center for the Performing Arts October 6th, directed by Cyndee Brown. If you get there early, you might be chosen as a guest speller, and you'll get to go right up there on stage with ISU's performers. You don't get to sing, but you should get to dance around a little. And spell, of course. I was picked when I saw the show in Chicago, and they asked me to spell jihad, balmacaan and Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, in case you'd like to study ahead. "Putnam County" runs through October 16th, which includes performances on Homecoming weekend, so you are forewarned to get your tickets now.

Do you dance in the garden in torn sheets in the rain? Do you wear your hair in a beehive? Did your ear lobe ever fall into the deep and turn into a lobster? If you answered yes to any of those, you'll want to attend the B-52s concert at the BCPA on the 6th. Love Shack, baby!

U of I opens its fall season with two short absurdist comedies, The Bald Soprano and The Lesson, from Eugene Ionesco on October 7th in the Studio Theatre, and then brings Macbeth right behind in the Colwell Playhouse on the 14th.

In a very different direction, the Champaign Urbana Theatre Company (CUTC) is offering the Elton John/Tim Rice musical Aida in concert at Urbana's Lincoln Square from October 7-10.

I am definitely looking forward to Eureka College's 21st Century version of Shakespeare's As You Like It, directed by Holly Rocke, opening October 12 in Pritchard Theatre. Rocke promises that Rosalind will be in a football uniform and we'll see Wii Boxing instead of wrestling.

Prairie Fire Theatre goes back to what it does best with An Evening with Gilbert & Sullian October 15-17, at Westbrook Theater in Presser Hall on the IWU campus. Prairie Fire promises "a glorious night of all your favorites."

In its second show of the month, ISU brings Shakespeare's Measure for Measure to Westhoff Theatre October 27-31. "Measure for Measure" is the one with the corrupt judge, the novice nun he tries to blackmail into sleeping with him, and a whole lot of rotten in the duchy of Vienna.

Illinois Wesleyan continues its fall season with Martin Crimp's Attempts on Her Life, a post-modernist piece of theater that stretches the definition of "play," in performance October 28-30 in the E. Melba Kirkpatrick Laboratory Theatre. Ally Moravec directs for IWU.

Just in time for Halloween, Dracula comes to Community Players. Performances run from October 29 to November 13, and Paul Vellella plays the dark count who wants to suck your blood.

And if you can make it to all of that, you will have one very full October!