{"id":22333,"date":"2015-12-08T17:48:58","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T23:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=22333"},"modified":"2015-12-08T17:48:58","modified_gmt":"2015-12-08T23:48:58","slug":"burning-bluebeard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/burning-bluebeard\/","title":{"rendered":"Iroquois Theater fire roars back to life in Burning Bluebeard"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alexandra Garfield<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heart-wrenching with a sprinkling of hope and a healthy serving of laughter, Burning Bluebeard<\/em> intertwines two stories in one spine-chilling show.<\/p>\n

Actors portraying actors from the infamous 1903 Iroquois Theater fire attempt to finish their performance of the holiday pantomime, Mr. Bluebeard<\/em>. Only this time, they hope it won\u2019t end in another tragedy.<\/p>\n

The show is a deep narrative dive into the\u00a01903 matinee fire, with the performers returning to finish the show amid the ruins the day after it took place. The performers explain that a\u00a0spark from the artificial moonlight\u00a0 started the blaze.\u00a0 The lack of viable emergency exits, exit doors that opened inward, blocked shut as the panicked crowd packed against them,\u00a0and the flammable hemp seat-cushions\u00a0 contributed to the deaths of more than 600 people.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people just know that the doors opened in, not out, but that\u2019s only part of the story,\u201d said Leah Urzendowski, who plays the show\u2019s aerialist Nellie Reed.<\/p>\n

While explaining the fire to the audience, the six actors also try to perform the story of Bluebeard\u2019s seven wives, reenacting the 1903\u00a0 show and unintentionally circling around the theme of death.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"BurningBluebeard-7\"<\/a>
Cast of Burning Bluebeard uses a model to explain the deadly beauty of the Iroquois theater and how so many people were unable to escape the 1903\u00a0fire. (Evan Hanover\/Courtesy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The play is set on December 31, 1903, the day after the Iroquois Theater fire when Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison, Jr.,\u00a0closed all of the city\u2019s theaters. Despite the historic setting,\u00a0the show doesn’t shy away from using modern music and storytelling forms in the performance.<\/p>\n

The actors simultaneously tell the story of the fire and the fairytale of Bluebeard\u2019s seventh wife, the only one he didn’t kill. The\u00a0action laces together personal monologues, interpretive dance numbers and hilarious renditions of modern songs. For example, Amy Winehouse\u2019s Rehab<\/em> and Europe\u2019s The Final Countdown <\/em>both make unexpected appearances in this play set at the turn of the last century.<\/p>\n

One moment, Scandinavian electronic music accompanies a surprisingly touching interpretation of the deaths of Bluebeard’s first six wives. The next moment the actors hold jars of Christmas lights on a dark stage to explain their roles in the play the day of the fire.<\/p>\n

Each scene uses unconventional methods to tell a 112-year-old story. The script balances between tragedy and comedy until the final scenes when you truly feel the devastation of the fire.\u00a0It is impressed upon the audience that the fire was an accident. No one on stage is ever\u00a0blamed – there’s no conclusive ending trying to frame a villain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just wanted to give you some artificial moonlight.\u201d
\n\u2013 Robert Murray, played by Jay Torrence, Burning Bluebeard<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is aided by the fact that the playwright, Jay Torrence also plays the role of the stage manager, Robert Murray. The audience sees each character do the best they can at each turn of the plot. This makes it difficult for the audience to place the blame on any individual in the play. Murray, for example, throws opens up the stage doors to save the cast, unintentionally dooming the audience when the December air fuels the flames.<\/p>\n

Ryan Walters, playing Chicago vaudeville comedian Eddie Foy, shows true desperation when he begs the audience, \u201cdon\u2019t panic. Please, stay in your seats.\u201d Later the audience can see the devastation on his face at the realization that his words only added to the death toll.<\/p>\n

\"BurningBluebeard-6\"<\/a>
Leah Urzendowski climbs on set pieces to bring to life aerialist Nellie Reed’s desire to fly. The 1903 Bluebeard production was an extravaganza of pantomime and added performances.(Evan Hanover\/Courtesy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, the most touching performance comes from Leah Urzendowski, playing Nellie Reed. Reed, an aerialist in Mr. Bluebeard,<\/em> was the only performer to die in the Iroquois fire.<\/p>\n

Every detail of Urzendowski\u2019s performance makes you believe in a young woman who wanted to fly. Her descriptions of throwing arms full of carnations to the audience in the gallery \u201ccheap seats\u201d make you wonder what more this woman could have accomplished with a longer life.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, it\u2019s an emotionally demanding show, but I don\u2019t really think of it that way,\u201d said Urzendowski. \u201cInstead, it becomes really dire to me that this story gets told, that Nellie\u2019s story get\u2019s told.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burning Bluebeard runs through Jan. 10 at The Den Theater, 1329 N. Milwaukee Ave. Tickets: $15-$36.<\/p>\n

Photo at Top: Singed cast members from the 1903 Iroquois Theater fire try to finish their performance the day after the fire – without another disastrous ending in Burning Bluebeard<\/em>. (Evan Hanover\/Courtesy)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alexandra Garfield Heart-wrenching with a sprinkling of hope and a healthy serving of laughter, Burning Bluebeard intertwines two stories in one spine-chilling show. Actors portraying actors from the infamous 1903 Iroquois Theater fire attempt to finish their performance of the holiday pantomime, Mr. Bluebeard. Only this time, they hope it won\u2019t end in another […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":22334,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,509],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-22333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-fall-2015","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"\nIroquois Theater fire roars back to life in Burning Bluebeard - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/burning-bluebeard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Iroquois Theater fire roars back to life in Burning Bluebeard - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Alexandra Garfield Heart-wrenching with a sprinkling of hope and a healthy serving of laughter, Burning Bluebeard intertwines two stories in one spine-chilling show. 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