“Corduroy”

Tommaso said ” My favorite character was the policewoman/night guard, followed by the bear, Corduroy”.

He had a lot of fun and felt it was appropriate for younger children. He said, ” If I could, I would give it ten stars”. He also loved the fact that the audience members were involved with the action and wishes he could have gotten a few hits on the beach balls that were all around the theater! Thanks for helping me understand some of the amazing story.

The story is about a doll, a bear that is in a department store and a little girl, Lisa ( cleverly handled by Demetra Dee) who wants that doll for her very own. Her mother ( played to perfection by Celeste M. Cooper) made her leave the store at closing without buying the doll, that was missing a button on his overalls. When the store closes, mischief begins in the store and night guard  ( Danielle Davis is the comic relief) spends the entire night tracking down this doll that was in toys but during the course of the evening seems to get to every department in the store.

The bear, “Corduroy” is played to perfection by Jean Claudio, who has very little to say, but a great amount of physical activity. We watch him be alive and a stuffed toy, back and forth, doing all types of weird things. His main purpose is to find his missing “button” and it appears that if he can succeed with that, he will find happiness ( and perhaps a home). He is aided by the two storytellers/clowns, Kat Harvey and Ryan Huemmer. One can tell that they have been well trained ( he is from Lookingglass Theatre and she is from  Actors Gymnasium) and their movements are spectacular keeping the little ones ( and a few grandparents) into the powerful story.

Smoothly directed and somewhat choreographed by Amber Mak, this is one hour of theater that holds you in the story from start to finish. The sort of Cirque Soliel acrobatics is amazing and the way they use the stage and set (designed by Jeffrey D. Kmiec) is powerful. The sound and composition by Satya Chavez works and if you listen close you will hear some very familiar tunes in the mix ( “The Pink Panther Theme” and “Move It , Move It” for sure). Christine Pascual’s costumes are fun and the projections by Mike Tutaj quite impressive. There were some great special effects as we travelled on an escalator and elevator to floors containing toys, bedroom furniture, appliances and party supplies. On each of these floors and later the warehouse, we witnessed some great transitions with the two clowns and our Hero, Corduroy. Again, Claudio is powerful and captivates every audience member, no matter their age. Bravo to Claudio and the clowns! They made the story truly come alive and at the end, Lisa and Corduroy find happiness. ( you will as well).

“Corduroy” will continue at Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier thru  July 14th with performances as follows: