Preview: THE MUSICAL THEATRE PROJECT presents 1962 ON STAGE AND SCREEN

 

The Musical Theatre Project was formed about 25 years ago with the mission of preserving and honoring 20^th-century American musical theater in songs, stories and social history through local live performances and in national radio broadcasts, online discussions and recordings. 

The organization’s next live program, 1962 ON STAGE AND SCREEN, is to be presented at 3:00 pm on Sunday, November 10, 2024, at Wiley Auditorium, 2181 Miramar Blvd in University Heights. 

It will feature selections from Stephen Sondheim’s A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, a musical farce which tells the tale of Ancient Rome in which Pseudolus, a slave, schemes to win his freedom by helping his young master Hero win a beautiful courtesan.   Songs of the delightful show include “Lovely, ““Everybody Ought to Have a Maid” and “Comedy Tonight.”

Another musical of 1962 featured in the program is Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse’s STOP THE WORLD—I WANT TO GET OFF, which places the spotlight on the much-put-upon Littlechap.  Each time something unsatisfactory happens in his life, he calls out "Stop the World!."  It features the classic song, “"What Kind of Fool Am I?" which won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year.

NO STRINGS is a Richard Rodgers and Samuel Taylor's romantic musical which broke new ground as the first Broadway musical to depict an interracial love story.  It centers on a successful Black American fashion model who, while in Paris, meets and falls in love with a Pulitzer Prize-winning white American writer.   The Broadway production starred Diahann Carroll and Richard Kiley and featured such songs as “The Sweetest Sounds” and the classic, “No Strings.”

THE MUSIC MAN, with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, concerns con-man Harold Hill, who sells band instruments and uniforms to naïve Midwestern townsfolk, promising to train the members of the new band. Prim librarian and piano teacher Marian sees through him, but when Harold helps her younger brother overcome his lisp and social awkwardness, Marian begins to fall in love with him.  He risks being caught to win her heart.  The libretto includes “Goodnight My Someone,” “Seventy-Six Trombones,” and “Till There Was You.”

GYPSY is a musical fable with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents.  It is loosely based on the memoirs of strip tease artist Gypsy Rose Lee, and focuses on her mother, Rose, whose name has become synonymous with "the ultimate show business mother.”

The musical contains many songs that became popular standards, including "Everything's Coming Up Roses," "Small World," "Together (Wherever We Go)", "You Gotta Get a Gimmick", and "Let Me Entertain You."  It is frequently considered one of the crowning achievements of the mid-twentieth century's conventional musical theatre art form.

The program will be co-hosted by Founding Artistic Director Bill Rudman and Nancy Maier and features Eric Fancher and Cindy Smith.

For tickets go to:  https://shop.musicaltheaterproject.org/products/1962-on-stage-and-screen

Next up:  A CHRISTMAS CABARET

From beloved Yuletide standards such as “Winter Wonderland,” “Let It Snow” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” to forgotten gems like Irving Berlin’s 106-year-old salute to Santa Claus that only The Musical Theater Project could dig up, every generation will be singing along with this joyous, warm celebration! Get in the spirit of the season as outstanding vocalists perform tributes to Rudolph, Frosty and that mean Mr. Grinch. With Founding Artistic Director, Bill Rudman, providing engaging and insightful commentary interspersed throughout.

December 13 & 14, 2024. Friday, December 13 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, December 14 at 2 pm, $20 per person.   Lorain County Community College, Stocker Arts Center, Cirigliano Studio Theatre, 1005 N. Abbe Road, Elyria, OH.

December 15, 16 and 17 at the Cleveland Skating Club there will be diner and a show for $95 per person.  Dinner @ 7, show at 8.  For information and reservations go to:  https://musicaltheaterproject.org/a-christmas-cabaret-at-cleveland-skating-club/

 

 

Underwhelming MEAN GIRLS, is a trip back to the worst experiences of high school

 

BYE BYE BIRDIE, HAIR, GREASE, CARRIE, 13 (MUSICAL), DEAR EVAN HANSEN, MEAN GIRLS.  What do all these Broadway musicals have in common?  They placed the spotlight on teen angst.

 

OMG!  Think back to high school, specifically the cafeteria, at lunch time.  Depending on the institution you attended there was probably the table of math geeks.  Another of drama kids.  The testosterone-laden jocks held out over there and the cheerleaders were right next to them.  Then there was the nasty yet revered queen bee and her small swarm of drones.  The mean girl and her attack team.  They are perfectly coiffed, expensively dressed, spoiled, and lacking in empathy.  No one was willing to cross them!

 

With that in mind, depending on your place in the pecking order, you may or may not be ready to immerse yourself into MEAN GIRLS, the stage-show with music by Jeff Richmond, lyrics by Nell Benjamin, and a book by the queen of television comedy, Tina Fey.

 

The musical is based on Fey’s popular 2004 film which was inspired by Rosalind Wieseman’s book, “Queen Bees and Wannabes.”

 

Fans of the movie should be relieved that nothing important has been purged from the story.   Those who went through the horrors of slam/shame books, hazing, verbal abuse and general “hell” at the hands of the mean girls at their high schools will be happy to know that, in the musical, the queen and her swarm get their stingers removed.  (Yeah, revenge for the high school “nerds.”)

 

In the musical, Cady, fresh from a life in Kenya (Africa), is a new girl in town.  She is taken on a tour of her now educational institution, an Illinois high school, and exposed to the ways of its pecking order, by “good guys,” Janis and Damian. 

