Aug. 04--If someone in lederhosen were to shout at you "Ziggy, Ziggy, Ziggy," would you feel compelled to shout back "Oy, Oy, Oy"? Do you crave the chance to do a conga down Belmont Avenue with a guy dressed as a priest? Do you think to be Italian means to love lukewarm lasagna, and to be Irish means to head for the bar? Are you feeling nostalgic for the Chicken Dance and still remember the moves? And, above all, do you think most live entertainment in Chicago would be improved if only the shows included several games of bingo?
Well, I can think of a few current attractions that might benefit from the odd full house. But this is about you.
If you can answer in the affirmative to all of the above questions, know how to safely operate a dauber, and, most especially, if you are afeared that the comedy of ethnic stereotype is going the way of all flesh in our more enlightened digitized world, then "We Gotta Bingo," the eye-poppingly retro (and, for sure, aptly titled) new attraction on Chicago's North Side might just be the show for you, although I surely would not brave this one alone. You will need fortification. All kinds thereof.
Behold, the defunct Lakeview bar known as the Belmont Pourhouse has been transformed into the Der Brew-Ha-Ha, the venue for a fundraiser between two rival parishes, St. Patrick's ("Give us cabbage. Give us beer. We thank you Lord for Ireland dear!") and St. Dominic's ("Give us pasta. Give us wine.") Therein, your host Helmut leads the room in various games of bingo, interrupted by assorted good-natured shenanigans between the Irish parish and the Italian parish, each competing with each other to raise cash and, of course, for the affections of the archbishop who might -- shiver me timbers! -- force the two parishes to merge and put aside their differences. As part of your $49 package, you eat some of Rosa's lasagna (one of your tablemates, or maybe you, dear reader, will be pressed into service, obliged to don a hair net, and sent off to the kitchen to fetch the food), and you play a few games of bingo, including "The Virgin," one of the more exotic games on the card involving numbers that form a large "V."
"We Gotta Bingo" is, incredibly enough, set in the present (I think), even though this whole enterprise (created by Bill Collins) feels like a holdover from the days when interactive theater was all the rage in town and "Tony 'N' Tina's Wedding," the spiritual father of the show, was just beginning its multi-year run. Designed as interactive fun for those with such cravings, "We Gotta Bingo" is an import from St. Paul, Minn., where, as fans of "The Prairie Home Companion" well know, time moves to its own beat.
The lively and mostly Chicago-based cast does its best with this material. I was rather tickled by Michael Tatar's Helmut, by Merrick Robison's Bucky (the ringmaster of the bingo) and, most of all, by Jessica Lauren Scott's Darla, the Vanna White of the Brew-Ha-Ha and a very droll improvisational actress who makes a lot out of moving a few floating balls around.
Modern life can be disorienting and, for some, there may well be comfort in that such entertainments still sprout in a neighborhood where there once were many a Brew-Ha-Ha, or at least many a Germanic brewhouse without the Ha-Ha. And sans the bingo, naturally. "We Gotta Bingo" is full-service. I had some laughs. A group from United Airlines was having a lot of fun. Helmut joked that they so busy playing bingo, it explained the delays at Das O'Hare, which worked for me.
"We Gotta Bingo" has all of that going on. On one recent Saturday night, the prizes, if you are still with me, included both tchotchkes and a $10,000 check.
Ah! Now you're going. Good luck with cashing that check.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@tribpub.com
REVIEW: We Gotta Bingo
2 STARS
When: Open run
Where: Chicago Theater Works, 1113 W. Belmont Ave.
Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Tickets: $49 (food included) at 312-391-0404 or wegottabingo.com
