Unleash the Beats
Directed by Mark Yonally
at Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport (map)
thru June 29 | tickets: $22-$35 | more info
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Unleashing a tapping good time
Chicago Tap Theatre presents
Unleash the Beats
Review by Lawrence Bommer
It was just a one-night-stand, crowning Chicago Tap Theatre’s three-show season with a grand blowout at the Athenaeum Theatre’s vast mainstage. So what follows is necessarily both a review of record and a promissory note.
Backed up by Kurt Schweitz’ live band, the program consisted of soft rock selections from Nine Inch Nails, Milk and Honey, Bloodstone, and Justine Timberlake/Beyonce, and a concluding Daft Punk medley for 12 hoofers–all grist for a laid-back mill. The dozen or so pieces, shaped by Yonally and Rich Ashworth, offered funky opportunities for some very conversational choreography. Clearly the feet come first here (the arm movements are much less synchronized than the steps and beats). In “Thin Line,” Kirsten Uttich and Jennifer Pfaff Yonally engage in a ground-level high wire act whose rivalry suddenly goes south. In “Only Takes One,” the dancers cheer up their glummer partners as in the old bromide “Tap your troubles away.” It brims with the camaraderie of organized improvisation, making it look as easy as it seems uncalculated. Other segments used stretched bands to connect the dancing feet, imitated jellyfish with music by Jellyfishes, and delivered what they hideously call “improvography,” making it up as you go—the way most of us pretend to move.
All in all, though a little went a long way in this 100-minute show (where they kept smiling despite the endurance feat), Unleash the Beats did just that. I’m definitely looking forward to their future performances.
Rating: ★★★
Photos by Josh Hawkins
artists
cast
Rich Ashworth, Kirsten Uttich, Jennifer Pfaff Yonally, Mark, Yonally, Sioned Papparotto, Matt Pospeshil, Jessica Williams, Hannah Wilson
behind the scenes
Mark Yonally (director, artistic director), Kurt Schweitz (music director), Julian Pike (lighting design), Brian Scocchera (sound design), Emma Cullimore (costume design), Josh Hawkins (photos)
14-0647
