Immorality Part Deux: "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" at ISU

It's interesting that ISU's School of Theatre scheduled Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" and Christopher Hampton's "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" back to back, since both involve illicit affairs, sexual trickery and immorality. The difference is that Hampton (and Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, who wrote the epistolary novel upon which Hampton's play is based) wrote about characters who really don't struggle with right and wrong. These French aristocrats gleefully wallow in wrong, splashing cruelty, deception and betrayal around like fine champagne.

In their world, sex isn't really about pleasure, but more about power and control, even degradation and humiliation if it suits their fancy. And it definitely suits the two main characters, the reprobate Vicomte de Valmont and his beautiful, evil pal, the Marquise de Merteuil, as they plot to seduce and ruin young innocents just because they can.

Director Jon Ferreira, an MFA candidate, puts the emphasis on facades and artifice in his production for ISU. The set, designed by Alex K, is all pretty pastels and rococo flourishes, almost like a dollhouse. Or maybe like the George Barbier illustrations that accompany the 1934 edition of the Choderlos de Laclos novel. The set is almost too pretty, just like the grand gowns from costume designer Lauren Lowell and the oversized wigs from hair designer Tina Godziszewski. It's as if all the people on stage are hiding behind a wall of opulence and glitter. Fake, fake and more fake.

The original British production of Hampton's play took a different tack, paring it down and using a lot of white and neutrals in the costumes and set pieces. That approach worked to make Valmont look more attractive to our modern eyes (big wigs don't do much for men unless they're going for an Elvis or Mozart look) and also to make the action feel more raw and dangerous, less arch. Ferreira's concept is clearly to hightlight the fakery, but still... It's a bit distancing.

As Valmont and Merteuil, Josh Innerst and Jessie Dean come off clever and seductive, playing somewhat younger, more headstrong versions of the characters than you may be used to if you've seen the movies with John Malkovich and Glenn Close or Colin Firth and Annette Bening in those roles. It doesn't hurt that Dean looks absolutely gorgeous in her pre-Revolution French finery.

Credit is also due to Innerst, Emily Nichelson (as young Cecile Volanges) and Hannah Brown (as a different playmate of Valmont's) for jumping head-first into the sexy stuff and making it work.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses
by Christopher Hampton
based on the book by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

ISU Center for the Performing Arts

Director: Jon Ferreira
Scenic Designer: Alex K
Costume Designer: Lauren Lowell
Hair and Makeup Designer: Tina Godziszewski
Lighting Designer: Cassie Mings
Sound Designer: Jason Tucholke

Cast: Hannah Brown, Jessie Dean, Josh Innerst, Alex Kostner, Jared Kugler, Colleen Longo, Uretta Lovell, Deirdre McNulty, Becky Miller, Emily Nichelson, Steve Ullstead, Chana-Lise Wilczynski, Antonio Zhiurinskas.

A True Confession, Wherein Your Intrepid Reporter Goes to See an American Idol in Chicago

Okay, I admit it. I watch "American Idol" from time to time. This fact always surprises people who know I'm a bit of a snob about movies and theater. No Matrix, no Porky's, no Andrew Lloyd Webber. And yet I like "American Idol."

Well, I don't like it like it. Its tactics and manipulations are often reprehensible. Simon Cowell and his snotty comments are not my cup of tea. I often dislike the pampered pets they try to sell me the hardest. And I never, ever go for the schmaltzy or bombastic voices they seem to think define the very essence of an American Idol. But I do find myself rooting for underdogs from time to time, especially the people the producers and judges seem to be ignoring, and I have even been motivated to vote when somebody takes my fancy. It's a sickness, I know. Or just a weakness.

A couple of seasons ago, I was quite taken with unassuming Kris Allen, the sweet kid from Arkansas who managed to make it past all the flashier contestants who'd been given all the screen time through the audition rounds. Allen didn't get what is commonly known as the "pimp" spot (singing last) as many times as the big faves, he wasn't a very good interview (not being incredibly perky or slick) and yet he seemed genuine and modest and charming. And I really liked how he sang. (Yes, I know. "American Idol" tries to make it about anything but how they sing. Still, sometimes, it's the singing that draws you in.)

