BUBBLY BLACK GIRL lights up stage at Karamu

 

It’s been called “…[a] sharp and tasty new musical…charming…as the show ingeniously turns professional perkiness, the lifeblood of the American musical, into a funny, poignant comment on ethnic self-denial.”

It’s been described as “The play opens with an explosion of music…accessible and enjoyable to people of all races and genders…the bubbly mixture of humor and pathos makes for an entertaining—but not feather weight—show.”
 
Audiences have been apprised that it “speaks with wisdom and resonance not only to African-American audiences that share her experience and reference, but to any sensitive soul who ever has been on the outside, struggling to fit in.”
 
What am I talking about?  THE BUBBLY BLACK GIRL SHEDS HER CAMELEON SKIN, Kristen Childs’ musical now on stage at Karamu, Cleveland’s home to the nation’s longest performing Black theatre.
 
Karamu, where Russell and Rowena Jellife, two Oberlin graduates, in 1915 founded a settlement house on the corner of East 38^th Street and Central Avenue, that eventually became a magnet for many of the best African-American artists.
 
In the 1920s the Jellifes sponsored the Dumas Dramatic Club, which eventually evolved into a well-known and respected Karamu theatre under the guidance of Reuben and Dorothy Silver.  During the tenure of the Silvers “works by African American authors such as Langston Hughes and LeRoi Jones, as well as classics from the American theater were staged.”  Colored-blind casting reigned and there was a general atmosphere of interracial theatre.
 
In the 1960s and 70s “Urban unrest and the growing Black Arts Movement forced a reconsideration of Karamu's goals as they related to interracial theater.”  The Silvers were replaced, the dramatic performance space floundered with confused lack of purpose until Tony Sias, the present President and CEO, took over.  Now, under his guidance important and appropriate plays like BUBBLY BLACK GIRL are being staged.
 
As Sias describes the present script, “It is not often that we see a coming-of-age story about a young Black girl on stage, especially one who is an artist, trying to self-actualize in America.” 
 
He goes on, “While we use music and humor as our mantra, our [Karamu’s] tradition is to have you walk away with a better understanding of how the theatre is not only a place of entertainment, but a place where stories of fiction can help us relate to and learn how to cope with and tackle real life experiences.”

BUBBLY BLACK GIRL asks a series of questions centering on “What's a black girl [Viveca] from sunny Southern California to do?  White people are blowing up black girls in Birmingham churches. Black people are shouting ‘Black is beautiful’ while straightening their hair and coveting light skin. The answer?  Slap on a bubbly smile and be as white as you can be! In a humorous and pointed coming-of-age story spanning the sixties through the nineties, Viveca blithely sails through the confusing worlds of racism, sexism and Broadway showbiz until she's forced to face the devastating effect self-denial has had on her life.”

It must be remembered when seeing and evaluating productions of shows done at Karamu and other community non-Equity theatres, that their casts are usually populated by enthusiastic but often undertrained and non-professionally experienced performers.  They are seldom, if ever, “better than Broadway,” in spite of the views of friends and family.

BUBBLY BLACK GIRL is a case in point.  While expertly directed by Nina Dominque and creatively choreographed Kenya Woods, the cast is often stretched beyond their acting, singing and dancing abilities.

Highlights of this production include Kennedi Hobbs, who is pleasing as Viveca (aka Bubbly), Dayshawnda Ash, who brings down the house with her rendition of “Granny’s Advice,” and Jaren Hodgson who is properly obnoxious as Director Bob (Bob Fosse, in obvious disguise).

Edward Ridley, Jr. and his musicians do an incredible job of interpreting the score. Joe Burke’s projection and Cameron Caley Michalak’s scenic designs help enhance the production.

Capsule judgment:  No, it’s not a production better than Broadway, but THE BUBBLY BLACK GIRL SHEDS HER CHAMELEON SKIN gets a very creditable production and continues the role of Karamu in presenting Black-themed shows to its appreciative and enthusiastic audiences. 

BUBBLY BLACK GIRL runs through May 14, 2023 in the Jelliffe Theatre, 2355 East 89^th Street.  There is free parking in a guarded lot adjacent to the theatre.  For tickets go to karamuhouse.org 

WHAT WE LOOK LIKE @ Dobama

It’s always exciting and challenging to see a “new” play script come alive in a staged production, especially by a creditable performance company.  WHAT WE LOOK LIKE, now being presented at Dobama, CLE’s self-proclaimed off-Broadway company, is a case in point.

Written by B. J. Tindal (they/them) a Black queer playwright, the script had its inaugural production at Oberlin College in February of 2019.

It is a 155 minute-play with intermission (ignore the notation in the printed program, if you get one, which states, “This play will be performed with no intermission.”)

Billed as, “Both hilarious and poignant, WHAT WE LOOK LIKE is the story of the Hodges - a black family that has recently moved to a suburban white neighborhood. When the youngest son is asked to draw a family portrait at school, he creates an imaginary white family and the Hodges are thrown into a spiral.” 

Playwright BJ Tindal says, “It’s about images of family and how race intersects with that and the pressures it puts on family units.”

Tindal had an interesting path to become a playwright.  At Oberlin, he had his hopes set on majoring in creative writing. When he didn’t get into the required intro-level course his first semester, the aspiring playwright enrolled instead in an African American Drama course.

“Even though the department doesn’t have a playwriting concentration, the class influenced his decision to pursue theater and sparked the inspiration for a play that would help Tindal launch his career.  The script was WHAT WE LOOK LIKE, a play he developed his first year at Oberlin.”

The play grapples with ideas of what a family is supposed to look like and how that can be damaging for some and beneficial for others.  Tindal explains. “It’s about images of family and how race intersects with that and the pressures it puts on family units.”

WHAT WE LOOK LIKE premiered in the fall of 2014, Tindal’s junior year. It was presented again in spring 2015 during Commencement/Reunion Weekend.  It now gets what is being called “The Professional World Premier” at Dobama.

The Dobama staging, under the direction of Darius J. Stubbs, does an adequate job of creating as good a production as possible with the often unfocused and overly long script.

