Most theatregoers have at least one genre that they simply can't get on board with. Some can't abide tragic plays - "I get enough drama in life" is their common refrain - and some don't like musicals, and there's an untitled genre that many people, sadly, seem to be petrified of: Shows I've Never Heard of Before.
The latest presentation at the Timber Lake Playhouse is entitled Tom, Dick, & Harry, which is a play that I'd never heard of before, but which also falls under the category of my least favorite genre: the slapstick farce. More often than not, shows of this ilk all seem the same to me: 20 minutes of protracted exposition and character introduction, an hour-plus of forced wackiness resulting from a series of misunderstandings, a few moments of maudlin sentimentality - to make us care about these people? - and a tidy wrap-up, with "naughty" double entendres and obvious, ba-dum-ching! punchlines sprinkled throughout. Many audiences love this stuff; I generally find the relentless bonhomie of it all depressing.
So it's no small praise to say that I really enjoyed Timber Lake's Tom, Dick, & Harry, even though my reasons for enjoying it don't have much to do with Tom, Dick, & Harry.
This past Saturday, I made my first-ever trek to Eldridge's North Scott High School, to make my first-ever acquaintance with the Countryside Community Theatre, via Lionel Bart's Oliver!, the musical based on Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist.
Anyone old enough to read this - anyone old enough to read - is probably too old to enjoy The Ugly Duckling at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse.
LITTLE MAN and YOU, ME, & DUPREE
No surprises there. But while researching the first group to perform this weekend - local favorites The Gray Wolf Band, whose set begins at 5 p.m. on Friday - I was floored to discover that drummer Tom Drabek not only served as Alpine Race chairperson for several U.S. Ski Association events, but is a former Special Forces Green Beret, to boot. And he's not the only Gray Wolf performer with an interesting history. According to the group's Web site (
For its production of David Auburn's Proof, however, the theatre's playing area has been transformed into a three-quarter-thrust stage (Proof's front-porch setting designed against the Barn's fourth wall), and at the Friday-night performance I attended, the "best seats in the house," directly facing the set, were already filled by the time I arrived; instead, I took a seat on the stage-left side of the theatre. But for future Proof audiences - and I hope that includes many, many of you - who may find themselves in a similar situation, I'm here to tell you not to sweat the view in the least.
As the title character in the Quad City Music Guild's presentation of George M!, Kevin Pieper works his tail off. His Broadway impresario George Cohan belts out number after number, he tap dances, he storms through scenes with natural authority; in this musical-comedy biography, the role of Cohan is practically a show unto himself, and the energy that Pieper gives the part is admirable.
Regardless of style or genre, entertaining theatre has a way of putting audiences in great moods - I've personally smiled through well-staged productions of such varied, inherently tragic shows as Death of a Salesman and A Streetcar Named Desire and Hedda Gabler. And despite their seriousness, Genesius Guild's Seven Against Thebes and Antigone were a terrific time; the shows may not have had the knockabout power you hope for from Greek drama, but they certainly were enjoyable.
Tea Leaf Green. Indeed. And bread-stick beige, but what's that got to do with anything? All kidding aside, San Francisco rockers Tea Leaf Green will play the Rock Island Brewing Company on Tuesday, July 18, giving the band a momentary reprieve from the summer-festival circuit. The group's relentless schedule has included recent appearances at the Bonnaroo, Wakarusa, and High Sierra music festivals, where their classic sound - conjuring the spirits of Bob Dylan, The Faces, and early Elton John - has wowed sold-out crowds nationwide; reviewing the band at last month's Kansas-based Wakarusa festival, State of Mind Music Magazine's Michael Davoli and John Flanigan called their sets "spectacular," and wrote, "Tea Leaf Green spent the last year building up expectations wherever they went ... then far exceeded them every step of the way." Described on their Web site as "a band of youthful gypsies with an abundance of both rock and soul," the group also received enthusiastic notices for their 2005 CD Taught to be Proud. Sounds like you'll love Tea Leaf Green. And when at RIBCO, make sure to catch their opening act: Bath Mat Pink. (Sorry. It's just so much fun.) For further information, visit (
