Stirring, historically important, must-see THE ISLAND is being staged by Ensemble Theatre

 

Former South Euclid resident and Brush High School graduate, Dr. Alan Wieder, is on a quest "to stem the time of forgetfulness."  The oral historian, who has been on the faculties of both South Africa's University of Western Cape and Stellenbosch University, is concerned that "Few young South Africans know of the contributions or the sensibilities regarding the social justice and the revolution against class disparity and racism in the world." Wieder has been working since 1999 with South Africans who fought the apartheid regime.  His Apartheid based books include Voices from Cape Town Classrooms, Teachers and Comrade, and Ruth First and Joe Slovo in the War Against Apartheid. Apartheid, which means "distantiation” in the Afrikaans language, was a racist political and social system which took place in South Africa from 1948 to 1994.  It was racial segregation, under the all-white government, which dictated that non-white South Africans (a majority of the population) were required to live in separate areas from whites, use separate public facilities, while contact between the two groups was basically forbidden.    The apartheid system was abolished when a new constitution was ratified abolishing the previous system of government.  Nelson Mandela was elected to the Presidency of South Africa when multi-racial elections were held in April 1994, thus becoming the first black person to hold the position in that country.   THE ISLAND, is basically a true story.  It is set in the notorious Robben Island prison, where Nelson Mandela was held for twenty-seven years.     The script centers on John and Winston.     John was imprisoned for belonging to a banned organization, while Winston, was incarcerated for burning his passbook in front of the police. This was a serious crime, as the passbook was used to identify, segregate and control the South African minority.   As black political prisoners, the duo spends their days at hard labor and their evenings rehearsing Sophocles' ANTIGONE, which will be presented before their fellow prisoners and their captures.   In their enactment of ANTIGONE, Winston takes the part of Antigone, who defies the laws of the state by burying her brother, while John portrays her uncle Creon, who sentences her to die for her crime of conscience, thus drawing a parallel between Antigone's situation and that of the black political prisoners.    The play has four scenes. It opens with a lengthy mimed sequence in which John and Winston, two cell mates imprisoned on Robben Island, shovel sand in the scorching heat, dumping the sand at the feet of the other man, so that the pile of the sand never diminishes. This is designed to exhaust the body and the morale of the prisoners.   After yet another day of hard labor they tend each other's wounds, share memories of times at the beach and rehearse.   During one of the rehearsals, John is called to the governor's office. He returns with news that his appeal was successful and his ten-year sentence has been commuted to three years: he will be free in three months.  Winston’s reaction, though he is pleased for his cell-mate, has overtones of jealousy.   The final scene is their performance of ANTIGONE. “After Creon sentences Antigone to be walled up in a cave for having defied him and done her duty towards her dead brother, Winston pulls off Antigone's wig and yells ‘Gods of Our Fathers! My Land! My Home! Time waits no longer. I go now to my living death, because I honored those things to which honor belongs.’ The final image is of John and Winston, chained together once more, running hard as the siren wails.”   The themes of racial segregation, obedience and civil disobedience, brotherhood, freedom, memory, imagination, the transformative power of performance, the role of the individual versus the state, and mental versus physical liberation, run throughout the well-written and conceived script.   Although the play is in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa words are also spoken.  The well-planned program includes a glossary of those terms, as well as clarifying messages from the director and a historical perspective.   The Ensemble production, under the focused direction of Sarah May, is transfixing.  She not only displays a clear understanding of the intent and purpose of the authors, and is well-versed in staging a script and working with actors, but is invested in the purpose of the play.     The two-person cast is outstanding.  Both Nnamdi Okpala (Winston) and Robert Williams (John) totally inhabit their characters.  They don’t act the roles, they assume the personhoods of each of the men.  Their severe but meaningless labor, their physical and mental torture, and their friendship are totally clear.  This performance at its finest!   Capsule judgment:  THE ISLAND helps to keep the history and human torture of apartheid alive, and like plays, books and films about the Holocaust, keeps the vision, thoughts and memories of those horrible times alive, so that they are never repeated again.  This is an absolutely must-see production!   THE ISLAND runs October 27th- November 12th, 2023 Ensemble’s new location at Notre Dame College (4545 College Rd., South Euclid).  Free, monitored parking is available.   For tickets call 216-321-2930 or go on-line to Ensemble Theatre

DRACULA: THE BLOODY TRUTH @ Great Lakes Theater is a fun farce for some, not so for others

 

It's that time of year--pumpkins, costumes, trick and treat, horror movies and zombies.     It is, therefore, only proper that area live theatres schedule appropriate shows.  Cleveland Play House will shortly open FRANKENSTEIN and Great Lakes Theater just raised the curtain on DRACULA: THE BLOODY TRUTH.   Dracula was the story that kickstarted the public’s interest in vampires.     Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) is credited with giving us the quintessential vampire story.  It wasn’t, however, the first of that genre. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s poem The Bride of Corinth (1797) was an early take on vampire literature, and later Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla (1871) added to the myth.  The gentleman vampire, which is the image that most have of the character, based on the movie and theatre versions, was the contribution of John Polidori with his The Vampyre (1817).   The throat-biting, blood thirsty mythical creature, is “one of the most adapted characters in the world, second only to Sherlock Holmes, with over 200 films featuring the character.     Great stars have played the infamous Count, including Lon Chaney Jr., Christopher Lee, Frank Langella, and Gary Oldman. The character has also been ripe for parody, like in the 1995 Mel Brooks film Dracula: Dead and Loving It, starring Leslie Nielsen, and Roman Polanski’s 1967 film, The Fearless Vampire Killers.”   Chaney, it is purported, played the role at the Hanna Theatre, the home of Great Lakes Theater, in a live theatrical play version of the legend.  (Though this, like Dracula, himself, is subject to speculation.)   Farce is front and center in Le Navet Bete and John Nicholson’s DRACULA: THE BLOODY TRUTH. The script’s premise is that we are hearing the “real” Dracula story, not some “alternative facts” and “fake news” version.  (Yea, sure!)   To get the “facts” straight, the audience will take a journey across Europe from the dark and sinister Transylvanian mountains to the charming seaside town of Whitby, guided by the fictional Professor Van Heising.     This will be accomplished by observing Van Heising, portrayed by Lynn Robert Berg (who also will be seen as Bride 1, Quincey Morris, a Peasant, a Train Conductor, a Bloke, a Box Man and a Paper boy) and three actors (Jeffrey C. Hawkins, Jodi Dominick and Joe Wegner) who stage a “factual” theatrical production of the bloody events of the life and deeds of (…drum roll…) Dracula.     It allows Berg and company, at breakneck speed to (…I can’t resist…) sink their teeth into over 40 roles! Billed as “a wild, zany, (almost) authentic adaptation that provides a spooktacular evening [or afternoon] full of campy horror fun,” the script is seemingly a dream assignment for Producing Artistic Director Charles Fee.   Fee is the local king of farce.  There is no schtick, gimmick, double-take, door slam, tripping over one’s own feet, that the man doesn’t love.  It’s a wonder that following his oft-presented curtain speeches, he doesn’t do a pratfall off the stage. A Broadway World review of another theater’s production of the script called it “a side-splittingly funny show that was the best comedy I've seen this year.”   I wish I could say that about the GLT production.  Maybe it was because I saw a matinee performance, or the cast was still recovering from the previous night’s opening night celebration, but the staging I saw was flat.  It didn’t move at the expected break-neck speed.  Lots of the gimmicks didn’t work.  The timing was off.     It wasn’t that the show wasn’t funny…much of the second act was…it was that in farce the audience is to laugh at gags and gimmicks that come naturally from the lines and instances, not from devised ridiculousness.  There was too much of a “you are supposed to laugh at this stuff” . . .  a begging for laughs and humor that was too pat…not spontaneous.   The cast worked hard, the stagehands did their part with great enthusiasm, but all in all DRACULA: THE BLOODY TRUTH just didn’t live up to expectations.  The number of people who left at intermission show-cased this, as did the traditional Cleveland “required” standing ovation at the end, which only included about a third of the audience.   Capsule judgment:  Many will find DRACULA: THE BLOODY TRUTH to be a laugh riot, others will wonder why their seatmates were reacting, while they aren’t.  I, unfortunately, was in the latter group.  Too bad, for with all the angst in the world, I was hoping for two-hours, with intermission, of humorous escape.  Oh, well . . .   DRACULA: THE BLOODY TRUTH runs through November 5, 2023 at the Hanna Theatre, the home of the Great Lakes Theater.  For tickets https://www.greatlakestheater.org/ or call (216) 241-6000

Con—con’s THE GROWN-UP, a thought-provoking, life-awareness, fantasy!