 

The J and D duo have taken the attitude of not being affected by self-selected school royalty and nasty-girl Queen Bee Regina George and “the Plastics” (Gretchen and Karen), her lackey hangers-on.  They caution Cady to be careful in deciding where she belongs in the school’s social fabric.

 

And, wonder of wonders, for an unexplained reason, Cady is invited to sit with “the Plastics” on a one-week trial.  (Hmm…what do the terrible trio have in mind?)

 

Everything goes well for Cady until she meets “dreamy” Aaron in honors math class.  She falls for him.  But, horror of horrors, Aaron has recently broken up with Queen Regina.  (You know this is going to make life for Cady a horror show.)

 

In order to “keep” Aaron’s interest Cady plays dumb, turning to him for unneeded “extra” help.

 

 A bus accident, a Burn Book which slams students by commenting on their weight (“hips like a Hippo”), parents’ infidelities (“the only reason he made the team is that his mother slept with the coach”) and eating habits (“Vegan freak”), Cady taking over Regina’s place as Queen of the Plastics, Cady being elected Spring Fling Queen and her surprising act of sharing the crown, all lead to a happy-ever-after feel-good ending.  (Hey, this is a Tina Fey written high school Broadway musical, what did you expect?)

 

Though it received 15 Tony nominations, MEAN GIRLS, as evidenced by the fact that it won no statues, it is not a great musical.    This is definitely not DEAR EVAN HANSEN quality.

 

It can be, however, enjoyable and, it has caught on and has developed its cult following.  (Be ready for every high school and community theatre producing the script as soon as it is released for general consumption.)

 

The serviceable score, the Tina Fey sharp tongued satire and one-liners gave a general positive vibe to the goings on.

 

This tour is composed of mainly recent college grads who have little to no Broadway or even off-Broadway experience.  Unfortunately, the lack of experience shows.   Many characters are not well-developed, the singing is adequate, the dancing is often stilted and has been “dumbed down” from the Big Apple production and even the touring show, which appeared locally several years ago.  The laughs are there, but limited.  The show-stoppers, such as “Where Do You Belong,” don’t explode with the needed energy.  It isn’t until “Do This Thing” and “I See Stars,” the last two songs of the show, that the dynamics are turned on.

 

As the young lady sitting next to me, who professed to be “MEAN GIRL fanatic, commented: “I am disappointed.  I know every line of the movie.  I know all the songs.  This is less than I expected.”  I must agree with her.

 

Capsule judgment:   MEAN GIRLS is filled with music, characters and Tina Fey satire that will appeal to younger audiences.  The production is not the quality expected of a professional tour.  Too bad, it really has the potential to be a really fun show!

 

NEXT UP AT PLAYHOUSE SQUARE:  11/5-24—SOME LIKE IT HOT (Key Bank Series) --The rollicking musical, based on the hit movie, of two musicians forced to flee the Windy City after witnessing a mob hit.

 

 

PLEASE VOTE YES ON ISSUE 55:  Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC), which was approved by voters in 2006 and reapproved in 2015 allows CAC to fund millions of arts and cultural experiences for residents each year.

Oh, woe is me…POTUS is must see theatre at Dobama!

 

 
Once upon a time, in the very near land of the U S of A, there lived a POTUS.  

According to such a source as the New York Times, he never was a good person, but “With the passage of time, the president’s speeches have grown darker, harsher, longer, angrier, less focused, more profane and increasingly fixated on the past, according to a review of his public appearances over the years.”

Yes, this “fictional” person, who is the subject of the very farcical play, POTUS, which is now on stage at Dobama Theatre, has had a history of being a womanizer, purveyor of lies, an attacker of those people who were not like him (blacks, browns, religious minorities, and females, among others) while living in a fantasy world seemingly centered on himself.  He fires people at will, attacks with vitriolic glee, and often destroys for the sake of just destroying.  He seemingly leads an insurrection, yet sees it not as such.  Oh, woe is me!
 
In spite of what some would say are despicable actions, there are those who adore him, worship him, follow his view of his world-of-fantasy, though they often know not why. They even wore uniforms, mostly hats of raging red, to identify themselves.  Oh, woe is me!
 
The sub-title of the show is, “Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive,” for good reason.  
 
In Selina Fillinger’s portrait of POTUS, this ogre is surrounded by seven beleaguered women whom he relies upon to keep him out of trouble.  They try and extract him from creating yet another global crisis due to his unwittingly spinning a public relations nightmare as he refers to his wife as a “cunt,” insults a leader of an Arabic country, offends a group of honored women, generally attempts to bully the rest of world for his own gain, while bringing his latest bimbo into the nation’s home for his sexual pleasure.  
 
The ladies are forced to hide his sexually induced disease, cover yet another series of transgression, and even cover over what may be his death.  Oh, woe is me! 
 
POTUS is now getting its area premiere.  That staging is done at a most logically selected venue, Dobama, Cleveland’s off-Broadway theatre, known for its more liberal look at the contemporary world.

A review of a previous production of the show stated, “I am woman, hear me roar — with laughter, at … playwright Selina Fillinger’s delicious feminist farce.”
Nathan Motta, Dobama’s Artistic Director says, “This show is the laugh-out-loud comedy that we all need right now.” POTUS is packed with farcical hijinks and a stage full of woman power. In times such as these, perhaps only laughter can provide some temporary relief.”
 
