Ahhh, fall . . . the leaves turn various shades of brown, orange and red; the end of summer, the beginning of the school year; blockbuster movies have cleared out of the cineplexes to make room for more serious Oscar contenders; the return of TV shows “The Walking Dead” and “The Big Bang Theory;” and once again, live theater groups all over the country start their new seasons with the serious, the comedic and the melodic. These five (six, actually) autumn offerings are the tip of the iceberg, but definitely highlights of the next few months … so, in the order of the calendar:
The first entries are two from The Village Players: From Up Here by Liz Flahive (Sept. 7-22), and Time Stands Still (Nov. 2-17) by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Donald Margulies. Here is a quirky little family drama with great humor, but also some serious undertones (it will help to understand that the shootings at Virginia Tech happened only a year before the premiere of the play in 2008). As for the Brooklyn-based Time, a Broadway hit from 2010, you can always depend on Margulies to tap into America’s social conscience by way of the simplest of relationships and this play is no exception. Is it my imagination, or are his plays getting more and more accessible with every one he writes? Brilliant stuff.
Next, the Stranahan Theater brings Broadway smash hit and winner of ten 2009 Tony Awards, Billy Elliot (Oct. 2-7). The musical is based on the 2000 film about a boy who trades his boxing gloves for ballet shoes. With music by Sir Elton John; book and lyrics by Lee Hall (who also wrote the original screenplay for the film), Billy has become something of a global sensation since opening in London in 2005. But it seems that everything Sir Elton “Hercules” John touches turns to gold — from hit records starting in 1970 (“Your Song”) to Broadway musicals (“Lion King,” “Aida”) to film (“Gnomeo and Juliet”) and back to hit records (his current # 1 song in England, Say Good Morning to the Night) — you can’t keep this man down! Billy Elliot won’t let you down either.
David Mamet mines the current political climate for laughs and satire with his 2007 play November. What starts out as the yearly pardoning of Thanksgiving turkeys by a probable lame-duck president (and what exactly did those turkeys do to deserve the death penalty? Guess they were guilty of tasting delicious! Hmmmm!) ends up being a hilarious take on America and the lengths to which people will go to win. No matter how you feel about Mamet, he’s always intelligent, insightful and interesting. Presented by Toledo Repertoire Theatre as part of their Edgy Rep readings on Saturday, Oct. 13 at Pam’s Corner (116th and 10th Street) at 8 pm
The Producers is going to be a favorite of regional and community theatres for years to come. And with Oregon Community Theatre mounting their own production from Nov 2-10 at Fassett Auditorium in Oregon, the race is on as to whose production will outshine the others. OCT has built a strong reputation on the backs of their musicals, so this one will truly be a testing ground for them and others to come. Based on the brilliantly funny 1968 Mel Brooks satire of Broadway shows (hits and misses), The Producers is outrageous in every sense of the word, but mostly it’s FUN — one of those comic genius entertainments that Brooks is best known for. He’s an American treasure and this show is but one small reason why!
It’s truly difficult not to make my “pick of the fall” the Valentine Theatre’s production of The 39 Steps. Playing for only one performance on November 11th at 7 pm, Steps is a re-do of the classic melodrama by John Buchan, later turned into a thriller by master filmmaker, Alfred Hitchcock. The conceit of the Broadway production however is more along the lines of laughs instead of screams. Four actors play all the parts in the play, often playing multiple characters at the same time! A two-Tony Award winner and Olivier Award winner for “Best New Play” in 2007, The 39 Steps is everything a suspense piece is not, and yet it holds it’s own as both comedy and thriller. One of those “has to be seen to be believed” plays.
There it is, the best of the fall theatre season. An exciting start to the year featuring a crop of plays and musicals written over the last 10 years! And how refreshing is that? Kudos to all theatres for taking chances on shows with more recent track histories. Now it’s up to “Joe Ticketbuyer” to prove that the risk is worth the trouble. Go see some live theatre this fall!
