Since 2011, the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival has presented one play a year in its “Extreme Shakespeare” series. The concept is to try to recreate in part the process believed to have been used in Shakespeare’s era, in which the actors come together at the theater, with their lines already learned, wearing whatever they choose, for just a few days of rehearsal before their opening public performance – all without the benefit of a director or designers. It’s an interesting experiment, but does it work for an audience accustomed to their contributions?
This year’s offering and the sixth in the series is Troilus and Cressida, the rarely-produced ‘problem play’ of circa 1602, which defies easy categorization. Combining elements of comedy, tragedy, history, and romance, the Bard’s story takes its inspiration from the pseudo-Homeric medieval tale of the titular lovers, popularized in Chaucer’s epic poem “Troilus and Criseyde” of the 1380s, set within the ancient narrative of the late years of the long Trojan War and containing the legendary cast of characters from Greek mythology, as recounted in Homer’s Iliad (ca. 750 BC).
Brandon J. Pierce and Mairin Lee. Photo by Lee A. Butz.
Cut with clarity and focus by actor Greg Wood, the complex multi-figured script retains the diversity of elements that Shakespeare incorporated (and which we all experience in life), with its momentous events and relationships, its sardonic wit and devastating sadness, and its still-unheeded moral about the ravages of war, the dangers of pride, and the betrayal of honor (in which can be seen parallels with Shakespeare’s own time, and with ours). Even without the guidance of a director, the cast is equally clear and appropriate in its blocking of the action, moving easily and purposefully, while making use of the surrounding space, aisles, and the mostly bare stage – furnished with two benches and a classicizing post-and-lintel curtained backdrop (appropriated from another show). The fight choreography, too, employing wrestling, swordfights, knives, and a group assault of non-consensual kissing and touching, is impressively invented and executed by the actors themselves.
According to the PSF’s Producing Artistic Director Patrick Mulcahy, members of the cast were given two hours upon arrival to scavenge through the company’s cache of costumes and props, to select what they’d like for their roles and scenes. Here the result is a discordant mash-up of anachronisms that breaks the overall consistency of the production and visually distracts from the historical narrative. Wearing everything from current jeans and tee-shirts, to 20th-century European military uniforms, old Hollywood glam, and robes that evoke the Middle Ages, and carrying a pan-temporal array of weapons and accoutrements, the absence of a designer’s homogeneous vision is obvious. Especially jarring is the characterization of Carl Wallnau’s Pandarus, whose white suit and hat, flask of liquor, cigarette holder, and Southern accent come straight out of Tennessee Williams, not Shakespeare or antiquity, and take the farcical component of the play to a disruptive and disconcerting extreme. The cast does, however, harmonize in the predominant colors worn by the Greeks (black) and Trojans (red), which helps greatly to distinguish the sides in their final battles. The action is also supported by lighting cues borrowed from another show, which spotlight the actors and indicate daytime and night, and by brief segments of song (including The Penguins’1954 hit “Earth Angel”), signaling trumpets and drums, and the noise of the unseen crowds.
Younger members of the cast, including recent graduates of the theater program at DeSales University (where the PSF is located), have been given an invaluable opportunity to work with established actors and to learn the past methods of their craft. While all come fully prepared in terms of memorization, they are not yet as accomplished in their performance of Shakespeare and could have benefitted from some authoritative direction in the tempering of their histrionics, affectations of speech, and uneven recitations, which frequently lack in meter and in a believable connection to the emotions of the characters and the significance of their words.
With that said, nothing could detract from the brilliant performances of the seasoned Shakespearean masters, who bring to the stage profound feeling, insightful wit, and a thorough facility with the Elizabethan language and rhythm, along with a mature apprehension of the personalities and a meaningful delivery of the tale’s inherent underlying message. Brandon J. Pierce and Mairin Lee beautifully capture the youthful passion, uncertainty, and pain of Troilus and Cressida. When he tells us “I’m giddy!” we feel the excitement of his love radiate throughout the theater; when she is used as chattel in the negotiations for peace, we have all we can do to keep from jumping up and intervening on her behalf.
Justin Adams. Photo by Lee A. Butz.
Anthony Lawton, who delivers crucial messages as Aeneas, and Luigi Sottile as the respected warrior Hector (the Trojans) are well-matched with Lindsay Smiling, Justin Adams, Greg Wood, and Eric Hissom, as the high-ranking Agamemnon, the vicious Achilles, the wise and crafty Ulysses, and the elderly Nestor (the Greeks). All define their characters with distinction and credibility, capturing Shakespeare’s cynical humor with subtlety, and commanding the stage every moment they’re on it. And Susan Riley Stevens – playing traditionally male roles, in a reversal of the all-male casts in Elizabethan theater – provides both the physical comedy and the hilariously brutal socio-political commentary on the war, its heroes, and pawns, as the vile and insulting, but incisively observant slave Thersites, who acts the fool but speaks the truth.
The “extreme” presentation of Troilus and Cressida is a mixed bag. Some might find the unexpected juxtapositions and anachronisms amusing, in keeping with the nature of the play’s satirical content, while others will find them intrusive and indicative of the value of unified direction and design. But everyone should see in it Shakespeare’s universal themes and unparalleled writing, and the very human portrayals by the outstanding experts in the cast.
Running Time: Approximately two hours and 30 minutes, including an intermission.
Troilus and Cressidaplays through Sunday, August 6, 2017 at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Schubert Theatre – 2755 Station Avenue, in Center Valley, PA, on the Campus of DeSales University. For tickets, call (610) 282-WILL, or purchase them online.
Who could guess that a play about the life of the renowned comic book artist, Jack Kirby (August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994), would be filled with so much humor, pathos and fact-dropping narrative? The play, written by comic book artist Fred Van Lente and playwright Crystal Skillman, is so new, its Kickstarter page is still up. With stunningly real performances and clever direction by Keith Cassidy, King Kirby is top shelf stage art about the world of comics. Kapow!
Josh Mooney as Kirby and Erik Harrison as Stan Lee. Photo courtesy of Off the Quill.
Kirby was a “tough jew” from the Lower East Side, a place that was a “farm team for the mafia,” a place that forced him to fight in the streets against tough Irish kids. Kirby, driven by his desire to escape the violence, and a life working in the garment industry like his father, became the preeminent creative pioneer of comics for over 50 years. Kirby accomplished so much – World War II veteran, husband, father, even a theater scenic designer – that one show seems not quite enough to cover it all.
Casting puts this show in the top three of the best I’ve seen this year. Josh Mooney embodied Kirby in attitude and physicality. Mooney’s face in many scenes showed the pained expression of a man undervalued and mistreated by the comic book industry.
Much of the show details Kirby’s trek to and fro various comic book publishing companies. The first major company he worked for was Fleischer Studios (creators of Popeye), at which he experienced the tedium of animation; from there it was off to Fox Features Syndicate in 1940. It was Kirby’s collaboration with Joe Simon, a college-educated, business-savvy editor from Syracuse, New York, that advanced his career substantially. Simon and Kirby created Captain America for Timely Comics, which sold a million copies its first run, and other titles like Boy Commandos and Manhunter. Mooney’s scene with Michael J. Dombroski’s Simon, in which Simon implored Kirby to stand up for himself against the wolves in the industry, was one of the strongest in the show.
The cast of King Kirby. Photo courtesy of Off the Quill.
Much has been written about Kirby’s creative differences with Stan Lee (the astoundingly good Erik Harrison). Did Kirby really create The Fantastic Four and not Lee? Did Kirby create the characters Galactus and the Silver Surfer? Disputes over who created what resulted in a legal battle that only ended in 2014. Lee was more Paul McCartney to Kirby’s imaginative John Lennon. Harrison made me believe I was watching a younger, arrogant Stan Lee, complete with his impeccable accent and habit of munching on peanuts from a small paper bag. As an audience member, I was the proverbial fly on the wall watching comic history being made… or perhaps a Mad Men-style TV show about the comic book business.
The love story between Kirby and his wife Roz was touching. Jenny Oberholtzer channeled a loving wife who, by all accounts, was a pillar of strength who supported Kirby as he produced prodigious output.
The always-excellent Melissa B. Robinson played everything from a Sotheby’s auctioneer to a flower-child-like journalist, as part of the ensemble. Northwestern High School (this writer’s alma mater) students Jonathan Palmer and Enoch Wilson Jr. played everything from soldiers to Kirby-obsessed fans. Sean Eustis had a comical and somewhat heartbreaking scene with Mooney as a fan meeting Kirby at a comic book convention in the 80s. Brett Cassidy was hilarious as Timely Comics owner Martin Goodman (Lee’s uncle), who was all about sales, not art. Cassidy also played Gen. George S. Patton in profanity-laced, deliciously over-the-top scenes.
Cassidy’s direction was superb. The Manhattan regional accents were perfectly done. The set, thanks to Production Designer and Assistant Director Patrick Mullen, looked like blank comic panels on which various comic book covers, art work, videos and old photographs were projected. One projection, a silhouette of the Incredible Hulk in a rage, perfectly matched the rage Mooney infused Kirby with in one of his scenes.
Brian Moors created effective fight choreography; Katie Wanschura’s costumes evoked various styles in various decades. The show features some adult language, which could be problematic for younger viewers. King Kirby is an absolute must-see; be the superhero of your family and take them to see it.
Running Time: One hour and 45 minutes, with no intermission.
King Kirby plays through August 12, 2017, at Off the Quill performing at Greenbelt Arts Center – 123 Centerway, in Greenbelt, MD. For tickets, call the box office at (301) 441-8700, or purchase them online.
The exhilarating musical The Gospel at Colonus returns, Lauren Gunderson’s fiery genius Emilie makes her DC debut, and Shakespeare’s fantastical The Tempest takes the stage by storm
For its 28th season making theatre on the edge, Avant Bard proudly announces the regional premiere in October of Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight by Lauren Gunderson, one of America’s hottest, most produced young playwrights. In February 2018 Avant Bard revives its acclaimed production of The Gospel at Colonus, a sold-out hit during Season 27. And May 2018 brings Shakespeare’s classic The Tempest directed by Artistic and Executive Director Tom Prewitt, whose King Lear played to packed houses last spring.
Also on Avant Bard’s docket is its signature play-reading series, the Scripts in Play Festival, which kicks off in late November with a slate of scripts and projects still being curated.
“Avant Bard is coming off what was arguably the most successful season in our company’s history,” said Artistic and Executive Director Prewitt. “We intend to build on that success in Season 28, and our exciting lineup of plays and community partnerships will help us do exactly that.”
The cast of The Gospel at Colonus. Photo by DJ Corey Photography.
Season 2017-2018 Details
Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight By Lauren Gunderson Directed by Rick Hammerly AN AREA PREMIERE
October 12 to November 19, 2017
Opening night: Tuesday, October 17, 2017, 7:30 pm.
Passionate. Brilliant. Defiant. Tonight the 18th-century scientific genius Emilie du Châtelet is back and determined to answer the question she died with: love or philosophy, head or heart? In this seductively theatrical rediscovery of one of history’s most intriguing women, Emilie defends her life and loves, and in the process creates a legacy that alters the course of physics. Starring Acting Company member Sara Barker as Emilie.
Scripts in Play Festival ARTISTIC TRIAL BALLOONS
November 27 to December 17, 2017
Avant Bard’s season kickoff script Emilie was a fan favorite in this series of play readings, which launched in Season 26 and has yielded world premiere stagings of The Good Devil (In Spite of Himself) and Helen Hayes Award-nominated TAME. Our Scripts in Play Festival continues in Season 28 with a fresh new lineup of edgy, classically based scripts under consideration for full production (dates and plays to be announced).
The Gospel at Colonus By Lee Breuer and Bob Telson Directed by Jennifer L. Nelson A GOSPEL MUSICAL REVIVAL
February 22 to March 25, 2018
Opening night: Tuesday, February 27, 2018, 7:30 pm.
A soaring musical celebration of transcendence and the fragility of life, The Gospel at Colonus was a global sensation when it premiered in 1983 and a Metro DC phenomenon when Avant Bard mounted it in an up-close and intimate production. With its epic poetry and transcendent score, The Gospel at Colonus reminds us that out of the deepest sorrows, the highest and most uplifting art can emerge.