In interviews, Fillinger has said that she hopes POTUS audiences “have a wonderful night of laughter and joy. Then I hope they wake up the next day and put their money, time, and votes towards equity and freedom for all.” Fillinger’s goal is that the play will create solidarity and “intergenerational dialogue between women,” saying, “We can only build movements and coalitions when we debate, converse, and learn from each other. There is a false notion that solidarity and conflict are mutually exclusive. The goal should not be to avoid conflict, it should be to lovingly engage with differing beliefs and experiences so that everyone may bring their best self to the common cause.”
 
Dobama’s production, under the creative directing of Carrie Williams, is nothing short of hysterical.  Hysterical and, to many, shocking.  
 
The script is full of outlandish situations and actions.  Doors slam, prat-falls and stage slaps abound.  Visual and verbal hijinks overflow.  The ridiculous reigns.  The sad part is that one finds oneself laughing through tears and sadness.  This is the pathetic world in which we live.  Oh, woe is me!
 
The opposite of laughing is not crying, but indifference.  You cannot watch this chaotic, brilliantly written play and be indifferent!  
 
The play clearly focuses its microscope on the political world, but brings the reality of that world into shocking detail by using such vocabulary dialogue as, “ass play,” “cunt,” “dildo,””” blow job,” and “dick,” just to highlight a few!  
 
If you are a language prude, or only want to look to the world through sterilized ideas, this is not going to be your “cup of tea.”
 
Does the script go too far, at times, to make its point, thus emphasizing the ridiculous?  Sure, but it’s worth the over-kill.  It makes us laugh instead of lecturing us, which is a better way to gain attention.
 
The cast is superb.  There is not a weak link in this chain of pure talent.  The ensemble includes Kristy Cruz (Harriet), Nina Domingue (Jean), Natalie Green (Stephanie), Chennelle Bryant-Harris (Chris), Nicole Sumlin (Margaret), Katherine Nash (Dusty), and Amiee Collier (Bernadette).
 
It’s impossible to separate one for attention as they form a whole that is inseparable. Each molds and shapes her part! Hurrah!!!
 
Capsule judgement:  The night I saw the production a number of John Carroll students were in attendance as a class assignment.  They howled, laughed, shouted and applauded as their reality played out on the stage.  These young people got it!  This is the world which the present older generation has left them.  Oh, woe is me!   This is absolutely must-see theatre!  
 
For tickets to the show which runs through November 3 go to:  BoxOffice@dobama.org or call 216-932-3396.
 
PLEASE VOTE YES ON ISSUE 55:  Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC), which was approved by voters in 2006 and reapproved in 2015 allows CAC to fund millions of arts and cultural experiences for residents each year.

Neil from Flatbush on display in A BEAUTIFUL NOISE @ Connor Palace

 

David Greene, in his program notes for The Neil Diamond Musical A BEAUTIFUL NOISE, states, “Great songwriters have a distinct voice and style that sets them apart from others.  They bring their own perspective and experiences into their work, creating something that feels fresh and genuine.  He goes on to say, “Neil Diamond is one of those songwriters.” Diamond, a Jewish kid from the Flatbush area of Brooklyn, has sold more than 125 million records, had 38 singles reach the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, with 10 reaching number one. A BEAUTIFUL NOISE, the tale of Diamond, yes, his real name is Neil Diamond, is a juke box musical, much in the style of JERSEY BOYS and THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL, in which pre-written songs are shoe-boxed into a story line.   In the case of NOISE, the writing/staging gimmick are fictional counseling sessions between Diamond and a psychologist who probes into his past by asking the man, who no longer can tour due to his contracting Parkinson’s Disease, to reveal the motivation for writing many of his songs.  As he explains it, ““She opens the book, and all 60 years of my songwriting and all that exploration pours out into a majestic musical collage, and once unloosed from the book, the songs take on lives of their own." As the superstar tells how and why a select number of his hits were written, we are exposed to the ascent of Diamond from frustrated song writer, to nervous night club performer, to uber-super-star, and finally, a member of the Songwriters and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We learn some aspects of the man and his music, including illusion to such factors as: “Diamond is a New Yorker through-and-through, but ironically, ‘Sweet Caroline’ has become a Boston anthem. Fans sing the song during the eighth inning of every Red Sox home game. Diamond wrote "Sweet Caroline" for his second wife, Marcia Murphey, but "Sweet Marcia" didn't fit the tune. Also, that Diamond met his first wife, Jaye Posner, in high school and she was the person who early-on encouraged his music career.  The show, filled with dynamic dancing and staging, includes such crowd favorites as “America,” “Cherry, Cherry,” I’m A Believer,” “Kentucky Woman,” “September Morn,” and “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.”  Not well known was that he attended Erasmus Hall High School and was a member of a chorus whose membership included Barbra Streisand, though they, according to Diamond, “were not close friends at the time.” Chess grandmaster Bobby Fisher was also a member of their class. The musical opened on Broadway in December of 2022 to mixed reviews, grossing more than $1 million before its premiere.  It closed on June 30, 2024, when ticket-sales faded.  At closing it had “grossed more than $63 million.” Nick Fradiani, the winner of the 2015 American Idol television competition, who effectively stars as Neil-then, carries the majority of the role’s singing, dancing and acting.  He is charismatic, has an excellent voice and looks and sounds like the superstar.   Robert Westenberg makes for an acceptable Neil-now.  He displays some excellent Diamond-like musical chops near the show’s ending.  Beautiful Hannah Jewel Kohn has an excellent voice and realistically develops the Marcia Murphey role (Diamond’s second wife).  Tiffany Tatreau, gives full-life to, Jayne Posner, Neil’s first wife.  Kate A. Mulligan has a nice cameo role as Ellie Greenwich, an early Diamond founder and producer. Michael Mayer directs.  Steven Hoggett choreographs. CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  This is not a great musical.  It won’t ever be compared to GYPSY, WEST SIDE STORY or even, RAGTIME but for Neil Diamond fanatics, or for those who love his music, it will more than be a pleasing experience.  The music is fine, the dancing is dynamic and the concert-level staging is enveloping.  It’s worth a sit-through. A BEAUTIFUL NOISE runs October 8-27, 2024 at the Connor Palace as part of the Key Bank Broadway Series.  For tickets call 216-241-6000 or go to www.playhousesquare.org PLEASE VOTE YES ON ISSUE 55:  Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC), which was approved by voters in 2006 and reapproved in 2015 allows CAC to fund millions of arts and cultural experiences for residents each year.