The show starts off with great promise with a dual play going on in the same acting space.  The black family is realistically portrayed and the white family is presented in “Father Knows Best” and “The Brady Bunch” stylized sit-com over-exaggerated to perfection. This format quickly disappears and we get a multi-topic tale of parental confusion, over-done teen-age angst and unrequited love, a tip of the toe into lesbianism, a contrast between white and black child rearing, an unrealistic tale of a child shuttled between two families with one set of parents unaware of the action, the revealing of why the black child drew himself as part of a white family and a “last supper” that includes overdone revealing of the entire convoluted plot.

At times the script, which needs much dramaturgy work of red pencil crossing out of extraneous scenes and unnecessary plot twists, is funny, other times it creates situations, such as the over-done black son’s infatuation with the white girl next door, and “stupid dad” segments, and bogs down.

The cast, Aamar-Malik Culbreth, Diwe Augustin-Glave, Rob Grant III, Alexa Fatheringham, Katricemonee Headd, Katie Booze-Mooney and Andrew Gorell all basically develop the character(s) they portray.  Several, however, have difficulty projecting so they can be heard, carrying on “inside-voice” conversations, rather than thrusting his/her voice to the furthest corners of the space.  

Vocal projection is especially important in the poorly configured Dobama long-thin stage where voices don’t carry well to start with and those seated in the extreme stage right and left seats miss much of the dialogue.  (I could just hear the ghost of Donald Bianchi, the theater’s perfectionistic founder, screaming, from the last row, “I can’t hear you,” his epic admonishment to an actor who failed to project.)

Capsule judgement:  Often with plays of new playwrights, over-complicated plots, over-done premises, and the need for extensive cutting waters down the effect of the premise.  This is the case with WHAT WE LOOK LIKE.  The Dobama staging, under the direction of Darius J. Stubbs, does an adequate job of creating as good a production as possible with the often unfocused and overly-long script.

WHAT WE LOOK LIKE runs through May 14, 2023. For tickets:  call 216.932.3396 or go to https://www.dobama.org/ 

Humor, resilence and life-affirmation highlight must-see BECOMING DR. RUTH at CPH

 

It’s been called “exquisite,” “a masterclass performance,” “wonderful,” and “optimistic.” I’d label it “MUST SEE.”  What?  Cleveland Play House’s BECOMING DR. RUTH.   The script, written by Mark St. Germain, premiered in July, 2012 at the Barrington Stage in the Berkshires, played at Hartford Theaterworks, and was brought to NYC’s Westside Theatre, before being reimagined by the Theatre J, the nation’s largest and most prominent Jewish theatre.  It is the purpose of that theatre to “preserve and expand a rich Jewish theatrical tradition and to create community and commonality through theater-going experiences.”  This script does exactly that!   The one-woman show is a heart-warming, have the Kleenex available, theatre masterpiece which stars Naomi Jacobson, who appeared in this production at Theatre-J.  (Note: “The CPH’s production staff is responsible for the sets, costumes, lighting, props, furniture, scenic painting, sound, and special effects used in this production.”)   The 90-minute play, which takes place on June 9, 1997 in an apartment in Washington Heights, New York, follows Karola Ruth Westheimer (nee Siegel) from her birth on June 4, 1928, in Germany, to Switzerland when she was put on the Kindertransport by her parents, through her many moves to such places as Mandated Palestine, where despite being 4 foot 7 inches she joined the Haganah and was trained as a sniper, to France and the United States, and three marriages. She earned an M.A. degree in sociology and a doctorate at 42 years of age from Columbia. Over the next decade, she taught at a number of universities, and had a private sex therapy practice. “Westheimer's media career began in 1980 with the radio call-in show Sexually Speaking, which continued until 1990. In 1983 it was the top-rated radio show in the country's largest radio market. She then launched a television show, The Dr. Ruth Show, which by 1985 attracted 2 million viewers a week.”  Dr. Ruth, a name given to her by one of her listeners, spoke openly, using the scientific and “real-people” language to talk “dirty” while giving clarification and advice about sexual issues.   She changed the way many think and talk about sex and relationships.   The CPH production, directed by Holly Twyford is creatively staged.  With a fascinating set design by Paige Hathaway, lighting by Colin K. Bills, and projections by Sarah Tunderemann, the technical aspects of the show, minus poor sound design, which made listening to the phone calls difficult to understand, are outstanding.   Capsule judgment:  If you only go to one theatrical production this year, make it BECOMING DR. RUTH! Bravo!  Bravo!  Bravo!  The theatre’s public relations states, “Due to the intimate size of the Outcalt Theatre and this production featuring one performer, please consider wearing a mask inside the theatre. Masks are not required, but are encouraged.” BECOMING DR. RUTH runs through April 23rd at the intimate black-box Outcalt Theatre, in the Allen Theatre Complex.  For tickets 216-400-7000 or https://www.clevelandplayhouse.com/

Pleasing AS YOU LIKE IT opens second half of GLT’s 61st season

 