The Tempest By William Shakespeare Directed by Tom Prewitt A CLASSIC REINVIGORATED
May 31 to July 8, 2018
Opening night: Tuesday, June 5, 2018, 7:30 pm.
Shakespeare’s farewell play, the only work he set in the New World, is filled with dazzling magic, young love, cross-cultural strife, and ultimately forgiveness. Christopher Henley, fresh off rave reviews as Lear’s Fool, plays the sorcerer Prospero in a reinvigoration of this classic dark comedy. In Avant Bard’s offbeat update, The Tempest tells a story of colonials and refugees that asks, “How can we all get along on this island Earth?”
VENUE All mainstage productions will be at Gunston Arts Center, Theatre Two, 2700 South Lang Street, Arlington, VA 22206.
TICKET INFORMATION Tickets will be available online at avantbard.org/tickets or by calling 703-418-4808. General admission is $30 on Fridays; $35 on Saturday evenings and Sundays. Thursdays and Saturday matinees are Pay What You Will*. Saturday matinees will be followed by Unscripted Afterchats with members of the creative team.
*Pay What You Will means you can name your ticket price, any price, at the door (and you can reserve a Pay What You Will ticket online in advance with a $10 minimum).
About WSC Avant Bard
Founded in 1990, WSC Avant Bard is a performing arts organization dedicated to producing classic works (both time-tested and contemporary), emphasizing a bold approach in an intimate setting that showcases the best emerging and established talent in the region.
At Avant Bard we are in the business of discovery. As a company at the heart of the vibrant theatre scene in our nation’s capital, we approach our work passionately and are dedicated to producing plays that inspire and challenge preconceptions of theatre.
Avant Bard is supported in part by Arlington County through Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development, and the Arlington Commission for the Arts; the Virginia Commission for the Arts; and the National Endowment for the Arts. Avant Bard was selected as one of the best small charities in the Greater Washington Region by the Catalogue for Philanthropy in 2011-2012 and again in 2015-2016.
Tony Kushner divided his epic play, Angels in America, into two parts. The second half, subtitled Perestroika, was beamed live to cinemas worldwide on July 27 from London’s National Theatre where it’s in the midst of a sold-out run.
This play, lasting four-and-a-quarter hours, starts with a monologue, just as the first half did.
Nathan Lane. Photo by Helen Maybanks.
Kushner’s script has hardly any soliloquies where a character reveals his inner thoughts, in asides, to the audience. Instead, almost all of the talk is in conversations between the garrulous characters. One exception is a rabbi’s eulogy at the start of Part One upon the death of the grandmother of one of the leading players.
This scene is important because the rabbi points out the significance of the journey the old woman made from Europe many years before; a great journey which portends the journey which the characters are going to undertake in these plays, and a journey — a transformation — which Kushner calls upon America to make.
The start of Part Two has a counterpart, a speech by “the world’s oldest living bolshevik” who bemoans the failure of the noble experiment of bolshevism (the Soviet form of socialism). He regrets the fact that Russia is imitating America with its cheeseburgers and other manifestations of capitalism.
Perestroika (Russian for “restructuring”) was the reform political movement led by Mikhail Gorbachev which led to the end of the Soviet Union. Perestroika, the play, picks up where Part One ended. Two men are dying of AIDS. They are polar opposites. Prior Walter (Andrew Garfield) is a respected member of New York’s gay community and Roy Cohn (Nathan Lane) is a closeted, powerful right-wing politician. A romance is in progress between Joe Pitt (Russell Tovey) who is the protégé of Cohn, and Louis Ironson (James McArdle), the ex-lover of Prior, while Pitt’s wife Hannah (Denise Gough) escapes into drug use.
But plot details are relatively unimportant because Angels is more a fantasy than it is a narrative. Kushner’s ruminations are more important than the specifics of what happens. His subtitle, appropriately, is A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, with the accent on fantasia.
Three of the most fantastic scenes are in Part Two: Harper’s delusional trip to Antarctica, which prompts a discussion of the ozone layer and other environmental issues (written in 1990!); Louis’s delirious look at a diorama in the Mormon informational center in Manhattan, which provides historical background on Mormonism; and a visit to heaven where we see and hear a clash between passive acceptance and a return to harsh reality where one can deal with painful issues.
Andrew Garfield. Photo by Helen Maybanks.
Kushner, a secular Jew, seems to be saying that the idea of heaven is all well and good but what’s more important is to stay on earth as long as one can, and continue to fight against illness and injustice. The idea of pioneer Mormons crossing the prairie, incidentally, provides an interesting link with the immigrant European Jews making their trans-Atlantic journey.
Dramatic confrontations in Part Two are combative. Especially gripping are Prior’s disputatious reunion with Louis, Cohn’s bullying of his drag-queen nurse Belize (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), Belize’s take-down of Louis for his hypocrisy, and Cohn’s excruciating death scene where the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg gets the last laugh at the manipulator who intervened with a judge and insured that Ethel was electrocuted after her conviction for spying.
Playgoers should note the mitigating factor that Ethel and her husband passed secrets to Russia when it was America’s ally in World War II, not to an enemy nation; but Cohn was hostile to any clemency, and he prevailed.
Sparks fly during each of those confrontations, and there’s sassy humor. The acting of Garfield, Lane and McArdle rise to eloquent heights here. Garfield in particular is haunting and spellbinding.
A deficiency in proper American accents by a few cast members is puzzling, especially in contrast to the perfect American speech by the Irish Gough and the Scottish McArdle. My other reservation concerns Amanda Lawrence’s appearance as The Angel. I don’t like to pick on actors for their looks, but I regret that Lawrence appears to be plain and skinny, because she is supposed to be so voluptuous and seductive that Prior, even though he’s gay, gets erections and ejaculates whenever he sees her. It’s in the script.
Marianne Elliott’s direction and Ian MacNeil‘s sets reach their best when a glowing ladder descends to transport Prior to heaven, and in the subsequent scene in heaven.
Running Time: Four hours and 15 minutes, including two intermissions.
Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes plays through August 19, 2017, at the National Theatre, London. The first part, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, was presented by Fathom Events live in HD at selected cinemas on July 20, 2017. Part two, Angels in America: Perestroika, was shown live in cinemas on July 27, 2017. Encores of both parts will be announced for selected locations. Tickets to the HD screenings can be ordered online.
Read Steve’s review of Angels in America: Millennium Approacheshere.
From its origins in L. Frank Baum’s1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to its adaptation in MGM’s blockbuster 1939 film The Wizard of Oz to its annual TV broadcast on CBS beginning in 1956 (which made it one of the best-known and most-viewed movies in history), the fantasy of Dorothy’s journey to the Land of Oz has remained a favorite of both children and adults for more than a century. But we never heard the backstory of the witches she encountered there, until Gregory Maguire wrote a book from their perspective in 1995, entitled Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. Maguire’s inventive prequel spin on Baum’s beloved narrative became the inspiration for the significantly reworked hit musical Wicked, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman, which premiered on Broadway in 2003. The phenomenal Broadway touring production of the original award-winning show, directed by Joe Mantello, is now back in Philadelphia for a month-long run at the Academy of Music in the Broadway Philadelphia series, presented by the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and The Shubert Organization. Its quirky characters, spectacular design, soaring score, and important moral lessons, delivered by a sensational cast, continue to work magic on audiences (and reviewers!) of all ages.
Jessica Vosk. Photo by Joan Marcus.
The complex and captivating show fleshes out the familiar figures and plot points in a go-back story that opens with the citizens of Oz celebrating the death of the Wicked Witch (“No One Mourns the Wicked”), then revisits the years before the arrival of Dorothy, tracing the characters’ origins, motivations, and development, while cleverly referencing famous scenes and lines from the movie. Here we find out the genesis of the ruby slippers, how monkeys came to fly, why the Tin Man didn’t have a heart, why the Cowardly Lion didn’t have the nerve, and, most importantly, why Glinda was called “Good” and Elphaba “Wicked.” In the wise words of the Wizard, “Truth is just what everyone believes . . . we call it history.”
Following the acclaimed Broadway performances by Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth in the lead roles, and the iconic appearances of Margaret Hamilton and Billie Burke in the film, Jessica Vosk as Elphaba and Ginna Claire Mason as Glinda have big shoes to fill on the tour. They do it with aplomb, bringing the contrasting personalities to life with their engaging acting, well-calibrated humor, and powerhouse voices. Mason laughably embodies the self-absorbed, spoiled, and perky “blond” (as Elphaba describes her in a single deadpan word), hilariously spoofing her primping, laughing, and flitting around the stage, relishing the adoration and attention she commands (and demands!), and effervescently singing about the necessity of being “Popular.” Vosk brings empathy and depth to the green-skinned outcast Elphaba – who, though smart, gifted, and sensitive, is scorned and misunderstood – as she recognizes that “Something Bad” is happening in Oz, laments her lack of appeal in “I’m Not That Girl,” and calls on her occult powers of “Defying Gravity” in her expressive show-stopping vocals (she also nails the witch’s infamous cackle, once she resolves to fight for herself and the people and animals she loves). As the two initial adversaries get to know each other, they forge an unlikely friendship of understanding and caring, and ultimately see how they’ve grown, learned, and changed one another “For Good.”
Ginna Claire Mason. Photo by Joan Marcus.
The supporting cast and ensemble are also top-notch. As Fiyero, the man both women love, Jeremy Woodard is as “profoundly shallow” as Glinda, “Dancing Through Life” with a supercilious attitude, until he discovers that true beauty lies within and, despite her outward appearance, finds himself attracted to the inner goodness of Elphaba (“As Long as You’re Mine”). Fred Applegate as the Wizard reveals the equivocal personality and socio-political machinations that put and keep him in power in the heartfelt ballad “A Sentimental Man” and the animated Vaudevillian-style song and dance “Wonderful.” Isabel Keating and Harry Bouvy as the witches’ mentors Madame Morrible and Professor Dillamond skillfully show the devolution of their characters, as she becomes increasingly power hungry, mean, and unethical, and he is nefariously transformed from an intellectual speaking goat into a bleating animal. Other standouts are Jenny Florkowski as Elphaba’s wheelchair-bound sister Nessarose and Robin de Jesús as Boq, the Munchkin she loves, though he pines for Glinda (who is completely disinterested and can’t even get his name right). His rejection engenders her dramatic transition into “The Wicked Witch of the East,” on whom Dorothy’s farmhouse lands. And the full ensemble effectively evokes a lethal mob mentality in “March of the Witch Hunters,” as public opinion demands the death of Elphaba.
Eye-popping costumes by Susan Hilferty and wigs by Tom Watson combine the Victorian fashions of Baum’s day with the oddities of Oz, and Eugene Lee’s scenic designs and Kenneth Posner’s lighting add to the show’s visual excitement, from the ubiquitous assemblage of gears and clockworks to the brilliant green of Emerald City. But along with the dazzling spectacle, Wicked leaves us with a serious message about how society defines and creates good and evil, and the ill effects of ostracism and inequality on those who don’t fit the norm. That alone should make this show “Popular.”
Running Time: Approximately two hours and 45 minutes, including an intermission.
Wickedplays through Sunday, August 27, 2017, at the Academy of Music – 240 South Broad Street, in Philadelphia, PA. For tickets, call (215) 893-1999, or purchase them online.
Gertrude, Mazie, and the Bird Girls. Photo courtesy of Wildwood Summer Theatre.
This may be one of our area’s most popular theatrical events in no small part because it invites performers of all ages. Yet this particular performance stands out because of what WST is all about. As noted on their website FAQ page: “Wildwood Summer Theatre (WST) is a community musical theatre company founded in 1965 by a group of students from Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, Maryland. These theatrically minded students wanted to extend their high school musical experience into the summer. However, they were unable to find an adult sponsor, so they decided to strike out on their own. That summer, on a shoestring budget, and with little in the way of material supplies or support, they put on a production of Bye, Bye Birdie. The show was a rousing success, and WST was born. For the last 52 years, WST has presented at least one, and occasionally two, musical productions, with the entire company aged 14 to 25.”
