Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” a moving play at the Suffield Players
SUFFIELD-The Arthur Miller philosophical tragedy “All My Sons” is well done at the Suffield Players, running through Sunday.
The play, first performed in 1947, is about a self-made businessman, Joe Keller, who lives with his surviving son Chris, and his wife Kate in a typical suburb in an unnamed American town after World War II.
Their other son, Larry, was missing in action and is presumed dead by all but steadfast mother Kate, Marge Patefield, who has convinced herself that he is alive after 3 ½ years.
As the play evolves, we learn that Keller and his partner, Steve Deever were charged with selling cracked plane engine blocks to the United States Air Force that resulted in 21 pilot deaths. Keller got off on an appeal, but Deever took the fall and is in prison.
An added twist to the plot arrives in Ann Deever, played by Rayah Martin, daughter of the imprisoned man, who was engaged to Larry, and now is in love with Chris. Played by Shaun O’Keefe, Chris loves her also and they want to marry.
O’Keefe brings life and unpredictability to his role. He seems so easy-going and loving, which he is, but he reveals a deep and unexpected rage that is at once believable and unexpected.
Patefield’s Kate is a complex woman who appears to be a devoted mother and wife, and is, but she is made of steel inside, and has Lady Macbeth-like qualities that help lead to everyone’s undoing.
George Deever, played with intensity by Michael Reilly, has a brief but important appearance as the angry, then relaxed, then furious and heartbroken son of his accused father.
All the actors are very good, but Konrad Rogowski as Joe Keller, is amazing as the family patriarch — a self-made minimally educated but street-smart man who believes in the dog-eat-dog world. It’s all about the choices you make.
I kept thinking of the financial devastation created by former financier Bernard Madoff during the performance. Even though no one was killed because of the Madoff swindle, it’s the years of living with a lie before he was caught that I see as an apt parallel to Joe Keller in “All My Sons.”
Neighbors add a small town familiarity along with a communal feeling of secrets hidden and unspoken. Next door, living in the house from whence the Deevers fled, is the oppressed dreamer, Dr. Jim Bayliss, Robert Lunde, and his blunt, nagging wife, Sue, played by Amy Rucci.
The Keller’s other neighbors are the Frank and Lydia Lubey, played by Dana T. Ring and Ursula A. Nowik. Frank is convinced, through studying his horoscope, that Larry is alive.
Zak Kidd rounds out the capable supporting cast as young Bert, whom Joe teases in an uneasy exchange about a jail in Joe’s basement.
The Suffield Players often perform light farcical comedies, but this time they delve into the darker side of life and do so with style and power, directed by Ed Wilhelms. Occasionally I felt the heavy hand of direction, as when Ann, Joe, and Chris all marched over to sit on the garden bench.
The extensively-detail set of the Keller’s front porch and yard is nothing short of wonderful by the multitalented Rogowski.
The fascination of this moving tragedy lies in the many facets of falsehoods and self-deceits that bubble to the surface throughout, along with the well-acted and believable performances of this fine cast, who were all up to the task.
ALL MY SONS
3½ Stars
Location: Mapleton Hall, 1305 Mapleton Ave. Suffield.
Production: Written by Arthur Miller. Directed by Ed Wilhelms. Stage manager Bob Williams. Technical direction and lighting design by Jerry Zalewski. Set design by Konrad Rogowski. Costume design by Dawn McKay.
Running time: 2 hours, plus a 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. through Oct. 23.
Tickets: $17, $15 for seniors and students. Call 800-289-6148 or visit their website at www.suffieldplayers.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Konrad Rogowski … Joe Keller
Marge Patefield … Kate Keller
Shaun O’Keefe … Chris Keller
Rayah Martin … Ann Deever
Michael Reilly … George Deever
Robert Lunde … Dr. Jim Bayliss
Amy Rucci … Sue Bayliss
Dana T. Ring … Frank Lubey
Ursula A. Nowik … Lydia Lubey
Zak Kidd … Bert
Monday, October 18, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Outstanding “Othello” at CRT
STORRS — Stunning betrayal combined with singular naiveté are the hallmarks of Shakespeare’s tragedy, “Othello,” a Connecticut Repertory Theatre production at the University of Connecticut, playing at the Nafe Katter Theatre through Sunday.
The story is one of Shakespeare’s tightest, most focused and psychologically-intense plays, taking place in only a few days — adding to the sense of urgency in the haste and rash judgements of Othello the Moor who is more comfortable as a fighter than a lover.
Othello, played on alternate nights by graduate students Brooks Brantly and Philip AJ Smithey, is a well-respected and beloved Italian general who elopes with Desdemona, a headstrong aristocratic gal who falls in love with Othello’s battle tales and rough life story.
She says she wishes she could be him, and so they marry in haste, while her father, Brabantio, feels betrayed, but begrudgingly accepts what he cannot change.
Often at CRT they will have a few professional actors working with the graduate and undergraduate students, but this go around, under the capable direction of Dale AJ Rose, they have only one equity actor, Bill Kux, doing a fine turn as Desdemona’s father.
I thought it was a strange directorial choice, however, to have the first view of Brabantio from his bedchamber with a young harlot in attendance. At first glance she seemed to be his daughter, but then we learn his daughter is wed. Creepy, but probably the intent.
The night I saw the production, Brantly was “Othello.” I was initially disappointed because slender Brantly is far too youthful to play an experienced general, looking more like a junior lieutenant. He also didn’t have the commanding presence of an older general, turning his back to the audience frequently and was difficult to understand at first.
As the play progressed, however, I overcame my disappointment as Brantly’s Othello sucked me into his complex psychological machinations.
This play’s Iago, the unequivocal villian, is also a shared role on alternate nights, between Kevin Coubal, who I saw, and Phil Korth.
Coubal’s “honest Iago” was fascinating and fantastic, consumed by a furious, passionate, hatred for Othello that drives him to all-out villainy, joyously taking down the general, Desdemona, the foppish Roderigo, the handsome Lt. Cassio, and others in his path without a moment’s hesitation or an ounce of remorse.
Ryan Guess plays Roderigo with simpering silliness, while Brian Patrick Williams plays the unsuspecting Cassio with complexity.
I particularly admired how all the actors delivered the challenging Shakespearean prose in a plain and organic manner.
Alexandra Perlwitz as Desdemona particularly shined in her realistic delivery and was all the more believable for it.
The sword-fight scenes were unparalleled — one advantage of having many youths with good knees able to tumble about with aplomb, with fight choreography by Greg Webster.
If only the actors had more rigorously practiced putting their sabers back into their holders — it would have looked more soldier-like and natural, instead it was distracting as they struggled to find their way.
There was some strobe light action during a storm sequence with too much lightning for my taste, making it difficult to hear what the actors were saying, with lighting by Mark Novick.
The smaller roles were standouts too, with Andrea Pane speaking with an excellent accent as the Cypriot Commander Montano.
Also strong was Christina Greer as Emilia, the handmaiden to Desdemona and Iago’s unsuspecting wife.
The set of a castle with two staircases was elegant and solid, if unchanging, by Jennifer Corcoran.
The period costumes by Natalie Abreu were excellent for the most part, except for Desdemona whose gowns were either too low cut or ill-fitting and unflattering for her pale complexion and shorter stature.
It’s one thing to read Shakespeare, but to see it done well live, as it is in CRT’s terrific production, brings this play to life, as during the scene where Othello, this “rash and most unfortunate man,” strangles his wife.
The choking scene was really gruesome, horrid, and grotesque, especially when he rationalizes his actions before the deed is done, saying with calm justification, “she must die or she will betray others. Put out the light and then put out the light.”
I highly recommend this outstanding production of one of Shakespeare’s most modern and compelling plays.
OTHELLO
3½ Stars
Location: Nafe Katter Theatre, 802 Bolton Rd., Storrs.
Production: By William Shakespeare. Directed by Dale AJ Rose. Scenic design by Jennifer Corcoran. Costume design by Natalie Abreu. Lighting design by Mark Novick. Sound design by Erin McKeon. Dramaturg Dassia Posner. Fight choreographer Greg Webster. Technical direction by Stefan Koniarz. Production stage manager Mary P. Costello.
Running time: 3 hours including one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. through Sunday.
Tickets: $11 to $29. Call 860-486-4266 or visit their website at www.crt.uconn.edu.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Brooks Brantly and Philip AJ Smithey … Othello
Kevin Coubal and Phil Korth … Iago
Alexandra Perlwitz … Desdemona
Brian Patrick Williams … Cassio
Gretchen Goode … Emilia
Bill Kux … Brabantio, father to Desdemona
Ryan Guess … Roderigo
Robert Thompson Jr. … Duke of Venice
Andrea Pane … Montano
Christina Greer … Bianca
Tom Foran … Lodovico
Seth Koproski … Gratiano
STORRS — Stunning betrayal combined with singular naiveté are the hallmarks of Shakespeare’s tragedy, “Othello,” a Connecticut Repertory Theatre production at the University of Connecticut, playing at the Nafe Katter Theatre through Sunday.
The story is one of Shakespeare’s tightest, most focused and psychologically-intense plays, taking place in only a few days — adding to the sense of urgency in the haste and rash judgements of Othello the Moor who is more comfortable as a fighter than a lover.
Othello, played on alternate nights by graduate students Brooks Brantly and Philip AJ Smithey, is a well-respected and beloved Italian general who elopes with Desdemona, a headstrong aristocratic gal who falls in love with Othello’s battle tales and rough life story.
She says she wishes she could be him, and so they marry in haste, while her father, Brabantio, feels betrayed, but begrudgingly accepts what he cannot change.
Often at CRT they will have a few professional actors working with the graduate and undergraduate students, but this go around, under the capable direction of Dale AJ Rose, they have only one equity actor, Bill Kux, doing a fine turn as Desdemona’s father.
I thought it was a strange directorial choice, however, to have the first view of Brabantio from his bedchamber with a young harlot in attendance. At first glance she seemed to be his daughter, but then we learn his daughter is wed. Creepy, but probably the intent.
The night I saw the production, Brantly was “Othello.” I was initially disappointed because slender Brantly is far too youthful to play an experienced general, looking more like a junior lieutenant. He also didn’t have the commanding presence of an older general, turning his back to the audience frequently and was difficult to understand at first.
As the play progressed, however, I overcame my disappointment as Brantly’s Othello sucked me into his complex psychological machinations.
This play’s Iago, the unequivocal villian, is also a shared role on alternate nights, between Kevin Coubal, who I saw, and Phil Korth.
Coubal’s “honest Iago” was fascinating and fantastic, consumed by a furious, passionate, hatred for Othello that drives him to all-out villainy, joyously taking down the general, Desdemona, the foppish Roderigo, the handsome Lt. Cassio, and others in his path without a moment’s hesitation or an ounce of remorse.
Ryan Guess plays Roderigo with simpering silliness, while Brian Patrick Williams plays the unsuspecting Cassio with complexity.
I particularly admired how all the actors delivered the challenging Shakespearean prose in a plain and organic manner.
Alexandra Perlwitz as Desdemona particularly shined in her realistic delivery and was all the more believable for it.
The sword-fight scenes were unparalleled — one advantage of having many youths with good knees able to tumble about with aplomb, with fight choreography by Greg Webster.
If only the actors had more rigorously practiced putting their sabers back into their holders — it would have looked more soldier-like and natural, instead it was distracting as they struggled to find their way.
There was some strobe light action during a storm sequence with too much lightning for my taste, making it difficult to hear what the actors were saying, with lighting by Mark Novick.
The smaller roles were standouts too, with Andrea Pane speaking with an excellent accent as the Cypriot Commander Montano.
Also strong was Christina Greer as Emilia, the handmaiden to Desdemona and Iago’s unsuspecting wife.
The set of a castle with two staircases was elegant and solid, if unchanging, by Jennifer Corcoran.
The period costumes by Natalie Abreu were excellent for the most part, except for Desdemona whose gowns were either too low cut or ill-fitting and unflattering for her pale complexion and shorter stature.
It’s one thing to read Shakespeare, but to see it done well live, as it is in CRT’s terrific production, brings this play to life, as during the scene where Othello, this “rash and most unfortunate man,” strangles his wife.
The choking scene was really gruesome, horrid, and grotesque, especially when he rationalizes his actions before the deed is done, saying with calm justification, “she must die or she will betray others. Put out the light and then put out the light.”
I highly recommend this outstanding production of one of Shakespeare’s most modern and compelling plays.
OTHELLO
3½ Stars
Location: Nafe Katter Theatre, 802 Bolton Rd., Storrs.
Production: By William Shakespeare. Directed by Dale AJ Rose. Scenic design by Jennifer Corcoran. Costume design by Natalie Abreu. Lighting design by Mark Novick. Sound design by Erin McKeon. Dramaturg Dassia Posner. Fight choreographer Greg Webster. Technical direction by Stefan Koniarz. Production stage manager Mary P. Costello.
Running time: 3 hours including one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. through Sunday.
Tickets: $11 to $29. Call 860-486-4266 or visit their website at www.crt.uconn.edu.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Brooks Brantly and Philip AJ Smithey … Othello
Kevin Coubal and Phil Korth … Iago
Alexandra Perlwitz … Desdemona
Brian Patrick Williams … Cassio
Gretchen Goode … Emilia
Bill Kux … Brabantio, father to Desdemona
Ryan Guess … Roderigo
Robert Thompson Jr. … Duke of Venice
Andrea Pane … Montano
Christina Greer … Bianca
Tom Foran … Lodovico
Seth Koproski … Gratiano
“Driving Miss Daisy” a sweet love story at Ivoryton Playhouse
IVORYTON — If you are at all hard of hearing, the Ivoryton Playhouse’s production of “Driving Miss Daisy” is for you.
This show about an aging southern widow, Mrs. Daisy Wethan, who is forced against her will by her beleaguered adult son after wrecking her car to take on a chauffeur, is played at top volume throughout, with every word clearly enunciated.
Set in Atlanta, Georgia in the mid-1950s, this story takes us through the last part or her life, from her early 70s until she is in 90s in a nursing home.
Miss Daisy, as her driver, Hoke Coleburn respectfully calls her, is a crusty old Jewish grand dame, who Hoke identifies with and relates to, considering he to has suffered his share of discrimination.
He says to her at one point when her reformed synagogue is bombed by the Klu Klux Klan, “A Jew is a Jew” to them, just as “light or dark” they are all black in their eyes.
He then tells her of a horrendous sight he saw as a child, that let’s you know he is a man who has lived through much in his life.
She helps him when she, a former fifth-grade teacher, learns that Hoke, for all his kindness and wisdom, can’t read.
She is such a crusty, sarcastic old thing, played with a natural and progressive frailty by Rebecca Hoodwin, that she also gains in insight and patience with her steadfast companion Hoke, played by the steady and respectfully Rob Barnes.
Both he and Miss Daisy’s put-upon son, Boolie Werthan, played by Steven L. Barron, care deeply for and clearly love the old gal.
He says, “You’re a doodle, mama,” and often kisses her on the forehead as a sign of affection.
My one complaint is that the two men loudly articulate and emphasize each and every Southern word until all the words sound the same, except Boolie occasionally gets even louder, which I didn’t think was possible.
There were times when a more quiet, easy-going banter would have been a welcome relief.
The set was simple and stark, coincidentally by set designer William Russell Stark, with a chair and table for Miss Daisy’s home, a desk for Boolie’s office, and two chairs for the car Hoke drives Miss Daisy in.
Flashes of a time of social upheaval were evident with the synagogue bombing and a dinner for Martin Luther King, when the social fabric of our society was under transition.
Hoodwin and Barnes gracefully and subtly aged before our eyes over 20 years, but Boolie stayed oddly exactly the same from around 40 to 60 years old. Perhaps a little gray highlighting in his hair would have appropriately aged him a bit.
“Driving Miss Daisy” is a sweet, loving story of three souls who help each other through their lives with kindness, compassion, and a healthy dose of exasperation.
DRIVING MISS DAISY
3 Stars
Location: Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton
Production: Written by Alfred Uhry. Directed by Lawrence Thelen. Stage Manager T. Rick Jones. Scenic design by William Russell Stark. Lighting design by Jo Nazro. Wig Design by Joel Sivestro. Costume design by Pamela Puente.
Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission.
Show Times: Wednesday and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through Sunday.
Tickets: $38 for adults, $20 for students, and $15 for children 12 and under. Call the box office at 860-767-7318, or visit their website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Rebecca Hoodwin … Daisy Werthan
Steven L. Barron … Boolie Werthan
Rob Barnes … Hoke Coleburn
IVORYTON — If you are at all hard of hearing, the Ivoryton Playhouse’s production of “Driving Miss Daisy” is for you.
This show about an aging southern widow, Mrs. Daisy Wethan, who is forced against her will by her beleaguered adult son after wrecking her car to take on a chauffeur, is played at top volume throughout, with every word clearly enunciated.
Set in Atlanta, Georgia in the mid-1950s, this story takes us through the last part or her life, from her early 70s until she is in 90s in a nursing home.
Miss Daisy, as her driver, Hoke Coleburn respectfully calls her, is a crusty old Jewish grand dame, who Hoke identifies with and relates to, considering he to has suffered his share of discrimination.
He says to her at one point when her reformed synagogue is bombed by the Klu Klux Klan, “A Jew is a Jew” to them, just as “light or dark” they are all black in their eyes.
He then tells her of a horrendous sight he saw as a child, that let’s you know he is a man who has lived through much in his life.
She helps him when she, a former fifth-grade teacher, learns that Hoke, for all his kindness and wisdom, can’t read.
She is such a crusty, sarcastic old thing, played with a natural and progressive frailty by Rebecca Hoodwin, that she also gains in insight and patience with her steadfast companion Hoke, played by the steady and respectfully Rob Barnes.
Both he and Miss Daisy’s put-upon son, Boolie Werthan, played by Steven L. Barron, care deeply for and clearly love the old gal.
He says, “You’re a doodle, mama,” and often kisses her on the forehead as a sign of affection.
My one complaint is that the two men loudly articulate and emphasize each and every Southern word until all the words sound the same, except Boolie occasionally gets even louder, which I didn’t think was possible.
There were times when a more quiet, easy-going banter would have been a welcome relief.
The set was simple and stark, coincidentally by set designer William Russell Stark, with a chair and table for Miss Daisy’s home, a desk for Boolie’s office, and two chairs for the car Hoke drives Miss Daisy in.
Flashes of a time of social upheaval were evident with the synagogue bombing and a dinner for Martin Luther King, when the social fabric of our society was under transition.
Hoodwin and Barnes gracefully and subtly aged before our eyes over 20 years, but Boolie stayed oddly exactly the same from around 40 to 60 years old. Perhaps a little gray highlighting in his hair would have appropriately aged him a bit.
“Driving Miss Daisy” is a sweet, loving story of three souls who help each other through their lives with kindness, compassion, and a healthy dose of exasperation.
DRIVING MISS DAISY
3 Stars
Location: Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton
Production: Written by Alfred Uhry. Directed by Lawrence Thelen. Stage Manager T. Rick Jones. Scenic design by William Russell Stark. Lighting design by Jo Nazro. Wig Design by Joel Sivestro. Costume design by Pamela Puente.
Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission.
Show Times: Wednesday and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through Sunday.
Tickets: $38 for adults, $20 for students, and $15 for children 12 and under. Call the box office at 860-767-7318, or visit their website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Rebecca Hoodwin … Daisy Werthan
Steven L. Barron … Boolie Werthan
Rob Barnes … Hoke Coleburn
Thursday, September 30, 2010
“Ella The Musical” a colorful tribute at Long Wharf
NEW HAVEN — “Ella The Musical,” a colorful tribute to the legendary singer Ella Fitzgerald stars the inimitable Tina Fabrique at Long Wharf Theatre.
The show, which has been in production off and on since 2005, is a series of songs set in a concert hall in Nice, France, interspersed with mostly monologue from Fabrique telling the story of Ella’s life from the time she was a teenager until her step-sister died in 1966.
It’s not easy to compete with an icon, and for the most part Fabrique does an admirable job, with some pyrotechnic scat bebop singing, a style that Fitzgerald perfected.
Fabrique sounds best, with clear, clarion notes, when she hits the higher ranges, while the lower tones are scratchy and less clear and pure.
Everyone has a story to tell, but Fitzgerald had the disadvantage of being “the good girl.” No drug additions, alcohol abuse, or diva temper tantrums for this consummate driven performer. Her worst qualities appeared to be her lack of maternal instinct and her choice of looser men for lovers.
“I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, and I don’t sleep around,” Fitzgerald tells us, adding that she is more Doris Day than Lady Day, the nickname of singer Billie Holiday.
She also had some good men in her professional life, we learn, such as the bandleader Chick Webb, and a couple of decent agents including Norman Granz played by Harold Dixon.
In earlier productions, all directed by Rob Ruggiero, she spoke of some of the discrimination she endured while travelling around the globe, that is missing from this show.
Fabrique with her toothsome grin has a Kewpie doll awe-shucks cuteness that is cloying when she sings with Ron Haynes Ron Haynes who does an admirable job as Louis Armstrong, while playing a fine trumpet in “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.”
It’s a heavy load to carry an entire show, but she has fine support with her band, including pianist and musical director George Caldwell, Rodney Harper on drums, Cliff Kellam on bass and Haynes.
There are zuds of nostalgic tunes in this two act play, including one that Fitzgerald wrote called, “A-Tisket A-Tasket,” along with “That Old Black Magic,” “The Nearness of You,” “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” and “Night and Day.”