With a repeat of its mission “to bring the pleasure, power and relevance of classic theatre to the widest possible audience,” Great Lakes Theatre opened the second half of its 61st season with a pleasing version of William Shakespeare’s enchanting comedy, AS YOU LIKE IT.    Ironically, the play was the first production of the theater at Lakewood Civic Auditorium, their original home. It was at LCA that the most famous of GLT’s alums, Tom Hanks, starred in his first professional performance, which garnered him a Cleveland Critic Circle’s Best Actor recognition in the Bard’s TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.     AS YOU LIKE IT, was also the first show produced in the Ohio Theatre, the new home of GLT after it left Lakewood and moved to downtown Cleveland in 1982 to become the first resident company of what is now called Playhouse Square, the largest contiguous cluster of theatres west of New York.   According to the program’s notes, “Classic theater holds the capacity to illuminates truth and enduring values, celebrate and challenge human nature and actions, reel in eloquent language, preserve the traditions of diverse cultures and generate communal spirit.  At one point there were many professional theatre companies in the country, but, presently GLT is one of only a handful of American theaters that have stayed the course as a classic theater.”    The play highlights the usurping and injustice on the property of others, but ends, as all Shakespeare comedies do, with reconciliation and forgiveness.  It also uses the Bard’s oft-writing devices of concealed identities and cross-dressing. AS YOU LIKE IT follows its heroine, Rosalind, as she flees persecution in her uncle's court, accompanied by her cousin Celia, to find safety and, eventually, love, in the Forest of Arden.  In the forest, they encounter a variety of memorable characters, notably the melancholy Jacques, who speaks many of Shakespeare's most famous speeches (such as "All the worlds a stage," "too much of a good thing" and "A fool! A fool! I met a fool in the forest").”  Though not the most critically praised of Shakespeare’s plays, the script, which is an audience favorite, the script has been adapted for radio, film, and musical theatre. The GLT staging, with effective scenic and lighting designs by Rick Martin, pleasing costume designs by Kim Krumm Sorenson and incidental music and sound designs by Matthew Webb, is directed by Charles Fee, the theater’s Producing Artistic Director. AS YOU LIKE IT seems like a perfect vehicle for Fee, noted for his love of farcical double-takes, exaggerated characterizations and oft-uncontrolled humorous staging devices.  For some reason, Fee decided to control his usual dynamics and present a more pastoral approach to the script.  Yes, there is humor, but of a more controlled nature than is the Fee trademark. Jodi Dominick is lovely as Rosalind.  Studly Nick Steen is his usual appealing self as Orlando.  Mandi Jenson charms as Celia.  M. A. Taylor makes for an appealing Adam, the faithful servant who follows Orlando into exile.  CAPSULE JUDGMENT:  AS YOU LIKE IT, is an audience- pleasing production, which should make for a fine introduction to the works of Shakespeare for any student groups who will come to the Hanna Theatre as part of the GLT’S mission to introduce not only adults, but students to classical theater. AS YOU LIKE IT runs through April 8, 2023. Next up:  AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’, the jazzy musical celebration of Fats Waller.  April 28-May 2.  For tickets call 216-241-6000 or go to GreatLakesTheater.org

Welcome to the Renaissance—SOMETHING ROTTEN! @ CVLT

 

SOMETHING ROTTEN!, now on stage at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, has been seen locally in a Broadway touring production, as well as professional staging, and now is on the community theatre circuit.

 

It is getting a very creditable production at CVLT under the adept direction and choreography of Marc C. Howard.

 

History books refer to THE BLACK CROOK, which opened in 1866 in New York, as the first musical.  However, according to Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick, the conceivers of SOMETHING ROTTEN!, that honor should go to OMELETTE.

 

Never heard of OMELETTE? Unless you’ve seen the delightfully funny SOMETHING ROTTEN! you don’t realize that OMELETTE is an in-joke at the center of a farcical plot that exposes how the Bottom brothers outsmarted the Elizabethan era’s literary rock star (insert horn-tribute), William Shakespeare, in producing the world’s first musical. 

 

Nick and Nigel Bottom, an ego-centric actor and his naïve playwright-poet brother, live in the theatrical shadow of the Bard of Avon.  They desire to take some of the attention away from (insert horn-tribute) Will. 

 

How to do it?  (Easy), they pay a soothsayer, a maybe-nephew of the famous soothsayer, Nostradamus, to look into the future.  His prediction?  Shakespeare’s greatest hit is going to be OMELETTE and the next big trend in theatre is going to be musicals, where the actors sing many of their lines.   So (of course) the duo starts to one-up Will by writing a musical play about fried eggs.

  

We observe Shakespeare as "a hack with a knack for stealing anything he can,” who swipes not only the title, but plot devices and lines from the naïve Nigel, which turn out to be “Will’s” HAMLET. (Oh, HAMLET, not OMLETTE.)  As the soothsayer says, to audible groans, laughter and applause at the final curtain, “Well, I was close!”

 

From its opening, the creative “Welcome to the Renaissance,” to the “Finale,” the musical is classical theater gone awry, complete with show-stoppers, encore after encore, ridiculous sight gags, double entendres, cross-dressing, and sexual allusions.

 

There are numerous references to the Bard’s plays and Broadway musicals. Anyone not familiar with either of these topics might not get all the subtext.  

 

Too bad the director couldn’t find some way to let those less-informed members of the audience the illusions by using vaudeville inter-act signs or some other device to help them.  Also, the “omelette” dance number, the highlight of most of the stagings of the show, is rather uncreative in costumes and development.

    

In the highlight performance, George Bailey is excellent as the up-tight obsessive Nick Bottom whose mission in life is to out-bard the Bard.   This guy can sing, dance and develop a clear and consistent character.

 

Joshua Budd amuses as Shakespeare, flitting around the stage, the obvious superstar of the Renaissance, (and, confusingly, the only one with a heavy British accent).

 

Ev Brodsky is charming, as the shy poet-writer, Nigel Bottom.  

 

Emily Sedmak is lovely and sings well as Portia, the Disney-like princess, Nigel’s’ lady love.

 

Abby Longshore is women’s lib-correct as Nick’s put-upon wife. 

 

Tom Jones (in spite of a horrible wig) delights as the bumbling Nostradamus.  

 

David Coxe musical direction is right on key.  The songs are well interpreted and the large, well-tuned orchestra, doesn’t drown out the performers.

 

The costumes leave much to be desired!

  

The supporting performers all dance and sing with enthusiasm.

  

Capsule judgment: The ultimate test of the worth of a production, is the audience’s reaction.  In the case of CVLT’s SOMETHING ROTTEN!, the in-production laughing, applause and after-the final curtain comments by the audience, were positive feedback.  If you like musical theater, and want to experience a nicely conceived community theatre production this is it!

 

For tickets, for the show which runs until April 15, 2023, go to:  440-247-8955 or https://cvlt.org/  June 2-18.

 

Next up:    THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG.  The farcical play within a play on which on opening night everything that could go wrong, does go wrong!

