FROZEN--Key Bank Broadway Series

 

As I exited the opening night of FROZEN, part of the Broadway Series, which is now on stage at the Key Bank State Theatre, I was surrounded by hundreds of little girls in their “princess” dresses and tiaras, happily dragging their parents, grandparents and reluctant brothers toward the counters selling the show’s memorabilia.  Listening to their conversations, they were less interested in the story, the score and the lyrics then in “How did they make it snow on-stage?” “How did they make all those icicles?, and “How did Elsa’s dress change so fast?”  
 
There is an old theatre adage that states, “When you see a musical, you should come out humming the music, not commenting on the sets and costumes.”  Disney, the producers of FROZEN, obviously hadn’t heard that concept.
 
Well, maybe they did.  In transferring the show from film (the 2013 flick of the same name which, to date, is the top grossing animated film of all time), to the stage version (2018), as “30% of the show was rewritten between the tryout and the Broadway opening.  As the writers indicated, “with the musical taking a deeper dive into the characters psyches and aimed at a more adult audience.”
 
So, grandparents and parents, be aware that this musical, whose underlying message of being true to yourself and fully embracing who we are, may not enchant your “princesses.” 
 
FROZEN, the musical with music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez and book by Jennifer Lee, premiered on Broadway in March 2018 to very mixed reviews. Typical of the professional evaluations is, ‘FROZEN doesn’t entirely go wrong, but it does evidence signs of the struggle to establish a consistent, unifying tone and to settle on a center in a story inherently bifurcated by having two heroines kept apart for most of the action. It ends up being merely adequate, a bland facsimile when it should have been something memorable in its own right.” Others stated, "fun but not transporting, and "rousing, often dull, alternately dopey.”
 
Is the stage version the same as the film?  In transferring it, the writers augmented their score for the original film, which featured just eight songs to 20 songs in the stage version.  It is also probably why, both the two young boys in front of me and the trio of female tweens sitting behind, all were over-heard saying, “This isn’t like the film.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Broadway production closed on March 11, 2020, after 825 regular performances.  When pandemic restrictions were eliminated, it was decided that the show would not open again on Broadway, but tour instead.
Locals were not thrilled by the Broadway no-up, as Baldwin Wallace University Musical Theatre grad Ciara Renée had assumed the lead role of Elsa, less than a month before the covid shutdown.  
 
So, what’s it all about?
 
A Greek Chorus introduces serious Princess Elsa of Arendelle and her high-spirited younger sister, Princess Anna.  While the family knows about Elsa's magical powers, it is kept a secret from the people of Arendelle. One night, Elsa and Anna build a magical snowman and name it Olaf.  In their excitement, Elsa accidentally injures Anna in an icy magic rage. Their parents, call for the aid of a colony of hidden folk.  For their own protection, The King isolates the princesses within the castle.”

Years pass. The king dies.  The day before Elsa's coronation as Queen of Arendelle, Anna asks if there is anything she can do for her sister. Elsa, her room coated in ice, refuses to open her door out of fear of hurting Anna again.  

The day of the coronation Anna meets and falls in love with Hans.  He asks to marry her. (As we find out later he has a sinister reason for the proposal.) The couple asks for Elsa's blessing. She objects because the two have only known each other for a day. 

After intense questioning from Anna about shutting her out of her life, Elsa accidentally unleashes her icy powers before the court.
 
Elsa flees to the North Mountain without realizing that her magic has engulfed Arendelle in an eternal winter.

Thus, we enter into a world of ice, a compassionate reindeer, Olaf becoming a living snowman, Anna falling in love again, a revelation about Hans, and, of course, a happy ending.

During the goings on, we hear a rather uninspiring score consisting of such songs as “Hans of the Southern Isles,” “Dangerous to Dream,” “Reindeers are Better than People,” “Hygee” and “Colder by the Minute.”  On the other hand, “Love Is an Open Door” is cute and catchy.

The visual effects are astounding.  Anna’s costumes are breathtaking.  The lighting effects, which help create Elsa’s magic, are confounding.  The full-body costume to represent the reindeer, Sven, (Colin Baja inside holding stilts in his hands and walking on tiptoe) is impressive, as is the puppet of Olaf (F. Michael Haynie) the snowman.  They are much in the realm of the compelling horses in WARHORSE.