 
THE GROWN-UP, Pulitzer Prize finalist Jordan Harrison’s play, which is now on stage at convergence-continuum, in its Ohio premiere, uses fantasy to explore how quickly life changes and, therefore, that life is too short to miss any moment of it.  
 
The play asks the fundamental questions of life, such as whether it is possible to balance our earlier innocence with adult experiences? 
 
The script, which was premiered at the Actor's Theatre of Louisville in March, 2014 as a part of the Humana Festival, centers on ten-year old Kai, who is given a “magical” crystal door-knob by his grandfather that enables him to open “doors” that allow him to travel through space and time to see future events in his life. 
 
As he goes from experience to experience, including meeting a pirate, writing award winning scripts, discovering his gay sexuality, becoming disabled, reconnecting with his sister, the less he feels like he's seeing into his future, but more that he is living life as most people do, much too quickly. 
 
While the story is not linear in its development, it’s not difficult to follow.  The clear staging and pace, as well as being up-close in con-cons intimate space of about 25 seats, with no-one more than three rows from the runway stage, aids in being involved in the intimacy of the action.
 
The six-person cast, who change characters, age and sex, requires the audience use their imaginations to accept the premise of Harrison’s writing.
 
Mike Frye who plays Kai at every stage in life, must not only be a child, but a jaded author of stories, an adventurer, an ill and later dying man.  
 
Logan Andrews plays the cabin boy who brought the crystal to Kai’s grandparents’ house as well as Kai’s boyfriend in a scene in which his feelings for his lover change from bemusement to exasperation and fear. 
 
 Natalie Lambo plays the same character at two very different stages in her life. She’s a little girl at the start of the play and an old lady at the conclusion.
 
The show is effectively staged by Amy Bistok.
 
Clyde Simon’s projections aid in creating clear images of the set for many scenes,
 
Each member of the non-professional cast, Mike Frye, Natalie Lambo, Logan Andrews, Katelyn Cornelius, David l. Munnell and Jack Matuszewski are believable in their many roles, developing clear characters.
 
Capsule judgment:  THE GROWN-UP, while fulfilling con-con’s purpose of expanding human imagination and extending the conventional boundaries of language, structure, space and performance, continues the pattern of presenting challenging plays that fits the likes of their core audience.  As with most the theatre’s offerings, this play is both challenging and thought-provoking.  It is a quick and interesting experience.
 

THE GROWN-UP by Jordan Harrison, about 90-minutes long , is staged without intermission, runs Saturday Oct 14, 2023 through Saturday Nov 4, 2023 at convergence-continuum, 2438 Scranton Road in Tremont.  For tickets go to www.convergencetoninuum.org.  

MAKE BELIEVE @ Dobama--thought-provoking with some lacking staging and writing qualities

 

