Displaying items by tag: Michelle Lauto

The skies full of snow,
The weekend seemed dire.
Oh, where would we go?
To Lincolnshire!

On the Marriott stage
To see Seussical,
Straight from the page
To a musical!

All your favorites are there,
Horton and a Who or two,
Gertrude and Mayzie,
We even go to Kalamazoo!

Oh, the thinks you can think
When you think about Seuss.
And the sings you can sing
When you let writers loose.

The play follows Horton
You know him, you must —
The kindly old elephant
With a speck of dust.

With Evan Martin as Horton
And Pat McDermott, moreover,
As the Who on the speck
And the speck on a clover.

But soon there is trouble:
A sour kangaroo
Played by Nicole Kyoung-Mi Lambert
Mocks Horton and his Who!

For the speck is a planet
Filled up with these Whos
Who’ve befriended our Horton
Who soon has the blues.

But Gertrude McFuzz
All bouncy and blonde
Played by Kelly Felthous
Of Horton is fond.

But Gertrude’s not all
No, no, no! No way, Jose!
She’s not the only
Star of this play.

There are Bird Girls galore
By gosh and by golly
Played by Michelle Lauto,
Mallory Madke, and Samantha Pauly

And the Wickersham monkeys
Onstage jump and sing,
Played by Alejandro Fonseca
Brandon Springman, and Ron King.

Horton hatches an egg,
Jojo yearns to be heard,
There’s even red fish and blue fish
Amongst all the birds.

Oh, I almost forgot —
Have you any guesses?
The Seussian favorite
Played by Jon Butler-Duplessis.

A feline who’s tall,
Nearly tall as his hat,
Hosted all the hilarity —
The Cat in the Hat!

On the faces of children
When the play was all done
Were smiles and giggles
Both sure signs of fun.

This musical’s a hit
But it won’t last too long —
Until March 31st
You can hear Seuss’ songs.

So if you’ve got wee ones
Who love Dr. Seuss,
Don’t miss this play,
You’ve got no excuse!

Through March 31st at Marriott Theatre - www.MarriottTheatre.com

I am constantly amazed as the way directors use the intimate, theater in the round, at The Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre and this exuberant production of “Oklahoma!” celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the classic Rogers and Hammerstein musical is no exception. 

As soon as the dancing begins, this production shows that indeed the entire show of “Oklahoma!” with magnificent, definitive songs like "Oh what a Beautiful Morning" and "People Will say We're in Love,” was meant to be a ballet. This especially rings true during the memorable ballet sequence at the end of Act I which featured tow amazing dancers Benita Bünger (Dream Laurey), Lucas Segovia (Dream Curly) and Alejandro Fonseca (Dream Jud).

It’s farmers against cowboys in this late 19th century musical adventure that follows two love stories. Curly McClain, a cowboy, wants desperately for Laurey Williams to love him, but her stubbornness has her taking her family’s farmhand, Jud Fry, to the big dance instead – and Jud has some serious issues. Laurey’s Aunt Eller can’t understand why her niece is so reluctant to give Curly a chance and has big reservations when Jud gets involved. At the same time, cowboy Will Parker is in love with Ado Annie Carnes and will do whatever it takes to win her over. However, Ado Annie also has eyes for a Persian peddler, Ali Hakim.

The classic western takes a few turns and includes some bumps in the road for the main characters while unfolding into the direction of what becomes a most memorable ending. “Oklahoma!” is an entertaining story that has a bit of everything – jealousy, love, romance, humor and heroes. But in this stage adaptation, it’s the fantastic dance numbers that impress the most.

The dance sequences so beautifully choreographed by Alex Sanchez (and there are many by the entire cast) are some of the best and most exciting dance numbers I've seen in recent musicals. Each number make use of every aisle and every inch of the stage from opening number to rousing finale.

Brandon Springman is mesmerizing in the lead role as Curly while Jennie Sophia plays his romantic interest, Laurey, with great intelligence and romance. Both have really wonderful voices that are accompanied by thoughtful, realistic acting choices that make you fall in love with this couple and understand why they both let their headstrong pride get in the way of what is obvious to everyone else in town as a love affair that is meant to be. Shea Coffman is very strong as Jud Fry and can be flat out frightening at times while Michelle Lauto really gets to show off her gifted voice as Ado Annie. The talent goes on and on as Evan Tyrone Martin is very funny and likeable as Ali Hakim and Aaron Umsted steals several scenes with his electrifying dancing prowess as Will Parker.

There is also a modern-day relevance that pops out at the audience when Laurey complains to her Aunt Eller (played with great wry humor by Susan Moniz) that Jud, the moody, porn-obsessed, farmhand is staring her down at breakfast every day and generally scaring her when her aunt replies that she is being too sensitive and should ignore him. But Judd's behavior is pure sexual harassment by a man with mental health issues who is not only capable of violence and in the cathartic last scene, acts out with both sexual violence against Laurie and a murder attempt towards her beau Curly.