The set by Michael Schweikardt is filled with art nouveau curves and rainbow colors by lighting designer John Lasiter, that change from lavender and blues, to gray and black, to radiant red and brilliant yellow that help make this production so appealing.
The sound system, by Michael Miceli, is too loud for the intimate space of the Long Wharf, with some audience members plugging their ears, and needs to be taken down a couple notches.
Once she gets warmed up, Fabrique takes the audience to another time in this night of all “Ella,” running through Oct. 17.
3 Stars
Location: 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven
Production: Book by Jeffrey Hatcher. Directed by Rob Ruggiero. Conceived by Ruggiero and Dyke Garrison. Musical direction by George Caldwell. Set design by Michael Schweikardt. Costume design by Alejo Vietti. Lighting design by John Lasiter. Sound design by Michael Miceli. Wig design by Charles LaPointe.
Running time: 2 hours plus a 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday at 7 p.m., Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 p.m., with Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. and Saturday matinees at 3 p.m. through Sunday, Oct. 17.
Tickets: $35 to $65. For more information call their box office at 203-787-4282, or visit their website at www.longwharf.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Tina Fabrique … Ella Fitzgerald
George Caldwell … Piano
Ron Haynes … Trumpet
Rodney Harper … Drums
Cliff Kellam … Bass
Harold Dixon … Norman Granz
NEW HAVEN — “Ella The Musical,” a colorful tribute to the legendary singer Ella Fitzgerald stars the inimitable Tina Fabrique at Long Wharf Theatre.
The show, which has been in production off and on since 2005, is a series of songs set in a concert hall in Nice, France, interspersed with mostly monologue from Fabrique telling the story of Ella’s life from the time she was a teenager until her step-sister died in 1966.
It’s not easy to compete with an icon, and for the most part Fabrique does an admirable job, with some pyrotechnic scat bebop singing, a style that Fitzgerald perfected.
Fabrique sounds best, with clear, clarion notes, when she hits the higher ranges, while the lower tones are scratchy and less clear and pure.
Everyone has a story to tell, but Fitzgerald had the disadvantage of being “the good girl.” No drug additions, alcohol abuse, or diva temper tantrums for this consummate driven performer. Her worst qualities appeared to be her lack of maternal instinct and her choice of looser men for lovers.
“I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, and I don’t sleep around,” Fitzgerald tells us, adding that she is more Doris Day than Lady Day, the nickname of singer Billie Holiday.
She also had some good men in her professional life, we learn, such as the bandleader Chick Webb, and a couple of decent agents including Norman Granz played by Harold Dixon.
In earlier productions, all directed by Rob Ruggiero, she spoke of some of the discrimination she endured while travelling around the globe, that is missing from this show.
Fabrique with her toothsome grin has a Kewpie doll awe-shucks cuteness that is cloying when she sings with Ron Haynes Ron Haynes who does an admirable job as Louis Armstrong, while playing a fine trumpet in “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.”
It’s a heavy load to carry an entire show, but she has fine support with her band, including pianist and musical director George Caldwell, Rodney Harper on drums, Cliff Kellam on bass and Haynes.
There are zuds of nostalgic tunes in this two act play, including one that Fitzgerald wrote called, “A-Tisket A-Tasket,” along with “That Old Black Magic,” “The Nearness of You,” “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” and “Night and Day.”
The set by Michael Schweikardt is filled with art nouveau curves and rainbow colors by lighting designer John Lasiter, that change from lavender and blues, to gray and black, to radiant red and brilliant yellow that help make this production so appealing.
The sound system, by Michael Miceli, is too loud for the intimate space of the Long Wharf, with some audience members plugging their ears, and needs to be taken down a couple notches.
Once she gets warmed up, Fabrique takes the audience to another time in this night of all “Ella,” running through Oct. 17.
3 Stars
Location: 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven
Production: Book by Jeffrey Hatcher. Directed by Rob Ruggiero. Conceived by Ruggiero and Dyke Garrison. Musical direction by George Caldwell. Set design by Michael Schweikardt. Costume design by Alejo Vietti. Lighting design by John Lasiter. Sound design by Michael Miceli. Wig design by Charles LaPointe.
Running time: 2 hours plus a 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday at 7 p.m., Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 p.m., with Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. and Saturday matinees at 3 p.m. through Sunday, Oct. 17.
Tickets: $35 to $65. For more information call their box office at 203-787-4282, or visit their website at www.longwharf.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Tina Fabrique … Ella Fitzgerald
George Caldwell … Piano
Ron Haynes … Trumpet
Rodney Harper … Drums
Cliff Kellam … Bass
Harold Dixon … Norman Granz
Monday, September 27, 2010
Village Players’ “Run For Your Wife,” wacky belly-buster
SOMERS — Time and again I am amazed by the high quality of local talent there is in this area for community theater and “Run For Your Wife,” the current production at the Village Players, is no exception.
This madcap English farce has a seemingly mild-mannered taxi driver living two separate lives with two separate wives between the neighboring towns of Wimbledon and Staigtham.
Bigamy it is, and it has never been as funny, wild, and hysterically hilarious as it is in this show. Why it isn’t called “Run For Your Wives” though, I don’t know.
Fabulous Anthony Urillo delightfully underplays taxi driver John Smith, who somehow has managed to pull off leading his two lives relatively successfully for years.
A monkey wrench of sorts enters the system when he heroically interrupts a mugging in progress, and gets beamed on the noggin with the handbag for his efforts by the old lady he tried to rescue.
He ends up in the hospital, which throws his whole precisely-timed schedule out of whack and the wives start to worry.
Angela Taylor and Regina Erpenbeck as wife Barbara and Mary respectively, set the tone and get things rolling in a duet of sorts, when they both enter the single set, and we are asked to believe that they are actually in different apartments.
It’s a daring conceit, but once established, the audience takes that leap of faith and is duly rewarded by line after line of pithy repartee that leaves the brain somewhat addled, but highly satisfied.
Edwin R. Lewis III is amusing if a little over the top as the unemployed next door neighbor Stanley who says, “I am one of the government’s statistics. I’m temporarily unemployed, but I’m thinking of making it permanent. The hours are good.”
Ed Banas as Sgt. Porterhouse and Ron Blanchette as Sgt. Troughton both are befuddled and amusing, with Blanchette’s Troughton getting the last and best line in this terribly funny play.
There’s plenty of sexual innuendo, with jokes about bulls, cows, and 2 ½ acres of cucumbers, but it’s all in good fun and perfectly fine for all ages.
The English accents are more of an option than a rule for everyone except for the fine Tyler J. Anderson who plays Bobby, a dramatic and lovable homosexual. Although generally I am a stickler for consistent and believable accents, the cast’s eccentric hybrid variation on the theme didn’t bother me too much.
Director John K. Nelson does an excellent job of making sure this farcical festival keeps popping along, and the actors move about naturally and organically on the small but well laid out living room, with set design and décor by Franc Aguas.
Excellent too is the technical direction, light and sound design by Justin Martin, with all those telephone bells a ringing and doorbells a buzzing, that are so important to the success of this show.
If compared to music, “Run For Your Wife” is much like a finely tuned chamber orchestra piece, where the rhythm and timing, always key to successful comedy, is fast-paced and requires skilled performers.
Fortunately, this cast is well up to the task. The witty, belly-busting dialog is tear inducing, and so intelligent and sharp, inventive and clever, that it really is not to be missed.
RUN FOR YOUR WIFE
(no photos)
Three ½ stars
Theater: The Village Players, Inc.
Location: Joanne’s Café and Banquet House, 145 Main Street, Somers
Production: Written by Ray Cooney. Directed by John K. Nelson. Produced by Diane Preble. Technical direction, light and sound design by Justin Martin. Associate producer Betty Domer. Stage manager Tim Lavery. Set design and décor by Franc Aguas. Props by Sherry Samborski. Costumes by Joyce Benson. Light and sound by Ben Bugden.
Running time: 2 hours with one intermission.
Show Times: Friday and Saturday through Oct. 9. Social hour starting at 6 p.m. Dinner at 7 p.m. Show at 8 p.m. through Oct. 9.
Tickets: $35, including dinner, with cash bar. Call 860-749-0245 for reservations.
Actor ... Character
Anthony Urillo … John Smith
Edwin R. Lewis III … Stanley
Regina Erpenbeck … Mary Smith
Angela Taylor … Barbara Smith
Ed Banas … Sgt. Porterhouse
Ron Blanchette … Sgt. Troughton
Tyler J. Anderson … Bobby
John McKone … Reporter
SOMERS — Time and again I am amazed by the high quality of local talent there is in this area for community theater and “Run For Your Wife,” the current production at the Village Players, is no exception.
This madcap English farce has a seemingly mild-mannered taxi driver living two separate lives with two separate wives between the neighboring towns of Wimbledon and Staigtham.
Bigamy it is, and it has never been as funny, wild, and hysterically hilarious as it is in this show. Why it isn’t called “Run For Your Wives” though, I don’t know.
Fabulous Anthony Urillo delightfully underplays taxi driver John Smith, who somehow has managed to pull off leading his two lives relatively successfully for years.
A monkey wrench of sorts enters the system when he heroically interrupts a mugging in progress, and gets beamed on the noggin with the handbag for his efforts by the old lady he tried to rescue.
He ends up in the hospital, which throws his whole precisely-timed schedule out of whack and the wives start to worry.
Angela Taylor and Regina Erpenbeck as wife Barbara and Mary respectively, set the tone and get things rolling in a duet of sorts, when they both enter the single set, and we are asked to believe that they are actually in different apartments.
It’s a daring conceit, but once established, the audience takes that leap of faith and is duly rewarded by line after line of pithy repartee that leaves the brain somewhat addled, but highly satisfied.
Edwin R. Lewis III is amusing if a little over the top as the unemployed next door neighbor Stanley who says, “I am one of the government’s statistics. I’m temporarily unemployed, but I’m thinking of making it permanent. The hours are good.”
Ed Banas as Sgt. Porterhouse and Ron Blanchette as Sgt. Troughton both are befuddled and amusing, with Blanchette’s Troughton getting the last and best line in this terribly funny play.
There’s plenty of sexual innuendo, with jokes about bulls, cows, and 2 ½ acres of cucumbers, but it’s all in good fun and perfectly fine for all ages.
The English accents are more of an option than a rule for everyone except for the fine Tyler J. Anderson who plays Bobby, a dramatic and lovable homosexual. Although generally I am a stickler for consistent and believable accents, the cast’s eccentric hybrid variation on the theme didn’t bother me too much.
Director John K. Nelson does an excellent job of making sure this farcical festival keeps popping along, and the actors move about naturally and organically on the small but well laid out living room, with set design and décor by Franc Aguas.
Excellent too is the technical direction, light and sound design by Justin Martin, with all those telephone bells a ringing and doorbells a buzzing, that are so important to the success of this show.
If compared to music, “Run For Your Wife” is much like a finely tuned chamber orchestra piece, where the rhythm and timing, always key to successful comedy, is fast-paced and requires skilled performers.
Fortunately, this cast is well up to the task. The witty, belly-busting dialog is tear inducing, and so intelligent and sharp, inventive and clever, that it really is not to be missed.
RUN FOR YOUR WIFE
(no photos)
Three ½ stars
Theater: The Village Players, Inc.
Location: Joanne’s Café and Banquet House, 145 Main Street, Somers
Production: Written by Ray Cooney. Directed by John K. Nelson. Produced by Diane Preble. Technical direction, light and sound design by Justin Martin. Associate producer Betty Domer. Stage manager Tim Lavery. Set design and décor by Franc Aguas. Props by Sherry Samborski. Costumes by Joyce Benson. Light and sound by Ben Bugden.
Running time: 2 hours with one intermission.
Show Times: Friday and Saturday through Oct. 9. Social hour starting at 6 p.m. Dinner at 7 p.m. Show at 8 p.m. through Oct. 9.
Tickets: $35, including dinner, with cash bar. Call 860-749-0245 for reservations.
Actor ... Character
Anthony Urillo … John Smith
Edwin R. Lewis III … Stanley
Regina Erpenbeck … Mary Smith
Angela Taylor … Barbara Smith
Ed Banas … Sgt. Porterhouse
Ron Blanchette … Sgt. Troughton
Tyler J. Anderson … Bobby
John McKone … Reporter
TheaterWorks’ “Broke-ology” poignant story of family and choices
HARTFORD — The Connecticut premiere of “Broke-ology” at TheaterWorks is a poignant, moving and believable story of a small family trying to make ends meet in Kansas City.
True to the saying, “if it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all,” in “Broke-ology” there is the wounded King family with a father, William, and two sons. The younger son, Malcolm, played by clear-eyed David Pegram, has chosen an academic career at the University of Connecticut, while the other older brother Ennis, played with tightly wound energy by Royce Johnson, is working at a dead-end job supporting a young family.
Their mother and William’s former wife, Sonia, is seen in the beginning, and as a recurring memory throughout. She has died sometime after the boys were born, and the father has raised them well, considering their circumstances and their environment, surrounded as they are by drugs, gangs, and blight in a bad section of Kansas City, Kansas.
Now William has contracted debilitating and Multiple Sclerosis just as Ennis’ and his girlfriend’s baby is about to be born and Malcolm is about to return to the university to a teaching career in environmental studies. Or is he going to stay and take care of his father and give up his career hopes? That is the question that dominates the action.
It’s a beautifully realized production, with just the right amount of laughter and sadness, sensitively directed by Tazewell Thompson.
The two boys behave exactly as brothers would — joking and teasing one minute and arguing and frustrated with each other the next. There’s a real and natural friendliness and love they all share, and a willingness to face difficult questions eventually.
William, who has an admirable work ethic, that we learn both the boys share in their own ways, is going down hill fast, and the question of what can be done is the central focus of the show.
The term “Broke-ology” is invented by Ennis as a mock study of what he tells his brother is a new scientific field he’s invented — how to survive less money than you need. In response, Malcolm jokes with Ennis, saying that he’s only been home a short while, but already, he says, “your making my brain hurt.”
Often the sets on the compact stage at TheaterWorks are on the minimalist side, but this set, with the living room, kitchen, and bathroom of the King household, has a detailed, lived-in look about it, with set design by Luke Hegel-Cantraella. It is interesting too that the house remains unchanged throughout, as if it is frozen in time after Sonia’s unexplained death.
The story is a loving and moving one, beautifully acted, which everyone, regardless of their circumstances, can identify with and embrace.
BROKE-OLOGY
1) Photographs:
three ½ Stars
Theater: TheaterWorks
Location: 233 Pearl St. Hartford.
Production: Written by Nathan Louis Jackson. Directed by Tazewell Thompson. Set design by Luke Hegel-Cantraella. Costume design by Harry Nadal. Lighting design by Greg Goff. Sound design by Fabian Obispo.
Running time: 2 hours with one intermission.
Show Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. through Oct. 24.
Tickets: Unassigned seating is $39; $49 on Friday and Saturday nights. Center reserved seats $12 extra. $12 student rush tickets at showtime with valid ID (subject to availability). Season tickets are $129 for five shows. For tickets call 860-527-7838 or visit their website at www.theaterworkshartford.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Gina Daniels … Sonia King
Frank Faucette … William King
Royce Johnson … Ennis King
David Pegram … Malcolm King
HARTFORD — The Connecticut premiere of “Broke-ology” at TheaterWorks is a poignant, moving and believable story of a small family trying to make ends meet in Kansas City.
True to the saying, “if it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all,” in “Broke-ology” there is the wounded King family with a father, William, and two sons. The younger son, Malcolm, played by clear-eyed David Pegram, has chosen an academic career at the University of Connecticut, while the other older brother Ennis, played with tightly wound energy by Royce Johnson, is working at a dead-end job supporting a young family.
Their mother and William’s former wife, Sonia, is seen in the beginning, and as a recurring memory throughout. She has died sometime after the boys were born, and the father has raised them well, considering their circumstances and their environment, surrounded as they are by drugs, gangs, and blight in a bad section of Kansas City, Kansas.
Now William has contracted debilitating and Multiple Sclerosis just as Ennis’ and his girlfriend’s baby is about to be born and Malcolm is about to return to the university to a teaching career in environmental studies. Or is he going to stay and take care of his father and give up his career hopes? That is the question that dominates the action.
It’s a beautifully realized production, with just the right amount of laughter and sadness, sensitively directed by Tazewell Thompson.
The two boys behave exactly as brothers would — joking and teasing one minute and arguing and frustrated with each other the next. There’s a real and natural friendliness and love they all share, and a willingness to face difficult questions eventually.
William, who has an admirable work ethic, that we learn both the boys share in their own ways, is going down hill fast, and the question of what can be done is the central focus of the show.
The term “Broke-ology” is invented by Ennis as a mock study of what he tells his brother is a new scientific field he’s invented — how to survive less money than you need. In response, Malcolm jokes with Ennis, saying that he’s only been home a short while, but already, he says, “your making my brain hurt.”
Often the sets on the compact stage at TheaterWorks are on the minimalist side, but this set, with the living room, kitchen, and bathroom of the King household, has a detailed, lived-in look about it, with set design by Luke Hegel-Cantraella. It is interesting too that the house remains unchanged throughout, as if it is frozen in time after Sonia’s unexplained death.
The story is a loving and moving one, beautifully acted, which everyone, regardless of their circumstances, can identify with and embrace.
BROKE-OLOGY
1) Photographs:
three ½ Stars
Theater: TheaterWorks
Location: 233 Pearl St. Hartford.
Production: Written by Nathan Louis Jackson. Directed by Tazewell Thompson. Set design by Luke Hegel-Cantraella. Costume design by Harry Nadal. Lighting design by Greg Goff. Sound design by Fabian Obispo.
Running time: 2 hours with one intermission.
Show Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. through Oct. 24.
Tickets: Unassigned seating is $39; $49 on Friday and Saturday nights. Center reserved seats $12 extra. $12 student rush tickets at showtime with valid ID (subject to availability). Season tickets are $129 for five shows. For tickets call 860-527-7838 or visit their website at www.theaterworkshartford.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Gina Daniels … Sonia King
Frank Faucette … William King
Royce Johnson … Ennis King
David Pegram … Malcolm King
Monday, September 20, 2010
"bare" frank coming of age musical opera makes its Connecticut premiere at the Opera House Players
EAST WINDSOR — In the modern rock opera “bare,” the future of musicals, in the vein of “Rent” and “Spring Awakening,” is alive and well and living at the Broad Brook Opera House.
Music and musicals have a way of expressing what is difficult for words alone to convey.
This Connecticut premiere is set in a present-day Catholic boarding school where teens deal with their burgeoning sexuality, drug abuse, and preferences under the spiritual microscope of confession, guilt, and love, with a twist.
That twist on the usual boy meets girl is that the boy meets the boy and falls in love. I hate to say much more than that, because I don’t want to give it all away, but there is a parallel to Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” a play within a play directed by the no nonsense, straight-talking Sister Chantelle, played with confidence by the saucy Melissa Paul.
She sings the hip Motown tune “911! Emergency!” dream song with backup angels Kyra and Tanya played by Gia Wright and Amanda Marschall, and the direct “God Don’t Make No Trash.”
Peter and Jason, played by Opera House regular Christopher deJongh and newcomer Tomm Knightlee, respectively, are secret lovers who are dealing with their burgeoning sexual awareness and the pressure they feel to fit into their heterosexual society.
The lyrics, by John Hartmere Jr., are sensitive and meaningful, such as when Peter satirically sings in “The Role of a Lifetime,” “You learn to play the straight man, Your lines become routine. Never really saying what you mean. But I know the scene will change, White picket fences, and a dog, … And if you dance like hell, You hope you never touch the ground. ... As we dance around and play pretend. Then once again, reprise our roles.”
Peter has no doubts about his love for Jason, but popular Jason is torn and confused and wants to hid his feelings, which lead to a lot of broken hearts.
Jason has a twin sister, Nadia, who is ostracized and feels society’s harsh judgments because she is heavy.
Both Knightlee and deJongh have strong, lyrical voices that blend nicely in duets such as “Ever After,” “Bare,” and “Queen Mab.”
Nicole Giguere, also a Opera House veteran, gives a lively and powerful performance as the wisecracking, self-depreciating, angry teen Nadia, when she sings the brazen “Plain Jane Fat Ass.” Giguere enunciates each word and can be clearly understood.
Unfortunately at times it is difficult to understand what some of the characters are singing, which is the result of the music either being too loud, or the cordless microphones not being loud enough.
A prime example is when the fine Dallas Hosmer, playing the drug-dealing student Lucas, sings the rap tune “Wonderland.” Even though his words are not intelligible, however, the performance is still compelling and interesting.
Erica Lindblad is convincing as the young attractive girl who sleeps around, but is looking for love and an emotional connection, and she really belts it out when she sings the powerful “All Grown Up.”
Smoothly directed by Philip D. Vetro, the show has subtle and organic choreography by Todd Santa Maria. The set, by Peggy Messerschmidt, is simple but functional, with a few crosses, and a bedroom on the second level behind the orchestra, with a second level behind the main stage.
There is no nudity in “bare,” but plenty of profanity and a simulated sex act, making this play definitely unsuitable for young children, but appropriate for teens.
“bare” is a risky show for community theater, but under the sensitive direction of Vetro they do an admirable job of presenting a soulful, thoughtful, and ultimately beautiful production.
