“Oh The Places We’ll Go” reviewed by Edie Reese

OH THE PLACES WE’LL GO!
( A CABARET PERFORMANCE BY 4 CHAIRS THEATRE)

By Edie Reese

[rating=4] Take seven young adults with talent to spare and put them onstage in a cabaret setting. Give them a variety of songs from Broadway musicals to showcase their vocal ranges and interpretive skills and sit back and enjoy the show. From Matthew Callas’ hilarious send-up of an uber-famous Shakespeare in “It’s Hard to Be the Bard” (Something Rotten) to Rachel Fischmar’s hopeful “The Life I Never Led” (Sister Act), the audience at Mundelein High School was thoroughly entertained by the hour-and-a half show produced by 4 Chairs Theatre.

The cabaret format showcasing young talent is the brainchild of Lauren Berman, who has also directed musicals at Glenbrook South High School , Stevenson High School and The Metropolis  Performing Arts Centre. During the pandemic there were, of course, no live theater performances, and Ms. Berman saw that a void in theater performances had to be filled. (Besides, Ms. Berman is one of those people who can’t not do something.) After founding 4 Chairs Theatre in 2018, Lauren produced several small venue cabaret productions in 2019. In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, she produced two virtual cabarets which raised over $3,000 each for two separate charities. Going into 2023 she hopes that the company will return to regularly scheduled live performances in the spring and fall, supplemented by live cabaret performances.

Although one would expect that each of the talented performers is heading straight to Broadway, that isn’t always their career aspirations. Notably, Noah Briere is a committed nursing major. They prefaced their opening number with remarks about “how parents want to encourage their children to do well in life” (the image that springs to mind is a mother pleading with her child to write that college entrance essay already), and then launched into “Grow For Me” from Little Shop of Horrors. By the time They got to “What do you want from me, blood?” the entire audience was in stitches.

A J DePew was the show’s MC. He also did a musically and lyrically complex duet “Therapy” from tick, tick…BOOM with Mary McMurray. Colby Willis delivered a heartfelt “Weather the Storm” (The Lion), and Olivia Geimer was the ultimate snarky teen singing “Killer Instinct” (Bring It On). The accompanist, Tyeese Braslavsky, kept up with the varying musical styles effortlessly. The technical director was Sara Gunther and the stage manager was Tim Graves.

4 Chairs Theatre is a 501 (c ) (3) not-for-profit organization. It gets it’s name from part of it’s mission statement… “We amplify voices that are often excluded, and uncover hearts that are often hidden. By replacing ‘You’re too’… and ‘You’ll never’… with ‘You’re enough’… and ‘You will’… we aspire to change the world, one show at a time. Pull up a chair. You can sit with us.” For more information on future productions, classes, or to make a donation, please visit the 4 Chairs Theatre website at 4chairstheatre.org.

Look for another production this February.

EDITOR NOTE

4chairstheare Company was founded in  2018 and during  these years has produced three full productions (“Spring Awakening”, “Be More Chill” and “Island Song” in addition to their numerous Cabaret performances.