Chicago Spotlight: October 2005

After a torrent of more than 50 September theater openings, things slow down in October to a mere 30-plus — hardly more than one-a-day on average. Key subscription houses will continue to launch their 2005-2006 seasons this month, among them the award-winning Writers’ Theatre in north suburban Glencoe with the literate marital comedy The Uneasy Chair (through November 27), featuring a dream cast of award-winning Chicago veterans: Molly Glynn, Linda Kimbrough, Ross Lehman and Greg Vinkler. A few days later, Court Theatre opens a small scale rendition of Man of La Mancha (through November 6) starring popular Chicago diva Hollis Resnik as Aldonza. Also, American Theatre Company has put together a powerhouse team for Tennessee Williams’ Orpheus Descending (October 6-November 6) with Carmen Roman as Lady and Steve Keys as Valentine.

Northlight Theatre at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie opens with a stage version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (October 5-November 13). While Northlight is located in Skokie, its production ties in with the City of Chicago’s One Book, One City program in which, twice a year, city schools, libraries, and cultural centers engage in a collective read and explore what it means. The Austen selection is the first time a 19th-century classic has been the focus of this three-year-old program.

As always in Chicago, world premiere productions are key to October events. Robert Koon, a rising star among local playwrights, debuts his newest, St. Colm’s Inch (October 6-November 6) at Chicago Dramatists, where he’s a resident writer. Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Theater dips into its own Playwrights Ensemble for its second show, the world premiere of Wheatley (October 5-November 13) by Lonnie Carter. The fast-rising Silk Road Theatre Project presents a new play by Egyptian-American author Yussef El Guindi, Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith (October 20-December 30), in the troupe’s new digs at the historic Chicago Temple in The Loop. Silk Road focuses on issues of the diaspora populations of people and cultures originating along the ancient trade route. Ten Acrobats is typical; a work about an immigrant Egyptian family dealing with assimilation issues in the United States, among them a son who defies his cultural heritage when he proclaims he’s gay.

Author, actor, and concert pianist Hershey Felder officially unveils his newest creation, Monsieur Chopin on October 14 at the Royal George Theatre for an open run. Felder held court at the Royal George for over a year with his widely-heralded George Gershwin Alone, and now hopes to captivate Chicago the same way with this show, in which he portrays the great composer and pianist at his Paris salon in 1848. The month closes with a world premiere of Frank Galati’s after the quake (October 20-February 19) at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, a stage version of contemporary Japanese stories by Haruki Murakami.

Modern classics receive their due this month with, among other things, rival Off-Loop productions of Chekhov’s Three Sisters presented by Strawdog Theatre Company (October 9-November 19) and Live Wire Theatre (October 22-November 13). Also on the docket: Shaw’s Major Barbara (October 15-November 14) opening an expanded ShawChicago season at the Cultural Center, and Anouilh’s The Madwoman of Chaillot (October 23-December 4) presented by The Artistic Home, a tiny troupe that’s garnered major critical accolades.

Audiences will have a rare chance to see two plays by the haunted Spanish playwright, Federico Garcia Lorca. Caffeine Theatre Company stages his theatrical poem Dona Rosita, or the Language of the Flowers (October 23-November 20) at the Athenaeum Theatre while Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba continues at greasy joan & company through October 30.

October brings some nice treats for musical lovers, too. True, Broadway in Chicago has suffered two major losses with the tour cancellation of Dr. Doolittle (which had been scheduled to open October 4), and the decision by Lloyd Webber’s The Woman in White to bypass a Chicago try-out and head straight for New York. That means the musical gems will be smaller in scale, but no less enjoyable. Spotlite Theatre Company plays Godspell (October 6-16) at Angel Island Theatre; Light Opera Works stages the first-ever revival of a lost (perhaps abandoned is a better word) Jule Styne/Yip Harburg musical, Darling of the Day (October 7-November 16) with a newly-fashioned book by Erik Haagensen; and Chicago’s in for a doggie treat when Bark!, the hit Los Angeles musical review about a dog’s-eye view of life, opens at the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts (October 21).

The month rounds out with various sui generic revivals. There’s Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 (October 3-November 9) at Steep Theatre; a Profiles Theatre revival of Rebecca Gilman’s’ The Glory of Living (October 13-November 27) in the city where the play premiered; the indefatigable femme combat troupe Babes With Blades in their latest opus, Cliffhangers (October 14-January 20), at Breadline Theatre; Tony Kushner’s A Bright Room Called Day (October 14-November 12) from Speaking Ring Theatre Company; and Sarah Kane’s bleak Crave (October 27-December 4) at the side project.

Perhaps the most fascinating show, however, will be the too-short run of Six Stories Up Mt. Everest (October 21-30) by Tellin’ Tales Theatre Company at the City’s Storefront Theatre in the Loop. The troupe’s founder and director, Terri Lomnicki, has let neither severe dwarfism nor a wheelchair stop her from creating some of the most fascinating work in town, using the power of the spoken word and the aural tradition to enchant audiences.

As for family matters, the always-reliable Lifeline Theatre Kidseries offers Stuart Little (October 1-November 27) with Saturday and Sunday matinees, and the highly-regarded Emerald City Theatre Company presents the world premiere musical Stellaluna and Other Tales (October 8-November 5), based on the works of Janell Cannon. Emerald City performs at the Apollo Theater.