what: trafford tanzi: a play told in violence and music by claire luckham
where: fizz bar in lincoln park
accompaniment: dustin!
drinkability: great! its in a bar so you have your choice of the full taps and big bar downstairs to get your drink or the bar upstairs.
show length: 90 minutes, 10 minute intermission
out of four: two and a half/four
TRAFFORD TANZI was a show i was incredibly excited to see. the tagline: "a play told in violence and music" was enough to sign me up on a friday night in fizz bar. my friend lauren introduced me to the show as she is sitting in as their SM. their bold yellow and red promotional materials immediately drew me in. then, they opened and fizz bar did a very disappointing thing and managed to double book the space without preparing prologue theatre or the band scheduled to go on after the show's conclusion. reviewer mary shen barnidge wrote about her experience and dueling critics covered it on their facebook page (which was re-shared over 50 times). the audience and members of the production were asked to leave at intermission and prologue was then forced to guarantee seats (in an already limited house) to their patrons for other performances. bad start for fizz, but word spread about the wrestling show in a bar that got shut down halfway through, and boy do i hope prologue and TANZI see some good come out of utter unprofessionalism.
but i digress. the house for TANZI is set up quite a bit away from the stage where the band k fab & the nelsons play as you enter the large upstairs space at fizz bar. the focus is on the floor: a large cushy wrestling mat where 100% of the play action will take place. the surly ringleader played by orner abbas salem casually waltzes around the space during the pre-show, drinking a martini and applauding lazily as the band completes song after song. soon enough we begin and we're introduced not only to our leading lady tanzi (played by lakecia harris) but also the rest of the players in her tale: her mother, father, childhood rival and eventual husband and lover. then with the chime of the boxing ring bells, we begin.
TRAFFORD TANZI is told in rounds as she battles her way from childhood to adulthood. the play lives up to its tagline of being told in violence and music as each round is accompanied by a song. each player wears a broadway-esque mike taped to their faces which proves to be both helpful and hurtful to the shows success. being able to hear your actors sing and deliver lines tirelessly as they are thrown, fall, tumble, and roll around stage while a live band is playing is ever-so-helpful, but the constant scratching, muffle sounds, and general mishaps that occur when the fights make mics come out of ears, get stuck in wigs and at one point, become lost altogether cause a bigger distraction that left me wishing they simply projected to begin with.
the fights for TANZI were led by r&d choreography who include chloe baldwin, vic bayona, rick gilbert and alex sherrell. some of the stage combat was the most inventive i've seen on stage, and they did a nice job most of the time masking obvious misses/slaps/falls from the audiences view as we were merely feet away. while the choreography is to be both applauded and focused on, i saw a collection of actors who were about 3 weeks away from having a polished product.
lakecia harris was delightfully well cast as the title role of tanzi. i loved watching her advance from childhood into adulthood and she carried herself in her 'later years' with a strength and confidence that is to be admired. i also loved seeing dennis newport step in as her father, clad in a leopard leotard and tophat, finished off with a pair of wrestling shoes. having recognized him from his incredible dramatic work in right brain project's 2012 production of MARAT SADE, seeing his silly side was most definitely a treat.
overall, TANZI was a fun night out at the theatre. the songs, the violence, the singing, the costumes. i found myself confused at choices from playwright claire luckham, who wrote a show with a strong central female character who only got to stand up and be powerful and mighty at the end- after being beaten down and enveloped by sexism and harrassment for a majority of the 90 minute show. would it be so much of a crime to see a strong woman start and end strong?
TANZI runs through june 18th at fizz bar. go see it!
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upcoming june shows:
tuesday june 17th, 8pm: the annoyance's chums
saturday june 21st, 7pm: strawdog theatre's snark in the park
saturday june 28th, 7:30pm: the inconvenience's love tapes
bonus: saturday june 21st, 10:30pm: the chicago mammals' my dinner with divine
join me, will you?