Farce reigns supreme at GLT’s MIDSUMMER NIGHT DREAM

William Shakespeare is considered by many to be the greatest Western world playwright of all times.  In spite of this, many are reluctant to see a production of his plays.  Why the hesitance?  It is perceived that language he used, the format of the speeches, and the material he writes of, is too abstract or complicated to just “sit back, enjoy and understand.”
 
Play On Shakespeare (POS) is a non-profit company promoting and creating contemporary modern translations of Shakespeare’s plays.  Scripts are easily understood, using modern language.   A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, their partnership with Great Lakes Theater, is now on stage at the Hanna Theatre.  
 
“Since its inception in 2015, Play On Shakespeare has commissioned dozens of contemporary playwrights to translate 39 Shakespeare plays into modern English, with a majority of the commissions.”  Each playwright is “tasked with matching Shakespeare’s linguistic rigor as they approached the text, preserving rhyme, rhythm, metaphor, meter, imagery, symbolism, rhetoric, and the structure that make Shakespeare’s plays engaging and accessible to today’s audience.” 
 
In the case of GLT’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, one of the Bard’s most delightful works, Sara Bruner, the show’s director, has not only used the “newly” conceived words, but has added her special touches of extreme farce and exaggeration to make the experience audience involving and entertaining.
 
The escapist comedy centers on the goings-on after Duke Theseus, who has the power to approve all marriages, rejects the matrimonial prospects of two sets of young Athenians.  The foursome flee into the forest and run head-long into problems that they didn’t anticipate.  Much of the chaos centers on the mischievous Puck, who attempts to “help” not only Oberon, King of the Fairies, who is having marriage problems, as well as the Athenians.

The scripts translator Jeffrey Whitty (author of the book for the Tony winning musical, AVENUE Q hopes “that my translation will lift audience spirits as a supplement to Shakespeare’s indelible original. While the language is sometimes mine, the architecture is all Shakespeare, as fresh as anything on the boards these days.”

It must be recognized that Whitty has wiped out much of the Bard’s beautiful language and structure in his attempt to win over modern-day viewers.  Shakespeare lovers will have problems with this approach.  Bardisms such as “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind,” gets short-shift in this version.  As does Puck’s “Now to ‘scape the serpent’s tongue, We will make amends ere long; Else the Puck a liar call’ So, good night unto you all.” This is the type of language that has made Shakespeare a legend!

No matter the language, because this is a comedy, thus insuring a happy ever-after ending, each of the couples unite in harmony.

Once the audience settled in and realized that this was not the Bard they were used to, The GLT production was met with prolonged bouts of laughing and clapping. 

The key to what was to come was revealed to all on the open-curtain stage set at the start of AMSND.  The view was of lots of vertical and horizontal multi-colored Eucalyptus tree platforms and shafts adorned with flowers and plants constructed of equally colorful pool noodles.  

Courtney O’Neill had created a visual illusion of a drug induced illusion of “into the woods.”   Mieka van der Ploeg’s costumes continued the visual assault with non-descript multi-colored costumes, which were illuminated by Trad A Burn’s creative lighting.  Yep, this was not going to be, nor was, traditional Shakespeare!

The cast, who clearly understood the concept of “farce,” performed all the schticks, asides, slapstick and exaggerations of director Bruner’s imagination.
Joe Wegner was properly puckish in carrying out his devilishly delightful deeds, Nick Steen appealingly brayed his way through his transformation from Bottom, a weaver, to a purple headed ass and the youths all well-created exaggerated youthful lovers.  

CAPSULE JUDGMENT:  GLT’S A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM will delight those who enjoy unbridled farce and mod language, while Shakespeare purists will rue the day they saw this “reimagined,” Bard-light edition.  Me?  I started out on the side of the purist’s and ended up an advocate of the modernists.  Go…see…enjoy (maybe!).

SPECIAL REQUEST:  PLEASE VOTE YES ON ISSUE 55…IT PROVIDES MUCH NEEDED FUNDING FOR 485 LOCAL ARTS & CULTURE ORGANIZATION.  

