Playwright: Various composers. At: Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress. Phone: 800-982-2787; $25-$55. Runs through: July 24
It almost could have been a scene from the Blues Brothers chronicles: touring musicalsespecially "tribute" revues arriving with a ready-made fan basetypically play big rooms. Rhythm-and-Blues is an intimate genre, however, relying for its dynamic on the exuberance generated by proximity transforming both performer and audience into participants. The Auditorium Theatre being better-suited to formal concertsand only half-full on this night, to booteven with full-up downstage lights blurring the line between stage and spectators, the setting made for a slow start to the evening.
The Blues Brothers, for the unenlightened, are a pair of fictional African-American vocalists created in 1978 by white, middle-class actors Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi for what began as comedy, but sparked an R & B revival transcending demographic barriers (much as, decades earlier, English bands made "race" music safe for audiophiles of Caucasian Persuasion the world over). Paying homage to the legend springing therefrom are Brad Henshaw and Daniel Fletcher"Joliet Jake" and brother Elwood, respectivelybacked by a trio of leggy "Bluettes" (who apparently don't rate playbill biosa mistake that should be corrected immediately), a single utility player, and instrumentalists scattered so far apart on the huge stage that you want to issue them semaphore flags, with historical cachet provided by Superfly-era star, Antonio Fargas.
Did the visitors from the U.K. triumph over adversity? Hey, this is a Blues Brothers story we're talkin' here! Deep into the first set, as Bluette Victoria Goddard channeled Aretha Franklin on "Respect," two young women in the eighth row raised their hands in affirmation, thereby striking down the fourth wall as well. The second set saw our heroes and their cohorts parading on the apron in a display of altar-call athletics while playgoers chair-danced with gleeful gusto, later joining eagerly in the call-and-response for Fargas' suave white-tie-and-tails "Minnie The Moocher" and happily hand-jiving for a competitive singalong on "Flip, Flop, And Fly." (We get to catch our breath during a delicatealmost churchly"Under the Boardwalk".)
It's about the music, you see. Henshaw and Fletcher's American accents may not be Bronzeville yet, but their unswerving immersion in their fantasy universe cannot be faulted. A little home-town help is all they need now to turn a snooty Loop venue into a smoky South Side storefront.