The entire cast has impressive voices.  Lauren Nicole Chapman delights as Princess Anna.  She displays a wonderful sense of comic timing.  Beautiful Caroline Bowman, is perfect as Elsa, the Ice Princess/Queen. Her “Let It Go” is the show’s musical highlight.  Handsome Ryan McCartan is both charming and evil as Hans.  Zach Trimmer is macho-right as Kristoff, Anna’s nice-guy second love.  

Capsule judgment:  Disney has created some of Broadway’s most memorable musicals including THE LION KING, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, MARY POPPINS and NEWSIES THE MUSICAL.  FROZEN, unfortunately, does not deserve to join that exalted list. It’s not terrible, but kids will probably not be enchanted, adults should be adequately interested, and  all will be awed by the special effects and lighting.  

FROZEN runs through September 11 at the Key Bank State Theatre.  For tickets call 216-241-6000 or go to www.playhousesquare.org

Kent and Céspedes join forces for exceptional WEST SIDE STORY at Porthouse

  

In the fall of 1957, I had a mind-blowing experience.  I saw the newly opened Broadway production of WEST SIDE STORY.  At the time, all I knew about the show was that it was based on ROMEO AND JULIET and it had opened to positive reviews two days before.  
 
I left the show with aching hands from clapping and clapping and clapping during the extended curtain calls.  I became a WEST SIDE STORY junkie, seeing the show time-after-time on the Great White Way before it closed, then the revival, and many other performances since.  
 
WEST SIDE STORY had an interesting road from concept to Broadway.  
 
In 1974 Jerome Robbins conceived the idea of a contemporary musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s ROMEO AND JULIET.  His concept was to center the focus on the conflict between an Irish Catholic family and Jewish family living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan set during the Easter-Passover season.  The Catholic “Jets” and the Jewish “Emeralds” were “gangs” in conflict.  
 
Originally titled, EAST SIDE STORY, Bernstein proposed an operatic musical score.  Difficulty with the book, music and lyrics eventually caused the idea to be dropped.  
 
A number of years later, the idea re-emerged as WEST SIDE STORY. The story is set in New York in the mid 1950s.   Sharks came from Puerto Rico, and the Jets, are a collection of white working-class hoodlums. Tony, one of the Jets, falls in love with Maria, the sister of the leader of the Sharks, with disastrous results.  
 
As the score and script developed, tension and comic relief increased, leading to the powerful impact of the play’s tragic ending.   Effort was made to ensure that the show would be a musical drama, not a musical comedy, thus making it different from the Broadway shows of the day. 
 
It is a musical with a serious theme, sophisticated music, extensive dancing and an investigation of social problems.  The memorable score includes Something's Coming, Maria, America, Somewhere, Tonight, I Feel Pretty, and A Boy Like That.
 
Cast members, especially the dancers, were treated as actors and singers, not just as bodies to be choreographed, which opened a new way for chorus members to be treated, and laid the foundation for such shows as A CHORUS LINE.  
 
In 2007, Arthur Laurents decided it was time to adjust the script. His “new” WSS opened on March 19, 2009.  The production wove Spanish lyrics and dialogue into the English libretto. The show had an attitude adjustment, more serious, with some of the lightness eliminated.  The characters were made more authentic.  

The Porthouse production, under the adept direction of Terri Kent, is filled with the right attitudes, especially the emotionally wracked ending.

The right tone to the music, which is a highlight to Bernstein’s brilliance, was well performed by Jonathan Swoboda and his large orchestra.  The sounds are full and lush where they should be and powerful when appropriate.  It also underscored the performers, allowing Sondheim’s lyrics to be heard clearly.  The vocals were generally strong.

The choreography of Martin Céspedes, as has become expected from this multi-award winner, is the cement that holds the show together.  The dancers are well-honed and show a discipline not often displayed on any but Broadway stages.  

Céspedes avoids copying the Broadway dance patterns and invented new ways to stage the numbers, centering on the abilities of his performers.  Especially effective were “The Dance at the Gym,” “America,” and “Ballet Sequence.”  

Strong performances are given by Alexa Lopez (Maria), Victoria Mesa (Anita), Maya Galipeau (Anybodys), Zachary Mackiewicz (Riff), Rasario Guillen (Bernardo), Kirstin Angelina Henry (Rosalia), Steven Scionti (Schrank) and Rohn Thomas (Doc).  Each developed a clear character.  Impressive vocals include: “America,” “I Feel Pretty,” “A Boy Like That,” “One Hand, One Heart,” and “Jet Song.”  
 