Farcical message play PURLIE VICTORIOUS at Karamu

 

“Neither Ruby Dee or Ossie Davis ever appeared in a Karamu stage production but both had significant presence and impact in the organization and in the lives of Karamu artists. They often visited for speaking engagements, to instruct master classes, and to support Karamu's mission.” The duo met at Karamu.   Dee’s large portrait adorns one of the walls at the oldest Black Theatre in the country, which she loved and supported.   Davis’s play, PURLIE VICTORIOUS, which once starred the duo, is now on stage at Karamu.   The story follows Purlie Victorious Judson, a Black traveling preacher who returns to his segregated Georgia hometown with the purpose of claiming his inheritance and buying and rehabbing its now derelict black church.  His obstacle?  The town, is in the grip of racist tyrant Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee.   PURLIE VICTORIOUS is alternately titled, A NON-CONFEDERATE ROMP THROUGH THE COTTON PATCH.   Yes, this is farce!  With, of course, a happy ending!   Leslie Odom, Jr., credited Ossie Davis with giving the American theater an American hero in Purlie Judson.  He stated, “I have loved this piece and its author, Mr. Davis, for well over half my life. His writing and acting, his integrity, the commitment he and his brilliant wife made to nurturing young talent, and the example of citizenship have meant so much to me! Mr. Davis’s pages are full of joy and rhythm, laughter and hope.”    One review of PURLIE VICTORIOUS, which opened on Broadway in 1961, stated that, "It is marvelously exhilarating to hear the Negro speak for himself, especially when he does so in the fullness of his native gusto and the enveloping heartiness of his overflowing laughter."   In viewing this play, it must be remembered that it represents the era and attitudes of the 60’s, not 2024.  It must be realized that many of the changes regarding segregation, integration and gains by African Americans were not fully in effect.  Many of the attitudes and situations expressed by Davis are no longer in existence.     It is not surprising that the primarily black audience at Karamu the afternoon I saw the production probably didn’t react as the viewers of the mid-20th century probably did.  There were few call-and-responses, few gasps to the treatment of the blacks by the “massa,” not even many laughs at the farce.  Yes, the play is very dated and has lost some of its effect.    How effective is the Karamu version?   In seeing a production at Karamu, due to its many fine past stagings, such as BLACK NATVITY, THE COLOR PURPLE and PASSING STRANGE, all of which were recognized as being among area’s best shows by both the Cleveland Critics Circle and Broadwayworld.com-Cleveland, it can be ignored that this is not a professional theatre.   Added to the situation is that farce is very difficult to perform.  The exaggerations must be realistic, yet overdone.  The slapstick must result in the audience laughing at the situation, not the gimmicks that insighted the ridiculousness.  The timing must be perfect.  Unfortunately, this was not always the case.   Does this mean the show is now worth seeing?  Absolutely not.  It is a valuable piece of historical theatre, that shows, through exaggeration what times were like.   Capsule judgment:  The cast, headed by Dyrell Barnett, as Purlie, gives full-effort and has some fine moments.  Treva Offutt directs. If you are interested in seeing a slice of Black Americana, and want to back the continued efforts of Karamu, the country’s oldest Black theatre, go see PURLIE VICTORIOUS!   PURLIE VICTORIOUS runs through 9/27 -10/20 at Karamu, 2355 East 89th Street. For tickets call 216-795-7077 or go on-line to Karamuhouse.org   PLEASE VOTE YES ON ISSUE 55:  Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC), which was approved by voters in 2006 and reapproved in 2015 allows CAC to fund millions of arts and cultural experiences for residents each year.

Impressive INTO THE WOODS—GLT and Sondheim take on Grimm’s fairy tales!

INTO THE WOODS, yet another of Stephen Sondheim’s wonderous musicals, is now on stage at the Great Lakes Theater’s Hanna Theatre.
 
Sondheim, who is credited with reinventing the American musical with shows that tackle unexpected themes, with music and lyrics of such complexity and sophistication that they challenge performers and musicians who take Sondheim off the page and into the world of production.  
 
Sondheim, often ignored the genre’s traditional subjects, such as the complications of love and teen-angst, wrote instead of attempted killers (ASSASSINS), unmarried men (COMPANY), has-been performers (FOLLIES), revenge (SWEENEY TODD), artists (SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE), national isolationism (PACIFIC OVERTURES) and the foibles of fables (INTO THE WOODS).
 
With a book by James Lapine, INTO THE WOODS intertwines the plots of several Grimm fairy tales by exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and desires. The main characters are taken from “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and “Cinderella,” with guest performances by Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.  

The musical is tied together by a story involving a childless baker and his wife and their quest to have a child, which is actually the original beginning of “Rapunzel,” their confronting the witch who placed a curse on them, and their interaction with storybook characters during their journey searching for things a witch requires to withdraw a curse.

The joyous first act ends with the traditional “happily ever after” conclusion, while the dramatic second act illustrates that real life is not a fairy tale, but that there is a price to be paid for having wishes granted. 

The show’s themes include the angst of growing up, the relationship between parents and children, the difficulties of accepting responsibility, morality and, most importantly, wish fulfillment and its consequences.  
 
Some theatre experts have opined that, since the show was conceived in the 1980s at the height of the AIDS crisis, the show is a parable about the disease.  They perceive that “the Giant's Wife serves as a metaphor for HIV/AIDS, killing good and bad characters indiscriminately and forcing the survivors to band together to stop the threat and move on from the devastation.”   The modern-day parallel is the implications of the COVID crisis.

“Sondheim drew on parts of his troubled childhood when writing the show. In 1987, he told Time Magazine that the ‘father uncomfortable with babies [was] his father, and [the] mother who regrets having had children [was] his mother.”

INTO THE WOODS had a 1987-89 Broadway run of 765 performances and was nominated for ten Tony Awards, winning three.

The Great Lakes production is under the creative direction of Victoria Bussert, who will soon be joining the Oberlin College faculty as the director of its new musical theatre program.  She presented an all-student production at her present college home, Baldwin Wallace University, several years ago.  I wrote that that production was, “sprightly, fresh, well done, and a must see!”  The same, and a lot more, can be said of the Great Lakes Theater production.
 