 

Script and performances make THE OTHER PLACE a must-see at Dobama

 

Nathan Motta, the Artistic Director of Dobama says of the play which is now on that theatre’s stage, “THE OTHER PLACE took a long way to arrive on the Dobama stage.  I first read this script way back in 2010 and was immediately taken with its unique structure, suspenseful narrative and complex characters.” The Dobama’s leadership team wanted to produce the script, but before they could get licensing rights, an Off-Broadway production starring Laurie Metcalf was announced.  Nope, the CLE theatre couldn’t do it.   When the Big Apple show closed, they thought, “This is our chance.”   Again, they were thwarted.  The production was transferred to Broadway.  It went on to garner a Tony nomination for Metcalf and major kudos from the critics. The Broadway show finally closed.   Now, was the chance for Cleveland’s off-Broadway theatre, to get the rights.  Right? Wrong!  The play was being produced regionally, but for a variety of reasons Dobama wasn’t able to program it.  In Spring of 2019 the local theatre announced it was going to close its season with THE OTHER PLACE.  Hurrah!  Finally, it would be seen in 440/216.  Guess what?  “Casting was finalized, a creative team was finalized, marketing begun, and production designs were well underway when the world shut down due to the COVID pandemic.”   No go, again!  Flash forward to March 11, 2023…the curtain finally came up on Lee Road in Cleveland Heights.   Was it worth the wait!  Yes, oh yes! What’s it about?  “THE OTHER PLACE begins with the feeling of a suspense-filled thriller and evolves into a character drama that is surprising, thought-provoking, and moving.”  It’s a script full of “twists and turns.” More specifically, “The play centers around Juliana Smithton - a successful neurologist whose life seems to be coming unhinged. Her husband has filed for divorce, her daughter has eloped with a much older man and her own health is in jeopardy. But in this brilliantly crafted work, nothing is as it seems. Piece by piece, a mystery unfolds as fact blurs with fiction, past collides with present, and the elusive truth about Juliana boils to the surface.” And, so dear readers, that’s about all I can tell you about the plot as the theatre management sent this notice to the sage local reviewers: “We ask that in your reviews you do not describe vital plot points as this play is in large part a mystery with various reveals. Thank you.” I can state that I agree the New York and west coast reviewers who called the play, “mesmerizing,” “compelling,” “puzzle-like intriguing,” and “spectacular.” It’s not only the script that deserves hurrahs, but it is the wise direction by Nathan Motta and the emotion shattering performance by Tracee Patterson, who proves once again why she is considered to be one of the best actors on local stages. Patterson’s scarily intense performance as Juliana, grabs the audience in her first speech and carries them through a series of captivating experiences which leaves not only the performer, but the viewer emotionally exhausted.  It, like the role of Martha in WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF and Blanche in STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE requires a superb actress to make the person real and the performance emotion-shattering.  Patterson has all the acting chops to pull it off!   She is standing “O” worthy! Doug Sutherland also commands as Ian, Juliana’s husband.  Welcome, to the Cleveland area, newbie.  We look forward to seeing this talented performer in many upcoming local productions. Mary Werntz and Prophet Seay are excellent in a variety of roles. Jill Davis’s scenic design, Jeremy Paul’s projections and Angie Hayes’s sound designs, all aid in making this a well-conceived production. Capsule judgment:  If you are a comedy and/or a musical theater junky who is reluctant to see a “serious” play, make an exception and get thee to Dobama to experience an important and well-written script, experience a well-conceived production, with an award-winning performance.  THIS IS AN ABSOLUTELY MUST-SEE PRODUCTION! For tickets to THE OTHER PLACE, which runs through April 2, 2023, call 216.932.3396 or go to https://www.dobama.org/ Next up at Dobama:  WHAT WE LOOK LIKE (April 21-May 14).  The story of the Hodges...a black family that has recently moved to a suburban white neighborhood.  When the youngest is asked to draw a family picture at school, he creates an imaginary white family!

“Aladdin” takes audience on a less than dynamic magic carpet ride

 Disney, whether it’s their theme parks, cruises or Broadway-style shows, has a special approach that excites kids as well as adults.  

 
Disney’s “Aladdin” as it has done several times, is again attempting to take CLE on a magic carpet ride at the Connor Palace as part of the Huntington Featured Performance Series.
 
The musical, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Menken, is based on the 1992 Disney film “Aladdin.”  
 
The stage version basically sticks to the cinema’s story line, but instead of the film’s animals, Aladdin is blessed with three buddies to help him through his exploits, and add delight through their Three Stooges-like shenanigans.  Jasmine gets three handmaidens, and Aladdin's second wish is used to free him and his friends from capture, not to stop him from drowning, as it is in the movie.

In addition, the stage version, while including five cherished songs from the Academy Award-winning soundtrack, adds some new tunes written especially for the live presentation.

The story follows the young orphaned Aladdin, who, with the help of his three amigos, does petty stealing in a marketplace in the Arabian city of Agrabah, someplace in the Middle East. 
 
Bad guy Jafar, (Boo!) Grand Vizier and assistant to the King, finds out there is a magic lamp which encases a Genie who can grant three wishes to its possessor.  
Getting that lamp is a great way for the scheming Jafar (Boo!) to become King.  Unfortunately, the cave can only be entered by the “chosen one.”  The chosen one?  Aladdin, of course.  (Hey, this is a fairytale.)  
 
Meanwhile, Princess Jasmine is in a tizzy because the law of the land says she must marry a prince.  She’s not interested, but she has a three-day window of time and every prince that she’s offered isn’t to her liking.  (We all know where this plot device is going!)
 
She sneaks out of the palace and goes to the bazaar. Aladdin and his friends are being chased by the royal guards after our hero stole a loaf of bread (you think the guys at Disney got a little mixed up and stole some of the plot from LES MIZ?).  
 
Jaz and ‘Ladin lock eyes and they are smitten.
 
And, so, the plot is laid for the Genie to grant Aladdin his wish to become a prince, thus being eligible to marry Jasmine.  (Of course, there are stumbles along the way, as well as lots of singing and dancing and a magic carpet ride.)  
 
