One of the many things that make Chicago such a absolutely fantastic city is the culture. (Yes, we do make good yogurt, too) Opera, theater, movie making, symphonies, and every kind of music you can imagine, even those gawdawful exports from the US' southern parts (that western stuff, country, and BillyHilly music) will fill your eyes and ears with delightful sensations.
Chicago is also home the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, a good thing since Billy the Bard was clearly a Chicago native, just as some southerners claim that Jesus was american and the bible doth been writ in the Laird's English.
Sense and Sensibility, a brand new musical production, opened up this month.
One word sums it up. G L O R I O U S !
Shannon Rietkirk and Megan McGinnis play the sisters who (if you never read the book)were concocted by Jane Austin in her novel of the same name. They are like oil and water, but still have sisterly love for one another, as their lives are ripped apart when daddums dies, leaving greedy sonny boy and his greedier wife in charge of the family fortune.
Affairs, awkward situations, humor, pain, and one or two revolting characters make this musical come alive.
The Score - perfect. I didn't think that modern composers had it in them to create things of beauty, at least compared to John Cage's atonal horrors tossed together like an e-coli laden salad, or John Adams and his cohort in felony auditory crime, Peter Sellars. Luckily, none of those miscreants were asked (Cage, being dead since 1992, probably would have smiled at 2.5 hours of silence) to do the libretto and score.
Instead, Paul Gordon did a masterful job, creating images and scenes with words and music, and doing great justice to the original novel.
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The Actors - perfectly cast, very comfortable with each other on stage, and talented, able, and convincing.
The Set - yet again, the Shake a spear at the audience designers managed to set mood after mood, sometimes with minimal items, but always enough to bring the audience into the scene.
The Theater - If you haven't been to Chi-town, which suggests that you never visited the Shakespeare Theatre, you are missing a modern version of the original theater where Billy the Bard plied his trade so many centuries ago across the Atlantic Pond. The seats and sightlines are far more comfortable than the original, and the use of all aisles by the cast makes it even closer and more involving for the audience.
The Music - beautiful, effective, many fine duets, great orchestra (live) and great score.
The Words - Pun-nishment is not limited to members of Daily Kos. The wordsmithing here fits the timeframe, the personal interactions that were common in Ye Olde England, and works wonderfully with the score.
Strongly recommended. Everything is balanced, well performed, and nicely done.