Superior Donuts

by Colin Douglas

Possibilities, People and Pleasing Pastries

When life is as bitterly cold and gridlocked as a Chicago winter in Uptown, sometimes the only thing that keeps a body going is possibilities…and people…and maybe some pleasing deep-fried pastries. At least that’s the philosophy that one optimistic young man lives by in SUPERIOR DONUTS. Written by Tony and Pulitzer Prize Award-winning playwright Tracy Letts (AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY,  BUG, KILLER JOE), this is probably his most mainstream play. His slice-of-Chicago-life comedy-drama had it’s highly-acclaimed world premiere at the Steppenwolf Theatre in 2008, where Letts is also a company member. That production went on to Broadway a year later; and in 2017 CBS aired a situation comedy, based upon the popular play. 

Typical Tracy Letts, this play is liberally peppered with profanity and violence. The story primarily centers around character relationships, rather than plot. The playwright’s genius, however, is his compelling creation of a tightly knit community of realistic, flesh-and-blood people who we can all recognize. Under Director John Mossman’s determined and dauntless guidance and staging, Artistic Home’s production boasts a truly magnificent cast.

The company is led by talented Ensemble Member, Scott Westerman (TIME OF YOUR LIFE, WEDDING BOND), who portrays a resourceful but reticent Arthur Pryszbyszewski. Mr. Westerman has created his character with intelligence, nuance and a quiet sensitivity that’s sublime. Arthur’s merely a middle-aged hippie who likes to keep to himself, a second generation Polish immigrant who’s proud of his skill at making old-fashioned donuts from scratch. Although the Uptown Chicago neighborhood has changed considerably (Starbucks has taken most of his business), both Arthur and his unpretentious coffee shop have remained the same. But Arthur’s past has left him a cautious character, isolated and resistant to the influence of family and friends. 

Suddenly, into his quiet world bursts a loud, fast-talking and optimistic young African-American kid named Franco Wicks. He’s played by the engaging and gifted John N. Williams (HAIRSPRAY at the Beverly Arts Center), making his auspicious Artistic Home debut. Energetic and filled with dreams, Franco is looking for a job to make ends meet. He’s also determined, once hired, to bring some vitality and innovative ideas to both Superior Donuts and Arthur’s personal life. All of this, despite the older man’s reluctance. But Franco also has a secret past that interferes with his personal aspirations.  

A community of charismatic characters wander in and out of Arthur’s tiny cafe. They include two members of the Chicago Police Department, Officer James Bailey (a good-natured and amiable Kevin Aoussou) and Officer Randy Osteen (peerlessly played by lovely Kristin Collins, with a perfect blend of detached distance and concealed caring). We also run into Russian immigrant and wheeler-dealer, Max Tarasov (played with hysterical histrionics by Reid Coker, showcasing his impressive dialect skills) and Lady, a sweet homeless woman and mother, portrayed with heaps of heart and humanity by Barbara Roeder Harris. Adam Schulmerich and Michael Bayler provide a mess of menace and antagonism as loan shark thugs Luther and Kevin; and as Kiril, Max’s robust, young nephew, John Wehrman creates a hard-to-miss hero.

In today’s world, continually riddled with insufferable strife and chronic conflict, it’s comforting and recommended that we spend a couple hours in a warm, intimate theatre with these memorable characters. Like many of us, the Chicagoans in this play are all learning to face their problems with courage and confidence. Armed with a shared strength and profound empathy for each other, Arthur, Franco and their friends can see a bright future ahead. And the reason they’re able to find a modicum of comfort is because of the possibilities, the people and the pleasing pastries sold at SUPERIOR DONUTS. 

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented November 2-December 6 by Artistic Home at the Den Theatre, in their Bookspan Venue, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago.

Tickets are available in person at the Den Theatre box office, by calling 773-697-3830 or by going to www.theartistichome.org.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.

Broken Promises, Toxic Masculinity and Betrayal at Chicago Lyric Opera

Cav/Pag strikes again.

Cav/Pag is the irreverent nickname for a classic double bill of two one-act operas, Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni and Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo. First presented together by the Metropolitan Opera in 1893, these operas are often paired together, having been born of the late 19th-century Italian operatic style known as verismo. At the time, composers and lyricists were moving away from grand historical or mythological themes to depict the lives of ordinary, often lower-class, people. These new, more modern stories were emotional, passionate and dramatic, or as we say it now: messy.

