And I am referring to the entire cast of Chicago Shakespeare Theatre's production of the Bard's The Tempest.
Seldom have I seen a more brilliant production of any play, much less one of Shakespeare's.
Among those responsible for this masterpiece are Teller (no first name) of Penn and Teller, and Aaron Posner, who created this extravagant production, Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennen, who wrote the imaginative songs and music, Pilobolus, who was responsible for the movement, especially that of Caliban, Dan Conway for the scenic design, Matt Kent, for the choreography, Thom Weaver for the lighting, Paloma Young for the costumes; and on and on and on.
Every detail of this production was amazing and perfect.
Larry YandoThe wonderful cast included Larry Yando as the superb Prospero, Luigi Sotille as the handsome, sexy Ferdinand, Nate Denby as the magical Ariel (he started doing magic tricks before the play started and just got better and better including levitating Miranda in the second act), Manelich Minniefee and Zach Eisenstat, who together, and I mean together, (entwined in every imaginable way) evoked the four legged, four armed, two headed Caliban, stopping the show several times, and the rest of the splendid cast.
Luigi Sotille My only complaint was the Miranda of Eva Louise Balestrieri, which was too monotoned for my taste.
Nate DenbyMagic was the key word throughout the production. In addition to levitating Miranda, Luigi Sotille was able to lean forward to the point of falling down, Nate Denby has a sleeve full of card tricks and every other magician's trick available and used them to great effect.
It is one of the best productions of anything (including Shakespeare) I have ever seen.
I hope that the Bard was laughing heartily in the Poet's Corner. I certainly was!!