That being the case you might never expect the complete professionalism of every moment. Producer Christopher Walkup handled the ticketing process and company promotion as though he were a seasoned professional even though he recently accepted the role from his predecessor who had “Aged Out” (turned 26). The Playbill is more than two dozen pages of useful information, and advertisements showing the level of community support. The theater at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School is much larger than many local community theatre venues. I didn’t wander back stage, but the orchestra pit alone was my first clue that I would be treated to something special.
The static set pieces designed by Katie Miller represented elementary constructs of a vivid childhood imagination but were craftily constructed to facilitate many complex choreographic moments designed by Caitlin Barnes. I counted at least ten different points of entry and exit which at times accommodated the full cast of 30+ singing and dancing their way into my memory.
Now I suppose the story follows even if one has not read the complete works of Dr. Seuss. This musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty is a mashup of many of his most popular stories. That alone perhaps added a layer of subtext during the entire show: “Wait a minute, I don’t remember the Cat in the Hat having anything to do with Horton…” I found myself wondering on occasion.
Jojo contemplates the hat. Photo courtesy of Wildwood Summer Theatre.
Yet accepting the premise that all these characters exist in the mind of young JoJo played by Rachel Weisenthal – who is regularly admonished to “Think less Thinks” due to all the trouble it creates – one begins to accept that JoJo’s imaginary friend and all time instigator The Cat in the Hat played by Rebecca Worley can dance and cavort in and out of JoJo’s ‘Thinks’ with complete abandon. JoJo’s parents Mr. and Mrs. Mayor (Rocky Nunzio and Katherine Worley) are at wit’s end. They even contemplate sending poor JoJo to the military to serve under General Gengus played by Gondre Lewis whose character was reminiscent of The Pirate King played by Kevin Kline in the 1983 movie The Pirates of Penzance.
Zach Harris delivers a lovable Horton who happens to notice an infinitesimal spec and discovers it contains the entire planet inhabited by ‘Whos’. Horton’s attention to this tiny community frustrates the lovely and talented Gertrude played by Michelle Schrier who is ashamed of her ‘One feather tail’ but longs to be noticed by Horton. Gertrud goes to great lengths to improve her attraction even succumbing to pills to augment her plumage after the smarmy encouragement of a flashy, narcissistic bird named Mayzie played by Hillary Templeton. A trio of Bird Girls #1, #2 and #3 (Meredith Beisel, Camilla Rodriguez, and Katherine Cardenas) delights the audience in every appearance with Ms. Beisel adding a twinge of sass just for fun!
Sour Kangaroo played by Carrie McKnight vamps through Horton’s circumstance with the constant support of Baby Kangaroo – Lexie Cheng. You see NOBODY actually believes Horton hear’s the Who and it seems everyone wants to put him away in a looney bin. Which incidentally could well be the home of the Wickersham monkeys #1, #2 and #3 (Gavin Kramar, Nick Cox, and Cole Friedman) who bound about in great mockery without much provocation.
The Wickersham monkeys taunting Horton. Photo courtesy of Wildwood Summer Theatre.
Other cameos appear: The Grinch played by Judah Canizares who’s very bass voice during the song ‘Here on Who’ could have benefited from much less orchestral accompaniment but rose to the occasion during ‘The Who’s Christmas Pageant’. Yertl played by Yashi Janamanchi – presides over Horton’s trial with a very comical banging of his gavel on his turtle shell. And the evil vulture Vlad Vladikoff played by Tyler Hanson flies off stage with a flourish.
Special note to the Ensemble: Alex Adah, Mercedes Blankenship, Cecilia Ford, Will Green, John Greer, Blair Jones, Rachel Kerschenbaum, Sarah Kinney, Becca Haven, Ashley Kitchelt, Joseph Moore, Jessica Noah, Christina Williams. They fill in the blanks and swell the chorus much to the delight of the audience.
Music director and Conductor Sam Weich delivered a masterful score with the help of his ensemble Clair Lee, Sydney Epstein, Sam Hull, Lydia Turner, Eli Jardine, Kaylee Mina, Hunter MacDonald, Caroline Tyson, Wesley Kramar, Barnabas Lee, Alyssa Mae Herman, Jeremy Keyton, Venkatesh Batni, Ben Dohm, Paul Grossman, and AJ Potvin.
Behind the scenes much of the perceived magic was thanks to Lighting Designer Doga Tasdemir, Sound Designer Jamie Davis, Properties Designer Caroline Tyson, Costume Designer Katie Cannon, and Hair & Makeup Designer Gabi Scott.
And thank you to Graphic Designer Cecilia Ford and Projection Designer Katie Garmer who made possible the captioning throughout the performance to augment the experience of those with special needs.
Running Time: Two hours, with one 15-minute intermission.
‘SeussicalThe Musical’plays through July 30, 2017, at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School — 17301 Old Vic Blvd, Olney, MD. For tickets purchase them online.
Warning: You don’t have much time left! Nearly one third of Theater With a View’s performances of Rabbit Hole have been rained out (including the earlier one I was supposed to attend.) There are very few remaining showings of this unique and splendid production.
Drew Seltzer, Jo Twiss, Nina Covalesky, and Jessica Myhr. Photo by Matthew J. Photography.
One of the raisons d’être of this company is to bring professional theater to places you’d never expect. In this case, the stage is the large backyard of a house, high in the hills of Pottstown. Seeing an Equity performance in this location is a shock.
Director Seth Reich likes to explore unusual ways to display theater, and Rabbit Hole revives the once-popular but now nearly forgotten concept of “theater in the round.” It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this configuration in a Philadelphia area theater. Many of the local playhouses, such as DCP and Steel River, were built with arena staging as a possibility, but these theaters have now anchored their seats for permanent proscenium presentation. True, the director has to stage the actors carefully so that every seat is the best seat, and the scenic possibilities are limited, but the intimacy that the actors can achieve more than compensates.
Reich has made another courageous choice in selecting this Pulitzer Prize winner. Most directors of outdoor productions choose plays such as As You Like It or Redwood Curtain, where the setting sun, crickets, and flying insects compliment the performance. Rabbit Hole is a multi-set, interior, almost kitchen sink, play that does not call for a grassy stage floor. Oddly enough, it doesn’t make any difference. Reich draws such deeply concentrated and sharply etched performances from the actors that the overwhelming outdoors disappears.
The subject of David Lindsay-Abaire’s play is grief, loss, and the supreme effort people must make to comfort each other in these mournful days. How can a family cope with the pointless, accidental death of a four-year-old child? Anyone who has ever been a parent, or lost someone close, cannot help but be emotionally drawn into this simple story.
The anchor of the evening is Nina Covalesky as Becca, who provides a textbook illustration of underacting. Everyone in the play is trying to cope with the tragedy, but Becca cannot. She remains lost in a haze of doubt and despair that makes her doubt the existence of God and the value of life. She is unable to understand that the others share her grief, because theirs is a little different. Much of Covalesky’s performance is quiet listening as we search her infinitely expressive face for a sign of hope or relief. Her stalwart confusion will be taken to heart for a long, long time.
Drew Seltzer plays the husband, Howie, as one who seems to be returning to normal. But anyone who has studied the stages of grief will discover that Howie is just as devastated as Becca, but in a different place in the process. This results in an inability to communicate that threatens to destroy the marriage. It is a well-known fact that the loss of a child renders many loving marriages impracticable. Howie has one of the few moments of clamorous outcry and Seltzer’s deeply felt portrayal makes the most of it. Extraordinary.
There are some light moments. Jessica Myhr is Izzy, Becca’s younger, immature sister. Her idea of humor is a shower curtain picturing The Three Stooges. She is accidentally pregnant, which sets off complex feelings in Becca, who is convinced that the girl is simply not prepared for the complexities of parenting. Myhr specifically captures the lightheaded energy that can easily lead to an unexpected one-night stand. Add to this the mother, Nat, played by Jo Twiss, someone who continually tries to lighten the mood with wild theories about the Kennedys and stories of her unusual past. Her performance turns suddenly tragic as we discover that her grief is a real as the others, just different. Connor Johnston completes the cast as a humbled high school student with a sorrowful secret, but one who can still look forward to a full, rewarding life.
These performances combine to create an unforgettable evening.
Nina Covalesky and Drew Seltzer. Photo by Matthew J. Photography.
The setting by Stephan Moravski, is an excellent arranging of the furniture (on a sloping hill, no less.) The concept loses some power when a scene in the child’s elaborately decorated room is restaged to the kitchen, but most of it works well. Inherent Style provides the simple, appropriate costumes.
Arena lighting is always a problem. Designer Emilie Leasure has no ceiling to hang the necessary overhead lighting to keep the glare from the eyes of the audience. Director Reich composed appropriate and moody piano music to indicate the endings of the many scenes, since there are no blackouts.
Reich proved in last summer’s patio setting of Detroit that he has an uncanny knack for drawing acute performances from actors, and Nina Covalesky is his regular and superb leading lady. If you are able to catch one of the few remaining performances, your effort will be infinitely rewarded. You will join fifty others sitting in a simple circle sharing this combined knowledge of human frailty, and of the heart’s natural desire to heal.
Running Time: Two hours, with an intermission.
Rabbit Hole plays through Saturday, July 29, 2017 at Theater with a View – 481 Ebelhare Road, in Pottstown, PA. For tickets, call the box office at (484) 925-1547, or purchase them online.
Coriolanus has a reputation for being one of Shakespeare’s least accessible plays. Its title character, a Roman warrior turned reluctant politician, can be hard to get a bead on – and hard to root for. The play starts with ferocious battles, but soon devolves into arcane political discussions. And its characters’ allegiances shift so quickly that the plot can be hard to follow.
How nice, then, it is to see that director Kittson O’Neill has fashioned a Coriolanus that brings clarity to what can be a rather obtuse play. O’Neill’s production, this summer’s offering at Shakespeare in Clark Park, maintains a measured pace that sustains its vitality even after the violence of its early scenes has subsided.
Charlotte Northeast and Emily Kaye Lynn. Photo courtesy Shakespeare in Clark Park.
This Coriolanus features an all-female primary cast – yet aside from a few changed pronouns, the play does not suffer. The cast displays steady power, with no weak links. There’s also a 45-member Community Chorus (both male and female) playing the two competing armies, the Romans and their rivals the Volscians, as well as the crowds of plebeians that challenge Coriolanus’ rule. Having an ensemble this large adds authenticity to the drama and gives this low-budget production a touch of grandeur. (Carly Bodnar is the Community Chorus Director.)
Unlike Hamlet, Macbeth and Henry V, Coriolanus never gets to declaim epic soliloquies that reveal his (or, in this case, her) inner thoughts. That makes her a less powerful character than those other protagonists, and it’s one of the reasons for the play’s obscurity. It’s also a reason why Charlotte Northeast, playing the title role here, deserves praise for a nuanced performance that gives the audience insight into Coriolanus’ state of mind. She’s suitably aggressive early on, then shows palpable frustration and discomfort as she is forced into public life. When the people of Rome turn on her, banishing her for her supposed misdeeds, she turns contemplative as she journeys to make peace with her old enemies the Volscians. Northeast’s sensitive performance makes this inconsistent character consistently intriguing.
Opening night of Shakespeare in Clark Park had, as might be expected on such a huge undertaking, a few technical flubs; amplification was erratic, leading to some silent passages. And the sounds of West Philadelphia intruded from time to time, with everything from passing cars to an overhead helicopter making themselves heard. (One battle scene inadvertently had a score provided by the nearby Mister Softee truck.)
But the supporting cast contains several standouts, each of whom showed excellent diction that cut through the sometimes murky sound mix. Kimberly Fairbanks brings a regal bearing to the role of Menenius, a “humorous patrician” of the Roman Senate, while Hannah Gold brings an assertive edge to Brutus, a senator who challenges Coriolanus at every turn. Iman Aaliyah is engaging as the Roman general Titus Lartius, and Emily Kaye Lynn brings a prickly edge to the enemy general Aufidius. And Judith Lightfoot Clarke plays Coriolanus’ mother Volumnia with a fractured, tragic nobility.
Emily Kaye Lynn, Charlotte Northeast, and Iman Aaliyah. Photo courtesy Shakespeare in Clark Park.
