The Doings Weekly

Believable chaos results in ‘Unnecessary Farce’

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:22:00 -0600

Paul Slade Smith of Oak Park was the first to laugh at “Unnecessary Farce,” the comedy now on stage at Mayslake Peabody Estate. Years later, the playwright said he laughed again as he watched actors from First Folio Theatre prepare his play for the Oak Brook stage. “I sat in on the first week of rehearsals,” Smith said, and found the play every bit as hilarious as when he created it. Smith’s quick-paced comedy, described by critics as “two hours of non-stop laughter,” features the antics of Billie and Eric, a pair of inept police officers who set up a …

Stamping out fine, family feeling in ‘Mauritius’

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:23:32 -0600

Stamp collecting might not seem like the stuff of dramatic theater. The Theatre of Western Springs will prove otherwise when it stages its second Forum production of the 83rd season, “Mauritius.” The play by Theresa Rebeck is named for the place where some of the earliest and most sought-after postage stamps were produced, said Adrianne Cury of Oak Park, who returns to Theatre of Western Springs as the production’s guest director. “It sort of feels a little bit like coming home,” said Cury, who last directed “Sense and Sensibility” at TWS in 2009. “It’s not a pretty play. It’s not …

New this week on video

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:12:20 -0600

Shakespeare turns out to have been a bit of a poser in the historical drama “Anonymous” and Santa Claus turns out to be a bit of a stoner in “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.”

Music of Abba at McAninch Center

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:21:23 -0600

“The Music of ABBA: Featuring Arrival,” will take place at 8 p.m. Feb. 10 at the McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn. Tickets are $42; $40 for seniors; $32 for youth. First- and second-row tickets are $57-$67. Call (630) 942-4000 or visit www.atthemac.org. …

Mayes sings songs her mother can love

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:19:56 -0600

Had Sally Mayes’ mother shared her daughter’s love of obscure music, perhaps this show might never have gotten off the ground. As it is, the cabaret artist’s mother wanted to hear songs she recognized. Thus, Mayes made an album of jazz standards called “Valentine.” It’s this album that her current cabaret act is based around. She’ll perform her critically acclaimed show “Valentine” at 6 p.m. Feb. 12 at North Central College, in the Madden Theatre. Mayes made her Broadway debut in Cy Coleman’s “Welcome to the Club.” She is best known for her performance in the Roundabout Theatre revival of …

All the necessary hijinx for an exuberant ‘Farce’

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:22:19 -0600

Fast paced, totally silly and punctuated by sexual shenanigans and constantly slamming doors, “Unnecessary Farce” has all the joyfully ridiculous elements of a classic farce. Sure, Paul Slade Smith’s romp of frequently pantsless cops, Scottish mafia dons (who knew?) and clueless politicos (please to excuse the redundancy) lacks the satiric bite of, say Moliere. Then again, Smith is gleefully not about high-brow social criticism. “Unnecessary Farce,” from the self-deprecating title onward, embraces its own ridiculousness — as does director Alison Vesely in a staging that’s keeps up a frantic pace and an exuberantly frivolous attitude throughout. The plot in First …

Arts and entertainment calendar for Feb. 9

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:20:51 -0600

Stage “Accidental Rapture,” a comedy about faith, friendship and the end of the world, will be presented through Feb. 18 by 16th Street Theater at the Berwyn Cultural Center, 6420 16th St., Berwyn. Richard and Kim believe in God. Amy and Paul don’t. So when they all get together to hang out the same weekend the world happens to end, things get kind of awkward. Curtain at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Saturdays. Tickets: $18. Visit www.16thstreettheater.org. “Bad Seed” will be presented by Wheaton Drama through Feb. 19 at Playhouse 111, 111 N. Hale St., …

