Review: Haymarket – The Anarchist’s Songbook (Underscore Theatre)

Haymarket:
The Anarchist's Songbook

A home you don't want to go back to anymore

One of this year's Tony award nominees for Best Play - had its world premiere here in Chicago. One of last year's nominees, , did as well. Going a little farther back, we can find other nominees and winners for this very prestigious award that began in Chicago. There's and So yes, a lot of significant straight plays get their start here (including many others not mentioned). Musicals? - none really. So kudos and gratitude go to the courageous Underscore Theatre Company who has been around for some six years now - and has focused exclusively on developing new musicals. I've seen only two of them, and both showed promise. As a world premiere, it's not surprising that their newest musical Haymarket: The Anarchist's Songbook could benefit from further development, but it shows the maturing abilities of this young company and the seeds of a potentially strong piece.

As Chicagoans, and heck, just as students of American history, we should know about the Haymarket Riot that occurred at Halsted and Randolph in 1886. Workers had been striking to secure an eight-hour work day from industrialist employers and on May 4, 1886, a peaceful demonstration turned violent when a bomb was thrown toward the police, killing both police and workers. 31 labor activists were indicted, eight ordered to stand trial and seven convicted and sentenced to death for murder. This is a story not only of historical significance but one with a sweep and grandeur worthy of musical theater. There's the political struggle and violence of Les Mis, the rigged trial of a Scottsboro Boys, the class consciousness and racial struggles of Ragtime. How to tell this story through musical theater in a way that still seems fresh and not imitative of their earlier musicals is the question. Writers Alex Higgin-Houser and composer David Kornfeld have a good start.

The score - almost a song cycle, though there are some lengthy book scenes as well - has an authentic folk song sound to it that distinguishes it from those aforementioned musicals. The songs seem authentic to the characters as well, and the actors accompany themselves a musical instruments that include guitars, violins, piano and percussion. Yes, the actor-musician thing has been done before as well, but it's getting common enough to seem a convention and in any case here it fits. The cast - though most are assigned to specific major characters - take multiple roles in telling the story. We get the feeling of a travelling troupe of performers of the 1890s telling us the story, though director Elizabeth Margolius wisely is not obvious in establishing that concept.

It takes a while to get going. Act One begins with the events leading up to the riot, and the plot seems more historical than dramatic. Key historical figures are introduced - like the activists Albert and Lucy Parsons ( James Smart, LaKecia Harris), the German immigrant newspaper publisher August Spies (Mike Mazzocca), carpenter- anarchist Louis Lingg (Royen Kent), labor activists Adolph Fischer (David Kaplinsky) and George Engel (Tyler Merle Thompson). The Parsons and Spies are most central and most deeply developed, but I would like to have learned even more about them as people and built more of an emotional connection. The first act is more verbal than visual and more expositional than emotional.

The second act, dealing with the trial, imprisonment and execution of the defendants, is much livelier, and here Margolius comes up with more clever and physical staging. The trial is presented as a circus, and the men's loneliness and isolation in prison follows in stark contrast. Kornfeld and Higgin-Houser's songs in the second act impress more here as well. There's a comic number at the trial - "Keep on Talking, August Spies" - in which Spies does just that, the mournful "Prison Time is Slow" for the

men and the optimistic "The Order of the Gallows" as the women plot a campaign to save their men. Maybe it's just that the higher stakes of the second act lend themselves better to song, though the first act has the effectively anthemic "Rise Up." Kornfeld's melodies and harmonies have the simpler structures of folk music of the era but are lovely and accessible, while Higgin-House provides very solid and frequently funny lyrics.

All cast members, as directed by music directors Robert Ollis and Tyler Merle Thompson, deliver solid vocal performances. Standouts are Harris as Lucy (the closest thing the show has to a central character, which it can use) and Kaplinsky as the firebrand Fischer. Victoria Oliver, who plays a number of characters, particularly shines in the courtroom scene.

Another sign of the growing sophistication of this company is the terrific looking physical production. The set by Kurtis Boetcher is a rough-hewn framework of wood, with steps and crannies to suggest whatever it needs to be. Carolyn Cristofani's earth-toned costumes capture the period and Erik Barry's lighting helps Boetcher's set effectively suggest the piece's different locales and moods. There's a step up in performance venue as well, for Underscore, with the production's staging in the new and very comfortable Edge Theatre.

With some more emotional connection to its characters - a little more humanity in addition to its history - this could be a very moving piece. In its next production - and it's certain to have one - we could see a very significant show emerge.

Haymarket: The Anarchist's Songbook continues through June 12th at Edge Theatre, 5451 N. Broadway (map), with performances Fridays at 7:30pm, Saturdays 3pm & 7:30pm, Sundays 5pm, Mondays 7:30pm. Tickets are $20-$25, and are available by phone (312-646-0975) or online at Dime.io (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com ). More info at UnderscoreTheatre.org. (Running time: 2 hours, includes an intermission)

LaKecia Harris (Lucy Parsons), Summer Hofford (Nina Van Zandt Spies, ensemble), David Kaplinsky (Adolph Fischer), (Louis Lingg), Mike Mazzocca (August Spies), Victoria Olivier (Johanna Fischer, ensemble), Khaki Pixley (Mrs. Engel, ensemble), Tyler Merle Thompson (George Engel), James Smart (Albert Parsons).

behind the scenes

Elizabeth Margolius (director), Robert Ollis , Tyler Thompson (co-music directors), Kurtis Boetcher (scenic design), Carolyn Cristofani (costume design), (lighting design) Aaron Stephenson (sound design) Mealah Heidenreich (props design), Josh Prisching (technical director), Damian Wille (production manager), Taryn Wood (casting director), JC Widman (stage manager), Evan Hanover (photos)

Tags: 16-0529, Aaron Stephenson, Alex Higgin-Houser, Carolyn Cristofani, Chicago musical theater, Chicago Theater, Damian Wille, David Kaplinsky, David Kornfeld, Edge Theatre, Elizabeth Margolius, Erik Barry, Evan Hanover, James Smart, JC Widman, John Olson, Josh Prisching, Khaki Pixley, Kurtis Boetcher, Lakecia Harris, Mealah Heidenreich, Mike Mazzocca, post, Robert Ollis, Royen Kent, Summer Hofford, Taryn Wood, Tyler Merle Thompson, Tyler Thompson, Underscore Theatre, Victoria Olivier

Category: Edge Theatre, John Olson, Musical, New Work, Underscore Theatre, World Premier