Joe Wegner gives a unique slant to role of the Baker.  He creates a frustrated man, whose relationship with his father was stressing (much like Sondheim), but through a series of incidents realizes his role as husband and father.  “It Takes Two,” his duet with his wife, the perfectly cast, Jodi Dominick, is delightful.  Her “Moments in the Woods,” is a show highlight.

Lovely and talented RhonniRose Mantilla (Cinderella), one of the many Baldwin Wallace musical theatre grads, displays a wonderful comic-timing sense, especially in doing prat-falls.  Her “On the Steps of the Palace,” illustrates not only her strong singing voice but her music story-telling abilities.  She shines, as does Jodi Dominick, in “A Very Nice Prince.”

A vision of big-eyed wonder, Nic Scott Hermick (Jack) displays a keen child-sensitive quality and nativity, which is well-expressed in the plaintive “Giants in the Sky.”

“Agony” is a crowd-pleaser nicely sung by Cinderella’s studly overly-dramatic Prince (Dan Hoy) and Rapunzel’s dedicated Prince (Benjamin Michael Hall).

Jillian Kates, the witch, made “Children Will Listen” one of the greatest songs in the Broadway musical lexicon, a meaningful show closer.   

The rest of the leading players and chorus were excellent. 

Courtney O’Neill’s set design, cleverly created with multi-colored Lincoln Log-like poles, makes for a flexible playground for Bussert’s creative stage movements and Jaclyn Miller’s well-conceived choreography.  Tesia Dugan Benson’s costumes, David Gotwald’s sound design, and Trad A Burns lighting, all added to wonders of the production.

Capsule Judgment:  INTO THE WOOD is a well-conceived script, which gets a fine GLT production!  There has been, and will be many presentations of this musical, but few will match this one!  Go…enjoy musical theatre at its finest!

For tickets to INTO THE WOODS, which runs through November 10, 2024, go to www.greatlakestheater.orgor call 216-241-6000.
 
NEXT UP AT GLT:  A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, Shakespeare’s magical comic masterpiece from October 4-27.

LES MIZ! back again at the Palace Theatre is as good as ever!

 

LES MISÉRABLES, along with such block busters as PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, EVITA, STARLIGHT EXPRESS, and CATS are part of the movement in musical theatre known as The British Invasion.
 
These shows, in contrast to most American musicals, have no spoken dialogue.  It is more operatic in format.  All singing, no speaking.
 
The musical version of Victor Hugo’s epic novel “Les Miserable” was first a recording, then a Parisian stage spectacle.  British producer Cameron Mackintosh, revamped the script and added spectacular sets, complete with double revolving stages.  The reviews in London were not great, but word of the strong plot and the staging, and the publicity poster’s visual of the downtrodden little Cosette, in front of the French tri-color flag, caught the public’s fancy.  And, as the trite saying goes, “The rest is history.” 
 
In 1987 the musical debuted on Broadway, following a successful London run.  After 6,680 performances spanning sixteen years, it closed in the Big White Way on May 18, 2003, making it one of the longest running Broadway shows.  Revivals, tours, and a movie followed.
 
For those who didn’t take French in school which often required translation of “The Bishop’s Candlesticks,” a simplified version of “LES MISÉRABLES,” an epic 1862 French tale by Victor Hugo, considered as one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century, may not be aware that the basic story line centers on a period in the early nineteenth century, which culminated in the unsuccessful June Rebellion.  This is not the larger French Revolution of 1788 that overthrew the absolute monarchy of the Bourbons and the system of aristocratic privileges, as many assume when the word “revolution” is used in a French story. 
 
The plot revolves around Jean Valjean, who was arrested and imprisoned when he stole a loaf of bread to feed his starving nephew.  It is fiction broadly entwined within factual and historical events.
 
This is not the usual musical theatre material.  It is about greed, child abuse, revolution and cruelty.  It has physical beatings and numerous onstage deaths.  It lacks the typical happy ending.   But, there is no reason that serious subjects cannot be treated in the musical form.  LES MIZ proves that contention, as does NEXT TO NORMAL, RENT and DEAR EVAN HANSON.
 
There is also no reason that strong emotions about death cannot be visualized as “empty chairs at empty tables,” or hope cannot be expressed as, “there is life about to start, when tomorrow comes,” or, that infatuation cannot be explained as “a heart full of love,” or the future can’t be prophesized as, “I dreamed that love would never die,” or a powerful story can’t be summarized with the musical’s closing
 lyric, “To love another person is to see the face of God.”  
 
Yes, these are all lyrics conceived by Herbert Kretzmer and set to the emotionally charged music of Claude-Michel Schönberg.  These are the thoughts of a great musical.
  
The show has toured through 440/216/330 several times.  When the reconfigured LES MISERABLE was in CLE several years ago as part of the Key Bank Series I wrote: “It is still captivating and is a major piece of the musical theater tapestry which gets an excellent staging at the start of its newest national tour.  If you haven’t seen it before or need a refresher, get to Playhouse before “One Day More,” and get “A Heart Full of Love.”
 
In that review, I also wrote, “From the very first time I saw LES MISÉRABLES, shortly after its opening in London, to the New York production, and through the various touring shows, I have been a fan of the show.  Not just a fan, a fanatic fan!” 
 
My strong positive thoughts generally hold true for the performance now on the Connor Palace stage as part of the Huntington Featured Performance Series.

The present 5-day stay mirrors the 2018 production, which eliminated the original production’s two turntables, reframed the music, reinterpreted some of the songs, added electronic visuals, such as our experiencing Jean Valjean crawling through the sewers as he saves Marius and then Javert falling off a bridge into the raging river below.  
 