Jacqueline Holloway’s fight choreography enlivens the battle scenes, while Natalia de la Torre’s costumes are dominated by brown-and-tan tunics that give the scenes a tribal ambiance. The unfinished wood platforms of D’Vaugh Agu’s sets add to that quality. And Drew Billiau’s lighting handles the transition from light to dusk to darkness well; torches appear in characters’ hands just when they’re needed.
There was a revealing moment on opening night that showed just how much this smart, stimulating production of Coriolanus is connecting with its audience. It came near the end of the play, when the citizens of Rome approach the senators to declare that even though they took part in protests led to Coriolanus being banished from Rome, they never really wanted her to be exiled. “Though we willingly consented to her banishment,” one of the citizens declares, “yet it was against our will.”
A man sitting on the lawn near me shouted, “Liar!” Laughter rolled through the crowd.
Coriolanus may not be Shakespeare’s most audience-friendly play, but any production that can get the 21st Century theatergoers of West Philly – the modern-day equivalent of Shakespeare’s groundlings – to react like that is doing its job well.
Running Time: Two hours and 15 minutes, with no intermission.
Coriolanus plays through Sunday, July 30, 2017 at Clark Park, 43rd Street and Chester Avenue, in Philadelphia, PA. Tickets are free, but a donation is encouraged. For further information, visit their website.
Whenever a musical group has the name “brothers” or “sisters” (as in “Smothers” or “Andrews”) you can expect a tight, controlled sound with seamlessly blended harmonies. Close harmony (even if it’s just simple thirds and fifths) can be difficult to sing, and family groups have always mastered it most successfully. After all, the rehearsals don’t ever have to stop.
Such a group is The Guthrie Brothers, who have been singing together “for as long as they remember.” The melodies are perfection, the guitar work solid. They have been a professional act for many years and the seasoning shows.
Jeb Guthrie and Jock Guthrie. Photo courtesy Bristol Riverside Theatre.
Bristol Riverside Theatre has invited them to perform for a short run (only five days) and their current show is Scarborough Fair: A Tribute to Simon & Garfunkel. Jock is the one with the longer hair who sings the Garfunkel lines and also plays the difficult lead guitar parts with their memorable Paul Simon riffs. Jeb plays rhythm guitar and sings the Simon lines.
The audience (twice as old as the performers) could remember those years, 1964-1970, when Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel ruled the airwaves. Their massive hits such as “The Sound of Silence,” “Scarborough Fair,” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” captured the alienation and loneliness of a generation. This is best remembered through Dustin Hoffman’s confused young man in the culture-altering film The Graduate, which was saturated with S&G music.
The Guthrie Brothers sound amazingly like the famed musicians, especially when duetting in close harmony. Numbers like “At the Zoo” and “The Sound of Silence” are uncanny in their resemblance to the originals. The tribute isn’t perfect: Jeb doesn’t quite get the incisive bite that Simon brought to many of the lyrics, and Jock doesn’t have the angelic high notes of Garfunkel (but then who else does?).
The simple guitar and voice presentation reminded me of the earlier S&G college tours, which consisted of just two voices and a guitar. Simon, who wrote most of the songs, brought memorable lyrics and melodies to Garfunkel’s rich tenor and his own unique growl. Listening to the Guthries was like returning to the old coffeehouses, in that brief period when young people gathered in an old building with cracked tables and mismatched chairs, drank strong but terrible coffee and actually listened to the words.
Jock Guthrie and Jeb Guthrie. Photo courtesy Bristol Riverside Theatre.
The second act is not as nostalgic as the first, as the later S&G began performing with a full band. “Bridge of Troubled Water” doesn’t work without a piano.
The early S&G concerts, as I remember attending them, were serious musical affairs. Neither performer had much to say, and they quickly jumped from one song to the next. In true coffeehouse tradition, the Guthries, especially Jeb, have a lot to say. They are not imitators, so they lace the patter with stories of their parents and their life in Wisconsin. They are quick with a wisecrack such as “In Wisconsin you have to say ‘Go Packers’ at least once a day or you lose your daily allotment of cheese.” Unlike S&G they also generate a lot of back and forth with the audience including some pretty successful sing-alongs.
The afternoon’s highlights were unexpected. Act One featured a stunning rendition of “All I Have to Do is Dream,” which illustrated that S&G began by imitating The Everly Brothers. The highlight of Act Two came when the brothers departed from the tribute and sang some of their own compositions. Their style is very different and exciting.
The songs are presented in chronological order starting with “The Sound of Silence” and ending with “El Condor Pasa” which predicts the breakup of the duo as Simon was losing interest in folk-rock, and looking to world cultures to inspire a new musical direction.
Simon and Garfunkel have staged a few reunion tours since 1970, but as they are currently over 75 years of age, it is doubtful we will be able to see them together again. The Guthrie Brothers tribute will do just fine.
Running Time: Two hours, with an intermission.
Scarborough Fair: A Tribute to Simon & Garfunkel plays through Sunday, July 30, 2017 at Bristol Riverside Theatre -120 Radcliffe Street, in Bristol, PA. For tickets, call the box office (215) 785-0100, or purchase them online.
Angels in America remains a sad, hilarious, hallucinogenic theatrical achievement. The juxtaposition of those seemingly-opposite qualities is what makes the play memorable.
It has even greater impact than before, more than a quarter of a century ago. Its virtues are different from those we admired previously, which became apparent when the new production by the National Theatre in London was streamed to cinemas in HD.
Andrew Garfield. Photo by Helen Maybanks.
Back in the 1990s, Angels in America came across as a polemic by gay men who were frightened by the death sentence of AIDS. Now that sexual differences are more accepted, and many people live with AIDS for years, we look for broader subject matter, and Tony Kushner’s script supplies it. Kushner’s play in two parts (a total of six acts) is certainly long, but it’s worth taking time to savor his colloquies and ruminations about politics, religion, loyalty, guilt, and the failure to live up to expectations.
The outstanding revelations in this production are the acting of Andrew Garfield (the title character in the film The Amazing Spider-Man) playing Prior Walter, who has just revealed that he has AIDS, flamboyantly intense with fluttering hands to indicate his panic; and Nathan Lane playing the real-life attorney Roy Cohn, a closeted gay man who died of AIDS while insisting he didn’t have it. Lane gives the ruthless Cohn a tad more humanity than others have shown. The arrogant real Cohn didn’t deserve that softening of tone, but Lane’s interpretation reveals subtleties that make the story more interesting.
Another asset is the Irish actress Denise Gough playing the valium-addicted Harper Pitt with more strength than previous interpreters. Also excellent are James McArdle as the talkative Louis Ironson who is wracked with guilt about leaving his lover when his presence was most needed, and the droll Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as a drag queen nurse, a black man who is a target for Cohn’s vicious prejudices.
The one major character whom I have not mentioned is Joe Pitt — married, a closeted gay, Mormon attorney whom Roy Cohn recruits to be his henchman inside the Justice Department. His long-denied sexuality is the cause for his wife’s terrors and addictions. Russell Tovey plays Joe as if he’s reading lines rather than being a flesh-and-blood person.
Nathan Lane. Photo by Helen Maybanks.
The director of this production is Marianne Elliott. Considering the visual innovations of her stagings of War Horse and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, it’s a disappointment to see her rather ordinary interpretation. Action is set in cubicles outlined with neon tubes (designed by Ian MacNeil) and they move back and forth, apparently to illustrate the connections between characters. The arrival of an angel from above is less impressive here than other productions we’ve seen.
Some critics think the script is too verbose, but I revel in Kushner’s poetic digressions and contemplations. I do find the double casting of certain roles to be disconcerting, even though this also was done in the original production. A female actress plays a rabbi (who, in that time, would unlikely be female) and Cohn’s doctor Henry (whom Cohn would never allow to be female), and a Justice Department attorney named Martin, whose character is absurd when it is feminized. Kushner no doubt wanted to spotlight the errors of gender expectations and gender stereotyping, but it confuses the play. Also, the two actresses who played Joe’s mother and her real-estate agent, from Utah, had terribly inauthentic accents.
With its examination of intolerance and religious hypocrisy, Angels in America is still pertinent. In one of many parallels to our time, Cohn’s crony exults that “It’s really the end of liberalism. The end of New Deal socialism. The end of ipso facto secular humanism. The dawning of a genuinely American political personality.”
I write this after seeing the first half, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches. We look forward to the second half of this story which will be telecast live from London on Thursday, July 27.
Running time: Three hours and 40 minutes, including two intermissions.
Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes plays through August 19, 2017, at the National Theatre, London. The first part, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, was presented by Fathom Events live in HD at selected cinemas on July 20, 2017. Part two, Angels in America: Perestroika, will be shown live in cinemas on July 27, 2017. Encores will be announced for selected locations. Tickets to the HD screenings can be ordered online.
Composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II have been called the greatest writing partnership of the 20th century. Their work spans from 1943 to 1959 and includes some of the most well-known Broadway musicals, like Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and their final collaboration, The Sound of Music.
NextStop Theatre Company’s most recent production, A Grand Night for Singing, which opened this weekend, is a revue of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s works and includes many song favorites from their hits, as well as numbers from their lesser known, yet still successful, shows such as The Flower Drum Song and State Fair. The idea was conceived by Walter Bobbie, using a simple script to weave the songs together, and opened on Broadway in 1993.
The cast of A Grand Night for Singing: Karen Vincent, Marquise White, Sarah Anne Sillers, Matthew Hirsh, and Katherine Riddle. Photo by Lock and Company.
Scenic Designer and Producing Artistic Director, Evan Hoffmann, has created a charming cabaret-style set. Dark red tablecloths cover several cocktail tables (three of which the audience are welcome to sit at) and a matching red sofa takes up center stage. The bar is located in the upstage left area so that the audience can mingle until the show begins. And on the upstage right side of the stage hangs a gorgeous, red curtain.
Adding to the ambience is soft and inviting lighting design by Jason Arnold. And situated upstage, between the bar and the curtain, is the live orchestra, conducted by Elisa Rosman, who is also the Music Director for the production.
This show is all about the music, and does not disappoint. Five performers are featured: Matthew Hirsch (HH Award), Katherine Riddle, Sara Anne Sillers, Karen Vincent (HH Award), and Marquise White. They sing over 30 songs, from favorites “Surrey With The Fringe On Top” (Oklahoma) and “Shall We Dance?” (The King And I) to the less-familiar but delightful “Don’t Marry Me” (Flower Drum Song) and “The Man I Used To Be” (Pipe Dream).
Multiple-time Helen Hayes nominee, Michael J. Bobbitt, serves as Director and Choreographer. The style varies according to the number but the movement is consistently clean and sharp (enhanced by Arnold’s lighting). The actors stand on chairs, run-up stairs, snuggle on the sofa, and waltz across the floor, at times engaging someone from the audience to join in the dance.
Katherine Riddle, Sarah Anne Sillers, and Karen Vincent sing “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of my Hair” from South Pacific. Photo by Lock and Company.
If you have never seen a revue, then you should know that the songs have been specially arranged for the production to incorporate the whole cast, instead of being a series of solos and duets. The first act finale number, “Some Enchanted Evening” (South Pacific), has soaring harmonies that build as the number progresses, and another fantastically fun number which incorporated the whole cast was “Kansas City” from Oklahoma, usually sung by Will Parker.
Rodgers and Hammerstein fans will be in musical theater heaven with NextStop’s lovely production of A Grand Night for Singing. A stellar cast that captivates with their bright personalities, lively dance, and beautiful voices makes for a delightful show, perfect for escaping the tiresome monotony of day-to-day life and reveling in the calming beauty of music, love, and the complexity of the human spirit.
Running Time: Approximately one hour and 45 minutes, including an intermission.
A Grand Night for Singing plays through August 20, 2017, at NextStop Theatre Company – 269 Sunset Park Drive, in Herndon, VA. For tickets, call the box office at (866) 811-4111, or purchase them online.
