LF_071119

LakeForestLeader.com LIFE & ARTS
the lake forest leader | July 11, 2019 | 21
Highwood theater company takes on Broadway musical
Lake Forest native
to be featured in
musical
Erin Yarnall
Contributing Editor
Fans of the musical “Be
More Chill” don’t have to
rush out to Broadway to see
it before the show ends its
run in the New York theater
district next month.
Highwood-based theater
company 4 Chairs Theatre
is taking on the musical
which follows social outcast
Jeremy Heere, who
takes a pill, called a squip,
which will help him to become
more popular. The
show also features a Lake
Forest native.
“The writer of the book
and the composer say this
is about beautiful, messy
people, and aren’t we all?
So we should celebrate
that,” said Lauren Rawitz,
the director of the production
and the founder of the
company.
One of the differences
between the Highwood
production and Broadway’s
is the age of the cast
members. The Broadway
cast is comprised of adults
playing high school students,
while Rawitz’s cast
features high school students
playing characters
their own age.
“It’s worth a watch because
we’re doing a very
different version of it compared
to what they do on
Broadway,” said Hanoko
Walrath, a recent Stevenson
High School graduate who
plays Christine in the musical.
“I think it’s just as good
because it’s a little more
real. We’re playing actors
of our age and Broadway
has actors in their upper
30s playing our age.”
There are other subtle
differences between the
two productions — including
the sets and props.
Because Rawitz didn’t
have a Broadway budget,
she had to improvise when
it came to some of her set
design.
In a scene that was supposed
to take place in a
bedroom, Rawitz set the
cast up with a yoga mat and
exercise ball, and had the
scene take place in a home
gym instead.
“You do what you’ve got
to do, right?” Rawitz said.
Lake Forest native Anthony
DePew, now an
acting student at the University
of Minnesota, met
Rawitz while he was attending
Stevenson High
School, where she was
formerly the theater director
before branching out on
her own to start 4 Chairs
Theatre.
He said he enjoys coming
home for the summer
and being able to take part
in community productions,
such as “Be More Chill.”
“It’s such a nice environment,”
DePew said.
“[Rawitz] is so knowledgeable
about everything about
theater, and it’s always such
an easy process.”
Mundelein High School
student Matthew Callas
plays the main character,
Jeremy Heere. He heard
about the theater through
word-of-mouth and auditioned
with a friend for the
production this year.
Callas said he wasn’t a
fan of the musical when
Hanoko Walrath plays Christine in “Be More Chill”
which runs at 4 Chairs Theatre in Highwood through
July 28. Erin Yarnall/22nd Century Media
he first heard it, but said it
grew on him over time.
“When I heard I could
audition for it I gave it another
shot,” Callas said.
“Now I love it all and I
think it’s really fun.”
The musical features
music direction from Glenview
resident Aaron Kahn,
who previously worked
with the theater company
on their 2018 production of
“Spring Awakening.”
Kahn said after his
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