In the end, as is the case with all good tales of this ilk, guy gets girl, villain gets his just just-punishment, and the audience goes home happy, (after stopping at the concession stand in the lobby to buy lots of Disneyesque “stuff”).
 
The touring company is a visual delight of Arabian night costumes, sets and music. However, the cast, who mostly are making their professional tour appearances, is either tired from a long tour, doesn’t have the needed experience, or just doesn’t have the singing and acting chops to carry the show to its potential dynamics.

 
Akron native and BW Music Theatre grad, Marcus M. Martin, is delightful as the wise-cracking, ad-libbing, bedeviling Genie.  His cast-involving opening number sets what should be a perfect delightful tone for the show, and “Friend Like Me,” sung with Aladdin and the Ensemble, evoked extended cheering (there was a large BW and Akron contingent in the audience.)
 
Adi Roy, he of handsome face, dark hair, nice singing voice, and expressive eyes, was acceptable as Aladdin.  He lacked the special charming quality needed to make the audience fall in love with him.
 
His sidekicks, Babkak (delightful Jake Letts), Omar (stand-in Joshua Kenneth Allen Johnson) and Kassim (gym-toned Colt Pratts), were perfect foils.  (Side note:  Baldwin Wallace Musical Theatre grad, Steel Burkhardt, played Kassim on Broadway).  
 
Pretty Senzel Ahmady had the right spunk as Jasmine, one of the few Disney princesses with a backbone. Her nicely sung “These Palace Walls” gave a clear picture of her desire to be her own person.  However, there appeared to be no emotional connection, a plot necessity, between her and Adi Roy (Aladdin).  “A Whole New World,” a Tony Winner for Best Song, a duet between the two, needed more dynamics. 

Anand Nagraj was evil-light as Jafar, not engendering enough real melodramatic scary.  Just moving your eyes upward and scowling, does not evil make.  As Iago, his bumbling side-kick, Iago, Ohio bred, Aaron Choi, feigned being a duffus.  At times he delighted, other instances, he was surface playing put-upon, not being real enough to be believable.

 Cody Hernández (Razoul) is making his homecoming with this Cleveland tour stop.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: “Aladdin” is a family-friendly, escapist musical that gets an adequate production, by a cast of mostly newbies to professional theatre.
 
“Aladdin” will play Wednesday through Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available now by calling at 216-241-6000, or via the Internet at playhousesquare.org. 

Mitsuko Uchida captivates Severance audience with Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas

The final notes of “Piano Sonata No. 32” still hung in the air of the hushed Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center as pianist Mitsuko Uchida held her pose and slowly raised her hands from the Steinway piano’s keys.  As she relaxed her body the packed house rose as one, yelling praise and clapping madly.  Three curtain calls later, Uchida left the stage with the audience still applauding! 
 
Yes, they had just witnessed a master pianist present an impressive and long-to-be-remembered concert!
 
One of the most revered artists of our time, Dame Mitsuko Uchida is known as a peerless interpreter of the works of Mozart, Schubert, Schumann and Beethoven.  
 
Musical America’s 2022 Artist of the Year, and a Carnegie Hall Perspectives artist across the 2022/3, 2023/4 and 2024/5 seasons, she has been nominated for a Grammy® Award, and won the 2022 Gramophone Piano Award.
 
Born in  Japan, Uchida moved to Vienna, Austria, with her diplomat parents when she was 12 years old, after her father was named the Japanese ambassador to Austria.  She was enrolled at the Vienna Academy of Music and  gave her first Viennese recital at the age of 14.  

She went on to a much-acclaimed career, much of it with the world-renowned Cleveland Orchestra. 

Her 2009 recording of the Mozart piano concertos nos. 23 and 24, in which she conducted the Cleveland Orchestra as well as playing the solo part, won the Grammy Award in 2011.  

From 2002 to 2007 she was artist-in-residence for the Cleveland Orchestra.  “Her 2015 performance with the Cleveland Orchestra elicited this review from the Cleveland Plain Dealer: “Call it the mark of a master. Just when Mitsuko Uchida was starting to seem predictable, the goddess of purity, the pianist goes and exhibits another persona altogether.

Performing Mozart again with the Cleveland Orchestra Thursday, the pianist-conductor treated listeners to a heartier, more robust version of her art.”

Each of Beethoven’s Sonatas 30, 31, and 32 have been described as “a haiku, beautifully formed, not wasting a note, making a very significant point.”

“In 1820 Beethoven had started work on not only the Ninth Symphony and the Diabelli Variations, but the Missa Solemnis as well.  During this period of creative magnificence, he also produced his three final piano sonatas, each an experiment in form.”

Sonata 30 has been described as opening in a sweeping exhalation, like a speaker encountered in mid-sentence.  Sounding like an improvisation, it ends as it begins, on the wing (when has a vivace sounded so calm?), and is followed immediately by an angry, prickly, minor-key prestissimo — briefer even than its predecessor. The final movement is a kind of balm. Technically a theme with six variations, the movement opens and ends in the warmth of serenity, daring not to conclude with a bang, but with a sigh.”

It was obvious to anyone who knows Beethoven’s piano music that Sonata 30 was quite different than his earlier pieces.  Much more sounding like “modern” music, part of this change was due to the transition of the piano and piano technique.  

“In the period from about 1790 to 1860, the piano underwent tremendous changes that led to the modern structure of the instrument.  This revolution was in response to a preference by composers and pianists for a more powerful, sustained sound.  This was made possible by the ongoing Industrial Revolution, with resources such as high-quality piano wire for strings, and precision casting for the production of massive iron frames that could withstand the tremendous tension of the strings.”

“Piano technique evolved during the transition from harpsichord/clavichord to fortepiano playing, and continued through the development of the modern piano.  Changes in musical styles and audience preferences over the Classical and Romantic periods, as well as the emergence of virtuoso pianists, contributed to the evolution of the piano and the various ‘schools’ of piano playing.”

