Kokandy revival of ‘Amélie’ a lovely tribute to kindness, human connection and simple pleasures

“Amelie” — 3.5 stars

“Amélie,” the effervescent musical based on the 2001 French romantic comedy of the same name, is the theatrical equivalent of a sorbet: a tasty complement to a summer day.

Kokandy Productions serves up a delicious Chicago-area premiere made sweeter by the beguiling Aurora Penepacker as the titular Amélie, a spritelike, young waitress turned anonymous do-gooder.

Director/choreographer Derek Van Barham’s revival, smartly staged in the cozy albeit sightline-challenged basement of Chicago’s Chopin Theatre, boasts an exceptional cast of singer/actor/instrumentalists who accompany themselves while playing the assorted eccentrics who frequent the Montmartre, Paris, cafe where Penepacker’s Amélie works her magic.

Van Barham’s jolly production had me smiling long after the lights dimmed. And the performance by Penepacker (a winsome mezzo-soprano from Glenview who impressed as Natasha in Writers Theatre’s “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812” last fall) suggests a new star on Chicago’s theater horizon.

A testament to the ripple effects of kindness, the joy of human connection and the importance of cherishing simple pleasures, “Amélie” — which had an abbreviated run on Broadway in 2017 — is a bighearted, aggressively whimsical musical that pairs composer/lyricist Daniel Messé’s airy, waltz-infused score with Nathan Tysen’s adorable, punny lyrics. Relying heavily on character vignettes, Craig Lucas’ book begins with an extended expose of Amélie’s sheltered childhood spent with a distant, army physician father (Kelan M. Smith) and neurotic mother (Rachel Carreras), who insists isolation is constant and human connection impossible.

Fast-forward a decade or more and Amélie is a waitress at The Two Windmills Cafe owned by former trapeze artist Suzanne (Samantha Ringor), whose employees include asthmatic tobacconist Georgette (Mizha Lee Overn) and the widowed Gina (Sonia Goldberg), who still grieves her unfaithful husband. The regulars include unpublished novelist Hipolito (Todd Aulwurm) and plumber Joseph (Quinn Rigg), who pines for Gina. Amélie's orbit also includes the peevish grocer Collignon (Jon Patrick Penick, who also plays Julian, Amélie's kindly artist neighbor), his employee Lucien (an endearing Sam Hook), a simple young man who sings to produce, and a blind beggar played by the talented Lucas Burr.

Uplifting the lives of others — encouraging them to pursue romance, reconcile their past or reevaluate their future — Amélie remains unfulfilled in her own.

Enter Nino, a quirky loner (played with rumpled authenticity by the terrific Joe Giovannetti), who collects cast-off photographs from train station photo booths. Clearly, he and Amélie are soulmates, but they spend much of the musical circling each other, having near encounters first at the adult store where Nino works and later at a carousel delightfully conceived by Van Barham where the actors double as carousel animals.

I would argue that the references to the death of Princess Diana and Elton John’s funeral tribute to her are an unnecessary distraction in a show that could bear some streamlining. That said, Aulwurm’s performance of “Goodbye, Amélie” (a nod to “Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road”) as the bespectacled, white tuxedoed superstar is a hoot.

Kudos to music directors T.J. Anderson and Anna Wegener for assembling an ensemble whose vocals are ideally matched, as evidenced by the lovely “The Sound of Going Round in Circles.”

Equally impressive is Penepacker’s delightful “Times Are Hard for Dreamers.” There’s also her poignant duet “How to Tell Time” with estranged husband and father Bretodeau (Smith), who’s inspired to return to his family after Amélie returns to him his long-forgotten childhood treasures.

Last but not least is Penepacker and Giovannetti’s penultimate number “Stay,” a moving ode to desire and fear, the conflicting emotions Amélie and Nino experience (which many of us share) as they prepare to commence their romance.

In a musical animated by effortless charm and populated by characters more charismatic than substantive, it is a deeply resonant, wonderfully human moment: The perfect conclusion to a charming tale.

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Location: Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago, kokandyproductions.com

Showtimes: 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday, through Sept. 28

Running time: About 2 hours 15 minutes, with intermission

Tickets: $45, $55

Parking: Limited street parking, paid lots

Rating: For teens and older; includes sexual references and references to depression