THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Did I actually work with John Carradine in summer stock when I was 19, or did I only pull the curtain while he played Dracula?

Professor Douglas Graham is an award-winning historian and author noted for impeccable scholarship and brilliant lectures, with a waiting list for his classes. He also was an Eagle Scout, a collegiate track star and a Vietnam vet-turned-war protestor, but these things might be fabrications. They have nothing to do with his professional stature and cannot advance his career, so why make them up? Author Christina Gorman asks this very question after first exposing Graham through investigative reporter Peter Finnerty, a rising young journalist as driven as Graham to uncover historical truths and falsehoods, for he was Graham's star pupil.

This world premiere is written with high intelligence and stage crackle, but it never really explains "why," a question that applies to Finnerty as much as Graham. Finnerty doesn't seem so craven a careerist that he would destroy Graham to advance himself, but he does. Yet Graham's fibs have nothing to do with what, or how, he taught Finnerty. Alas, the scenes of them together chiefly are innocuous flashbacks that neither reveal their once-close relationship nor why it apparently fell apart. Finnerty's older, wiser editor guides him through his first big story, but it's never clear why it is a big story. ( The play positions it as national news. ) The result is that American Myth is smart and engaging but lacks a satisfactory conclusion. The closest thing to an explanation lurks in Graham's fixation on founding father John Adams ( our second president ), whose talents and personality made his leadership inevitable but unpopular. The play draws parallels that are fairly obvious, with Graham seemingly compelled to be popular as well as a leader in his field. To its credit, the play also virtually requires its audience to examine the ways in which we exaggerate or embellish our own lives and accomplishments.

Under veteran director Steve Scott, each actor makes a great deal more of his/her role than exists on the page, especially Terry Hamilton, who breathes life and nuance into the two-dimensional role of the college dean. Mick Weber is marvelous as Graham, with a pointed blend of insouciance and seriousness. He's matched by an appealing newcomer to Chicago, Jordan Brodess, as the humorless Finnerty. Brodess very much is up to Chicago standards. Steve Key as Finnerty's editor brings some charm to the small role, and Cheryl Graeff is all quiet strength as Graham's wife, Lanie. Scenic designer Grant Sabin takes inspiration from an arts-and-crafts bungalow for his handsome set, adorned with stained-glass windows. To my credit, I've never claimed I worked with John Carradine.