Sonata 31 was met with critical raves when it was first presented.  The reaction can best be understood by a modern program note which stated, "In none of the other 31 piano sonatas does Beethoven cover as much emotional territory: it goes from the absolute depths of despair to utter euphoria ... it is unbelievably compact given its emotional richness, and its philosophical opening idea acts as the work’s thesis statement, permeating the work, and reaching its apotheosis in its final moments.”

Mitsuko Uchida presented all that emotional richness.

The obvious favorite segment of the program was Sonata 32 which had elements that sounded like the jazzy and melodic compositions of Scott Joplin and George Gershwin.  

The last of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, the work was written between 1821 and 1822.  It is one of the most famous compositions of the composer's "late period" and is widely performed and recorded.

The work is in two movements, which breaks the traditional pattern of the three-movement sonata.  Each is highly contrasting.  The first movement is stormy and impassioned, “majestic” and brisk.”    “The second movement is filled with drama and transcendence ... the triumph of order over chaos, of optimism over anguish.”

Capsule judgment:  Mitsuko Uchida’s recent Severance Hall all Beethoven concert proved once again that she is one of today’s premiere classic pianist!  
 
Upcoming events of the Cleveland Orchestra:
Tickets:  https://www.clevelandorchestra.com/

PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION, MARCH 2-5
Beloved conductor Herbert Blomstedt returns to Cleveland for a program of Beethoven and Mozart favorites. “What he offers, above all, is a kind of preternatural rightness: no gesture feels out of place, no gesture feels routine,” The New Yorker’s Alex Ross wrote of Blomstedt, who he also described as “the most vital conductor of Beethoven.” Beethoven’s Seventh is the composer’s greatest demonstration of the compelling power of rhythm, and it’s paired with Mozart’s “Paradis” Piano Concerto.

MOTZART REQUIEM, MARCH 9-12
Legends swirl around the creation of Mozart’s Requiem, written on his deathbed and left unfinished: Who was the mysterious figure who commissioned the composer? What parts of the work were truly his own? And was Mozart composing his own funeral mass with this final artistic statement? Many of these questions were explored hauntingly (albeit suspiciously) in the movie Amadeus. We are nevertheless left with a work of overwhelming power — at once intensely dramatic and deeply personal — that touches the core of our humanity.

WEST SIDE STORY IN CONCERT, MARCH 17-19
BERNSTEIN, complete film with Cleveland Orchestra, Brett Mitchell, conductor

THE TEMPEST STYMPHONY, MARCH 30 & APRIL 1
Shakespeare’s plays have provided a limitless source of inspiration, and this evening pairs two particularly evocative responses to his comedy The Tempest. First Thomas Adès, in his Cleveland Orchestra conducting debut, leads the world premiere of his Tempest Symphony, based upon the music from his 2012 opera. This is followed by Jean Sibelius’s Prelude and Suite that was assembled from incidental music he wrote for a Danish production of the play. Through this pairing, Adès explores the boundless nature of creativity and vast range of ingenuity.

  

Existential THE RIVER runs slowly, but is thought-provoking

In the late 1950’s through the 1980s The Theatre of the Absurd theatrical movement was the intellectual rage.  Based on the concept of Existentialism which asks, “what happens when human existence lacks meaning or purpose and communication breaks down.”  The structure of the plays often centered on the finishing point,, being the same as the starting point with the ultimate conclusion being silence.
 
Playwrights of the era included Samuel Becket, Eugene Ionesco and Edward Albee. Their plays have a common denominator — the "absurd", a word that Ionesco defined as " that which has not purpose, or goal, or objective."  Albert Camus describes the purpose of that era’s plays to illustrate that “the human situation as meaningless and absurd.”
 
Probably the most memorable works of that era were WAITING FOR GODOT and WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRIGINIA WOLF?
 
Though Jez Butterworth is not of that age or era, his play THE RIVER is the ilk of those times in structure and message.  It is haunting, dark, often off-putting for a lack of clear purpose, and circular in charting a curved line from beginning to end.   
 
There is a mystery throughout the show that we continue to think about, but, in fairness to potential theatre-goers, is not fair to reveal.
 
What can be revealed?  It’s an eerie tale and a borderline ghost story that also feels firmly grounded in a familiar reality.  
 
The setting is a small Minnesota cottage on a river.   A small wooden table and several chairs sit in the center, a fully stocked kitchen, a cooler, a library nook, and an oven complete the space.  
 
“The plot concerns the main character of The Man as he brings his girlfriend, The Woman, to his family’s cabin.  As the sun sets, there is much that happens in this cabin—things that will happen and have already happened, as time begins to fold into itself. This eeriness might be jarring in the early going, but impeccable acting and strong directing truly make The River feel human even in its strangest moments.”
 
As previous reviews say of the play, “The greatest attribute of THE RIVER is it’s a somber conjuring to the idea of memory and thoughts of the bygone past.”  
 
Also, “The River is one of the better plays about love. Not love as manifested in a relationship with a plot so much as just that big, unwieldy emotion of love itself--the need, the desire, the ache, the way one willingly deludes oneself into thinking you can ever fully escape your romantic past and not have it somehow taint your relationships in the present.”  
 
As well as, “I spent much of this play trying to figure out what was happening, but in a good way. The kind of figuring out that keeps you completely engrossed and on the edge of your seat to see what happens next.”
 
The Ensemble production is well conceived by director Ian Wolfgang Hintz.  The presentation, performed on a runway stage with the audience seated on both sides, which allows for an interactive intimacy as the audience members share the stage with those on the other side of the stage, thus making for a shared intimacy.
 
The acting is totally natural, which each performance being of a real, fleshed out person.  No acting by Dan Zalensky (The Man), Becca Moseley (The Woman), Laura Rauh (The Other Woman) and Laurel Hoffman (Another Woman), just being.  Being to the degree that the audience is sucked into the happening, the reality.  
 
It’s so real that one can’t avoid being involved in the decapitation of a fish…complete with the head and entrails removed as a meal is prepared. Sounds gross…it isn’t.  It is just part of the required reality.
 
Is this a murder mystery?  Is it an analogy of fishing? Is it a study of relationships and loneliness?  Is it a statement of the meaning or life?   Is it???.
 