In his program notes, Dobama Artistic Director Nathan Motta states of MAKE BELIEVE, now on stage at Cleveland’s Off-Broadway theatre, “[it] is one of the best scripts I’ve read in my time at Dobama. After I read the play for the first time, I immediately contacted Ms. Wohl to share how fantastic I thought it was and to express my hope that we’d be able to produce it in the future. That’s the only time I’ve done that in my career. The structure, ideas, dialogue, characters, aesthetic, and storytelling are just phenomenal. It’s a play that feels both familiar and unique. It’s funny, moving, thought-provoking, and personal. For a cast and creative team, it presents numerous challenges, but the richness of the writing makes all the efforts well worth the work.”    Normally, I agree with the very theatre-knowledgeable Motta, but, I must somewhat differ from him with his evaluation of MAKE BELIEVE.   On opening night, I found the first segment of the production excruciatingly slow and word-heavy.     The first 20-or-so minutes found four cute, young people “playing house” for a very long, long, long time.  As the scene went on and on, in spite of some laughter, the audience around me were wiggling in their seats, coughing, and generally lacking involvement.   All I could think of was, how many times are those kids going to pop in-and-out that tent of sheets, do the same verbal routine over and over, continue the ear-splitting dog barking, repeat the dad going off to work tale with mom preparing food and daughter futzing over her doll?  Where is this going and when will it get there?     When I find myself carefully visually examining all the props imbedded in the set, I know the action is not holding my attention.   I kept thinking that these issues could be solved with a good red pencil, capable of crossing at least ten minutes of the beginning scene.   Yes, exposition was needed to lead up to the resolution segment, but . . . well, no need to go further, point made.   On the other hand, the second half, when the “adults” take over, the tension and effect of the play flipped in, the writing was more sparce and to the point.  I paid attention.  I got emersed in the characters and story.     MAKE BELIEVE takes place in the attic of a family’s home where four young siblings (Chris, Kate, Carl and Addie) recreate their lives in games of make-believe. Meanwhile, the world beneath them appears to hold a more ominous reality.   In the second half of this intermission less play, following a funeral.  It is 30 years later. We discover how the children have turned out and the effects of their traumatic childhoods.  Taking refuge from their father’s second family, the children, now adults, they are in hiding in the attic which does not seem to have physically changed one bit.  Kate, a gastroenterologist, is an anxious type, continually taking a drink of wine, and worrying about things that are beyond her control.  Addie, a mother, is a television celebrity, with a low tolerance for stress.  Bitter Carl arrived late as his plane was grounded due to a fog in San Francisco. He has missed the funeral and denied the opportunity to give the eulogy.  Each lives as far from their childhood home, as they could possibly have gotten. Also present is Adult Chris, a non-family member, whose reason for attendance is not immediately clear, but eventually we realize his presence is important in understanding life of one of the family members. (I’ll pause here in the story exposition, and examine the production, as revealing more of the story would be a disservice to those who will see the production.)    The production is directed by Motta.    The young cast members, Arthur Atwell (Chris), a University School 7th grader, Kaitlyn Bartholomew (Kate), who has appeared in 20 different performances, Jonah McMurdy (Carl), an 11-year-old Woodbury Elementary School student, and Claire Zalevsky (Addie), a fifth grader at Laurel School, do as a creditable a job as they can for youngsters who take on roles that require understandings and skills well-beyond their years and experiences.     The adult members of the cast are universally excellent in developing the persona of the people play.      Kudos to Courtney Brown as Adult Kate, Anjanette Hall as Adit Addie. Andrew Pope as Adult Chris and Paul Hurley are Adult Carl.  Harley’s belated eulogy speech was the dramatic highlight of the evening.   As is constantly a problem at the “new” Dobama, with its long skinny stage, people seated extreme right and left often can’t hear the lines.  Oh, for microphones to help carry the sound.   The set, with its many props is impressive.   Capsule judgement: MAKE BELIEVE is play with a compelling premise, especially in this era of multi-dysfunctional families and days and nights of angst.  With some careful cutting, and some extra-time spent working with the younger members of the cast, based on comments of reviews of other productions of this script, this may have been an exceptional experience.  As is, the production makes for a thought-provoking evening with some lacking staging and writing qualities.   MAKE BELIEVE runs October 16-29, 2023.  For tickets go on line to  www.dobama.org or call 216-932-3396.   