A dog's life is a high-energy affair in "Go, Dog. Go!" the latest production of the Chicago Children's Theatre, playing for the next six weekends in a circus tent in Grant Park.
April 14, 2007 (Press Release) --
Light on plot (and verbs), P.D. Eastman's Dr. Seuss-style early reader follows a number of brightly colored cartoon dogs, remarking on their activities as they work and play, culminating in a big party on top of a tree. The one story element involves a stylish lady poodle and a discriminating hound.
In all, the book contains 516 words. The play by Seattle playwrights Steven Dietz and Allison Gregory, on the other hand, runs 1½ hours, plus an intermission. Dietz and Gregory have gone out of their way to maintain the minimalist integrity and "loopy anarchy" of the book, so this show, intended for ages 3 and up, is going to require some powerful theater-arts mojo.
Fortunately, Chicago's theater scene is full of talented people who can entertain a crowd with a minimum of words, dressed up like a dog. The "Go, Dog. Go!" cast includes a kennel full of them, an eclectic group with backgrounds in clowning and other circus arts, spectacle, children's theater and other lively arts.
"We have brilliant physical-theater people," says Andrew White, the director, a founding member of Lookingglass Theatre Company, of Molly Brennan, Adrian Danzig, Dean Evans, Alison Halstead, Narciso Lobo and Johanna Miller. Two musician dogs -- Jonathan Mastro, who also composed the music, and John Pierson -- plus four "super (supernumerary, that is) dogs," round out the ensemble.
"I love this cast," White says.
It's a "strange relief" not to have to worry about hewing to a story line, he says.
"The lack of plot has really delightful elements to it. Anything can happen. The dogs go from one rollicking adventure to the next. It's fun to celebrate play and fun," White says.
"We keep changing up how we tell the story and how we relate to the audience," says Brennan, who plays Blue Dog. "It moves very fast and there are a lot of great spectacles."
Brennan's theater background includes "a patchwork" of university training in Shakespeare and other classical theater; 500 Clown, a local troupe that takes on the classics with a seltzer bottle; improv, and Barrel of Monkeys, an exuberant troupe that started out working with students in the Chicago Public Schools.
She has "fantastic physical abilities," says White.
Brennan has based Blue Dog on her own pup, Obakekuro, named for a character in another play, who is "very enthusiastic, very loving, very interested in saying 'Yes!' to whatever is happening," she says.
Source: http://www.msn.com
Posted by Delia OHara
In all, the book contains 516 words. The play by Seattle playwrights Steven Dietz and Allison Gregory, on the other hand, runs 1½ hours, plus an intermission. Dietz and Gregory have gone out of their way to maintain the minimalist integrity and "loopy anarchy" of the book, so this show, intended for ages 3 and up, is going to require some powerful theater-arts mojo.
Fortunately, Chicago's theater scene is full of talented people who can entertain a crowd with a minimum of words, dressed up like a dog. The "Go, Dog. Go!" cast includes a kennel full of them, an eclectic group with backgrounds in clowning and other circus arts, spectacle, children's theater and other lively arts.
"We have brilliant physical-theater people," says Andrew White, the director, a founding member of Lookingglass Theatre Company, of Molly Brennan, Adrian Danzig, Dean Evans, Alison Halstead, Narciso Lobo and Johanna Miller. Two musician dogs -- Jonathan Mastro, who also composed the music, and John Pierson -- plus four "super (supernumerary, that is) dogs," round out the ensemble.
"I love this cast," White says.
It's a "strange relief" not to have to worry about hewing to a story line, he says.
"The lack of plot has really delightful elements to it. Anything can happen. The dogs go from one rollicking adventure to the next. It's fun to celebrate play and fun," White says.
"We keep changing up how we tell the story and how we relate to the audience," says Brennan, who plays Blue Dog. "It moves very fast and there are a lot of great spectacles."
Brennan's theater background includes "a patchwork" of university training in Shakespeare and other classical theater; 500 Clown, a local troupe that takes on the classics with a seltzer bottle; improv, and Barrel of Monkeys, an exuberant troupe that started out working with students in the Chicago Public Schools.
She has "fantastic physical abilities," says White.
Brennan has based Blue Dog on her own pup, Obakekuro, named for a character in another play, who is "very enthusiastic, very loving, very interested in saying 'Yes!' to whatever is happening," she says.
Source: http://www.msn.com
Posted by Delia OHara
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