For Reasons Hard to Specify, I Didn't Find Goodman's 'Gloria' All That G-L-O-R-I-O-U-S -- Chicago Theater Review

Theater Review

Gloria
a recent play by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
directed by Evan Cabnet
Goodman Theatre, Chicago
Thru February 19
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Singing--at least in my head--the famed "G-L-O-R-I-A" refrain of "Gloria" by Them (featuring Van Morrison), as well as two other rock songs sharing the same name (one by Laura Branigan, the other by U2), none of which have anything to do with the play, I took my seat Sunday afternoon with a good amount of anticipation.

Gloria, referenced as a dark comedy, is a 2015 play written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, a young playwright who has earned considerable regard.

In its world premiere, off-Broadway production at New York's Vineyard Theater, Gloria earned rave reviews--such as this one from the New York Post--as well as prestigious award nominations, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Robert Falls, the legendary artistic director of the Goodman Theatre, "found Gloria to be among the smartest, most entertaining and provocative pieces I have seen in many years" and brought the play to Chicago with the original cast and director, Evan Cabnet.

Having now seen Gloria, I wish I could tell you I loved it.

But I can't.

And I can't even, in good conscience, tell you much of what it's about, or therefore do a decent job of specifying why I didn't greatly care for a play many others clearly have.

If you are planning to see the play--as perhaps, like me, a Goodman subscriber--knowing as little as possible going in would probably be best.

Initially set in the editorial offices of a magazine in modern day Manhattan, the two-act Gloria features six primary characters who work there, in either their 20s or 30s.

All of the actors handle their roles well, including Ryan Spahn (as Dean), Jennifer Kim (Kendra), Catherine Combs (Ani), Jeanine Serralles (Gloria), Michael Crane (Lorin) and Kyle Beltran, who I'd seen as Usnavi in the first national tour of In the Heights, as Miles.

As always, the Goodman features strong scenery, though based on photos it seems Takeshi Kata's New York set was re-created verbatim.

While I've never spent much time in a work environment quite like the one depicted, the dialogue among the colleagues about their social lives, co-workers, bosses, office gossip, a celebrity's death and a creeping sense of disillusionment eroding their ambition feels not only believable, but resonant as well.

So it isn't as though I can't see why Falls, New York critics and presumably other Goodman patrons were far more smitten--I'm curious to see what other Chicago reviewers have to say, though it may be a few days since I believe I technically saw a preview performance--and Jacobs-Jenkins' voice beguiled me enough to readily explore other works by him.

But without wishing to get any more detailed, I rarely found Gloria very compelling and ultimately thought it was rather callous and cold about its subject matter.

I realize that may well be part of the author's point, and I also know that without further details it's a bit unfair as criticism.

So while I can't personally recommend Gloria, I not only wouldn't dissuade anyone from attending--except those with certain experiences, which I'm sorry I can't spell out--I hope and imagine many may like it far more than I did.

If and when you see Gloria, I'd be happy to hear your thoughts and to further enunciate on why I found it disturbing--and really just wanted it to end long before it did.

To each their own; that's the beauty of art...and theater.

But clearly--while noting that music is prominent in what isn't a musical and features no lyrical references to the titular character--I wasn't singing on my way out of the theater.

Thematically Combustible 'Rapture, Blister, Burn' Smolders More Than Sizzles -- Chicago Theater Review

Theater Review

Rapture, Blister, Burn
a recent play by Gina Gionfriddo
directed by Kimberly Senior
Goodman Theatre, Chicago
Thru February 22
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At the end of Rapture, Blister, Burn, I turned to my mom--my longtime Goodman Theatre co-subscriber--and noted, more for my sake than for hers, that one shouldn't mistake aversion to actions & decisions of characters in the play as being an indictment of the quality of the play itself.

In other words, creating flawed, inconsistent, even unlikable characters may well be more true to life--and artistically impressive--than the portrayal of more easily embraceable individuals who might make for a user-friendlier play.

On the ride home, mom and I continued to discuss Gina Gionfriddo 5-character play--a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2013--which focuses on feminism and the choices many women must make between having families and furthering their careers.

Thus, in sharing that I didn't quite love Rapture, Blister, Burn, I cannot be dismissive of it as anything less than a substantive, thought-provoking drama, with numerous LOL moments to boot. 

