The
show that is everywhere and a new experience every time -- in scores of cities
around the world, with a number of resident companies with open ended runs.
After 7,220 performances in Chicago at the old Blackstone Hotel between
September 1982 and November 1999, "Shear Madness" and its interactive murder
mystery and slapstick entertainment set in a hair salon has returned in a new
281 seat performance space on the lower level of the Chicago Theatre. From the
response on (re)opening night, the audience for this show eagerly shouted
questions and clues, vocally followed the action ("no, not through that
door!") and generally had a fabulous time. If you're looking for a solid
good time with Aunt Mabel or just a brief return to vaudeville and a fine set
of comedic actors, visit the Chicago Theatre Downstairs any evening. You won't
be disappointed.
Opening
night's performance was very Carol Burnett Show, those fabulous moments in
sketches when Carol and Harvey and Tim would break each other up over line
readings and a good bon mot one of them managed to deliver. Our core plot
remains what it always has been: a hair salon's several employees work on
established customers and some new visitors, and their landlady and piano
playing diva upstairs is killed, all have possible motivations, and depending
on the votes of the audience and the way the clues run on any particular
evening, the mystery is solved during the course of the performance.
The
shop employees Tony Whitcomb (John McGivern) and Barbara Demarco (played at
our performance by lovely Robin Long) keep the place hopping and provide plenty of shtick
involving hairdressing implements and shampoo. Customers include the
malapropism queen Mrs. Shubert ( glorious Glory Kissel) and Edward Lawrence (Mick
Weber). Two
additional visitors who appear to be customers but have a secret are another
malapropism master Nick Pulaski (Christopher Tarjan) and his partner Mike McFarland
(Benjamin Reigel).
All bounce off each other amiably, and create distinct characters, and
comfortably ad lib in the course of the production.
Part
farce, part theatre games, part audience participation, this is an event in a
theatre to which most human beings will happily respond. The relentless banter
delivers established and timely jokes, repartee and references. In my
performance, for example, Ford layoffs, bagged spinach, Governor Ryan's prison
sentence, "myspace.com", and something that "dropped faster than
Tom Cruise's career" made appearances. "Shear Madness" is
precisely what we have been led to expect after twenty plus years of global
performances.