Changing Channels
Like a sleeping Elder God I have once again been roused to write a blog review. This past weekend I saw a preview performance of City Lit's production of John Reeger's Red Scare drama Changing Channels.
The usual disclaimers about my utter lack of objectivity: it's a preview which typically is not reviewed, and the show's star, Kat Evans, is my good friend and comfortably on my Favorite Humans of All Time list (currently accepting applications, the fee is a reasonable $35)
It's 1952, the dressing room of rising comedy star Maggie Carlin (Evans) on the set of a sketch comedy TV series that's about to be propelled to major success with an acquisition by CBS. Major praise goes to scenic designer Joe Larkin and costumer Emily McConnell for making the play's one setting period appropriate and fun to look at.
Evans is (objectivity be damned) absolutely glorious in how she captures Carlin's essence, the bold, brassy hilarity of a woman raised from birth by her vaudeville family to be a great entertainer, and the nervous, tender feelings that emerge as she contemplates the real stardom her forebears never achieved.
Maggie and her husband Peter (Skyler Tipton) soon learn that their outspokenly liberal politics may endanger her career as they find their names on a list of names published in a right wing hit piece as potential Communists and subversives. Maggie's co-star Eddie Gilroy (Orion Lay-Sleeper) is instantly recognizable to any fan of the Golden Age of Television as a stand in for Jackie Gleason, with a dash of Sid Caesar. Lay-Sleeper does a terrific job with this character, easy to dismiss as an obnoxious lout at first, we find he has some real principle and genuine affection for Maggie who he sees as the only leading lady worthy of his own talent.
Eddie's nervous agent Bullets (Johnny Moran) wants to get through the controversy as cleanly as possible to ensure a smooth transition to CBS and does not burden himself with moral concerns as he offers the solution of Maggie signing a "loyalty oath" affirming her patriotism and non-involvement with Communism.
Maggie sees the oath as a betrayal of principle and an affront to American freedom of conscience, the main conflict on which the drama turns.
Actors love stories about the Red Scare/Blacklist era because it's one time they had the opportunity to be as heroic as any characters they play, and it remains a fascinating era in which this country's xenophobia and authoritarian tendencies overtook its higher ideals, which surely we might be able to relate to in 2026.
This is a sharply written and beautifully performed piece that offers a lot of fond laughs as well as food for poignant, painful thought. Knowing that Maggie's real life inspiration Pert Kelton and many other voices were silenced by these tactics is a great sadness not only for these individuals but for our culture. Director Kevin Theis must be commended for his pacing, the show is under two hours but feels even shorter and left me wanting more.
Price: $30-$38
Show Type: Drama
Box Office: 773-293-3682
www.citylit.org
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