This “Just for Laughs” list, celebrating comedies that entertain and delight us, is a companion to our “Not Just for Laughs” page, which describes shows with delicious comedy accompanied by life lessons, social commentary, or an especially compelling walk in someone else’s shoes.
(in alphabetical order)
The Birds by Cerda and Pang, produced by Hell in a Handbag in 2013: It’s little wonder that Tippi Hedren (yes, the star of the 1963 Hitchcock film) came to see this production, endorsed it, and was part of Hell in a Handbag’s Night of a Couple of Stars event (along with Veronica Cartwright, also from the movie). The wildly popular Hell in a Handbag parody was strikingly clever—hilarious while being studiously faithful to the original. Chris Jones in his Chicago Tribune review called The Birds “surely one of the funniest camp parodies in off-Loop history.” The staging in the Berger Park mansion’s Coach House on Lake Michigan was inspired, including puppet birds flailing at the windows and doors of the intimate building in the climactic scenes. The Birds was delightful from beginning to end!
The Doyle & Debbie Show by Bruce Arntson, at the Royal George Theatre in 2011: This loving send-up of old-style country music joins Jerry Springer – The Opera as our two guilty pleasures that have won Jeff Awards for best musical. (For a study in contrasts, consider that the year that Doyle & Debbie won the Equity Jeff for mid-size musical, Follies by Stephen Sondheim at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre took home the award in the large category.) Doyle & Debbie combined uproariously funny songs—such as “Whine Whine Twang Twang” and “When You’re Screwing Other Women (Think of Me)”—and impeccable acting and singing. We enjoyed the show so much that we saw it twice in Chicago, and also caught a production at Milwaukee Rep in 2014 with Chicago actor Michael Accardo as Doyle. Interesting note: In Chicago, the supporting character of Buddy was played by Matthew Carlton, whose bio noted that he “is, to his knowledge, the only actor to appear in both America’s Most Wanted and Masterpiece Theatre.”
Fallen Angels by Noel Coward, produced by Indiana Repertory Theatre in 2012: We traveled to Indianapolis to see this show because of the stellar Chicago cast, directed by William Brown. Two real-life couples (Kelsey Brennan/Steve Haggard and Cristina Panfilio/Eric Parks) played the two couples in the play, but with the pairing switched. Martin Yurek played the dashing Frenchman, and Susan Felder played the phenomenally over-qualified maid. We’d seen all of these actors before, in everything from Hamlet to Season’s Greetings, so we knew they had range. But Noel Coward comedies are especially tricky, requiring actors with perfect timing who also know exactly how far to push the inanity. At Indy Rep, Director William Brown and the superb cast nailed it.
Interesting note: Just a few months after seeing Fallen Angels, we saw the world premiere of a relentlessly gripping and moving drama entitled Wasteland at TimeLine Theatre. Representing quite a change of pace from their work on Fallen Angels, Susan Felder was the playwright, William Brown the director, Eric Parks the assistant director, and Steve Haggard was one of the two actors in Wasteland.
5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche by Hobgood and Linder, produced by The New Colony (now The New Coordinates) in 2011 and 2013: We had enjoyed New Colony’s offbeat Tupperware: An American Musical Fable, so we headed to the DANK Haus German American Cultural Center on a hot July night to see their 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, directed by Sarah Gitenstein. While we were waiting for the show to start, the music of a polka band practicing on the loading dock wafted through the open windows. Things got even more surreal when the show started, and we enjoyed one of the quirkiest, funniest (and heartwarming) plays we’d ever seen. Incidentally, we happened to catch an understudy for Beth Stelling, who had gotten great reviews (although it was hard to single anyone out in this exquisite ensemble cast). Understudy Tara Sissom went on instead, and did such a great job we wondered how anyone else could have played the role better.
Greater Tuna by Jaston Williams and Joe Sears, produced by the Station Theatre in Urbana, Illinois, in 1993: It’s no accident that several of our most memorable comedies included Joe Foust in the cast. Before seeing him in many great performances in Chicago theatres, we saw him as a University of Illinois student acting and directing at the Station Theatre in Urbana. In Greater Tuna, he and classmate/cast-mate Nick Offerman (who went on to a notable career in the arts and woodworking) portrayed 20 or so wacky residents of the fictional Tuna, Texas. We’ve seen other productions of Greater Tuna, including a 2002 performance at the Kennedy Center by the play’s creators, but the 1993 production with Joe and Nick remains our favorite. In the program for that memorable event, director Rick Orr’s note said simply, “Hide and watch.” If you’re interested in reading the program’s bios for Joe and Nick, they’re included in our Artist Bios (from their early years) page.
