Chicago Theatre Review

Daily Archives: July 29, 2013

‘Namosaur!

July 29, 2013 Comments Off on ‘Namosaur!

Scott Oken’s “‘Namosaur!” is exuberant nonsense. It is set in Vietnam in 1968 and follows a group of GIs led by Laura McKenzie’s ass-kicking CIA operative, Weaver, as they search the jungle for an evil genius bent on world domination. Dozens of movies are referenced; Bigfoot is involved, as is an EZ-Bake oven, and at one point there is an attack by several Woody Woodpecker clones. You get the idea.

Every other line feels re-purposed from a movie or TV show and cleverly bent to serve ‘Namosaur!’s giddy circus of a plot. It’s a pop culture mash-up written to amuse all those of us who grew up watching too much TV and re-watching too many movies. The cast energetically mugs to the audience and never lets a joke land un-winked at. Eric Roach as Professor Nguyen Nguyen (pronounced win-win, and constantly milked for eye-rolling laughs) chews all the scenery in sight and spits out his lines in a constantly morphing accent that would be distracting if everything else about the show wasn’t nuclear powered ridiculousness. Its jokes elicit groans as often as laughs, but ‘Namosaur! is so self-aware and referential that it has to be full of bad jokes to be itself. If you’ve ever enjoyed a b-movie, you will have a good time at this show. A couple drinks wouldn’t hurt either.

Recommended
by Eric Tengler

‘Namosaur! by Scott Oken
Directed by Manny Tamayo
Presented by Factory Theater through August 31st
Factory Theater at the Prop Theater 3502 N Elston Ave

For more information on this and other shows, visit www.theatreinchicago.com


More of a Gust than a Gale

July 29, 2013 Comments Off on More of a Gust than a Gale

WDTW-1Andrew Lloyd Webber’s name is synonymous with big, splashy, adult musical extravaganzas like “Phantom of the Opera,” “Evita” and “Sunset Boulevard;” however, he’s also known for children-oriented shows, such as “Joseph…Dreamcoat,” “Cats” and his recent adaptation of the film classic, “The Wizard of Oz.” His seldom-produced 1996 musical is in the latter category, contrasting children’s innocent faith with the hard-core suspicions found in adults.

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