There is less vividness than the original.  The battle scene, minus much of the extreme pile of household goods isn’t as dramatic, the marching to the barricades isn’t as exciting.  The lighting is darker, much like the paintings of the period which tended to be painted with less vivid oils.  This darkness shades the entire production.
 
Some things are the same.  I still find the reference to “this one’s a Jew and that one’s gay,” to be unnecessary and offensive.  I never have been a lover of “Master of the House” and “Beggars at Feast,” which I know fulfills the musical theater formula of being “noisy numbers,” inserted mid-first and second acts to excite the audience and keep their attention.  Some of the farce doesn’t seem to smoothly fit, but probably was added to relieve the intense strong oppression of the story.
 
The changes, in the scheme of things, don’t change the overall power and effect of the show.  No one is going to argue with the conceivers and stagers of a show which has been seen by over 70 million people. 
 
Both the solos and choral work is outstanding. Thankfully the cast interpreted the meaning of the lyrics rather than just singing words. This was obvious, for example, in “One Day More,” the sure-thing show stopper, which was mesmerizing.  

 
Nick Cartell, who played the role of Jean Valjean in the last tour, is back again.  He has done this featured role over 1,200 times.  He still portrays the role with a full musical powerful voice and emotional compassion.   His “Who Am I” and “Bring Him Home” were compelling.
 
Haley Dortch (Fantine) grabs the emotions with the plaintive “I Dreamed a Dream.”  Mya Rena Hunter (Éponine) received an extended ovation for her well-nuanced “On My Own.” Jake David Smith gives an appealing earnest quality to Marius.  His “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” was one of the show’s emotional highlights. 
 
Young Milo Maharika was captivating as the spunky Gavrache.  His middle finger salute to Javert after the over-zealous policeman is exposed as a traitor to the student rebels, brought cheers and laughter from the audience.
 
Preston Truman Boyd, who was here before in the role of Javert, has matured into the role.  He not only displays a strong singing voice, but clearly is obsessive in his maniacal search for Jean Valjean. 
 
We may be well into the historical place of color-blind casting, but having Little Cosette (Ava Buesing), a dark-haired Asian cutie, mature into a Caucasian blonde (Delaney Guyer), and blonde Azalea Wolfe (Young Éponine) become the dark-skinned Myra Rena Hunter (Éponine) was a little unrealistic and confusing.  
 
Matt Kinley’s set and image designs, which were inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo, created captivating images.
 
CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:   LES MIZ!  It is still captivating and is a major piece of the musical theater tapestry which gets an excellent production.  If you haven’t seen it before or need a refresher, get to Playhouse Square and get “A Heart Full of Love.”
 
For tickets call 216-241-6000 or go to www.playhousesquare.org.  LES MIZ runs through October 22, 2024.

BECK stages Neil Simon’s comic THE SUNSHINE BOYS

 

Broadway Theatre, from the mid-1950s through almost the end of the 1960s, went through a period in which the values, morals and attitudes of the post-World War II population were examined.  
 
Dramas by such luminaries as Arthur Miller, who asked, What is the best way to live?” in his  DEATH OF A SALESMAN, THE CRUCIBLE and ALL MY SONS. Tennessee Williams probed, “What is it like to live in a society that doesn’t understand you and you don’t understand it? in STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and GLASS MENAGERIE.  While, William Inge whose solitary protagonists were encumbered with strained sexual relations asked, “What are our hidden secrets?” in DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS, PICNIC and BUS STOP.
 
Neil Simon emerged as one of the most popular playwrights with his comedy scripts.
 
Simon was New York through-and-through.  He was born there (1927), lived his life and died (2018) in the area, and based most of his plays in Big Apple. 
 
His life was filled with conflict.  His parents fought a great deal and his own marriage was filled with angst.  In fact, he “blamed” his writing style on this.  He once said, “I think part of what made me a comedy writer is the blocking out of some of the really ugly, painful things in my childhood and covering it up with a humorous attitude ... do something to laugh at until I was able to forget why I was hurting.”
 
His productivity and success were unrivaled.  He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays.  He won a Pulitzer Prize, had 17 Tony nominations, four Tony Awards and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for four Academy Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards.   
 
In 1966, he had four successful productions running on Broadway at the same time and, in 1983, he became the only living playwright to have a New York theatre, the Neil Simon Theatre named in his honor. 
 
His play, The Sunshine Boys, now on stage at Beck Center, opened in 1972 and starred Jack Alberton and Sam Levine.  It was met with strong positive reviews.
 
The script’s protagonists, Al Lewis and Willie Clark (supposedly based on the real-life team of Gallagher and Shean), were once a major vaudeville comedy duo known as the Sunshine Boys. 
 
Their 43-year run was filled with conflict and when it ended, with Al retiring from show business, leaving Willie, bitter and frustrated.  The duo stopped speaking to each other.
 
It’s now eleven years later and we find Willie, struggling with memory loss living alone in the same apartment he had occupied most of his marriage-less life, being cared after by his nephew and “agent,” Ben.  
 
CBS wants the Lewis and Clark duo to recreate their famous “The Doctor Will See You” sketch as part of their history of comedy special.  This, of course, would require the cranky old men to speak to each other.  
 
When they reluctantly meet to rehearse, the reunion goes badly with the “boys” entering into heated arguments over the words they will use, the arrangement of the furniture, and the elimination of chest poking and spitted out words which started with a “t.”
 
The conflicts continue in the television studio.  
 
The ending--this is a comedy which requires that it have a happy ending--is endearing!
 
