As the story of a corrupt attorney, this is just the kind of smart satire that theater-goers are looking for right now. Just be careful how hard you laugh.
His loathsome character a cross between Billy Bigelow, Roy Cohn and George Burns, the “Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander sits atop a gutsy and wickedly funny new satire at Chicago Shakespeare Theater that will come as a blessed relief for anyone over-satiated with moralizing, we-know-best-you-fools theater.
At this juncture, you think, oh, here’s a well-worn device with shades of “Carousel,” “Doctor Faustus,” “Damn Yankees,” “It’s a Wonderful Life” and Gandolf. But Ulin has written a clever twist: this mercenary angel doesn’t give a darn about what’s in Sammy’s heart, telling him that entry into heaven is a transactional kind of business where the entry fee is good deeds, even if done by lousy people.
But those are minor, fixable quibbles in what is, without question, the kind of boffo, old-school comedy you just don’t see much any more, a show that feels like the child of Neil Simon, Mel Brooks and early Christopher Durang, may he rest in peace. I think the script, still somewhat underbaked, mostly needs more material, more good deeds for bad Sammy.
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