Normally, in a who-done-it, the question facing the audience is to figure out who the killer is.  In DIAL M FOR MURDER, which is now on-stage at Great Lakes Theater, Jeffrey Hatcher, who rewrote the present play version of the epic, doesn’t leave us in the air. Early in the play we know who the bad guy is, the questions are, will he get caught or will he get away with perpetuating a perfect crime.  It isn’t until the very, very end that, as we sit at the end of our chairs, biting our finger-nails, we get an answer!

The script was originally penned by Frederick Major Paull Knott, an English playwright and screenwriter known for complex crime-related plots.  Hatcher’s adaptation has gone on to be one of the most-produced plays.

The plot is simple, “Tony Wendice married his wife Margot for her money; he now plans to murder her for the same reason. Tony arranges the perfect murder – he hires a scoundrel to strangle Margot, and arranges a brilliant alibi for himself.”  But, the obvious becomes less obvious, the apparent isn’t that apparent, and the best plans can often go astray.”

Set in a beautiful London art deco apartment, the suspenseful script, builds tension through plot twists and turns, gradually revealing Tony’s scheme, using sharp irony in what is apparent and real, often twists into the unexpected.  The plot dangles upon a key, a scissors and a stocking. 

Opening in 1952, the show was an instant success with critics and audience, alike.  So much so it was immediately bought by Warner Brothers and turned into a movie.  The flick was directed by the Master of Suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock, and featured Grace Kelly as Margot and Ray Milland as Tony.

The story illustrates how greed, secrets and reputations often motivate what we do and why we do those things.  

The Great Lakes Theater production, under the steady directing of Sara Bruner, is a well-paced, excellently acted, and a technically fine staging.

Nick Steen, as has been the case in his twelve seasons with GLT, develops a clear-cad as Tony, who is intent in “doing-in” his wife and getting all her money.

Jodi Dominick is spot on as Margot, the wealthy woman who naively trusts her husband, Tony.

Carie Kawa, Margot’s best friend, and maybe rival for Tony’s affections, leaves us wondering, until the very end, of her real intentions and to whom she has loyalty.

Jeffrey C. Hawkins is fine as the sleezy would-be murderer, Captain Lesgate.

David Anthony Smith is on-target as the British inspector Hubbard.

Jeffrey Herrmann’s impressive fragmented set, Trad A Burns, lightening design complete with a menacing storm and stress-inducing illuminating levels, Matthew Webb’s oft-spooky sound effects and Darrin J. Pufall Purdy’s era perfect costumes, all add to the quality of the production.

Capsule judgment:  DIAL M FOR MURDER is the kind of play that, if well done, grabs and holds an audience.  The GLT staging is a well-done production that reaches that high level!  Go, enjoy a fun night of theatre!

Great Lakes Theater (GLT) continues its 64th season with DIAL M FOR MURDER, which runs through November 19, 2025, in the intimate Hanna Theatre at Playhouse Square.  Tickets range from $24–$119 (inclusive of all fees). $18 tickets available for patrons 25 and under. Groups of 10+ save up to 33%.

Next-up at GLT:  A CHRISTMAS CAROL, 11 28-12-21, 2025, Mimi Ohio Theatre.

Finely directed, acted and sung SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE at GLT

 Finely directed, acted and sung SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE at GLT

George Pierre Seurat was a French post-Impressionist artist best known for devising a painting technique entitled Pointillism, “a series of paint or crayon dots of multi-colored paint which allows the viewer's eye to blend colors optically, rather than having the colors physically blended on the canvas.” One of his most famous paintings, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”, which took over two-years for him to complete, is presently on permanent display at the Art Institute of Chicago.   The painting shows members of each of the social classes participating in various park activities. It was the inspiration for James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim’s musical, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE.   Interestingly, it also played significant symbolic role in the cult classic film, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Little known to many is that though Seurat is perceived today as an icon, a major figure in the art world, he supposedly did not sell any major piece of art during his life-time. “The plot revolves around George, a fictionalized version of Seurat, who immerses himself deeply in painting his masterpiece, and his great-grandson (also named George), a conflicted and cynical contemporary artist.”  Act I, which is mostly exposition, with music underscoring, tells of George, his obsession with developing the art work, his mistress, Dot, and the people who appear in the composition.  George, explains to the audience, "White, a blank page or canvas. The challenge: bring order to the whole, through design, composition, tension, balance, light and harmony." It is within this act that the audience is taxed with the responsibility to use their imaginations to help create the masterpiece, itself. Act II, which takes place many years later, with the same cast playing different roles, introduces us to the Maria, the daughter produced by George and Dot, now an old-women, as well as his grandson, George, a frustrated performance artist who is attempting to create an art form based on electronic aesthetics.   It is this act which gives true life to the work’s magnificent score and includes such compositions as “Putting It Together [Art Isn’t Easy], “Children and Art,” “Lesson #8,” “Move On,” and the stirring revival of “Sunday.” The musical won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, two Tony Awards for design (and a nomination for Best Musical), numerous Drama Desk Awards, the 1991 Olivier Award for Best Musical, and the 2007 Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production.  In spite of mixed critical reviews, the musical ran 604 performances and 35 previews.  “GEORGE” almost didn’t come to be.  The story is told that after the failure and scathing critical reception of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG in 1981 (it closed after 16 performances), Sondheim announced his intention to quit musical theatre.   Sondheim, in his book, “Look I Made a Hat,” the sequel to his best-selling “Finishing the Hat,” which was named by the New York Times as one of the 10 Best Books of 2010,” states that after he and Lapine spent several days at the Art Institute of Chicago studying the now famous painting,  “he commented on how much Seurat’s depiction of the island looked like a stage set.  In addition, Lapine noted that one major figure was missing from the canvas: the artist himself. This observation provided the springboard for Sunday and the production evolved into a meditation on art, emotional connection and community.” The Great Lakes production, under the well-trained eye of Victoria Bussert, is mesmerizing.  It is a cacophony of music, vocalizations, pictures, acting and frozen movements, all blending into an impressive staged vision of not only the painting, but the humanization behind the white canvas turned into an important work of art.  It centers on the actual process of creating the painting, not the painting, itself. The cast, which contains many past and present Bussert students, is headed by Alex Syiek, another of Vicky’s “kids,” who is a multi-Cleveland Critics Circle and Broadwayworld.com-cleveland award winner as best actor in a musical.  Though not doing an imitation of Mandy Patinkin, who played George on Broadway, Syiek has many of the star’s visual and vocal qualities.  He inhabits the role of the moody, self-obsessed artist, whose life centered on the creation of art.. his form of art.  His vocals are filled with meaning.  He sings meaning not words. This is a star performance. As Dot, and later Marie, Jillian Kates, another of Bussert’s former students, is excellent.  Her vocals are well interpreted. Another standout is Laura Perrotta (Old Lady/Art critic), her duet “Beautiful,” sung with Syiek, is poignant. Music Director Matthew Webb’s work is note-on!  Kudos to scenic designer Jeff Hermann, costume designer Tesia Dugan Benson, Lighting designer Trad A Burns and sound designer Patrick John Kieman. CAPSULE JUDGMENT—SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, as directed by Victoria Bussert, and performed by the GLT cast, is a quality production.  It is a must see!  Congrats to the entire team on creating a special evening of theater. For tickets to the show, which runs through October 12th go to www.greatlakestheater.org or call 216-241-6000.

