Marvel superheroes meets Norse mythology in a comedic coming-of-age play appropriate for all ages.
Bolingbrook’s Theatre-on-the-Hill is presenting its newest — and what theater staff hope is its last — virtual play, 2019’s “Marvel Spotlight’s Hammered: A Thor and Loki Play” written by Tony Award-winning actor Christian Borle.
Showtimes will be at 8 p.m. April 2-3 and 3 p.m. April 4. It is directed by Theatre-on-the-Hill president Michael Fudala. Even though it’s a virtual show, he said actors came out in full force to participate.
“I had probably more people turn out for auditions for this than the last two or three shows we did when we were actually on stage,” he said. “They were coming out of the woodwork. I had close to 73 people for a 20-person cast. I’m grateful we are able to do anything at all, even if it’s not the way I’d prefer.”
This story is about Thor, is the God of Thunder, and Loki, the God of Mischief and Thor’s adopted brother. The classic mythological characters have been featured in several blockbusters Marvel Studios films.
The play will be “one take and get it right,” he said.
“It’s hard to find that balance between live theater and film,” he said. “It’s really none of that and a little of each.”
While the majority of the cast members come from the Chicago area, others hail from states like Georgia, Washington and Wisconsin.
“It definitely brings people together. We’re working with people we wouldn’t have otherwise worked with,” he said. “And this time, we have a really wide age range, which I always love. I feel older people have stuff they can teach younger people and they have stuff they can learn from younger people. It works both ways. Our oldest cast member is 77 and our youngest members is 18. And everything in between.”
Borle, who originated the role of Emmett in the 2007 Broadway musical “Legally Blonde,” was a Marvel fan growing up and was able to obtain the rights to write the play, he said.
“It’s part origin story and part reminiscent of Thor and Loki,” Fudala said. “Old Thor is telling the story of what it was like growing up with Loki to his granddaughters. Then we go back to a young, late-teens Thor and what it was like for him on Asgard and growing up with his brother and all the other denizens of Asgard. It goes in flashbacks … you get to watch it progress and it comes full circle in a very satisfying way.”
The cast is having a lot of fun with it, he said.
“I really thought a whole bunch of Marvel fans would come out for this, but it was really only about 50-50. We got to delve into Norse mythology and the Marvel take on it,” he said. “It’s a good mythology story and it’s a story about sibling rivalry at its core. It has a good message at the end and it’s interesting. There are several twists that you don’t see coming, which I always love in a show, so it keeps you on your feet.”
The cast will be in costume and there will even be swordplay, thanks to “a good fight coordinator and a little imagination,” he said.
Even if you’ve never seen a Marvel movie, you will be able to follow the story, he said. Marvel fans will see a lot of familiar characters.
“I think that people who are into Marvel are going to love it, too,” he said. “It is faithful. Christian Borle is definitely a geek and he is completely faithful to the Marvel (brand). But he did manage to work in a few things that aren’t Marvel at all and just based on mythology.”
‘Marvel Spotlight’s Hammered: A Thor and Loki Play’
When: 8 p.m. April 2-3 and 3 p.m. April 4 virtually via ShowTix4U
Tickets: $17 ($10 April 4 for industry night)
Information: theatreonthehill.org
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
