Review: Hansel und Gretel at The Building Stage

**** (4/5 stars-Recommended)

The Building Stage's newly retold production of Hansel und Gretel uses stylistic choices while highlighting the differences in the two known versions of the Hansel and Gretel story. Did Hansel and Gretel's step-mother send them out to look for berries for their dinner as in Engelbert Humperdinck's opera? Or did their father willfully follow his wife's plot to leave his children in the woods as was told in Grimm's fairy tale? Though these questions aren't completely answered in the 90 minute production, Blake Montgomery's stylized direction offers an eery reflection of one's memory and the blurry line between a child's imagination and reality.

Though I didn't partake in the pre show schnapps so playfully offered to me by Gretel, portrayed by the effervescent doll like Chelsea Keenan, I did enjoy a gingersnap from Hansel's "pocket" (or oversized lederhosen) which might explain my immediate connection with Hansel, portrayed by Pamela Maurer with such heart and truth that I could hardly take my eyes of of him (her). Maurer's Hansel somehow managed to capture the delightful and comedic boyishness of Hansel with ease while simultaneously honing the inner conflict of his situation with such honesty that at times I felt I could see directly into Hansel's eight year old soul. Was it something in the cookie? Or was it Maurer's witty comedic creation that at one point turns Hansel into a stand up comedian telling fat jokes? Or was it Hansel's ridiculous and outrageously funny costume and wig designed by Mieka van der Ploeg complete with pink tube socks and one stray section of hair? Regardless, something about Maurer's performance had me believing everything Hansel said.  So you can imagine my surprise when I found out 1/3 of the way into the performance that everything I'd seen until that point was all in Gretel's imagination (or was it?) either way...Hansel said it so I believed it.

Stylistically this heavily movement based production echoed strong Lecoq inspired physicality similar to that of the once celebrated Minneapolis based Theatre de la Jeune Lune. From the whimsical costumes to the clown like faces to the gestural movements, the audience was instantly transported to a heightened reality. Everything was so grand and big that in the rare moments when these theatrical devises were stripped away I found myself thinking I knew the absolute truth. But just as soon as I thought I had it figured out, the over the top curtsies and skipping snapped back in, blurring fact from imagination once again.

Overall I found myself enjoying nearly every moment of the over emphasized and somewhat sloppy German accents, the eery and foreboding piano created and performed by Matthew Muniz, the evil snaggle toothed Stepmother/Witch played skillfully by Jenny Lamb and the regretfully bewildered father played by Ian Knox. I know whose story I walked away believing...which story will you believe? The answer may lie in a gingersnap...or a shot of schnapps. Choose carefully.

Chelsea Keenan (as Gretel), Pamela Maurer (as Hansel) and Ian Knox (as Father)

Moving Forward...Full Speed Ahead

My biggest fear in becoming a parent was that I would no longer have the energy or drive to be an artist...or that the financial burden of caring for a child would send me spiraling away from my creative path and steer me toward a road with 8 hour work days and monthly paychecks. But in reality the only thing I had to fear was the fear itself.

"The most effective way to get unstuck is simply to move.  Move anywhere, anyhow and in any direction.  Moving will change your position, and attitude and point of view.  From this new perspective one begins to identify the obstacles to progress, and recognize the patterns that bring about the stuck-ness.  Next, try breaking the problems into small manageable segments.  Take manageable steps in segments that can be accomplished.  But first, move, just move." -Anne Bogart

If you want to do it...it can be done. Just move. Move forward. Break down the problem. Ask the people who inspire you to take you under their wing. Baby will be okay without you for a few hours a week. Secure a babysitter if you need to, work harder on your small online business to pay for babysitter. Watch art unfold before your eyes...be inspired. See a play, see another play. Write. Allow inspiration to fuel you. Surround yourself with people who think creatively just like you. Let your partner watch the baby for a while.  Ask for support. Write a grant. Write a couple grants.  Read a play. Read more plays. Read books. Fuel your soul. Risk. Write. Play. Dance. Move...move forward...full speed ahead. Fulfill your dreams...one step at a time (with or without a baby on your back). 

Teaching Intro to Theater...

American Theater posed the question yesterday: "Who do you credit (or blame) for getting you involved in theater?" I don't know why but I pondered this question and found myself completely stumped. It's not that I haven't had inspiring teachers and motivating cheerleaders in my career...it's just that it happened all so gradually. In fact I can't even recall how I ended up at my first audition...(which was for The Sound of Music, when I was 8) Somehow I just ended up there...and didn't get the part. But somehow, despite a stack of disappointments I continued on. I have tried to talk myself out of a theater career for as long as I can remember...and yet I can't stay away. Truly what has kept me coming back to theater is...well, seeing inspiring theater.  And so I think my answer to the question is: A Well Told Story. It isn't a who...no.