I just found it to be more a good play than a great one.

The narrative centers, at least initially, on the dichotomy between two former grad school classmates, Gwen and Catherine, played here by Karen Janes Woditsch and Jennifer Coombs, respectively.

Without revealing more than the opening setup, Gwen had dropped out of grad school and has long been married to Don (Mark L. Montgomery), another former classmate who had previously been Catherine's boyfriend, before she went to London for a year and he stayed behind. 

Gwen and Don have two sons, while as a noted feminist scholar with two popular books, the single Catherine is more accomplished professionally than either of them.

As Catherine has now reconnected with her ex-friend and former lover after years of shunning them, much of Rapture, Blister, Burn is ostensibly an exploration of the life choices women must often make. 

Although the script name drops famed feminists--including Betty Friedan--and that of noted anti-feminist Phyllis Schlafly, the play doesn't really espouse favoritism for either the family or career path, both which are shown to have their advantages, sacrifices, joys and despairs. 

The 2-act play's two other characters--a young woman named Avery (Cassidy Slaughter-Mason) who initially is a babysitter for Gwen/Don but then factors in more heavily, and Catherine's mom Alice (the always excellent Mary Ann Thebus)--further serve to make Rapture, Blister, Burn an intelligent piece that puts forth a variety of viewpoints.

The director, Kimberly Senior, is one of the best in Chicago, whose talents have now taken her to Broadway with Ayad Akhtar's Disgraced. I've seen several shows she's helmed--including The Overwhelming, The Pillowman, The Whipping Man and After the Revolution--and have liked all of them.

And the home interior/exterior set designs by Jack Magaw--who happens to be Senior's husband--are impressive, as is par for the course in the spacious confines of Goodman's Albert Theatre. 

So there is much to like and admire about Rapture, Blister, Burn, and this @@@1/2 (out of 5) review shouldn't be seen as negative, just not effusively positive. 

For though it moves along at a good pace and addresses an interesting topic smartly and humorously, I just didn't find the play in sum all that insightful nor compelling. 

And, while understanding all good dramas must cheat reality a little, I found some dramatic liberties hard to look past, such as Catherine's being allowed to teach a college class, at the spur of the moment, within her mother's home, for only 2 students. 

Gwen, who has boys of 3 and 13, seems coldly indifferent to her younger son in making a key decision within the play, during which she barely even mentions him. This seemed a bit askew to me.

And the way Catherine is written, it felt to me that Rapture, Blister, Burn is more soap operatically about lost love and heartbreak from a personal standpoint, rather than a universal fork-in-the-road study of female choices where work and family are at odds.

I didn't really expect--or want--Gionfriddo to ardently take sides, but I don't feel she posed the quandary and inherent debate quite shrewdly enough.

In the end, I was left with something of a clichéd sense that "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." And, at least per the actions and decisions of the play's main characters, that it will always appear this way, no matter what choices one may make. 

With Many Charms, 'The White Snake' Enchants but Doesn't Quite Entrance -- Chicago Theater Review

Theater Review

The White Snake
written and directed by Mary Zimmerman
Goodman Theatre, Chicago
Thru June 8
@@@1/2

I admired most everything about The White Snake, which Mary Zimmerman wrote based on a classic Chinese fable and directs at the Goodman Theatre.

And for the most part, I enjoyed it.

But I can't say I completely loved it.

The staging and scenery by Zimmerman and her longtime set designer Daniel Ostling is highly imaginative.

The costuming by Mara Blumenfeld is resplendent.

The Asian tonality of the play itself, and the accompanying live music, is appreciably different than most dramatic works I see.

The story line and themes--revolving around a White Snake who transforms into a woman (Amy Kim Waschke), her friend the Green Snake who likewise humanizes (Tanya Thai McBride), a man named Xu Xian (Jon Norman Schneider) who the white snake comes to love and wants to stay with, and a Buddhist priest Fa Hai (Matt DeCaro) who insists the relationship is unnatural and forbidden--have much current resonance, yet an appealing agelessness.

And the acting, especially by the four main cast members cited above, is uniformly excellent.