I wish that the dialogue between the Puerto Ricans was in Spanish, but it isn’t.  The difficulty of finding the number actors needed to do that is great, so this void is understandable.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  WEST SIDE STORY is near the top of my list of all-time great musicals. The creative choreography and solid character development of the Porthouse production did nothing to dissuade my love for the show.  Bravo!!!  I look forward to more shows produced by the Terri Kent and Martin Céspedes dynamic duo!
 
The show runs through August 13.  Due to a week of covid cancellations there may be additional performances added.  Check the theatre’s website https://www.kent.edu/porthouse/west-side-story.  Call 330-672-3884.

OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD @ Seat of the Pants Productions

 

The Seat of the Pants Productions’ mission states that “Our hope is to create theater that challenges minds, moves hearts, and mobilizes hands and feet - in both performers and patrons.”
 
Its choice of British playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker’s OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD, based on Thomas Keneally’s novel THE PLAYMAKER, well fulfills the company’s goal.  
 
OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD, which won the 1988 Laurence Olivier Award for Play of the Year, was nominated as Best Play for the 1991 Tony Award, and won the 1991 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for the Best Foreign Play, concerns a group of Royal Marines and convicts in a penal colony in New South Wales in the 1780s.
 
“The convicts and Royal Marines were sent to Australia to set up the first penal colony in what we now know as Australia. The area was selected as it was far from England, the convicts would no longer be a menace to the ‘civilized’ people of the isle, and the territory would become yet another possession in the far-reaching British Empire.”
 
“The play shows the class system in the convict camp and discusses themes such as sexuality, punishment, the Georgian judicial system, and the idea that it is possible for ‘theatre to be a humanizing force’.”
 
Most of the characters in the play are based on real people who sailed with the First Fleet though some have had their names changed. 
 
As the play evolves, we find a lieutenant being tasked with putting on a play to celebrate the king's birthday. The catch? His cast members are the English convicts. Few of them can read, let alone act, and the play is being produced against a background of food shortages and barbaric punishments. Some of the convicts are violent, some are prostitutes banned from England because of their immoral life styles, others are petty criminals sent away for pick-pocketing or speaking against the crown, while others are mentally ill.  They, of course, continue to act out while incarcerated.
 
To make matters worse, several of the soldiers are masochistic sadists, bent on punishing the convicts through starvation and beatings. Others soldiers have compassion for the convicts.  The factions conflict.
 
The cast of ten, Abraham Adams, Scott Esposito, Jeannine Gaskin, Benjamin Gregg, Natalie Sander Kern, Daniel McKinnon, Brett Radke, James Rankin, Meriah Sage, and Lana Sugarman, portray 22 different characters, some playing both convicts and officers. 
Esposito, alone, develops a single character, the pivotal, 2^nd Lieutenant Ralph Clark, a compassionate soul who directs the play within the play, and finds a humanness in each of the convicts who take roles in the production.
 
Craig Joseph effectively directs, with scenic design by Micah Harvey, costume design by George McCarty II, lighting design by Ayron Lord, sound design by Megan Slabach, and properties design by Lisa L. Wiley. Intimacy direction is by Casey Venema and fight direction is guided by Ryan Zarecki. Voice and dialect coaching is by Chuck Richie. 
 
While a captivating topic, exposing the viewers to a part of history to which few Americans have been exposed, the experience is generally positive, but not without problems.  
 
While the cast is excellent, most of the portrayals are believable, and the staging creative, the constant moving of the boxes which made up the set pieces, became very distracting and dragged out the play’s length.
 
The script, as written, is over 2-and-a-half hours, with an intermission.  Heavy script cutting not only would have shortened the sit, but brought a clearer focus. 
 
The director is to be praised for insisting on authenticity in accents, but the unfamiliar sounds were often impossible to understand.  As is often done in Shakespeare plays intended for American audiences, it might have been wise to lighten the intonations.  
 
Be warned: Reinberger Auditorium, at least the night I saw the show, was like a frozen tundra. The wearing of warm clothing would have been helpful.   
 
The pre-publicity and program warn: “OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD contains several instances of physical violence and menace related to incarceration, colonialism, and corporal punishment, including discussion of - but no portrayal of - death by hanging. There is also discussion of - but no portrayal of - non-consensual sexual intimacy.”  Don’t let that detour you. There are “horrors,” but not vivid enough to cause strong reaction.
 
