THEATRE REVIEW: "Tuck Everlasting" at the Merle Reskin Theatre of DuPaul University (Chicago, IL)

      In April or May of 1997, when I was almost done with 5th grade, we went on a field trip to see a performance of Chicago Playworks' "Tuck Everlasting" at the Merle Reskin Theatre of DuPaul University (formerly called the Blackstone Theatre).  This production was Mark Frattaroli's stage adaptation of Natalie Babbit's novel, and performed from April 1st through May 24th, 1997.  Ric Murphy directed the production, and his minimalist  stage techniques were inspired by Japanese Noh theater.  A term for it here was called "Handmade Theater."  What the Tuck?  Utilizing that technique was to bring magic and harmony to the storytelling.  Of course, it could also have been a way to cut production costs and save money.

          Surprisingly, or maybe not-so-surprisingly, I did not keep the Stagebill from this show.  We had read the novel "Tuck Everlasting" for class, prior to going on the field trip to see the play.  I suppose I associated seeing the play with school work, or the probable quiz we were going to have on the play after seeing it.  So, I don't have information about the cast of this production.  I only know that Sara McCarthy played the part of Winnie Foster, and Tom LaMere played the part of one of the Tuck sons (the younger one, I guess).  Looking this production up in the archival newspapers of the library database proved less successful than trying to find out about the more legitimate or mainstream shows I've researched.  The info I did find out about this production of "Tuck Everlasting" was slim and nil.  

     While I remember seeing "Tuck Everlasting" in 5th Grade, I had no idea I saw it at the Merle Reskin Theatre.  That venue has quite a production history as the Blackstone Theatre.  In 1978, halfway through the Chicago Engagement of the First National Tour of "Chicago the musical,"  Jerry Orbach was joined by two fellow Original Broadway Cast Members, Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon, for the remainder of the tour's run at the Blackstone.  Also, from February 10th through March 7th, 1959, Sidney Poitier starred at the Blackstone Theatre in a Pre-Broadway Tryout of Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun."  That is just the tip of the iceberg; and no, the Chicago Engagement of "Titanic the musical" did not play at the Merle Reskin Theatre.  It played at the Civic Opera House. 

     There is not much I remember about this production "Tuck Everlasting."  First off, there was no stunning set design to make an "everlasting" imprint in my mind.  Secondly,  it wasn't a musical.  I do remember the first scene with Mae Tuck and her husband on a rickety carriage.  I remember when Winnie gets kidnapped by the Tuck family.  I remember when Winnie is in a row boat with one of the Tucks, and stage hands were holding a large sheet of blue fabric, and making waves with it so the boat would look like it's on water.  I also remember the Tuck family reading Winnie's gravestone at the end of the play.  Then it was back to school... and that quiz that might or might not have happened. 

The interior of The Merle Reskin Theatre