After all the ups and downs and a whole lot of craziness, my fave actually ended up winning that season of "American Idol." And then he put out the de rigeur album, and I even liked it!

Allen and his band came to Chicagoland last summer, but I happened to be a thousand miles away at the time. So when I heard that he was returning in November as the opening act for Lifehouse, I jumped at the chance to buy tickets. This made no sense to my husband, so I asked my niece, Nicoletta, a charming singer and performer herself, if she wanted to go. She did. We set out for the Chicago Theater on time, meaning we got settled in our lovely seats (my jumping act meant I nabbed very good seats) and caught the opening act, a young woman named Alyssa Bernal who is billed as a "Youtube sensation." I don't know what that means, but she was very cute and could actually sing, and when it comes to young singers, that's always a plus. The downside was that the sound wasn't mixed properly, muddying things a bit, and it seemed strange that a singer/songwriter with a knack for pretty melodies and earnest lyrics had a dramatic mohawked punk guy playing bass and drawing focus behind her. I liked her stuff, though, especially a duet with her keyboard player and her single "Cali Cali Cali," a breezy little song about (as you might expect) California.

But the main event for me was Kris Allen, and I was happy to see not only that he performed like a champ, but that he was very well-received by an audience mostly there for Lifehouse. His singles "Live Like We're Dying" and "Alright With Me" got a lot of enthusiastic singalong happening, and my personal favorite, a breakup song called "Is It Over," was absolutely epic, with a sensational solo from lead guitarist Andrew DeRoberts.

Allen's set was just under an hour, and I knew I would be leaving shortly afterwards since I wasn't all that interested in Lifehouse, anyway, but I absolutely felt I got my money's worth. Kris Allen and his band were polished and energetic, as well as a whole lot of fun, and they communicated a real joy of performance that was also a joy to watch. By the time Allen closed with the Beatles' "Come Together," spilling into the audience to high-five and generally commune with the hoi polloi, I was ready to deem my concert-going experience a rousing success.

I'd like to see the Kris Allen Band as a solo act the next time, and I'd like them to come a little closer than Chicago. Surely somewhere in Bloomington-Normal or Champaign-Urbana has a venue that fits this feisty little band. Fingers crossed!

Take Yourself Out to the Ballgame in C-U

October may be over, but you can still "batter up for baseball music" at U of I's Krannert Center for the Performing Arts this week. This special Baseball Music Project, hosted and narrated by superstar Dave Winfield, features the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra with Bob Thompson, conductor, and Steven Larsen, Music Director.

Look for "The Baseball Music Project" at the Foellinger Great Hall at Krannert Center on Friday, November 12, at 7:30 pm.

Krannert's press release bills the event as a "symphonic tribute featuring cherished photography, inspiring film footage, and live narration by Hall of Famer Dave Winfield. Gather your whole team, don your favorite jersey, and get
ready to rally for a nostalgic evening of musical Americana."

They're also offering pre-game activities as a warm-up to the main event, including a meet-and-greet with the University of Illinois men’s baseball team, a discussion with Dr. Robert A. Bane on the topic of sports medicine, and a talk by Professor Emeritus Alan Nathan entitled "Revisiting Mantle’s Griffith Stadium Home Run, April 17, 1953—A Case Study in Forensic Physics."

For the main program, they're promising "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" as well as other familiar baseball anthems on the bill, along with video and photo accompaniment.

Other highlights include:
• Representatives from the Illini Union Bookstore will be selling baseball books and memorabilia
• Associate Professor Adrian Burgos Jr. will sign copies of Playing America’s Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line and will be ready to field your questions
• Baseball and music mementos on loan from the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music at the University of Illinois and the Early American Museum will be on display
• Memorabilia and photographs in an exhibit entitled, "Dorothy 'Dottie' Schroeder: All American Girls Professional Baseball League Shortstop," based on the career of the Sadorus-born AAGPBL record-holder who was a Champaign resident
• Design projects by University of Illinois students
• Free popcorn!

For more information or to order tickets, visit the Krannert Center website here.

