“the distrikt of lake michigun”

** Everyone who knows me, knows that I go out of my way to work with smaller theater companies, and do all I can to help them fill their seats. Tonight, I went to Water Tower Place. Yes! The “shopping Center” located on Michigan Avenue, where Stage Left Theatre has moved into one of the many empty retail spaces and is presenting a new play, “the distrikt of lake michagun” written by Stephanie Murphy and directed by Seth Wilson. I wasn’t sure what I was going to witness tonight, but luckily, since Jane was just getting over being sick, I told her not to come. She would have had some problems ( she is not from Chicago).

Entering the shopping center, after all these years, was eerie. Many of the stores were gone and it appears the wonderful food court on the mezzanine is gone. I rode the escalator up to the 6th floor , and finding myself a wee bit early, opted to go up one more where Harry Caray’s is located along with Aunt Annie’s Pretzels and Garretts Popcorn along with a cotton candy shop. Being on Seattle Sutton, I took a pass on the sweets, but noticed what was there for future reference. I had a bottle of water, then went downstairs to settle in.

Entering the empty space, I surveyed what there was. I could tell that a retail store had been in the space and that Stage Left had only been able to do some minor alterations. They set the space up with two distinct stage areas. The first, when you come in, is called “Minnie’s Orpheum Theatre” and when the clock struck 7 p.m., the cast came in and took their places on this part of the stage. The “ringmaster” per se for this segment is Andrew J. Pond ( who takes on the role of George “Cap” Streeter” when the actual play/story begins).This is  about 47 minutes later! This segment has some cute portions as the cast members sing, dance, do some tricks and in general warm the audience up.

The play itself, is very long ( another 2 hours and five minutes plus a 15 minute intermission) and deals with the story of Streeterville  and how George and his wife, Ma( (deftly handled by Jennifer Mohr) ,and somewhat hindered by his ex-wife, Minnie ( played to perfection by Jessika Cutts) were involved with  creating an island in Lake Michigan  to be called Streeter Ville! The show is a mish mash of Greek Tragedy, farce, and history (fact and fiction). There are parts that are funny and others that will cause audience members to groan. The show does include some immersion with audience members, which can be fun if the audience is into it. Pond, who we have not seen a lot of lately, is back and in good form. His dry sense of humor and easy manor make the show almost one to recommend, and some of the talent in the show also work well. Connor O. Locklin’s Officer Carraway is funny and he plays it just right. The rest of the ensemble, Jules Schrader, Madeline Meyer, Jillian Leff, Beth Fine and Maya Paletta are very talented and highly energetic. Aaron Kaplan’s music certainly adds a great deal to this show, but to be honest, I think it was just a little long and perhaps a bit to slapstick.

The theater/storefront is on the 6th floor and while you can enter the building at  835 N.Michigan Avenue, the building is closed at 9 p.m., so you need to exit ( unless you park IN the building) on the Chestnut side which is where the Broadway Playhouse is.

“the distrikt of lake michigun” will continue thru April 27th with performances as follows:

Fridays  7:00 doors open/show 7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  7:00 doors open/show 7:30 p.m.

Sundays   2:30 doors open/3 p.m. show

THURSDAY April 17th  Doors open at 7 p.m./show at 7:30 p.m.

For information  visit www.stagelefttheatre.com

for tickets https://stagelefttheatre.seatyourself.biz

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “the distrikt of lake michigun”.