Capsule judgment:  OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD exposes the viewer to a part of history not well known to many.   The overly-long script gets a creditable staging by Seats of the Pants Productions.  It is worth the sit for anyone interested in probing theater.
 
OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD runs Friday and Saturday nights @ 8 and Sundays @ 2 through August 21 at Reinberger Auditorium, 5209 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland.  For tickets:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/our-countrys-good-by-timberlake-wertenbaker-tickets-373024525397

Cain Park’s SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM is a visual and lyrical love song to the “Father of the modern American Musical”

 

Stephen Sondheim is generally credited with being the “father of the modern American musical.”     His recent death has encouraged theatres to do commemorative productions of his plays.  Locally, Lakeland Theatre will do FOLLIES this fall, Porthouse is now presenting WEST SIDE STORY, and Cain Park is staging SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM in its intimate Alma Theatre.   Stephen Joshua Sondheim was an isolated and emotionally neglected child.  His parents divorced when he was about ten.  He detested his mother who blamed him for her failed marriage and once wrote him a letter saying that the only regret she ever had was giving birth to him.  His animosity was so strong that when she died in the spring of 1992, Sondheim did not attend her funeral.  It is said that one of his most poignant songs, “Children Will Listen,” was his message to the world about the effect his mother’s words had on him.     His saving grace was forming a close friendship with James Hammerstein, son of lyricist and playwright Oscar Hammerstein. (Yes, that Oscar Hammerstein, the co-author of such block-buster musicals as OKLAHOMA, CAROUSEL, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, and THE KING AND I.)  The elder Hammerstein became Sondheim's surrogate father, influencing him profoundly and developing his love for musical theater.   It was at the Hammerstein’s that Sondheim was introduced to Arthur Laurents, who told him he was working on a musical version of ROMEO AND JULIET with Leonard Bernstein.  Laurents indicated that they needed a lyricist.  Sondheim held a degree in composing and was reluctant.  He turned to Hammerstein who supposedly said, "Look, you have a chance to work with very gifted professionals on a show that sounds interesting, and you could always write your own music eventually. My advice would be to take the job.”     Sondheim took the job and wrote the words to WEST SIDE STORY.  He fulfilled Hammerstein’s forecast, when in 1962 he wrote both words and music for A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM.  The show ran 964 performances and won six Tony awards.  And, as the trite saying goes, “The rest is history.”     SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM is a revue which incorporates both visual clips of media and journalistic segments of actual interviews with Sondheim, interwoven with songs from all 19 of his musicals which appeared on Broadway stages. These range from the beloved to the obscure including “Something’s Coming” from WEST SIDE STORY, "Finishing the Hat" from SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, "Being Alive" from COMPANY, and "Send in the Clowns" from A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC to “The Gun Song” from ASSASSINS and “Opening Doors” from MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. The show enforces the composer/lyricist’s role as having reinvented the American musical with shows that tackled "unexpected themes that range far beyond the [genre's] traditional subjects" with "music and lyrics of unprecedented complexity and sophistication.” His shows often addressed the darker, more harrowing elements of the human experience, with songs often tinged with ambivalence about life. His songs reveal that Sondheim used “angular harmonies and intricate melodies.” And that he rejected the traditional image of the Western world typically presented in Broadway productions, and instead depicted it as "predatory and alienating." It also illustrates that his works acquired a cult following with gay audiences.  This gay connection is somewhat misleading as Sondheim, who was often described as introverted and solitary, didn’t open up about his homosexuality until he was in his 40s, didn’t enter a relationship until he was in his 60s, and didn’t get married to Jeffrey Scott Roley, a digital technologist, until 2017. As a kind of thank you to his being mentored by Oscar Hammerstein II,  Sondheim returned the favor, saying that he loved "passing on what Oscar passed on to me.”  Included in the stable of those he aided were Adan Guettel, grandson of Richard Rodgers, Jonathan Larson, who wrote TICK, TICK… BOOM! and RENT, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, who Sondheim asked to work with him on a planned Spanish version of WEST SIDE STORY. Miranda, in turn, approached Sondheim to aid with his HAMILTON.  Cain Park's production, which was directed by Joanna May Cullinan, has music direction by Jordan Cooper and choreography by Monica Olejko.   It features Amiee Collier, Mario Clopton-Zymler, Andrea de la Fuente, Trey Gilpin, Frank Ivancic, Kate Klika, Connor Stout, and Nicole Sumlin with Cameron Olin, Adam Rawlings, Danny Simpson, and Amanda Tidwell.    The excellent production featured prime singing, well-conceived song interpretations and creative staging.   Capsule judgment:  SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM is a theatre-lovers dream.  It is an in-depth look at one of America’s musical theatre greats presented in his spoken words, his musical sounds, and creative lyrics.  It is a must see for anyone who admires his work or is interested in finding out more about Sondheim!   For tickets, to the show, which runs until August 13, call (216) 371-3000 or visit https://tinyurl.com/ye2b2zzu

