Like it or not, the so-called Baby Boom generation has numbers on its side, and with the vanguard of the burgeoning post-World War II population replenishment now entering their golden years comes a renewed artistic interest in the AARP set. Previously characterized either as scolding authority figures or bumbling comic relief, the preponderance of mid-life theatergoers has led to an abundance of upcoming productions featuring over-50s in fully realized, psychologically complex roles.
Some of these announce their target audience in their very titles: Old Jews Telling Jokesspecifically, Gene Weygandt, Renee Mathews and Tim Kazurinsky, among othersat the Royal George (Oct. 4-Nov. 24, 312-988-9000), for example, or Tommy Lee Johnston's Geezers next year at Redtwist. More often, though, the elderssome played by actors of comparable age, and some by performers much younger, as in The Old Man and the Old Moon at Writers Theatre (through Nov. 10, 847-242-6000)are surrounded by an environment responsive to the dramatic dynamic engendered by the view looking backwards as well as forward.
Highlighting the 2013 season are appearances by Mary Ann Thebus, playing the feisty granny in Amy Herzog's 4000 Miles at Northlight (Sept. 20-Oct. 20, 847-673-6300), Bernard Beck and Iris Lieberman in Elegy at Victory Gardens (Oct. 31-Dec. 1, 773-871-3000), and Mike Nussbaum as the clan patriarch in Smokefall at the Goodman (Oct. 5-Nov. 3, 312-443-3800). Always welcome, too, are award-winning character divas Millicent Hurley, anchoring the cast for Raven's The Trip to Bountiful (Sept. 23-Nov. 17, 773-338-2177), and Greta Oglesby, currently doing the same for Timeline's hit production of A Raisin in the Sun (running through Nov. 17, 773-281-8463), as well as Norm Woodel in Eclipse's Haunting Julia at the Athenaeum (Nov. 5-Dec. 1, 773-935-6875) and Redtwist company regulars Brian Parry and Jan Ellen Graves in the first Chicago revival of Bruce Norris' Clybourne Park (Oct. 5-Nov. 12, 773-728-7529).
This season's roles forahem!mature actors include real-life historical personae: Michael Weber plays holocaust-obsessed Meyer Levin in Next Theatre's Compulsion (Oct. 15-Nov. 17, 847-475-1875), and Kelli Harrington, opera diva Maria Callas in Theo Ubique's Master Class (Oct. 14-Nov. 24, 800-595-4849). Deanna Dunagan's Marguerite Duras provides the reminiscent counterpart to Rae Gray's young author in The North China Lover at Lookingglass (Oct. 5-Nov. 10, 312-337-0665), while Reginald Torian portrays musician Curtis Mayfield during his waning years for Black Ensemble's It's All Right to Have a Good Time (Sept. 22-Oct. 20, 773-769-4451). Oh, and let's not forget Karen Janes Woditsch and Craig Spidle's return as Julia and Paul Childwith Terry Hamilton again delivering onstage instruction in the correct method of scrambling eggsin To Master the Art, newly-remounted at the Broadway Playhouse and running to Oct. 20 (800-745-3000).
You don't have to be young to fightlook for Harry Groener to swash buckles under the direction of Penny Metropulos and fight choreographer Rick Sordelet in Cyrano de Bergerac at Chicago Shakespeare (Oct. 2-Nov. 10, 312-595-5600), and Don Bender to rattle sabers as General Robert E. Lee at the battle of Gettysburg in The Killer Angels at Lifeline. Nor is romantic intrigue only for the youthful, as evidenced by the presence of Annabel Armour and John Lister in the Jane Austen satire Northanger Abbey at Remy Bumppo (Oct. 7-Nov. 10, 733-404-7336).
Most intriguing, however, are the grayhairs at the crossroads of decisions that will determine the course of their remaining years. This to-be-or-not-to-be crisis is at the roots of Bruce Graham's Stella and Lou and The Outgoing Tide, and generates the suspense in Conor McPherson's The Seafarerescalated by a poker game with the Devilscheduled for performance by Seanachai Theatre at the Den, featuring an all-star ensemble of Dan Waller, Brad Armacost, Kevin Theis, Ira Amyx and Shane Kenyon (Nov. 27-Jan. 5, 866-811-4111).
Nobody can wholly avoid agingthough Cher appears to be trying hardbut even with time yet a-flying, we can all still gather our roses as we may. Why not do it at the theater?