Two major Chicago-area suburban theaters are producing musicals with notable Broadway ties starting in the next two weeks. Tony winner Karen Ziemba stars as Dolly Levi in Drury Lane Theatre's revival of Hello, Dolly! in Oakbrook Terrace, while out Broadway director Gary Griffin helms the regional theater premiere of Mary Poppins at The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire.
Hello, Ziemba!
Karen Ziemba has loads of Broadway credits on her resume, notably her featured Tony win for playing the put-upon Wife in Susan Stroman's 2000 dance revue Contact.
Ziemba has also appeared as Peggy Sawyer opposite the late Jerry Orbach during the original Broadway run of 42nd Street, and she has been a favorite among the songwriters John Kander and Fred Ebb, appearing in New York productions of their musicals Curtains, Steel Pier, Chicago and the revue And the World Goes 'Round.
Yet Ziemba doesn't have that much experience performing the work of out composer/lyricist Jerry Herman—save for a Broadway concert of Mack and Mabel that was performed in the 1990s as a benefit for The American Foundation for AIDS Research. It's a charity close to Herman's heart, since he has publicly acknowledged that he is HIV-positive.
"When I met [Herman] for the concert, he was overjoyed and said, 'Why haven't we worked together before?'" said Ziemba during a telephone interview following a recent Hello, Dolly! rehearsal. Although Ziemba hasn't sought out Herman's advice for tackling the role that has been previously inhabited by a roster of famous leading ladies ranging from Carol Channing to Barbra Streisand, she hopes word will get back to him and that he'll approve of her in the role.
As a musical theater triple threat who often stands out for her amazing dancing skills, performing Dolly Levi is something of a change for Ziemba. Playing the lovably scheming widowed matchmaker from Yonkers, N.Y., Ziemba's dancing as Dolly is more about choreographing love couplings for other people rather than physical dexterity.
Still, it's an acting challenge Ziemba is happy to take. And though Herman is known for his infectious and hummable tunes, Ziemba said "they're a lot harder to perform than you think."
Ziemba hasn't performed in a fully staged musical at Drury Lane before, but this isn't exactly her debut in Oakbrook Terrace. Back in the 1990s, Ziemba appeared at a Jeff Awards ceremony at Drury Lane and even took home the prize for Best Actress in a Musical for playing Polly in the national tour of Crazy for You.
"I'll be presenting at the Jeff Awards ceremony this year, too," Ziemba said, happy that she will be able to spend time with Chicago-area relatives from her mother's side of the family while also playing one of musical theater's most iconic leading ladies.
Hello, Dolly! runs Thursday, Oct. 17-Sunday, Jan. 5, at Drury Lane Theatre, 10 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace. Previews run through Oct. 23, with an official opening night at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24. Regular performances are at 1:30 p.m. Wednesdays, 1:30 and 8 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 5 and 8:30 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 6 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $35-$49; call 630-530-0111 or visit www.drurylane.com .
Get personal with Poppins
Gary Griffin is riding high on a wave of rave reviews for directing composer Jason Robert Brown's world premiere musical Honeymoon in Vegas, now playing at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey. But Griffin's more pressing concerns are tied to helping Mary Poppins to soar in Lincolnshire.
"One of the great things about doing the show here is that everything is exposed," said Griffin when asked about the challenges of staging the special effects-heavy show for The Marriott's intimate in-the-round setting. "We're doing a massive projection design—something the Marriott hasn't done before in order to change the visual perspectives all night long, but mainly it's to bring out the vivid heart of the characters."
Griffin previously directed Mary Poppins for the nearly 11,000-seat MUNY in St. Louis, so he's already familiar with the 2005 Disney/Cameron Mackintosh stage adaptation of Walt Disney's classic 1964 film that features a script adaptation by Julian Fellowes and additional songs by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe on top of the original songs by Richard and Robert Sherman.
Griffin also feels the timing of the Marriott's production is fortuitous since it will coincide with the upcoming film Saving Mr. Banks, which has Tom Hanks starring as Walt Disney trying to convince author P.L. Travers ( played by Emma Thompson ) to give him the rights to her Poppins books.
"People are starting to think about the larger questions of Mary Poppins," Griffin said, adding that the magical nanny doesn't just help the naughty Banks family children, she arrives to help rescue the troubled father. "It's a very universal story about connecting parents with children and I think you're going to feel that more intensely at the Marriott."
Mary Poppins begins previews on Wed., Oct. 23, at The Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. Previews run through Sunday, Oct. 27, with an official 8 p.m. opening-night show on Wed., Oct. 30. Regular performances are at 1 and 8 p.m. Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 4:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 1 and 5 p.m. Sundays. A family-friendly holiday schedule will run from Thursday, Dec. 26, through Sunday, Jan. 5. Tickets are $40-$48 ( excluding tax and handling fees ); call 847-634-0200 or visit www.marriotttheatre.com .
Internationally queer
The Queer New York International Arts Festival is teaming with Defibrillator Gallery for a performance art festival and workshop called QUEER CHICAGO. The workshop is ongoing through Thursday, Oct. 17, but QUEER CHICAGO culminates with two performances featuring an international group of queer performances artists. One the bill is the Polish group Suka Off ( consisting of multimedia artists Piotr Wegrzynski and Sylvia Lajbig ) performing tranSferra, dance artist Bruno Isakovic of Croatia performing Denuded, Gabriela Mureb of Brazil offering an untitled performance dealing with physical pain and U.S. multimedia artist Keijaun R. Thomas with a piece about two groups sucking on popsicles.
QUEER CHICAGO is at 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Oct. 18-19, at Defibrillator Gallery, 1136 N. Milwaukee Ave. Admission is a $10 donation at the door. There is also a roundtable discussion on New Queer Aesthetics moderated by Frederic Moffet 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19. For more information, call 773-609-1137 or visit www.dfbrl8r.org .
Read theater reviews on page 24-25.
