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The Three Musketeers
Based On The Novel By
Alexandre Dumas
A New Musical Version
At
Chicago Shakespeare Theater
(Chicago Shakespeare Theater Website)
On Navy Pier
800 E. Grand Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60611
312.595.5606
December 16, 2006 – February 18, 2007
Barbara Gaines: Artistic Director
Criss Henderson: Executive Director
Starring:
Juan Chioran, Aaron Ramey, Steven Jeffrey Ross, Brian Sills, Jeffrey Baumgartner, Kevin Massey, Rebecca Finnegan, George Keating, Jeff Parker, Blythe Wilson, Greg Vinkler, Abby Mueller, Neil Friedman, Johanna McKenzie Miller, Terry Hamilton, Kevin Asselin,
Brianna Borger, Jessie Mueller
Music: George Stiles
Lyrics: Paul Leigh
Book: Peter Raby
Original Concept: William Hobbs
Director and Choreographer: David H. Bell
Lighting Design: Donald Holder
Costume Design: Mariann Verheyen
Sound Design: Cecil Averett
Associate Scenic Design: Tom Burch
Wigs and Make-up Design: Melissa Veal
Musical Supervisor: George Stiles
Music Director and Conductor: Dale Rieling
Orchestrations: David Shrubsole
Fight Coordinator: Kevin Asselin
Casting: Bob Mason
New York Casting: Carrie Gardner, Stephen Kopel
Stage Managers: Deborah Acker, Jennifer Matheson Collins
A CST New Classic Developed By: Rick Boynton
Public Relations Manager: Catherine Brandt
Musicians:
Dale Rieling, Mark Olen, Janice MacDonald, Jeremiah Fredrick, Phil Stanley, Steve Winkler, Elizabeth Anderson, Jeff Bell, Bill Harrison, Jeff Jacobs, Doug Brush, Tim Burke/Music Services International
Keyboard Programming: Stuart Andrews, Jim Mironchik
Music Preparation and Assistant to George Stiles: James Humphreys
Sponsored by Harris
Additional Support: Gayle and Glenn R. Tilles
Susan Weinrebe
January 9, 2007
Romance. Intrigue. Swashing. Buckling. Those are the essential ingredients of Alexandre Dumas’ tale of the brotherhood of guards, The Three Musketeers.
The plot, briefly: D’Artagnan, an impoverished young nobleman, journeys from his country home to make his fortune in Paris. In his bumpkinish way, he manages to insult the greatest of all the musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, one after the other, and finds himself up to his doublet in duels, one after another, for the following day.
Swordplay aplenty ensues, but not in the expected duels. The Three Musketeers plus one, join forces to thwart King Louis XIII’s cunning adversary, Cardinal Richelieu, the Comte De Rochefort and their diabolic creature, Milady de Winter.
Mariann Verheyen’s sumptuous costumes evoke the seventeenth century aesthetic with their slathering yardage of satin, brocade, leather and lace. Extended shoulders, half capes, layered garments, and gallant booting, not to mention gauntlets and swords, inherently dashing all, create a gorgeous tension with the long locks and laces the male actors also sport. Costume-wise, they have plenty to swagger about. The women’s dresses with their tightly corseted bodices frame les belles poitrines, heaving with passion, laughter, pathos, or sadistic cruelty, depending on the scene. Topping all are gorgeously engineered wigs, long, straight, curly or flingable, depending on the character. Along with their costumes, the actors had plenty of “stuff” to manage even before the swordplay.
Stage fighting can look comically fake, unless excellent choreography and athletic actors pull it off. This proved to be one of the strongest points of the production. With plenty of lunges, thrusts, and parries, the Musketeers and their foes, a relatively small group, gave the impression of greater numbers as they filled the stage with vigorous action. Men, take note: clothes, especially leather breeches, do make the man!
Additionally interesting were the many and varied changes of sets that, while minimal in detail, distinctly placed each scene. A black and white perspective of crowded buildings was Paris. Staggered pedestals were the park. A balcony and hidden staircases were listening posts; a grand staircase, the palace. Best of all were the jointed horse figures, looking vaguely armored and Medieval, upon which the Musketeers galloped apace.
This version of The Three Musketeers is a musical and uses nearly two dozen songs to advance and explicate the plot. The actors put credible effort into delivering up the tunes, but that is the problem: there is little melody with which to be tuneful. Some theatergoers seem to overlook lack of musicality or maybe expect modern musicals to be short on tunefulness, with bombast and clamor filling in for musical substance. It is too bad when instead of wishing that the artful melody and clever lyrics would continue, one hopes for the opposite.
The most interesting character in the production, Milady, was portrayed with appropriate perfidy, not withstanding her blonde-wigged loveliness, by Blythe Wilson. Though the facts of the novel were tailored to fit the stage, her back story and how she came to be branded with a fleur-de-lis upon her shoulder and earn the personal enmity of one of the Musketeers, ah, there’s a tale worth a prequel. If only she hadn’t… but I mustn’t give away the shocking conclusion to Dumas’ tale of the French Musketeer brotherhood who were, “All for one and one for all,” to the end.
Nationally famous, Navy Pier houses a myriad of attractions indoors and out. Whenever I attend Chicago Shakespeare Theater I enjoy eating on the Pier and near the theater before the performance. This time my husband and I chose Charlie’s Ale House, conveniently located for a casual dinner of sandwiches, followed by out-of-this-world hot and layered apple pie with a side of cinnamon ice cream. Our waitress, Regina, took good care of us, and the manager, Dave, stopped by for a friendly chat.
Planchet (Brian Sills, on cannon) alerts the people of Paris (Company) to France’s upcoming war with England.
Photo courtesy of Liz Lauren
The Three Musketeers—Aramis (Aaron Ramey, left), Athos (Juan Chioran, center, back) and Porthos (Steven Jeffrey Ross, right)—with their protégé D’Artagnan (Kevin Massey, center, front).
Photo courtesy of Liz Lauren
Milady (Blythe Wilson) attempts to romance Athos (Juan Chioran).
Photo courtesy of Liz Lauren
Young lovers Constance (Abby Mueller, left) and D’Artagnan (Kevin Massey, right) marvel at finding each other.
Photo courtesy of Liz Lauren
D’Artagnan (Kevin Massey, front, standing) and the Duke of Buckingham (Kevin Asselin, back, standing) defeat Comte de Rochefort (Jeff Parker, front, lying down), captain of Cardinal Richelieu’s guards.
Photo courtesy of Liz Lauren
CST Lobby Book Store
Photo courtesy of Susan Weinrebe
Ed Paschke's Shakespeare
Photo courtesy of Susan Weinrebe
Shakespeare And Pier's Ferris Wheel
Photo courtesy of Susan Weinrebe
Performance Film Loops
Photo courtesy of Susan Weinrebe
Dave and Barry at Charley's Ale House
Photo courtesy of Susan Weinrebe
Regina At Charley's Ale House
Photo courtesy of Susan Weinrebe
Dessert at Charley's Ale House
Photo courtesy of Susan Weinrebe
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