Photo Flash: First Look at THE HEIR APPARENT at Chicago Shakespeare
By: BWW News Desk Dec. 04, 2015
Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) presents David Ives' uproarious comedy THE HEIR APPARENT, staged by award-winning director John Rando and featuring a stellar cast, led by heralded actor, Paxton Whitehead as Geronte. Rhyming couplets and contemporary slang abound in Ives' deliciously off-color tribute to Jean-François Regnard's comic masterpiece, Le Légataire universel-bringing eighteenth-century bawdiness into the twenty-first. Just in time for the holiday season, THE HEIR APPARENT will be presented in the Courtyard Theater now through January 17, 2016. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!
Young Eraste has it all-good looks, a beautiful fiancée and the prospect of a sizable inheritance from an elderly uncle. There's just one snag: the uncle won't die and he has bequeathed his entire fortune to someone else. Not to mention his uncle, Geronte, has his heart set on marrying Eraste's fiancée, Isabelle. This clever comedy depicts Eraste's tricky schemes to maintain both his inheritance and his lover.
Acclaimed actor Paxton Whitehead makes his Chicago Shakespeare Theater debut as the supposedly dying Geronte. Nate Burger takes on the role of the dashing young title character, Eraste. Emily Peterson makes her CST debut as the ever-so-lovely Isabelle. Chicago favorite Linda Kimbrough returns to Chicago Shakespeare Theater for her 14th production as the motherly battleaxe, Madame Argante. Jessie Fisher and Cliff Saunders play the infatuated servants, Crispin and Lisette. Fresh off the Broadway production of You Can't Take It With You and HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, Patrick Kerr makes his CST debut as Scruple, Geronte's diminutive lawyer.
Jeff Award-winning Scenic Designer Kevin Depinet and Lighting Designer Christine Binder will create the lavish estate that the title character hopes to inherit. David C. Woolard, a Tony Award-nominated designer for his work in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Who's Tommy on Broadway, returns to CST as Costume Designer; he previously designed costumes for the Q Brothers' The Bomb-itty of Errors (2002). Richard Woodbury, a frequent Drama Desk Award nominee and resident Sound Designer at the Goodman Theatre, enriches the production as Sound Designer. Chicago Shakespeare's resident Jeff Award-winning Wig and Make-up Designer Melissa Veal completes the creative team.
For a complete performance listing and more information about the production, visit www.chicagoshakes.com/heir.
Photo Credit: Liz Lauren
Geronte (Paxton Whitehead) makes plans to draw up his will, to the delight of his 'apparent heir' Eraste (Nate Burger) and their crafty servants Lisette (Jessie Fisher) and Crispin (Cliff Saunders).
The miserly Geronte (Paxton Whitehead) suffers a host of maladies, overseen by servants Crispin (Cliff Saunders) and Lisette (Jessie Fisher).
Madame Argante (Linda Kimbrough, left to right), Lisette (Jessie Fisher), Crispin (Cliff Saunders), Eraste (Nate Burger) and Isabelle (Emily Peterson) are all after Geronte's fortune.
The young lovers Isabelle (Emily Peterson) and Eraste (Nate Burger) seek Geronte's inheritance so they can wed.
The diminutive lawyer Scruple (Patrick Kerr) is exasperated in penning Geronte's will due to the high-jinks of servants Crispin (Cliff Saunders) and Lisette (Jessie Fisher).
Crispin (Cliff Saunders, at center) impersonates Geronte to sign the will, witnessed by (from left to right) Scruple (Patrick Kerr), Lisette (Jessie Fisher), Eraste (Nate Burger) and Madame Argante (Linda Kimbrough).
All disguised as a distant relation, Crispin (Cliff Saunders), Eraste (Nate Burger) and Isabelle (Emily Peterson) join Lisette (Jessie Fisher) in lamenting their plans unraveling.
The company of Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s THE HEIR APPARENT
Videos