The Hunchback Variations Opera, libretto by Mickle Maher and music by Mark Messing, produced by Theatre Oobleck in 2012: Start with two brilliant musical performers (George Andrew Wolff, playing Beethoven, and Larry Adams, playing Quasimodo), add accomplished musicians (Tim Lenihan on piano, Paul Ghica on cello) playing a first-rate score, and introduce a plot about trying to produce a mysterious sound effect mentioned in Chekhov’s stage directions for The Cherry Orchard. You wind up with a sublime theatre experience like none other. As described by Theatre Oobleck, “the story details the duo’s collaboration—one doomed by their mutual deafness, their unpleasant working conditions, and the fact that Beethoven has not yet finished reading The Cherry Orchard.”
Jerry Springer – The Opera by Thomas and Lee, produced by Bailiwick in 2007: If ever a show could be called a guilty pleasure, this is it. Directed by David Zak, 29 actors brought an expectedly odd assortment of characters to life, delivering material not for the easily offended. But Zak’s American-premiere production took everything to the next level, with singing (thanks to great voices and Gary Powell’s musical direction), and dancing (courtesy of Brenda Didier’s choreography) worthy of West Side Story. Throw in Jared Moore’s lighting, Mike Tutaj’s projections, and frenetic action and quick changes under the auspices of Deanna Cox’s stage management, and you get rollicking fun with first-class production values. As Lawrence Bommer said in his review for Chicago Free Press, “It’s impossible to over-praise the hard work that’s poured into every vibrant minute of this two-hour triumph.”
Interesting note: We’ve seen cast member Jeremy Rill in three Stephen Sondheim shows (Porchlight’s Assassins, Chicago Shakespeare’s Passion, and Circle Theatre’s A Little Night Music), along with Porchlight’s Candide, Circle’s She Loves Me, and many others. His work in these sophisticated shows was widely praised, but his Jeff Award-winning role turned out to be The Devil in Jerry Springer – The Opera!
The Mystery of Irma Vep by Charles Ludlam, produced by Court Theatre in 2009: Director Sean Graney chose the perfect cast for this two-hander, with Chris Sullivan and Erik Hellman bringing their considerable acting chops to the eight characters (and dozens of lightning-fast costume changes). Alison Siple’s costume design also contributed greatly to the fun—for example, using a vibrant black-and-white print in the sofa upholstery and subsequently in Chris Sullivan’s dress (see photo). In the show’s climax, Graney cleverly pulled away the back wall of the set to give the audience a backstage glimpse of the final costume quick-change, a marvel of theatre magic that elicited well-deserved kudos for the dressers as well as the actors.
The Strangerer by Mickle Maher, produced by Theatre Oobleck in 2007: In the summer of 2006, a White House spokesman reported that President George W. Bush had read The Stranger by Camus while vacationing at his Texas ranch, and that Bush “found it an interesting book and a quick read.” While many people tried to wrap their heads around President Bush reading this classic novel about absurdity in an existential world, Mickle Maher apparently recognized the potential for a wacky and brilliantly funny play. The resulting dramatization of a Camus-inspired 2004 presidential debate is still one of the funniest plays we’ve ever seen, with brilliant performances by Maher (as John Kerry), Guy Massey (as George W. Bush), and Colm O’Reilly (as host Jim Lehrer). Incidentally, this was also our first Theatre Oobleck show, which we now know is always a very special treat.
The Underpants by Steve Martin, produced by Noble Fool Theatricals in 2003: Before Noble Fool Theater moved their focus to St. Charles, they briefly performed in downtown Chicago, next door to the Oriental Theatre (subsequently renamed the Nederlander Theatre). That’s where we caught their production of The Underpants, Steve Martin’s clever retooling of a 1910 Carl Sternheim farce about the chaos that ensues after a modest housewife’s bloomers fall down in public. Director Karen Kessler and her cast, including Timothy Edward Kane, Kathy Logelin, Danny McCarthy, and Meighan Gerachis, understood that a successful farce requires that the absurdism be taken seriously. Consequently, they knew exactly how far to push the comedy. We happened to see another excellent production of The Underpants just a month later at Washington Stage Guild.
Unnecessary Farce by Paul Slade Smith, produced by First Folio Theatre in 2012: You’d have to look long and hard to find seven actors more skilled in farce than Jeannie Affelder, Dale Benson, Joe Foust, Raymond Fox, Molly Glynn, Erin Noel Brennan, and Kevin McKillip. You’d also be hard pressed to find a script with more laughs per minute than this story about inept crooks and equally inept cops. First Folio’s production, directed by Alison C. Vesely, combined the perfect cast and a hilarious play to create a delight from beginning to end. Farce is notoriously difficult to get right, but this director and cast made it look easy, and a lot of fun.
AN ADDITIONAL AFFECTIONATE NOD TO PARODIES
Good parodies are relatively rare, so we wanted to add a couple of other standouts to the ones included above:
- Christmas Dearest (parodying both A Christmas Carol and Mommie Dearest, with the inimitable David Cerda playing the apparently imitable Joan Crawford), produced by Hell in a Handbag in 2013
- The ultimate paean to parodies: Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf: A Parody (parodying all the titular plays plus Our Town), produced by Writers Theatre in 2016