BARE
Theater: Opera House Players
Location: 107 Main Street, Broad Brook
Production: Music by Damon Intrabartolo Lyrics by John Hartmere Jr. Directed by Philip D. Vetro. Musical direction by Angela J. Klimaytis. Choreography by Todd Santa Maria. Fight choreography by Mark Wantroba. Stage managers Becky Beth Benedict and Caitlin Morris. Assistant director James Rhone. Set design by Peggy Messerschmidt. Costumes by Moonyean Field and Solveig Pflueger.
Running time: 2 ½ hours including a 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. through Sept. 26.
Tickets: $21, seniors over 60 pay $17. Not recommended for children under 16 years old. Call 860-292-6068 or visit their website at www.operahouseplayers.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Christopher deJongh … Peter
Tomm Knightlee … Jason
Nichole Giguere … Nadia
Erica Lindblad … Ivy
Dallas Hosmer … Lucas
Melissa Paul … Sister Chantelle
Ty Pearson … Matt
Kathi Such … Claire
Joseph J. Martin … Priest
Maria Grove … Diane
Stephen Jewell … Alan
David Addis … Zack
Amanda Marschall … Tanya
Stephanie Layne … Rory
Gia Wright … Kyra
Leah Rosen, Michael Hornig, Aslynn Brown … Students
EAST WINDSOR — In the modern rock opera “bare,” the future of musicals, in the vein of “Rent” and “Spring Awakening,” is alive and well and living at the Broad Brook Opera House.
Music and musicals have a way of expressing what is difficult for words alone to convey.
This Connecticut premiere is set in a present-day Catholic boarding school where teens deal with their burgeoning sexuality, drug abuse, and preferences under the spiritual microscope of confession, guilt, and love, with a twist.
That twist on the usual boy meets girl is that the boy meets the boy and falls in love. I hate to say much more than that, because I don’t want to give it all away, but there is a parallel to Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” a play within a play directed by the no nonsense, straight-talking Sister Chantelle, played with confidence by the saucy Melissa Paul.
She sings the hip Motown tune “911! Emergency!” dream song with backup angels Kyra and Tanya played by Gia Wright and Amanda Marschall, and the direct “God Don’t Make No Trash.”
Peter and Jason, played by Opera House regular Christopher deJongh and newcomer Tomm Knightlee, respectively, are secret lovers who are dealing with their burgeoning sexual awareness and the pressure they feel to fit into their heterosexual society.
The lyrics, by John Hartmere Jr., are sensitive and meaningful, such as when Peter satirically sings in “The Role of a Lifetime,” “You learn to play the straight man, Your lines become routine. Never really saying what you mean. But I know the scene will change, White picket fences, and a dog, … And if you dance like hell, You hope you never touch the ground. ... As we dance around and play pretend. Then once again, reprise our roles.”
Peter has no doubts about his love for Jason, but popular Jason is torn and confused and wants to hid his feelings, which lead to a lot of broken hearts.
Jason has a twin sister, Nadia, who is ostracized and feels society’s harsh judgments because she is heavy.
Both Knightlee and deJongh have strong, lyrical voices that blend nicely in duets such as “Ever After,” “Bare,” and “Queen Mab.”
Nicole Giguere, also a Opera House veteran, gives a lively and powerful performance as the wisecracking, self-depreciating, angry teen Nadia, when she sings the brazen “Plain Jane Fat Ass.” Giguere enunciates each word and can be clearly understood.
Unfortunately at times it is difficult to understand what some of the characters are singing, which is the result of the music either being too loud, or the cordless microphones not being loud enough.
A prime example is when the fine Dallas Hosmer, playing the drug-dealing student Lucas, sings the rap tune “Wonderland.” Even though his words are not intelligible, however, the performance is still compelling and interesting.
Erica Lindblad is convincing as the young attractive girl who sleeps around, but is looking for love and an emotional connection, and she really belts it out when she sings the powerful “All Grown Up.”
Smoothly directed by Philip D. Vetro, the show has subtle and organic choreography by Todd Santa Maria. The set, by Peggy Messerschmidt, is simple but functional, with a few crosses, and a bedroom on the second level behind the orchestra, with a second level behind the main stage.
There is no nudity in “bare,” but plenty of profanity and a simulated sex act, making this play definitely unsuitable for young children, but appropriate for teens.
“bare” is a risky show for community theater, but under the sensitive direction of Vetro they do an admirable job of presenting a soulful, thoughtful, and ultimately beautiful production.
BARE
Theater: Opera House Players
Location: 107 Main Street, Broad Brook
Production: Music by Damon Intrabartolo Lyrics by John Hartmere Jr. Directed by Philip D. Vetro. Musical direction by Angela J. Klimaytis. Choreography by Todd Santa Maria. Fight choreography by Mark Wantroba. Stage managers Becky Beth Benedict and Caitlin Morris. Assistant director James Rhone. Set design by Peggy Messerschmidt. Costumes by Moonyean Field and Solveig Pflueger.
Running time: 2 ½ hours including a 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. through Sept. 26.
Tickets: $21, seniors over 60 pay $17. Not recommended for children under 16 years old. Call 860-292-6068 or visit their website at www.operahouseplayers.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Christopher deJongh … Peter
Tomm Knightlee … Jason
Nichole Giguere … Nadia
Erica Lindblad … Ivy
Dallas Hosmer … Lucas
Melissa Paul … Sister Chantelle
Ty Pearson … Matt
Kathi Such … Claire
Joseph J. Martin … Priest
Maria Grove … Diane
Stephen Jewell … Alan
David Addis … Zack
Amanda Marschall … Tanya
Stephanie Layne … Rory
Gia Wright … Kyra
Leah Rosen, Michael Hornig, Aslynn Brown … Students
Monday, August 23, 2010
Ivoryton’s “Finian’s Rainbow” a colorful confection
IVORYTON — It’s a bit of leprechaun’s charm with a touch of old Irish blarney at the Ivoryton Playhouse in their colorful production of the sweet musical “Finian’s Rainbow,” running through Sept. 5.
This is a high school perennial favorite, and one can see why, with many parts along with a good moral story about the evils of racism and the possibility of redemption.
R. Bruce Connelly makes a fine Irishman, Finian McLonergan although his Irish accent evaporates at times, and has an elfin twinkle in his eye.
He drags his daughter, Sharon, to America in order to make a new life for themselves in the fictional town of Rainbow Valley, Missitucky, a combination of Mississippi and Kentucky, in 1947.
When Sharon, played by the excellent Kathleen Mulready, asks her pop if there aren’t people who are hungry and poor in America, he responds enthusiastically that there are but, “They are the best ill-clothed and the best ill-housed in the world.”
And when he says he “borrowed” some gold from the leprechauns, he observes, “Who else would have gold in Ireland?”
Finian has brought that stolen pot of gold to bury it and start good things here, but since he actually stole the leprechauns’ gold, all the leprechauns have started to grow, loose their green color, and become human.
Finian and his daughter come upon a scene where the family homestead belonging to a mute girl named Susan, played by the graceful Tessa Grunwald, is about to be seized by the bigot Senator Billboard Rawkins, played by Larry Lewis, because of unpaid back taxes. Lewis is terrific as the arrogant and obnoxious senator who learns to see the world through a black man’s eyes.
Woody, brother of Susan, played by the swell John Rochette, comes at the last minute with the money, but it turns out he is $70 short. Sharon comes up with the cash, and they fall in love, natch.
Rochette has a fine, warm singing voice, which blends well with Mulready’s strong melodic sound.
They sing some lovely songs together, including the crooning “Old Devil Moon.”
The dynamic powerhouse Patryce Williams plays Dottie and belts out the jazzy doo-wop “Necessity,” practically stealing the show from the leprechaun.
That leprechaun, Og, is played by the quirky and wacky Michael Nathanson, who seems a bit like the naughty Puck from Shakespeare’s “A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream.”
Og is terribly upset that he is becoming human after some 475 years as a leprechaun, but at the same time is learning to enjoy the sensations of being human, including falling in love, and oddly enough, morphing into an Elvis impersonator.
Then there is the Irish-tinged “How are Things in Glocca Morra?” that has a sweet, melancholic sound and appears a couple of times in the musical.
Also nice is the lighthearted gospel novelty song “The Begat,” which is well done, with fine choreographed by Schuyler Beeman.
The show, which was originally produced on Broadway in 1947, feels heavily influenced by Thornton Wilder archetypes, where the characters talk directly to the audience, informing us what is going to happen next, and where we are in the show. Dottie tells the audience when Act I is ending, for example. That style feels somewhat dated, but since the show is set back in that era, it works all right.
The set, designed by Tony Andrea, is simple and functional, with a tree that gets climbed at times, and an undulating backdrop that is elegant and fits this whimsical musical to a tee.
The lighting illuminating the backdrop in shades of chartreuse, fuchsia, purple, pink, and more, designed by Tate Burmeister, is inspired and well executed, adding much to the enjoyment of this colorful happy production.
FINIAN'S RAINBOW
3 Stars
Location: Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton
Production: Book by E.Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy. Directed by Julia Kiley. Music by Burton Lane. Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. Music direction by John S. DeNicola. Scenic design by Tony Andrea. Lighting design by Tate Burmeister. Choreography by Schuyler Beeman. Costume design by Pan Puente. Stage manager T. Rick Jones.
Running time: 2 ½ hours including one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Wednesday and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through Sept. 5.
Tickets: $38 for adults, $33 for seniors, $20 for students, and $15 for children 12 and under. Call the box office at 860-767-7318, or visit their website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
R. Bruce Connelly ... Finian McLonergan
Kathleen Mulready ... Sharon McLonergan
Tessa Grunwald ... Susan Mahoney
John Rochette ... Woody Mahoney
Michael Nathanson ... Og
Larry Lewis ... Senator Billboard Rawkins
George Lombardo ... Buzz Collins
Jamison Daniels ... Sheriff
Nicholas Fillippides ... Henry
Patryce Williams ... Dotty
Christopher Brasfield ... Howard
Jayson Kerr ... Sharecropper
Stefanie Foster, Emily Ide, Megan Wingo, and Schuyler Beeman ... Ensemble
IVORYTON — It’s a bit of leprechaun’s charm with a touch of old Irish blarney at the Ivoryton Playhouse in their colorful production of the sweet musical “Finian’s Rainbow,” running through Sept. 5.
This is a high school perennial favorite, and one can see why, with many parts along with a good moral story about the evils of racism and the possibility of redemption.
R. Bruce Connelly makes a fine Irishman, Finian McLonergan although his Irish accent evaporates at times, and has an elfin twinkle in his eye.
He drags his daughter, Sharon, to America in order to make a new life for themselves in the fictional town of Rainbow Valley, Missitucky, a combination of Mississippi and Kentucky, in 1947.
When Sharon, played by the excellent Kathleen Mulready, asks her pop if there aren’t people who are hungry and poor in America, he responds enthusiastically that there are but, “They are the best ill-clothed and the best ill-housed in the world.”
And when he says he “borrowed” some gold from the leprechauns, he observes, “Who else would have gold in Ireland?”
Finian has brought that stolen pot of gold to bury it and start good things here, but since he actually stole the leprechauns’ gold, all the leprechauns have started to grow, loose their green color, and become human.
Finian and his daughter come upon a scene where the family homestead belonging to a mute girl named Susan, played by the graceful Tessa Grunwald, is about to be seized by the bigot Senator Billboard Rawkins, played by Larry Lewis, because of unpaid back taxes. Lewis is terrific as the arrogant and obnoxious senator who learns to see the world through a black man’s eyes.
Woody, brother of Susan, played by the swell John Rochette, comes at the last minute with the money, but it turns out he is $70 short. Sharon comes up with the cash, and they fall in love, natch.
Rochette has a fine, warm singing voice, which blends well with Mulready’s strong melodic sound.
They sing some lovely songs together, including the crooning “Old Devil Moon.”
The dynamic powerhouse Patryce Williams plays Dottie and belts out the jazzy doo-wop “Necessity,” practically stealing the show from the leprechaun.
That leprechaun, Og, is played by the quirky and wacky Michael Nathanson, who seems a bit like the naughty Puck from Shakespeare’s “A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream.”
Og is terribly upset that he is becoming human after some 475 years as a leprechaun, but at the same time is learning to enjoy the sensations of being human, including falling in love, and oddly enough, morphing into an Elvis impersonator.
Then there is the Irish-tinged “How are Things in Glocca Morra?” that has a sweet, melancholic sound and appears a couple of times in the musical.
Also nice is the lighthearted gospel novelty song “The Begat,” which is well done, with fine choreographed by Schuyler Beeman.
The show, which was originally produced on Broadway in 1947, feels heavily influenced by Thornton Wilder archetypes, where the characters talk directly to the audience, informing us what is going to happen next, and where we are in the show. Dottie tells the audience when Act I is ending, for example. That style feels somewhat dated, but since the show is set back in that era, it works all right.
The set, designed by Tony Andrea, is simple and functional, with a tree that gets climbed at times, and an undulating backdrop that is elegant and fits this whimsical musical to a tee.
The lighting illuminating the backdrop in shades of chartreuse, fuchsia, purple, pink, and more, designed by Tate Burmeister, is inspired and well executed, adding much to the enjoyment of this colorful happy production.
FINIAN'S RAINBOW
3 Stars
Location: Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton
Production: Book by E.Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy. Directed by Julia Kiley. Music by Burton Lane. Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. Music direction by John S. DeNicola. Scenic design by Tony Andrea. Lighting design by Tate Burmeister. Choreography by Schuyler Beeman. Costume design by Pan Puente. Stage manager T. Rick Jones.
Running time: 2 ½ hours including one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Wednesday and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through Sept. 5.
Tickets: $38 for adults, $33 for seniors, $20 for students, and $15 for children 12 and under. Call the box office at 860-767-7318, or visit their website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
R. Bruce Connelly ... Finian McLonergan
Kathleen Mulready ... Sharon McLonergan
Tessa Grunwald ... Susan Mahoney
John Rochette ... Woody Mahoney
Michael Nathanson ... Og
Larry Lewis ... Senator Billboard Rawkins
George Lombardo ... Buzz Collins
Jamison Daniels ... Sheriff
Nicholas Fillippides ... Henry
Patryce Williams ... Dotty
Christopher Brasfield ... Howard
Jayson Kerr ... Sharecropper
Stefanie Foster, Emily Ide, Megan Wingo, and Schuyler Beeman ... Ensemble
Monday, August 09, 2010
Love makes the world go round in Goodspeed’s charming “Carnival!”1)
EAST HADDAM — Before there was Cirque du Soleil there was the Imperial Cirque de Paris in the darling and daring production of “Carnival!” at the Goodspeed Opera House.
The show is beautifully cast with every actor just perfect for his or her part, lead by the dear naïve waif, Lili, played with perky charm by diminutive Lauren Worsham.
Worsham, who looks much like the actress Natalie Portman, has not only the strongest voice of the many fine singers in the musical, but has a tone that is clear and thrilling to hear.
She plays an orphan who joins a second-rate circus in post-World War II France that is longing to return to their former glory days and play Paris again. It would have been nice if the actors had French accents to make it feel more like France rather than somewhere in Iowa.
She meets the usual suspects, including an arrogant magician, Marco the Magnificent, played with broad self-absorption by Mike McGowan. His sidekick is lovelorn Rosalie, played by the funny and fine Michelle Blakely, who reminds me of a Lucille Ball who can sing.
Lili also meets the acerbic and bitter Paul, a former famous dancer who was wounded in the war and now hides behind his puppets. He uses the puppets to express his love and gentleness in ways he cannot. Paul is well played with intensity and anger by Adam Monley.
The four puppets are beautiful and detailed by puppet designer Robert Smythe, and Monley makes them come to life.
The show which opened in New York in 1961, has one familiar song, the sweet lullaby “Love Makes the World Go Round,” and while the other songs advance the plot and are very good, they are not particularly memorable.
The acrobatics, gymnastics, and choreography by the top-notch ensemble cast are remarkable, with choreography by Peggy Hickey and aerial choreography by Joshua Dean.
The costumes by Fabio Toblini live up to the high standards that the Goodspeed always sets, with a colorful compendium of acrobatic strips and solid silks for the ensemble.
Also gorgeous are the fabulous can-can outfits and the high-kicking can-can dance that shows off the detailed underskirts.
There is an over-the-top frilly pink poofy dress for one scene with Lili and the puppets, proving that you can have comedy in clothing.
“Carnival!” is a sweet bit of cotton candy of a musical — Not too filling and delicious.
CARNIVAL
3½ Stars
Location: Goodspeed Opera House, Route 82, East Haddam
Production: Music and lyrics by Bob Merrill. Original book by Michael Stewart based on material by Helen Deutsch with revisions by Francine Pascal. Directed by Darko Tresnjak. Choreography by Peggy Hickey. Music direction by Michael O’Flaherty. Scenic design by David P. Gordon. Costume design by Fabio Toblini. Puppet design and staging by Robert Smythe. Lighting design by John Lasiter. Sound by Jay Hilton.
Running time: 2 ½ hours including one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Wednesday, Sunday, and selected Thursday matinees at 2 p.m., Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Saturday matinees at 3 p.m., and selected Sundays at 6:30 p.m. through Sept. 18.
Tickets: $27.50 — $71. Call the box office at 860-873-8668 or visit their website at www.goodspeed.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Lauren Worsham … Lili
Adam Monley … Paul
Nathan Klau … Jacquot
Michelle Blakely … Rosalie
Mike McGowan … Marco
David Engel … Marco starting Aug. 18
Laurent Giroux … Schlegel
Michael Kostroff Schlegel starting Aug. 18
Price Waldman … Grobert
EAST HADDAM — Before there was Cirque du Soleil there was the Imperial Cirque de Paris in the darling and daring production of “Carnival!” at the Goodspeed Opera House.
The show is beautifully cast with every actor just perfect for his or her part, lead by the dear naïve waif, Lili, played with perky charm by diminutive Lauren Worsham.
Worsham, who looks much like the actress Natalie Portman, has not only the strongest voice of the many fine singers in the musical, but has a tone that is clear and thrilling to hear.
She plays an orphan who joins a second-rate circus in post-World War II France that is longing to return to their former glory days and play Paris again. It would have been nice if the actors had French accents to make it feel more like France rather than somewhere in Iowa.
She meets the usual suspects, including an arrogant magician, Marco the Magnificent, played with broad self-absorption by Mike McGowan. His sidekick is lovelorn Rosalie, played by the funny and fine Michelle Blakely, who reminds me of a Lucille Ball who can sing.
Lili also meets the acerbic and bitter Paul, a former famous dancer who was wounded in the war and now hides behind his puppets. He uses the puppets to express his love and gentleness in ways he cannot. Paul is well played with intensity and anger by Adam Monley.
The four puppets are beautiful and detailed by puppet designer Robert Smythe, and Monley makes them come to life.
The show which opened in New York in 1961, has one familiar song, the sweet lullaby “Love Makes the World Go Round,” and while the other songs advance the plot and are very good, they are not particularly memorable.
The acrobatics, gymnastics, and choreography by the top-notch ensemble cast are remarkable, with choreography by Peggy Hickey and aerial choreography by Joshua Dean.
The costumes by Fabio Toblini live up to the high standards that the Goodspeed always sets, with a colorful compendium of acrobatic strips and solid silks for the ensemble.
Also gorgeous are the fabulous can-can outfits and the high-kicking can-can dance that shows off the detailed underskirts.
There is an over-the-top frilly pink poofy dress for one scene with Lili and the puppets, proving that you can have comedy in clothing.
“Carnival!” is a sweet bit of cotton candy of a musical — Not too filling and delicious.
CARNIVAL
3½ Stars
Location: Goodspeed Opera House, Route 82, East Haddam
Production: Music and lyrics by Bob Merrill. Original book by Michael Stewart based on material by Helen Deutsch with revisions by Francine Pascal. Directed by Darko Tresnjak. Choreography by Peggy Hickey. Music direction by Michael O’Flaherty. Scenic design by David P. Gordon. Costume design by Fabio Toblini. Puppet design and staging by Robert Smythe. Lighting design by John Lasiter. Sound by Jay Hilton.
Running time: 2 ½ hours including one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Wednesday, Sunday, and selected Thursday matinees at 2 p.m., Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Saturday matinees at 3 p.m., and selected Sundays at 6:30 p.m. through Sept. 18.
Tickets: $27.50 — $71. Call the box office at 860-873-8668 or visit their website at www.goodspeed.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Lauren Worsham … Lili
Adam Monley … Paul
Nathan Klau … Jacquot
Michelle Blakely … Rosalie
Mike McGowan … Marco
David Engel … Marco starting Aug. 18
Laurent Giroux … Schlegel
Michael Kostroff Schlegel starting Aug. 18
Price Waldman … Grobert
LTM’s first 25 years is celebrated in a musical review
MANCHESTER — In celebration of 50 years including 240 plays and musicals, it’s a walk down memory lane at the Little Theatre of Manchester’s production of “The First 25 Years — A Musical Review” playing through Sunday.
There is something for every musical lover here, with some that are classics that never grow old, like “Try to Remember” from “The Fantastics,” “If I Loved You” from “Carousel” and “Matchmaker” from “Fiddler on the Roof.”
Other songs are from musicals I have yet to see, such as “The Boy Friend” with the rousing song and dance number “Dance the Charleston with Me,” energetically performed by the nimble Ric Plamenco and perky Kristen Shaw. Also “Gorgeous” sung by Sarah Jane Hayes from the musical “The Apple Tree.”
The show is well directed by LTM Artistic Director Debi Freund, with no down time between songs, and moves along at a fine pace in the two-hour show. The show opens with a pre-recorded reminiscence by Fred T. Blish, who has been with the company since the start.
