**** Highly Recommended Audiences for Goodman Theatre’s world premiere summer hit, Iceboy!, an old-fashioned screwball comedy, never stopped laughing. The world premiere is actually titled Iceboy! or The Completely Untrue Story of How Eugene O’Neill Came to Write The Iceman Cometh which is an insane title, but does explain why Eugene O’Neill appears in the show. This one is a must-see! 4 BIG Spotlights
You might call Eugene O’Neill (Nick Offerman) the narrator of Iceboy! but I think he’s more of a commentator. He opens the show, drink in hand, explaining to the audience who he is and what he’s written. Of course when he asks for applause, or if anyone has seen his plays, he scorns the audience. He pops in with pithy comments at important and not so important points in the story. He’s sarcastic, self-deprecating and very funny.
Megan Mullally and the Cast of Iceboy!
Intrepid explorers at the north pole discovered a man frozen into the ice thousands of years ago. When the ice block goes up for auction, Vera Vimm (Megan Mullally), the toast of 1939 Broadway, outbids museums and collectors and buys Iceboy (Grey Henson).
Faithful retainer, Lambert (Sarah Stiles), who suffers from forever menopause but still keeps the books, warns Vera that she’d used all of her savings and she’s broke. When the ice melts and Iceboy jumps out, spear in hand, her butler, Frankenstein (Alex Goodrich), roars. Vera, however, decides she’ll be Iceboy’s mother, so she takes him shopping.
Grey Henson, Megan Mullally & Alex Goodrich in Iceboy!
Vera’s faithful swain, Floyd Richards (Cedric Yarbrough), has asked her to marry him too many times to count. Floyd, who is about to mount a Broadway production about poor sewing girls, has the perfect part for Vera – the matron at the sweat shop – but she insists she star in the show in a part intended for an ingenue. When Vera takes a bad fall on set and ends up in a coma, Floyd puts Iceboy on in her part, and he’s a hit!
The versatile ensemble – Donterrio, Melanie Brezill, Will Koski, Linda Mugleston, Shawy Pfautsch and Andrea San Miguel – are all terrific singers and dancers.
Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally and the Cast of Iceboy!
Orchestra: Vadim Feichtner, Music Director/Conductor/Piano; Steve Leinheiser, Reed 1; Linda Van Dyke, Reed 2; Carey Deadman, Trumpet; Rachel Castellanos, Trombone; Christian Dillingham, Bass; Jim Widlowksi, Drums/Percussion.
Iceboy! was written by Erin Quinn Purcell and Jay Reiss, with music by Mark Hollmann and lyrics by Mark Hollmann and Jay Reiss. It is directed by Marc Bruni, choreography by Joann M Hunter. The palatial set is designed by Paul Tate Depoo III, the gorgeous costumes by Linda Cho.
The Cast of Iceboy!
Iceboy has been extended through August 16th in the Albert Theatre, Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn, Chicago. Good parking options can be accessed through the Goodman website. Running time is two hours, 25 minutes, with an intermission. Performances: Tuesdays & Wednesdays at 7:30 pm; Thursdays at 2:00 & 7:30 pm; Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 2:00 & 7:30 pm; Sundays at 2:00 pm; with an additional 2:00 pm performance on Tuesday, July 28th. Tickets range from $54-$229. FYI (312) 443-3800 or www.goodmantheatre.org.