The entire cast is full of rich singing voices and the sing-along at the end of the show to the title song "Oklahoma!" really sums up the lively spirit of this beautifully sung, acted, and danced production of a classic. 

I highly recommend this fast paced but satisfying and exciting production for all members of your family to experience the magic and wonder of one of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s great American works. 

“Oklahoma!” runs through June 10th at the Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, IL 60069. Tickets are available at marriotttheatre.com or 847-634-0200.

The hip-hop Broadway in Chicago sensation Hamilton, which, has spawned a secondary market in pricey theater tickets, has also delivered a pair of spin-offs. Shamilton, an improv riff at the Apollo, and now, notably, Spamilton, a send up of the original musical about the founding fathers of the U.S. 

Is it funny if you haven’t seen the original? The short answer is yes – because following the opening sets based on Hamilton, the show quickly turns its sites on other long-time Broadway shows like Cats and Phantom of the Opera, warhorses like Camelot, and shows of more recent vintage like Wicked and Book of Mormon.

The creative force behind the show is Gerard Alessandrini, the originator of the 1982 "Forbidden Broadway," which was similar in format, and has been rewritten and updated more than a dozen times. It has played around the world, including Chicago - I’ve seen two different versions here.

For all practical purposes, Spamilton is the newest Forbidden Broadway, and on some levels it exceeds the earlier ones in appeal.

The key to the storyline is Broadway’s perpetual and desperate struggle to save itself, and to create a new vision of the big musical show. Show business has been mired in novelties like Book of Mormon and the puppet-based Avenue Q; overproduced extravaganza with no memorable songs, like Spiderman; or Sondheim light operetta that those outside the cognoscenti may find hard to sit through.

Alessandrini picks up this scent of desperation, and seizes on Broadway producers struggles with wickedly funny original song and dance numbers that sample or mash-up the originals. Clinging to revivals of Rogers & Hammerstein or Leonard Bernstein; turning over theaters to somewhat vapid Disney productions like Aladdin and Newsies, these producers become fodder for fun in Spamilton.

The show parodies this desperation with another extreme: combining previously successful shows.

A perfect example comes around 10 minutes in, as the Spamilton players switch gears and time periods to present The Lion King & I. Anna the English Governess in hoop skirts dons a Julie Traymor head set in a duet with a squawking animal character. Let’s say I chortled heartily.

The show runs at a mad-cap pace, and even if you don’t get all the references, it’s still funny. A scene of an axe wielding gentleman clad just in Fruit of the Looms is a send up of American Psycho (I think, after Googling). It was funny even though I didn’t know exactly what the reference was.

Wicked and Book of Mormon – once the pricey ‘it’ shows, now discounting tickets like any other production – get nailed pointedly, having yielded star status to Hamilton. Scenes are punctuated by a running gag: homeless ladies in rags begging for Hamilton tickets – understood to be based on true stories of famous  stars desperate for seating.

A Barbra Streisand impersonation finds the aging diving singing in signature reverb, advising that when Hamilton is filmed, she wants to play a role in “The Film When It  Happens.” Likewise, J-Lo and Gloria Estefan walk-on, each hoping to tap the mojo of Hamilton. Liza Minnelli appears, but runs the other direction - and asks that rap be banned on Broadway, so they can “bring back the tunes.”  

The show reveals broader awareness in a number, Straight is Back, which laments the loss of gay show tunes and glitter, as productions like Hamilton skew to more manly styles. 

You can get a taste of Spamilton from the original New York cast album, just released. But it pales compared to the experience of seeing this cast of amazing dancers and singers, and their great comedic timing: Donterrio Johnson, Michelle Lauto, Eric Andrew Lewis, Yando Lopez, David Robbins, and guest diva Christine Pedi (she's the Streisand character among others), with musical direction by Adam LaSalle.  

While Hamilton’s original star Lin-Manuel Miranda love “laughed my brains out!" when he saw the show, during last Sunday’s production the Chicago cast of Hamilton was in the audience – and they had a blast.

Gerry McIntyre did the choreography;  Dustin Cross gets Costume Design; , Fred Barton (Musical Director), and Richard Danley and Fred Barton (Musical Arrangements). "Spamilton" is produced in Chicago by John Freedson, David Zippel, Gerard Alessandrini, Margaret Cotter and Liberty Theatricals, in association with JAM Theatricals. Chuckie Benson and Arielle Richardson are the understudies the production.

"Spamilton" plays Tuesdays through Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. at the Royal George Theater.  www.spamilton.com