Blish is still active with LTM as the set design for this production.
I liked how Freund has the stage manager walk about the stage in the very beginning, yelling out cues and testing the lights and sound. It feels authentic, and sets the right tone for the show. I also appreciate Blish’s comments, but would prefer to have them broadcast before the stage manager does his thing.
Freund does a fine job mixing and matching the pace of songs, with upbeat tunes following slower ballads and funny numbers after more somber tunes.
The 23 talented performers work well together in the ensemble and then have their moment to shine with solos, which include the wonderful John-Michael Whitney singing “If I Loved You,” from “Carousel,” to a duets, such as Wesley Olds and Marika Kraus who sing the delightful “People Will Say We’re In Love,” from “Oklahoma.”
Another touching and sweet duet is by Art and Charlotte Bradbury who sing the poignant “Do You Love Me” from “Fiddler on the Roof.” We later learn from the relaxed LTM veteran Mike Zizka that in real life the Bradburys have been married to each other for 63 years.
There is a tricky trio well done by Sam Greene, Olds, and Dan Petrozza called “Fugue for Tinhorns” from “Guys & Dolls,” and a quartet with Kate Garrahy, Joyce Hodgson, Olds, and Zizka singing the romantic anthem “If We Only Had Love,” from “Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.”
The cast represents a broad spectrum of age and experience, with the youthful Katie Emery and Maria Meier blending beautifully with Shaw in the “Fiddler on the Roof” song “Matchmaker,” which was also finely choreographed, as was the entire show, by choreographer Todd Santa Maria.
There is also the veteran performer Jayne Newirth, who still has that old pizzazz when she sings the terrific “People” from “Funny Girl” and the sarcastic “The Ladies Who Lunch” from “Company.”
Jenna Levitt is also super singing “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” from “Funny Girl,” along with the razor-fast “Getting Married Today” with Whitney, and Mary deManbey from “Company.”
Michael Forgetta is, dare I say it, unforgettable as Pseudolus singing the fun “Comedy Tonight” with campy excess, which is just what the song requires, from the musical “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”
I also like how they have each of the 23 show’s names on sparkling stars in the back of the stage, as well as the year it was performed at LTM. A spotlight shines on the show from which a song is about to be performed.
This is a song-and-dance vaudevillian feel good experience, where everyone is having a great time strutting their stuff.
When seen altogether, it is clear that LTM has much to be proud of with their long and varied history in the unabashed pure cabaret entertainment at LTM’s “The First 25 Year — A Musical Review.”
THE FIRST 25 YEARS - A MUSICAL REVIEW
3½ Stars
Location: Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Road, Manchester
Production: Directed by Debi Freund. Musical direction by Kim Aliczi. Choreography by Todd Santa Maria. Stage manager Tom Goodin. Set design by Fred T. Blish. Lighting design by Lee Hammit. Sound design and operator Jim Ryan.
Running time: 2 hours, plus one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Sundays at 2 p.m., and through Aug. 15.
Tickets: $16 — $23. Call the box office at 860-647-9824, or visit their website at www.cheneyhall.org
PERFORMERS in alphabetical order
Diane AmEnde, Susan Bailey, Art Bradbury, Charlotte Bradbury, Mary deManbey, Katie Emery, Michael Forgetta, Kate Garrahy, Sam Greene, Susan Jane Hayes, Joyce Hodgson, Marika Kraus, Jenna Levitt, Maria Meier, Laura Nadeau, Jayne Newirth, Wesley Olds, Dan Petrozza, Ric Plamenco, Sherrie Schallack, Kristen Shaw, John-Michael Whitney, Mike Zizka
MANCHESTER — In celebration of 50 years including 240 plays and musicals, it’s a walk down memory lane at the Little Theatre of Manchester’s production of “The First 25 Years — A Musical Review” playing through Sunday.
There is something for every musical lover here, with some that are classics that never grow old, like “Try to Remember” from “The Fantastics,” “If I Loved You” from “Carousel” and “Matchmaker” from “Fiddler on the Roof.”
Other songs are from musicals I have yet to see, such as “The Boy Friend” with the rousing song and dance number “Dance the Charleston with Me,” energetically performed by the nimble Ric Plamenco and perky Kristen Shaw. Also “Gorgeous” sung by Sarah Jane Hayes from the musical “The Apple Tree.”
The show is well directed by LTM Artistic Director Debi Freund, with no down time between songs, and moves along at a fine pace in the two-hour show. The show opens with a pre-recorded reminiscence by Fred T. Blish, who has been with the company since the start.
Blish is still active with LTM as the set design for this production.
I liked how Freund has the stage manager walk about the stage in the very beginning, yelling out cues and testing the lights and sound. It feels authentic, and sets the right tone for the show. I also appreciate Blish’s comments, but would prefer to have them broadcast before the stage manager does his thing.
Freund does a fine job mixing and matching the pace of songs, with upbeat tunes following slower ballads and funny numbers after more somber tunes.
The 23 talented performers work well together in the ensemble and then have their moment to shine with solos, which include the wonderful John-Michael Whitney singing “If I Loved You,” from “Carousel,” to a duets, such as Wesley Olds and Marika Kraus who sing the delightful “People Will Say We’re In Love,” from “Oklahoma.”
Another touching and sweet duet is by Art and Charlotte Bradbury who sing the poignant “Do You Love Me” from “Fiddler on the Roof.” We later learn from the relaxed LTM veteran Mike Zizka that in real life the Bradburys have been married to each other for 63 years.
There is a tricky trio well done by Sam Greene, Olds, and Dan Petrozza called “Fugue for Tinhorns” from “Guys & Dolls,” and a quartet with Kate Garrahy, Joyce Hodgson, Olds, and Zizka singing the romantic anthem “If We Only Had Love,” from “Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.”
The cast represents a broad spectrum of age and experience, with the youthful Katie Emery and Maria Meier blending beautifully with Shaw in the “Fiddler on the Roof” song “Matchmaker,” which was also finely choreographed, as was the entire show, by choreographer Todd Santa Maria.
There is also the veteran performer Jayne Newirth, who still has that old pizzazz when she sings the terrific “People” from “Funny Girl” and the sarcastic “The Ladies Who Lunch” from “Company.”
Jenna Levitt is also super singing “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” from “Funny Girl,” along with the razor-fast “Getting Married Today” with Whitney, and Mary deManbey from “Company.”
Michael Forgetta is, dare I say it, unforgettable as Pseudolus singing the fun “Comedy Tonight” with campy excess, which is just what the song requires, from the musical “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”
I also like how they have each of the 23 show’s names on sparkling stars in the back of the stage, as well as the year it was performed at LTM. A spotlight shines on the show from which a song is about to be performed.
This is a song-and-dance vaudevillian feel good experience, where everyone is having a great time strutting their stuff.
When seen altogether, it is clear that LTM has much to be proud of with their long and varied history in the unabashed pure cabaret entertainment at LTM’s “The First 25 Year — A Musical Review.”
THE FIRST 25 YEARS - A MUSICAL REVIEW
3½ Stars
Location: Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Road, Manchester
Production: Directed by Debi Freund. Musical direction by Kim Aliczi. Choreography by Todd Santa Maria. Stage manager Tom Goodin. Set design by Fred T. Blish. Lighting design by Lee Hammit. Sound design and operator Jim Ryan.
Running time: 2 hours, plus one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Sundays at 2 p.m., and through Aug. 15.
Tickets: $16 — $23. Call the box office at 860-647-9824, or visit their website at www.cheneyhall.org
PERFORMERS in alphabetical order
Diane AmEnde, Susan Bailey, Art Bradbury, Charlotte Bradbury, Mary deManbey, Katie Emery, Michael Forgetta, Kate Garrahy, Sam Greene, Susan Jane Hayes, Joyce Hodgson, Marika Kraus, Jenna Levitt, Maria Meier, Laura Nadeau, Jayne Newirth, Wesley Olds, Dan Petrozza, Ric Plamenco, Sherrie Schallack, Kristen Shaw, John-Michael Whitney, Mike Zizka
Monday, August 02, 2010
HSC’s “Sheila’s Day” glorious musical history
WEST HARTFORD — A vibrant, informative, and ultimately uplifting civil rights history lesson set to music is in store for you at the Hartford Stage production of the glorious “Sheila’s Day” at Roberts Theatre on the Kingswood-Oxford School campus.
This 90-minute show, originally produced at the Crossroads Theatre Company in New Brunswick, New Jersey, bursts with life, love, rhythm, and song, with everything from blues to gospel to fabulous South African ululation and songs.
The Hartford Stage Company’s theater in Hartford is being remodeled with additional trap doors beneath the stage, new heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems, and probably most welcome of all, much needed expanded restrooms.
South African playwright and musician Mbongeni Ngema originally conceived “Sheila’s Day” to honor his mother, a South African domestic worker. In South Africa, maids are often referred to as “Sheilas” by their white employers, despite their native names.
The concept eventually evolved to include the United States civil rights movement and smoothly, interestingly balances the painful, often horrific parallel stories of mob hatred and violence against blacks in both countries.
Scenes such as the Freedom Rider bus that was bombed in 1961 in Alabama; the four black students who demanded to be served at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1960; and Rosa Parks refusal to give up her seat to whites on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955 were intermingled with South African protests and other atrocities.
Perhaps less familiar to some, but informative, was the 1956 Pretoria, South Africa boycott where 20,000 women protested the extending of passes to African women. Also reenacted is the 1972 incident at Cape Town, Johannesburg where white authorities push activist and writer Mthuli Shezi in front of a moving train for defending Black women at the Germiston Station.
Often when actors play composite characters they become one dimensional, but that is not the case with this truly talented ensemble of 10 performers, lead by Ann Duquesnay as Ruby Lee and Thuli Dumakude as the South African Qedusizi.
Dumakude is also the show’s musical director.
Their harmonies are gorgeous, making the pain of their stories only slightly less overwhelming. Thankfully there are some comic-relief bits, such as when Ashley Bryant as Stephanie flirts with the southern wives’ husbands at night, and then shows up at church the following day, looking for forgiveness from those same wives.
There’s also some fun and light-hearted interaction with the audience — but don’t worry, no one gets pulled up onto the stage.
The show drags a bit in the beginning, but once the singers get warmed up, they hit their stride and fly.
“Sheila’s Day” is a blessed opportunity to become immersed in two rich cultures and is an enriching experience worth every step of the journey. And at 90 minutes without an intermission it is just the right length.
SHEILA'S DAY
4 Stars
Location: Hartford Stage Company at Kingswood-Oxford School’s Roberts Theatre, 170 Kingswood Rd., West Hartford.
Production: Conceived and written by Duma Ndlovu. Directed by Ricardo Khan. Co-created with Mbongeni Ngema, with additional material by Ebony Jo-Ann. Music direction by Thuli Dumakude. Lighting design by Victor En Yu Tan. Costume design by Sasha Ehlers.
Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission.
Show Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinee performances Sundays and selected Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m. through Aug. 15.
Tickets: $23 — $66. Call 860-527-5151 or visit their website at www.hartfordstage.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Thuli Dumakude … Qedusizi
Ann Duquesnay … Ruby Lee
Tu Nokwe … Tu
Natalie Venetia Belcon … Annelen
Carla Brothers … Carla
Ashley Bryant … Stephanie
Erin Cherry … Valerie
Chantal Jean-Pierre … Torres
Taifa Harris … Breedlove
Julia Lema … Irene
WEST HARTFORD — A vibrant, informative, and ultimately uplifting civil rights history lesson set to music is in store for you at the Hartford Stage production of the glorious “Sheila’s Day” at Roberts Theatre on the Kingswood-Oxford School campus.
This 90-minute show, originally produced at the Crossroads Theatre Company in New Brunswick, New Jersey, bursts with life, love, rhythm, and song, with everything from blues to gospel to fabulous South African ululation and songs.
The Hartford Stage Company’s theater in Hartford is being remodeled with additional trap doors beneath the stage, new heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems, and probably most welcome of all, much needed expanded restrooms.
South African playwright and musician Mbongeni Ngema originally conceived “Sheila’s Day” to honor his mother, a South African domestic worker. In South Africa, maids are often referred to as “Sheilas” by their white employers, despite their native names.
The concept eventually evolved to include the United States civil rights movement and smoothly, interestingly balances the painful, often horrific parallel stories of mob hatred and violence against blacks in both countries.
Scenes such as the Freedom Rider bus that was bombed in 1961 in Alabama; the four black students who demanded to be served at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1960; and Rosa Parks refusal to give up her seat to whites on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955 were intermingled with South African protests and other atrocities.
Perhaps less familiar to some, but informative, was the 1956 Pretoria, South Africa boycott where 20,000 women protested the extending of passes to African women. Also reenacted is the 1972 incident at Cape Town, Johannesburg where white authorities push activist and writer Mthuli Shezi in front of a moving train for defending Black women at the Germiston Station.
Often when actors play composite characters they become one dimensional, but that is not the case with this truly talented ensemble of 10 performers, lead by Ann Duquesnay as Ruby Lee and Thuli Dumakude as the South African Qedusizi.
Dumakude is also the show’s musical director.
Their harmonies are gorgeous, making the pain of their stories only slightly less overwhelming. Thankfully there are some comic-relief bits, such as when Ashley Bryant as Stephanie flirts with the southern wives’ husbands at night, and then shows up at church the following day, looking for forgiveness from those same wives.
There’s also some fun and light-hearted interaction with the audience — but don’t worry, no one gets pulled up onto the stage.
The show drags a bit in the beginning, but once the singers get warmed up, they hit their stride and fly.
“Sheila’s Day” is a blessed opportunity to become immersed in two rich cultures and is an enriching experience worth every step of the journey. And at 90 minutes without an intermission it is just the right length.
SHEILA'S DAY
4 Stars
Location: Hartford Stage Company at Kingswood-Oxford School’s Roberts Theatre, 170 Kingswood Rd., West Hartford.
Production: Conceived and written by Duma Ndlovu. Directed by Ricardo Khan. Co-created with Mbongeni Ngema, with additional material by Ebony Jo-Ann. Music direction by Thuli Dumakude. Lighting design by Victor En Yu Tan. Costume design by Sasha Ehlers.
Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission.
Show Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinee performances Sundays and selected Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m. through Aug. 15.
Tickets: $23 — $66. Call 860-527-5151 or visit their website at www.hartfordstage.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Thuli Dumakude … Qedusizi
Ann Duquesnay … Ruby Lee
Tu Nokwe … Tu
Natalie Venetia Belcon … Annelen
Carla Brothers … Carla
Ashley Bryant … Stephanie
Erin Cherry … Valerie
Chantal Jean-Pierre … Torres
Taifa Harris … Breedlove
Julia Lema … Irene
Kathleen Turner tour-de-force performance in TheaterWorks’ “High”
HARTFORD — It’s been said that writers should write about what they know. For Connecticut native Matthew Lombardo, playwright of the world premiere at TheaterWorks of “High,” that knowledge lies squarely in methanphetamine addiction and the Catholic Church.
For Lombardo, who grew up in Wethersfield, his story is of a successful playwright turning into a hard-core drug addict at 36.
In his play, a young gay meth addict, Cody Randall (Evan Jonigkeit), is brought to a Catholic Church rehab center where Father Michael Delpapp, played by Michael Berresse, demands that social worker and nun, Sister Jamison Connelly, played by the commanding Kathleen Turner, is fix the junkie.
Turner is dominating as the wisecracking, foul-mouthed, tough-as-nails nun who has seen it all, and is more than capable of handling the young gangsta-talking homosexual hustler.
Turner’s Connelly is a recovering alcoholic with a mouth like a longshoreman. She says she told a fellow-nun that between alcohol and cursing, she could only handle giving up one addition in a lifetime.
Between scenes with the addict and the priest, she speaks directly to the audience about her own demons and her dark and sad past, along with sharing parables and mini-sermons, like one of my favorites, the scorpion and the frog.
This very adult play has nudity, prolific profanity, and violence, with discussions of sodomy, prostitution, child rape, death, and of course, plenty of drug abuse.
Jonigkeit is convincing as a bundle of nervous ticks and hyper-kinetic energy. He is wary and understandably distrustful as the youthful meth addict whose story of being the son of a drug addict and a drug user since a child, makes his future a pretty dismal one.
The addict was found in a hotel room with a 14-year-old boy, dead from an overdose, by the priest, who insists the nun counsel him.
The priest, played with depth by Berresse, has his own set of dark secrets, that aren’t of the usual creepy priest variety, but disturbing none-the-less when revealed, and frankly difficult for me to fathom.
Sometimes the dialog is over-long and pedantic, such as when we learn that Connelly doesn’t wear a “penguin suit” the nun’s Habit, and goes into great explanation about how things have changed. Irrelevant, really.
There are also some glaring holes in the plot, such as why the parents of the 14-year-old boy were concerned enough to send the child money to come home, but not concerned enough to actually come and get the child.
Plot issues aside, however, the topic of drug abuse, addition, and the sheer effort of will to live are relevant, poetically written and powerfully expressed.
Part of the problem we have as a society, I believe, which “High” brings to crystalline clarity, is that we forget that often the original intention behind abusing drugs or alcohol is to forget about our troubles and feel good and happy, and to connect with others. These are not bad intentions, but using drugs to achieve them just doesn’t work in the long run.
Connelly says as much when she says, “Booze has a way to make a young life more bearable.” Good intention — bad result.
Meth ups the ante, though, when it comes to trying to quit. Statistically the chances of staying clean are a frighteningly low one in three.
Elsewhere, Connelly tells Cody that the sooner he realizes he is a “garden-variety addict,” the sooner he will be on his way to recovery. Tough love, but true.
The simple set designed by David Gallo works well for this production, with parallel walls rolling forward and retreating when needed. The stars in the backdrop add a magical and dreamy quality.
The production, commandingly and surly directed by Rob Ruggiero, moves at a fast clip in the second act, revealing in the dark and heart-breaking recesses of life and death the fragile miracle of healing and redemption.
HIGH
3 1/2 Stars
Location: TheaterWorks, 233 Pearl St., Hartford.
Production: Written by Matthew Lombardo. Directed by Rob Ruggiero. Assistant director Mick Eilerman. Set design by David Gallo. Costume design by Jess Goldstein. Lighting design by John Lasiter. Sound design by Vincent Olivieri. Special makeup design by Joe Rossi.
Running time: 2 hours including one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, Aug. 15 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinee performances Sunday and selected Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. through Aug. 22.
Tickets: $49 for all shows. $15 more for reserved seating. Ages 16 and 17 free. Call 860-527-7838 or visit their website at www.theaterworkshartford.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Kathleen Turner … Sister Jamison Connelly
Michael Berresse … Father Michael Delapp
Evan Jonigkeit … Cody Randall
HARTFORD — It’s been said that writers should write about what they know. For Connecticut native Matthew Lombardo, playwright of the world premiere at TheaterWorks of “High,” that knowledge lies squarely in methanphetamine addiction and the Catholic Church.
For Lombardo, who grew up in Wethersfield, his story is of a successful playwright turning into a hard-core drug addict at 36.
In his play, a young gay meth addict, Cody Randall (Evan Jonigkeit), is brought to a Catholic Church rehab center where Father Michael Delpapp, played by Michael Berresse, demands that social worker and nun, Sister Jamison Connelly, played by the commanding Kathleen Turner, is fix the junkie.
Turner is dominating as the wisecracking, foul-mouthed, tough-as-nails nun who has seen it all, and is more than capable of handling the young gangsta-talking homosexual hustler.
Turner’s Connelly is a recovering alcoholic with a mouth like a longshoreman. She says she told a fellow-nun that between alcohol and cursing, she could only handle giving up one addition in a lifetime.
Between scenes with the addict and the priest, she speaks directly to the audience about her own demons and her dark and sad past, along with sharing parables and mini-sermons, like one of my favorites, the scorpion and the frog.
This very adult play has nudity, prolific profanity, and violence, with discussions of sodomy, prostitution, child rape, death, and of course, plenty of drug abuse.
Jonigkeit is convincing as a bundle of nervous ticks and hyper-kinetic energy. He is wary and understandably distrustful as the youthful meth addict whose story of being the son of a drug addict and a drug user since a child, makes his future a pretty dismal one.
The addict was found in a hotel room with a 14-year-old boy, dead from an overdose, by the priest, who insists the nun counsel him.
The priest, played with depth by Berresse, has his own set of dark secrets, that aren’t of the usual creepy priest variety, but disturbing none-the-less when revealed, and frankly difficult for me to fathom.
Sometimes the dialog is over-long and pedantic, such as when we learn that Connelly doesn’t wear a “penguin suit” the nun’s Habit, and goes into great explanation about how things have changed. Irrelevant, really.
There are also some glaring holes in the plot, such as why the parents of the 14-year-old boy were concerned enough to send the child money to come home, but not concerned enough to actually come and get the child.
Plot issues aside, however, the topic of drug abuse, addition, and the sheer effort of will to live are relevant, poetically written and powerfully expressed.
Part of the problem we have as a society, I believe, which “High” brings to crystalline clarity, is that we forget that often the original intention behind abusing drugs or alcohol is to forget about our troubles and feel good and happy, and to connect with others. These are not bad intentions, but using drugs to achieve them just doesn’t work in the long run.
Connelly says as much when she says, “Booze has a way to make a young life more bearable.” Good intention — bad result.
Meth ups the ante, though, when it comes to trying to quit. Statistically the chances of staying clean are a frighteningly low one in three.