The night opens with Cavalleria Rusticana by composer Pietro Mascagni. Written in 1889, the curtain rises on a beautifully rendered Sicilian village by set and costume designer Michael Yeargan on Easter morning.  Santuzza, sung with a pure soprano by Yulia Matochkina, is a young woman searching for the lover, Turiddu, who has spurned her.  He’s left her with a grim future, and she begs his mother, Mama Lucia (a warm Lauren Decker) for help finding him. Santuzza’s pathetic tale unfolds as the village around them celebrates Easter: Turiddu, whose selfishness is played beautifully by SeokJong Baek, has left her for his old girlfriend, Lola (a charming Camille Robles) who happens to be married to Alfio (Quinn Kelsey) the local mafioso. Turiddu and Lola are unmoved by Santuzza’s predicament, so she tells Alfio what is going on under his very nose. The results are what you’d expect – though the climax occurs offstage.

Mascagni’s score is a sweeping, emotional ride all its own, and beautifully sung. That said, the immediately dramatic plot felt like a remnant of an earlier time. It was easy to see how the kind of heightened emotions led to Italian stereotypes – I found myself wondering how long poor Santuzza was going to have to stagger despondently about the stage, however richly it was appointed. The Easter celebrations that go on in the background are beautiful and the whole air of the show was vibrant and joyful, creating a beautiful juxtaposition with Santuzza’s despair.

Pagliacci has a decidedly different air. The staging is a vaguely WW2 era Sicily – destitute, hot, desperate. It opens with a wonderful solo by returning singer Quinn Kelsey as Tonio – who trades in his mafioso swagger for a malevolent clown and tells the audience what we can expect. Then the action begins when a traveling circus troupe arrives in a Sicilian village. The leader is Canio (a powerful Russell Thomas) who quickly launches into a song about his obsessive, oppressive love for his leading lady, Nedda (a lush Gabriella Reyes). Unbeknownst to them both, Tonio is also in love with Nedda, and soon aggressively shares his love with her, only to be decidedly rejected. The creeping, jealous Tonio spies on Nedda, and learns she is in fact having an affair with a local named Silvio (Luke Sutliff in his Lyric debut).  Tonio arranges for Canio to catch the lovers in the affair, and then, in true Iago style, manipulates Canio into carrying on with the show planned for that night for the villagers. In a dark twist of fate, the show is the story of a clown whose wife betrays him. It’s too much for Canio, and the show ends in violence.

It is a testament to the intensity and power of Thomas and Kelsey, that despite the fact that they spend most of the play dressed like clowns, they both have a physical presence that is utterly terrifying, and voices that burn with rage and pain. Reyes is a match for them, her rich voice and physicality display a fierce desire to make her own choices, despite the danger she knows she is courting.

The theme that struck me, as a modern viewer more than one hundred years after the debut of both operas, was the utter toxicity of the men. The women are possessions: beautiful, desired, and utterly powerless. Pitiable Santuzza makes one of the only choices available to her and is left just as alone as she was in the beginning. Nedda refuses to be cowed, insists on finding her own little piece of joy, and the men in her life cannot let that stand. They’d rather she die than make her own choice. The grand music, excellent acting and beautiful staging highlight the core of both stories. They are both couched in real, human emotion and choices, just as the verismo style intended. Thomas’s performance of “Vesti la giubba” when he shares his rage and heartbreak upon discovering his wife’s betrayal, is heartbreaking. Matochkina’s voice is raised in utter despair on the holiest of days, and it is a real, timeless despair of so many countless women who have found themselves in her shoes. But, with the vision of more than a century, the chilling truth is that for Canio, the betrayal of his wife is not something he sees as the choice of an equal, but the loss of a possession that should only be his. Only faced with his own mortality, can Turiddu acknowledge that he used Santuzza poorly, and that she will pay for his callousness for the rest of her life.

Leaving the theater, I was struck by the power of both scores and by the way the interpretation of the operas has grown in depth as the years have passed. As old as the stories are, as over the top as the drama was, my heart was in my throat when they came to an end. The beautiful staging, fantastic chorus and emotional performances carry each story easily into another century of song.

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Alina C. Hevia

Presented at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The eight performances are November 1, 4, and 7^th at 7:30pm and Matinees on the 9, 12, 15, 20 and 23. To buy tickets, visit https://www.lyricopera.org/shows/upcoming/2025-26/cavalleria-rusticana-pagliacci/ Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.

