Ridiculous…in a really good way

by Northlight Theatre

from Lynn Baber, Artistic Administrator

OK, it’s ridiculous (in a really good way) around here.

The extension week of THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES is going ridiculously well.  The cast was on WGN last week, so the remaining tickets are being sold very quickly.  (There’s still time! You have 7 more chances to see it!)   We had a student matinee yesterday to a full and incredibly responsive house of young people  – theatre classes from Loyola Academy and Libertyville High School, and ALL of the students from Springman Middle School.   This production has been a big hit with our audience and we are a little sad to see it close.

Yesterday we also had our first rehearsal of the ridiculously funny and touching SOUVENIR.   The two actors came to the first reading having already done fabulous character work on their own.   You know you’re on the right track when the people in the room (like me, BJ and the interns) are gasping with laughter at the first read-through.

BJ Jones and Randy Myler, director and co-creator of Low Down Dirty Blues
BJ Jones and Randy Myler, director and co-creator of Low Down Dirty Blues

Before that, BJ and I just got back from a ridiculously fun and exciting trip to New York.  We flew in to see the first draft of LOW DOWN DIRTY BLUES in rehearsal and a concert performance.  Northlight favorite, Mississippi Charles Bevel, predictably brings down the house with a kind of blues singing that comes straight out of his soul.  The other musicians, all hotshots, were equally compelling and talented.  This show is going to blow the roof off.  (Other highlights of the trip included shopping for purses on Canal Street and finding the best gelato in New York.)

And the production of THE LADY WITH ALL THE ANSWERS that BJ directed at Cherry Lane Theatre in New York, starring Judith Ivey, is just as wonderful as it was when we produced it at Northlight.   Judy is ridiculously amazing in her spot-on portrayal of Chicago’s Ann Landers.  The reviews are fantastic, and we are so proud of BJ for having directed this off-Broadway hit.

Really, I could go on and on. But I have work to do.  There are understudies to cast, readings to produce, details to finalize, etc.  It’s just a ridiculously fabulous fall at Northlight.  You don’t want to miss a thing.  See you at the theatre – soon!