Elsewhere, Connelly tells Cody that the sooner he realizes he is a “garden-variety addict,” the sooner he will be on his way to recovery. Tough love, but true.
The simple set designed by David Gallo works well for this production, with parallel walls rolling forward and retreating when needed. The stars in the backdrop add a magical and dreamy quality.
The production, commandingly and surly directed by Rob Ruggiero, moves at a fast clip in the second act, revealing in the dark and heart-breaking recesses of life and death the fragile miracle of healing and redemption.
HIGH
3 1/2 Stars
Location: TheaterWorks, 233 Pearl St., Hartford.
Production: Written by Matthew Lombardo. Directed by Rob Ruggiero. Assistant director Mick Eilerman. Set design by David Gallo. Costume design by Jess Goldstein. Lighting design by John Lasiter. Sound design by Vincent Olivieri. Special makeup design by Joe Rossi.
Running time: 2 hours including one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, Aug. 15 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinee performances Sunday and selected Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. through Aug. 22.
Tickets: $49 for all shows. $15 more for reserved seating. Ages 16 and 17 free. Call 860-527-7838 or visit their website at www.theaterworkshartford.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Kathleen Turner … Sister Jamison Connelly
Michael Berresse … Father Michael Delapp
Evan Jonigkeit … Cody Randall
Monday, July 19, 2010
Ivoryton’s “Buddy-The Buddy Holly Story” good ol’ Rock ‘n’ Roll
IVORYTON — “Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story” at the Ivoryton Playhouse is a musical tribute to a man whose career tragically ended just as it was starting.
The late 1950s was the beginning of a musical and social revolution in the United States so dramatic and extreme that it is difficult to comprehend today.
For those early rock music pioneers, like Holly, it was a dramatic break from the good old standard country music and the romantic crooners, to the wild and raucous sound of rock ‘n’ roll. Some referred to the music as a “communicable disease,” and many thought it was the devil incarnate. Some still do.
Holly wasn’t the gorgeous bad boy, sticking as he did with his nerdy look with geeky glasses, and to his music-writing skills, coming up with an amazing amount of music in a short time that is still well-known today.
His songs include classics such as “Peggy Sue” (which we learn was originally “Cindy Lou” but changed so the drummer could get with a girl) “That’ll Be The Day,” “Why Do Fools,” “A Teenager In Love,” and “Maybe Baby.”
Gregg Hammer does an excellent job as the young Holly, who died in an airplane crash in a blizzard along with Ritchie Havens and “The Big Bopper” (J.P. Richardson), on Feb. 3, 1959 at the age of 22.
The show feels more like a musical concert with dialog inserted now and again than a musical.
They sing mostly Holly songs, of course, but also include a whole range of music from pure country, to a melodic acapella tune, and plenty of early rock.
They perform The Big Bopper’s rousing rendition of the novelty song, “Chantilly Lace,” sung by the robust Robert W. Schultz Jr., to “La Bomba” by the hip-swinging Ritchie Havens played by the kinesthetic Khalid Rivera.
They also travel to the Apollo Theater, with fine performances by Apollo performers Antoine L. Smith and Patryce Williams, where the all-white band is eventually embraced.
The costumes, by Pam Puente, are period perfect, with ties for the rock ‘n’ roll band members and poofy skirts for the gals. The backup singers’ fancy dresses in Act II look a little like shiny, pastel shower curtains in the lights though, and one of the dresses is too long for the most petite singer.
Danielle Erin Rhodes is a real standout as Vi Petty, the wife of the band’s manager, Norman Petty, played by Steve Gagliastro. Rhodes makes the most out of her part as the spunky wife who can tear it up on the keyboards.
Directed by Jacqueline Hubbard, with excellent musical direction by John S. DeNicola, they manage to create coherence and a fast-paced production with a large cast playing multiple roles.
The set, by Cully Long, is seemingly simple, with the center being the music stage, and the sides being the sound studios and back stage scenes, which work well. They use a technical overhead projection that lists where Holly et al are at in any given moment, which is helpful for orientation, and works smoothly.
That twirling disco ball spins relentlessly for the entire second act, which is head ache-producing and far too long. Best to use it briefly during the encore only.
The show is a real crowd-pleaser, with audience participation neatly rolled in with a summer raffle to help pay for the Ivoryton Playhouse’s summer intern program.
It’s a full night of early rock ‘n’ roll at the Ivoryton Playhouse the “Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story,” running through Sunday, Aug. 1.
BUDDY, THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY
3Stars
Location: Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton, CT
Production: Written by Alan Janes and Rob Bettinson. Directed by Jacqueline Hubbard. Musical direction by John S. DeNicola. Scenic design by Cully Long. Stage manager Johanna K. Levai. Lighting design by Doug Harry. Costume design by Pam Puente
Running time: 2 ½ hours including one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Wednesday and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through Aug. 1.
Tickets: $38 for adults, $33 for seniors, $20 for students, and $15 for children 12 and under. Call the box office at 860-767-7318, or visit their website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Gregg Hammer … Buddy Holly
Daniel Orion Glynn … Joe Maudlin, musician
John Rochette … Jerry Allison, musician
Jason Naylor … Hipockets Duncan
Samantha Joy Pearlman … Maria Elena, jingle and backup singer
Robert W. Schultz Jr. … The Big Bopper, Decca producer
Steve Gagliastro … Norman Petty, musician
Khalid Rivera … Ritchie Valens, Radio DJ
Danielle Erin Rhodes … Vi Petty, musician
Antoine L. Smith … Apollo performer
Patryce Williams … Apollo performer
John S. DeNicola … Murray Deutch, English DJ, musician
Joe Petrowski … Radio engineer
Charles Everett Crocco … DJ, Decca engineer, Hayrider
Justin Boudreau … MC at Clearlake, Hayrider, radio DJ
Amaris Montoya … Shirley, backup singer
Logan Whaley … 4th Cricket, Tommy Alsop
Alanna Burke … Mary Lou Sokolof, jingle and backup singer, Hayrider
Brandon Clark … Radio DJ, Hayrider
Gayle Elizabeth LaBrec … Jingle and backup singer, Peggy Sue
IVORYTON — “Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story” at the Ivoryton Playhouse is a musical tribute to a man whose career tragically ended just as it was starting.
The late 1950s was the beginning of a musical and social revolution in the United States so dramatic and extreme that it is difficult to comprehend today.
For those early rock music pioneers, like Holly, it was a dramatic break from the good old standard country music and the romantic crooners, to the wild and raucous sound of rock ‘n’ roll. Some referred to the music as a “communicable disease,” and many thought it was the devil incarnate. Some still do.
Holly wasn’t the gorgeous bad boy, sticking as he did with his nerdy look with geeky glasses, and to his music-writing skills, coming up with an amazing amount of music in a short time that is still well-known today.
His songs include classics such as “Peggy Sue” (which we learn was originally “Cindy Lou” but changed so the drummer could get with a girl) “That’ll Be The Day,” “Why Do Fools,” “A Teenager In Love,” and “Maybe Baby.”
Gregg Hammer does an excellent job as the young Holly, who died in an airplane crash in a blizzard along with Ritchie Havens and “The Big Bopper” (J.P. Richardson), on Feb. 3, 1959 at the age of 22.
The show feels more like a musical concert with dialog inserted now and again than a musical.
They sing mostly Holly songs, of course, but also include a whole range of music from pure country, to a melodic acapella tune, and plenty of early rock.
They perform The Big Bopper’s rousing rendition of the novelty song, “Chantilly Lace,” sung by the robust Robert W. Schultz Jr., to “La Bomba” by the hip-swinging Ritchie Havens played by the kinesthetic Khalid Rivera.
They also travel to the Apollo Theater, with fine performances by Apollo performers Antoine L. Smith and Patryce Williams, where the all-white band is eventually embraced.
The costumes, by Pam Puente, are period perfect, with ties for the rock ‘n’ roll band members and poofy skirts for the gals. The backup singers’ fancy dresses in Act II look a little like shiny, pastel shower curtains in the lights though, and one of the dresses is too long for the most petite singer.
Danielle Erin Rhodes is a real standout as Vi Petty, the wife of the band’s manager, Norman Petty, played by Steve Gagliastro. Rhodes makes the most out of her part as the spunky wife who can tear it up on the keyboards.
Directed by Jacqueline Hubbard, with excellent musical direction by John S. DeNicola, they manage to create coherence and a fast-paced production with a large cast playing multiple roles.
The set, by Cully Long, is seemingly simple, with the center being the music stage, and the sides being the sound studios and back stage scenes, which work well. They use a technical overhead projection that lists where Holly et al are at in any given moment, which is helpful for orientation, and works smoothly.
That twirling disco ball spins relentlessly for the entire second act, which is head ache-producing and far too long. Best to use it briefly during the encore only.
The show is a real crowd-pleaser, with audience participation neatly rolled in with a summer raffle to help pay for the Ivoryton Playhouse’s summer intern program.
It’s a full night of early rock ‘n’ roll at the Ivoryton Playhouse the “Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story,” running through Sunday, Aug. 1.
BUDDY, THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY
3Stars
Location: Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton, CT
Production: Written by Alan Janes and Rob Bettinson. Directed by Jacqueline Hubbard. Musical direction by John S. DeNicola. Scenic design by Cully Long. Stage manager Johanna K. Levai. Lighting design by Doug Harry. Costume design by Pam Puente
Running time: 2 ½ hours including one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Wednesday and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through Aug. 1.
Tickets: $38 for adults, $33 for seniors, $20 for students, and $15 for children 12 and under. Call the box office at 860-767-7318, or visit their website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Gregg Hammer … Buddy Holly
Daniel Orion Glynn … Joe Maudlin, musician
John Rochette … Jerry Allison, musician
Jason Naylor … Hipockets Duncan
Samantha Joy Pearlman … Maria Elena, jingle and backup singer
Robert W. Schultz Jr. … The Big Bopper, Decca producer
Steve Gagliastro … Norman Petty, musician
Khalid Rivera … Ritchie Valens, Radio DJ
Danielle Erin Rhodes … Vi Petty, musician
Antoine L. Smith … Apollo performer
Patryce Williams … Apollo performer
John S. DeNicola … Murray Deutch, English DJ, musician
Joe Petrowski … Radio engineer
Charles Everett Crocco … DJ, Decca engineer, Hayrider
Justin Boudreau … MC at Clearlake, Hayrider, radio DJ
Amaris Montoya … Shirley, backup singer
Logan Whaley … 4th Cricket, Tommy Alsop
Alanna Burke … Mary Lou Sokolof, jingle and backup singer, Hayrider
Brandon Clark … Radio DJ, Hayrider
Gayle Elizabeth LaBrec … Jingle and backup singer, Peggy Sue
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
ArtFarm’s “As You Like It” bucolic Shakespeare at its best
MIDDLETOWN — Perhaps it is because Shakespeare plays were originally produced before the days of indoor plumbing and electricity, outdoor shows suit the Bard’s plays beautifully.
That’s certainly the case in the glorious Shakespearean comedy “As You Like It,” the fifth ArtFarm summer production at Shakespeare in the Grove at the Middlesex Community College.
The setting, with its backdrop of arborvitae with the sun setting to the west and birds gently competing with the actors and musicians, is nothing short of magical.
Director Dic Wheeler uses professional with amateur actors to fine effect, with Andrew Lincoln leading the cast as Orlando, the second brother of Oliver, played by John Johmann.
The story is set in the mid-1800s in a fictional European village, although it feels a century earlier than that. Oliver is in charge after his father dies, and fears his younger sibling, Orlando, and plots to kill him, causing Orlando to flee to the forest of Arden.
In another village Duke Frederick has banished his older sister, Duchess Senior to the woods of Arden, where she dwells with some followers. Both the Duke and Duchess are played by the versatile and energetic Anitra Brooks.
The Duchess’ daughter, Rosalind, played by the forthright Jackie Coleman, along with the Duke’s daughter Celia, played with affection by Annie Dimartino, also go to the Arden woods, with Rosalind dressed as a boy named Ganymede.
In fact, it is terrific that so many of the women and a few men in this play, play multiple male and female roles, including Brooks, and the fine, comic Joni Weisfeld who plays the fan-flapping Madame Le Beau, lord-in-exile Amiens, and the fabulous and kooky shepherdess Phoebe.
Also terrific is Mara Lieberman who plays the old servant Adam and the nubile country goatherd Audrey.
The flamboyant and excellent David McCarnish plays Touchstone, the court fool, who joins Rosalind and Celia in the woods.
Rounding out the cast is the melancholic courtier Jaques, played by the stately Brian Jennings who is unrecognizable when he also plays the lovelorn William, a country lad in love with Audrey.
The beauty of this play is that it performs like a spoken opera, with quartets, trios, duets, and solos, as foursomes, threesomes, twosomes, and soliloquies. They are accentuated with excellent original musical accompaniment by Music Director Joseph Getter on woodwinds, along with Mick Bolduc on Guitars and Tim Gaylord on percussion.
Getter and the band created all the music and sound effects, except for “A Lover and His Lass” with music by Thomas Morley, and “Under a Greenwood Tree,” and “Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind” with music by Eric Kuhn.
This is an exceedingly physical show from the very start, when Orlando and Charles the wrestler played by Kuhn go at it in a convincing and tumble-filled wrestling match, with fight choreography by David Chandler.
The actors run and cavort in the woods with excellent timing and quick exits and entrances. The simple set, designed by David Schulz, is nothing more than a few stairs and a chair in the first scene that turn into flowers as the chair floats into the tree — a playful idea.
The whole show is playful and fun, because it is all about the most easily mocked of emotions, romantic love.
Orlando and Rosalind meet at his wrestling match before they head for the woods separately. It’s love at first sight for them both.
Once in the woods, Rosalind learns that Orlando is nuts about her and convinces Orlando, who thinks she is the boy Ganymede, to pretend that she is Rosalind. Its all pretty silly stuff, but delightful as it unfolds.
It is helpful to know what’s in store, because some of the plot twists and turns are a little confusing, and the language can be a bit daunting.
Some of the dialog should be familiar to all, including Jacques’ glorious monologue: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
Under Wheeler’s strong direction they exhibit a light, vaudevillian sensibility that accentuates the bawdy jokes to their fullest, and there are plenty of those to go around in “As You Like It.”
The costumes hit the mark for the most part, but the shiny ball gowns that Rosalind and Celia wear are unflattering to both women. They could have worn something that at least looked like natural fibers, such as lace or silk in rich colors to differentiate them from the country outfits that are all terrific. The multicolored coat worn by Touchstone and the peasant garb of Audrey are especially fine.
Each performance has a different musical artist starting at 6 p.m. The grassy slope of the natural amphitheater is ideal for an early evening picnic before the show, but make sure to pack up your things before the show begins. There is no intermission and they turn off the lights quickly when the show ends.
It is a perfect show too for ArtFarm, which is dedicated to living and eating simply, with as little impact on the planet as possible, since this show is set in the magical woods of Arden, where people live simply and good things happen in the woods.
Be sure not to miss this comic delight of ArtFarm’s “As You Like It” at the bucolic Shakespeare in the Grove, playing through Sunday.
AS YOU LIKE IT
4 Stars
Location: Middlesex Community College, 100 Training Hill Rd., Middletown
Production: By William Shakespeare. Directed by Dic Wheeler. Music direction by Joseph Getter. Set design by David Schulz. Assistant direction by Katherine DeMezzo. Costume design by Pat Sloan. Sound design by Michael Miceli. Fight choreography by David Chandler. Dance choreography by Marcella Trowbridge. Technical director and lighting designer Ayla Kapiloff.
Running time: 2 ¼ hours with no intermission.
Show Times: Thursday through Sunday at 7 p.m. Musical performances at 6 p.m.
Tickets: $20 suggested donation. For more information call 860-346-4390 or visit their website at www.art-farm.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Andrew Lincoln … Orlando
Jackie Coleman … Rosalind
Annie Dimartino … Celia
David McCarnish … Touchstone
John Johmann … Oliver
Anitra Brooks … Duchess Senior, Duke Frederick
Joni Weisfeld … Phoebe, Madame LeBeau, Amiens
Brian Jennings … Jacques, William
Mara Lieberman … Audrey, Adam
Eric Kuhn … Charles
Allan Church … Lord
Bill Earls … Corin, Lord
Michael Brislin … Silvius, Dennis
MIDDLETOWN — Perhaps it is because Shakespeare plays were originally produced before the days of indoor plumbing and electricity, outdoor shows suit the Bard’s plays beautifully.
That’s certainly the case in the glorious Shakespearean comedy “As You Like It,” the fifth ArtFarm summer production at Shakespeare in the Grove at the Middlesex Community College.
The setting, with its backdrop of arborvitae with the sun setting to the west and birds gently competing with the actors and musicians, is nothing short of magical.
Director Dic Wheeler uses professional with amateur actors to fine effect, with Andrew Lincoln leading the cast as Orlando, the second brother of Oliver, played by John Johmann.
The story is set in the mid-1800s in a fictional European village, although it feels a century earlier than that. Oliver is in charge after his father dies, and fears his younger sibling, Orlando, and plots to kill him, causing Orlando to flee to the forest of Arden.
In another village Duke Frederick has banished his older sister, Duchess Senior to the woods of Arden, where she dwells with some followers. Both the Duke and Duchess are played by the versatile and energetic Anitra Brooks.
The Duchess’ daughter, Rosalind, played by the forthright Jackie Coleman, along with the Duke’s daughter Celia, played with affection by Annie Dimartino, also go to the Arden woods, with Rosalind dressed as a boy named Ganymede.
In fact, it is terrific that so many of the women and a few men in this play, play multiple male and female roles, including Brooks, and the fine, comic Joni Weisfeld who plays the fan-flapping Madame Le Beau, lord-in-exile Amiens, and the fabulous and kooky shepherdess Phoebe.
Also terrific is Mara Lieberman who plays the old servant Adam and the nubile country goatherd Audrey.
The flamboyant and excellent David McCarnish plays Touchstone, the court fool, who joins Rosalind and Celia in the woods.
Rounding out the cast is the melancholic courtier Jaques, played by the stately Brian Jennings who is unrecognizable when he also plays the lovelorn William, a country lad in love with Audrey.
The beauty of this play is that it performs like a spoken opera, with quartets, trios, duets, and solos, as foursomes, threesomes, twosomes, and soliloquies. They are accentuated with excellent original musical accompaniment by Music Director Joseph Getter on woodwinds, along with Mick Bolduc on Guitars and Tim Gaylord on percussion.
Getter and the band created all the music and sound effects, except for “A Lover and His Lass” with music by Thomas Morley, and “Under a Greenwood Tree,” and “Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind” with music by Eric Kuhn.
This is an exceedingly physical show from the very start, when Orlando and Charles the wrestler played by Kuhn go at it in a convincing and tumble-filled wrestling match, with fight choreography by David Chandler.
The actors run and cavort in the woods with excellent timing and quick exits and entrances. The simple set, designed by David Schulz, is nothing more than a few stairs and a chair in the first scene that turn into flowers as the chair floats into the tree — a playful idea.
The whole show is playful and fun, because it is all about the most easily mocked of emotions, romantic love.
Orlando and Rosalind meet at his wrestling match before they head for the woods separately. It’s love at first sight for them both.
Once in the woods, Rosalind learns that Orlando is nuts about her and convinces Orlando, who thinks she is the boy Ganymede, to pretend that she is Rosalind. Its all pretty silly stuff, but delightful as it unfolds.
It is helpful to know what’s in store, because some of the plot twists and turns are a little confusing, and the language can be a bit daunting.
Some of the dialog should be familiar to all, including Jacques’ glorious monologue: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
Under Wheeler’s strong direction they exhibit a light, vaudevillian sensibility that accentuates the bawdy jokes to their fullest, and there are plenty of those to go around in “As You Like It.”
The costumes hit the mark for the most part, but the shiny ball gowns that Rosalind and Celia wear are unflattering to both women. They could have worn something that at least looked like natural fibers, such as lace or silk in rich colors to differentiate them from the country outfits that are all terrific. The multicolored coat worn by Touchstone and the peasant garb of Audrey are especially fine.
Each performance has a different musical artist starting at 6 p.m. The grassy slope of the natural amphitheater is ideal for an early evening picnic before the show, but make sure to pack up your things before the show begins. There is no intermission and they turn off the lights quickly when the show ends.
It is a perfect show too for ArtFarm, which is dedicated to living and eating simply, with as little impact on the planet as possible, since this show is set in the magical woods of Arden, where people live simply and good things happen in the woods.
Be sure not to miss this comic delight of ArtFarm’s “As You Like It” at the bucolic Shakespeare in the Grove, playing through Sunday.
AS YOU LIKE IT
4 Stars
Location: Middlesex Community College, 100 Training Hill Rd., Middletown
Production: By William Shakespeare. Directed by Dic Wheeler. Music direction by Joseph Getter. Set design by David Schulz. Assistant direction by Katherine DeMezzo. Costume design by Pat Sloan. Sound design by Michael Miceli. Fight choreography by David Chandler. Dance choreography by Marcella Trowbridge. Technical director and lighting designer Ayla Kapiloff.
Running time: 2 ¼ hours with no intermission.
Show Times: Thursday through Sunday at 7 p.m. Musical performances at 6 p.m.