Chicago

The Play That Inspired the Musical

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Back during the era known as The Roaring 20’s, a writer named Maurine Dallas Watkins worked as a journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Her beat was the courthouse at the Cook County Criminal Building, where she covered murder trials. Two of the most notorious legal proceedings that Maurine reported for the Tribune involved a pair of women who were, in two unrelated court cases, accused of murdering their respective spouses. The actual names of the women were Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner. Both of their trials were sensationalized in the newspapers and on the streets, inspiring Miss Watkins to write a satirical, three-act play titled CHICAGO.  The theme of her cynical comedy focused on how the American justice system had lost its credibility, spotlighting how the murders had turned the two women into famous stars of crime. The salacious trials became nothing more than “Show Business.” And it’s all depicted in this comedy, the play that ultimately inspired the popular musical.

The 1926 play was Maurine Watkins’ greatest literary success. A year later she adapted it into a screenplay for a silent film version of the story. In her script, Miss Watkins changed the names of some of the real-life characters. Beulah Annan was the model for her main character, Roxie Hart, called “the prettiest woman ever charged with murder in Chicago.” Belva Gaertner was renamed Velma Kelly, also nicknamed “the stylish divorcee.” A composite of lawyers William Scott Stewart and W.W. O’Brien became prolific defense attorney, Billy Flynn. Later, in 1942, the comedy was filmed once again, this time with sound, and with the Hollywood star power provided by Ginger Rogers and Adolphe Menjou. The plot was basically the same, but with some changes that focused the story primarily on Roxie and Amos, while giving only a little screen time to Velma.

Maurine Watkins’ play eventually inspired a lively and lavish new musical adaptation of CHICAGO, that opened on Broadway in 1975. It boasted top talent and star power. The musical was written and scored by John Kander and Fred Ebb (CABARET, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN), directed by the magnificent Bob Fosse, and starred Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera, Jerry Orbach and Barney Martin. Sadly, it was a musical far ahead of its time and ended up posting an early closing. But a stripped down, mega popular new version of CHICAGO returned to Broadway in 1996. Twenty-one years later the musical spoke to new audiences about the corruption in the administration of justice, and the prominence of the “celebrity criminal” today. The theatrical musical, sparked by the entertaining Oscar-winning film version, is still playing to sellout crowds, and is currently one of the longest-running shows on Broadway.

Talented Redtwist Theatre company members Eileen Dixon and Dusty Brown have adapted Maurine Dallas Watkins 1926 play into what they call “a queer adaptation.” All the characters are played by nine talented actors who, thanks to Ms. Dixon’s sparkling and sassy Direction, really know how to deliver comedy. This sharply perceptive, 90-minute one-act cuts through the detritus and nails the sharp satire about criminals, lawyers and journalists. And it does so by embracing Chicago of the Jazz Age and with a nod to the burlesque and vaudeville traditions of the period. Eileen Dixon paces her brisk production with the kick of a Charleston, the tangled grapevine of a Foxtrot and the passion of a Tango. Guided by Ms. Dixon’s typical wit and wisdom, and economically staged on Brandii Champagne’s adaptable Scenic Design, this production simply sizzles. The satirical comedy is even further enhanced by Madeline Felauer’s inventive, tongue-in-cheek Costumes that color each character with added creativity.

The entire company of comedic actors is as spicy and flavorful as a deep dish pizza. The cast is led by lovely Chelsea Rolfes, as Roxie Hart. A seasoned actress with Redtwist, Babes With Blades, First Folio and many other Windy City companies, Ms. Rolfes is saucy and sexy and isn’t afraid to leave it all on the stage. She beautifully portrays this brassy, bitchy young woman who quickly learns how to work the system and use her new-found notoriety to climb the ladder of success. Roxie sets her sights on Fame and won’t settle for anything less.

Chelsea is matched by the superb performance of Jack Seijo as the solicitor to the stars, Billy Flynn. Ironically, Mr. Seijo also appears half-clothed in the first scene as Fred Casely, Roxie’s secret lover and murder victim. A familiar face at a host of Chicago theaters, Jack earned a Jeff nomination at Redtwist for his excellent performance in ISAAC’S EYE. Mr. Seijo plays Roxie’s illicit lover with smarmy sex appeal; but he really shakes up the stage as Billy Flynn, a charismatic, fast-talking, wheeler-dealer of a lawyer. The way Jack works his clients, as well as the every member of the police force and the press corps, is magical. Jack Seijo’s performance is absolutely stellar.

