metropolisnews

'Indecent Proposals' shows how not to marry

Arlington Heights Post

By Myrna Petlicki

October 9, 2008

As proposals go, it was a decent one. Playwright Scott Woldman of Palatine asked Brad Dunn of Lake Zurich to direct his new show at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre. They already had a great working relationship because Dunn had appeared in Woldman's first two plays at Metropolis and directed his third, "Speed Dating the Musical." The fact that the show hadn't been written yet didn't faze either one of them.

We're here to report that it was a successful merger. "Indecent Proposals" is a funny, well-directed comedy which offers vignettes that might be described as how not to propose marriage. The six-person ensemble plays a variety of roles, with the funniest sketch being between an Italian woman and her Italian-American husband. Although the individual sections seem unconnected, several of them come together in a riotous final scene that features one of the craziest props in recent memory.

"I didn't have any input beyond that," Dunn insisted. "He wrote every word and figured out every little detail."

Woldman said that when Dunn appeared in "Men Exposed," his first show, "I was impressed with his comedic sensibility. And he had a really good dramatic monologue as well. It ended up being one of the most poignant moments of the first show."

Dunn proved himself as a director with "Speed Dating." "He did an amazing job," Woldman said.

The playwright enjoys working with Dunn because although "We have a lot of overlap in things that we like he brings his own style. I sort of tailored the show to his suggestions. Working with him made me grow as a writer because I put things in there that I wouldn't probably have otherwise. I would send him the scenes as I was writing and get his feedback. It's nice to have a director that I trust so much."

Dunn has been acting since his high school days in Colorado. He worked as a musician and did sound design, including four years at the Spoleto Festival in North Carolina, before starting college at 22.

Dunn moved to Chicago in 1999, where he studied at ImprovOlympic (now iO) and The Second City Conservatory, and performed with several improv teams. By day, he created corporate videos.

He first appeared at Metropolis three years ago in "War of the Worlds," followed by Woldman's "Men Exposed." Around that time, Dunn joined the staff of Metropolis as communications director.

Dunn was an understudy in Woldman's "Dates from Hell," and made it onstage. Woldman saw a two-person show Dunn had written that was playing at Donny's Skybox Studio Theatre at The Second City and shortly thereafter asked him to direct "Speed Dating the Musical."

It was Dunn's stage directing debut.

"It helps when the script you get is really funny," Dunn said.

Indecent Proposals runs through November 8, at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights.  For tickets, call the Box Office at 847.577.2121  

Buy Tickets Here