“Disaster”

Somewhat Recommended ** I am to many smaller theater companies, the man who delivers them to the public! I have always made it my business to find the time to cover the smaller, newer companies, in order to make sure that the theater audiences of Chicago are aware of the smaller, newer companies. I was invited to attend a new production by Chicago Theatre Workshop today. As it turns out, two of the actors in the current production, Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick’s “Disaster” are people who I either have watched in previous productions (Dan Gold) or ones that I did plays with her mother back when she was just a little girl (Elissa Newcorn), so I went to the Sunday 3 p.m. performance. I was glad to see that the theater located at 5451 N. Broadway, was fairly full, for a glorious Sunday afternoon ( one of our first decent weather days since Spring started).

I was not impressed with the story or the script, but do have to say that in addition to the talented Mr. Gold and Ms Newcorn, there were a host of great voices and some pretty solid actors in this cast.

Let’s talk about the story. It is 1979! There is a new “floating Casino” in New York and it is about ready to take its “maiden voyage” with the hottest of “A-Listers” ready to make the trip. Being a “floating Casino”, back in those days, it HAD to leave the dock and go into the water before any gambling could begin. That has been changed of late, but in the late 70’s, that was THE rule! The cast of odd members that are making this trek to memory lane are a variety of types; A faded “disco” star, Jessica Vann as the incredible Levora Verona, a sexy nightclub singer,  ( Ms Newcorn as  Jackie)with her twin children ( played to perfection by Pierce Cleveland , who makes both Ben and Lisa take on their own personas), a “Disaster Expert” ( this is the role that Mr. Gold handles, and does so far better than the script is set up to offer the audience members), an older couple (Maury ( Shane Roberie) and Shirley ( powerhouse comic character handled by Melissa Young) , a “sister”, Sister Mary Downey ( the adorable Britain Gebhardt), an ex-gambling addict who is out to raise funds for the church and at the same time re-start her life, with zero tolerance for gambling, and some other “show-biz” types.

The Disaster Alert person ( Mr. Gold) , is a scientist and sees that very soon, there will be all types of havoc in the world of this particular  gaming boat. With a great mix of 1970’s music, some records and others handled by this quality cast, we spend the next 2 hours ( a 15 minute intermission) watching the characters as written by Rudestsky and  Plotnick. Many of the songs are shorter versions so the new company has no royalties to pay. The song list is humongous:  “Knock Three Times”, “Hooked On A Feeling”,”I Am Woman” ,”Torn Between Two Lovers” and a host of others. Many memories of my personal 1970’s came back, and these tunes provided a great showcase for the talent that director Ben Baylon has assembled for this production.

The players are a myriad of talented , young performers:  Lily Cox, Kaleb Van Rujswijck, Marcellus Burt, Kara Schoenhofer, Charlie Ward ( as Tony, the GM for the “floating Casino” who is evidently “connected”), Nathan Cooper as Chad, a young man who is of great interest to the cruise director Marianne, ( the delightful Shannon McEldowney), Chad’s girlfriend,  Scott ( Warren C, Dailey, a nerdy friend of Chad’s looking for love in all the wrong places), and Kara Schoenhofer ( a powerful singer/dancer who brings great energy to a script that is lacking the vitality it deserves). These are wonderful singers with voices that will be of greater pleasure than the words that are written for them. Just a shame that the script cannot be up to the talent of those performers assembled to play them.

The premise is that the “floating Casino” has some internal problems that if left unattended could cause problems. They are also told that there could be hurricanes, earthquakes, tidal waves and infernos and possibly even more. While it is not possible for all these to occur at the same destination, because it is a story being told, anything is possible .  This is a spoof of all the films of the 1970’s and many a TV show, and while it has some funny moments, it will not be your “theater experience to remember”.

There are great many sight gags used to help move the story around, but I for one, found the story to be more comedy driven over the actual content of the story. On the tech side, the set ( Evan Frank) is wonderful and makes us feel that we are at home with his  “partner”, who was in fact, NOT his  partner!The sound (Mike Patrick) and lighting (Jennifer Kules and Collin Helou) are near perfect and the music ( with arrangements and being led by Oliver Townsend), Meg Farly, choreographer to the “stars” and Shelby Brand ( costumes and props).

This is a zany show filled with a great deal of silly premises and silly bits that are sure to get laughs . I found that some of the “shtick” is silly and inane.   I am still trying to figure  out how a show show like this worked on Broadway.  As previously stated, I found that the talent was far superior to the script and that despite the silly little puzzlers that come p from time to time,  “Disaster” can be saved from living up to its name and once it does, it will be near impossible to keep the audiences away.

The technical aspects of the show: Evan Frank’s set design was simple nd in some cases, very clever. I would have used a bit more imagination on some of the little stuff. The sound ( Mike Patrick) was terrific- I heard everything, said and sung; the lighting by Collin G. Helou and Jennifer Kules was effective and the costumes and props ( Shelby Brand) were of the highest professional standards. There are some very clever items in this production, but often, they go on a bit longer than they should, which loses the novelty after awhile. The use of one boy to play brother and sister ( twins) is genius and the clever way handled was beautiful, for several numbers- the later part of the play proved to have overdone a good thing. I am sure that with a little more budget to work with these can be resolved in the future.

“Disaster” will continue thru May 6th at Chicago Theatre Workshop located at 5451 N. Broadway in Chicago. ( easy to find when you have worked in town., at the Edge Theater ( a very comfy venue) with performances as follows:

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  3 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Sundays  3 p.m.

Tickets can be ordered at http://www.chicagotheatreworkshop.orgor call 773-999-9541

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