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• Warren Leight's "Side Man"

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L to R--Debbie DiVerde, Ryan Hallahan, David Vogel, Matt McNabb, Steve O'Connell, Michelle Weissgerber, Michael Woods

Warren Leight's "Side Man" is a chronicle of a career and its personal cost. This 1999 Tony Award winning drama is a compelling story of a jazz trumpeter and his world as told by his son. Arlington Heights' Metropolis Arts Center has just opened a splendid new production of this classic story of the career that tears down the family, and this version may well rank with the best of them.

I am traveling through this story for the third time, including the original Broadway production, and here, there is a special quality to this experience. The Metropolis Arts' wrap-around modest space is seemingly flooded by Dustin Effird's wonderfully atmospheric set. Director Lauren Rawitz does not pump up the volume on the dramatics as this script has plenty of drama in the flow of the text. She goes for a natural exposition and the result is a refreshingly smooth and natural dramatic effect something akin to eaves dropping on a family drama. The realism that is the result makes an already powerful play a fully shared experience with rich, believable characters. This third time just may be my best trip through it yet.

Looking for distinction among members of this fine ensemble is not easy. These characters are major show pieces for good actors, and yet, no one seems out of tune with the flow of the production. There is a naturalness here that really works, and, yet, no character is left behind. Much of the weight of the production falls on the character of the son, Clifford, who must narrate and blend into the story as a critical dramatic element. As played by recent Illinois State graduate, Ryan Hallahan, this character makes an impression I have never experienced before. He is real and natural, and slips from narrator to character effortlessly. In many ways, he is the symbol of what makes this production so good.

"Side Man" will continue at Metropolis Arts until April 18. If you are in downtown Arlington Heights it is easy to find at 111 West Campbell Street. Check out: www.metropolisarts.org, or call the box office at--847-577-2121 for further details.