Laura Sturm returns to Redtwist Theatre, after appearing last season in TITUS ANDRONICUS and BOTTLE FLY. She portrays the funny, fantastic and fawning Velma Kelly, who over time has become a legend in her own mind. Ms. Sturm also has a cameo near the end of the play as Machine Gun Rosie. An amazing series of characters are played by Caroline Kidwell. The multi-gifted actress returns to Redtwist after appearing in so many wonderful productions, such as TITUS ANDRONICUS, MAN CAVE and BOTTLE FLY. Ms. Kidwell was also a delight in Hell in a Handbag’s MURDER REWROTE. Here she plays Roxie’s two very different cellmates, including Go to Hell Kitty, “the Tiger Girl,” and “God’s Messenger,” Liz, a religious, hymn-singing inmate. She also humorously portrays assistant state’s attorney, Martin Harrison. And Macaria Chaparro is simply lovely and stoic as Magdelena, another, “not-guilty” inmate, as well as the hilarious and fast-talking Sgt. Murdock.

JT Nagle returns to Redtwist to portray sad and pitiful Amos Hart, Roxie’s milquetoast, meal ticket husband. Another familiar face from Redtwist’s BOTTLE FLY, as well as appearing in their excellent production of HOW TO TRANSCEND A HAPPY MARRIAGE, Shaina Toledo is wonderful as Moe Watkins. Smart and smug, Mr. Watkins takes control of the Roxie Hart murder case. Jasmine Robertson, seen at Redtwist in their production of REGRESSION, plays Zelda Morton, the motherly matron of the Cook County Jail. She also appears as the Judge. And gorgeous Ashley Anderson makes her Redtwist Theatre debut as a sympathetic and sweet-tempered Mary Sunshine, the “Sob Sister” journalist at The Evening Star.

Redtwist Theatre continues their 21st Season, called “Defiant Femmes,” with the World Premiere of CHICAGO: Queerly Adapted From the Play You’ve Never Heard of That Inspired the Musical You Can’t Get Away From. Adapted with an eye and ear for the true, fast-paced Chicago Style of Comedy, this production is hilarious and exhilarating to boot. Penned by Redtwist’s Producing Artistic Director, Eileen Dixon, and Executive Director, Dusty Brown, all the unnecessary details from Maurine Dallas Watkins’ 1926 script have been trimmed away. The result is a perfect, streamlined show for 21st century audiences. Given the current political climate, everyone’s in need of a good laugh. And this fast-paced confection of comical caricatures is guaranteed to lift every theatergoer’s spirits and fill them with merriment.                   

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented October 16-November 23 by Redtwist Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr, Chicago.  

Tickets are available in person at the box office or by going to www.RedtwistTheatre.org.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com

Jekyll & Hyde

This is the Moment

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Kokandy Productions is on a roll. This excellent theatre company seems to get better with each new show. They recently impressed Chicago audiences with their magical and wonderfully whimsical production of AMELIE, a musical that didn’t fare particularly well in its Broadway production. But this company’s mission statement is to “tell complex and challenging stories.” So they seem to include in that goal, injecting their Award-winning creativity into shows that have potential, despite not doing quite so well on Broadway. Examples of their expertise include Chicago productions of AMERICAN PSYCHO, CRUEL INTENTIONS and ALICE BY HEART, to name just a few. It must be said that Kokandy also has had great critical and popular response with other more more successful New York hits, like INTO THE WOODS  and SWEENEY TODD, as well.

Their latest offering is an impressive presentation of JEKYLL & HYDE, Frank Wildhorn’s magnum opus, that has been around in some form or other since 1990. In 1886, Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a popular Gothic novella entitled The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Wildhorn’s musical version of that tale of terror made its Broadway debut in 1997, followed by several national and international tours and many local presentations. As a result, the musical has developed a true cult following. A pre-Broadway tour of a revised production returned to Chicago a few years ago, prior to opening in New York City. Once it set down in the Big Apple, however, the new production drew a disappointingly small audience and closed earlier than expected. 

But Kokandy Productions has, as usual, taken a musical and put its own stamp on it, making the show all its own. JEKYLL & HYDE is definitely a musical for fans of melodrama and the loud, all-out, no-holds-barred style of vocal performance. It’s the kind of singing found nowadays in TV shows like ”American Idol” and “The Voice” and usually performed by most pop artists today. Enthusiasts of this kind of singing will love everything about this production. The show features two-and-a-half hours, mainly of music. It sports songs that have become pullout hits, especially with cabaret and club singers, such as “Someone Like You,” “Once Upon a Dream,” “A New Life” and Dr. Jekyll’s epiphany number, “This is the Moment.” 