Capsule judgment:  THE RIVER is not a play for everyone.  Go if you love theatre which is well directed and acted; but, as with most absurdist plays, it doesn’t render a solution.  It is a play that, even after you leave, doesn’t let you go.  
 
THE RIVER runs through March 5, 2023 at Ensemble Theatre located in the Performing Arts Center of Notre Dame College, 4545 College Road, South Euclid. For tickets call 216-321-2930 or go to www.ensembletheatrecle.org

Totally delightful SENSE AND SENSIBILITY is farce-perfect at GLT

 

Kate Hamill has written the play version of Jane Austen’s 1811 novel, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, with a keen ear to the language and attitudes of the day, but with an addition of humor, not present in the original Austen work.
 
As was true of Austen and her co-writer of the Regency time-period writers, they developed their publications to reflect the lack of independence for women.  The major theme was that the financial future of women was solely dependent on the economic status of their fathers or husbands. They could own no property and the class system, purely based on economics, put each woman in their slot.  No money, no respect!
 
The playful new adaptation of Jane Austen’s beloved novel follows the fortunes (and misfortunes) of the Dashwood sisters after their father’s sudden death leaves them financially destitute and socially vulnerable. 
 
Set in gossipy late 18th-century England, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY examines reactions, both reasonable and ridiculous, to societal pressures. An unfair situation where reputation is everything, yet each woman was unable to control her narrative.
 
Hamill’s play premiered off-Broadway in 2014.  It was met with critical praise, with such comments including “an unconditional delight,” “invigorating” and, “perhaps the greatest stage adaptation of this novel in history.”
 
Does the GLT’s reach the levels of the off-Broadway production?  Absolutely!  It is one of the best productions that theatre has staged! 
 
The purpose of the overture to a musical is to set the expectations and mood of the audience for what is to come.  In the case of the farcical SENSE AND SENSIBILTY, Courtney O’Neill’s whimsical set serves the same purpose.
 
The cartoonish drawings that cover the white walls scream “fun” and fun is exactly what the creative combined directing of Sara Bruner and Jacklyn Miller garners.  
 
Paul James Prendergast’s music and Mieka van der Ploeg’s costumes add to the purposeful whimsiness.
 
Farce is one of the hardest forms of theatre to stage.  Most times directors don’t know how to develop the ideas and not play funny just to play funny.  The actors tend to “ham” it up, overdoing, not fulfilling the purpose of sticking to the author’s intent and purpose.  Instead, they play for laughs, losing the play’s theme.  
 
That is not the case with Bruner and Mille’s direction. (Hurray!)  And, this a cast who knows exactly how to play farce… realistic yet exaggerated, not losing the play’s purpose by being outrageously funny, for the sake of getting laughs. (Bravo!)
 
The cast of eight, play 17 roles. This is accomplished by having all but two cast members play multiple parts, along with some very clever costuming and voice and accent changes.
 
Maggie Kettering develops an Elinor Dashwood, the eldest of the sisters, as an intelligent, sensible, practical, kind and reserved and self-contained young lady.  In contrast, Angela Utrera creates a Marianne who embraces spontaneity, and romantic idealism.  She is the emotional sister while Elinor is the logical one. 
 
They each nail the persona of the woman who Auston created!
 
The rest of the cast:  Joe Wegner, Hanako Walrath, Vima Silva, Nick Steen, Laura Welsh Berg, and M.A. Taylor are excellent in each of their roles.  They work as a well-oiled machine to create a cohesive production.
 
Capsule judgment:  SENSE AND SENSIBILTY is a delight!  The well-directed cast, supported by the purposeful technical aspects of the production, not only makes this a wonderful theatrical purpose, but creates a staging that has to rank with the best shows Great Lakes Theatre has created.  This is one show that actually deserves the curtain call that the show is nightly getting.
Bravo!!  

SENSE AND SENSIBILTY runs at the Hanna Theatre until March 5, 2023.  Tickets can be obtained by For tickets https://www.greatlakestheater.org/or call (216) 241-6000

Performances, singing and dancing eclipse script and score in BW/Beck’s GHOST the musical

There is an adage in the theatre world that “one should not come out of a musical whistling sets and costumes.”  In other words, the important aspects of a musical are the book (story) and the lyrics and music, not the production aspects.  

 

In spite of these sage words, after seeing GHOST, The Musical on Broadway, though I was under-whelmed by the shallow book and the lack of memorable music, my review of the show waxed eloquently about the production qualities, especially the effects which resulted from the electronic projections, which allowed for actors to run through walls and appear to be suspended in space.

 

Though not as visually spectacular as the New York production, the sleek BW/Beck set by Jordan Janota and lighting design by Russ Borski do much to support the superlative BW cast.  But before we get into the performances and staging…

GHOST is a musical, based on the hit 1990 film of the same name, with book and lyrics by Bruce Joel Rubin and music and lyrics by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard. The stage version opened in Manchester, England in March of 2011, ran on the West End and was transferred to Broadway in 2012, where it ran a brief 136 performances. 

The musical starts when New York banker, Sam Wheat, and his long-time girlfriend, sculptor, Molly Jensen, move into a loft apartment in Brooklyn, aided by Sam’s co-worker Carl Brunner.  

Sam and Molly are in love. Sam, however, shies away from articulating the “L” word.  In what is an important plot development foreshadowing, he assures Molly that he doesn't say it in so many words because he prefers to, “say it through his actions.” 

At work, Sam notices some discrepancies with several bank accounts.  He shares his discoveries with Carl.  (Shout out:  Major plot clue).

After a night out, as they return to their apartment, Sam and Molly are confronted by an armed man who tries to steal Sam's wallet. Sam fights back instead of surrendering.  They struggle for the holdup man’s gun. It goes off.  Sam is fatally shot.  (Another plot advancer.)

We quickly find out that Sam is caught in the netherworld (Eww!) and the hold-up was orchestrated by Carl. He needs to warn Molly that she is in danger. He turns to Oda Mae, a fake clairvoyant, to help him. (The writer needed to both get some humor into the plot and incorporate in an off-beat character.)

