In our final article examining the best and worst entertainment events of 1999, freelance critic Chris Jones surveys the high and low points of Chicago’s theater scene.
– “Moon for the Misbegotten” at Circle Theatre: When actor Gabriel Byrne comes to the Goodman in January to star in “A Moon for the Misbegotten,” this Eugene O’Neill revival will likely be one of the highest profile shows of the new year. Yet there will be a mighty challenge to beat out the “Moon” of 1999. Even though it was widely overlooked because it took place out in Forest Park, Lynn Ann Bernatowicz’s Circle Theatre revival of this difficult play was among the very best classic productions of 1999. The highlight here was a performance of staggering intensity and craft by Kirsten Fitzgerald, who played the decidedly unglamorous role of Josie Hogan with passion, guts, vulnerability and fire in her belly. The budget did not run to fancy design work. But for three solid hours, Fitzgerald hammered away at Scott Rowe’s Phil Hogan like the jackhammers that were tearing up Madison Street outside this precious storefront theater.
– “Aurora’s Motive” at Teatro Vista: When Julia Neary appeared as a ventriloquist’s doll in the Famous Door Theatre’s production of “Ghetto,” many people were struck by this fine performer’s startling physical discipline and creativity. But several weeks before “Ghetto,” Neary proved that her talents went well beyond playing a dummy. This fine actress was splendid in Jamie Pachino’s moving and intelligent new historical play about Aurora Rodriguez, an angrily protofeminist Spanish idealist. Produced by Teatro Vista and beautifully directed by Edward F. Torres, this was a fascinating tale of a mother-daughter trauma played out against a backdrop of revolutionary politics, Pachino’s play was the most impressive work by a local author produced all year. She’s a name to watch.
– “Incident at Vichy” at Writers Theatre of Chicago: The quality of the work at Writers Theatre of Chicago in Glencoe was very impressive throughout 1999, but the best recent production to take place in this tiny little theater behind a bookstore was William Brown’s superb revival of Arthur Miller’s “Incident at Vichy.” There was a crush of talented bodies on this tiny stage, but the ensemble acting in this drama of wartime racial persecution was so strong that it engaged the viewer on the most visceral of levels, which is surprising for such a heady play.
– “Journal of Ordinary Thought” at the Chicago Theatre Company: Shows that try to depict the concerns of regular folks are often disappointing, in part because the lives of regular folks are insufficiently dramatic. And plays that are written by non-playwrights are often as unwieldy and rambling as they are well-meaning. But the Chicago Theatre Company’s searing production of “The Journal of Ordinary Thought” proved the limitations of those truisms. Written by the Neighborhood Writing Alliance of the South and West Sides of Chicago, and superbly shaped and honed by a team of professional writers, “Journal” was a human documentary of striking intensity. And even though many of the pieces hit with the force of the coldest wind chill, this was still a show that celebrated the human capacity to endure. This was a great year for CTC, which also presented the memorable “Train’s a Comin.’ “
– “The Odyssey” at the Goodman Theatre: We’ve all become so used to seeing Mary Zimmerman’s singular work on Chicago stages that it has become rather like hearing Meryl Streep do another accent. In other words, the frequency and quality of the work makes us forget the craft and creativity at its source. There is no other city in the country where one can watch a resident director tame a work of, well, Homeric proportion like “The Odyssey” with such palpable beauty and ease. Without ever diminishing the scale of her source, Zimmerman turned this unwieldy mythic tale in a drama composed of small human moments–the pain of missing a spouse; the joy of travel; the bond of father and son. It was a privilege to experience.
– “This is Our Youth” at Roadworks Productions: Roadworks Productions has managed to carve a useful niche from creating shows that capture the angst of youth. And Kenneth Lonergan’s underrated play about rich, bored New York kids from liberal homes provided an ideal backdrop. Director Abigail Deser so carefully reconstructed
the time and place of the work in the middle of the raw Steppenwolf garage, and it felt like the audience had collectively come to call on these poor, stupid kids. With a remarkable performance from the emotional Lance Baker at its core, this was an exceptionally poignant and honest show.
– “Ghetto” at Famous Door Theatre: Perhaps it’s because Famous Door endured such an up-and-down year. Or maybe the message of art surviving in the face of Nazi persecution is so inherently powerful. But the reason Joshua Sobol’s play about Jewish theatrics in the Lithuanian Ghetto did not do well in New York is surely because it was not Cal McClean’s production on the Gotham boards. A triumph of off-Loop creativity and a feast of moving acting, the remarkable “Ghetto” was a searing and haunting evening of drama acted with uncommon commitment and guts.
– And let’s not forget: Among the best evenings of the theatrical year were both “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” and “A Christmas Carol” at the Goodman Theatre, which also hosted the superbly acted “Jitney.” Also among the best: Trapdoor’s compelling “Lebensraum,” Apple Tree’s musical “Violet,” “The Bowling Show” (the most original piece of the year) at Timber Lanes Bowl, “Shadowlands” at the Illinois Theatre Center, “Frozen Assets” at the Shattered Globe, and Jeff Sweet’s savvy “Flyovers” at Victory Gardens.
– “Apocalypse” at WNEP Theater Foundation: Armageddon is not a topic that tends to send tickets flying out of the box office (just ask Arnold Schwarzenegger), but the WNEP Theater Foundation has always enjoyed tempting the devil. Still, “Apocalypse” was so long, loud, ill-conceived and unwieldy that anyone unlucky enough to have bought tickets to this fiasco must have thought the millennium bug had hit a few months early. With Jesus appearing as a barkeep and God sporting a Chicago accent, this was an attempt to localize the Book of Revelation in the Midwest. But with miscued video, earsplitting and distorted music and other apocalyptic treats, it felt like the end of the world would come long before the end of the show.
– “Lobster Boy” at Calliope Productions: In this awful new musical presented by Calliope Productions, the lead character was a carnival freak who happens to physically resemble the kind of creature found lurking in restaurant fish tanks. Among other character traits, the wife-beating “Lobster Boy” was abusive, violent, self-serving — but he was also the hero of this musical. Since they added a bunch of other strange and staggeringly charmless carnies, a raft of crass lyrics and a palpable and misplaced sense of dramatic self-importance, this ill-conceived show deserved boiling in the biggest available pot.
