Step into the Northlight Theatre and you’ll find two grand pianos with artistic representations of musical notes hanging above them in mid-air. The floor of Tianxuan Chen’s set is made of polished wood. The title of the play is “2 Pianos 4 Hands,” so when two formally dressed men, Adam LaSalle and Matthew McGloin, appear from backstage, you’re in for a concert.
But in fact, “2 Pianos 4 Hands,” which was written and first performed by Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt and first seen in Toronto, would more accurately be titled “2 Pianos, 4 Hands, a Student and a Teacher.”
There is indeed a lot of piano playing in the piece, of a dueling and complementary nature and with parts in between. But the heart of this conceptual entertainment is the personal price paid by pianists: the parents who demand practice but also a less risky profession; the teachers who sometimes destroy without rebuilding; the self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy that plague most artists.
Like elite sports, the world of concert piano has a pinnacle that is nearly impossible to reach, and then a whole world of accompanists, teachers, and decent but experienced musicians who could make a killing at the Howl at the Moon chain of piano bars. As with many professions, part of the journey for most pianists is to find peace with inequality and chance, to know where they fit in that hierarchy, and to find joy in the act of playing itself. I myself studied piano and gave up; that journey is not easy and can be fraught with regret.
Northlight has done “2 Pianos, 4 Hands” before; I remember writing about it for the Tribune about 20 years ago. Way to feel old. This hybrid show (the guys rock Elton John and also play complex concertos) was a big deal in Skokie back then (Northlight sold out the 900-seat theater next door to its current home), and it’s fascinating to see it now in this smaller space. In the early 2000s, pedagogical psychological abuse was largely unchecked. In that sense, at least, times have mercifully changed, and some of the exchanges depicted in the play are less common. Northlight’s new production, directed with flair by Rob Lindley and musically directed by the gifted McGloin, isn’t specifically set in the past, but that’s mostly the vibe. On the other hand, it also suggests that piano performance hasn’t gotten any easier.
This new staging starts out a bit too broad and rambling for my taste, especially when it comes to LaSalle’s performance in Act 1, which slows down the thematic weight and stifles some of the early comedy with unnecessary overstatement (acting, not musicianship), given this particular space, at least. But after intermission, LaSalle, a fine performer alongside the more vulnerable and equally capable McGloin, settles down and finds more subtlety of tone that leads him toward the truths embedded in the material. Both performers won me over by the end, as was clearly true of the entire Northlight audience. Based on overheard conversations, many were there 20 years ago, too.
Chris Jones is a critic for the Tribune.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
Review: “2 Pianos 4 Hands” (3 stars)
When: Until August 11th
Where: Northlight Theater at North Shore Center for the Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie
Duration: 2 hours
Tickets: $49-$89 at 847-673-6300 and northlight.org
Originally published:
