Recommended *** It is June and with this month comes summer ( supposedly) and Gay Pride Month. To honor Pride, Steppenwolf Theatre Company is presenting the World Premiere of “Ms.Blakk for President” written by Tina Landau ( who also directs) and Tarrell Alvin McCraney ( who plays Ms. Joan Jett Blakk a/k/a Terrance Alan Smith). The story is a part of what is being served in the Upstairs Theatre at Steppenwolf. The fact is, what you will experience is a party, a very wild party, in which a story breaks out!
There are many who will not enjoy this as a theatrical experience, as it is geared towards bringing forth a great deal of “Gay” material, and not all theater audiences are seeking that as their entertainment. The party begins about 30 minutes before the actual start of the theatrical production ( the scripted portion) and is wildly funny and allows the cast members to truly show their talents. They do a lot of lip-synch ( masterful jobs by one and all) singing and dancing about the stage. The stage is a runway with seating allowing the actors to move from place to place and the seating is on two sides. Pay attention to the audience as well as the performers. Because of its content and story many will be dressed to fit the occasion. It is like attending a costumer party ( at least on opening night).
The actual story takes about 100 minutes ( with no intermission) and what we explore is the story of a drag queen presidential candidate, announcing her bid to run for President of the United States. It gets a bit confusing as it takes place in Chicago, the year 1992 and with the AIDS crisis being hidden, the formation of Queer Nation Chicago, who wants to bring this matter among others to the attention of the politicos, in order to help those who are infected and facing a long and difficult period of illness leading to death.
Much of this is inspired by actual events and if one checks their history, they will find that Chicago at one point had a drag queen run for mayor against Richard Daley. This play and story may not be filled with actual true events but in the spirit of what did transpire and seeing as we are now in 2019, over 25 years later with some of the same items still being left in the “closets” of our county, maybe it is the perfect time to bring forth this festive production that will also educate and enlighten many.
The cast is small in numbers, but very powerful in talent. McCraney is amazing in the title role, but all of the cast members shine. During the pre-party you will see just how powerful each is. Patrick Andres, the dynamic Molly Brennan, Danile Kyri, Jon Hudson Odom and Sawyer Smith ( wow! Smith plays several characters and dances up a storm). The Marilyn Monroe , “Happy Birthday” sequence was funny, but confused many of the theater patrons ( this was after all the 90’s).
On the technical side, the costumes by Toni-Leslie James were exotic, to say the least and the sound and additional music by Lindsay Jones perfect. Rasean Davonte Johnson’s projection designs along with David Zinn’s set design and Heather Gilbert’s lighting made much of the visions truly come to life.
Terence Alan Smith himself will be on the screen to end the story ( well, not end but be the interim before the discussion after the play and the party to follow that). It is HIS story and as one can see from the play, his intention was never to win the election ( where have we heard that before) but to make people aware of what was happening in our world in hopes of finding a way to stop the AIDS epidemic.
“Ms.Blakk for President” will continue thru July 14th with performances as follows:
| Wed, Jun 5: | 7:30pm |
| Thu, Jun 6: | 7:30pm |
| Fri, Jun 7: | 7:30pm |
| Sat, Jun 8: | 3:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Sun, Jun 9: | 3:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Tue, Jun 11: | 7:30pm |
| Wed, Jun 12: | 7:30pm |
| Thu, Jun 13: | 7:30pm |
| Fri, Jun 14: | 7:30pm |
| Sat, Jun 15: | 3:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Sun, Jun 16: | 3:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Tue, Jun 18: | 7:30pm |
| Wed, Jun 19: | 2:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Thu, Jun 20: | 7:30pm |
| Fri, Jun 21: | 7:30pm |
| Sat, Jun 22: | 3:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Sun, Jun 23: | 3:00pm |
| Tue, Jun 25: | 7:30pm |
| Wed, Jun 26: | 2:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Thu, Jun 27: | 7:30pm |
| Fri, Jun 28: | 7:30pm |
| Sat, Jun 29: | 3:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Sun, Jun 30: | 3:00pm |
| Tue, Jul 2: | 7:30pm |
| Wed, Jul 3: | 2:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Fri, Jul 5: | 7:30pm |
| Sat, Jul 6: | 3:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Sun, Jul 7: | 3:00pm |
| Tue, Jul 9: | 7:30pm |
| Wed, Jul 10: | 7:30pm |
| Thu, Jul 11: | 7:30pm |
| Fri, Jul 12: | 7:30pm |
| Sat, Jul 13: | 3:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Sun, Jul 14: | 3:00pm |
Price: $20-$94
Show Type: Comedy/Drama
Box Office: 312-335-1650
Steppenwolf Theatre is located at 1650 N. Halsted Street
To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Ms. Blakk For President”.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Friday, June 14th at the 1700 theatre at 10 p.m. conversation with the playwrights ($20)
Saturday , June 15th 10 p.m. at the 1700 Theatre talk show- Late Night with Joan Jett Blakk $20
Sunday, July 7th after the 3 p.m. performance- true stories by people who were there. FREE
During the run, the Front Bar will host DJ’s every Fridays curated by SLO’MO Slow Jams For Queer Fam.slomoparty.com
ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES:
American sign language Sunday, June 9th 7:30 p.m.
Open Captioning Thursday , June 13th at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, June 29th at 3 p.m.
Audio Description and Touch Tour Sunday, June 23rd at 3 p.m. ( touch tour at 1:30 p.m.)
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