Yes, I know this is normally our Holiday Hiatus time - but some entries just need to be written.
This particular BoHo Theatre presentation took place at the
Theater Wit, located in Chicago’s Lake View Neighborhood. The Theater Wit has 3 theaters within the
building. On this evening “Marie Christine”
was performed in Theater 1, which has about 10 rows on inclined seating. The chairs are theater quality comfortable
chairs, and the sightlines are great from any row. My guess, the back row is at most 10 yards
away from the stage. The Theater Wit
itself was a great venue, polite workers, bar with alcoholic and non-alcoholic
offerings, and patrons can pre-order their intermission drink, and it will be
waiting for them during intermission.
Now, onto the play. In
order to give the best representation of the story, I will borrow from the BoHo
Theater website :
Set in the twilight years of the 19th century, this dark
musical chronicles the journey of Marie Christine, a racially mixed woman
imprisoned without a trial to face death. From her jail cell, she recounts her
journey from a genteel life of privilege in New Orleans Creole society through
love, betrayal, and incomprehensible vengeance, to her final tragic fate.
Inspired by the Medea myth, this tale of dark magic and raw emotion is loosely
based on the life of real-life voodoo practitioner Marie Laveau.
As for the specific performance – amazing and spectacular –
are the words that come to mind. The
cast is around a dozen people, some of them playing multiple characters,
especially when the setting switches from New Orleans to Chicago. Although the eye recognizes them by
appearance, they do an excellent job, immediately, becoming the new character,
and there isn’t any “wasn’t he or she so-and-so 5 minutes ago”. THAT takes talent. The set stays the same for the entire show
with various props moving in and out (by the performers as part of the scene)
as needed, but not many. The performers
do a great job setting the scene with music and words, where one can actually
see the open field or the ballroom or whatever in their mind. An added clever touch was the location of the
live musicians. Instead of being off to
the side, or in a pit (this place doesn’t have a pit), or hidden behind a wall
somewhere, they are carefully placed behind a wall with open doors. So, when the play starts, the doors open, and
the musicians (dressed in black) are there – but not there. Patrons can see them if they want to, they
are in plain sight, but simultaneously, they are not there and in no way
distract from the scene. It’s a very
clever approach.
The show has some moments of chuckles and even a couple of
real-life laugh-out-louds, but is primarily a serious and dramatic
musical. Great references to Chicago,
and anybody who understands the inner workings of Chicago, will find that
portion especially amusing and real. To
be quite honest, within the first 10-15 minutes of this 2 hour performance, I
was fully vested in the main character and found all of the characters to be
very believable and real. It wasn’t
difficult to actually feel for the characters, and that speaks volumes about
the performers.
The sound and lighting were superb as well, the entire crew
deserves the same kudos that the performers and musicians receive.
No comments:
Post a Comment