Oak Park Newspaper

THE MARRIAGE OF BETTE AND BOO, DIRECTED BY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR DAN TAUBE, CONCLUDES VILLAGE PLAYERS’ SEASON OF NEW AMERICAN CLASSICS

(Oak Park, IL) Village Players Theater will be finishing this year's New American Classics season on its Mainstage with Christopher Durang's The Marriage of Bette and Boo. Directed by Artistic Director Dan Taube, the show previews May 13th and 14th and opens May 15th and will run until June 27th 2010.

As in any marriage, Bette and Boo were full of high hopes, but as the years have progressed that hope has faded. Bette's long list of stillborns and Boo's love for drinking is made even more stressful by their family’s long lists of complaints and expectations. The family priest responds the best he can to help the couple--by impersonating a strip of frying bacon. As the years go on and the marriage disintegrates, their only son Matt looks back to understand what went wrong between his parents, and what finally went right. This Obie award-winning play casts away the shroud of what marriage should be, and instead shows everyone what love really is.

The Marriage of Bette and Boo marks Taube's directorial debut at VPT. His other directing credits include acclaimed productions of Talley’s Folly, In the Boom Boom Room, Birdbath, Oleanna, The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, Edmond, and Look Back in Anger. Taube started his directing and producing career in New York City at Playwrights Horizons where he studied under Bernard Gersten (Executive Producer, Lincoln Center Theater). From there he jumped into the Chicago theater scene as Artistic Director and founding member of Thunder Road Ensemble, a theatre collective committed to a vision of "American Stories". Before starting as Artistic Director at VPT, Taube has worked as actor and director with the following Chicago companies: Trap Door Theatre, Circle Theatre, Signal Ensemble, Mary-Arrchie, Prop Theatre and Irish Rep, among many others. Taube also taught Acting and Directing throughout the area, including as adjunct faculty at DePaul University's The Theatre School and as head of the directing program at Act One Studios. He continued his passion for the theatrical American voice by focusing on New American Classics at Village Players.

Taube chose Christopher Durang's The Marriage of Bette and Boo as the conclusion for his American Classics season because Durang is generally accepted as one of the masters of the contemporary American comedy. He says, "I think a lot of productions and a lot of directors miss the boat is by not acknowledging and exploring what is going on underneath the comedy. He is one of the best writers at not only capturing the American voice, but at dramatizing both the tragedy and absurdity of the American Dream." He feels that this may be one of Durang's "most personal plays" as it covers such a wide spectrum and has much to say on a human level- not just about the American family but about love, marriage and children. Big themes to be sure, but Taube states that it is "especially about hope, love and forgiveness."

The cast includes Jordan Blythe, Megan Brown, Bev Coscarelli, Matt Dyson, Brian Nash, Dennis Schnell, Stephanie Sullivan, Kelli Walker, Robert Ertel and Ben Zisk. Designers include John List (sound), Ricky Lurie (costumes), Annalee Johnson (props), Noah Record (lighting), and Annette Vargas (scenic). The production is stage managed by Jennifer Bethmann.

The Marriage of Bette and Boo opens Saturday, May 15th at 8pm and will run until June 27th, 2010. Regular performances will be on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets are $25.00 for Adults, $20.00 for Seniors (65 and older) and Students with ID. Performances will be found at the Village Players Performing Arts Center, 1010 Madison St., Oak Park. The theater is near the Harlem exit of I-290 and is also accessible by the CTA Green and Blue lines. Plenty of parking is available on the street. The theatre is handicapped accessible but please do call ahead to arrange for special seating. To make a reservation, please call the box office at 866-764-1010, view our website at www.village-players.org, or visit the theater (the box office is open Tuesday through Friday from 12:00pm to 6:00pm).