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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Lucy and Charlie's Honeymoon

The cast of Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon.

June 21 – July 16, 2023
821 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States

Lucy and Charlie—self-styled “first-generation Asian American renegades”—have scarcely met when they tie the knot and hit the back roads as cartoon avatars of Bonnie and Clyde. Their zippy life of crime begins at the drive-through at a fast-food joint, escalates in a convenience store, and soon puts them on a collision course with a drug lord, human traffickers, and other lowlifes. Stereotypes abound and explode. Matthew C. Yee, who wrote the book and music, also stars as Charlie. He’s no Sondheim, but his dialogue is sitcom-caliber, his C&W songs are catchy, and the players chew the scenery with wicked zest. The smoky Aurora Adachi-Winter kills it as Lucy. And Wai Chin Ho’s pistol-packing Grandma, who tolerates no muddy boots on her 6-year-old “new” carpet, is a scream. Let’s not forget Mary Williamson as a security officer with an irrelevant penchant for karaoke. Her take on “The Streets of Laredo”—sung rather than lip-synched, talk about dramatic license—damn near hijacks the show. Memo to management: please post it on YouTube. —Matthew Gurewitsch