Chelm!, Opera Factory, at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie. Performing a one-person musical requires a wide array of exceptional skills. Ian Geller has one: a rich, booming, mellifluous baritone with the power to make a believer out of even the least devout person in shul. But Geller’s musical–his version of a witty Jewish folktale (popularized by Isaac Bashevis Singer in “When Schlemiel Went to Warsaw”) about a foolish man who takes a trip to Warsaw yet finds himself back in his hometown–requires not only a standout vocalist but an actor, literary adapter, storyteller, and comedian. Nimbly accompanied by pianist Stuart Leitch in his excellently sung musical numbers, Geller also performs more than a dozen roles and somehow extends this brief tale beyond the two-hour mark, adding plodding digressions and winking asides.