Robert Duvall and "Get Low" Know How to Make an Exit

I'm not sure what it says about me that I don't think it's strange at all to want to plan and participate in your own funeral party while you're still alive. Why not? The party is for you, after all.

Felix Bush, the character Robert Duvall plays in the quiet, uncomplicated movie "Get Low," playing last week at the Normal Theater, puts his funeral in motion for different reasons. Felix has been pretty much of a hermit, living in an isolated cabin with nothing but his dogs and a mule, for 40 years. Everybody in town tells stories about him, although we never really get to hear them. But it's clear he's a crusty old gent who doesn't take kindly to human weakness. And that's why he wants a party now, while he's still kicking, to hash out once and for all the reason he became a hermit and cut off all contact.

Because Robert Duvall is playing Felix, he comes equipped with a whole lot of dignity and grace. Duvall knows how to work every tiny flicker of emotion so that it seems real and human and beautiful. His Felix becomes a lot deeper than the stereotypical curmudgeon we've come to expect in our movies, and even though the secret he's keeping about his past gets stretched out to the last possible moment, and in the end, we find out he really didn't do anything so wrong, it's still moving and sweet, redemptive and sad.

Bill Murray, one of my favorite actors, also shows up as Frank Quinn, a sad-eyed quipster of an undertaker working hard to get Felix's business in a town where people just aren't dying fast enough to keep a funeral parlor going. Murray's brand of sardonic humor is one of the film's biggest assets, plus he and Duvall really click. More movies with the two of them playing off each other, please.

Others in the supporting cast who add to the tableau are Lucas Black, a former child actor playing the good guy who works at Quinn's funeral home and provides a moral compass, and Bill Cobbs, another deep and deliberate actor, as a man of the church who knew Felix when. It's also nice to see Sissy Spacek back on the screen as Mattie, a woman who had a flirtation with Felix 40 years ago. Spacek is her usual genuine, appealing self, and that adds a lot, too.

"Get Low" was directed by Aaron Schneider, a native of Dunlap, Illinois, and he gives his film an easy, laid-back tone that suits the story and Duvall's performance perfectly. It's a pretty film, with vistas of trees and sky, spooling out at a leisurely pace that never seems too slow. A couple of plot points eluded me in Chris Provenzano's and C. Gaby Mitchell's screenplay, like why a subplot with town bully Carl never pays off and why he and a bunch of other unrelated people (including Mattie, Quinn and the town preacher) are suddenly playing cards together, but in general, I found myself buying the premise and going along for the ride. And by the time Felix gets to his funeral, ready to give the speech of his life, I was willing to listen to anything Robert Duvall wanted to tell me.

"Get Low" is a not a flashy movie. But it is heartfelt and emotional, with a lot to say about how to find forgiveness. I appreciated the fact that it was never preachy, with no real soap box. Just some fine performances and an elegant way to say goodbye.

November Addenda

I've got a couple of things to add to my November Hot List, things you may want to pencil in the ol' datebook.

Numero uno: Kathleen Kirk has let me know that several poets associated with Finishing Line Press will be offering a free poetry reading at the Normal Public Library on Sunday, November 21, in the Community Room (where the very popular Young at Heartland event was held last Friday). The event is already on the calendar at the library website if you want more information.

There are three poets attending and reading: Tim Hunt, the author of Redneck Yoga; Kathryn Kerr, the author of Turtles All the Way Down; and Kathleen Kirk, the author of Living on the Earth. All three are local to Bloomington-Normal and have published chapbooks with Finishing Line Press.

This is a free event with refreshments as well as books on sale and the authors available to sign their books. Their poetry will make excellent Christmas gifts for friends and family who are poetry lovers, readers, or writers, or just like to support their friendly neighborhood artists!

The second event I wanted to make sure everybody knew about is part of the year-long celebration of Stephen Sondheim's 80th birthday. Last March, the New York Philharmonic held something called "Sondheim: The Birthday Concert," which was filmed to air on PBS as part of the "Great Performances" series. It looks like it will be broadcast on most PBS stations on November 24th, although you'll need to check local listings as it gets a little closer.

