“Never Better”

In the story, Davy is not up to her self and finds herself tired and often gets a bloody nose. Her room mate, April ( deftly handled by Melody Murray) an on-line “influencer” tells her that she must get medical help. When Davy is told that more tests are needed, she begins to be fearful that her life is about to go upside down. As we learn, her mother succumbed to Cancer and her father ended up marrying her mom’s best friend, who had nursed her through that illness . Davy is fearful that her life may be headed in the same direction.

Davy ignores the doctor and the nurse so that she will not know what might come. Her boyfriend, Carter ( Shawn Smith) tries to help her but as we learn, Davy is ignoring everyone in order to avoid a fate that she recently watched her mom exist through. During this two-hours and 20 minutes ( including a 15 minute intermission) we learn a great deal about the value of survival. Davey is a normal human being with fears of lonliness, grief, death and lack of love. This is a musical with a unique feeling. Unlike a typical musical, there is no place to applaud at the end of a song. The story is far to strong and very realistic as we learn about subject matter that is not a typical night at the theater.

That being said, I feel that this is a piece that should be seen by all ages ( there is some language) and anyone who has recently dealt with health issues that are unresolved. This piece has been worked in several readings and workshops and now under the direction of Landree Fleming on the unique stage at Theo  Ubique, we get to see it played out in a manner that is as fine as “Next To Normal” or  “Fun Home” On each end of the cabaret floor there is a section that is where the action takes place and there are four corners encased in plexiglass where the musicians, who also play roles, are found. They are Liz Bollar, Jess Alexander, Travis Shanahan, Haven Sydney Denson and Ismael Garcia. The other musicians are T.J. Anderson (piano) and Maddi Vogel (drums) and they are all conducted by Ellie Kahn, who plays the piano as well as Mom in a flashback scene near the end of the second act.

On the tech side, J. Alan did the limited choreography, Eleanor Kahn did the set design with lighting by David Goodman-Edberg and sound by Matthew R. Chase. Isa Noe’s props were spot on and the costumes (Uriel Gomez) were quite fitting ( I have always wanted to say this). For those of you new to Cabaret Theater, you sit on the stage with the performers very close to you. In fact, two of the tables have extra chairs that are used in the 2nd act, so you might see theater “up close and personal”, making you feel that you are the “fly on the wall”. I do suggest you bring a small package of tissues as you will find a few scenes where they will come in handy.

While they no longer offer dinner packages, they still have a full bar and now offer some snacks. Take your seat, enjoy a drink and soak in theater that will make you think!

“Never Better” will continue thru October 13th with performances as follows:

Theo Ubique is located at  721 West Howard Street in Evanston. There is metered parking, but check to make sure which side of the street you are on for the proper meters. South sid eof Howard-Chicago! North Side, Evanston.