Steadstyle Chicago
	June 2009 Theatre Review by Alan Bresloff
	Dead Wrong For all of you who adore "Law and Order", no matter which one, you might get a kick out of Factory Theater's new production "Dead Wrong" written and directed by Manny Tamayo (assisted by Angelina Martinez on the direction).  While it is more "Law and Disorder" it has some nice moments and some solid music, which I think was by the New Berwyn Ramblers.  The show opens with a body found in an alley in Chicago and the cops, CSI and Detectives assembling just like a "Law and Order", each detective doing what they do, donned in rubber gloves while sipping their coffee.  The cops assigned to the case Mac (a powerful performance by Eric Roach) and his partner, Chooch (Anthony Tournis who needs to cut down the shouting; you can be a tough cop without yelling) who are also working on another case, a missing young girl Becky Chamber.  Corri Feuerstein plays both the girl and her own mother. As they check out the leads and visit the seedy streets of Chicago, they continue to run into dead ends, or are they?  Mac has just come back to the force after being in the hospital for observation and he may have come back too soon.  Periodically he has dizzy spells and imagines things that are not really happening, but might have.  Along the way, Mac has met a woman during his investigation who catches his fancy and a relationship begins.  Donna (the very talented and lovely Allison Cain) is a singer in a club who is a widow and has her own story to tell, which I cannot get into as it would give away some of the surprises in Tamayo's script. There are porn stars (Timothy C. Amos), a movie producer (Zach Bloomfield), an ex-con weirdo/sex offender (Anderson Lawfer), a bad cop (Scott Pasko) and the "kid" (deftly handled by Brian Hinkle) who is as harmless and innocent as they come, but as it turns out is a very important part of the mystery that "Dead Wrong" as a title represents.  The rest of the cast is composed of Scott Oken and Josh Graves. This is not your run of the mill production in an old factory.  The set by Danne Frank is very usable (this is after all a low budget production) and the lighting by Dan Tamarkin is very creative for a small theater.  The nature of the show brings with it some gunshots and strobe lighting, quite a bit of fighting choreographed by Anthony Touris/Chooch and blood.  This production has a "Blood Mistress" Missy Styles.  I am not sure what this means.  Does she manufacture and keep the theatrical blood or did she teach the actors how to make it appear real?  You'll have to judge this for yourself. One of the nice things about our Chicago theater scene is that we have these small non-Equity houses willing to try new plays and actors who are willing to work as hard as they do for the love of the theater.  None of these actors are paid to work.  They work because they love to perform.  I am sure they hope one day they will be able to give up their day jobs and be able to pay the bills on an actor's salary.  Speaking from my own history, very few will do this, but almost all of them will continue to grace a stage wherever and whenever they can.  That is who and what they are: actors.  Understand this and the fact that for $20 you get to see a live stage production and hear the lovely singing voice of Ms Cain and it is worth your time to take a trip to The Prop Thtr located at 3502 N. Elston in Chicago. The play will run through August 1, 2009 at The Prop Thtr with performances Fridays and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m.  To order tickets call 866-811-4111 or visit www.thefactorytheater.com.  The show runs about an hour and forty-five minutes with an intermission.  By the way, this theater does allow you to enjoy a beverage in your seat but as a courtesy to your fellow theater patrons, please do not pop the cap on the soda during a quiet moment and please do not squeeze the can when you have finished.  Recycle it after the show.   About Alan Bresloff Alan Bresloff, once an actor himself, has been covering the Chicago Theater Scene since 1993, first as the Theater and Arts critic for LaRaza newspaper, then with Salsachicago.com and then onto Extra Newspaper and The Epoch Times.  He also writes for ElImparcial and TeleGuia.  His reviews can also be seen on www.theatreinchicago.com.  Alan does not call himself a "critic" but a "reviewer" as he tries to educate the reader about theater itself, what is a good value, what to look for in a play or musical and more.  "Exposure to theater is a very important part of a young person's life" he says. "Learning about the arts and culture is in fact learning about life" and he tries to explain more in his reviews than just if it is good or bad.  Even some of the poor productions have some value, he often says and he would love your feedback on shows that you have seen.  You can write him here or at albresloff@sbcglobal.net.