Idle Muse: The School For Scandal Review
Cat Evans, Cameron Austin Brown and Elizabeth MacDougald
Idle Muse Presents THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL Review - Watch Out Upper East Siders, Olde England’s Original Scandal Queens Are Here
TLDR: Idle Muse takes the original comedy of errors that is The School for Scandal and amps the humor up to deliver on its already punchy script and adds more campy bits and slapstick humor. It’s a fun production accentuated by fun scene changes and gorgeous costumes.
Erik Schnitger, Elizabeth MacDougald and Mara Kovacevic
XOXO Gossip Girl
What’s the most valuable currency in eighteenth century England? Why, gossip of course. What else do bored lords and ladies do during the day except talk about each other?
Fans fluttering. Skirts rustling. Chuckles, chortles, and guffaws alike ring throughout the parlor at the Teazle household where anybody who is anybody has gathered for the latest gossip session. They make fun of someone’s looks. How they dress. How they act. Which lady has run off with which footman. Each and every person in the room is sharing a story trying to be the one with the freshest scandal. But Lady Sneerwell (Elise Soeder) and her haughty accomplice Snake (Boomer Lusink) take the cake as the most devilish as they hatch a scheme with Joseph Surface to win over the most desirable bachelorette of the season, Maria (Cat Evans). With twists and turns and gossip gone awry, The School for Scandal is the original Gossip Girl.
And like any Upper East Sider would tell you, fashion is of the utmost importance to your standing. The cast enters all at once at the top of the show, their backs straight and noses pointed upward. They wear tall powdered wigs and their faces are painted white with bright, rouged cheeks. Skirts billow at the hips of the ladies and men wear britches and long embellished coats. These fine folk are at the height of fashion. The costume designs by Victoria Jablonski are truly delectable as eye candy with gorgeous colors, patterns, and textures.
Idle Muse Gives Us Over The Top Fun And Smartly Stupid
But their entrance is set to a Queen song remix with multi-colored disco lights flashing. We notice that their fashionable moles are actually tiny rhinestones and their wigs are not the most polished and set. This is our sign that this is not going to be a straight forward recreation of The School for Scandal set in the 18th century. The production still uses the original script, so like Shakespeare it may take a minute for your ears to make the adjustment, but once we’re locked in we catch every joke.
The cast punctuates the written jokes in their delivery and director Evan Jackson has made sure to add in lots more campiness in his design as well. The bustling, gossip mongering crew of Lady Sneerwell, Mrs. Candour (Kovacevic), Mrs. Crabtree (Elizabeth MacDougald), and Sir Benjamin Backbite (Cameron Austin Brown) are in fine form when you get them all in a room. Erik Schnitger as Sir Teazle acts as their counterbalance with his dry humor as he does his best to cull this cutting crew.
Eric Duhon plays the overly wordy, a man of sentiment, someone who hedges every sentence, Joseph Surface. He hems and haws and gives us his best Tim Curry a la Clue as he tries to explain a very complicated scenario Sir Teazle finds him and Lady Teazle (Caty Gordon) in. But between the three of them, they embrace full physical comedy and end up in a classic slapstick scene hiding in cupboards and behind screens as they try to conceal each other from Uncle Oliver (Ross Compton).
His brother Charles (Brian Healy) on the other hand is short on words and gets straight to the point. Flanked by his equally roguish friends (Cameron Austin Brown, Brooks Whitlock, and Mara Kovacevic) they offload the family portraits while Compton in disguise gives quick asides to the audience at his surprise at his nephew’s willingness to part with all the family valuables.
Even the scene changes are filled with humor as more 80s remixes blast through the speakers with more colorful and black lights giving us a club feel. The cast takes a moment first in their character before they begin to move the various pieces of furniture out of the way.
Cameron Austin Brown, Brian Healy and Brooks Whitlock
The After Party Thoughts
The School for Scandal is very posh humor that could have been played as it would have been when it was first written hundreds of years ago and it would have been fine. Luckily director Evan Jackson saw fit to modernize it and make it that much more fun by amping up the campiness. It’s truly a fun show that has the audience chuckling at each absurdity.
If you’re not interested in comedy of errors plays from the 1700s, then this show wouldn’t be a good fit for you. But if you were a fan of those and would be excited to see the humor dialed up to eleven, Idle Muse’s The School for Scandal would be a good fit for you.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
When
Now through April 12, 2025
Where
The Edge Off Broadway
1133 West Catalpa Ave.
Chicago, IL 60640
Runtime: 2 hours 10 minutes, including intermission
Tickets
$20+
Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at (773) 340-9438 or through the Idle Muse website
Photos
Steven Townshend/Distant Era
Eric Duhon and Elise Soeder
CAST
Elise Soeder (Lady Sneerwell)
Boomer Lusink (Morgan, Snake)
Eric Duhon (Joseph Surface)
Cat Evans (Maria)
Mara Kovacevic (Mrs. Candour)
Cameron Austin Brown (Sir Benjamin Backbite/Sir Harry Bumper)
Elizabeth MacDougald (Mrs. Crabtree)
Erik Schnitger (Sir Peter)
Andrew Bosworth (Rowley)
Caty Gordon (Lady Teazle)
Ross Compton (Sir Oliver)
Brian Healy (Charles Surface)
Brooks Whitlock (Careless, servants)
Makenna Van Raalte (U/S Lady Teazle and Maria)
Jennifer L. Mickelson (U/S Mrs. Candour and Mrs. Crabtree)
Rick Smith (U/S Sir Oliver)
Jacque Bischoff (U/S Lady Sneerwell)
Emily Pfriem (U/S Careless and Servants)
Sam Neel (U/S Morgan and Snake)
Eric Duhon and Caty Gordon
CREATIVE
Evan Jackson (Director And Idle Muse Artistic Director)
Libby Beyreis (Assistant Director)
Lindsey Chidester (Stage Manager)
Beth Bruins (Assistant Stage Manager)
Kati Lechner (Music Director, Health And Safety Officer)
Jennifer Mohr (Style Coach)
Mario Mazzetti (Dialect Coach)
Erin Alys (Intimacy Director)
Emma Rund (Dramaturg)
Jeremiah Barr (Technical Director)
Laura Wiley (Lighting Designer)
L.J. Luthringer (Sound Designer And Composer)
Tristan Brandon (Property Designer, Health And Safety Officer)
Victoria Jablonski (Costume Designer)
Katie Fletcher (Assistant Costume Designer)
Jacque Bischoff (Makeup Designer)
Breezy Snyder (Scenic Painter)
Michael Dalberg (Idle Muse Literary Director)