Dashnight's 'Chops' premiere provides a sober reminder of yesteryear
Two guys and a girl walk into a bar—that’s either the start of a joke, or the start of the next Great American Play. Michael Rychlewski’s Chops, for all its boozing and ya-remember-when yuks, is sober-minded.
So, then, is it Great?
Like any number of Great plays — and like the jazz greats its characters idolize — Chops spins out in a very cool but taut build before letting loose. Like any number of Great plays, fond reminiscence leads to dredging up the Truth. Like any number of great plays, raw machismo proves a helluva drug. And speaking of chemicals, like any number of Great plays, there is Booze
.So, then, is it Great?
Perhaps, if you’re old enough to have lived the Rush Street nightlife for yourself, as celeb or pleb, petty crook or straight player. Or at least old enough that just the words “Rush Street nightlife” conjure up an endless list of hot clubs and starry names. And if you missed out on this big little slice of Chicago history, Rychlewski conveys the essence of that heyday from his characters, who are definitely old enough to remember the life. Letting go, though, after twenty-odd years? That’s another thing.
To be fair, it’s hard to resist that gritty charm, especially if you’ve frequented any dive remotely like what set designer Grant Sabin built—the kind of place where the stench of nicotine is caked into the paneling. This place belongs to Vince (Larry Neumann Jr.), whose sole selling point is having the best jazz jukebox in Chicago. And none of that dance band stuff, the real stuff. (Thank you, sound designer Barry Bennett for loading up the ‘box.) Neumann—though quiet for long stretches—is undeniably compelling as someone for whom legitimacy, though welcome, is a struggle. It’s plain from his thinning hair and his thousand-yard stare that has seen everything, every grift and hustle in the book.
He can’t quite see buddy, ex-grifter Walt (Randy Steinmeyer), coming in with a girl, Kaki (Clare Cooney), who’s not only several decades his junior and not only every inch their smartass equal, but also a bona fide jazz freak. Nor can he see his other buddy Philly (Daniel Patrick Sullivan) returning from who-knows-where, flush with cash where there never was cash. But that’s what happens, and Vince obliges their whims keeps the drinks coming, which keeps the stories coming, which loosens them up, makes them eager to prove their chops.
So, then, is it Great?
Certainly, for a novice playwright, it’s an auspicious, sound debut, aided in no small measure by Richard Shavzin’s experienced hand as director on pacing and paring the play down to the bone for maximum lean-and-meanness. If you like slow builds, authentic vernacular, the colorfully screwed-up lives of jazz folk, and seemingly inconsequential stories laced with time bombs, it’s a good bet.Not to mention the seasoned cast. Steinmeyer swings between jittery spirits and wicked darkness, even more unsure about legitimacy than Vince. Sullivan, meanwhile, pulls off the silver-tongued slickness of a guy who has plenty to talk about, but keeps what he wants to say close to his chest. And Cooney moves well through a world that, though unfamiliar and addled with testosterone, feels like home to her.
So, then, is it Great?
Can’t say it with a capital ‘G’ at this point, nor can I speak for America, but Chops is a great glimpse not only of a lost Chicago, but of lost folks who think they’ve seen it all, but, hoo boy, don’t know the half of it. And seen through a shot glass, darkly.
Dashnight Productions presents Chops through August 14 at Theater Wit, 1229 W Belmont. More information and tickets ($35, $25 for seniors and students) are available online here.