Roy Berko (Member:  American Theatre Critics Association and Cleveland Critics Circle)   In his program notes, Dobama Artistic Director Nathan Motta states of MAKE BELIEVE, now on stage at Cleveland’s Off-Broadway theatre, “[it] is one of the best scripts I’ve read in my time at Dobama. After I read the play for the first time, I immediately contacted Ms. Wohl to share how fantastic I thought it was and to express my hope that we’d be able to produce it in the future. That’s the only time I’ve done that in my career. The structure, ideas, dialogue, characters, aesthetic, and storytelling are just phenomenal. It’s a play that feels both familiar and unique. It’s funny, moving, thought-provoking, and personal. For a cast and creative team, it presents numerous challenges, but the richness of the writing makes all the efforts well worth the work.”    Normally, I agree with the very theatre-knowledgeable Motta, but, I must somewhat differ from him with his evaluation of MAKE BELIEVE.   On opening night, I found the first segment of the production excruciatingly slow and word-heavy.     The first 20-or-so minutes found four cute, young people “playing house” for a very long, long, long time.  As the scene went on and on, in spite of some laughter, the audience around me were wiggling in their seats, coughing, and generally lacking involvement.   All I could think of was, how many times are those kids going to pop in-and-out that tent of sheets, do the same verbal routine over and over, continue the ear-splitting dog barking, repeat the dad going off to work tale with mom preparing food and daughter futzing over her doll?  Where is this going and when will it get there?     When I find myself carefully visually examining all the props imbedded in the set, I know the action is not holding my attention.   I kept thinking that these issues could be solved with a good red pencil, capable of crossing at least ten minutes of the beginning scene.   Yes, exposition was needed to lead up to the resolution segment, but . . . well, no need to go further, point made.   On the other hand, the second half, when the “adults” take over, the tension and effect of the play flipped in, the writing was more sparce and to the point.  I paid attention.  I got emersed in the characters and story.     MAKE BELIEVE takes place in the attic of a family’s home where four young siblings (Chris, Kate, Carl and Addie) recreate their lives in games of make-believe. Meanwhile, the world beneath them appears to hold a more ominous reality.   In the second half of this intermission less play, following a funeral.  It is 30 years later. We discover how the children have turned out and the effects of their traumatic childhoods.  Taking refuge from their father’s second family, the children, now adults, they are in hiding in the attic which does not seem to have physically changed one bit.  Kate, a gastroenterologist, is an anxious type, continually taking a drink of wine, and worrying about things that are beyond her control.  Addie, a mother, is a television celebrity, with a low tolerance for stress.  Bitter Carl arrived late as his plane was grounded due to a fog in San Francisco. He has missed the funeral and denied the opportunity to give the eulogy.  Each lives as far from their childhood home, as they could possibly have gotten. Also present is Adult Chris, a non-family member, whose reason for attendance is not immediately clear, but eventually we realize his presence is important in understanding life of one of the family members. (I’ll pause here in the story exposition, and examine the production, as revealing more of the story would be a disservice to those who will see the production.)    The production is directed by Motta.    The young cast members, Arthur Atwell (Chris), a University School 7th grader, Kaitlyn Bartholomew (Kate), who has appeared in 20 different performances, Jonah McMurdy (Carl), an 11-year-old Woodbury Elementary School student, and Claire Zalevsky (Addie), a fifth grader at Laurel School, do as a creditable a job as they can for youngsters who take on roles that require understandings and skills well-beyond their years and experiences.     The adult members of the cast are universally excellent in developing the persona of the people play.      Kudos to Courtney Brown as Adult Kate, Anjanette Hall as Adit Addie. Andrew Pope as Adult Chris and Paul Hurley are Adult Carl.  Harley’s belated eulogy speech was the dramatic highlight of the evening.   As is constantly a problem at the “new” Dobama, with its long skinny stage, people seated extreme right and left often can’t hear the lines.  Oh, for microphones to help carry the sound.   The set, with its many props is impressive.   Capsule judgement: MAKE BELIEVE is play with a compelling premise, especially in this era of multi-dysfunctional families and days and nights of angst.  With some careful cutting, and some extra-time spent working with the younger members of the cast, based on comments of reviews of other productions of this script, this may have been an exceptional experience.  As is, the production makes for a thought-provoking evening with some lacking staging and writing qualities.   MAKE BELIEVE runs October 16-29, 2023.  For tickets go on line to  www.dobama.org or call 216-932-3396.