Molly gets a visit from Oda Mae, but Molly is hesitant to believe what she is being told, until Oda Mae starts parroting things that only Sam would know. (Including that he had trouble saying “I love you, “which I told you about a couple of paragraphs ago.) Thus, we have all the elements of exposition to allow the audience to be taken on a fantasy journey where love conquers all. 

 

The BW/Beck production, under the directing of Victoria Bussert, is creatively staged.  Lauren Tidmore’s choreography has the perfect amount of pizzaz, and Matthew Webb’s seven-piece orchestra hits all the right notes.  

 

The cast is outstanding.  Bussert, in choosing the students to be in her Musical Theatre program, usually has a couple of “stud” guys who are not only visual gym-toned eye-candy, but can sing, act and dance.  Mark Doyle (Sam) and Mike Bindeman (Carl) are in BWs ready for Broadway pipe-line.  

 

Doyle, who has been seen locally in MAMMA MIA!, THE LIGHTNING THIEF, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, CHRISTMAS CAROL and SPRING AWAKENING, is a graduating senior.  He has a strong voice, good acting chops and a nice stage presence.  He, and adorable and talented Jessi Kirtley (Molly) play-off each other well.  Their duets, “Here Right Now” and “Three Little Words,” are show highlights.

 

Bindeman, another BW graduating senior, also showcases strong singing chops and is properly snarky as the manipulating Carl.  Versatile Danny BÓ fascinates as Subway Ghost.  

 

Colleen Longshaw, who has trod the stage at every local professional theatre, and been seen in national tours and on Broadway, steals the show as the outrageous Oda Mae Brown.  

 

Capsule judgment:  GHOST THE MUSICAL has a weak book and non-memorable music, but it is worth seeing to appreciate its wonderful singing, dynamic dancing, fine acting and creative staging!   Go! See! Enjoy!

GHOST, which has a runtime of 2 hours 15 minutes runs through FEBRUARY 26, 2023.  For tickets go to https://www.beckcenter.org/shows/ghost

STEW

 

Well prepared and seasoned STEW is a must see at Dobama

 
Roy Berko
(Member: Cleveland Critics Circle, American Theatre Critics Association
 
According to Nathan Motto, Dobama’s Artistic Director, the recipe for a great play are well-developed characters, circumstances that incite reaction, environments are ripe for action/reaction, strong dialogue and balanced elements.
 
Motto believes that STEW, a 2021 Pulitzer Prize Finalist, which is now on stage at Dobama, Cleveland’s off-Broadway theatre, is a “fantastic play that has all the fixings for a great feast.”  He explains his reasoning: “As we act as a fly on the wall, we get to know these women [the five members of the African American Tucker family] who tease, prod, instruct and question each other, we experience their family dynamics and watch as closely guarded secrets are brought to light.”
 
What’s it all about? “The Tucker women are up early to prepare an important meal, or at least that’s what Mama says. As the day wears on, tensions simmer inside and around Mama’s kitchen.”  Tensions which include teen pregnancy, potential abortion, marriage infidelity, divorce, random gunfire, spats over recipes, family traditions and are summarized by Mama’s mantra, “Shit. Damn! Fuck.”
 
Motto is not alone in his positive beliefs about the play.  Reviewers from other productions of this script have commented, “A powerful play about a family with all its foibles and love.” “If it was a tv show you would want season 2 to get picked up pronto!." “Is an excellent script that shares the pure truth of how each individual's life struggle can affect the family structure.” 
 
What is the meaning of title?  “This play is indeed a stew, the actors & plotlines mimicking the layering that the family matriarch sees as essential to her delicious culinary creation. The metaphors for motherhood, daughterhood, family and love are meaningful. Each woman contributes a different taste or element to the familial stew and each brings it to a boil at some point."
 
The Dobama production, 90 minutes with no intermission, is compelling.  The staging is guided by creative director/composer Nina Domingue, a Black woman, cultural memory worker and intimacy advocate, who banners herself as a griot (“a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician.”)
 
The cast, headed by Christina Johnson (Mama), who is holding on to life by a thread, is spot on in their character development as the matriarch whose family teeters on the edge of destruction.  How do you guide a group of head-strong females who seem to act on pure emotion, and no logic?  “Whenever Mama takes a brief moment away from her cooking and does not personally tend to the pot, the stew gets burnt or ruined in some way, much to her frequent upset. And then she has to turn around and start another batch.”  
 
Nicole Sumlin (Lillian, the oldest daughter), who appears at the opening of the play to be living a functional life, unravels as she shares that her marriage is over and she did not come to Mamma’s, with her two children to visit, but to return to in order to survive.  Hers is well-nuanced performance.
 
Adrionna Powell (Nelly, Lillian’s sister) presents a conflicted teenager who wants to be independent, treated as an adult, but who is now pregnant and facing life with the consequences of deciding whether to abort the child, or be a teen mother.  Powell nicely develops the character.
 
Logan Door Williams (Lil’ Mamma, Lillian’s tween daughter), the youngest of the Tucker females, finds herself caught in the midst of on-going family angst.  This youngster nicely develops her role.
 
Laura Carlson-Tarantowski’s realistic and functional kitchen set design enhances the production.  Megan Culley’s well-presented sound effects, is one of the play’s developmental fulcrums.
 
CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  A must see production that lives and breathes with an undeniable passion and earnestness.  The ending of the play is both shocking and unexpected.  Don’t be surprised if the effect lingers in your mind as the full Impact hits!   
 
STEW runs through February 19 at Dobama, 2340 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights.  For tickets go to https: www.dobama.org/tickets-index
 
Next up at Dobama:  THE OTHER PLACE, March 10-April 2.  Juliana is fifty-two years old and a brilliant drug-company scientist. She is giving a speech to a neurological convention. As she speaks we cut away to scenes with her doctor, phone calls from her estranged daughter, and arguments with her husband who may or may not be divorcing her. Through it all she constantly refers to "the other place", a cottage on Cape Cod that the family once owned, and a place where Juliana feels she may reunite with her missing daughter and find some peace of mind.