October 28, 2009
By Nina Metz
If you have not had the opportunity to see Chicago actor Joseph Anthony Foronda perform as the Engineer in "Miss Saigon" -- on Broadway or more recently at Drury Lane Oakbrook -- book your tickets now. Silk Road Cabaret: Broadway Sings the Silk Road has a very short run (only through the weekend), but it's worth whatever schedule shuffling required to witness Foronda's rendition of "The American Dream," the Engineer's signature number.
Featuring a lineup of Broadway tunes about the Asian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean experience, the cabaret is based on a winking irony that nearly all these musicals were written by Americans and Brits, many in an "exoticized, Orientalized, otherized" vein.
So be it, seems to be the philosophy. There's a good-natured spirit to the show that's terribly inviting, though it could use a stronger through-line and better pacing. Conceived and curated by Silk Road artistic director Jamil Khoury, some of the numbers work better than others. You get everything from "One Night in Bangkok" (from "Chess") to "Here Be Oysters," a curiosity from a 1916 show called "Chu Chin Chow."
But when caramel-voiced Dipika Cherala sings "Are You Sure You Want To Be Famous" from "Bombay Dreams," it's enough to make you wish someone locally would give this 2004 Bollywood-themed musical a shot, despite the fact that it never gathered enough steam to be a major Broadway hit.
But the ace in the hole is Foronda (seen last month in "Yeast Nation" at American Theater Company), who steps back into the Engineer's shoes for one brief, fantastic moment. Something about this slippery character -- a misty-eyed dreamer and cynical realist rolled into one -- seems to connect with Foronda on a personal level, and he brings down the house without one ounce of costuming, sets or an orchestra.