Director

Peter Glazer

Playwright

Michael Smith & Peter Glazer

Cast

Willy Schwarz
Miriam Sturm
Pat Fleming
Michael Smith
Joel MacMillan

Summary

With a sidelong irony that oddly recalls Roseanne Arnold and a gently husky voice tailor-made for folksy confession, Smith relates his memories of growing up Catholic in the 1940s and ’50s–back when priests said Mass in Latin with their backs to you (“On the other hand, you didn’t have to hug anyone”), kids said “frig” instead of “fuck,” and “women who chopped up their husbands were only in the comic books.” Inventively juggling different modes of story telling–traditional songs and monologues are augmented by readings from his sisters’ letters, talking blues, a chanted obbligato over his backup band’s rendition of “Sweet Sue”–Smith tells of beloved teachers like Sister Clarissa (who “believes in free will / The communion of saints / The forgiveness of sins / And a quiet fire drill”), boyhood heroes like Roy Rogers, and a childish infatuation with Cole Porter’s seductive “Begin the Beguine”: little Mike didn’t know what a beguine was, but he knew it was adult and exotic. (Source credited: http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/michael-margaret-pat–katethe-fantasticks/Content?oid=883784)

Production Team

Peter Glazer: Director
Doug Bean: Production Manager
Amy Field: Stage Manager
Jim Dardenne: Set Design
Michael Rourke: Light Design
Gayland Spaulding: Costume Design
Galen Ramsey: Sound Design
Brian Traynor: Props
Stephen Mazurek: Projection