This celebration concert included some of Sondheim's most famous music from COMPANY, FOLLIES, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC and INTO THE WOODS, among others, as well as pieces from Sondheim's score for the movie REDS. Performers include Broadway superstars like Laura Benanti, Michael Cerveris, Victoria Clark, Joanna Gleason, George Hearn, Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Donny Murphy, Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters.

Longtime Sondheim musical director Paul Gemignani conducted the New York Philharmonic for this concert, while TV and Broadway star David Hyde Pierce acted as host.

Along with the cast recording for last spring's SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM, the new DVD of EVENING PRIMROSE and the book FINISHING THE HAT: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes, by Mr. Sondheim himself, this PBS broadcast is a great way to celebrate the birthday of this musical theater luminary.

"Iphigenia and Other Daughters" Brings Blood and Beauty to U of I

They don't call it Greek tragedy for nothing.

Even before the events of Ellen McLaughlin's "Iphigenia and Other Daughters," tying together the basic plots of Euripides' "Iphigenia at Aulis," Sophocles' "Electra" and Euripides' "Iphigenia at Tauris" in three short acts, the cursed House of Atreus has seen unspeakable violence and bloodshed.

Now, in the 4th generation, Agamemnon, commander of the Greek forces against Troy, and his wife Clytemnestra, have four children, daughters Iphigenia, Electra and Chrysothemis and son Orestes. But Agamemnon's ships are becalmed at Aulis, and the only way to get them moving on to Troy is to give in to the goddess Artemis' demand for a sacrifice. Artemis doesn't want just another deer or goat; she wants Agamemnon and Clytemnestra's oldest daughter, Iphigenia.

So, in the first chapter of this story, Clytemnestra and Iphigenia come to Aulis under the pretense that a wedding will be taking place. But where's the groom? Why is everything so still? And why is there such a terrible feeling of foreboding?

Many years later, after Clytemnestra has exacted a terrible revenge against her husband for killing her favorite daughter, wild Electra seethes with hatred, waiting for her brother to return and make their mother pay. The third daughter, Chrysothemis, remains above the fray, the "good girl" who just wants to have a life that isn't steeped in blood.

And finally, in Act III, the action moves to Tauris, where Iphigenia now serves the goddess Artemis as a priestess. Is she a statue, an immortal, or was she never sacrificed at all way back on Aulis? How can she and her brother Orestes end the cycle of violence once and for all?

McLaughlin calls her play a "female perspective" on history and myth, even though there is that one male character (Orestes) and he has an important part to play. McLaughlin's language is mythic and at times poetic, sharply written, never didactic, making everyone deeply flawed, everyone at least a little sympathetic, as she explores the themes of family, war, pain, and what it is to be visible or invisible in the world.

Robet Quinlan directs this "Iphigenia" with a sure hand in the intimate space at Krannert's Studio Theatre, helping his cast navigate the long speeches nicely, ramping up the drama with stark percussion and striking stage pictures.

Monica Lopez is twisted and dark as Clytemnestra, the one among the women who commands action and attention. She also looks stunningly beautiful in Amanda Spaanstra's costumes, like a sort of red carpet queen, and it's hard to imagine she couldn't launch her husband's thousand ships all by herself, without the divine intervention of Artemis.

Katie Norman is sympathetic and real (no small feat when you're playing a mythological girl) as Iphigenia; Elena V. Levenson is fierce and feral as Electra, who at times is more like a pit bull than a girl; and Carley Cornelius is demure and achingly normal as Chrysothemis, the one at the eye of the hurricane.

Samuel Ashdown enters late, but makes a strong impression as Orestes, child of war, lashed to a pole and covered in blood, finally the instrument of conciliation instead of death.

Spaanstra's costumes are effective across the board, offering a variation on the basic white Greek tunics with splashes of color, Michael W. Williams' sound design is discordant and creepy, and Moon Jung Kim's set design looks beautiful, with its black sun and gauzy white sails punctuating the stage.

"Iphigenia and Other Daughters" is well-executed all-around, making this Greek drama seem new and freshly heart-rending. There's a reason for mythology - it exposes themes that never leave us. Here, it's about woman and war, about pawns in deadly games, about children stunted and twisted by the adults who are in charge of them. And about who's who in history. Iphigenia, Electra, Chrysothemis. Are they still invisible?