“Ease on Down the Road” to the gospel/rock/finger-snapping THE WIZ at the Connor Palace

The reconfigured THE WIZ, as one of its major song’s states, is easing down the road on its way to Broadway. Previews for that show begin on March 29, 2024, with the Big Apple opening scheduled for April 17.   Until it gets to NYC, it is touring the hinterlands in a 13-city schedule, with CLE being the second stop, following the premiere several weeks ago in Baltimore.   What you see in The Land is about the same as if you were to go to NY, while paying lower ticket prices.  The only announced change is that uber-star Wayne Brady will play The Wiz, replacing Al Mingo, Jr., who is in the role for much of the pre-Broadway tour.   THE WIZ: THE SUPER SOUL MUSICAL is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) in the context of contemporary African-American culture.  The 1975 Broadway production of the retold OZ story, which opened to mixed reviews, won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It was an early example of Broadway's mainstream acceptance of works with an all-Black cast. It has had revivals in New York, London, San Diego, and the Netherlands, and a limited-run revival was presented at New York City Center in June of 2009.  A big-budget film adaptation of the same name was released in 1978.  It starred Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsy Russel, Richard Pryor, Lena Horne and Mabel King.   A live television production, The Wiz Live!, was broadcast on NBC on December 3, 2015. Yes, Baum’s novel has turned into a cottage industry.  The original book spawned 13 more renditions, there were knock-offs by other authors, as well as all the media productions, clothing, dolls, lunch boxes, posters and lots of chachkas. Of little knowledge to most is that the producer of the original THE WIZ, considered closing the musical after its Broadway opening night. One source attributes its turnaround success to a publicity campaign that included a TV commercial featuring the cast singing "Ease On Down the Road," a song that proved so popular that it was released as a single recorded by the disco group Consumer Rapport. The single hit the Billboard Soul Singles chart, peaking at #19 and the Hot 100, peaking at #42, thus saving the show. The musical toured the US in 1976, when it had its last professional stop in this area. THE WIZ: THE SUPER SOUL MUSICAL "WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ story-line centers on teenaged Dorothy Gale who lives with her Aunt Em on a farm in Kansas.   (Sorry, no dog Toto in this adaptation). Dorothy often gets bored with farm life, choosing to dream of someday seeing far-off lands.   One day, Dorothy gets her wish when a tornado sweeps through the countryside, and whisks the young girl and her house off to a field covered with flowers.  (Spoiler alter:  no big visual spiraling wind here…the storm is made up of a marvelous crew of dancers who impressively engulf the stage.) Upon landing, Dorothy is met by the Munchkins, (another spoiler alert: these are not the little green dressed people of the movie—these are  dressed in magnificent multi-colored clothing).    Also present is Addaperle, the Good Witch of the North, who tells Dorothy that she is in the Land of Oz. Furthermore, her house has fallen on Evamean, the Wicked Witch of the East, and killed her, freeing the Munchkins from her evil powers. (HURRAH!) Dorothy, distressed and confused, wants only to return home. With Addaperie’s magic unable to take the girl beyond the country boundaries, the good witch decides Dorothy's best chance for assistance is to follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City, to seek the help of the great and powerful Wizard of Oz, or "The Wiz" for short.  (And, that’s the source of the musical’s title.)  Dorothy is given Evamean’s silver shoes (not the red slippers of Judy Garland fame), and told not to take them off before she reaches home, for they hold a very powerful charm that will keep her safe. Addaperle reappears, suggesting that Dorothy ask Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, for assistance.    And so, Dorothy goes off down the yellow brick road to meet the scarecrow, tinman, the cowardly lion, the Wiz and lots of others in her search for the key to getting back home. Flashforward—Eventually, after lots of singing and dancing, Dorothy meets Glinda, a beautiful and gracious sorceress. She tells Dorothy (no spoiler here, this is a fairy tale and therefore, must have a happy ending. Besides, if you don’t know the story, you should have sat next to little girl two rows in front of me and overheard her mama relate the entire tale aloud, to the annoyance of those seated around the duo.) Glinda shares that the silver shoes have always had the power to take Dorothy home, but like her new found friends, the scarecrow, the tinman and the lion, she needed to believe in herself. (Ah, the moral of the tale!) Dorothy bids a tearful goodbye to her friends. Clicking her heels together three times, and finds herself transported back to Kansas.  It’s now finale time where the audience rises, claps like mad, sings and dances in the aisles to the show’s rap-up by the cast, and leaves to buy t-shirts in the lobby! As for the production:  with the exception of Nichelle Lewis, who plays Dorothy and has a great voice and dance skills, but lacks of the warmth and cutesy-personality that would have made for a lovable child, the cast is top-notch.  (She’s just too sophisticated and adult.)   Outstanding performances were put in by the delightful Avery Wilson (Scarecrow) whose “You Can’t Win” was a smile-fest; stiff-limbed, charming, Phillip Johnson Richardson (Tinman) whose “Slide Some Oil to Me” was totally amusing; and Kyle Ramar Freeman (Lion) who, though no Bert Lahr, the Cowardly Lion of the original movie version of The Wizard Of Oz, was properly cuddly and charming as the Lion, especially during “Mean Ole Lion.”     Other highlight performers are the beautiful and talented Deborah Cox as Glinda, whose “Believe in Yourself” carried the moral of the tale, the hysterical Allyson Kaye Daniel as Addaperle whose outrageous personality set the tone of the show and Alan Mingo, Jr. as The Wiz!  The supporting cast sung and danced with a high level of professionalism.   Hannah Beachler’s combined electronics and traditional theatrical setting, set the right visual image for the show, as did Ryan J. O’Gara’s lighting and John Weston’s sound design.  Sharen Davis’s costumes stole the show with their rainbow hues glistening brightly.   Musical Director Paul Byssainthe, Jr. and his well-tuned orchestra set the right mood for the show with its extended version of the overture and wisely underscored rather than dueling with the vocal abilities of the cast.   Director Schele Williams and choreographer Jaquel Knight lit up the stage with their creativity!   Cleveland connection:  Producers for the show include Gina Vernaci, who recently retired as the President and CEO of Playhouse Square and The Araca Group, composed of native west-siders Matthew Rego, Michel Rego and Hank Unger, whose past productions included such shows as Wicked, Urinetown, The Wedding Singer, Rock of Ages, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, and SpongeBob SquarePants the Musical.    Capsule judgement:  There is no doubt that you should ease your way down the road to the Connor Palace to escape from our world of war, angst and government chaos, and thoroughly enjoy the reimagined Wizard of Oz!   THE WIZ is at the Connor Palace for three weeks, through Sunday, October 22nd, 2023.  Available tickets can be purchased by calling 216-241-6000 or online at playhousesquare.org