As an aspiring teacher I see "Intro to Theater" as an opportunity. When else do theater teachers get to address students who aren't necessarily "theater people" and give them a taste of how important our work can be? I don't care if your students graduate without knowing what a thrust stage is...who cares? What is more important is that they walk away with an appreciation for good story telling and the desire to see more theater. That should be the focus...to instill theater goers, if not theater makers.

I have had the blessing to get to sit in on an inspiring Intro to Theatre course at an up and coming theater department in the Chicago College scene. Text books have been tossed aside and the city and the student's imaginations have become the source material. The students get to be the storytellers and the creators... giving them appreciation and understanding for all the work that goes into a story well told.  They become playwrights, directors, designers, actors and audience members in every class. This is how we inspire life long theater goers...

I've only been to one class but I already know this is the kind of theater teacher I want to be. I know if I had a class like this in college...I could easily answer American Theater's question with: Professor Chad Eric Bergman.

Learning How to Be a Well Respected Director

It only takes a few bad audition experiences to note how I would do things differently if I were the man in charge.

And it only takes one non-audition experience to understand how to do things right.

I'm speaking specifically to an audition I "almost had" this weekend...and by almost I mean, regrettably almost. The reason it didn't happen wasn't because I called and cancelled at the last minute. But rather because my GPS drove me in the completely wrong direction and I found myself circling around a private golf course for 30 minutes looking for a building that didn't exist before giving up. When I got home I realized I must have entered the slightly wrong direction as I was only 4 miles away. Unfortunately due to a second audition I didn't have time to go back and explain the reason for my absence and see if they could squeeze me in, so I chose to write an apologetic email instead. I wasn't expecting a response. In fact I wasn't expecting anything at all...most theaters I've encountered in Chicago turn a cold shoulder to mere "auditionees" and if I hadn't recently booked a show without knowing anyone in the room previously I would begin to wonder if this was even possible.  But I did get a response.  A very kind one at that. And an invitation to come back the next day and audition before callbacks began. Unfortunately for me, I received this email 2 hours too late.  But the gesture remained.  This is the kind of director I'd want to be.  One who is appreciative of all who express interest in the production I'm doing.

I've been auditioning and acting professionally for over eight years and I can count on one hand the number of times a director has gone out of there way to call me not because I got the part, but because I didn't.  It's not expected. But it is a GRAND and courteous gesture. These are the kind of directors I, as an actor, ache to work with. Because I know that they respect me as an artist, not just another actor.  How many times have you gotten a response (and not from an agent) but directed to you from a director about an audition that you didn't land? I don't care if it's not the standard way of doing things...I think it SHOULD BE.  And in this grand age of technology how hard can it be to send out an email THANKING the people who came in to potentially support your work? I know I for one, as an actor, would be far more likely to go see that show if I got an actual response about my audition instead of playing the guessing game of "well I don't think they're interested."

So when I start my own theater, which is in the works, believe me. You can bet I will have the courtesy to show respect for all the hard working actors who came out to show me their work. I will at the very least send an email letting them know that they won't be cast in this production but that I hope they will come back and audition again. And as a thank you for auditioning I will offer them a free ticket to see the show on the date of their choosing and a discount for any friends they want to bring. Because what could be better than having the support of fellow artists in your seats during the run of your show? That's the theater I believe in.

The White Whale

I have doubts about my chosen profession daily.
Does it matter?
The average person might attend one theatrical event per year...if that. Can our art truly touch the masses? Not in the way movies and television and even the radio can.
Maybe we should give in...and get out. No seriously. Maybe...

But then I see something that strikes a chord with me. It reminds me why theater is so important.
Magic happens.
A huge white whale appears before your eyes in a small black box theater, swimming through space that   transformed into an endless ocean with the help of a dozen actors, pvc pipe and nothing more. Ethereal music sings inside your veins and twelve actors move as one.

 Ensemble based work is the heartbeat of good theater.  When a director is able to get twelve actors to create communion with one another, to think, move and breathe as one entity...it gives the audience permission to feel, to be changed and moved.

Of the 600+ shows I have logged as a professional audience member...Only a handfull of shows have created such magic and mystery, with the story so well told that the hairs have stood up on both my arms and legs and water pooled in the ducts of my eyes. The most recent occurrence did not happen on a Broadway stage or a big theater in the West End...it didn't even happen in a Regional or Chicago Store Front theater...but in the black box of the Theatre School at DePaul University.  If DePaul's MFA directing candidate Ian Frank can literally create "Moby Dick" and send shivers down my spine with an ensemble of BFA and MFA acting students...I can't wait to see what he can do once he graduates.