David Moreland, who plays the contrasting roles of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is a very talented young actor. He’s already demonstrated his theatrical brilliance all over the Windy City, such as at Paramount in WAITRESS and THE FULL MONTY, at Music Theater Works in LEGALLY BLONDE, at Mercury Theater Chicago in ROCK OF AGES, as well as in previous Kokandy productions. The handsome Mr. Moreland’s powerful vocal prowess, the actor’s athletic physical resilience and his ability to artfully morph from Jekyll to Hyde, without relying on special effects, is a testament to his talent. As the story progresses and Henry Jekyll ingests more of the drug that transforms him into Edward Hyde, Moreland’s portrayal of his character’s evil side gradually grows more visual and intense. The performer’s talent, both as a vocalist and as an actor, is formidable, and his superb mastery in playing this dual role will undoubtedly inspire more directors to cast him. David Moreland gives everything in this performance and the contrast between his two characters is stunning. His stamina alone is worth praising, not to mention Moreland’s handling of the challenging vocal demands of these two diverse characters.

For this reviewer, the story is overly histrionic. Except for Emma Carew, Dr. Jekyll’s sweet and gentle upper class fiancee (in a gorgeous performance by Emily McCormick), and his lawyer and best friend, John Utterson (the magnificently gifted and multi Jeff Award-winning Kevin Webb), there are no other redeeming characters in the play. Even Lucy, Jekyll’s love interest from the other side of the tracks (sensitively portrayed and exquisitely sung by Ava Lane Stovall), is a promiscuous  prostitute who earns her living satisfying the lust of London’s low-lifes. 

All the other characters are pretty much one-note: bad. The rest are corrupt, arrogant or just plain depraved. At best, a few of the them are aloof or extremely narrow-minded. Emma’s father, Sir Danvers Carew (nicely portrayed by Nathan Calaranan), falls into this category. But with few exceptions, the ensemble consists of despicable villains and adversaries, and there’s really no one with whom theatergoers can identify. They include the two-faced Bishop of Basingstoke (nicely undertaken by Jon Parker Jackson); the aptly named Spider and smarmy Simon Stride (both played with equal relish by gifted Quinn Kelch); the lascivious General Lord Glossop (portrayed with agility and antagonism by the talented Quinn Rigg); Sir Archibold Proops (potently portrayed by Gabby Sauceda -Koziol); Lord Savage (depicted with smug enjoyment by Ismael Garcia); Nellie, the town tart, and Poole, Jekyll’s devoted servant (both beautifully brought to life by Quinn Simmons); and snooty Lady Beaconsfield (portrayed with a stiff upper lip, and a hairdo to match, by Maiko Terazawa).

As Lucy Harris, the prostitute who dreams of a better life, Ava Lane Stovall is clearly the star of this production. Ms. Stovall has a powerhouse pop-rock vocal quality that soars to the back row. The talented actor/singer, who finds Henry Jekyll’s gentle kindness a welcome change from her usual clientele, eventually falls victim to the savage brutality of his alter ego, Edward Hyde. Both Ms. Stovall and Ms. McCormick have the vocal chops that make them naturals for this pop rock style of musical, while also demonstrating a much welcome Broadway blend in their powerful duet, “In His Eyes.”

This production is supported by Musical Director and Conductor, Nick Sula, and boasts a 15-piece orchestra. Derek Van Barham, the company’s capable and clever Producing Artistic Director, once again Directs with shrewd thoughtfulness and an eye for creating stunning stage pictures. The ensemble’s electrifying movement and  dynamics come from Brenda Didier’s organic Choreography. Derek draws passionate performances out of every single cast member, while magnificently utilizing each stairway, platform and door frame of an alluring and versatile Scenic Design. The impressive stage setting was created by Sotirios Livaditis and masterfully Lighted by the always reliable G “Max” Maxin IV. The characters have the appropriate Grand Guignol look, thanks to Rachel Sypniewski’s Costume Designs, Keith Ryan’s Hair and Wig Creations and Syd Genco’s expressive Makeup Designs.

Be prepared. JEKYLL & HYDE is a masterful production featuring a cast of passionate professional performers who will mesmerize and move the audience. The sheer vocal power of the ensemble, not to mention the talent of each individual actor, is simply astounding. As one theatergoer uttered at intermission, “Where does Kokandy Productions find all these gifted actor/singers? But Frank Wildhorn’s musical, in my opinion, could dial back the sound, just a little bit. One theatergoer complained that his ears were ringing afterward. The musical could have also used a bit more warmth and humor to alleviate the story’s constant darkness and depravity, but this is the melodramatic masterpiece for which Frank Wildhorn is best known. Many audiences love this kind of story. And for them, “This is the Moment.” 

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented October 9-December 21 by Kokandy Productions at The Chopin Theatre Mainstage, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago.

Tickets are available at the door or by going to  kokandyproductions.com or bit.ly/AmelieChicago

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.