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Kathleen Tobin Would that the rooms of Chicago’s prestigious Drake Hotel could speak! The tales they could tell would most likely be hailed as a local version of “Arabian Nights!” And now, one of those rooms, the Penthouse Suite, no less, has been given a voice by local composer/lyricist turned playwright, Gregg Opelka, to tell a romantic, topsy-turvy tale of mis-identification that took place within its opulent walls one recent snowy, blowy New Year’s Eve! The tale is called “Marrying Terry” and is directed by Suzanne Avery-Thompson with a lovely set design by Kevin Doler. It involves a mix-up in hotel reservations between a radiologist, and a Chicago rare-books librarian, that leads to unexpected romantic conclusions. Just the ticket for a delightful winter theater break, it plays through January 27 at Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. Opelka has balanced well the elements of French farce with a softer romantic comedy feel (there’s even a bit of poetry,) though it would benefit from some tightening up. The second half of the first act has some of the funniest dialogue. His characters are real people who find themselves caught up in a realistically confusing situation. Even the secondary casting is terrific. The comedic antics lie more in the clever writing than in the frantic slamming of doors typical of French farce. When librarian Terry Adams (Ana Sferruzza) learns that the only room left at the Drake is the Penthouse Suite, her friend Janet, there to meet a blind date, (Debbie Laumand-Blanc, an added spark in the proceedings), urges her to splurge because Terry’s long-time boyfriend, Jonathan (Paul Perroni) is flying in from Boston to propose. In the meantime, Dr. Terry (Dan Rodden), a nice, warm-hearted, but conservative, nose-to the grindstone radiologist has just been badgered into proposing marriage to his longtime fiancé, Penny (Mary Mulligan) as they share champagne in his apartment. Duty comes before romance however. When he discovers he has forgotten to turn over some x-rays for a next-day surgery by his Boss Dr. Harlan (a nice bit by Ben Keaton) he dashes off to the Drake Hotel where he finds Harlan at the bar with Sam (Brian Simmons), Harlan’s friend for whom he is arranging a blind date (Can you guess? It turns out to be Janet!) One drink leads to another, and all havoc runs loose as an inebriated Dr. Terry finds himself in Terry’s Penthouse bed with her fiancé, Jonathan knocking at the door!!! click here to return to Marrying Terry REVIEWS main page
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