There are several things that make American Blues Theater’s latest show, The Last Wide Open, special and a must-see for fans of Chicago theater delivered in the generous, heart-on-its-sleeve storefront style.
For one, it’s the inaugural production in the company’s intimate studio theater, with a set that evokes the city’s fading culture of old-school Polish restaurants. To heighten the effect, the audience sits at diner tables with laminated menus that QR code you right to the digital program.
For another, it’s the world premiere of what ABT is billing as “the Polish version” of this bittersweet musical love story by Audrey Cefaly (book & lyrics) and Matt M. Nielson (music), with Katarzyna Müller (Polish adaptation and consultant). “Polish version” makes it sound like there will be subtitles, but here it more or less means one of the lead characters hails from Poland and teaches a bit of the language to the other. The show, capably directed by ABT executive artistic director Gwendolyn Whiteside, is easy to follow even for English speakers whose understanding of Polish starts and ends with pierogi.
And it stars Michael Mahler, one of the city’s most endearing and enduring theater impresarios, opposite his talented wife, Dara Cameron, which adds an extra dash of frisson to the proceedings. Mahler’s Mikołaj is fresh from Poland when he meets Cameron’s Chicago-born waitress Lina working at the restaurant as teenagers. He’s a schlubby, somewhat lost-in-translation dishwasher. But he’s got a soulful Eastern European vibe, he’s keenly intelligent and, best of all, he’s a kind person who looks at Lina in all her ditzy, insecure, self-sabotaging glory and sees a smart, decent, funny young woman he could very easily love if only events would stop conspiring against them.
Beyond all the fourth-wall breaking and time-shifting and clever re-running of scenes in slightly different configurations and bitterly comic anti-love songs, this is at heart a dead-simple meet-cute romantic comedy. It’s elevated here by two highly engaging actors who have a palpable connection to each other. You can’t help but root for and be charmed by them.
Just like in real life, love’s impossible here both logistically and metaphysically. Until, somehow, it’s not. At least for a little while, as we gaze up at the stars together and dream.
The marketing materials liken The Last Wide Open to Groundhog Day and Sliding Doors, but I walked away from this production with a distinct Danny and Deborah in Sexual Perversity in Chicago vibe. Which is a good thing.
The Last Wide Open runs through October 26 at American Blues Theater.
For a full roundup of reviews of this show, visit Theatre in Chicago.
Photo by Jenn Udoni