Tickets: $20 suggested donation. For more information call 860-346-4390 or visit their website at www.art-farm.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Andrew Lincoln … Orlando
Jackie Coleman … Rosalind
Annie Dimartino … Celia
David McCarnish … Touchstone
John Johmann … Oliver
Anitra Brooks … Duchess Senior, Duke Frederick
Joni Weisfeld … Phoebe, Madame LeBeau, Amiens
Brian Jennings … Jacques, William
Mara Lieberman … Audrey, Adam
Eric Kuhn … Charles
Allan Church … Lord
Bill Earls … Corin, Lord
Michael Brislin … Silvius, Dennis
Monday, June 28, 2010
Musical magic at CRT’s “Smokey Joe’s Café”
STORRS — After hearing 39 songs in just short of two hours, including “On Broadway,” “Love Potion Number 9,” “Hound Dog,” “Ruby Baby,” and “Charley Brown,” it feels like every 1950s and 1960s Motown Rock and Rock and Roll pop song ever created must have been by the musical team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
Of course this isn’t so, but in the musical review “Smokey Joe’s Café, The Songs of Leiber and Stoller,” at the University of Connecticut’s Nutmeg Summer Series, the sheer volume of the familiar with the new is almost overwhelming, in a very good way.
If the nimble and talent performers only stood still in front of the stage reciting the tunes, that would be fine enough.
What really brings this all music show to life with a huge shot of adrenaline is the stunning choreography, by director B. Peter Westerhoff, the gorgeous and non-stop period costumes, by Sabrina Notarfrancisco, and the clever and impressive cityscape set by scenic designer Michael Anania.
The large panels that had city buildings at angles slipped around the stage, nicely mixing up the visual image of a changing energetic city world.
The lighting by designer Michael Anania creatively changed regularly throughout the show, giving a constantly new look to the set, but at times the spotlights were late or missed their mark.
How these singers have the energy to sing as well as they do while in constant motion, on and off the stage, is difficult to conceive.
Much of the choreography is of the Motown style with three backup singers moving in seamless synchronicity with the lead singer in front, but there was constant variety and well rehearsed timing throughout.
The movement in the wings must be just as impress as on the stage because between most songs, particularly in the first act, with the performers zipping in and out of costumes in a flash.
The cast features professional actors along with non-equity performers including the fine recent University of Connecticut graduate Rachel Rosado as the vixen Brenda when she sang the amusing and seductive “Torch Song.”
At times some of the singing is uneven, and seems to strain and sound nasally, such as when Kaitlin Monte as Pattie sings the harsh-sounding “I Keep Forgetting,” but then really hits her mark with the resoundingly excellent belting tune “Pearl the Singer.”
Same too with Chelsea Gidden as DeLee who sounds strained when she sings “Falling” but sounds terrific in “Trouble” with Monte, and really shakes it up with “Teach Me How to Shimmy.”
A’Lisa D. Miles who plays B.J. found her stride and sounded terrific when she sings “Hound Dog.”
James Frisby sings “Stand by Me,” and others with fine tenor clarity and the animated Curtis Wiley as Victor when he belts out the emotional “I (Who Have Nothing.)”
The comical and mellifluous Nicholas Ward as Frederick has the most beautiful, deep bass voice that is delightfully incongruous with this youthful wide-eyed innocence when he is Charley Brown and at other times.
“Smokey Joe’s Café” is a musical review that could easily go on tour, and as usual with shows at the fine Connecticut Repertory Theater, is ending too soon on Sunday.
SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE
Three ½ Stars
Location: Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, Jorgensen Road, Storrs.
Production: Words and music by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Directed and choreographed by B. Peter Westerhoff. Music direction by Seth Weinstein. Scenic design by Michael Anania. Costume design by Sabrina Notafrancisco. Lighting design by Al Crawford. Sound design by Nathan Leigh. Technical direction by John W. Parnelee. Stage manager Mary P. Costello.
Running time: 2 hours with one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through July 4.
Tickets: $34 for adults, $18 for Uconn students. Call the box office at 860-486-4266 of visit their website at www.crt.uconn.edu.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
James Frisby … Adrian
Brandon Moorhead … Michael
Nicholas Ward … Frederick
Curtis Wiley … Victor
Jamal Lee Harris …. Ken
Rachel Rosado … Brenda
A’lisa D. Miles … B.J.
Kaitin Monte … Pattie
Chelsea Gidden … DeLee
STORRS — After hearing 39 songs in just short of two hours, including “On Broadway,” “Love Potion Number 9,” “Hound Dog,” “Ruby Baby,” and “Charley Brown,” it feels like every 1950s and 1960s Motown Rock and Rock and Roll pop song ever created must have been by the musical team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
Of course this isn’t so, but in the musical review “Smokey Joe’s Café, The Songs of Leiber and Stoller,” at the University of Connecticut’s Nutmeg Summer Series, the sheer volume of the familiar with the new is almost overwhelming, in a very good way.
If the nimble and talent performers only stood still in front of the stage reciting the tunes, that would be fine enough.
What really brings this all music show to life with a huge shot of adrenaline is the stunning choreography, by director B. Peter Westerhoff, the gorgeous and non-stop period costumes, by Sabrina Notarfrancisco, and the clever and impressive cityscape set by scenic designer Michael Anania.
The large panels that had city buildings at angles slipped around the stage, nicely mixing up the visual image of a changing energetic city world.
The lighting by designer Michael Anania creatively changed regularly throughout the show, giving a constantly new look to the set, but at times the spotlights were late or missed their mark.
How these singers have the energy to sing as well as they do while in constant motion, on and off the stage, is difficult to conceive.
Much of the choreography is of the Motown style with three backup singers moving in seamless synchronicity with the lead singer in front, but there was constant variety and well rehearsed timing throughout.
The movement in the wings must be just as impress as on the stage because between most songs, particularly in the first act, with the performers zipping in and out of costumes in a flash.
The cast features professional actors along with non-equity performers including the fine recent University of Connecticut graduate Rachel Rosado as the vixen Brenda when she sang the amusing and seductive “Torch Song.”
At times some of the singing is uneven, and seems to strain and sound nasally, such as when Kaitlin Monte as Pattie sings the harsh-sounding “I Keep Forgetting,” but then really hits her mark with the resoundingly excellent belting tune “Pearl the Singer.”
Same too with Chelsea Gidden as DeLee who sounds strained when she sings “Falling” but sounds terrific in “Trouble” with Monte, and really shakes it up with “Teach Me How to Shimmy.”
A’Lisa D. Miles who plays B.J. found her stride and sounded terrific when she sings “Hound Dog.”
James Frisby sings “Stand by Me,” and others with fine tenor clarity and the animated Curtis Wiley as Victor when he belts out the emotional “I (Who Have Nothing.)”
The comical and mellifluous Nicholas Ward as Frederick has the most beautiful, deep bass voice that is delightfully incongruous with this youthful wide-eyed innocence when he is Charley Brown and at other times.
“Smokey Joe’s Café” is a musical review that could easily go on tour, and as usual with shows at the fine Connecticut Repertory Theater, is ending too soon on Sunday.
SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE
Three ½ Stars
Location: Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, Jorgensen Road, Storrs.
Production: Words and music by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Directed and choreographed by B. Peter Westerhoff. Music direction by Seth Weinstein. Scenic design by Michael Anania. Costume design by Sabrina Notafrancisco. Lighting design by Al Crawford. Sound design by Nathan Leigh. Technical direction by John W. Parnelee. Stage manager Mary P. Costello.
Running time: 2 hours with one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through July 4.
Tickets: $34 for adults, $18 for Uconn students. Call the box office at 860-486-4266 of visit their website at www.crt.uconn.edu.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
James Frisby … Adrian
Brandon Moorhead … Michael
Nicholas Ward … Frederick
Curtis Wiley … Victor
Jamal Lee Harris …. Ken
Rachel Rosado … Brenda
A’lisa D. Miles … B.J.
Kaitin Monte … Pattie
Chelsea Gidden … DeLee
Monday, June 21, 2010
Ivoryton’s “Arsenic and Old Lace” a macabre farce
IVORYTON — An old Connecticut favorite, “Arsenic and Old Lace” is playing at the Ivoryton Playhouse through Sunday.
This show, written by Joseph Kesselring, was originally produced in 1939, and is about two lovable aunts in Brooklyn, New York, who poison elderly gentlemen in what they see as an act of kindness, since the men they knock off are old and lonely, with no family.
What gives the play such a tie to Connecticut is that the story is based on a real murderess, former Windsor-resident Amy Archer-Gilligan, who killed off two of her husbands and at least 66 others in her boarding house around 1911.
Interestingly enough, it was a Hartford Courant reporter who first noticed something suspicious when there were an inordinate number of obituaries reported from the Archer Home for Elderly People and Chronic Invalids, which Archer-Gilligan had opened and operated.
Archer-Gilligan did the dirty deeds with arsenic-laced lemonade, but the Brewster sisters lethal cocktail of choice is elderberry wine with arsenic, strychnine, “and then just a pinch of cyanide.”
They see themselves as angels doing good deeds, while their nephew, Teddy Brewster, played with conviction by Tom Libonate, sees himself as President Theodore Roosevelt, charging up the well-built staircase like it was San Juan Hill.
As Aunt Martha, played with loveable charm and a bizarre logic by Susan Gayle Pynn, says of their nephew, “We so much rather he be Roosevelt rather than nobody.”
Equally charming and delusional, Aunt Abby, played by Alden Rockwell Murphy, laments that their other nephew, Mortimer Brewster, played energetically by Dan Whelton, is a theater critic for a New York newspaper.
“The theater can’t last much longer, but it’s a living,” says Aunt Abby, adding, somewhat incongruously, how appalling it is that Mortimer has to see so much murder and mayhem on the stage.
There is also a third nephew, Jonathan Brewster, who makes an unwelcome entry after a lengthy sojourn. Mortimer says that as a child Jonathan used to “cut worms in two with his teeth,” and adds, “he left Brooklyn early by request.”
Now Jonathan’s back, looking like Boris Karloff and up to nefarious deeds, sporting a face filled with many botched plastic surgeries by erstwhile surgeon, Dr. Einstein, (Herman, not Albert).
The gothically hammy Robert Boardman plays Jonathan Brewster with a malleable face like a rubber mask, while possessing a dancer’s flexibility and grace, well used when he tumbles in windows or sidles up the stairs.
R. Bruce Connelly plays his alcoholic cohort in crime, Dr. Einstein, with perfect comic timing. Connelly ekes every drop of hilarity out of the smallest line with nothing more than a gesture or knowing glance.
The fine Victorian-era living room by scenic designer Rachel Reynolds, a vision in browns, is period perfect, down to the filigree on the staircase banister and the stained glass windows on the front door.
I love the classic 1944 Frank Capra film by the same name, starring Cary Grant with Peter Lorrie, which is just as wacky, but not as hilarious as this production, well directed by Julia Kiley.
As a special extra, M. William Phelps, the author of “The Devil’s Rooming House,” about female serial killer Archer-Gilligan, will be at the Ivoryton Playhouse on Saturday to speak about his book and sign copies after the evening performance.
I have seen this show numerous times at community theaters and have enjoyed them all, but this production of “Arsenic and Old Lace” at the Ivoryton Playhouse is hands down the best one yet.
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE
4 Stars
Location: Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton, Conn.
Production: Written by Joseph Kesselring. Directed by Julia Kiley. Scenic design by Rachel Reynolds. Stage manager Theresa Stark. Costume design by Pam Puente. Lighting design by Aaron Breskey. Wig design by Joel Silvestro.
Running time: 2 ½ hours including one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Wednesday and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through June 27.
Tickets: $38 for adults, $33 for seniors, $20 for students, and $15 for children 12 and under. Call the box office at 860-767-7318, or visit their website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Dan Whelton … Mortimer Brewster
Robert Boardman … Jonathan Brewster
R. Bruce Connelly … Dr. Einstein
Alden Rockwell Murphy … Abby Brewster
Susan Gayle Pynn … Martha Brewster
Tom Libonate … Teddy Brewster
Courtney Shaw … Elaine Harper
Kevin Spedding … Officer O’Hara
Stephen Kelly … Rev. Dr. Harper; Lt. Rooney
Jamison Daniels … Officer Brophy
Dan Coyle … Mr. Gibbs
Joe Kornfeld … Mr. Witherspoon
IVORYTON — An old Connecticut favorite, “Arsenic and Old Lace” is playing at the Ivoryton Playhouse through Sunday.
This show, written by Joseph Kesselring, was originally produced in 1939, and is about two lovable aunts in Brooklyn, New York, who poison elderly gentlemen in what they see as an act of kindness, since the men they knock off are old and lonely, with no family.
What gives the play such a tie to Connecticut is that the story is based on a real murderess, former Windsor-resident Amy Archer-Gilligan, who killed off two of her husbands and at least 66 others in her boarding house around 1911.
Interestingly enough, it was a Hartford Courant reporter who first noticed something suspicious when there were an inordinate number of obituaries reported from the Archer Home for Elderly People and Chronic Invalids, which Archer-Gilligan had opened and operated.
Archer-Gilligan did the dirty deeds with arsenic-laced lemonade, but the Brewster sisters lethal cocktail of choice is elderberry wine with arsenic, strychnine, “and then just a pinch of cyanide.”
They see themselves as angels doing good deeds, while their nephew, Teddy Brewster, played with conviction by Tom Libonate, sees himself as President Theodore Roosevelt, charging up the well-built staircase like it was San Juan Hill.
As Aunt Martha, played with loveable charm and a bizarre logic by Susan Gayle Pynn, says of their nephew, “We so much rather he be Roosevelt rather than nobody.”
Equally charming and delusional, Aunt Abby, played by Alden Rockwell Murphy, laments that their other nephew, Mortimer Brewster, played energetically by Dan Whelton, is a theater critic for a New York newspaper.
“The theater can’t last much longer, but it’s a living,” says Aunt Abby, adding, somewhat incongruously, how appalling it is that Mortimer has to see so much murder and mayhem on the stage.
There is also a third nephew, Jonathan Brewster, who makes an unwelcome entry after a lengthy sojourn. Mortimer says that as a child Jonathan used to “cut worms in two with his teeth,” and adds, “he left Brooklyn early by request.”
Now Jonathan’s back, looking like Boris Karloff and up to nefarious deeds, sporting a face filled with many botched plastic surgeries by erstwhile surgeon, Dr. Einstein, (Herman, not Albert).
The gothically hammy Robert Boardman plays Jonathan Brewster with a malleable face like a rubber mask, while possessing a dancer’s flexibility and grace, well used when he tumbles in windows or sidles up the stairs.
R. Bruce Connelly plays his alcoholic cohort in crime, Dr. Einstein, with perfect comic timing. Connelly ekes every drop of hilarity out of the smallest line with nothing more than a gesture or knowing glance.
The fine Victorian-era living room by scenic designer Rachel Reynolds, a vision in browns, is period perfect, down to the filigree on the staircase banister and the stained glass windows on the front door.
I love the classic 1944 Frank Capra film by the same name, starring Cary Grant with Peter Lorrie, which is just as wacky, but not as hilarious as this production, well directed by Julia Kiley.
As a special extra, M. William Phelps, the author of “The Devil’s Rooming House,” about female serial killer Archer-Gilligan, will be at the Ivoryton Playhouse on Saturday to speak about his book and sign copies after the evening performance.
I have seen this show numerous times at community theaters and have enjoyed them all, but this production of “Arsenic and Old Lace” at the Ivoryton Playhouse is hands down the best one yet.
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE
4 Stars
Location: Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton, Conn.
Production: Written by Joseph Kesselring. Directed by Julia Kiley. Scenic design by Rachel Reynolds. Stage manager Theresa Stark. Costume design by Pam Puente. Lighting design by Aaron Breskey. Wig design by Joel Silvestro.
Running time: 2 ½ hours including one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Wednesday and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through June 27.
Tickets: $38 for adults, $33 for seniors, $20 for students, and $15 for children 12 and under. Call the box office at 860-767-7318, or visit their website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Dan Whelton … Mortimer Brewster
Robert Boardman … Jonathan Brewster
R. Bruce Connelly … Dr. Einstein
Alden Rockwell Murphy … Abby Brewster
Susan Gayle Pynn … Martha Brewster
Tom Libonate … Teddy Brewster
Courtney Shaw … Elaine Harper
Kevin Spedding … Officer O’Hara
Stephen Kelly … Rev. Dr. Harper; Lt. Rooney
Jamison Daniels … Officer Brophy
Dan Coyle … Mr. Gibbs
Joe Kornfeld … Mr. Witherspoon
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
CRT’s “All in the Timing” an aburdist, existential romp
STORRS — What can you say about six short one-act plays that take the real world and turn it on its head?
The plays were written by David Ives at different times and are presented together as a kind of Ives surreal smorgasbord.
These vignettes investigate the nature of connection through an invented language in “The Universal Language,” the absurd study of chimps attempting to type in “Words, Words, Words,” and a stop-motion language of courtship in “Sure Thing,” and others.
Directed by AJ Rose at the Nutmeg Summer Theater at the Nafe Katter Theater at the University of Connecticut, these mini-plays require an actively attentive audience, rather than just kicking back.
There aren’t many plays that joke about Faulkner’s “The Sound and the Fury” but they do in “Sure Thing.”
Have you ever had that feeling of saying the wrong thing and wishing that you could yell “cut!” and begin again? This one act explores that possibility in a humorous and intellectual manner.
Blake DeLong plays Bill who walks into a restaurant and meets the stranger, Betty, played by Gretchen Goode.
They engage in various halting attempts at conversation, and each time they go too far, or say something they wish they hadn’t, a desk clerk bell rings and they get to try it again.
The absurdist “Words, Words, Words” has three actors playing chimpanzees, DeLong as Swift, Goode as Kafka, and Phil Korth as Milton, who are being tested by scientists to see if they can type, through random chance, Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”
You wonder who’s using whom when Korth’s Milton slyly observes, “for apes in captivity this is not a bad gig.”
They talk a good game amongst themselves, and have all the intelligence needed to get what they want, food and shelter, but can’t articulate their knowledge through their typing, and only produce endless nonsense.
Kristin Wold and Mark Emerson are charming and disarming as student and teacher in “The Universal Language,” an attempt to bring all people together under one common tongue called “Unamunda” that sounds suspiciously like the pig Latin of my youth, or rip everyone off in the process.
It is a delightful celebration of the quirky, extreme, and “bizzaro,” but interesting. The fantastical “Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread,” is an ode to Glass and Robert Wilson’s wild ground-breaking surrealist opera, “Einstein on the Beach” with Goode, Wold, Emerson, and DeLong as Glass, in an intricate, seamless opera-like staccato performance that is difficult to describe, but strangely satisfying to observe.
“The Philadelphia” short play is something like the song “I’m in a New York state of mind.”
DeLong observes that it is “opposite day” for Mark, played by Korth, where everything he asks for, he gets the exact opposite — a sure sign that he woke up in “a Philadelphia,” he is told.
Meanwhile, DeLong, playing Al, lost his job and his girlfriend, but doesn’t care because he woke up in “a Los Angeles.”
Being in “a Cleveland” is the worst state of all, because DeLong says, “Cleveland is like death without the advantages.”
Wold and Goode play Edna and Flo, two Polish church helpers, in the sweet and humane “Lives of Saints,” where the everyday acts of caring for others is honored, and the interesting, complex sound effects, operated by DeLong, Emerson, and Korth, are revealed.
In his comments on his plays, Ives says he enjoys the collaboration with actors during the creative process even more than the plays’ performances, and you can sense the improvisational, random elements at work here.
Directed by AJ Rose, “All in the Timing” is like nothing else you have probably ever seen, and is well acted and energetically performed.
ALL IN THE TIMING
3 Stars
Theater: Connecticut Repertory Theatre
Location: Nafe Katter Theater, 802 Bolton Rd., Storrs
Production: Written by David Ives. Directed by AJ Rose. Scenic design by Michael Anaia. Costume design by Lucy Brown. Lighting design by Zakaria M. Al-Alami. Sound design by Nathan Leigh. Technical director Stefan Koniarz.
Running time: 2 hours with one intermission.
Show Times: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., and Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. through June 20.
Tickets: Admission $25 and $37. Call 860-486-4226 or visit their website at www.crt.uconn.edu.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Blake DeLong … Bill, Philip Glass, Swift, Al
Gretchen Goode … Betty, Kafka, Flo
Kristin Wold … Dawn, Waitress, Edna
Mark Emerson … Don, Baker
Phil Korth … Milton, Mark
STORRS — What can you say about six short one-act plays that take the real world and turn it on its head?
The plays were written by David Ives at different times and are presented together as a kind of Ives surreal smorgasbord.
These vignettes investigate the nature of connection through an invented language in “The Universal Language,” the absurd study of chimps attempting to type in “Words, Words, Words,” and a stop-motion language of courtship in “Sure Thing,” and others.
Directed by AJ Rose at the Nutmeg Summer Theater at the Nafe Katter Theater at the University of Connecticut, these mini-plays require an actively attentive audience, rather than just kicking back.
There aren’t many plays that joke about Faulkner’s “The Sound and the Fury” but they do in “Sure Thing.”
Have you ever had that feeling of saying the wrong thing and wishing that you could yell “cut!” and begin again? This one act explores that possibility in a humorous and intellectual manner.
Blake DeLong plays Bill who walks into a restaurant and meets the stranger, Betty, played by Gretchen Goode.
They engage in various halting attempts at conversation, and each time they go too far, or say something they wish they hadn’t, a desk clerk bell rings and they get to try it again.
