Singing dancing, are highlights of Pothouse’s stylized BRIGADOON

Roy Berko

In order to create authentic dances for Pothouse’s BRIGADOON, if social media pictures can be trusted, during rehearsals Martin Céspedes, the shows choreographer, wore a kilt.  The results are the captivating visual movements that light up the stage.

The musical with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and score by Frederick Loewe opened on Broadway in 1947 and soon became a major part of the Golden Age of the American Musicals.  It ran for 581 performances. A 1954 film adaptation, a 1966 television version, several revivals and lots of community theatre productions, have ensued.
 
It was the third musical for the duo, and their most successful until that time.  It was followed by such smashes as MY FAIR LADY, ON A CLEAR DAY, PAINT YOUR WAGON, GIGI and CAMELOT.
 
The signature theme of L & L is the search for the perfect time, place and love story.
 
In BRIGADOON, they “depicted the contrast between empty city life and the warmth and simplicity of the country, focusing on a theme of love transcending time.”  
 
Agnes de Mille, who had previously choreographed Rogers and Hammerstein’s OKLAHOMA! and CAROUSEL, was hired to design the dance.   She incorporated elements of traditional Scottish folk dance including a sword dance, chase scene, and poignant funeral dance.  

Her work is further enhanced at Porthouse by the always creative Céspedes.

The story is supposedly based on a German story, published in 1860, about the mythical village of Germelshausen that fell under a magic curse. 
 
“Though the Highland village of Brigadoon is fictional, there is a real Lowland, Brig o' Doon, a bridge located south of Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland, which is the setting for the final verse of Robert Burns's poem "Tam o' Shanter".”

The story centers on Americans Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas who have travelled to the Scottish Highlands on a game-hunting vacation,  They get lost, hear music ("Brigadoon") coming from a nearby village that does not appear on their map of the area. They find a fair in progress ("McConnachy Square") and many colorful people when they wander into the village and ask where they are. They are informed that they are in "Brigadoon."

What ensues is a tale of Scotch history, a love affair, lots and joyous singing and dancing,  a chase to save the town, and the revealing of a curse which could cause Brigadoon to disappear forever into the Highland mists.

As is true with many of the Golden Age of the musicals, the ending the of first act, when Harry (well performed by Erikkson Peyton, this summer’s Dr. Roy Berko Endowed Commemorative Scholarship recipient),  announces that he's leaving the town, which would cause Brigadoon to disappear forever into the Highland mists, leaves a problem and forces the audience to come back for the second act to find out how the quadrium is solved.  

Will Brigadoon disappear forever?  Will Tommy stay and thus become part of the lore and be with the love of his life? ("There But For You Go I").  

The show is filled with wonderful songs including “Waiting for My Dearie,” ”The Love of my Life,” “Come to Me, Bend to Me,” and “Almost Like Being in Love.” 
 
The Porthouse production, under the adept direction of Terri Kent, is entertaining.  She has blended farce with drama and humor to nicely interpret Lerner and Loewe’s intent.
 
The cast, primarily present and past Kent State musical theatre majors, have fine singing voices and dance abilities. Though, at times they fail to get the nuances of some lines, and feign rather than interpret some ideas, the over-all effect makes for a positive experience.
 
Dallas Craig (Charlie) has a fine singing voice and acting chops.  His “I’ll Go Home with Bonnie Jean” is a show highlight, as is true of “The Heather on the Hill,” as sung by Matt Gittins (Tommy) and Miriam Henek-Moellmann (Fiona).  Other musical high spots are “Almost Like Being in Love,” “There But for You Go I,” and “From This Day On.”
 
The joyous “Down in MacConnacy Square” is a wonderful show opener.  Emmaline Seibert brings tears with her solo funeral dance.
 
Kudos to bagpiper Ian Crane.
 
Old timers---Greg Violand (Andrew MacLaren), Tim Culver (Archie) and Rohn Thomas (Mr. Lundie), nicely add the need maturity to the cast.  Chris Richards (Jeff) and Gannon Hollar add humor with their farcical over-acting.
 
Jennifer Korecki and her orchestra are on-key, nicely interpreting the music and supporting rather drowning out the singers.
 
Tony Hardin’s set added to the overall charm, as did Courtney Brown’s dialect work.
 
Capsule judgement:  BRIGADOON is the type of musical that is enjoyed by audience’s if it has a good performance.  They get just that with the stylized direction of Terri Kent, the inventive choreography of  Martin Céspedes and a generally talented cast.
 
BRIGADOON runs at Porthouse Theatre through August 9.  For tickets call 330-672-3884 or go online to www.porthousetheatre.com.

MEAN GIRLS opens opportunities for future Broadway stars to strut their talent in a like-level production

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 hung out over there and the cheerleaders were right next to them.  Then there was the hive of “Plastics,” the “mean girls,” headed by the queen bee and her small swarm of drones.  They were perfectly coiffed, expensively dressed, spoiled, and lacking in empathy. 

MEAN GIRLS is a rock musical with a book by Tina Fey, lyrics by Nell Benjamin, and music by Jeff Richmond. It is based on the 2004 film by Mark Waters, which was also written by Fey and was in-turn inspired by Rosalind Wiseman's 2002 book Queen Bees and Wannabes. 

The musical focuses on Cady Heron, a teenage girl who transfers to a public high school after being home-schooled while living in Africa. She knows little of the US popularity competition of teen-life and the resulting bullying.

