Together again: Suburban actors reunite for ABT’s ‘Come Back, Little Sheba’ revival

In 2019, actors Philip Earl Johnson and Gwendolyn Whiteside worked together for the first time on American Blues Theater’s production of “On Clover Road.” The ABT ensemble members found the experience so fulfilling they vowed to work together again soon.

But life intervened. Professional commitments and the COVID-19 pandemic delayed their plans. Johnson toured the country doing stand-up, improv and other comedy shows. Whiteside, ABT’s longtime executive artistic director, focused on producing and overseeing construction of the company’s new permanent home in Chicago.

Now, seven years later, they reunite for ABT’s revival of “Come Back, Little Sheba,” William Inge’s 1950 play about the crumbling marriage between the quietly desperate Lola and Doc, a middle-aged couple whose fragile union is upended by a boarder, a comely college co-ed.

Whiteside approached Johnson about doing the play two years ago.

It’s a play from a different era, said Johnson, a Libertyville native residing in Mundelein, but its humanity is universal and timeless.

“She made a good choice,” said Johnson, who plays Doc opposite Whiteside’s Lola in director Elyse Dolan’s acclaimed production.

“I had the benefit of knowing in the back of my mind that this plum role was coming,” said Whiteside, who had two years to prepare.

She continued: “I started to think about Lola: How she moved in the world; what her body looked like.”

To that end, the Cary resident transformed herself by cutting her hair and styling it according to the era. She also gained 25% of her body weight.

“It was joyous in the beginning. I ate so many treats,” she laughed.

Producing the play in ABT’s 31-seat studio theater, where the audience is mere inches away from the actors, prompted the transformation. In part, because a wig and padding would have been obvious and distracting in such an intimate setting.

“I wanted to make sure my Lola was more naturalistic and realistic in that small space,” Whiteside said of Dolan’s production, which places audience members in Doc and Lola’s living room.

In such situations, “you modify and dial down,” she said.

Johnson, a veteran of Writers, Goodman and Court theaters, concurs. The small space demands an ultrarealistic, filmic style of acting.

“You can’t be too big,” he said.

“You’re always in close-up to the audience,” Whiteside added.

She and Johnson say audiences have responded favorably to the show.

“A lot of people reported back to us how heartbreaking and difficult it is to watch, but they’re happy for the catharsis,” Whiteside said.

Johnson said one audience member was so transfixed, she forgot for a moment that she was watching a play.

While returning to acting after an extended hiatus has inspired Johnson to pursue other roles, he has no plans to quit stand-up. To that end, he headlines a March 10 stand-up showcase at Estrella Negra restaurant in Chicago. On March 28, he performs with improv partner Brian Howard at the PM&L Theatre in Antioch. He’s also working on compiling “crazy stories from my idiot life” for a memoir.

As for Whiteside, the Northwestern University graduate goes behind the scenes to direct ABT’s revival of “Always ... Patsy Cline,” which runs May 1 through June 7.

“I’m honored and humbled to be an administrator and theater maker,” she said, “but my soul gets served when I’m onstage.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll return to acting full time.

“Once every couple of years is enough for me,” she said.

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“Come Back, Little Sheba”

Showtimes: 2 p.m. Wednesday; 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, March 14 and 21; 3 p.m. Saturday, March 7; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday through March 22

Where: American Blues Theater, 5627 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, (773) 654-3103, americanbluestheater.com

Tickets: $34.50-$64.50