Now in production at People’s Light, Ken Ludwig’s Moon over Buffalo, directed by Pete Pryor, contains all the expected elements of a farce: there’s mistaken identity; insult humor; impassioned break-ups and make-ups; parodies of the classics; running jokes; physical comedy with over-the-top characters who scream, fight, ugly cry, and mug, get drunk, get angry, and get confused; and door slamming – lots of door slamming. The problem is, there’s no credible logic underlying Ludwig’s wackiness and chaos (the willingness to overlook absolutely anything for one’s art is too big a stretch, even for a farce), his characters are largely unlikeable and unprincipled (which makes it hard to care about them or to root for them), and the general effect is that of trying too hard to be funny, when much of the intended mid-century-style humor misses the mark for a current audience. Ok, so that’s more than one problem.
David Ingram, Christopher Patrick Mullen and Mary Elizabeth Scallen. Photo by Mark Garvin.
Set in 1953, in the green room of a theater in Buffalo, the madcap narrative revolves around the inter-relationships of the dysfunctional Hay family and the assorted paramours of its members, on tour with their struggling company doing Cyrano de Bergerac and Private Lives in repertory. Just as infidelity threatens the long-time marriage of its fading stars George and Charlotte Hay (portrayed by David Ingram and Mary Elizabeth Scallen), in an era when the popularity of live theater was being supplanted by TV and the movies, they have the opportunity to revive their waning careers with a matinee performance attended by Hollywood Director Frank Capra, who might cast them in his current film.
In spite of everything going haywire with the show, a pregnancy resulting from George’s adultery with Eileen (Tabitha Allen), and the Hays’ daughter Rosalind (Julianna Zinkel) and her current nerdy fiancé Howard (Christopher Patrick Mullen) also switching interwoven partners (Kevin Bergen plays Paul, Rosalind’s ex), they all end up happy, resolve to stick together, and recapture their love through their mutual devotion to acting. From a post-feminist perspective, the resolution of the story, with the wife accepting and covering for her husband’s “one mistake” (it’s a doozy of a mistake) and her husband lauding their shared love of life in the theater to excuse his inconstancy and the whole troupe’s duplicitous behavior, seems outdated, illogical, and unsatisfying in 2017, or even in 1995, when the play was written. Even if it could, and does, still happen, it’s just not funny – unless you’re a proponent of Tammy Wynette’s call to “Stand by Your Man.”
Peter DeLaurier, Mary Elizabeth Scallen, Kevin Bergen, Julianna Zinkel, and Marcia Saunders. Photo by Mark Garvin.
The pacing of Act I is slow, as the old-fashioned characters are introduced, the situations begin to develop, and the recurrent jokes are first presented. The speed picks up in Act II, as the buffoonery reaches a crescendo with two of the production’s most hilarious scenes – George’s drunkenness, played to the hilt by Ingram; and the disastrous matinee of Private Lives, for which the increasingly intoxicated George eventually turns up as Cyrano and the others in the cast try desperately to save the show (Marcia Saunders delivers one of the script’s funniest lines as his mother-in-law Ethel, who arrives on stage unexpectedly in full anachronistic costume). Peter DeLaurier is another standout as the lawyer Richard, who is enamored with Charlotte, striking a sophisticated demeanor and providing understated laughs with each of his brief appearances. The ensemble’s extended door-slamming sequence in Act II is timed to perfection, though an errant gunshot that knocks a lighting fixture off the wall was out of synch in the performance I attended, with the lamp falling before the sound of the weapon firing, and the execution of the fight sequences (choreographed by Samantha Reading) looked stilted.
Yoshinori Tanokura’s set captures the look of backstage in an old theater and provides the necessarily sturdy portals for repeated enthusiastic slamming, then fluidly shifts to the upscale French balcony of the Private Lives segment. Marla J. Jurglanis evokes both the fashions of the Fifties and the period-style costumes in the plays performed by the characters, including Cyrano’s oft-ripped breeches (though the lavishness of the scenic design and wardrobe contradicts the financial hardships of the fictional touring company, which can’t afford to pay its actors). John Hoey creates beautiful lighting for the opening scene from Cyrano, silhouetted in backlighting behind a scrim, and for Charlotte’s fantasy at the end of the first act, in which she imagines she’s a huge Hollywood star, with Sound Designer Christopher Colucci providing the applause from her imagined audience of adoring fans.
Much of the material in Moon over Buffalo seems outdated and clichéd, and not up to the quality of the talented cast, director, and designers at People’s Light. But if you’re a fan of the Fifties, you might enjoy the exaggerated retro style of the show and the throwback characters and ending that relate to an earlier time of comedy and society.
Running Time: Approximately one hour and 50 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission.
Moon over Buffaloplays through Sunday, August 13, 2017, at People’s Light – 39 Conestoga Road, Leonard C. Haas Stage, Malvern, PA. For tickets, call (610) 644-3500, or purchase them online.
From antiquity to the present, tragedy and drama to absurdism and comedy, masterpieces by classic playwrights to experimental ensemble-devised works by local artists, the 2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival runs the gamut over the span of eighteen days, from September 7-24, with 158 offerings throughout the city (plus another twelve shows in the Curated Fringe, and seventeen more in the Digital Fringe). By casting an eye on stories from all periods of history and into the future, participating artists not only entertain and affect us, but also remind us of the importance of art in illuminating the recurrent fundamental issues in human nature and aggregate society, while underscoring George Santayana’s truism, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
My top picks for this year’s Fringe will make us look at ourselves, laugh at ourselves, and maybe even learn to be our better selves. Arranged in alphabetical order by company (and excluding works listed in the Digital and Curated Fringe categories), they are:
Die-Cast, Pericles. Photo by Brenna Geffers
Die-Cast, Pericles – A brand-new company founded by Director Brenna Geffers and Designer Thom Weaver, Die-Cast makes its debut in the 2017 Fringe with an inventive interpretation of the seldom-staged Shakespearean classic Pericles. The immersive ensemble-based production, employing original song, movement, and poetry presented by a team of favorite collaborators (Keith Conallen, Hannah Van Sciver, Chris Anthony, Colleen Corcoran, Carlo Campbell, Kayla Anthony, Shamus McCarty, Anthony Crosby, and Andrew Carroll), invites audiences to choose their own path in exploring the narrative. Staged within the crumbling walls of The Rotunda, the piece is sure to evoke the dark mood of the ancient story, filled with incest and riddles, assassins and brothels, fire and storms. Expect an epic struggle between good and evil, fortune and fate, painful separation and joyful reunion, and a re-envisioning of the protagonists’ traditional gender roles and sexuality, all told with expressive emotion and physicality. September 7-9, at The Rotunda – 4014 Walnut Street.
Found Theater Company, Game Show Show. Photo by Harish Pathak.
Found Theater Company, Game Show Show – After its sorely-missed absence from last year’s Festival, the always hypnotic and incisive Found returns with an absurdist dream-like meditation on our societal standards of success, failure, winning, and losing that combines original text, music, and physical scores. Set in the colorful pop-culture world of a TV quiz show, contestants compete for prizes, bonus rounds, and their notion of the American Dream (between commercial breaks, of course!), until the surreal game spins out of control, revealing the intentions of the players and viewers, and the lengths to which people will go to get what they want. Under the direction of Co-Founding Company Member Alison Mae Hoban, Found veterans Joe Wozniak, Adrienne Hertler, Joe Palinsky, and Matt Lorenz (who also serves as Assistant Director) are joined by the newly-Found Kristy Joe Slough and Ciara Collins (a current theater student at Temple University, where the company began), in this critical examination of human nature. September 6-10, at The MAAS Building – 1325 North Randolph Street.
Heart of a Lion Productions, As the Matzo Ball Turns – The Musical. Photo courtesy of the company.
Heart of a Lion Productions, As the Matzo Ball Turns – The Musical – Based on the 2012 autobiographical book by Jozef Rothstein, the aspiring actor-turned-waiter-turned-author recounts his humorous, heartbreaking, and humbling experiences in Hollywood after leaving small-town Pennsylvania in search of stardom. What he found instead was a “ten-year sentence as a waiter in a Jewish deli” frequented by celebrities (he names names!), along with the occasional hit man, drive-by shooting, and unfulfilling work in commercials, while waiting for his big break. This insider’s look at the dark side of the entertainment industry and the restaurant business should have all the melodrama of a TV soap opera set to music, and the wit of a satirist using laughter to preserve his sanity, to overcome the disappointment of his shattered dreams, and to turn lemons into lemonade with a well-received publication and a hoped for success in the theater, if not on the Silver Screen. September 7-10, at the Independence Seaport Museum – 211 South Columbus Boulevard.
JUNK, . . . strand . . . Photo by Steve Belkowitz.
JUNK, . . . strand . . . – World-class dancer/choreographer Brian Sanders and his ever-amazing troupe take Fringe audiences on an immersive 50-minute site-specific self-guided adventure through the wild paths of Forgotten Bottom (the DuPont Crescent Trail – a little-known urban strand along the banks of the Schuylkill River). Participants select from four levels of experiences, each with a different starting point and pricing: the bare-bones elemental “Rugged Primal” walk; the apocalyptic “Nuclear Romance” on a limited number of scooters; the merry “Medieval Revelry” led by courtly minstrels who provide pickings of food and drink; and the “Future Fancy Ultimate Tour” with seated meal service and fermented ichor (“blood of the gods”) on the lawn. All of the eras and audiences intersect on the Crescent at sunset, culminating in an acrobatic-dance-theater performance by the intrepid Billy Robinson, Teddy Fatscher, Chelsea Prunty, Julia Higdon, Kelly Trevlyn, Regan Jackson, Frank Leone, and Brandon Pereira, exploring the malleability of time and the surreality of history. So don your field gear, plug in your headsets to hear a unique soundscape, or rent a surrey-for-two (at an extra cost) for an expansive ride around the grounds. Happy trails! September 7- 23, at DuPont Crescent Trail – Grays Ferry Crescent Trail Park.
On the Rocks, The Groom’s a Fag . . . Photo by Layne Marie Williams.
On the Rocks, The Groom’s a Fag; The Bride’s a Cunt; The Best Man’s a Whore; and the Maiden of Honor (Just) Hung Herself in the Closet – In the final installment of On the Rocks’ sharp-witted and critically-acclaimed Fringe series “The Dead Teenager Trilogy,” playwright Haygen Brice Walker deconstructs marriage with a frighteningly funny contemporary eye on the horrors of commitment and the other things that haunt us. With a cast of returning favorites from the past two chapters (Joe Canuso, Ashton Carter, Jenna Kuerzi, and Campbell O’Hare) directed once again by Elaina Di Monaco, the haunted wedding play features a virgin bride and a gay groom, Emma Stone and the Easter Bunny, cocaine, hookers, and glamping. Needless to say, “shit gets fucked up” in this over-the-top parody of the horror-film genre and send-up of our most laughable socio-cultural trends. Glamping. Really? September 8-22, at The Beard Cave @ St. Mary’s Church – 3916 Locust Walk.
Revolution Shakespeare, Cymbeline. Photo courtesy of the company.
Revolution Shakespeare, Cymbeline – Now in its fourth year of offering free open-air performances in South Philadelphia’s Hawthorne Park, RevShakes presents a small-cast version of Cymbeline, with a diverse ensemble of seven (Griffin Stanton-Ameisen, Mitchell Bloom, Newton Buchanan, Izzy Castaldi, Sabrina Profitt , James Tolbert III, and Twoey Truong) playing multiple roles in the Bard’s story of love, jealousy, false accusation, and reconciliation in ancient Britain. Through the characters’ conflicting ways of life and clashing traditions, Director Jared Michael Delaney aims to show how differences too often separate us, but can also bring us together. Now that’s one revolution we should all fight to win. September 20-October 1, at Hawthorne Park – 12th and Catharine Streets.
Sam Tower + Ensemble, Strange Tenants. Photo by Plate 3 Photography.
