I was bummed when I missed Strawdog Theatre’s Red Noses last year. After all the critical acclaim came out, it was one sold-out house after another. So when I heard that Strawdog was remounting it this summer, after a one-week stint at Theater on the Lake, I swooped down on those Red Noses tickets like Bethenny Frankel on baby gear. On the other hand, I have resisted going to Billy Elliot – The Musical since it opened last March for a variety of reasons. I was never a big fan of the movie in the first place, and, although I appreciate the revenue that Broadway in Chicago brings into the city, I’m also not a big fan of “corporate” theater, manufactured and distributed for mass consumption. But when someone passed on a discount code to the show, I jumped on those Billy Elliot tickets as well, just like Bethenny’s fellow New York Real Housewife Ramona at a Chanel sample sale. I know there’s been a lot of ink (both print and online) already spilled over these two shows, so my two cents may not amount to much, but I thought I’d still share my impressions on both, which, in a single word, is… “underwhelming”. I sort of expected that with Billy Elliot, I was really disappointed to feel that over Red Noses.
Every time I go into a theater and see that I’m the youngest person there, my heart sinks. I’ve written about my frustration in the past; I know that one of the most pressing challenges facing the performing arts today is the lack of new, young, non-traditional audiences in seats. What will it take to get the Twittering, Facebooking, I-Pading generation used to jumpcuts, flash-forwards, I-Tunes downloads, and multi-media displays to see live theater, especially the dramatic classics? Although there are no easy answers (and this blog post will not attempt to go down that rabbit hole at this time), I’m sure they will not be traditionally-staged Cherry Orchards or Cymbelines or Beckett plays that are mandated to adhere to the play as written. That’s why I find it really thrilling and heartening when a production such as Strawdog Theater’s take on Bertolt Brecht’s classic 1940s indictment of capitalism and a perfect example of Epic Theater, The Good Soul of Szechuan, comes along. Using Blackbird author David Harrower’s edgy, colloquial, contemporary translation, and staged like a house party by director Shade Murray with energetic performances and vibrant musical numbers that span the gamut of musical genres from folk to indie rock, this Good Soul makes Brecht’s pungent, sometimes overly didactic points about materialism, greed, the blackness of the human heart, and the lack of rewards for the virtuous, written more than 60 years ago, stingingly relevant to our 21st century world that is continuously outraged by Wall Street bonuses, movie and sports star contracts, real estate shenanigans, and the collapse of mismanaged national economies.
Recently Attended Events
- 2/04/2012: Six Characters In Search of an Author (The Hypocrites)
- 2/02/2012: Disgraced (American Theater Company)
- 1/29/2012: Time Stands Still (Steppenwolf Theatre)
- 1/28/2012: Ameriville (Victory Gardens Theater)
- 1/22/2012: Enron (Timeline Theatre Company)
- 12/21/2011: Penelope (Steppenwolf Theatre)
- 12/17/2011: Spring Awakening (Griffin Theatre Company)
- 11/12/2011: Red Light Winter (Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co.)
- 10/16/2011: The Ugly One (Sideshow Theatre Company)
- 10/15/2011: Overweight, Unimportant: Misshape - A European Supper (Trap Door Theatre)
- 10/08/2011: Follies (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre)
- 10/02/2011: Elling (Redtwist Theatre)
- 10/01/2011: Becky Shaw (A Red Orchid Theatre)
- 9/25/2011: Violet (Bailiwick Chicago)
- 9/18/2011: Clybourne Park (Steppenwolf Theatre)
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