Wichita’s Forum Theatre opens new musical comedy for Valentine’s Day

Forum Theatre Company sees its new musical, which opens Valentine’s weekend, as a date night compromise.

For the starry-eyed, “Desperate Measures” has a sweet love story and some sensitive romantic ballads.

For the wilder side, there’s a Western setting and sometimes-screwball comedy.

And for fans of Shakespeare, the musical is loosely – “emphasis on ‘loosely,’” artistic director Kathryn Page Hauptman cautions – based on the Bard’s “Measure for Measure.”

“It has all the great elements from ‘Measure for Measure,’” Hauptman said. “It deals with politics, hypocrisy, the tough choices when you’re looking at ethics and morality. They’ve taken it out of the regular environment of Shakespeare. It uses plain English with a western twang, and tells the story in a really fun way, but there’s some substance there. It’s extremely well-written.”

In “Desperate Measures,” the dangerous Johnny Blood (Max Wilson) finds his life is on the line for a murder he committed in self-defense. He must put his fate in the hands of characters include a mysterious sheriff (Ted Dvorak), an eccentric priest (Simeon Rawls), a narcissistic governor (Ray Wills), a salon girl gone good (Chelsea Moore Ehresman) and a nun out of habit (Ari Chandler).

The musical, from the team behind Broadway’s “Anna Karenina,” had an off-Broadway run in 2018, winning the Outer Circle Critics Award for best musical.

“It just seemed like the right thing for us,” Hauptman said. “I like to find things that are really solid pieces of dramatic literature, but with a twist. And this was one of those.”

The fact that it straddles several different genres also was appealing to Hauptman.

“It’s a little bit of a screwball comedy like the old movies used to be, and it’s a takeoff a little bit of the old Western movies,” she said. “Some of the romantic scenes are almost like Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, the kind of sparring fun between couples.”

Ehresman, who plays saloon girl Bella Rose, said the style of the show is “right in my wheelhouse.”

“I loved it right away. I was surprised at how good it was,” she said. “When I got into the text there was meat in there, you know? It wasn’t just some hokey, silly show.”

“She’s a natural with the comedy and the energy it takes (and) the language,” Hauptman said of Ehresman.

After a preview performance Thursday night, Forum is offering a Valentine’s special dinner theater, including pulled pork sliders, slaw, chips, pie and root beer for an additional $14 per person.

‘DESPERATE MEASURES’ BY FORUM THEATRE COMPANY

When: Feb. 13 to March 1, with performances at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays

Where: Wilke Center, First United Methodist Church, 330 N. Broadway

Tickets: $17 for preview Feb. 13; $23 Thursdays and Sundays, $25 Fridays-Saturdays, by calling 316-618-0444

This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 5:01 AM.