Magic at the Drury Lane
CHICAGO—The magician is director David Bell. He has taken the Richard Rodgers and Laurence Hart 1938 musical, “The Boys From Syracuse,” to a new level of brilliance. Based on Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors,” this story has two sets of twins separated as babies and finally reunited. The musical numbers have always been favorites (“This Can’t Be Love,” “Bottoms Up,” and “Falling in Love with Love,”), but this time the choreography will stun you.
This show gives two and a half hours of dancing and gymnastics in a romp that will have your sides splitting but, nonetheless, leave you wanting more.
As in most productions, the two sets of twins look nothing alike to the audience, but to the townspeople, they are identical—causing lots of confusion. Strange as it may seem, the twins share the same names as well, which just adds to the mishaps and mistaken identities.
Dromio is the name of the twins who are servants. (Devin Desantis and Andrew Keltz are both great comic talents.) Their masters, the two Antipholus characters, are handled by Ryan Reilly and Rod Thomas, who both have great vocal range as well as a lot of physical dexterity (Mr. Thomas in particular.) Master and servant, both single, from out of town Syracuse, come into Ephesus and meet their married counterparts who reside there. Susan Moniz (a large voice for such a small person) is the wife of Antipholus, and the hysterical Melody Betts handles the role of Dromio’s wife. Tiffany Topol is a wonderful Luciana ( I found her captivating to watch on stage). Dorrey Lyles is astounding as The Courtesan, and George Keating is, as always, a solid as the Sergeant.
But this production is all about the dancing and movement. There are some Keystone Kops antics with a wild chase scene on the clever set by Sally Weiss. There is a beautiful ballet number performed by Jarret Ditch and Cara Salerno, and there are some extraordinary ensemble numbers featuring Joey Stone, Laura Scheinbaum, Michael Glazer, Jackson Evans, Gary Carlson, Mallory Green, Kent Haina, Katie Spellman, Emily Thompson, Anne Acker, Sean Michael Hunt, Kelli Morgan, Max Quinlan, and Bernie Yvon (who also plays the father of the twins and tells us a marvelous story of how they were originally divided).
The ensemble numbers “Bottoms Up,” “Ladies of The Evening,” and “Come With Me” alone are worth
Part of what makes this production so strong are the other theatrical components: the costumes (Tatjana Radisic), lighting (Jesse Klug), music direction (Keith Dworkin), and of course the music of Rodgers and Hart (book by George Abbott). Add to this the original book by William Shakespeare and let Mr. Bell stir it up and you have a delightful evening of entertainment.
The Boys of Syracuse
Drury Lane Theatre Oakbrook
Oakbrook Center
Tickets: 630-530-0111, 312-559-1212 or online at www.drurylaneoakbrook.com
Closes: Sept. 28
Alan Bresloff writes theater reviews for the Chicago area.
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