The absurdist “Words, Words, Words” has three actors playing chimpanzees, DeLong as Swift, Goode as Kafka, and Phil Korth as Milton, who are being tested by scientists to see if they can type, through random chance, Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”
You wonder who’s using whom when Korth’s Milton slyly observes, “for apes in captivity this is not a bad gig.”
They talk a good game amongst themselves, and have all the intelligence needed to get what they want, food and shelter, but can’t articulate their knowledge through their typing, and only produce endless nonsense.
Kristin Wold and Mark Emerson are charming and disarming as student and teacher in “The Universal Language,” an attempt to bring all people together under one common tongue called “Unamunda” that sounds suspiciously like the pig Latin of my youth, or rip everyone off in the process.
It is a delightful celebration of the quirky, extreme, and “bizzaro,” but interesting. The fantastical “Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread,” is an ode to Glass and Robert Wilson’s wild ground-breaking surrealist opera, “Einstein on the Beach” with Goode, Wold, Emerson, and DeLong as Glass, in an intricate, seamless opera-like staccato performance that is difficult to describe, but strangely satisfying to observe.
“The Philadelphia” short play is something like the song “I’m in a New York state of mind.”
DeLong observes that it is “opposite day” for Mark, played by Korth, where everything he asks for, he gets the exact opposite — a sure sign that he woke up in “a Philadelphia,” he is told.
Meanwhile, DeLong, playing Al, lost his job and his girlfriend, but doesn’t care because he woke up in “a Los Angeles.”
Being in “a Cleveland” is the worst state of all, because DeLong says, “Cleveland is like death without the advantages.”
Wold and Goode play Edna and Flo, two Polish church helpers, in the sweet and humane “Lives of Saints,” where the everyday acts of caring for others is honored, and the interesting, complex sound effects, operated by DeLong, Emerson, and Korth, are revealed.
In his comments on his plays, Ives says he enjoys the collaboration with actors during the creative process even more than the plays’ performances, and you can sense the improvisational, random elements at work here.
Directed by AJ Rose, “All in the Timing” is like nothing else you have probably ever seen, and is well acted and energetically performed.
ALL IN THE TIMING
3 Stars
Theater: Connecticut Repertory Theatre
Location: Nafe Katter Theater, 802 Bolton Rd., Storrs
Production: Written by David Ives. Directed by AJ Rose. Scenic design by Michael Anaia. Costume design by Lucy Brown. Lighting design by Zakaria M. Al-Alami. Sound design by Nathan Leigh. Technical director Stefan Koniarz.
Running time: 2 hours with one intermission.
Show Times: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., and Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. through June 20.
Tickets: Admission $25 and $37. Call 860-486-4226 or visit their website at www.crt.uconn.edu.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Blake DeLong … Bill, Philip Glass, Swift, Al
Gretchen Goode … Betty, Kafka, Flo
Kristin Wold … Dawn, Waitress, Edna
Mark Emerson … Don, Baker
Phil Korth … Milton, Mark
Monday, May 17, 2010
Suffield Player’s “Enchanted April” an Italian getaway
SUFFIELD — It’s “Sex and the City” meets All’Italia in the marvelous romantic comedy, “Enchanted April” at the Suffield Players.
The show, which had it’s world premier a decade ago at our own Hartford Stage Company, was written by Matthew Barber based on the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim.
It is the story of four very different English women in post-World War II who decide to rent a coastal villa in Italy for the month of April.
The first half of the play finds flighty but somewhat psychic Lottie, who is the mastermind behind the plan to get away with just women for a holiday, rounding up the other vacationers.
Lottie meets Rose and they decide to get two other women to split the cost of renting the villa by placing an advertisement in the newspaper.
Rose is the sad Madonna who has a secret sorrow. They find the wealthy and beautiful Lady Catherine and the elderly sourpuss Mrs. Graves to join their initially less than merry band.
Lottie, who narrates the show, is just as perky as can be, with enthusiasm to spare, played by Vanda Doyle who seems to have been born just to play this part.
Rose is played by Amy Rucci whose husband Brian Rucci plays her stage husband Frederick Arnott, a famous novelist who uses a female pen name to assuage his conscience for writing such scandalous stories. Actually, he doesn’t seem troubled about his novels, but his rigid wife is not too pleased.
Lottie has a drip of a husband in the solicitor Mellersh, played with precision by Dana T. Rucci. Lottie says her husband says the her “mind is like a hummingbird — always fluttering about but seldom lands.”
The lovely Karen Balaska plays Lady Catherine Bramble with just the right amount of ennui and world-weariness.
Anna Marie Johansen comes in like a lion as Mrs. Graves, swinging her walking stick like a weapon, and cracking walnuts within an inch of their lives.
Rounding out the cast is the easy-going artistic landlord Antony Wilding, played by Joshua Guenter, and the expressive Italian housemaid Costanza, played by the amusing Karen Sidel.
The first act is all grays and dark colors, with a fantastical surrealistic London backdrop designed and painted by the talented Christopher Berrien. It is really terrific.
While all the characters are polished and posh, and their English accents for the most part are spot-on, the real star of this show is the fabulous set, designed by Konrad Rogowski, who truly outdid himself, along with his 37-member crew.
From the dreary, stormy England in Act I the set magically transforms in Act II into a glorious garden villa, complete with wisteria, that is theatrically unveiled to accentuate the glorious transformation.
Kudos too to the fine sound and light work, with sound designed by director Dustin Sleight and light design by Jerry Zalewski, and crew, who do an amazing job timing the numerous lightening and thunder sequences in Act I, making them extremely realistic.
If you find that a trip to an Italian villa for a month is just not in your budget this year, do the next best thing this weekend and take a trip to Mapleton Hall in Suffield to see “Enchanted April.”
ENCHANTED APRIL
3½ Stars
Location: Mapleton Hall, 1305 Mapleton Ave. Suffield.
Production: Written by Matthew Barber from the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim. Direction and sound design by Dustin Sleight. Stage manager Dorrie Mitchell. Technical direction and lighting design by Jerry Zalewski. Set design by Konrad Rogowski. Costume design by Dawn McKay and Rebecca Murray.
Running time: 2 hours, plus a 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. through May 22.
Tickets: $17, $15 for seniors and students. Call 800-289-6148 or visit their website at www.suffieldplayers.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Vanda Doyle … Lotty Wilton
Amy Rucci … Rose Arnott
Dana T. Ring … Mellersh Wilton
Brian Rucci … Frederick Arnott
Karen Balaska … Lady Caroline Bramble
Anna Marie Johansen … Mrs. Graves
Joshua Guenter … Antony Wilding
Karen Sidel … Costanza
SUFFIELD — It’s “Sex and the City” meets All’Italia in the marvelous romantic comedy, “Enchanted April” at the Suffield Players.
The show, which had it’s world premier a decade ago at our own Hartford Stage Company, was written by Matthew Barber based on the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim.
It is the story of four very different English women in post-World War II who decide to rent a coastal villa in Italy for the month of April.
The first half of the play finds flighty but somewhat psychic Lottie, who is the mastermind behind the plan to get away with just women for a holiday, rounding up the other vacationers.
Lottie meets Rose and they decide to get two other women to split the cost of renting the villa by placing an advertisement in the newspaper.
Rose is the sad Madonna who has a secret sorrow. They find the wealthy and beautiful Lady Catherine and the elderly sourpuss Mrs. Graves to join their initially less than merry band.
Lottie, who narrates the show, is just as perky as can be, with enthusiasm to spare, played by Vanda Doyle who seems to have been born just to play this part.
Rose is played by Amy Rucci whose husband Brian Rucci plays her stage husband Frederick Arnott, a famous novelist who uses a female pen name to assuage his conscience for writing such scandalous stories. Actually, he doesn’t seem troubled about his novels, but his rigid wife is not too pleased.
Lottie has a drip of a husband in the solicitor Mellersh, played with precision by Dana T. Rucci. Lottie says her husband says the her “mind is like a hummingbird — always fluttering about but seldom lands.”
The lovely Karen Balaska plays Lady Catherine Bramble with just the right amount of ennui and world-weariness.
Anna Marie Johansen comes in like a lion as Mrs. Graves, swinging her walking stick like a weapon, and cracking walnuts within an inch of their lives.
Rounding out the cast is the easy-going artistic landlord Antony Wilding, played by Joshua Guenter, and the expressive Italian housemaid Costanza, played by the amusing Karen Sidel.
The first act is all grays and dark colors, with a fantastical surrealistic London backdrop designed and painted by the talented Christopher Berrien. It is really terrific.
While all the characters are polished and posh, and their English accents for the most part are spot-on, the real star of this show is the fabulous set, designed by Konrad Rogowski, who truly outdid himself, along with his 37-member crew.
From the dreary, stormy England in Act I the set magically transforms in Act II into a glorious garden villa, complete with wisteria, that is theatrically unveiled to accentuate the glorious transformation.
Kudos too to the fine sound and light work, with sound designed by director Dustin Sleight and light design by Jerry Zalewski, and crew, who do an amazing job timing the numerous lightening and thunder sequences in Act I, making them extremely realistic.
If you find that a trip to an Italian villa for a month is just not in your budget this year, do the next best thing this weekend and take a trip to Mapleton Hall in Suffield to see “Enchanted April.”
ENCHANTED APRIL
3½ Stars
Location: Mapleton Hall, 1305 Mapleton Ave. Suffield.
Production: Written by Matthew Barber from the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim. Direction and sound design by Dustin Sleight. Stage manager Dorrie Mitchell. Technical direction and lighting design by Jerry Zalewski. Set design by Konrad Rogowski. Costume design by Dawn McKay and Rebecca Murray.
Running time: 2 hours, plus a 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. through May 22.
Tickets: $17, $15 for seniors and students. Call 800-289-6148 or visit their website at www.suffieldplayers.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Vanda Doyle … Lotty Wilton
Amy Rucci … Rose Arnott
Dana T. Ring … Mellersh Wilton
Brian Rucci … Frederick Arnott
Karen Balaska … Lady Caroline Bramble
Anna Marie Johansen … Mrs. Graves
Joshua Guenter … Antony Wilding
Karen Sidel … Costanza
“The Secret Garden” at the Opera House Players a lyrical musical
EAST WINDSOR — Tucked away in the little hamlet of Broad Brook is a bit of Broadway in the Opera House Players lyrical production of “The Secret Garden.”
While the supporting cast is important in any show, the success of this musical rests squarely on the small shoulders of the actress playing the lead role — a little girl named Mary Lennox.
A daunting burden for some, but not so for Hollis Long who plays 10-year-old Mary. Long, who has an impressive resume for one so young, belts out her numbers with pizzazz and supreme confidence of a little pro.
The show written and with lyrics by Marsha Norman, is faithfully based on the beloved English novel, “The Secret Garden,” by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
Set in the Victorian England and India during British rule, it follows the life of Mary, whose father and mother die suddenly from a cholera epidemic in India. She is sent back to England to live with her deceased Aunt Lily’s husband, her Uncle Archibald Craven.
Craven, played with heart by the excellent Carl Calhoun, is a hunchback who has lost all interest in life, and hands the day to day management of his estate to his bitter brother, Dr. Neville Craven, played by the stoic and stolid Keith Johnson.
Both Calhoun and Johnson have strong and melodic voices, as does Erica Romeo who plays the ghost of Mary’s mother, Rose, and Melissa Dupont who plays Lily.
In fact, the singing is the thing in this show, and everyone is impressive. There are an assortment of duets, trios, and quartets, along with the solo performances, and they are all topnotch.
The secret garden is a walled off garden that has been neglected since Rose died. It is up to Mary to bring it back to life, and make a choice between embracing life and the future, or wallowing in the past with the dreams of the dead.
Director Sharon FitzHenry makes sure her cast wastes no time between the numerous scenes, giving this show its zippy pace.
The set designed by FitzHenry and master carpenter George Fields is okay, but feels cramped. It would be nice to have a real bed for Craven’s sickly son, Colin, played by Kenny Bell III, he of the angelic soprano voice, rather than a bench.
The 3-person orchestra led by musical director Bill Martin, along with husband and wife team Peter and Abby Thomson, are fantastic. They seem like many more than just three, and never overpower the vocalists.
The elegant costumes, designed by Moonyean Field and Solveig Pflueger are detailed and pretty, and Mary’s dresses and that lovely pink overcoat are precious.
Dead people dominate the stage in this show, from Mary’s parents to her aunt and sundry others, but it is life that wins out in the end.
As Dickon the country lad, played by the fine Scott Gilbert, says of the secret garden, “a lot of this is looks dead is just biding it’s time,” and “the strongest roses thrive on being neglected.”
Come to Broadway — I mean Broad Brook — and embrace life at the Opera House Players’ production of “The Secret Garden,” running through May 23.
THE SECRET GARDEN
Three Stars
Theater: Opera House Players
Location: 107 Main Street, Broad Brook
Production: Book and lyrics by Marsha Norman. Music by Lucy Simon. Based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Directed by Sharon FitzHenry. Musical direction by Bill Martin. Set design by FitzHenry and George Fields. Lighting design by FitzHenry. Costume designers Moonyean Field and Solveig Pflueger.
Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. through May 23.
Tickets: $20, seniors over 60 and youth under 12 pay $16. Call 860-292-6068 or visit their website at www.operahouseplayers.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Hollis Long … Mary Lennox
Carl Calhoun … Archibald Craven
Keith Johnson … Dr. Neville Craven
Kenny Bell III … Colin Craven
Amy Facey … Martha
Scott Gilbert … Dickon
Steven Dombeck … Ben Weatherstaff
Melissa Dupont … Lily
Erica Romeo … Rose
Roger Gove Jr. … Capt. Albert Lennox
Marge Stepansky … Mrs. Medlock
Reva Kleppel … Ayah
Gary Rhone … Fakir
Christopher Berrien … Maj. Holmes
Susan Howland … Claire Holmes
Lyndsay Robyn … Alice
Andrew Hall … Lt. Wright
Dallas Hosmer … Lt. Shaw
Elsa Berrien … Indian servant
Khara C. Hoyer, Erin Maloney,
Moonyean Field … Friends at Rose’s party
EAST WINDSOR — Tucked away in the little hamlet of Broad Brook is a bit of Broadway in the Opera House Players lyrical production of “The Secret Garden.”
While the supporting cast is important in any show, the success of this musical rests squarely on the small shoulders of the actress playing the lead role — a little girl named Mary Lennox.
A daunting burden for some, but not so for Hollis Long who plays 10-year-old Mary. Long, who has an impressive resume for one so young, belts out her numbers with pizzazz and supreme confidence of a little pro.
The show written and with lyrics by Marsha Norman, is faithfully based on the beloved English novel, “The Secret Garden,” by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
Set in the Victorian England and India during British rule, it follows the life of Mary, whose father and mother die suddenly from a cholera epidemic in India. She is sent back to England to live with her deceased Aunt Lily’s husband, her Uncle Archibald Craven.
Craven, played with heart by the excellent Carl Calhoun, is a hunchback who has lost all interest in life, and hands the day to day management of his estate to his bitter brother, Dr. Neville Craven, played by the stoic and stolid Keith Johnson.
Both Calhoun and Johnson have strong and melodic voices, as does Erica Romeo who plays the ghost of Mary’s mother, Rose, and Melissa Dupont who plays Lily.
In fact, the singing is the thing in this show, and everyone is impressive. There are an assortment of duets, trios, and quartets, along with the solo performances, and they are all topnotch.
The secret garden is a walled off garden that has been neglected since Rose died. It is up to Mary to bring it back to life, and make a choice between embracing life and the future, or wallowing in the past with the dreams of the dead.
Director Sharon FitzHenry makes sure her cast wastes no time between the numerous scenes, giving this show its zippy pace.
The set designed by FitzHenry and master carpenter George Fields is okay, but feels cramped. It would be nice to have a real bed for Craven’s sickly son, Colin, played by Kenny Bell III, he of the angelic soprano voice, rather than a bench.
The 3-person orchestra led by musical director Bill Martin, along with husband and wife team Peter and Abby Thomson, are fantastic. They seem like many more than just three, and never overpower the vocalists.
The elegant costumes, designed by Moonyean Field and Solveig Pflueger are detailed and pretty, and Mary’s dresses and that lovely pink overcoat are precious.
Dead people dominate the stage in this show, from Mary’s parents to her aunt and sundry others, but it is life that wins out in the end.
As Dickon the country lad, played by the fine Scott Gilbert, says of the secret garden, “a lot of this is looks dead is just biding it’s time,” and “the strongest roses thrive on being neglected.”
Come to Broadway — I mean Broad Brook — and embrace life at the Opera House Players’ production of “The Secret Garden,” running through May 23.
THE SECRET GARDEN
Three Stars
Theater: Opera House Players
Location: 107 Main Street, Broad Brook
Production: Book and lyrics by Marsha Norman. Music by Lucy Simon. Based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Directed by Sharon FitzHenry. Musical direction by Bill Martin. Set design by FitzHenry and George Fields. Lighting design by FitzHenry. Costume designers Moonyean Field and Solveig Pflueger.
Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. through May 23.
Tickets: $20, seniors over 60 and youth under 12 pay $16. Call 860-292-6068 or visit their website at www.operahouseplayers.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Hollis Long … Mary Lennox
Carl Calhoun … Archibald Craven
Keith Johnson … Dr. Neville Craven
Kenny Bell III … Colin Craven
Amy Facey … Martha
Scott Gilbert … Dickon
Steven Dombeck … Ben Weatherstaff
Melissa Dupont … Lily
Erica Romeo … Rose
Roger Gove Jr. … Capt. Albert Lennox
Marge Stepansky … Mrs. Medlock
Reva Kleppel … Ayah
Gary Rhone … Fakir
Christopher Berrien … Maj. Holmes
Susan Howland … Claire Holmes
Lyndsay Robyn … Alice
Andrew Hall … Lt. Wright
Dallas Hosmer … Lt. Shaw
Elsa Berrien … Indian servant
Khara C. Hoyer, Erin Maloney,
Moonyean Field … Friends at Rose’s party
Saturday, May 15, 2010
There’s no business like “Annie Get Your Gun” at the Goodspeed
EAST HADDAM — Seriously, is there any business like show business? Everything about it is appealing, and so is this wonderfully-realized production of “Annie Get Your Gun,” directed by Rob Ruggiero at the Goodspeed Opera House, whose run has been extended to July 3 by popular demand.
The show is about a travelling show called Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, which travels from town to town on the old vaudeville circuit. While in one of their towns in rural Ohio they come across Annie Oakley, who can’t read or write, but can hit a target with a gun practically blindfolded, and was based on the real life sharp shooter by the same name who “can shoot the fuzz off a peach.”
Annie has a shoot-off with the famous marksman Frank Butler, and wins. In real life Annie did marry Butler and it was a true love affair.
The show begins with that classic theater anthem and Ethel Merman’s signature song “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” which, along with all the other songs in the musical are written by the inimitable Irving Berlin.
Other great songs include “They Say It’s Wonderful,” “You Can’t Get a Man With A Gun,” and “Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better.”
The lyrics are snappy, such as in “You Can’t Get A Man With A Gun,” when Annie, played by the scrappy Jenn Gambatese, sings — “You can’t hug a mug with a slug,” and “You can’t shoot a male in the tail with like a quail,” because “they don’t buy pajamas for pistol-packin’ mamas.”
Gambatese is energetic and appealing, which is good, because, like the title of this particular show indicates, it’s all about Annie, and she is in just about every scene.
During the first act the songs drag some, such as the lovely “Moonlight Lullaby” that she sings to her young siblings, played by the cute Joy Rachel Del Valle, Marissa Smoker, and Griffin Birney that practically lulls the post-dinner audience to sleep.
The chemistry between Gambatese and the fine Kevin Earley, who plays her love interest Butler, could not be better. They seem to really enjoy each other’s company, and their mutual attraction is infectious.
The sets are simple, but scenic designer Michael Schweikardt cleverly divides the stage in lengthwise layers, making it seem deeper than it is.
The railroad car is a solid addition to the show, and well used when Winnie and Tommy, the subplot interracial love interest, played by Chelsea Morgan Stock and Andrew Cao, do their tap number on the roof of the car. It is an inspired idea and uses every inch of space available on the tiny stage.
The story brings up the age-old question of what is more important, love or a career, and also the question of whether a woman should diminish her skills and talents so she doesn’t outshine the male egos in her world.
The costumes, from the tight fitting wranglers and custom-made chaps on the guys to the elegant but durably constructed ball gowns on the gals are numerous and flattering, designed by Alejo Vietti.
The supporting cast and ensemble add much to the energy of this show, with smooth and tight choreography by Noah Racey.
In most shows it spoils the moment when an actor looks at the audience, but because this is a show within a show, when the actors sing directly to the crowd, it’s magical.
Riding in the elevator, one of the ushers said that they had over 800 actors audition for this production, so you know they had their pick of the very best.
As they say, love is grand, and so is this sparkling production of “Annie Get Your Gun” at the Goodspeed.
3 ½ Stars
Location: Goodspeed Opera House, Route 82, East Haddam
Production: Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Original book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields as revised by Peter Stone. Directed by Rob Ruggiero. Choreography by Noah Racey. Music direction by Michael O’Flaherty. Scenic design by Michael Schweikardt. Costume design by Alejo Vietti. Lighting design by John Lasiter. Sound by Jay Hilton.
Running time: 2 ½ hours including one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Wednesday, Sunday, and selected Thursday matinees at 2 p.m., Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Saturday matinees at 3 p.m., and selected Sundays at 6:30 p.m. through July 3.
