With the shutting down of Drury Lane Evergreen Park and last week’s announcement that Drury Lane Water Tower Place will no longer be producing its own shows but will instead rent the space to incoming productions, Drury Lane Oak Brook remains the last Tony De Santis Drury Lane space producing its own shows in the area. Artistic director Ray Frewen is in his seventh year in that position and his creative take on musical classics raises them beyond the usual dinner-theater fare. True, the onetime racy 1959 “Once Upon a Mattress” is tame by today’s standards, but the contemporary take on Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Princess and the Pea” still has to power to entertain in spades, as Frewen’s colorful production reminds us. Paula Scrofano is magnificent as the Queen who never shuts up and Kristen Freilich makes an entrance as the princess that is beyond hysterical. The attention to musical and choreographic detail makes this perfect family fun with laughs enough for every generation. (Dennis Polkow).
Through Dec. 18, Drury Lane Oak Brook, 100 Drury Lane Road, Oakbrook Terrace; (630)530-8300.
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