Iphigenia and Other Daughters
by Ellen McLaughlin

Studio Theatre, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

Director: Robert Quinlan
Scenic Designer: Moon Jung Kim
Costume Designer: Amanda Spaanstra
Lighting Designer: Michael W. Williams
Sound Designer: Elizabeth Parthum
Dramaturg: Zackary Ross.

Cast: Katie Norman, Monica Lopez, Elena V. Levenson, Carley Cornelius, Samuel Ashdown, Stephanie Galvin, Laura King, Naomi Mark, Dana Parker, Jessica Turner.

Running time: 1:25, played without intermission

Remaining Performances: November 3-6 at 7:30 p.m. and November 7 at 3 p.m..

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

This review originally ran in the Champaign News-Gazette.

What's Up in November

If you thought area theaters and art spots were packing everything they had into October... Au contraire! Here's November, also jam-packed.

First, a couple of October holdovers.

DRACULA, the stage version of the Bram Stoker classic, continues at Community Players through November 13th. The 1977 Broadway version found acclaim for Frank Langella's smoky portrayal of the bloodthirsty Count, while Paul Vellella takes on the role at Community Players. Here's the CP page that will tell you all you need to know.

Another show that opened in October but continues performances into November is A STEADY RAIN, Keith Huff's gripping and intense play about two Chicago cops grappling with partnership, betrayal and dangerous secrets. A STEADY RAIN also runs through November 13th at Urbana's Station Theatre, in a production directed by Gary Ambler. Mathew Green and Mike Prosise play the cops in the play Chicago Tribune critic Chris Jones called "a gritty, rich, thick, poetic and entirely gripping noir tale."

If you feel like a movie, you'll want to try GET LOW, featuring Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Bill Murray in a black comedy about a crusty old gent who decides to hold a party for his own funeral now, before he dies. GET LOW was directed by Aaron Schneider, a native of Dunlap, Illinois, who won an Oscar for his 2003 short film TWO SOLDIERS. You can catch GET LOW at the Normal Theater November 4 through 7th.

Jared Brown's new trio of plays called THREE FOR THE SHOW also opens on November 4th, with performances till the 21st at Heartland Theatre. All three short plays riff on love and relationships, and all three feature Megan Brown, Gregory Hicks and Rhys Lovell. There were be a post-show discussion with Brown, who wrote and directed this premiere, after the matinee on November 7th. FMI or to order tickets, see the Heartland Theatre Company website.

'SWONDERFUL, a revue about the Gershwin brothers and their musical journey, comes to the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, November 5 at 7:30 pm, while the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic CATS hits the BCPA on the 11th.

TheatresCool offers another one of their Poetry Open Mic Nights on the 9th, with special guests Judith Valente and Susan Baller-Shepard. Valente is an award-winning journalist, twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, while Bloomington's own Baller-Shepard has seen her work on spirituality and faith published in leading newspapers, denominational publications, web sites and poetry anthologies. Check out the TheatresCool website for details.

ISU continues its busy (and sold-out) fall season with LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES, the sizzling play about deception and schemes among some nasty French nobles, written by Christopher Hampton and directed by Jon Ferreira. LIAISONS will play ISU's Center for the Performing Arts from November 11th to the 14th, with matinees on both the 13th and 14th. Tickets are sure to go fast for this one, too, so get to the box office now.

IWU goes a very different direction with ONCE UPON A MATTRESS, the fairytale musical about a princess who swims the moat to rescue her shy prince and then lives through that whole princess-and-the-pea test. MATTRESS, directed and choreographed by Scott Susong, runs November 17-21 at IWU's McPherson Theatre. Info is here.

Across town, Yasmina Reza's ART takes the stage at Community Players. Billed as a dramatic comedy, ART is about what exactly it takes to make art. Andy Cary, Brett Cottone and Ben Hackett play three friends battling over an all-white painting. Is it art? Or just a plain vanilla scam? Figure out what you think November 18-21. CP warns that this special laboratory production is a limited run engagement with only 4 performances.

After that, your Thanksgiving is up to you!