It is eye-opening that almost all of the famous comic vaudeville duos, such as Abbot and Costello, Gallagher and Sheen, Martin and Lewis, and Smith and Dale, all had tumultuous endings.

Beck’s production, under the direction of William Roudebush, works adequately well.  For this play to succeed requires that the audience warm up to the duo as, underneath their bluster, each is a teddy bear and that the comedy sketch be done with raucous abandonment, bridging on farce.

Doing Borscht Belt comedy is difficult, almost impossible for modern day actors.  It is not their fault.  It takes years to hone the skills of listening, reacting and recreating movements that bring the needed laughs.  That type of vaudeville is not something that someone who has not observed and practiced for years, can accomplish.

Rohn Thomas succeeds in making Al Lewis loveable, but Alan Safier’s Willie is sometimes so over-done that he becomes irritating and we lose our “love” for him.  

They try hard in the “The Doctor is In,” skit, but just don’t produce the perfection of farce comedy needed.  Not bad, (drum roll) but just not quite good enough.

Carolyn Demanelis is physically right for the role of the zaftig Vaudeville Nurse and Joyce Bell Linzy adds delight as the sarcastic Registered Nurse.

Capsule judgment:  It is enjoyable when a theatre reprises a Neal Simon comedy.  THE SUNSHINE BOYS, because of the requirement of enacting the classic comic routine is probably the most difficult Simon play to stage well.  The cast and crew give full effort, but don’t completely hit the bullseye!

THE SUNSHINE BOYS runs through October 6, 2024 at the Senney Theatre in the Beck Center of the Arts Complex.  For tickets call 216-521-2540 or go to beckcenter.org
 

Beautifully crafted script and production makes A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE a must see!

 

The post-World War II-era centered on the changes of, among other factors, the application of psychological principles to examine the happenings of the day.   Arthur Miller, William Inge and Tennessee Williams are considered to be the leading playwrights of that, the modern American era of theater.     Miller, who is the author of A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, which is now in production at Cain Park’s Alma Theatre, is noted for asking, in his scripts, “Is this the best way to live?”   In the case of VIEW, Miller’s dramatic tale examines such matters as difficult relationships, family honor, fear of loss, personal pride, forbidden love, assimilation and how justice and law often collide.  In the end, Miller seems to conclude that Eddie, the story’s protagonist, meets his end, being killed by his own knife, as a metaphor for his self-inflicted personal moral and ethical fall.   In examining the play, the writer’s own life may be the real topic.  “Miller was called to testify in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee to name names of communist sympathizers in 1956, the height of the McCarthy Era. Miller refused to do so and was heralded by the arts community for his strength of conviction and loyalty.”   Miller, like Eddie Carbone, was faced with the problem of choosing how to live his life and affirm or reject his value system.   “Unlike Eddie Carbone, Miller chose to be loyal to his fellow artists, but like Carbone, Miller went against the cultural consensus at the time. Miller, in the play, chose to script a community that accepted and protected unlawful people. The consequences and eventual repercussions of naming names, for Eddie Carbone, are drastic.”    Miller used this play to strongly condemn the McCarthy trials and those who named the names of fellow artists.   This is not the only play in which Miller takes on the ethics of McCarthy and his committee.  In THE CRUCIBLE, which is being staged at Blank Canvas Theater, on Cleveland’s near west side, the topic of witch-hunting takes center stage, and much like A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, Miller points the accusing finger at the perpetuator of “evil” and comes to the conclusion that the action of the witch hunters and McCarthy, was and is not the best way to live. The story in A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE is narrated by Alfieri, who was raised in Italy, but is now working as an American lawyer.  Acting as our guide and commentator, much like a Greek chorus, he represents the “bridge” between the Italian and cultures of that era. The plot centers around the Carbone family – Eddie, his wife Beatrice and their niece Catherine. The family is awaiting the arrival from Sicily of Beatrice’s cousins Marco and Rodolpho, who have entered the country illegally.    The cousins arrive. Catherine and Rodolpho are attracted to each other, which annoys Eddi, who has feelings for Catherine.   Jealous Eddie finds more and more things to dislike about Rodolpho as the young couple grow closer.  When the duo decides to get married, Eddie reports the cousins as illegal immigrants. This makes his family and all the neighbors hate Eddie.  Marco and Eddie fight. Marco uses Eddie’s knife to stab him. Eddie dies.   The Cain Park production, under the wise guidance of director Celeste Cosentino, is compelling.  It is well-staged, the concepts clear, and the acting generally top-notch.     Dan Zalevsky gives full life to the role of Eddie.  Eddie lives through Zalevsky’s clear character development and concentration on being, not acting.   Ursula Cataan creates a Beatrice who is both sensitive and aware of her limitations and her role as “wife” to Eddie.   Arianna Starkman matures as a character as Catherine faces the reality of becoming a woman, rather than a girl.   Abraham McNeil Adams well-portrays Alfieri, our guide and commentator.   Santino Montanez sizzles in the final scenes, as his role as family member and provider is spotlighted.   Be aware that the tented Alma theatre has no hard walls. The ambient sounds of street noise, wailing ambulances and revved-up motorcycles, the size of the stage which hinders actor projection to all parts of the small auditorium, plus the necessary Italian accents, all blend to wipe out some speeches.    Capsule judgment:  A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE is a powerful and meaningful play that gets a fine production.  This is an absolutely must-see for any serious theater-aficionado.   A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE runs through September 15th.  For tickets call 216-371-3000 or go online towww.cainpark.com