It’s Monday, December 21, 1992, in Chicago, IL. It’s a cold, snowy day, which is good for business for the Cab Driver, played by Rusty Schwimmer. She starts early, at 630am, and picks up her first customers, a couple going to church. They try to convince her to join them. This is just the first of many strange invitations she receives this night. Later on, a female passenger played by Delysa Richards enters her cab with her hood pulled down over her head acting very suspiciously. She keeps fumbling around with something in her pocket, like a gun or something. The cab driver is obviously rattled and it makes for a very exciting scene.
Schwimmer plays the straight man role perfectly. As her customers do annoying things, she makes the perfect disgusted face, which is so funny. She is on the audience’s side and we are experiencing the taxi life with her. She also displays great fear and anxiousness when the suspicious passenger is in the cab.
Here are a few fun trivia items about the play:
In one scene, Schwimmer sits by herself in the cab, singing “Barracuda” by Heart.
Most of the characters are just going “3 blocks” away.
In one scene, her passengers from NYC are making fun of Chicago sports teams. She says the Cubs haven’t won the World Series since 1908, which was true at the time.
In the same scene, she defends the Bulls, who were on their way to their third straight championship.
While watching the performance, there are never more than four people on stage at a time. However, there are seventeen people in the cast.
The play was turned into a movie in 1997 starring Michael Shannon, John Cusack, Tracey Letts, John C. Reilley, Gillian Anderson, Julianne Moore, and many more.
Get tickets now for Hellcab through Dec 17th!
Quinn Delaney
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