HEARKENING BACK TO HAPPY HARMONIES
Too sweet to be termed a blast from the past, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre’s latest reclamation brings back, with all their pep, pizzazz and patriotism, the greatest sister act of all time (Lennon who? Boswell what? McGuire huh?)—Patty, Maxene and LaVerne Andrews. Under director/choreographer David Heiman’s loving recreation, conceived in conjunction with Fred Anzevino, the terrific threesome are brought back to life performing at both a jitter-bugging, rug-cutting USO concert on a troop transport ship bound to a hot war and, in the second act, at a Chicago supper club sometime during the cold war. Those settings sum up a storied career that made the siblings from Minnesota synonymous with the wholesome values for which the soldier boys were fighting. They kept the home fires sizzling in Liberty Bond drives and Hollywood Canteen appearances, but they also performed for G.I. Joes and Janes everywhere. Unlike Betty Grable’s “pin-up” pictures, they remained incarnations and reminders of the regular girls left behind.
It didn’t hurt that the trilling trio’s three-part harmonies brought life to classics by the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, and Johnny Mercer that warmed up the slightest melodies and melted the hardest of hearts. Whether in khaki uniforms or shimmering evening wear, Casi Maggio, Sarah Larson and Jordan Yentz reinvent “Bei Mir Bist Du Schon,” “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “Kalamazoo,” “Beer Barrel Polka,” and “In the Mood” to make us present at the creation. Neatly varying the fare, William Lucas sings up his own storm and doubles as a Bob Hope emcee and comic, bursting with groaner jokes and cleverly dated patter.
Aaron Benham’s arrangements and Alex Newkirk’s musical direction perfectly complement a cleverly organized entertainment that features lesser known solo opportunities (“I Can Dream, Can’t I?,” “Shoo Shoo, Baby,” “Nice Work if You Can Get It”) as well as an “around the world” suite (“Ciribiribin,” “Rum and Coca Cola,” “Tico Tico,” “South American Way,” and “Yodelin’ Jive”), and a polka medley (“Pennsylvania Polka, “Too Fat Polka”). The songs sell themselves as much as the ladies’ crooning—“Don’t Fence Me In,” “Oh, Johnny! Oh, Johnny!,” “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree,” “Swing, Swing, Swing, “Pennsylvania 6-5000,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” and the World War II heartbreaker “I’ll be Seeing You.” On top of every note are Newkirk on piano, Anthony Scandora on percussion, and Derek Fitting (alternating with Jared Montgomery) on brass. Larson, Yentz, and Maggio go gold as you watch them. We’ve got this Hitler guy beat, no question! (Oops, time trip completed…)
photos by David Heimann
A Musical Tribute to the Andrews Sisters
Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre
No Exit Café, 6970 N. Glenwood Ave.
Thurs at 7:30; Fri and Sat at 8; Sun at 7
scheduled to end on July 27, 2014
EXTENDED through October 6, 2014
for tickets, call 800-595-4849
or visit www.theo-u.com
for info on this and other Chicago Theater,
visit http://www.TheatreinChicago.com