Tickets: $27.50 - $71. Call the box office at 860-873-8668 or visit their website at www.goodspeed.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Jenn Gambatese … Annie Oakley
Kevin Earley … Frank Butler
Rebecca Watson … Dolly Tate
David McDonald … Buffalo Bill
Chelsea Morgan Stock … Winnie Tate
Andrew Cao … Tommy Keeler
Michael Nichols … Chief Sitting Bull
Bill Nabel … Foster Wilson
James Beaman … Charlie Davenport
Joy Rachel Del Valle … Jessie
Marissa Smoker … Nellie
Griffin Birney … Little Jake
Orville Mendoza … Running Deer
Con O’Shea-Creal … Eagle Feather
EAST HADDAM — Seriously, is there any business like show business? Everything about it is appealing, and so is this wonderfully-realized production of “Annie Get Your Gun,” directed by Rob Ruggiero at the Goodspeed Opera House, whose run has been extended to July 3 by popular demand.
The show is about a travelling show called Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, which travels from town to town on the old vaudeville circuit. While in one of their towns in rural Ohio they come across Annie Oakley, who can’t read or write, but can hit a target with a gun practically blindfolded, and was based on the real life sharp shooter by the same name who “can shoot the fuzz off a peach.”
Annie has a shoot-off with the famous marksman Frank Butler, and wins. In real life Annie did marry Butler and it was a true love affair.
The show begins with that classic theater anthem and Ethel Merman’s signature song “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” which, along with all the other songs in the musical are written by the inimitable Irving Berlin.
Other great songs include “They Say It’s Wonderful,” “You Can’t Get a Man With A Gun,” and “Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better.”
The lyrics are snappy, such as in “You Can’t Get A Man With A Gun,” when Annie, played by the scrappy Jenn Gambatese, sings — “You can’t hug a mug with a slug,” and “You can’t shoot a male in the tail with like a quail,” because “they don’t buy pajamas for pistol-packin’ mamas.”
Gambatese is energetic and appealing, which is good, because, like the title of this particular show indicates, it’s all about Annie, and she is in just about every scene.
During the first act the songs drag some, such as the lovely “Moonlight Lullaby” that she sings to her young siblings, played by the cute Joy Rachel Del Valle, Marissa Smoker, and Griffin Birney that practically lulls the post-dinner audience to sleep.
The chemistry between Gambatese and the fine Kevin Earley, who plays her love interest Butler, could not be better. They seem to really enjoy each other’s company, and their mutual attraction is infectious.
The sets are simple, but scenic designer Michael Schweikardt cleverly divides the stage in lengthwise layers, making it seem deeper than it is.
The railroad car is a solid addition to the show, and well used when Winnie and Tommy, the subplot interracial love interest, played by Chelsea Morgan Stock and Andrew Cao, do their tap number on the roof of the car. It is an inspired idea and uses every inch of space available on the tiny stage.
The story brings up the age-old question of what is more important, love or a career, and also the question of whether a woman should diminish her skills and talents so she doesn’t outshine the male egos in her world.
The costumes, from the tight fitting wranglers and custom-made chaps on the guys to the elegant but durably constructed ball gowns on the gals are numerous and flattering, designed by Alejo Vietti.
The supporting cast and ensemble add much to the energy of this show, with smooth and tight choreography by Noah Racey.
In most shows it spoils the moment when an actor looks at the audience, but because this is a show within a show, when the actors sing directly to the crowd, it’s magical.
Riding in the elevator, one of the ushers said that they had over 800 actors audition for this production, so you know they had their pick of the very best.
As they say, love is grand, and so is this sparkling production of “Annie Get Your Gun” at the Goodspeed.
3 ½ Stars
Location: Goodspeed Opera House, Route 82, East Haddam
Production: Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Original book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields as revised by Peter Stone. Directed by Rob Ruggiero. Choreography by Noah Racey. Music direction by Michael O’Flaherty. Scenic design by Michael Schweikardt. Costume design by Alejo Vietti. Lighting design by John Lasiter. Sound by Jay Hilton.
Running time: 2 ½ hours including one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Wednesday, Sunday, and selected Thursday matinees at 2 p.m., Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Saturday matinees at 3 p.m., and selected Sundays at 6:30 p.m. through July 3.
Tickets: $27.50 - $71. Call the box office at 860-873-8668 or visit their website at www.goodspeed.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Jenn Gambatese … Annie Oakley
Kevin Earley … Frank Butler
Rebecca Watson … Dolly Tate
David McDonald … Buffalo Bill
Chelsea Morgan Stock … Winnie Tate
Andrew Cao … Tommy Keeler
Michael Nichols … Chief Sitting Bull
Bill Nabel … Foster Wilson
James Beaman … Charlie Davenport
Joy Rachel Del Valle … Jessie
Marissa Smoker … Nellie
Griffin Birney … Little Jake
Orville Mendoza … Running Deer
Con O’Shea-Creal … Eagle Feather
Monday, May 10, 2010
Elegant “Proof” at Valley Repertory Company
ENFIELD — A family mystery with unexpected twists and turns are in store for you at the Valley Repertory Company’s thoughtful production of the award-winning “Proof,” playing through May 22.
The story jumps around through time, but follows the life of a brilliant but depressed young woman, Catherine, played by Becky Rodia Shoenfeld, whose mathematically gifted and recently deceased father, Robert, (Bruce Showalter) suffers from what is presumably schizophrenia, an illness she lives in terror of having inherited.
Catherine’s financially successful sister, Claire, played by the cool Monica Ceresa, comes to the house looking to cart her sister from Chicago back to New York City where she can look after her.
Hal is a math graduate student played by Logan Lopez, who comes to the rather dilapidated house, well designed and built by Ken Estvanik and Jason Fregeau and crew.
Hal is going through the notebooks of Robert, hoping to glean some important mathematical tidbits that he hopes the former genius left behind, but his motivations are suspect.
Is he doing the research altruistically, or is he hoping to make his own name in the competitive mathematics circles.
Written by David Auburn, the play was showered with awards including a well-deserved Tony Award for best play and also the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2001, and was later made into a movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow.
The story unwinds like a mystery novel, with surprises and twists from the start, which open like a flower, or perhaps an elegant math problem, to reveal deeper truths. It is also reminiscent of the film “A Beautiful Mind,” which also explores mental illness — here with Robert suspecting that there is a secret code locked in the library’s Dewey Decimal System.
Shoenfeld perfectly captures the brooding sarcasm and rapier sardonic wit of the edgy, defensive Catherine, but at times she doesn’t appear unsure enough of her own mental stability. There has to be some evident, gnawing doubt in herself about whether she is able to function in the world, and she seems too normal and not frustrated and furious enough to validate her sister’s concern that she be placed in a mental ward.
Lopez’s Hal has just the right combo of geeky nerdiness and intellectual egotism and superiority, with a twitchy hyperness that works exceedingly well.
He is deeply concerned that at 28 years old he is past his mathematical prime and is destined to a life of lowered expectations, teaching at the high school level.
Or as Robert amusingly expounds to him, Hal will be relegated to teaching younger, more annoying versions of himself.
Showalter has a mellifluous voice that is almost too melodic for a crazy mathematician, but he steps it up nicely when he unravels.
As the elegant play evolves there are revelations and discoveries that gave me visceral chills of understanding more than once.
“Proof” is a super play, well-acted and very smart.
PROOF
3½ Stars
Theater: Valley Repertory Company
Location: 100 High Street, Enfield
Production: Written by David Auburn. Directed by Janine Flood. Produced by Celeste Estvanik. Stage manager Jason Fregeau. Dresser Aleeza Hagerty. Set construction foremen Ken Estvanik and Jason Fregeau. Sound by Boyd Wood. Lighting and sound technician Ken Estvanik.
Running time: 2 hours, plus one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. through May 22.
Tickets: $12 — $10 for seniors 60 and older and students 18 and younger. For more information call 860-749-4665 or visit their website at www.valleyrep.com
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Bruce Showalter … Robert
Becky Rodia Schoenfeld … Catherine
Logan Lopez … Hal
Monica Ceresa … Claire
ENFIELD — A family mystery with unexpected twists and turns are in store for you at the Valley Repertory Company’s thoughtful production of the award-winning “Proof,” playing through May 22.
The story jumps around through time, but follows the life of a brilliant but depressed young woman, Catherine, played by Becky Rodia Shoenfeld, whose mathematically gifted and recently deceased father, Robert, (Bruce Showalter) suffers from what is presumably schizophrenia, an illness she lives in terror of having inherited.
Catherine’s financially successful sister, Claire, played by the cool Monica Ceresa, comes to the house looking to cart her sister from Chicago back to New York City where she can look after her.
Hal is a math graduate student played by Logan Lopez, who comes to the rather dilapidated house, well designed and built by Ken Estvanik and Jason Fregeau and crew.
Hal is going through the notebooks of Robert, hoping to glean some important mathematical tidbits that he hopes the former genius left behind, but his motivations are suspect.
Is he doing the research altruistically, or is he hoping to make his own name in the competitive mathematics circles.
Written by David Auburn, the play was showered with awards including a well-deserved Tony Award for best play and also the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2001, and was later made into a movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow.
The story unwinds like a mystery novel, with surprises and twists from the start, which open like a flower, or perhaps an elegant math problem, to reveal deeper truths. It is also reminiscent of the film “A Beautiful Mind,” which also explores mental illness — here with Robert suspecting that there is a secret code locked in the library’s Dewey Decimal System.
Shoenfeld perfectly captures the brooding sarcasm and rapier sardonic wit of the edgy, defensive Catherine, but at times she doesn’t appear unsure enough of her own mental stability. There has to be some evident, gnawing doubt in herself about whether she is able to function in the world, and she seems too normal and not frustrated and furious enough to validate her sister’s concern that she be placed in a mental ward.
Lopez’s Hal has just the right combo of geeky nerdiness and intellectual egotism and superiority, with a twitchy hyperness that works exceedingly well.
He is deeply concerned that at 28 years old he is past his mathematical prime and is destined to a life of lowered expectations, teaching at the high school level.
Or as Robert amusingly expounds to him, Hal will be relegated to teaching younger, more annoying versions of himself.
Showalter has a mellifluous voice that is almost too melodic for a crazy mathematician, but he steps it up nicely when he unravels.
As the elegant play evolves there are revelations and discoveries that gave me visceral chills of understanding more than once.
“Proof” is a super play, well-acted and very smart.
PROOF
3½ Stars
Theater: Valley Repertory Company
Location: 100 High Street, Enfield
Production: Written by David Auburn. Directed by Janine Flood. Produced by Celeste Estvanik. Stage manager Jason Fregeau. Dresser Aleeza Hagerty. Set construction foremen Ken Estvanik and Jason Fregeau. Sound by Boyd Wood. Lighting and sound technician Ken Estvanik.
Running time: 2 hours, plus one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. through May 22.
Tickets: $12 — $10 for seniors 60 and older and students 18 and younger. For more information call 860-749-4665 or visit their website at www.valleyrep.com
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Bruce Showalter … Robert
Becky Rodia Schoenfeld … Catherine
Logan Lopez … Hal
Monica Ceresa … Claire
LTM’s “The Man Who Came To Dinner” old-fashioned fun
MANCHESTER — The Little Theatre of Manchester is kicking off their 50th season with some old-fashioned fun in Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman’s comedy “The Man Who Came To Dinner.”
The show, which was a Broadway hit in 1939, revolves around a famous radio personality and theater critic named Sheridan Whiteside, who is in Ohio on the lecture circuit when he visits a family, the Stanleys, slips on some ice and becomes an unexpected and unwelcome guest.
Whiteside, played by the dominating David Moske, is best described as the tart-tongued Simon Cowell of his day.
This man takes insults to a new level, telling the put upon nurse, played by Christy Donahue, “you have the touch of a sex-starved cobra,” and, “by the way, I loved you in ‘Rebecca.’” Pretty esoteric stuff, and the play is loaded with references about the rich and famous of the 1930s.
The character of Whiteside was based on the real-life critic and bon vivant, Alexander Wolcott, whose circle includes Mahatma Ghandi, actors Cary Grant, Zazu Pitts, and Lillian Russell, and the novelist Booth Tarkington.
Some of those names might not come trippingly to the tongue, but they were the Nelson Mandelas, Brad Pitts and Norman Mailers of their day.
Whiteside wastes no time in taking over the house, informing the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley, that they have to stay in their rooms. Whiteside threatens them with a lawsuit of $150,000, which was quite a sum back then.
Being a jerk and charming concurrently is no easy combination, but Moske pulls it off with a booming voice and supercilious sneer.
Whiteside is really a big spoiled baby, and his long suffering assistant, Maggie Cutler, played by the excellent Latoya Williams, finally has enough of the good life of travelling in what she refers to as Whiteside’s “small but vicious circle,” and wants to settle down. She meets and falls for small town newspaper owner, Bert Jefferson, played by the solid Jim Power.
The Victorian living room where the entire play takes place, by director Keach-Longo and Fred T. Blish, is period perfect, with many little details, like the entrance way to the dining room and branch stems above the entrance window. The staircase is as solid and fine as any in a real home.
The big band music set the mood well, with sound by Jim Ryan, and the lighting was seamless, by Jared Towler.
The antique wheelchair that Whiteside uses is quite a find and adds much to the believability of the show.
The costumes by Viviana Lamb are beautiful and numerous, including many fancy ties and snazzy smoking jackets for Whiteside and some exquisite gowns and furs for the glamorous actress on the hunt for a rich Englishman, Lorraine Sheldon, played to the hilt by Christine Gill.
Gill is a campy delight when she gets dramatic and upset, and funny when she tries to squeeze out a tear, to no avail.
Anthony Urillo has the triple role of playing the cockroach gift-giving Prof. Metz, suave actor Beverley Carlton, and a wacky Hollywood operator named Banjo.
Urillo isn’t helped by a bald wig that looks like a bathing cap for the professor and a mop of hair that almost hides his eyes for the famous actor. He has his own hair for the Banjo guy, but Urillo has a strange nervous twitch that makes him seem amped up on cocaine, and a voice that is reminiscent of the stand-up comedians Sam Kinison or Gilbert Godfried — okay in small doses, but wearing after a while.
The large cast does a fine job, with special notice going to the star-struck Mrs. Earnest W. Stanley played by the wonderful Marge Patefield, and the endlessly cheerful Dr. Bradley, well played by Dana O’Neal.
There are some fun facts about telephones then and cell phones today, such as when Whiteside calls the operator to contact someone without a number and tells the operator that it is her job to know it, not his. How some things have changed.
Despite some major changes in how we function day to day, people are still people, and behaving egotistically and selfishly and amusingly is something we can all recognize and enjoy.
THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER
Three Stars
Location: Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Road, Manchester
Production: Written by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. Directed and produced by Joseph Keach-Longo, with set design by Keach-Longo and Fred T. Blish. Stage managed by Tom Goodin. Sound by Jim Ryan. Light design by Jared Towler. Costumes by Vivanna Lamb.
Running time: 2 ½ hours, including one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 p.m. Sunday at 2 p.m. through May 23.
Tickets: $16 — $23. Seniors over 60 and students receive a discount. Call the box office at 860-647-9824, or visit their website at www.cheneyhall.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
David Moske … Sheridan Whiteside
Latoya Williams … Maggie Cutler
Christine Gill … Lorraine Sheldon
Anthony Urillo … Prof. Metz, Beverley Carlton, Banjo
Marge Patefield … Mrs. Earnest W. Stanley
Doug Stoyer … Earnest W. Stanley
Dana O’Neal … Dr. Bradley
Christy Donahue … Miss Preen
Brain Courtemanche … Richard Stanley
Whitney Quaglia … June Stanley
Keith Giard … John
Jennifer Gresh … Sarah
Anne Goodin … Mrs. Dexter
Joyce Hodson … Mrs. Dexter 5/21
Marilyn Rotondo … Mrs. McCutcheon
Pat Covino … Harriet Stanley
Jim Power … Bert Jefferson
Charles Harvey … Michaelson, Radio Tech, Expressman
Gus Keach-Longo … Radio Tech, Convict, Expressman, Deputy
John Louis … Convict
Matthew Rodgers … Sandy, Convict, Deputy
Bob Morrison … Westcott, plainclothesman, guard
Katie Emery, Tim Estremera, Taylor Madison Gray, Jonathan Keach-Longo, Emily Stoyer … Children’s Choir
MANCHESTER — The Little Theatre of Manchester is kicking off their 50th season with some old-fashioned fun in Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman’s comedy “The Man Who Came To Dinner.”
The show, which was a Broadway hit in 1939, revolves around a famous radio personality and theater critic named Sheridan Whiteside, who is in Ohio on the lecture circuit when he visits a family, the Stanleys, slips on some ice and becomes an unexpected and unwelcome guest.
Whiteside, played by the dominating David Moske, is best described as the tart-tongued Simon Cowell of his day.
This man takes insults to a new level, telling the put upon nurse, played by Christy Donahue, “you have the touch of a sex-starved cobra,” and, “by the way, I loved you in ‘Rebecca.’” Pretty esoteric stuff, and the play is loaded with references about the rich and famous of the 1930s.
The character of Whiteside was based on the real-life critic and bon vivant, Alexander Wolcott, whose circle includes Mahatma Ghandi, actors Cary Grant, Zazu Pitts, and Lillian Russell, and the novelist Booth Tarkington.
Some of those names might not come trippingly to the tongue, but they were the Nelson Mandelas, Brad Pitts and Norman Mailers of their day.
Whiteside wastes no time in taking over the house, informing the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley, that they have to stay in their rooms. Whiteside threatens them with a lawsuit of $150,000, which was quite a sum back then.
Being a jerk and charming concurrently is no easy combination, but Moske pulls it off with a booming voice and supercilious sneer.
Whiteside is really a big spoiled baby, and his long suffering assistant, Maggie Cutler, played by the excellent Latoya Williams, finally has enough of the good life of travelling in what she refers to as Whiteside’s “small but vicious circle,” and wants to settle down. She meets and falls for small town newspaper owner, Bert Jefferson, played by the solid Jim Power.
The Victorian living room where the entire play takes place, by director Keach-Longo and Fred T. Blish, is period perfect, with many little details, like the entrance way to the dining room and branch stems above the entrance window. The staircase is as solid and fine as any in a real home.
The big band music set the mood well, with sound by Jim Ryan, and the lighting was seamless, by Jared Towler.
The antique wheelchair that Whiteside uses is quite a find and adds much to the believability of the show.
The costumes by Viviana Lamb are beautiful and numerous, including many fancy ties and snazzy smoking jackets for Whiteside and some exquisite gowns and furs for the glamorous actress on the hunt for a rich Englishman, Lorraine Sheldon, played to the hilt by Christine Gill.
Gill is a campy delight when she gets dramatic and upset, and funny when she tries to squeeze out a tear, to no avail.
Anthony Urillo has the triple role of playing the cockroach gift-giving Prof. Metz, suave actor Beverley Carlton, and a wacky Hollywood operator named Banjo.
Urillo isn’t helped by a bald wig that looks like a bathing cap for the professor and a mop of hair that almost hides his eyes for the famous actor. He has his own hair for the Banjo guy, but Urillo has a strange nervous twitch that makes him seem amped up on cocaine, and a voice that is reminiscent of the stand-up comedians Sam Kinison or Gilbert Godfried — okay in small doses, but wearing after a while.
The large cast does a fine job, with special notice going to the star-struck Mrs. Earnest W. Stanley played by the wonderful Marge Patefield, and the endlessly cheerful Dr. Bradley, well played by Dana O’Neal.
There are some fun facts about telephones then and cell phones today, such as when Whiteside calls the operator to contact someone without a number and tells the operator that it is her job to know it, not his. How some things have changed.
Despite some major changes in how we function day to day, people are still people, and behaving egotistically and selfishly and amusingly is something we can all recognize and enjoy.
THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER
Three Stars
Location: Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Road, Manchester
Production: Written by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. Directed and produced by Joseph Keach-Longo, with set design by Keach-Longo and Fred T. Blish. Stage managed by Tom Goodin. Sound by Jim Ryan. Light design by Jared Towler. Costumes by Vivanna Lamb.
Running time: 2 ½ hours, including one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 p.m. Sunday at 2 p.m. through May 23.
Tickets: $16 — $23. Seniors over 60 and students receive a discount. Call the box office at 860-647-9824, or visit their website at www.cheneyhall.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
David Moske … Sheridan Whiteside
Latoya Williams … Maggie Cutler
Christine Gill … Lorraine Sheldon
Anthony Urillo … Prof. Metz, Beverley Carlton, Banjo
Marge Patefield … Mrs. Earnest W. Stanley
Doug Stoyer … Earnest W. Stanley
Dana O’Neal … Dr. Bradley
Christy Donahue … Miss Preen
Brain Courtemanche … Richard Stanley
Whitney Quaglia … June Stanley
Keith Giard … John
Jennifer Gresh … Sarah
Anne Goodin … Mrs. Dexter
Joyce Hodson … Mrs. Dexter 5/21
Marilyn Rotondo … Mrs. McCutcheon
Pat Covino … Harriet Stanley
Jim Power … Bert Jefferson
Charles Harvey … Michaelson, Radio Tech, Expressman
Gus Keach-Longo … Radio Tech, Convict, Expressman, Deputy
John Louis … Convict
Matthew Rodgers … Sandy, Convict, Deputy
Bob Morrison … Westcott, plainclothesman, guard
Katie Emery, Tim Estremera, Taylor Madison Gray, Jonathan Keach-Longo, Emily Stoyer … Children’s Choir
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