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‘Til The Fat Lady Sings
A comedy about surviving your family…
By Scott McPherson
Directed by Wayne Mell
Produced by Citadel Theatre
At Victory Gardens Greenhouse
2257 N. Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL
Call 773-871-3000, tickets $25, students/seniors $20
Thursdays thru Saturdays at 8 pm
Sundays at 3 pm
Special performances Saturday, June 21 at 4:30 pm
Wednesday, June 25 at 8 pm
Saturday, June 28 at 4;30 pm
Running time is 2 hours, 15 minutes with intermission
Through June 29, 2008
Kitchen sink comedy not too funny
Citadel Theatre has mounted an ambitious production of the late Chicago based actor/playwright Scott McPherson’s (1959-1992) first full length play, “’Til The Fat Lady Sings.” This play won a Jeff Citation for Best New Work and his Marvin’s Room was an acclaimed play and a major film. McPherson was an up-and-coming playwright until his death from AIDS in 1992. Kudos to Citadel Theatre for mounting this initial work from an emerging talent—Scott McPherson.
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“’Til The Fat Lady Sings” is a wacky kitchen sink family comedy that finds the O’Neil family on the day they buried one of their sons. The early scenes show, through dark humor, how well meaning words, gestures and actions by grieving friends and family members can make things worse. Through sharp wit, satiric comedy the O’Neil family traditions turn into a family crisis. From a religious fanatic and meddling neighbor bent on house cleaning the O’Neil house to a hyperventilating friend to a failed milkman to a lonely divorcee, Pat (Ellen Phelps) and her son Sean (Adam Rife) can’t effectively deal with their grieving.
This somewhat funny show has its moments but it moves from sharp dark humor to a sitcom-ish style work reminiscent of a Ray Cooney farce. While the cast worked hard to make us laugh, the humor essentially fell flat as few audience members laughed. As the play slips into wildly absurd plots twists, the laughs became almost nonexistent. I believe that this show covers ground much too familiar for us to laugh. Ellen Phelps and Adam Rife did excellent work with this troubled and convoluted play. I guess the effects of death on each character can only go so far to sustain a comedy.
Somewhat Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: June 12, 2008
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