The Musical Theatre Project goes live with FOR GOOD: THE NEW GENERATION OF MUSICALS

After a two-year COVID hiatus, The Musical Theater Project returns to live performances, “For Good:  The New Generation of Musicals.”   The August 20, 21 and 27 offerings will feature narrators Nancy Maier and Sheri Gross and vocals by Jessica Cope Miller and Eric Fancher. 

 

Long time TMTP followers are used to hearing stories and songs from the Golden Era of the American musical.  In contrast, the material in the “For Good,” offerings will generally be picked from the scores from contemporary American musicals.  

 

The Golden Age lasted from the early 1940s through the end of that century.  The seminal OKLAHOMA, Rogers and Hammerstein’s ground breaking musical, set a template for most of the musicals that followed it. 

 

Keynotes of those offerings were a story line, usually developed via a double set of tales, one featuring the major love interests, the second, a comedy relationship.  Think Julie and Billie and Carrie and Mr. Snow in CAROUSEL or Annie and Frank and Winnie and Tommy in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN.  

 

Identifying parts of the format included two acts, the first ending with a problem, the solution to which would only be revealed if the audience came back for act two. For example, at the end of the initial act in THE KING AND I, the British are coming to Siam to determine the fate the country.  The issue:  Will Anna be able to aid the King to thwart off the potential take-over? 

 

Another stylistic factor of the Golden Age musical was the “I Want” song in which the lead character tells of their needs and desires.  “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” from MY FAIR LADY fulfills that requirement.

 

Among other key stylistic factors were an overture, show stopping production numbers and dance interludes.

 

The modern/contemporary era of musicals, which is the key to TMTP’s FOR GOOD series, was basically ushered in by Jonathan Larson’s RENT.  It broke most of the formulaic patterns and took on more of a story with music.  The songs are part of the dialogue, not a break from it.  The shows often contain no dancing.  The topics are more serious, for example, mental illness is probed in NEXT TO NORMAL.  Race is the keynote in CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, teen angst is the fulcrum of DEAR EVAN HANSEN and lesbian and gay coming out highlight FUN HOME. 

 

In a recent interview with Sheri Gross, who in real life serves as the Director of Arts, Culture, and Creative Programming at Gross Schechter School, is the theatre reviewer for the Cleveland Jewish News, and is serving as both a narrator and script developer for THE NEW GENERATION OF MUSICALS, it was revealed that this was the sixth TMTP show in which she has been involved.  She originally sang in productions, then started to write and then narrate.  

 

For this program, shows to be covered were agreed upon, songs selected from each, and the performers rehearsed their songs with music director Nancy Meier.

 

The format will center on behind the scenes info of the shows and the singing of lyrics.  Productions, from which songs have been selected, include MOULIN ROUGE, MR. SATURDAY NIGHT, A STRANGE LOOP, CAROLYN, OR CHANGE, SIX, GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY, FLYING OVER SUNSET, FUN HOME, and the revival of FUNNY GIRL.

 

Gross indicated that, as a performer and director of shows from the Golden Era, much of the material to be presented was new to her.  She finds that the present-day musicals show greater risk taking in topic selection, many of the songs have harmonies and musical patterns that are edgier, and that the story-lines reflect the issues in modern society.  She thinks much of this is thanks to Stephen Sondheim and this willingness to challenge tradition and be creative and edgy.  The program will include a special tribute to Sondheim.

 

The music from at least one of her favorite scripts, THE MUSIC MAN, will be included in this program.  Other favorite shows include FIDDLER ON THE ROOF and LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS.

 

FOR GOOD will be staged at the BOP STOP, 2920 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, on Saturday, August 20th (7:30 PM) and 21^st (2 PM) and on Saturday, August 27^th (7:30) at French Creek Theatre, 4540 French Creek Road, Sheffield).  Tickets are $35 and can be ordered online at MusicalTheaterProject.org or by phone 216-860-1518 ext. 710.