Play tracks 40 years of uneasy family life

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Phyllis Iannello of Hoffman Estates and Jonathan Weppler of Libertyville star in Encore Theatre's "John and Jen."

Updated: January 24, 2012 9:06PM

For what’s been described as an earnest musical, and has a cast of just two, “John & Jen” covers a big emotional territory. The play, which is about connections, commitments and healing, examines the complex relationships between brothers and sisters and parents and children over a period of four decades – 1950 to 1990.

Libertyville’s Encore Theatre will present this show, which debuted off-Broadway in 1995, for two weekends starting Jan. 27. The musical is based on a book by Andrew Lippa and Tom Greenwald with lyrics by Greenwald and music by Lippa.

Director Bob Silton calls it “a challenging play” but says it’s in good hands with a dynamic cast of Jonathan Weppler of Libertyville and Phyllis Iannello of Hoffman Estates.

Benefit show

All proceeds of the production, which will be performed in-the-round and preceded by a dinner, will benefit the Libertyville Civic Center Foundation, Silton said.

“Personally, I think it’s a brilliant show in how it captures two people over a broad time frame,” said Iannello, who plays the sister of John in the first act and the mother of a son named John in the second act. One gets to see how siblings growing up in an abusive home turn out completely different from one another, she said.

A pivotal song for Iannello among the show’s 18 numbers is “The Road Ends Here” in which her character comes to a realization that it’s time to move forward from the death of her brother and allow her son to live the life he chooses.

Emotional range

Weppler said as the play unfolds, there’s plenty of tension and humor. “Every emotion you can imagine comes to life,” he said. “The music carries a raw emotional impact.”

Iannello, who was raised in Rolling Meadows and majored in anthropology at Northern Illinois University, began acting while in second grade and took voice lessons in high school. Her first community theater production was in “The Wizard of Oz” in 2003 with HOTT Productions at the Prairie Center for the Arts in Schaumburg. In 2010,
she appeared in Encore’s “Little Shop of Horrors.”

She was also a founding member in 2005 of The Noteables, a community choir in Hoffman Estates.

Weppler said his interest in theater began in junior high when he first became involved with Encore. He majored in music education at Hope College in Holland, Mich., and has set his sights on becoming a high school music director.

Providing instrumental support for “John & Jen” are Gera Gapinski, on piano; Brian Massimo and John Goodman, drums; and Barb Cannon, cello.