Sam Tower + Ensemble, Strange Tenants – In the spirit of their 2015 Fringe hit 901 Nowhere Street, director Sam Tower, playwright Jeremy Gable, composer Alec MacLaughlin, and designer Kevin Meehan, along with co-devisors/performers Merri Rashoyan, Nia Benjamin, Bi Jean Ngo, Tess Kunik, and Katie Croyle (with contributions by Emilie Krause and Anna Szapiro from the work’s early development phase in 2016), set a noir-inspired mood of mystery that evokes the films of Alfred Hitchcock, but with a distinctly post-modern feminist focus. The original “dance theater psycho thriller” takes a walk on the sinister side, as the reunion of four estranged female friends becomes an exploration of a puzzling disappearance that reveals their childhood secrets and broken promises, personal histories and cultural inheritances, past memories and surreal imaginings – the titular Strange Tenants that inhabit us all – through hypnotic movement, redolent visuals, and an evocative soundscape. September 7-17, at Power Plant Productions Basement – 233 North Bread Street.
The Greenfield Collective. Tilda Swinton Adopt Me Please. Photo by Hannah Van Sciver.
The Greenfield Collective, Tilda Swinton Adopt Me Please – Co-Creators Nicholas Scheppard and Hannah Van Sciver star as an unconventional pair of twins from a “normal home” who would seem to have everything, but become obsessed with gender-bending actress Tilda Swinton. The Greenfield Collective’s highly conceptual and stylized exploration of adolescent imagination, celebrity stalking, gender identification, and the acceptability of love in all its forms combines theater with performance art, dance, evocative audio-visuals, and characters whose look mirrors the transcendent androgynous beauty of their idol. Directed by Maura Krause and designed by Sara Outing, Lucas Fendlay, and Michael Lambui, the original piece, presented in association with Minding Your Mind and Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services, not only contains a serious message, but also provides supplementary talkbacks and informative hand-outs for those in attendance. September 13-17, at Asian Arts Initiative, Studio C – 1219 Vine Street.
The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, Eugène Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano. Photo by Johanna Austin @ AustinArt.org.
The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, Eugène Ionesco’sThe Bald Soprano– The first “anti-play” written by the master of the Absurdist genre when he was trying to learn English, Eugène Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano is this year’s Fringe entry by Philadelphia’s own masters of the genre, the IRC. At the heart of the seminal tragicomedy is the failure to communicate, the disintegration of language, and the collapse of reality, as the conversations of two married couples in London descend into gibberish, non sequiturs, and repetition. Staged in the Bethany Mission Gallery hung with outsider art, the setting should further illuminate the plight of those who are unable to make themselves understood, and highlight the lack of meaningful dialogue – on a personal, national, and global scale – both then and now. In keeping with the IRC’s mission, a ridiculously good mix of company stalwarts and newcomers (Sonja Robson, John Zak, Tomas Dura, Arlen Hancock, Bob Schmidt, and Producing Artistic Director Tina Brock, who will also direct) is guaranteed to “bring good nothingness to life.” September 5-24, at Bethany Mission Gallery – 1527 Brandywine Street.
The Philadelphia Artists’ Collective, Iphigenia at Aulis. Photo by Daniel Kontz.
The Philadelphia Artists’ Collective, Iphigenia at Aulis – In collaboration with the Independence Seaport Museum, the PAC takes audiences aboard the 1890s steel warship USS Olympia (the oldest still afloat) for its telling of Euripides’ last extant tragedy of circa 406 BC. Directed by company Co-Founder Dan Hodge, the ancient historical tale recounts a heartrending family drama of patriotism, pride, devotion, and sacrifice within the context of Trojan War. A traditional Greek chorus (including Peggy Smith and Stephanie Iozzia) provides running commentary and didactic observations on the actions of Agamemnon (Nathan Foley), Clytemnestra (Tai Verley), Menelaus (Aaron Kirkpatrick), the titular Iphigenia (Becca Khalil), and other famed figures from antiquity, whose human struggles are no less relevant today than they were two-and-a-half millennia ago. September 7-22, at Cruiser Olympia, Penn’s Landing – 301 South Christopher Columbus Boulevard.
The Revivalists, United. Photo courtesy of the company.
The Revivalists, United – Could there be a more timely site-specific show in historic Philadelphia than a commemoration of the date of September 9, when, in 1776, the Continental Congress officially changed the name of our country from the Colonies to the United States of America? The 18th-century Betsy Ross House, purported to be birthplace of the American flag, serves as the venue for The Revivalists’ immersive performance of traditional folk songs and stories that declare our independence and send out a call for us to stand united. Expect to be swept away by a spirited evening of rebellion and the birth of a nation. But don’t forget that if we were permanent residents of England, we’d all be covered under the free national healthcare system, so God Save the Queen and Long Live the Revolution! September 9-23, at The Betsy Ross House – 231 Arch Street.
Tribe of Fools, Fishtown. Photo by Plate 3 Photography.
Tribe of Fools, Fishtown – A Hipster Noir – A perennial hit with Fringe-goers and critics alike, Tribe of Fools is known for its combination of thrilling acrobatics and parkour with a Philly-centric narrative of locally-inspired characters and a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor that culminates in a relevant message. This year, with a female lead and sexier dreamier dance-like acrobatics, the Tribe sets its latest creation in the Fishtown section of the city, for a noir-style detective story that ponders the mystery of our obsession with virtual reality at the cost of our disconnect from the real world around us. Self-described as a mash-up in the spirit of Chinatown meets Black Mirror meets Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the new work – written by Caitlin Weigel, directed by Peter Smith, and performed/co-created by Joseph Ahmed, Zachary Chiero, Tara Demmy, Jenna Kuerzi, and Kyle Yackoski – follows the adventures of a luddite private eye who stumbles upon a new app at the center of a high-tech conspiracy, which allows users to live out their wildest fantasies. Just think of the ramifications; these insightful ‘Fools’ have. September 8-23, at the Louis Bluver Theater at The Drake – 302 South Hicks Street.
University of the Arts and The Berserker Residents, These Terrible Things. Photo courtesy of the artists.
University of the Arts and The Berserker Residents, These Terrible Things – You can always count on the uproarious Berserkers for full-throttle hilarity, and if their Fringe production is even half as funny as their description of it is in the catalogue listings (“I hate this show. These assholes are forcing us to [word limit reached]”), we’re all in for some non-stop hysterics. This year they’ve teamed up with the University of the Arts for the research and development of their latest original comedy, These Terrible Things, working alongside some very lucky students to help them craft the show. A self-referencing piece on life in the theater, the company’s faux staging of a bogus “old-ass play” will test the relationship between audience and performer, lampoon regional theater-making, skewer the tendency to present the classics rather than creating something new, and bring attention to those behind-the-scenes artists without whom the show could not go on and the play could go wrong. I’m already laughing! September 14-23, at the Caplan Studio Theater, University of the Arts – 211 South Broad Street.
WaitStaff Sketch Comedy, Labor of Love. Photo courtesy of the company.
WaitStaff Sketch Comedy, Labor of Love – Longtime favorites The WaitStaff, a mainstay of the Fringe and a part of the Philadelphia nightlife for nearly two decades, serves up a winning concoction of liquor and laughs at L’Étage Cabaret, with a new evening of no-holds-barred sketch comedy and cocktails (for sale to a 21+ audience). Featuring skits by Jim Boyle, Sara Carano, Joanne Cunningham, Gerre Garrett, and Chris McGovern, the comics’ latest offering, under the zany direction of Eric Singel, will forego the widespread focus on our current presidential administration, with refreshing politics-free humor that is still sure to be politically-incorrect. So if you’ve lost your sense of humor of late, come find it again with this welcome Labor of Love. September 8-23, at L’Étage Cabaret – 624 South 6th Street.
Weftworks, Mistress of the Maze. Photo by Chris Hallock.
WeftWorks, Mistress of the Maze – Multi-disciplinary artist, writer, and trained anthropologist Sarah Carr presents her WeftWorks’ inaugural performance project, Mistress of the Maze, in the 2017 Fringe. Based on the mythology of the Minoan culture of ancient Crete, and taking its inspiration from the imagery and rituals depicted in extant frescos, sculpture, and seals, the original dance/theater piece weaves together movement and music with contemporary fiber-arts costumes and masks. Performed by three female dancers and one male, this new exploration of the pre-Greek roots of the Minotaur, the Labyrinth, and Ariadne (the daughter of King Minos) examines the principle of female power and the hypothesis of a matriarchal society, as embodied by her dominion over the sacred maze and the hybrid creature that inhabits it. September 16-17, at CHI Movement Arts Center – 1316 South 9th Street.
Along with the new works and company premieres, you can also catch remounts of past favorites in this year’s festival, including my top four picks for sure-fire revivals:
Almanac Dance Circus Theatre, Leaps of Faith and Other Mistakes. Photo by Daniel Kontz.
Almanac Dance Circus Theatre, Leaps of Faith and Other Mistakes– Originally performed at the Fleisher Art Memorial in June 2015, Almanac brings its brand of daring acrobatics, theatrical narrative, and live music to the 2017 Fringe with a re-envisioning of its metaphorical tale about the mistakes of believing too hard and, consequently, becoming “lost at sea.” September 6-23, at the Painted Bride Art Center – 230 Vine Street.
Iron Age Theatre Radical Acts, Marx in Soho. Photo by John Doyle.
Iron Age Theatre Radical Acts, Marx in Soho – Marking the 150th anniversary of the publication of Das Kapital (Karl Marx’s seminal 1867 critique of Capitalist economics), actor and political activist Bob Weick returns to the Philly Fringe, where his ongoing national tour began in 2004, with his signature performance of Howard Zinn’s Marx in Soho, produced by Iron Age Theatre Radical Acts and directed by John Doyle. September 6-22, at the Ethical Society of Philadelphia – 1906 South Rittenhouse Square.
JCProductions, Joan Crawford in Her Own Words. Photo by Brian Bancroft.
JCProductions, Joan Crawford in Her Own Words – Get up close and personal this Fringe with legendary movie star Joan Crawford, as she defends herself against critics in a camp solo show created verbatim from her own books and interviews by Michael McHugh, and delivered by the hilarious Eric Singel in a boozy tour-de-force drag performance directed by Peter Tupitza – the same team that debuted the work upstairs at the old 247 gay bar in 1993. September 7-24, at Tabu Lounge – 200 South 12th Street.
REV Theatre Company, Death Is A Cabaret Ol’ Chum. Photo by Sam Nagel.
REV Theatre Company, Death Is A Cabaret Ol’ Chum– Since it first appeared at Laurel Hill Cemetery in 2012, REV’s “Graveyard Cabaret” has killed it with spine-tingling vocals, eerie costumes, and complimentary tomb-side cocktails, so bring your blanket or folding chair for another round of macabre delights, with a few added songs and new cast members, directed by Rosey Hay. September 13-16, at Laurel Hill Cemetery – 3822 Ridge Avenue.
The Philadelphia Fringe Festival plays from September 7-24, 2017, at venues throughout Philadelphia. For tickets, call the Fringe box office at (215) 413-9006, or purchase them online.
Out of nearly 90 shows in this year’s Capital Fringe Festival, 5 captured Audience Awards, as announced Monday, July 24. And a total of 16 shows got coveted extensions because they became so popular.
Extension performances run Thursday, July 27, through Sunday, July 30. So if you missed any of these Fringe faves, now’s your chance to catch them. And to keep traipsing around simple, they’ll all be performed in one of two places easy walking distance from each other: Logan Fringe Art Space or Atlas Performing Arts Center.
For tickets, click on the show names below. To read reviews of these honored shows by DC Theatre Arts and DCMetroTheaterArts writers, see the 2017 Capital Fringe Page.
Winner Best of Show – Fringe Audience Awards Hexagon 2017: Let Freedom Zing!
Presented by Hexagon
It’s difficult to imagine a more lush or beautiful production to take the stage at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts than Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I. The revival, which originated at Lincoln Center Theater under the capable hands of director Bartlett Sher, is enjoying a long stint in the nation’s capital running now through August 20.
Joan Almedilla as Lady Thiang in The King and I. Photo by Matthew Murphy.
Laura Michelle Kelly and Jose Llana star as Anna and the King, respectively. Joan Almedilla stars as head wife, Lady Thiang (the role for which Ruthie Ann Miles won a Tony in 2015). Joan is a theater veteran who got her start playing the starring role of Kim in the original production of Miss Saigon on Broadway.
