Steadstyle Chicago
	January 2010 Theatre Review by Alan Bresloff
	Sex Marks the Spot As I write this review, I am a little sad, not because the play was not a fun production, but rather that it was only available for one weekend, closing January 24.  This means that those who are reading this review will not get a chance to laugh your A _ _ off as the opening night audience did at The Theatre Building watching Charles Grippo's farcical comedy " Sex Marks The Spot".  Think about the works of Ken Ludwig and Ray Cooney and you will get an idea as to what Grippo has created.  A true sex farce uses all of the expected doors, fights, mistaken identities in a two hour romp into the life of a Senator with hopes of becoming President.  Ken Raabe is a delight to watch in this comic role.  He is having an affair with Desiree Climactica (the beautiful and sexy Tiffany Trainer) who is also running against him for the nomination. During this special night, Desiree tells Senator Cooney (notice the name given to the main character by Grippo, another special touch) she will reveal their affair unless he divorces his wife and marries her.  As a true politician, he drugs her so that this will not take place and decides to have his campaign manager Maxwell (a strong comic performance by Cory Stonebrook) dress as her and take her place at tonight's debate.  Meanwhile his press secretary, who is in love with Maxwell lends him her clothing and Sen. Cooney's Marine son comes to help him, but he has his own secrets.  Can the Senator save his marriage?  Can he keep his staff in place?  Can he beat his competition and save face?  Can he put his family back on track?  These are the questions and they all are answered in the 2 hours that Mr. Grippo complicates just perfectly. Director Aaron Hendrickson makes the three sided stage work, although this play works best in a traditional setting such as The Royal George would offer.  Roger Wyke's set does work (well, almost) to perfection, but being a short run on a limited budget, I was very impressed with his use of the stage in building the set and Hendrickson's direction utilizing all the doors and chase scenes as well as getting the timing just right, a key to the farce.  The fight scene coordinater/choreographer Alex Farrington made all the fights and even the tumbling and rolling about very realistic.  Again, this can be awkward in a staging where the audience gets to see more than normal and the crew and staff did an excellent job of making the scenes and transitions seamless and smooth. Farce works best when the actors understand just what the playwright and director want them to do.  One of Chicago's masters of the farce is Dale Benson, a longtime favorite of mine and these young actors were up to the standards that he set, some many years ago.  He is still the master and will open in Munster next month.  Hats off to the aforementioned Mr. Raabe, Mr. Stonebrook (who I think will be doing a lot more in our city), Ms. Trainer, Amanda Reader (another beauty who spends most of her time in bra and panties), Adam Schulmerich (as the Senator's son, and wait until you see his assortment of costumes), Danielle Forrester as Mrs. Cooney and Steve Evans as Wally Sommers, the horny broadcaster who has a few surprises in store for us as well.  These actors make it work and to think, they only got to do 4 performances in total!  Seems a waste.  Hey, maybe someone will see what I saw and decide to find a spot in town for a longer run.  Almost any of our storefront theaters would work.   Want to know more about the play?  visit www.sexmarksthespot.net.   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.