Greed pays for ‘Sly Fox’ at TWS

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:16:37 -0600

It’s been 400 years since the first production of Ben Jonson’s “Volpone” (“The Fox”), but a play that makes fun of insatiable greed is never going to have timeliness trouble — especially after it’s been updated by one of the 20th century’s most successful comedy writers. See for yourself when “Sly Fox,” Larry Gelbart’s adaptation of Jonson’s Elizabethan satire, opens Jan. 19 at the Theatre of Western Springs. Gelbart, who co-wrote “A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum” and the screenplays for “Tootsie” and “Oh God” in addition to creating TV’s “M*A*S*H,” made two significant changes to …

Family Friendly: ‘Goldilocks’ on trial in Darien

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:14:03 -0600

Children’s Theatre of Western Springs courts a young audience. Or visit the World of Pooh and friends in Hinsdale, get a taste of the Chocolate Expo in Lisle or experience the 3D Funny Face Collage Portraits workshop in La Grange.

West Suburban Symphony in concert

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:33:41 -0600

Elizabeth Norman, soprano, Christopher Joyner, tenor and Robert Sims, baritone, will be the soloists when the West Suburban Symphony, conducted by Peter Lipari, performs selections from “Show Boat” and “Porgy & Bess” at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 12 at York High School, 355 W. St. Charles Road, Elmhurst. The program also features the symphony’s chorus. Tickets are $22; $18 seniors; $5 teens; children free. For more information, visit www.westsubsymphony.org or call (630) 887-7464. | Photo by Elliot Burlingham …

Candlelight theater holds a reunion

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:09:00 -0600

“A Chorus Line” was just one of the great shows produced during the 38-year life of America’s first dinner theater, Candlelight Dinner Playhouse, which closed in 1997. A gala reunion of the people who created and, for 38 years, led Candlelight takes place from 6:30p.m.-12:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, at the European Chalet, 5445 S. Harlem (two blocks from the site of the original theater). The $50 admission includes dinner, open bar from 6:30pm to 10:30pm and a commemorative gift. Candlelight founders William Pullinsi and Anthony D’Angelo, founders and co-producers, will attend, along with actors, crew and friends of the …

Chicago a cappella sings spirituals

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:26:18 -0600

“Wade in the Water” is the name of one of the more well-known African-American spirituals, and it is also the title of the latest concert from Chicago a cappella. Chicago a cappella performs at 8 p.m. Feb. 4 at Wentz Concert Hall at North Central College, and at 4 p.m. Feb. 12 at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Oak Park. Some of the selections will be familiar to those who frequent Chicago a cappella concerts; others are brand new, said director Jonathan Miller. “The most exciting thing about this program from a new music point of view is that we have …

Blackhurst’s Rose is ferocious heart of ‘Gypsy’

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:39:30 -0600

Everything is, indeed, coming up roses for the Drury Lane Oak Brook production of “Gypsy,” thanks in no small part to a galvanizing performance by Klea Blackhurst. The all-American story of a mother in relentless search of the American Dream and the daughter she pushes into the strip-tease business has a tragic-comic clarity in director William Osetek’s staging. It also has a tour-de-force performance from Blackhurst, who inhabits the role of the ultimate stage mother with a ferocity and a luminosity that sweeps the audience along in her wake. It’s a performance to make you believe that the title character …

Arts and entertainment calendar for Feb. 2

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:33:26 -0600

Chillax, dudes: Go to Oak Brook Winterfest

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:24:01 -0600

Be cool in the cold weather. There’s a Winterfest in Oak Brook, groundhog-themed doings in Lisle and at Oakbrook Center and the Thomas Ford Memorial Library’s 80th anniversary celebration in Western Springs.

‘Gypsy’ opens at Drury Lane

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:25:40 -0600

The term “triple threat” typically is reserved for that rare performer whose voice, acting and dancing skills are equally exceptional. But Bill Osetek, artistic director at Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace, said the term also applies to the theater’s current production, “Gypsy.” “Some would say it’s the greatest musical that’s ever been written,” said Osetek, director of the show starring Klea Blackhurst as Rose, the overbearing stage mother of Louise, played by Jeff Award-winner Andrea Prestinario, and June, played by Andrea Collier. “Gypsy” is based on the memoirs of burlesque legend Gypsy Rose Lee, whose mother wanted desperately to turn her …