Walk into the Northlight Theatre and you’ll find two baby grand pianos with artistic representations of a few musical notes hanging above them in the air. The ground of Tianxuan Chen’s set is composed of polished wood. The title of the piece is “2 Pianos 4 Hands” and thus when two formally attired men, Adam LaSalle and Matthew McGloin, appear from the wings, you are set up for a concert.
But, in fact, “2 Pianos 4 Hands,’” which was penned and first performed by Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt and first seen in Toronto, would be more accurately 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 core 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 building back up; the self-doubt and the feelings of inadequacy that afflict most artists.
Like elite sports, the world of concert piano has a pinnacle that is nearly impossible to achieve, and then a whole world of accompanists, teachers and decent but journeyman players who could make a buck at the Howl at the Moon chain of piano bars. As with many professions, part of most piano players’ journeys is to find peace with inequity and chance, to know where they fit in this hierarchy and to find joy in the act of playing itself. I studied piano myself and gave it up; that journey is not easy and can be filled with regret.
Northlight has produced “2 Pianos, 4 Hands” before; I remember writing about it for the Tribune some 20 years ago. Way to feel old. This hybrid show (the guys rock out to Elton John and also play complex concertos) was a big deal in Skokie back then (Northlight packed out the 900-seat theater next door to their current home) and it is fascinating to see it now in this smaller space. In the early 2000s, pedagogical psychological abuse was mostly unchecked. In that regard, at least, times have mercifully changed and some of the exchanges represented in the piece are less common. Northlight’s new production, directed with flourish by Rob Lindley and musically directed by the overachieving McGloin, doesn’t specifically locate itself in the past but that is the vibe, mostly. On the other hand, it also suggests that piano achievement has not gotten any easier.
This new staging starts out a tad too broad and for my tastes, especially when it comes to LaSalle’s performance in Act 1, which delays the thematic heft and squelches some of the early comedy with needless overplaying (acting, not musicianship), given this particular space, at least. But after intermission, LaSalle, a fine player alongside the more vulnerable and similarly capably McGloin, settles down and finds more subtlety of tone which leads him toward the truths embedded in the material.. Both performers won me over by the end, as clearly was true of all the Northlight audience. Based on overheard chatter, many had been there 20 years ago, too.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
Review: “2 Pianos 4 Hands” (3 stars)
When: Through Aug. 11
Where: Northlight Theatre at the North Shore Center for the Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie
Running time: 2 hours
Tickets: $49-$89 at 847-673-6300 and northlight.org
