“Mesmerized: A Ben Franklin Science & History Mystery” reviewed by Al Bresloff with Tomasso Casati

***** Getting children to the theater is not an easy task. Often, doing so on a Saturday morning is even harder. Over the years, my grandchildren made the trips with me and offered their interpretation, so that families with youngsters could decide based on a young person’s opinion ( instead of an old person). They outgrew this, and so , over the least few years, I have found children to assist me with making sure that you, the readers, know if this particular production is right for your child or grandchild ( could also be plurals).

In the city, my young reviewer is Tomasso Casati ( you may be aware that his parents are the owners of my favorite Italian restaurant, Casati’s on Fullerton and Clark. His mother brought him to the theater for the production of  “Mesmerized:A Ben Franklin Science and History Mystery” at Chicago Children’s Theatre , located at 100 South Racine ( they do have parking).

At this theater, I always suggest people arrive early as they do some hands-on things before the show that help get into the world of “make-believe” and exploration. We did some magic and optical illusions. When we entered the theater, a few of the actors were doing things to get us into the mood of the show and then Ben, our master of ceremonies explained some of the rules of going to the theater.

We embarked on a journey to France with Ben Franklin( played to perfection by Shawn Pfautsch), one of our country’s founding fathers , and his smart, outspoken young niece, Sarah ( an adorable character study by Rika Nishikawa) where they discover that people are magically being cured by a mysterious man, Doctor Mesmer (Tony Carter is hysterical).

Through fabulous storytelling, fast-paced comedy and drawing from true stories of Franklin’s many scientific discoveries and inventions, Ben and Sarah employ the Scientific Method to put Mesmer’s mystical powers to the test. Is it science, is it magic, or will we all be Mesmerized?

The rest of the cast is composed of three actors playing a multitude of roles. I enjoyed the work of China Brickey, Dustin Valenta and Kasey Foster.They change wigs and clothes as well as voices in seconds and the direction by Tommy Rapley is fast paced, but strong enough to keep the children interested in the story and the characters. It is NOT “Hamilton”, but does give young ones some insight into history and also opens up our eyes to the struggles that gender has always brought to problem solving.

Here is what Tomasso had to say,” Just AWESOME! I had two favorite characters. Mr Benjamin (Franklin) and Mesmer ( the Doctor). His magic wand and funny personality made me laugh! Mr. Benjamin taught me what a hypothesis is and how to solve problems.

Can’t wait to go back , BRAVO,BRAVO!

Presented by Chicago Children’s Theatre

Thru – Oct 15, 2023

Saturdays:9:30am & 11:30am

Sundays:9:30am & 11:30am

Show Type: Childrens

Box Office: 773-227-0180.

www.chicagochildrenstheatre.org

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“Mesmerized: A Ben Franklin Science & History Mystery”.