All these suburbanites are saying is, 'Give ukes a chance'

In a world with skyrocketing gas prices, horrific crimes, political standoffs, global unrest, fears that Moammar Gadhafi will never step down and worries that Charlie Sheen won't ever shut up, there is one group of suburbanites who know "All You Need is Love."

And when they finish that song on their ukuleles, they can play "Eight Days a Week," "Love Me Do" or any other Beatles' hit. From 7-9 p.m. every Thursday, dozens of ukulele players converge from far-flung suburbs, drawn together through their love for the little four-string instrument that transports them from the stresses of the world.

"When you play the ukulele, all of that melts away," says Jamie Tomaino, 50, who lives in Barrington and gladly takes a phone call about ukuleles after 10 p.m. when she finally finishes her pressure-packed job as territory manager for the Fortune 500 chemical company H.B. Fuller. "How can you play the ukulele and not be happy?"

Cleary, Annette "Annie" Wegener of Mount Prospect doesn't know the answer to that question. Even the group's haunting rendition of "While My Ukulele Gently Weeps" brings a smile to faces.

"It's just so gosh-darn much fun. I call it my spa night," says Wegener, 47, a public relations and social media consultant who got drawn into the ukulele world while marketing photographs of the Beatles in India.

She heard WXRT's Terri Hemmert mention a suburban store that specializes in ukuleles, sitars, belly dance adornments and "Beatles Thingys." And before long, Wegener ended up onstage at the 2008 Fest for Beatles Fans in Rosemont, where she was one of 28 ukulele players performing "I Saw Her Standing There" along with Neil Innes of The Rutles.

"It (the ukulele) is so easy to play," says Wegener, who played the French horn throughout high school and college. "It's easier that cooking. It's easier than ironing a shirt."

That ability to learn to play a song quickly is part of the allure of the ukulele, says GiGi Wong-Monaco, 51, who is the leader of the group she dubs The Oak Park Ukulele Meetup Group/Harrison Street Ukulele Players (see www.meetup.com/Oak-Park-Ukulele-Meetup-Group-Harrison-St-Ukulele-Players for details). Wong-Monaco, a native Hawaiian who calls the instrument an ooh-koo-ley-ley, and her sitar-playing husband, Clar Monaco, run the Wonderwall Music Shoppe & Emporium at 325 Harrison St. in Oak Park. Their Thursday night ukulele group generally meets a couple of blocks away at the Eastgate Cafe, 102 Harrison St., where they might draw more than 3 dozen ukulele players from ages 8 to 83 and from all walks of life.

They celebrated George Harrison's birthday at their last meetup by using Skype to serenade Harrison-impersonator Glen Knowler in London.

"The ukulele is what's drawing us all together," Wong-Monaco says. "Our motto this year is, 'We have serious fun.'"

Professional musician Eric Klemme, a 44-year-old Waukegan resident who works as a manager at Lambs Farm in Libertyville, is just finishing an album titled "No Lies, Just Fibs" with the Urban Prairie Players, made up of players he met through the ukulele meetups. He says the ukulele fits pros and beginners.

"It's shallow enough for child's play, and deep enough for an elephant to drown in," says Klemme, who uses his ukulele to play classical music, Spanish melodies, folk tunes and more. "I can even do 'Crazy Train' by Ozzy Osbourne."

Guitar player Terry Fitzgerald, 51, of Lombard, became a fierce defender of the ukulele after his wife, Carol, heard about the club and got him hooked.

"It was Tiny Tim who sent the whole thing spiraling downward," Fitzgerald says, explaining why those who equate the ukulele with that silly 1960s comedy act don't give the ukulele as much respect as other stringed instruments. "I picked it up and loved it."

So does his 21-year-old daughter, Kelsey. Fans say ukuleles make people feel happy.

"Some nights we laugh as much as we play," Fitzgerald says.

"You need to enter this world of the ukulele, and you will be amazed," Wong-Monaco promises.

Of course, if the ukulele doesn't transport you to a happy place, there are other musical options.

"You know," says Wegener, "there is a banjolele."