Jonny's theatrical friends at the Mayslake Forest Preserve in Oak Park, who have operated the summertime First Folio Shakespeare Festival for 13 years, are making a change to reflect the growth and development of their institution. From now on, the company will be called the First Folio Theatre, a name change that confirms the troupe's expansion to year-round operation and a repertory beyond Shakespeare alone. Two years ago, the company began to take advantage of the magnificent Peabody Mansion on the Mayslake grounds, staging works by Wodehouse and Poe within the lavish rooms of the 1920s house, which slowly is being restored. Now, for 2008-2009, First Folio has announced its first-ever four-show season, including works by Coward, O'Neill and Shakespeare ( outdoors as usual, next summer ) and a spooky Dracula adaptation. Jonny offers his congratulations to First Folio co-founders Alison Vesely and David Rice.
Dracula won't be the only fellow in a cape flapping about as the new theater season begins: Lifeline Theatre will reopen its summertime hit, The Mark of Zorro, Sept. 27 for a two-month run at Theatre Building Chicago in the very heart of Boystown. This is the first time in its 25-year history that Lifeline has transferred and reopened a show. Jonny himself hasn't seen this show yet, but Windy City Times critic Mary Shen Barnidge gave it very high marks, describing leading man James Elly as 'the gallant with the angelic face and the lightning rapier.' Sometimes it's difficult to ascertain precisely what Ms. Barnidge is saying, but Jonny believes she means he's cute and knows how to whip it out.
The Aug. 3 lead article in the travel section of the prestigious Sunday New York Times was about—hold on—Saugatuck-Douglas! And the long story didn't have one word about the substantial gay presence in the twin Lake Michigan resort towns. Jonny can't imagine the Times writing about Fire Island or Provincetown and failing to mention the LGBT part of the mix. We know better, however. We know that LGBT men and women regularly head around the curve of the lake to enjoy the Eastern shores.
Indeed, those spending an end-of-summer weekend in Michigan might want to stop by the Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, Mich., which so often draws on top Chicago talent. On Aug. 8-9, one can catch monologist Donna Blue Lachman presenting her wonderful piece 'The Trouble With Peggy: Pieces of Guggenheim,' in which Lachman plays not only art guru Peggy Guggenheim but also many of the mostly male artists she befriended ( such as Jackson Pollack, Marcel Duchamp and Max Ernst ) . Then, on Aug. 23, the Acorn offers an evening of opera under the direction of ( and featuring ) bass-baritone Bob Swan. And just past Labor Day, the Acorn presents Chicago's own diva, Joan Curto, in a Sept. 6 program, 'Brassy, Sassy, and Classy: the Songs of Ethel Merman and Mary Martin.' Visit www.acorntheater.com .
The annual Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, now in its third year at Northwestern University, concludes Aug. 16 with a grand public cabaret concert at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall on the school's Evanston campus. The Johnny Mercer Celebration Concert will feature Tony Award winner Heather Headley ( a Northwestern grad ) , Broadway composer Andrew Lippa, singer Lari White and the famous Chicago cabaret duo of Beckie Menzie and Tom Michael. Tickets are $30. Celebrated American songwriter Johnny Mercer wrote 'That Old Black Magic' and 'Accentuate the Positive' among many other hits. See www.amtp.northwestern.edu/mercer.html for more info.
Readers know that Jonny never stoops to tooting Jonny's own horn ... at least not until now. Your Jonny has become quite the in-demand, celebrity guest speaker about town, and in the next two weeks you will have several opportunities to hear—and see!—Jonny in the flesh. On Thurs., Aug. 14, Jonny will deliver a lively 90-minute lecture, A Critic Looks at Hamlet, at Oakton Community College at 2:30 p.m. to conclude the college's three-week Hamlet Festival. Two days later, Aug. 16, at 4 p.m., Jonny will moderate a panel discussion at Theatre Building Chicago on the development of new musicals. Finally, at 7:30 p.m. on Mon., Aug. 18, Jonny will be emcee for Musical Mondays at Drury Lane, A Tribute to the Ladies of MGM. Leading ladies of Chicago cabaret will perform songs associated with Judy Garland, Debbie Reynolds, Ann Miller and more ... all introduced by Yours Truly, in a tux no less! Doors open at 7 p.m. and these Musical Mondays have been selling very well, so Jonny urges you to seek details at www.chicagocabaret.org .
Note: This, dear readers, is Jonny's last hurrah. At the end of August, Jonny will have the honor of beginning a new part-time career teaching theater at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In order to accommodate a teaching schedule, Jonny must relinquish several other obligations, among them authorship of this twice-monthly column. Jonny hopes, dear readers, that you have had as much fun reading this column as Jonny has had writing it, and that you've found it entertaining and informative. Jonny loves you all! Thank you!
