Playwright Daniel Pearle drew from his own personal experiences when he wrote his award-winning 2013 off-Broadway comedy A Kid Like Jake, which makes its Chicago debut this week in an About Face Theatre production.
A Kid Like Jake focuses on the titular four-year-old boy who has an obsession with Cinderella and dressing up as princesses. When Jake is in the running for a top Manhattan kindergarten, his parents and his preschool director weigh the pros and cons of Jake's gender expressions and whether or not it will help with his school admission.
"I went through a similar Cinderella phase," said Pearle during a recent telephone. "But it wasn't as extreme as what's talked about in the play, though there are certainly elements of my own childhood that I was able to draw on in terms of things I remember and things I've been told. Family mythology is fascinating in terms of what is passed down."
Pearle also drew from his current day job of tutoring high school students in writing placement essays for elite colleges. Though his play is focused on the parents of a four year old, Pearle felt he could also apply the many helicopter parents he encounters who worry and obsess about their children getting into the best-possible schools.
"In a liberal city like New York, a kid like Jake could be seen as a bonus and the school could capitalize on the fact that they're so open and accepting," said Pearle, noting that Jake is always an offstage presence in his play. "That makes the mother of the character slightly uncomfortable in naming that as a thing and as a way of defining her son. It turns the issue into something concrete and more weighted than the way she was treating it before."
In writing A Kid Like Jake, Pearle also made certain to read as many medical and sociological journals and studies on childhood gender expression. He was amazed to see how the opinions and views had changed in just the past decade.
"There's so much more literature published on what that could mean. There's a whole chorus of expert opinions and developmental psychologists who are talking about what I got up to at that age," Pearle said. "On one hand it's wonderful and obviously shows how society has become more open and inclusive, but as a parent, there's certain difficult conversations that are happening earlier with kids who are so much younger."
About Face Theatre's Chicago premiere of Daniel Pearle's A Kid Like Jake plays from Friday, Feb. 6, through Sunday, March 15, at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. Preview performances run through Feb. 8 and are $20 and $10 for students and seniors. Regular-run tickets are $35 and $20 for students and seniors; call 773-40407336 or visit www.aboutfacetheatre.org .
We are what we are
The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire is kicking off its 40th anniversary with La Cage aux Folles, the six-time Tony Award-winning 1983 musical about a French showbiz gay couple who try to play straight when their son gets engaged to the daughter of a right-wing politician.
If that plot sounds familiar, it's because it was inspired by the hit 1973 French play La Cage aux Folles and its 1978 film version ( they also inspired the 1996 Americanized film The Birdcage ).
"This is a very timely piece and it's a great time to do it again," said director Joe Leonardo, who is staging La Cage aux Folles a second time for the Marriott following his first time in 1994. "We may have come a long way, but there's still a way to go especially with questions of the Supreme Court and marriage equality across the country."
In the crucial gay couple roles of nightclub owner Georges and his drag leading lady Albin/Zaza, the Marriott has, respectively, cast Jeff Award winners David Hess ( Shenandoah ) and Gene Weygandt ( Me and My Girl, Wicked ). Weygandt hasn't done this major level of drag before, but he's relishing the chance to wear such glamorous gowns designed by Nancy Missimi and to learn stage makeup techniques. But more importantly, Weygandt is loving the great material written by composer Jerry Herman ( Mame, Hello, Dolly! ) and playwright Harvey Fierstein ( Torch Song Trilogy, Kinky Boots ).
"Jerry Herman has written some of the absolute best songs in the musical theater canon. It's just such a terrific score that is so well done from stem to stern. It's hard to resist," said Weygandt about such numbers as "The Best of Times," "A Little More Mascara," "I am What I am" and the show's title song. "That takes me a good part of the way when you've got such terrific material and it's so rewarding to sing."
La Cage aux Folles continues through Sunday, March 22, at the Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. 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. Tickets are $50-$55; call 847-634-0200 or visit www.marriotttheatre.com .
