Displaying items by tag: Kelly Anne Clark

For those who love theater, “Being Seen” is a delicious window into the heart of the actors’ world. Written and directed by Richard Gustin, with excellent performances by Will Clinger as a sinister director, and Kelly Anne Clark as an auditioning actor, this show at the Den Theatre offers 90 minutes of tension and humor that at its best moments reminded me of Tom Stoppard, with notes of Pinter.

The action opens with the actor (Clark) on stage under the spotlight, readying for what seems to have been an impromptu audition. The happenstance brought her to try out for an unspecified role in an unknown play being developed by a highly acclaimed director (Clinger), who emanates as a disembodied British voice somewhere in the shadows. Gustin has placed him midway up with the audience, where we slowly locate the origin of his voice.

Adding to the tone of mystery are the series of enigmatic questions he poses to the actor, none of which help us identify which play, or even what type of play, he may have in mind. Rather, they seemed designed to establish his authority and preeminence, at least in the mind of the actor.
Periodically the director holds forth on one acting theory or another.

Bemoaning a dearth of great scripts, the director ostentatiously declared, “What I’d give for another Aristotle, another Sophocles, Sophocles, as well as a few minor female playwrights,.” And the actor—a supplicant seeking to be cast—readily agrees to his point of view on this and matters small and large, even abandoning her position if she inadvertently contradicts the director’s point of view.

So desperate for a role th auditioning actor will do anything the director asks. We learn that she has been an understudy in a number of significant roles, but the leads made all the performances in the runs. She also provides more information than the director requests, demonstrating her ability in dance, and volunteering a dramatic reading that she always has at the ready. The questions seem to grow increasingly off-base, too penetrating, overbearing, even abusive. She’s asked to sum up outlandish numerical totals in her head, for example. But seemingly no matter what she does, it doesn’t seem to please the director. At one point, he asks about her shoe size.

“Five and a half, but I can wear smaller,” she says.“We were looking for a seven,” the director replies dismissively. “Well I can do that,” she responds hopefully, claiming she actually did some of her best work wearing a size eight. But no matter what she does, she doesn’t seem to be able to curry the director’s favor.

The audition moves toward inquisition, heightening the edginess. Her obsequiousness against the pretentiousness and self-infatuation of the director’s views are the basis for much of the humor, which is continuous during the show. At one point, she is asked “How do you spell “theater,” and pausing after the second t—to big laughs and great comic effect—makes the 50-50 guess on which is the director’s preference.

Finally, after an hour, the actor cracks, declaring she is tired of being “on.” And for the last 30 minutes of the show, the plot thickens, and we are led to an unexpected ending. Will Clinger will be familiar to Chicago audiences as the host of the former Public Television show Wild Chicago and frequent parts in locally filmed television dramas. He proves himself a good stage actor. Clark is among the most regularly cast actors for Chicago’s musical theater scene,and starred in the U.S. premiere at Goodman Theater of “The Return of Martin Guerre.”

This show was well received in New York, with sold out performances and was voted a fan favorite at the New York Fringe Festival. The Den Theatre production benefits from having the author as director. But I often felt in “Being Seen” that we were continuously being lead-up to a really big laugh, but never quite getting there—titters, not quite guffaws. But for actors and theater geeks like me, this is an entertaining 90 minutes. “Being Seen” runs through July 2, 2023 at Den Theatre in Chicago. .

Another TV classic has found itself in a musical, this time being The Beverly Hillbillies. Credited as one of the most popular shows of all time, The Beverly Hillbillies aired from 1962 through 1971 and told the story of a backwoods family that found wealth in oil and then migrated to stuffy Beverly Hills where they were completely out of their element. Most of us are already familiar with the Clampett clan headed by the all too honest and often naïve Jed and his short-tempered nevertheless often sweet Granny, who would choose eating possum innards any day over y’alls favorite fine dining establishments. Jed’s daughter, tomboy yet bombshell Elly May is along for the ride with his ever so gullible nephew Jethro, who is as dumb as dumb gets – and we love him for it.

Theatre at the Center in Munster, Indiana (30 minutes from downtown Chicago) has taken on the world premiere of “The Beverly Hillbillies – The Musical” where our favorite family from the sticks will grace the stage through August 10^th. The book is shared by the team of Tony-nominated David Rogers, who passed away before its completion, and daughter Amanda, who took over from where her father left off. Composer Gregg Opelka was then called in to handle the music and lyrics. The final result is a lukewarm comedy with a wide assortment of songs, some hitting and some missing. One of the more memorable numbers comes as  Act One’s closing number - “Stamp It Like A Clampett”, a rootin’ tootin’ hoedown- throw-down that gets the audience clapping their hands and stomping their feet. Thereis just enough intrigue in the storyline to keep it interesting as the Clampetts are getting hustled for some of their millions by a couple of quirky grifters and there is just enough Beverly Hillbilly-esque humor to bring out a plausible amount of laughs.

As sure as Granny’s cooking is sure to cure what ails ya, Theatre at the Center puts forth a strong cast for this production. Local theatre trouper and Jeff-Award winner James Harms leads the way as “Jed” while Kelly Anne Clark can be downright adorable at times as “Granny”. The Clampetts are rounded out with fellow Jeff-Award winner Summer Smart romping around as the innocent, wide-eyed and button poppin’ “Elly May”, while John Stemberg gets his dumb on as likeable and simple “Jethro”. Thanks to this talented foursome, we have an assemblage of heartwarming country bumpkins who are still capable of occasionally tugging at our heartstrings despite not having the strongest of material to work with.

The show does have a strong visual presence as it is set inside a large mansion complete with more than ample square footage for the actors to freely frolic around. Its defining prop also makes a welcomed appearance much to the audience’s delight – the Clampett’s famous jalopy complete with Granny aboard her rocking chair in the bed of the truck as seen in the TV series’ opening credits.

The Beverly Hillbillies – The Musical, directed by David Perkovich, has just the adequate share of happy-as-a-raccoon-up-to-its-knees-in-vittles moments and downhome fun to keep it on the cusp of sufficiently entertaining, making it hard to imagine this becoming a musical comedy that will go down in theatre history.

For tickets and/or more information on The Beverly Hillbillies – The Musical, visit http://www.theatreatthecenter.com/ or call 219-836-3255.