In one of those rare but true Broadway stories, she did not find Kim—Kim found her. Born in the Philippines, Joan grew up passionate about singing. She received formal vocal training and moved to the States to complete her college education. Always looking for an opportunity to perform, she sang at an amateur night at the Apollo in Harlem. A Broadway producer saw her performance, tracked her down, and asked her to audition for Les Miserables and ultimately, Miss Saigon. With no acting training, Joan was cast in the leading role of Kim. She went on to play over 600 performances on Broadway by age 24.
In the two decades since her turn as Kim on Broadway, Almedilla toured the country with Les Miserables and Jesus Christ Superstar. She ultimately landed in Los Angeles where she and her husband, film director Charles Uy, call home. After touring, Almedilla performed locally in Los Angeles and took some time off to start a family. Her son CJ was born in 2009. In recent years Almedilla has been busy with her band, Mama Bares and other projects. She increasingly became more open to the idea of going back out on the road again. But how does that fit into her life now as a mother?
The opportunity to audition for the national tour of the King and I arose and she could not pass up the chance to take a crack at Lady Thiang. When her agent called to let her know she had gotten the job, she immediately went into problem solving mode. “He was like, ‘stop right there.’ CJ got the part, too.” Her 7-year-old, CJ, had been cast as one of the royal twins. Almedilla would get to play Lady Thiang and not miss a day of seeing her son. “He loves touring life,” said Almedilla.
Joan Almedilla. Photo courtesy of The Kennedy Center.
Almedilla has played Lady Thiang before but has enjoyed a fresh perspective on the role in Sher’s production. “Lady Thiang is always there. You see her presence more…I view her like a police woman quietly hiding. When you get in trouble, she shows up. What I love about [this production] is that she has this silent leadership. She’s the glue that holds everything together.”
So how does a 21st century American mother find a connection to a 19th century queen of Siam? The gender roles represented in The King and I are quite different than today. “What helped me access Lady Thiang was simplifying everything. It all boiled down to love and loyalty. That I know, as a wife and mom…I stuck with loyalty and love to the King of Siam and to my son who is the next king. Those are the simplest things that helped me.”
And what does parenting on the road actually look like? Much like parenting at home, says Almedilla. “It’s a lot of communicating with your child.” Each night she tells CJ the schedule for the next day. He enjoys a good amount of structure in his day. The nine children in the cast have a teacher who travels with them. The kids have school and get to go on field trips and activities in each city. Almedilla says it’s an incredible opportunity for CJ to read about something in a text book and then visit a museum or a historic site to see his studies come to life. The kids visited NASA in Houston and the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia.
This production of The King and I is truly a family affair. The cast and crew are comprised of several families: married couples, parents and children, and siblings.
Almedilla is soaking up every moment of touring with her son. “I’m just happy to be Asian American and doing something right now on stage—not only that, but to play a strong character…” And what about introducing CJ to the world of the theater? “I’m just thankful that my son gets to be an actor on stage. When I was his age I’d watch something on television [and be excited to see] someone who looks like me. My son is actually on stage. Other kids are saying ‘I want to do what he’s doing.’ ”
The King and Iplays through August 20, 2017 at The Kennedy Center Opera House Theater – 2700 F Street, in Washington, DC. For tickets, call (202) 467-4600, or purchase them online.
Thurgood, a one-man-show by George Stevens, Jr., is playing at the Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab at the Olney Theatre Center in Olney. The play is a about the late Supreme Court Justice and respected legal counsel for the NAACP, Thurgood Marshall. Marshall was born in Baltimore and his family had been in Maryland for several generations. Much of his life is well known in this area, especially his greatest case, Brown vs. The Board of Education in the 1950s. He went on to fight injustice in the areas of voting rights, segregation in the military, and more. He was rewarded by John F. Kennedy by being given a Federal Judgeship. Later, he became the Solicitor General under Lyndon Johnson, who later nominated Marshall to become the first black Justice on the Supreme Court.
Brian Anthony Wilson as Thurgood Marshall. Photo by Stan Barouh.
Some parts of Marshall’s life are better known that others; for instance, his friendship with Langston Hughes and the early death of his first wife, Buster, are vividly recreated on stage. His belief in the motto of the Supreme Court, “Equal Justice Under Law,” was the guidepost of his life’s work.
The very talented Brian Anthony Wilson becomes Marshall for the ninety minutes he is on stage. We are transfixed by his power and warmth. He conveys the deep love the Justice had for his wife, Buster, and the pride he had in his children. The most revealing scene about not only the man, but also his work for Civil Rights during the 40s and 50s, is when the young lawyer goes down to Tennessee to fight another school board. He comes close to being lynched and, barely spared by the mob, almost winds up in jail on trumped-up charges. Wilson goes from bravery to fear to outrage flawlessly. The action went fast, and I was sorry when it was over. I wanted to know even more about this great man. Being the only person on stage is never an easy task, but Wilson is continually captivating.
Brian Anthony Wilson as Thurgood Marshall. Photo by Stan Barouh.
Walter Dallas directed the show. He keeps the character at the center of our attention almost all the time, as projections of the historical background and, of course, the Supreme Court flash behind Marshall on a minimal set.
Paige Hathaway is responsible for the Scenic Design, which reflects the importance of the man and the Court. The lighting by Harold F. Burgess II spotlights Marshall in an unobtrusive fashion. Seth Gilbert did the costuming, keeping things in period and uncomplicated.
However, this play belongs to Marshall and Wilson, and they are beautifully paired.
No one should miss this production of Thurgood. It is too important to never forget Justice Marshall or the importance of his work.
Note: I have one request to Olney Theatre – please send complimentary tickets to the nine members of today’s Court. They could use the history lesson, or at least a reaffirmation of their own convictions.
Running Time: 90 Minutes, with one 15-minute intermission.
Thurgoodplays through August 20, 2017 in the Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab at Olney Theatre Center — 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, in Olney, MD. For tickets call (301) 924-3400, or purchase them online.
Guys and Dolls is a paragon of American musical theater. Considering its blend of interesting characters, clever story and glorious songs by Frank Loesser, it deserves more frequent revivals on Broadway and in regional theater.
Alysa Finnegan, Lesli Margherita (as Miss Adelaide), Isabel Stein, and Alyssa Gardner. Photo by Joan Marcus.
Based on a series of short stories by Damon Runyon, the book by Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling added a logical through-story to Runyon’s vignettes. Guys and Dolls has had only one Broadway revival in this century, in 2009, which ran only three months.
That circumstance makes this new production especially welcome. Bucks County Playhouse’s staging boasts some outstanding performances. Hunter Foster, best known as an actor, has directed it with brisk pace, and Jeremy Dumont designed the exceptional choreography.
Lesli Margherita is spectacular as Adelaide, the nightclub singer who’s been engaged to gambler Nathan Detroit for fourteen years. Brassy yet endearing, she impressively belts “A Bushel and a Peck,” “Take Back Your Mink,” as well as “Adelaide’s Lament,” in which she describes her psychosomatic illness due to resentment over her fiancé’s refusal to set a wedding date. She sings “a person can develop a cold” when “she’s getting a kind of name for herself and the name ain’t his.”
Steve Rosen is endearing as Nathan, more charming and less grumpy than the Nathans in some other productions. The chemistry between Rosen and Margherita is heartwarming.
Elena Shaddow impresses as Sarah Brown, the icy and puritanical missionary who falls for the notorious gambler Sky Masterson. She excels with pure high notes (representing her character’s purity) in the romantic “I’ll Know” and “I’ve Never Been in Love Before.”
Elena Shaddow and Clarke Thorell. Photo by Joan Marcus.
In those two ballads, though, her voice overshadows the baritone of Clarke Thorell as Sky Masterson. Sky should be the guy whom every other character looks up to, and whom Sarah falls for at their first meeting, and ideally he should have the richest voice in the cast. (If you’re only familiar with Marlon Brando’s performance from the movie, you don’t know what you’ve missed and I refer you to Robert Alda from the 1950 cast and Peter Gallagher from 1992.) Thorell’s most effective scene comes when he sings “Luck Be a Lady” during a fateful crap game. Otherwise, though, Thorell’s Sky needs to be stronger and more aggressive, both dramatically and vocally.
The beloved character actor Lenny Wolpe is exceptional as Sarah’s grandfather, and Ruth Gottschall impresses as the Salvation Army General Matilda B. Cartwright. Wolpe got a deserved ovation for his crooning of “More I Cannot Wish You” and Gottschall surprised the audience with an astonishing high note in “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat.”
Runyon invented an unusual dialect for his characters. To endow his hoodlums with dignity, he had them say lines such as “It is a sure thing” instead of “It’s a sure thing.” The assorted gamblers and thugs are well-played by Darius de Haas as Nicely-Nicely Johnson, Blakely Slaybaugh as Benny Southstreet, Brendan Averett as Big Jule, Evan Mayer as Rusty Charlie, Eric Greengold as Harry the Horse, and Adam Vanek as Angie the Ox. Victor Hernandez is a sturdy Lieutenant Brannigan.
Guys and Dolls centers on Nathan Detroit’s efforts to find a location for his illegal crap game. The high-rolling Sky Masterson bets Nathan that he can take even the most unlikely “doll” – in this case, Sarah Brown – on a date to Havana, Cuba. When he succeeds, he finds himself falling in love with Sarah, so he pays Nathan and says that he failed to get that date, thus preserving Sarah’s good reputation. In another bet, Masterson wins the attendance of a crowd of gamblers at Sarah’s Save-a-Soul Mission. Having lost Sarah’s affections, his aim with this bet is to win her back.
Foster’s staging is at its best in the second act: a climactic crap game in an underground sewer, and a final meeting at the mission where the ensemble sings “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat.” Even the bookies and touts displayed their dancing abilities in those numbers.
Guys and Dolls becomes an even more rewarding experience if you know its references to the sporting and gambling world of its era. For instance, when one of the bookies in “Fugue for Tinhorns” – the opening number, a song about horse racing – sings “His great grandfather was Equipoise,” it helps to know that Equipoise was the name of a famed racehorse of the 1930s who went on to a career at stud. And when Adelaide tells Nathan she’d like to get married and live in a white home with a green fence, he responds “Like Whitney Farms,” referring to the colors of the famous horse racing stable.
In the song “Sue Me,” when Nathan wails, “Alright already, it’s true, so nu,” he’s using a short Yiddish word which was used by many New Yorkers, regardless of ethnic background. It means “so what?” or “you know?” For it to make sense, it should be said or sung with an upward inflection.
One small blemish in the production is Shaddow’s glamorous facial makeup, including eye liner and lashes. As a missionary, Sarah should appear very plain, thus making her progression into romance more dramatic. And Costume Designer Nicole V. Moody should have nixed those earrings too – they’re also out of place.
Anna Louizos’ sets are minimal, but they work: a newsstand adequately represents Times Square, and a painted flat suffices for the underground sewer where the big crap game takes place. William Shuler leads a six-piece band.
Running Time: Two hours and 20 minutes, including an intermission.
Darius de Haas and ensemble. Photo by Joan Marcus.
Guys and Dolls plays through August 12, 2017, at the Bucks County Playhouse — 70 South Main Street, in New Hope, PA. For tickets, call the box office at (215) 862-2121, or purchase them online.
Patrick Martyn and Laura Weeldreyer. Photo by Tom Lauer.
This hilarious comedy, written by Christopher Durang and deftly directed by Linda Chambers, with the support of a superb cast and crew, is a hoot.
A hit on Broadway in 2013, it won that’s year’s Tony Award for Best Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play. VSMS arrived on the Great White Way shortly after its 2012 debut in Princeton, New Jersey, and is as timely as the latest TV news broadcast.
Durang wrote the script, with a wink and a poke to Anton Chekhov’s plays, among them Three Sisters, The Cherry Orchard, and, even, references to Uncle Vanya.
Several characters deliver poignant monologues that keep the audience riveted to their seats – and nodding their heads in agreement.
The plot revolves around three troubled siblings in late middle age, each bearing names of classic Chekhov characters. Two of them live in an old Bucks County, Pennsylvania farmhouse, surrounded by a cherry orchard. Though, a running gag is how many cherry trees are needed to constitute an orchard. This one has about nine.
