Dazzling 'Side Show' earns spot at center stage So what are you doing this weekend? Cancel it, and come look at the freaks instead. Bohemian Theatre Ensemble's dazzling little production of the cult 1997 Broadway musical "Side Show" is that good. No tickets to "Wicked"? Substitute this show, and you'll be able to afford dinner. Bill Russell and Henry Krieger's "Side Show" is a tad darker, sure, but it covers the same teen-friendly, female-bonding themes with just as much emotional oomph. It has a much more sophisticated score. And at the Theatre Building, there's not a lousy seat in the house. Tragically, no one seems to know any of this. Yet. Granted, you can't be expected to keep up with every little revival from every emerging, non-Equity Chicago theater company. But beginning right now, you have no excuse. Stephen M. Genovese's production inarguably is the best non-Equity musical staged here in years. I've seen "Side Show" several times, but this piece has never landed in my gut quite as it lands here. Here's why. Killer roles such as Daisy and Violet Hilton — the singing pair of conjoined twins whose heartbreaking travails forge the center of this show — invariably are played by grandes dames who've paid enough dues. That belies the truth of the characters. Daisy and Violet are supposed to be naive young women who've never had a man, not veteran balladeers enjoying their 10th Broadway opening. "Can a freak find love?" is the show's simple, central question. And, as this beautifully written piece shrewdly notes, we're all freaks. In our vulnerable moments, at least. As long as the director understands that key to the show, "Side Show" ponders a question both exotic and personally compelling. Genovese — the same man responsible for BoHo's widely acclaimed production of "The Wild Party" (which I did not see) — gets that truth. It's all over his staging. His production is exquisitely sung. Remarkably so in a setting where actors cannot see the conductor. Every note here was checked for craft. Review a small Chicago musical, and you usually find yourself typing gentle caveats about budgets or technical capabilities, so as to soften expectations. That's unnecessary here. Expect all the heck you like. Brenda Didier and Andrew Waters' choreography needs no apology. You'll get a darn big set (shrewdly designed by John Zuiker). And the gorgeous costumes from Theresa Ham rival — or exceed — those at any of those theaters downtown in their detail and thematic precision. The show is beautifully cast. Mostly with young, unknown actors. Leads Vanessa Panerosa and Andrea Prestinario don't have huge Broadway voices, but they sing this much-underexposed score beautifully. More importantly, they're entirely credible as vulnerable, desired objects constantly forced to snag their happiness in little snatches, even as the trajectory of their lives swings inexorably toward misery. The "Tunnel of Love" number has never been performed with more sensuality or despair. And this show's two main power-ballads, "Who Will Love Me As I Am?" and (later, resigned) "I Will Never Leave You," drip with emotion, pain and hope. The men who love and abuse the Hilton twins — in roughly equal measure — are rendered with class by Eric Lindahl and Brandon Dahlquist. These two fine-voiced actors never overplay. And they understand that their characters are every bit as lonely as the twins they cannot bring themselves to love. cjones5@tribune.com |