Yet while I appreciate Zimmerman's wondrous artistry and aesthetic, I can't say The White Snake consistently engaged me over its 100 minutes.

And though I genuinely appreciate the Goodman Theatre introducing me to different theatrical forms during any subscription season, I can't say I liked this unique piece more than Rebecca Gilman's first-rate drama, Luna Gale, earlier this season, or as much as The Jungle Book musical Zimmerman helmed at Goodman last season.

I certainly expect, and respect, that others will like The White Snake a good bit more than me. The novelty and beauty of the work, and all involved, is impressive and my @@@1/2 reflects a night of theater I liked considerably more than I didn't.

But other than Mary Zimmerman devotees--and through her 20-year association with Goodman I expect she's developed many--and those distinctly interested in theater that ventures beyond the traditional, I don't know that I would highly recommend The White Snake.

For while it tells a nice tale in a rather atypical, non-Western way--though I noted how the romantic storyline is thematically similar to that of the classic musical Brigadoon, next up at Goodman--at the end of the day, The White Snake just didn't have all that much bite.

'Pullman Porter Blues' a Satisfying Journey Over Familiar Ground --Chicago Theater Review

Theater Review

Pullman Porter Blues 

a play (with live music) by Cheryl West

directed by Chuck Smith

Goodman Theatre, Chicago

Thru October

@@@1/2

There are a lot of good things about Pullman Porter Blues--the new show at Goodman--including three good men.

Although not technically billed as a musical, the recently-created, two-act piece features several terrific blues numbers played live on stage and sung wonderfully by the likes of E. Faye Butler and Larry Marshall.

The acting is excellent throughout, including strong work from Marshall, as Monroe Sykes, senior porter on a Pullman rail car, Cleavant Derricks as his son, Sylvester, also a porter, and Tosin Morohunfola as Cephus, their grandson and son respectively, who is making his first journey as a Pullman porter. And having seen them many times on Chicago stages, it was no surprise that Butler--playing a blues singer named Sister Juba--and Francis Guinan--as Tex, the train's racist and petty conductor--were also wonderful.

The set design by Riccardo Hernandez--basically a full size replica rail car designed to seamlessly accommodate scene changes--is terrifically impressive.

And Cheryl West's script, saluting the dedication and decorum of Pullman Porters while decrying their
mistreatment, is informative, funny, poignant and--when the songs are worked in--buoyant.

All told, the positives of Pullman Porter Blues make for an enjoyable night of theater while broaching familiar themes in an original way.

But while I was sufficiently entertained, and even enlightened, I can't say I was all that engrossed by the narrative. 

The events of the play primarily focus on the three generations of Sykes men as porters on a Pullman train bound from Chicago to New Orleans, over the course of a night in 1937 when Joe Louis fought James "Cinderella Man" Braddock for boxing's World Heavyweight Championship. 

Beyond exploring the often-strained paternal relationships among the three, and providing a unifying asshole in Guinan's Tex character, West weaves in Sister Juba (Butler) and a train-jumping, harmonica-humming young white woman named Lutie, who befriends Cephus in risk of bigoted malevolence.

I don't mean to imply that the truth of how badly African-Americans have often been treated since coming to America as slaves can ever be told enough. And in telling it while introducing many to a bygone age and profession, West certainly scores points for originality.

But very little that happens in Pullman Porter Blues took me by surprise, including--of course--the outcome of the Louis-Braddock title fight.

All the typical tropes and themes one might expect were aboard this train--except for, as shown on-stage, ignorant and demeaning passengers--and while some of the messaging was powerful, little felt particularly revelatory.

Not to shortchange the strong acting, compelling characters and heavy undertones, but my favorite parts of Pullman Porter Blues were almost invariably the songs.

If this show isn't officially a musical, it should be.

For not only, at this point, do the plotline and spoken-word scenes not congeal perfectly around the interspersed tunes--played by an impressive live band that just happens to be hanging out in the lounge car--but though the premise of Pullman Porter Blues is on clearly track, as a "play" it uniformly stops short of traveling deep enough into uncharted territory.

Nonetheless, for those looking for nice blend of great blues music and thoughtful theater, Pullman is worth getting on board--particularly if you can take advantage of some nice discounts through HotTix or the Goodman box office.