The set is small, intimate and an ingenious design by Scenic Designer/Artist G. Maurice “Moe” Conn. A small slightly raised wooden plank stage has four paths leading away from the center. At the end of each pathway is a large box that doubles as a mini-backstage and, from the front, is either a window with a view of a pond, a second window overlooking the cherry trees, an entry to an unseen kitchen and bedrooms, or the front doorway. The stage itself is a morning room set with casual white cane indoor-outdoor furniture around an oval braided rag carpet.
Alyson Shirk, the show’s costume designer, accurately interpreted each character’s personality with the well-made and often colorful attire.
This was my first visit to the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC). A large crowd swirled around the lobby of the Robert and Eleanor Romandka College Center building. Approaching the doors of the Mainstage theater, an usher said, “Oh no! Your tickets are not for here. They are for upstairs in the Cabaret.” Puzzled, I headed up the stairs. Were we being sent to a balcony? A room with live-streaming video? The Cabaret, where VSMS is staged, seats 160 at small wooden tables for four.
The cast of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Photo by Tom Lauer.
Seriously, to enjoy VSMS, you don’t have to know bupkus about Chekhov. If you’ve ever had a competitive sibling, this should resonate with you.
Vanya, Sonia, and Masha are 50-something siblings approaching their golden years. Sonia, in a needy, emotional rendition by Liz Boyer Hunnicutt, was adopted when she was eight, and is attracted to Vanya.
Patrick Martyn wears his character Vanya like a second skin. He owns the role. Vanya explains he’s gay by subtly stating, “I march to a different drummer.”
“Can’t we march together with a piccolo?” is Sonia’s plaintive retort.
The two sibs live a lonely existence. They grew up in the old farmhouse and spent the prime years of adulthood as caretakers for their parents, former college professors involved in community theater, as they slid slowly into dementia and death. Now, devoid of a livelihood or training, they sit alone and lonely in the old house. Their sharp yet hysterical exchanges and witty arguments are over petty matters. The verbal tussle over a morning coffee results in an angry tantrum. Twice.
“It’s no big deal,” says Vanya. “I’m just making pleasant conversation.”
Their catty chatter switches to their sister Masha, whom they haven’t seen in a long while. Masha is a well-known movie actress. Living the lifestyle of the rich and famous, she has had five failed marriages and is a self-centered, attention-grabbing drama queen.
Vanya and Sonia’s increasingly uproarious verbal ping pong is interrupted by the spooky, over-the-top housekeeper Cassandra (Laura Weeldreyer), who echoes her mythological namesake, the ancient Trojan prophetess, with strange out-of-the-blue predictions.
And she’s full of them today.
One immediately comes true as Masha makes a sudden appearance, radiating glamorous elegance, with her new hunky boy toy, Spike (the buff Tim Neil) in tow.
Tim Neil and Holly Pasciullo. Photo by Tom Lauer.
Masha isn’t there to see how her siblings are faring on the subsidies she provides. Instead, she was invited to a costume party nearby and has arrived with outfits for her entourage – Spike, Vanya and Sonia – to wear. Of course, since she is the famous one, who must be the center of attention, all the other costumes are related to hers.
Sonia has other plans.
Spike, a young actor who “was almost cast on Entourage 2” quickly gets bored. To the audience’s delight, he strips and runs off to jump in the pond.
As she prepares for the party, Masha casually dishes up some devastating news for her siblings, and has no plans to sugarcoat it.
When Spike returns from the pond, he brings a new friend along, Nina (Anna Steurerman), a breathtakingly beautiful, dewy, wide-eyed, star-struck young innocent.
Masha takes an instant dislike to this new competition.
But, Spike seems to like her. A lot.
The plot continues to swirl through the weekend, with at least one hysterical laugh line or sharp comment – or voodoo needle – every few seconds.
The monologue delivered by a weary Vanya in which he references TV shows and heroes of yesteryear and the phone call that Sonia receives from a stranger are priceless.
Plus, for any young adults in the audience, the loud IM Spike receives on his cell phone is a good reminder to turn your electronics off if you’ve got something sneaky going on.
Running Time: Two hours and 45 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission.
Vanya and Sasha and Maya and Spike plays through August 6, 2017, at the Cockpit in Court Summer Theatre performing at the Community College of Baltimore County, Essex – 7201 Rossville Boulevard, in Baltimore, Maryland, MD. For tickets, call 443-840-ARTS (443-840-2787), or purchase them online.
NOTE: To enhance the cabaret experience, audience members are encouraged to bring drinks and snacks purchased in the lobby to their tables.
In Bowie Community Theatre’s latest offering, Nana’s Naughty Knickers,Sylvia Charles (Shelley Rochester) is a modern-day New York widow who has a pretty big secret. When her granddaughter Bridget (Olivia Knoche) arrives to spend the summer with her between semesters of law school, Sylvia is desperate to keep Bridget from learning the secret. Not gonna happen.
Boldly going where no lips have gone before! Shelley Rochester as Sylvia and Sharon J. Zelefsky as Heather Van Pree. Photo by Terri Trembeth.
In the opening scene, Bridget arrives at Nana’s apartment with helpful – and clearly smitten – neighborhood cop Tom O’Grady (Randy Lindsay), who is valiantly struggling with a couple of large, heavy boxes. Bridget is appalled to learn that Officer O’Grady is on very friendly terms with Nana and is not at all sure she approves of the relationship. Bridget, as it turns out, is appalled by a lot of things and is not looking forward to spending a boring and stodgy summer at Nana’s.
Enter Nana, who is a vibrant and vigorous woman bent on enjoying life and who is definitely not your grandmother’s grandmother. She is followed, soon after, by her neighbor and best friend Vera (Joanne Bauer), who wishes at that moment that Nana was a lot less vigorous. These two are a great pair of pals who drive each other crazy but never, ever let each other down.
With some help from Ryan Ronan’s attractive set – I particularly liked the brick on the walls and the brick fireplace – and Michael Fawcett’s delightfully clever special effects, Bridget and Vera soon learn that Nana is running a very successful and highly illegal business. In fact, Nana designs, makes, and sells sexy lingerie for “mature” women. Costume designer Jeanray Barber gets major points for the lingerie fashions she created for the “models” to wear. Bridget, the budding lawyer, is more than a little fearful for her Nana if the police – or worse, the IRS – should discover the secret.
Discussing Nana’s business venture, Saucy Slips. Olivia Knoche as Bridget, Shelley Rochester as Sylvia, and Sharon J. Zelefsky as Heather Van Pree. Photo by Andrew Culhane.
I will not spoil the fun by giving further plot details. There are plenty of funny moments, some real belly laughs, and even a surprise. Audience members were definitely entertained and left the theater smiling. I had to smile myself at the reactions of a few of the teens in the audience, who appeared to be as appalled as Bridget at the notion of grannies in sexy lingerie.
Director Jennifer Franklin elicited some fine performances from her cast. Shelley Rochester crackles with energy, wit, and intelligence, and she is the best friend you wish you had. Joanne Bauer is hilarious as the ditsy but fiercely loyal Vera. Olivia Knoche as the uptight Bridget has fun trying to hide not only her Nana’s secret but also her own growing affection for Randy Lindsay’s patient and lovable Officer O’Grady. Lindsay handles the physical demands of his role very well. Sharon J. Zelefsky is a force of nature as the gum-chewing, leopard-print-clad Heather Van Pree, who sets a good many things in motion. Deserving special mention is Brad Eaton, who stepped in at the last minute to replace the late Dave McCrary. Mr. Eaton made the most of his brief appearance as the UPS delivery man and completely stole the scene while he was onstage. Vincent Dantone is a perfectly rotten, scheming landlord, and Anne Hull’s brief appearance as one of Nana’s clients is great fun.
Randy Lindsay, as Officer Tom OGrady, listens to a sob story by Vincent Dantone, as Landlord Mr. Schmidt. Photo by Andrew Culhane.
The play is somewhat uneven and the action gets lost in a couple of stretches that are dialog heavy, but it’s a light and enjoyable bit of fluff for a summer afternoon or evening. It’s a buddy story, a romantic comedy, and a story of intergenerational understanding and bonding. What I liked most about this play, however, was that it embraced the notion that today’s grandmothers are not all staying home knitting horrible sweaters and baking endless batches of cookies. They are smart, they are sexy, and they are still living lives that have value.
Running Time: Two hours, with a 15-minute intermission.
Nana’s Naughty Knickers plays through July 30, 2017 at Bowie Community Theatre performing at the Bowie Playhouse – 16500 White Marsh Park Drive, in Bowie, MD. For tickets, call (301) 805-0219, or purchase them online.
Like all of Shakespeare’s plays, As You Like It is filled with rich, quotable language. (This is the one with the “All the world’s a stage” speech.) But Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival’s new production reminds us that there’s more than famous words here: this production is filled with music, wit, and a rambunctious spirit. It’s a play about love that radiates love – and it’s a production that’s very easy to love.
Marnie Schulenburg, Zack Robidas, and Stella Baker. Photo by Lee A. Butz.
Director Matt Pfeiffer sets the right mood early on in this tale of Rosalind and Orlando, “true lovers [who] run into strange capers.” Marnie Schulenberg’s Rosalind may speak in flowery language, but when she first sees Zack Robidas’ Orlando stretching for a wrestling match, she pauses to ogle him. When he returns her gaze, we can see the attraction is mutual. Orlando, not sure how to react, hands Rosalind his sweaty, stinky shirt. She’s ecstatic. (Go figure.) And we’re off.
Robidas is an engaging presence, but it’s Schulenberg who drives this production. Her Rosalind blends elegance, warmth, and a fine command of the language. When Rosalind gets banished from the royal court, disguises herself as a boy and hides in the forest, Schulenberg’s playful and flirtatious manner sets the tone that the rest of the production follows.
Pfeiffer focuses so much on the central romance that he doesn’t give all of the supporting characters the attention they deserve. Still, many of the actors in these roles make good impressions. They include Stella Baker as Rosalind’s cousin Celia, who watches a flirtation between Orlando and a disguised Rosalind with a wary eye, and Esau Pritchett, who plays two royal rulers – one kind, one menacing – with clear-cut attitudes. As Jaques, that “melancholy fellow,” Ian Merrill Peakes gives his big speech the proper gravity, but he also adds some opportune humor at key moments.
The ensemble of As You Like It. Photo by Lee A. Butz.
It’s the many humorous moments that make this As You Like It stand out. Kelsey Rainwater, Sean Patrick Higgins and Ilia Paulino, as a trio of forest dwellers, make the most of their comedy scenes, and Dan Hodge’s court jester is a model of invention, especially during his interactions with audience members. (He adds a few modern references, but they’ll make you laugh and won’t take you out of the story.)
Devon Painter’s costumes help to tell the story in inventive ways: members of the royal court are dressed mostly in black, while characters wear softer colors the further away they are from royalty. Subtly, the costumes illustrate the class divide in Shakespeare’s world. (Dan Hodge’s jester, who straddles both high and low class, wears a witty half black/ half white ensemble.)
As You Like It is being performed in repertory with The Three Musketeers – and not only do the two shows share a cast, they also share some of the same technical staff. Brian Sidney Bembridge’s set uses the same backdrop from Musketeers, but the stage this time is filled with wooden poles, topped by upside-down cones, that function as trees for the Forest of Arden. Masha Tsimring’s lighting returns here, as does Christian Kelly-Sordelet’s fight choreography (though it’s not used nearly as much as it is in Musketeers).
Shakespeare wrote a number of songs for As You Like It, and while we hear the lyrics here, they’re set to appealing new melodies by Alex Bechtel and sung with gusto by Alexander Sovronsky. He’s backed by ensemble members on a variety of acoustic instruments, including guitar, mandolin, ukulele, and even saxophone. Most of the arrangements have a gentle pastoral feel, but occasionally a cast member beats on a wooden box, giving the music a driving rhythm that pushes it into Mumford & Sons territory.
It’s music that will make you smile – just like so much of this production will.
Running Time: Two hours and 45 minutes, including an intermission.
As You Like It plays through Sunday, August 6, 2017, at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Schubert Theater – 2755 Station Avenue, in Center Valley, PA, on the Campus of DeSales University. For tickets, call (610) 282-WILL, or purchase them online.
