“Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon”

*****One of the marvelous parts of attending a production at Lookingglass Theatre is its ability to bring a diverse selection of plays to its audience. From the serious dramas to the holiday production that has no words and then of course to the shows where circus performers add to the excitement.
What new can they bring? How about a musical? In fact, what would you say to a musical that is about first-generation Asian American renegades, who meet, fall in love, get hitched, and then become thieves?

In Matthew C. Yee’s musical, “Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon” you get all the answers to the above question and then some. With the book and music by Yee, we are taken on a journey filled with music, comedy, love, and more music as we meet the cast, who are also the musicians and the singers, making this a true ensemble piece.

Under the exquisite direction of Amanda Dehnert on a stage designed by Yu Shibagaki, resembling a wall of items that never were sold in a major garage sale, lining the walls, we get to sing along as we meet the characters that tell this amazing and fun story. Charlie is played by Yee himself, and he is very at ease in this role of the “cowboy” . His partner/lover/wife, Lucy is played to perfection by Aurora Adachi-Winter. Together they are terrific and we, the audience, can feel the magic between them.

The fun begins when they decide to pull off a robbery, and despite their lack of prowess, get away with it. At least so it seems. The area security people, not the police, investigate under the leadership of Feinberg ( Mary Williamson is a hoot and can she sing!) who along with her trainee, Peter (Rammel Chan is one funny man) works the case.

It turns out that Peter is in fact Charlie’s brother and he is caught in the middle. Charlie and Lucy also get mixed up with some traffickers, played by Matt Bittner (Gabriel) and Doug Pawlik ( Martin, the main man) as they try to take a newly arrived girl from China, Bao ( a delightful Harmony Zhang) for a financial ride.

There is a great deal of fun with these little stories contained in the one larger along with some great music. There are two other characters, Jeff ( the hysterical Daniel Lee Smith) an uncle to the brothers, and their grandma ( scene stealer Wai Ching Ho) who will make quite an impression.

The music and vocals are handled by these very talented cast members and the solidness of the production shows just how strong Lookingglass is in its ability to bring exciting new works to Chicago. On the tech side, the sound ( Andre Pluess) was flawless ( I was able too remove my hearing aids and not miss a word), the lighting by Marcella Barbeau worked to perfection and the costumes by Sully Ratke were very fitting. Paul Deziel’s projections addd to the fun and the violence design ( R & D Choreography) and intimacy design (Gaby Labotka) were nice additions to the whole of the production, which by the way runs 2 hurs and 40 minutes with one intermission, and is not for children.

“Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon” will continue at The Lookingglass Theatre located at the old Water Tower at 821 N. Michigan Avenue Thru July 16th with performances as follows:
Tuesdays 7 p.m.
Wednesdays 7 p.m.
Thursdays 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Fridays 7 p.m.
Saturdays 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Sundays 2 p.m

.www.lookingglasstheatre.org
Tickets are available 312-337-0665

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Lucy & Charlies Honeymoon”.