'Tuesdays With Morrie' comes to West Chicago
This isn't the first time actor Howard Raik has taken on the demanding role of Morrie Schwartz, the Morrie of "Tuesdays With Morrie" fame.
"I had the pleasure of playing it once before, about three years ago," the Oak Park resident said. That was with MadKap Productions of Skokie.
When West Chicago's Gallery Theater artistic director Gail Cannata approached him about reprising the role about six months ago, his response was enthusiastic.
"I said I would do it in a heartbeat," Raik said.
In the play, Schwartz is a dying professor who imparts his wisdom and insights to his young former student who visits him weekly.
"It's actually a true story," said Cannata, director of the production. "It's about a man named Morrie Schwartz who was a professor at Brandeis University."
It's been about 20 years since author Mitch Albom's "Tuesdays With Morrie" hit store shelves and subsequently became a best-seller. It was about 15 years ago that the play based on the book, scripted by Albom and Jeffrey Hatcher, enjoyed a successful off-Broadway run.
The Gallery Theater production of "Tuesdays With Morrie" opens Friday, Feb. 17, for a six-performance engagement at the West Chicago theater on Turner Court.
When Albom, Schwartz' former student, sees an episode of "Nightline" profiling Schwartz and his struggle with ALS, aka Lou Gehrig's disease, the writer begins visiting him weekly.
"It's just a wonderful story. It's all about relationships and how he views life. It's the kind of story that resonates with people," Cannata said.
Raik said he's happy to play the role again, in part because it's a work of nonfiction.
"He's not a fictional character, he's a real man, just a wonderful, inspiring person," Raik said. "He was a person who loved life, he was a person who loved an ethical life, he loved doing things the right way."
The two characters are on stage for the one-act show's entire duration, which Cannata estimates at about 90 minutes.
"The initial hard part is learning a lot of lines. I find I get immersed in the part and I find I get immersed in the relationship. It's emotionally hard because you kind of know what the outcome is. For all that, there's a lot of humor," said Raik. "Morrie has a kind of wry, kind of East Coast kind of humor. He never loses his sense of humor."
Cannata said Justin Schaller of Hoffman Estates is making his second appearance on the Gallery stage with his portrayal of Mitch. Gary Murphy of Orland Park is serving as assistant director.
"This is our seventh season in West Chicago, and our third production of the season," Cannata said.
The theater seats between 30 and 40.
"So the audience is right there with the actors," Cannata said.
The non-equity boutique theater is an independent, nonprofit enterprise that gives unpaid thespians a creative outlet, she said.
"We do it for the love of the arts," she said.
Tickets can be purchased online at gallerytheaterstudio.org and picked up at the box office prior to the show, she said, or they can be purchased at the door whiles supplies last.
If you go
What: "Tuesdays With Morrie"
Who: Gallery Theater
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17, and Saturday, Feb. 18, Feb. 24 and Feb. 25; 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19 and 26
Where: Gallery Theater, 203 Turner Court, West Chicago
Tickets: $14; $12 for seniors 65 and older and students
Info: (630) 234-5919 and www.gallerytheaterstudio.org