Spectacular NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 mesmerizes at GLT

  

When I saw the show in its Broadway run, I wrote in my review: “The total effect of NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 is breathtaking.  The traditional music, dress, stylized acting, and Josh Groban’s booming voice add to the over-arching effect. Yes, this is more than a musical, it is a spectacle of enormous proportions.” 
 
There is no Josh Groban on stage at Great Lakes Theater, where the show is now running, but my rave comments are the same for the local creative Vicki Bussert directed spectacular.
 
As the tale goes, in the nineteenth century, a comet officially known as C/1811 F1 was visible to the naked eye for a record 260 days.  The huge spatial phenomena, which is often called the Comet of 1812, became a fascination for artist and writers who painted it and wrote stories with it as the focus.  One of the best-known literature usage was in Leo Tolstoy’s epic, “War and Peace.”
 
In the Tolstoy novel, he describes Pierre observing this “enormous and brilliant comet.”  He went on to indicate it “was said to portend all kinds of woes and the end of the world.”  From the standpoint of the Russians, the prognostication became true as the invasion of Russia by Napoleon (Patriotic War of 1812) took place.
 
C1811 F1 has appeared again.  This time it is justifiably shaking up Playhouse Square.  (It is ironic that the famous CLE theatre mecca introduced its new theatre electronic marques and enhanced lighting displays during the run of this show.)
 
The bold, imaginative electropop opera is from award-winning composer (and Lakewood, OH native!) Dave Malloy. 
 
When asked why the comet made it into the title of the show, Malloy stated, “for cosmic epicness.”  
 
Yes, the show” is proving itself to be an epic as evidenced by the fact that it became the most Tony-nominated show of the 2017 season, garnering 12 recognitions including that for best score, book and orchestration, as well as best direction, choreography, actor, actress, featured actor, scenic, costume and lighting design.
 
The power and grandeur of the show hits the audience upon entering the theatre.  Though the Hanna was not totally redone, as was the Imperial theater on Broadway when it was totally transposed for the production. The proscenium stage was replaced by a raked series of platforms that extended to the theatre’s back wall and ceiling.
 
Weaving staircases allowed the actors to wander from one level to another, attenders were seated in nooks and crannies on stage, and musicians were placed in varying places, including a depressed circle in the middle of the stage area which contained a grand piano.  (Seated on stage, I was up-close and personal with Josh Groban and numerous actors in several scenes.)
 