Cady is taken on a tour of her new educational institution, an Illinois high school, and exposed to the ways of its pecking order, by Janis and Damian.  

 

The J and D duo have taken the attitude of not being affected by the Plastics.  They caution Cady to be careful in deciding where she belongs in the school’s social fabric. (This is a Tina Fey satirical farce, so, of course ridiculous and angst breaks loose.)

 

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?)

 

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 this musical, the queen and her swarm get their stingers removed.  (Yeah! Revenge for the high school “nerds.”) 

 

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 shock 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 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 or NEXT TO NORMAL quality. 

 

It can be, however, enjoyable and, it has developed a cult following.

 

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

MEAN GIRLS premiered on Broadway in 2018. The show received positive to mixed reviews from critics. 

The show closed after 833 performances on Broadway on March 11, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A film adaptation was released in theaters in January 2024.

The score contains such unmemorable songs as "Where Do You Belong,”  "Stupid with Love", "What's Wrong With Me?," “Whose House is This?," "More is Better," "I'd Rather Be Me,” "Fearless," "Do This Thing," and “I See Stars.”  The delightful score from GREASE, another teen-centric show, this is not.

 

The script can be misleading.  Because it is populated by a cast of young people, if you find the right singers, dancers and actors it appears to be easy to perform.  Nope.  Not true.  This is farce, and farce is hard to achieve.  The characters have to be real, yet exaggerated.  The audience should be laughing with them, not at them.  

 

The Beck production proves that point.  The cast is composed of Baldwin Wallace and Oberlin musical theatre majors.  Most have their sights on Broadway and are very talented.  What they need most to make this show work, is a production team, especially a director, which understands the concept of farce and guides the thespians in this direction. 

 

Though basically entertaining, this staging falls somewhat short of the level it should be considering the talent-level of the cast.

 

Bryan Bird’s musical direction is fine.  The orchestra plays well.  The cast all sings well, intoning meaning, just not singing words. 

  

 

SIDE SHOW IN CONCERT -- A BLEND OF GOOD VOICES AND CREATIVE STAGING

Roy Berko

It would not surprise me to find out that few, if any one who is reading this, knows much about the musical SIDE SHOW, let alone has seen it on stage.

I hold, what may be a record of having viewed it several times.  To make it even more “oohing, both shows had local connections.  

On Broadway, I viewed a production staring Kent State grad and Tony winner Alice Ripley. 

Another exposure as Cleveland Heights’s Cain Park outstanding production directed by Victoria Bussert the present Director of Oberlin College’s Musical Theater program, which featured Gregg Violand, who will be featured, later this season, in Porthouse’s BRIGADOON.

SIDE SHOW is a musical by Bill Russell (book and lyrics) and Henry Krieger (music).

Why haven’t many seen it or know of it?  

 

The story line, though generally interesting, doesn’t have the comedy and drama texturing of such other show-business centered shows as GYPSY or FOLLIES, nor the melodic and memorable lyrics of such classics as CAROUSEL, OKLAHOMA or BRIGADOON. 

 

The pop-rock score features "Who Will Love Me As I Am?" and "I Will Never Leave You."    Though they fit well into the script, the audience doesn’t go out humming even those songs.  No obsessive brain-freeze which grabs and holds. No “Almost Like Being in Love” here, which is included in the theater’s next production.

 

“The story follows the co-joined Daisy and Violet, who begin as the star attraction in a carnival sideshow run by an abusive ringmaster. Despite being physically connected, the twins have very different personalities and dreams: Daisy longs for the spotlight and celebrity life, while Violet simply wants a quiet home and a traditional husband. Their lives change dramatically when a talent scout discovers the duo, helping them escape the sideshow and climb to the top of the Orpheum vaudeville circuit.” 

 

The show originally premiered on Broadway in 1997, earning three Tony Award nominations.

 

Despite receiving some positive reviews, the show closed after only 91 performances.

 

A Broadway revival opened in November 2014, and closed after 56 performances.

 

Terri Kent, the director of the Porthouse show, wisely decided that the music was the soul of the show and the dialogue didn’t demand sets and movement.  She staged the work as a concert!   Excellent choice!

 

Fortunately, the mainly Kent State musical theatre student cast has the vocal ability and acting chops to pull off the unusual approach.  Bravo!

 

Raquel Teare (conductor/Pianist) and Scott Thomas (drums) provided fine accompaniment, though a bigger musical presence would have helped round out the thin sound.

 

Chloe Lee Hall (Violet) and Lucia-Lazzara-Goodrich (Daisy) have excellent singing abilities and effectively performed as the conjoined twins.  The rest of the cast, mostly composed of KSU students, clothed in tuxedos and formal black gowns, provided fine vocal blends and individual solos, duets and choral singing.

 

Strong performances by Jack Campbell, Thomas Anstine, Ron Hubbard II and Lexi Black helped develop the smoothly developed production.

 

Highlight musical selections were. “Before Devil You Know,” “Feeling You’ve Got to Hide,” Say Goodbye to the Sideshow,” “Stuck With You,” and “I Wil Never Leave You.”

 

Capsule judgement:  SIDE SHOW IN CONCERT, which is nicely staged and performed,  continues through July 18^th at Porthouse Theatre on the grounds of Blossom Center.  This is one of the few opportunities to see this seldomly produced script. 

 

For tickets call 330-672-3884 or go online to www.porthousetheatre.com.
 
NEXT UP AT PORTHOUSE: BRIGADOON, JULY 24-AUGUST 9, 2026