Displaying items by tag: The Factory Theater

“Die Hard 4 Your Luv” by Kirk Pynchon and Mike Beyer at The Factory Theater is a great send-up of boy bands, those popular generators of light-pop ear worms that drew masses of devoted followers for the music, or the sexy styling. Groups like Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, One Direction and the like.

Tracing their roots to the Jackson 5, and now evolved into K-pop, these boy bands (and the parallel girl groups) were largely manufactured by recording studios or promoters, and come and go in every decade. They also launched individual star careers—Justin Timberlake, Nick Carter, Harry Styles—perhaps a testament to the quality of the talent recruited.

An amalgam of these bands forms the basis of the fictional Boyz Will B Boyz, the band at the center of “Die Hard 4 Your Luv,” also the name of a mock pop song that opens the show and gives a credible representation of what boy band music is like.
The band, replete with vacuous, venal personalities, is almost one character in the action, and like the real boy bands, there is a selection of looks and styling. all of them false: Jeffrey David Thomas plays J Swizzle, the “handsome one” and ostensibly the leader; Liam Ryan plays Chuckie Bones, the thuggish bad boy of the group; Matt Chester is Authentic, the sensitive loving one. 

And then there is Todd (Chase Wheaton-Werle) whose character rises apart from the rest, who consider him untalented and unrelatable, and relentlessly pick on him and relegate him to errand boy. We learn later Todd had been studying engineering and was forced into the band (by unlikely circumstances) when a predecessor quit in the middle of an album recording. Research had shown four boys out-pulls three.

The album was a hit, and now they were playing the big New Years Eve show in 1999—as the expected Y2K computer meltdown looms. This brought another unlikely scenario and the crux of the plot. The band is taken hostage by terrorists who hold them ransom, in exchange for the Y2K code fixes developed around the world. All except for Todd, who had been sent to get ice just before the terrorists struck. Unlikely as the story reads, all is in the effective service of a successful comedy and parody—not just of boy bands, but also thriller action films, as Todd teams with a security guard to save the day. Brittany Ellis plays to the hilt Yana Petrovian, the leader of the terrorists; Brandy Miller as Alyssa Tattinger, the band’s manager, is relentlessly scheming and manipulative; and Marissa Macella is marvelous as Meg, the security guard and real hero of the action.

It’s admittedly lighthearted, and there are many funny moments. Directed by Becca Holloway, with inventive staging by Spencer Gjerde+ (scenic design), there are a few rough edges, and one or two extended action battles (Jillian Leff is fight director) that may have been superfluous, but on the whole, a lot of fun and a good way to while away an evening.

“Die Hard 4 Your Luv” runs through July 13, 2024 at The Factory Theater, 1623 W. Howard St. in Chicago.

It’s 1997, and Beth Peterson, an aspiring 19-year-old musician, has journeyed from her home town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to Chicago. She is bearing a guitar, and a business card of a gentleman who heard her at an open mic near her home in Escanaba. He invited her to come make a demo record.

Now she has arrived at the address on the card – site of a small but very professional northside Chicago recording studio that does a mix of vanity recordings, and serious music.

When Beth arrives, the studio director Alex (Mary Jo Bolduc is in terrific form) at first puts Beth off, then hears her out at the behest of the sound engineer, Steve (Nick Freed is quite good in his role). It turns out the gentleman who invited her is Alex’s dad, or more precisely, her late dad. Though the originator of that invitation has passed on, Steve and Alex feel sorry for the wandering Beth (Allison Grischow is the picture of Escanaba innocence), and they invite her to sing a little, and try to imagine what the late owner might have seen in her. They decide to let her stay and record a sample.

We learn the late founder had declined to record another young woman from Michigan – Madonna – so he was probably trying to make up for his earlier error by inviting Beth. There are also some lively touches when Beth’s fantasies of success and cavorting with the stars come to life. We have a cameo by doppelgangers for Marilyn Manson and a caped Smashing Pumpkin. These are very nicely put together. The story line has some nice possibilities, but things get a bit too complicated, and take some unlikely turns.

The recording studio happens to have a dormitory, where prospective artists are housed while working on their music. Beth is invited to stay there, and ends up as a roommate with Monica, a poor little rich girl who is a candidate for a permanent slot of the recording artists at the studio’s parent firm.

Also on tap for the plot is Clive, a driven studio exec who is a competitor to Alex, played with remarkable panache by Tim Newell. And skulking around is Toby, a studio technician and eventual love interest for Beth, played as a smoldering Jim Morrison or Kurt Cobain type by Raj Bond. Oh yes, a blonde zoned out doofas drummer, Evan, played quite hysterically by Jake Szczepaniak, who also plays the flaming Beck.

For added seasoning, we switch to a bar, where we are regaled by the earthy wit of Mike (Blake Dalzin does a great job as a Chicago bar tender.) And oh yeh, it’s a coming of age story for Beth, who falls for a married man before finding the man of her dreams.

This is probably a little too much for one play, but it is the type of creative The Factory Theater likes to produce, and it gives the actors plenty of room to demonstrate their chops. The story also advances at a reasonable pace under the direction of Robyn Coffin - no small feat. But the script probably takes too man detours along the way. It’s fun, and a chance to see some great performances. The Next Big Thing runs through April 21 at The Factory Theater. 

The Factory Theater Company just opened their latest production, Dating and Dragons, in its adorable space in the heart of Rogers Park. The venue is very intimate but comfortable, nicely lit, colorful and in this summer heat - well air conditioned!

In Dating and Dragons, the lead character Jack and his friends are serious fantasy game players. They are best friends who sincerely enjoy their weekly game like a real family that does not welcome new members easily. With them, game night is not just tradition, it is religion. To mixed responses of his fellow gamers, Jack meets a cute girl at the video store he runs and although his friends try to advise him in the rules of dating, he soon finds that “rules” when it comes to love and sexual attraction just don't apply.

The play written by Mike Ooi is a light fun look at the lives of these young people and their fascination with becoming "actors" when they "act out" the different characters and their corresponding powers, like invisibility and flame throwing. A young Richard Dreyfuss-alike, Nick Freed is perfectly cast as Jack and is quite convincing as the love struck gamer who dances on the edge of reality and fiction.  

Personally, I never really understood the fascination and escape with games like Dungeons and Dragons which has SO many rules, until I saw this solidly written play.  

Paige, played by Savannah Rae, is the sole female member of this game-obsessed group of friends. Rae gets a lot of laughs throughout this funny production, shining brightly with her nerdy, physically comedic performance. 

Diane, the mysterious girl Jack falls for in real life, is played well by Rebecca Wolfe, sending off believable flirtation vibes. Diane soon experiences his gang of game hounds after only a few dates and attempts to join in a newbie (much to the dismay of an impatient staple in the group), slowing down the action while she learns the rules. In this case, meeting a gaming enthusiast group of friends too soon is akin to meeting a guy's parents too soon. It could go very well and cement a newly growing relationship or it could be the awkward end. 

This show is highly enjoyable and an easy watch. The story is cute, the characters interact well and the humorous dialogue rolls evenly, providing some much needed levity during such crazy times. Dating and Dragons is truthful, light and fun just in time for those seeking some pleasurable summer entertainment.  

The real lesson here, is that love is not a "game". D and D also reminds us to put fantasy aside when you find yourself depending too much on your friend’s advice and "dating rules". Don’t resist acting from your own real human gut, or you may have already lost the game due to lack of your own self confidence in the "real world". 

Dating and Dragons is being performed at The Factory Theater through August 13th. The theatre is located at 1623 W Howard Street. For more show info visit www.thefactorytheater.com.