IVCC play features old-fashioned music, comedy
April 16, 2015 by admin
Filed under Choosing Lingerie
When choosing Illinois Valley Community College’s spring musical, director/choreographer Don Grant Zellmer thought “big, bold, retro and unique.”
“Sugar Babies: The Big Bad Burlesque Musical” (which debuts Thursday, April 23) seems to fit all those categories — and then some with its nonstop singing, dancing, tapping and zany, bawdy comedy skits.
With a cast of 16, made up of students, faculty, staff and community members, “Sugar Babies” is a re-creation of 1920s burlesque and features skits that made the rounds in every burlesque theater during the Jazz Age.
The Sugar Babies themselves are the chorus line that includes nine women who sing, dance and tap throughout the show. Then there are the comics — “Top Banana,” “Second Banana,” “Characters,” the “Prima Donna,” who is the female star of the show, two “Soubrettes,” who are the foils to the comics — as well as soloists and several featured players.
While Zellmer has directed and appeared in professional productions of “Sugar Babies,” it was an unlikely performing gig that gave him the real love for the show.
“Ten years ago, I toured with the legendary Mickey Rooney in his show with his wife, Jan,” Zellmer said. “I was the third member of the cast of three. Mickey originated the role of the Top Banana in ‘Sugar Babies,’ and we did some of the skits in his tour show, which was amazing.
“Mickey started in vaudeville as a kid, then moved into burlesque when he was older, so he truly was the window into the era — and knew exactly how the skits played best. I saw the master at work, I guess you’d say.
“Before I knew him and performed with him, I had seen ‘Sugar Babies’ right after it opened with Mickey and Ann Miller, about 1980, and got a huge kick out of it. I didn’t plan to be in the show this spring but during auditions, hearing the younger guys reading the dirty old man parts, I realized why the Top Banana really needed to be ‘mature.’ Otherwise it would come off as somewhat lewd and a little creepy.”
Zellmer then decided to split the part in two, sharing those duties with Alex Guerrero, of La Salle, as the Second Banana. Rounding out the principal players are Karen Lesman, La Salle, as the Prima Donna, and Hillari Behrens, Marseilles, and Emily Hanck, Peru, as the Soubrettes (signifying one or two featured women from the line who appear in the comedy sketches as well as solo). The two “Straight Men” (or Characters) are Jake Jakielski, Marseilles, and Chase Woolman of Earlville.
Special guest performers are IVCC theater and music instructor Norman Engstrom in a surprise cameo, and Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts Brian Holloway, an accomplished banjo player, starring in the “Mister Banjo Man” number with the entire company.
“That was an amazing stroke of luck,” said Zellmer. “We were at dinner with Brian and his wife, Cathy, when I mentioned the banjo number and how it would be great to find someone who could really rip it up. Little did I know, I was talking to the guy who could do it — and was willing.”
In addition to Behrens and Hanck, the Sugar Babies include Clarissa Gerrard, Dalzell, Reilly Jaeger, Marseilles (both are featured dancers in the show as well), Anna Klobnak, La Salle, Leighton Williams, Ottawa, Chelsea Berg, McNabb, Emery Stewart, Mendota, and Elizabeth Voitik, Princeton.
“It’s quite the visual show,” said producer David A. Kuester. “There are 72 costumes for the Sugar Babies alone — from lingerie and vintage burlesque costumes to the dazzling ‘Uncle Sam’ finale. We’ve pulled a ton of costumes from the Follies Theatre stock — including some spectacular Vegas showgirl costumes — and have had a lot of help from volunteers as well.”
Many of the costumes are on display on the IVCC Fine Arts Facebook page, which is available to join for anyone interested in the arts, both at IVCC and in the community.
The show has no steady plot, but rather creates the world of burlesque as it was in the 1920s. Top Bananas, Soubrettes and Prima Donna appear as different characters in each skit.
“One of the biggest challenges is making each character different in their physicality, accent, delivery — all the while giving the audience a wink saying ‘Hey — it’s still me!’ then getting into a whole different mindset for a solo as myself,” said Lesman, who has an array of wigs to transform into each character, along with costuming.
The show plays at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, April 23 to 25 with a 2 p.m. Sunday, April 26 matinee. Tickets are available at the door, or in advance at showtix4u.com.
Due to the adult humor in “Sugar Babies,” no children younger than 12 will be permitted. Tickets cost $20, and for student and senior (65 and older) tickets cost $15.
