Lucy and Charlie's Honeymoon

Making its world premiere at Lookingglass Theatre Company, playwright Matthew C. Yee's Lucy and Charlie, where Yee plays the role of Charlie, is a wingding, good ole time performance with energizing narrative and amazing original country western and folk songs. Featuring Yee and Aurora Adachi-Winter as the feisty, fearless Lucy, they meet, fall in love, and get married within two weeks. They become First Generation Asian American Renegades who stray from tradition and adopt the worst parts of the American dream by robbing a gas station attendant as they had no money to enjoy their honeymoon, becoming fugitives on the run. Lucy runs into Bao, who came to America to help her sister pay her debt to the company that brought her to the States. Lucy is convinced something is wrong and lies to Bao that she will help her with her sister's debt, but she needs to come with her and Charlie. After Peter finds a hat and sees the video, he realizes that one of the gas station robbers was his brother Charlie and informs his Grandma and brother Jeff. But when tragedy hits, everyone heads to a mountain cabin to survive a tragic fate. 

Directed by a Northwestern University professor, Amanda Dehnert, whose directing credits include Cabaret and Romeo and Juliet for the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Dehnert brings Yee's humorous depiction of Asian life in America and all of the stereotypical views society has about migrants and the things they adopt to fit in. As the play begins, some may be puzzled by the storyline of Asian playing American Cowboys. Yet, Yee is a master narrative playwright, and Lucy and Charlie's Honeymoon will reel you in with its high-spirited Bonnie and Clyde mixed with Monty Python's wit that's a hilarious and enthralling play with intriguing grit. The talented cast of Matt Bittner (Gabriel), Wai Ching Ho (Grandma), Rammel Chan (Peter), Harmony Zhang (Bao), Mary Williamson (Feinberg), Doug Pawlik (Martin), and Daniel Lee Smith as Jeff brilliantly combined amusing scenes of therapy, gaming with subtle, timely hints against pornography and Asian human trafficking was masterfully performed with the right touch of satire and effective dialogue. The off-the-wall, wacky chemistry of Daniel Lee Smith, Wai Ching Ho, and Rammel Chan was outstanding, and Bittner's dit-witty, dry humor was terrific, however, making her Lookkinglass debut, Mary Williamson, as security guard Feinberg, was priceless. Look to see her natural talent again in upcoming Chicagoland productions.    

The stage resembles an antique store filled with clothing, and household items, with Asian products placed on stage and as part of the stage's outer flooring, including a band area. And the band's performance of the original country western and folk songs was excellent. Yee's central vision was to make something fun and cool based all of the characters around his family members. He wanted the audience to see them as folk heroes using Asian characters. Dehnert describes Lucy and Charlie's Honeymoon as a concert with a story filled with mystery, suspense, and surprises. Let yourself get into this play's energy, as it is a delightful production that will have you laughing all day. 

4 Stars ****

Lookingglass Theatre Company

Lucy and Charlie's Honeymoon: A New Musical

Book and Music by Matthew C. Yee

Directed by Amanda Dehnert

Now Through July 16, 2023