Citadel’s Rich Comedy Looks at Long Life

Paul Stroili’s A Jukebox for the Algonquin now on at Lake Forest’s Citadel Theatre is a meaningful delight.  Not many plays take on senior care centers as settings and stay funny and vibrant and filled with laughs and depth. 

Pine Crest Center is a continuing care retirement community: there are the Indies (independent care individual homes) the asses (assisted living) and the longhorns (long term residents at the end of their lives).  Peg (the radiant Elizabeth Rude who also plays a woman touring facilities to place an in-law) is an Indie new to the community and integrates herself into the hysterically funny group of characters in the Algonquin Room, an underused common room because other gathering spots have tv’s and the Algonquin has a fish tank.  A gleesome threesome has claimed the Algonquin as their very own space:  the hysterically funny Annie, a legally blind “ass”, played with verve and exceptional physical comedy by Ellen Phelps,  the openly and proudly gay ”ass” Dennis, obsessed with the original Algonquin Roundtable (the renowned group of writers, critics and wits who met for lunch daily in a New York hotel in the 1920’s and 30’s)  played with nuance and grace by Bob Sanders, and the heart and soul of the play, “longhorn” Johnny, (the accomplished Kenneth Johnson who brings you to love this character),who is hellbent on acquiring a Wurlitzer jukebox for their space to supplant the fish tank. This crew will go to extraordinary and unorthodox lengths to acquire the resources to buy this jukebox. 

I can’t say more than that without spoiling the plot, as it is a journey you must go on with these well rounded characters who change and grow through the two hours of the play. I will say that A Jukebox for the Algonquin is a road you want to travel.  This is a beautiful play about the rest of these characters' lives however short or long that may be. It’s about aging and friendship and identity formation in one’s final stage.  It's about good last chapters and in the end it's about making memories whenever you can. Even the help at this Senior Center is portrayed as dimensional characters with back stories, as you enjoy getting to know their stories and becoming attached to them. In this play everyone evolves and ends up a different human than when they started and the overall vibe is one of joy. 

And this show is really really funny.

Director Scott Westerman has steered this ensemble through the comedy of existential meaning. Catalina Niňo’s set absolutely and somewhat triggeringly captures the tired generic quality of a senior care common room.  Danielle Reinhardt’s ingenious costume design allows onstage quick changes. This production is top notch, and well worth the trip to idyllic Lake Forest.  

A Jukebox For the Algonquin has been extended: performances are now Fridays through Sundays through May 24 at Citadel Theatre in residence at Lakeforest High School 300 S Waukegan Road in Lake Forest, IL.   Watch for the signs carefully to find this delightful theater embedded in the local high school. For tickets and information go to https://www.citadeltheatre.org/a-jukebox-for-the-algonquin-1

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