The entire theatre became a performance space as the orchestra, mezzanine and balcony had platforms and seats that allowed for performance pieces to be done immediately next to audience members.
 
The theatre’s walls had been draped with heavy maroon material, with varying antique framed photos and decorative art pieces hung on them.  It was as if one was in a grand Russian villa of old.
 
Not to be out-done, the local production has a huge red-flocked backwall, table seating on the edge of the thrust stage, empty seats in the orchestra area of the theatre, into which actors flop and sit and talk to their seat neighbors.  Actors cavort up and down the aisles and appear in the side boxes.  The whole theatre is their playground.
 
The Malloy well-written music combines traditionally played ethnic, folk, classical, and indie rock with EDM.  The sound of accordions, violins, tambourines, balalaika, and wood blocks, as well as piano and synthesizer, give the score a unique, not often heard musical theater sound.  
 
Don’t be surprised if you are sitting in the front rows if an actor hands you a pair of shakers and teaches you how to use them at appropriate segments of the show.  If you ever wanted to appear in a live stage show, here is your chance! “Nostrovia!”
 
Malloy’s book and lyrics, like Russian literature, is filled with great angst, over-exaggerated emotion and melodrama.  Wisely, the author has avoided the Russian tradition of each person having numerous full names plus diminutives.  But, you still may get lost in the singing narrative.  
 
As a friend said after seeing the show…as with reading Russian literature, you need to be exposed to the materical at least twice to really understand it.  
 
The tale is set in Moscow in 1812.   Pierre (Alex Syiek) a middle-aged aristocrat, is living an existential life, often influenced by an over-abundance of vodka.  Into his sphere of life comes Natasha (Jessi Kirtley), a beautiful young lady, who is visiting the Russian capital, while her fiancé, Andrey (Cole Burden) is at war.  She is seduced by Anatole (Chris McCarrell), an attractive and manipulating married man.  Her social standing is ruined.  Her only hope lies with Pierre using his influence to save her reputation.
 
As can be expected in a Russian saga, Pierre dramatically helps Natasha gain her sense of self.  Afterwards, almost as a payment for his good deed, he experiences a moment of enlightenment as he sees the Comet of 1812 in the night sky.
 
The physical setting is impressive, even though I would have liked a more vividly exciting comet.  The musical presentation, grand.  The vocalizations, compelling.  The stylized acting, character correct.
 
The Baldwin Wallace Musical Theatre grads and present students, who inhabit most roles, have voices that one would expect from the uber-talented performers, trained in one of the nation’s finest musical theatre programs.  
 
Cleveland Critics Circle award winning Syiek (2017--THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME at GLT), is powerful in his “Pierre.” His aria “Dust and Ashes” captivates.  His duet “Pierre & Anatole,” with Chris McCarrell, is compelling as is his “Pierre & Natasha,” a duet with Jessi Kirtley.
 
The beautiful Kirtley is charming as Natasha who not only sings well, but creates a vulnerable young woman who is charmed into a seduction by the uber-talented and multi-Broadway leading man, Chris McCarrell, the evil villain, who takes away Natasha’s innocence.  He moves with arrogant ease, smiling with manipulative pleasure, while displaying no remorse.  
 
The rest of the cast is talented and never wavering in their character involvement, a tribute not only Bussert, the director, but “Vicky” the mother-superior of the BW musical theatre program and her staff.
 
Matthew Webb leads the perfectly tuned musicians.  Jeff Hermann creates the impressive setting, Tesia Dugan Benson’s era-right costumes glisten, Trad A Burns has created a sumptuous lighting design and Jaclyn Miller’s choreography is glorious.
 
Capsule judgement:  When I reviewed the Broadway production of NP&TGC1812 I said it was “breathtaking.”  I continued, “this is more than a musical, it is a spectacle of enormous proportions.”  I repeat the same for the GLT production and add that I doubt if there is another director on the local scene who could create such a quality staging of this script!
 
Next up At GLT-DRACULA:  THE BLOODY TRUTH, October 20-November 5, 2023.
 
For tickets to GLT shows go to https://www.greatlakestheater.org/or call (216) 241-6000