Chicago Tribune | It's a down-home kind of dazzle in `Matinee'

It's a down-home kind of dazzle in `Matinee'

By Kerry Reid

Special to the Tribune

Published February 17, 2006

"Isn't this a great place for a show?" gushes magician Sean Masterson at the beginning of "Magic Matinee," his hour-long set of tricks and tales now running at the Music Box Theater.

Indeed it is.

The twinkling starlights in the venerable movie palace's domed ceiling and the lavish ornamental details are a lovely counterpoint to Masterson's down-home brand of magic.

Masterson would never be mistaken for Penn or Teller, and that's a good thing here. He offers prestidigitation for the Harry Potter generation, with a minimum of flash and a maximum of understated showmanship that manages to avoid postmodern distancing irony and cloying "gee whiz" forced enthusiasm.

The tricks on display include the usual rope and card classics, interspersed with some puppetry and silly mask work. Masterson kicks off with a mini-lecture about astronomy (and a side comment about global warming) by using a series of disappearing balls that represent planets and stars.

He recruits audience participation (mostly from the young ones, though a couple of adults also got into the act) throughout the show, and managed to put the extra-shy kids at ease.

Those who like their magic bombastic and high tech may become bored with Masterson's homespun approach, but if you're looking for an up-close-and-personal means to introduce your kids to a classic art form, this is the way to go.

Actually, it's a fine introduction to two classic forms: the show includes a pre-performance 10-minute Laurel and Hardy short silent, "The Bacon Grabbers," which is a perfect primer on the roots of cinematic slapstick.

Combine that with the humorously adept pipe organ accompaniment and Masterson's chipper but sly delivery, and you've got a great place to hide out on a cold Chicago Saturday.

Through March 4 at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave.; $10 for children under 12, $13 for adults at 773-871-6607.

A good concept hobbled by indifferent execution sums up writers/directors Mike McKeown and Peter Krinke's "Bombshell Catastrophe!" Riffing on the classic "Beauty and the Beast" (or at least "Beauty and the Geek") scenario, McKeown and Krinke's comedy concerns a morally conflicted scientist at a gigantic cosmetics company who joins forces with a voluptuous model to save the world. The play apparently means to take digs at how far we'll go to look gorgeous, but with plastic surgery shows like "Dr. 90210" glutting the airwaves, it would take a lot more moxie than this show has to move the satirical goalposts beyond reality. Subplots about the Bush administration and nuclear fusion further muddy the storyline.

There are a couple of good performances, particularly Benjamin Nelson as the scientist and Joshua Hanson as the mysterious stranger (called "Mr. X," of course). But too many scenes lack crisp resolution, and some of the actors are nearly inaudible at times in the intimate space.

That is frustrating, given that McKeown and Krinke seem unafraid to cram a lot of ideas into their show (a nice departure from too many original comedy shows in this town that take one idea and torturously stretch it past the breaking point). If they could find someone else to direct and shape their material, the results might be more coherent and satisfying.

Through March 11 at Donny's Skybox Studio, Piper's Alley, 1608 N. Wells St.; $8-$10 at 312-337-3992.

----------

onthetown@tribune.com