GLTF’S NOISES OFF leaves many delighted, others running for the aisles

As I stood outside the Hanna Theatre, after seeing a matinee performance of NOISES OFF, the woman to one-side were overheard saying, “That was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.”  Her companion looked askance and groaned, “That was stupid!”   I’m sure the interactions on their ride home would have been an interesting experience to overhear. 
 
Yes, Michael Frayn’s NOISES OFF is that kind of script.
 
Two aspects are important in understanding why people often react diametrically to the play.   First is that it is a British farce.  It is not intended to carry a social message.  It is not a Shakespeare drama or tragedy.  It is, aimed to delight. It is not meant to teach history or expand knowledge.  It is British low comedy, “humour” intended to probe improbable situations, in the vein of Monty Python and Joe Orton. It is trouser-dropping and door-slamming with a vengeance.
 
Secondly, it is British farce.  It leaves no prate-fall, tumble down the staircase, repeated ridiculousness after repeated ridiculousness unturned.  The British know how to create the right pictures in subtle, laugh-with me, not at me ways.  It is as natural to them as Borscht-belt comedy is to Jewish entertainers or musicals are to Americans.  There is a way to do it!  Unfortunately, Americans generally over-do British farces.  
 
I’ve seen this script produced three times.   First, in London, where I literally left the theatre with sore stomach muscles from having laughed so hard.  Its West End production was dubbed, “the funniest farce ever written."  Yes, the Brits know their farce and do it well.  

Second time was on Broadway, where I found the American premiere lacking subtlety, as did some of the other reviewers.  The next was a Canadian production, where those lovely people up north, where the Brits live in exile, can pull of the Limey timing.  And, now the GLFT version.

In the Great Lakes production of NOISES OFF there is nothing natural or subtle about the staging.  The schticks are obvious, not natural.  
 
Director Christopher Liam Moore has his cast well-primed to get the laughs.  Every slap, door slam, tumble down the stairs is choreographed.  None of it just happens naturally.  All the gimmicks are groomed.  The result is laughing by those willing to be told, “laugh,” and they do as they are told.  Others, who see through the manipulations, are not taken in.

So, what’s the farcical epic about? 

Act One is set at the technical rehearsal at the (fictional) Grand Theatre in the English hinterlands.  It is very late on the night before the first performance and the cast is hopelessly unready. Baffled by entrances and exits, missed cues, missed lines, and bothersome props, including several plates of sardines, they drive Lloyd, their director, into a seething rage.

Act Two shows a Wednesday matinée performance one month later at the Theatre Royal in another Brit village. In this act, the play is seen from backstage, providing a view of romantic rivalries, lovers' tiffs and personal quarrels that lead to offstage shenanigans, onstage bedlam and an occasional attack with a fire axe.

Act Three depicts a performance near the end of the ten-week run. Relationships between the cast have soured considerably, the set is breaking down and props are winding up in the wrong hands, on the floor. The actors remain determined at all costs to cover up the mounting chaos, but it is not long before the plot has to be abandoned entirely and the characters are obliged to ad-lib towards the chaotic final curtain.

The GLTF cast works very hard.  They must be totally exhausted following each performance, especially Jeffrey C. Hawkins (Gary) who spends his time madly running around the stage, slamming doors and falling down the steps. 

Nick Steen (Frederick) plays the dumb leading man with an air of confusion, looking handsome while, wiping up red stage goo from his many bloody noses.  

Jennifer Joplin (Dotty) proves she is queen of misplaced sardines, David Anthony Smith spends his time in a mad search for booze, while Kinza Surani (Brooke) shows off her curves while appearing mainly in her undies.  

Topher Embrey displays frustration as the frustrated Director, Lloyd who tries to balance love affairs with two members of the company and reign-in the chaos.  
Zoe Lewis-McLean (Poppy) and Domonique Champion (Tim) help in putting out emotional and theoretical pandemonium.

Jeff Hermann’s dual sided set is a creative masterpiece.  Jason Lynch’s lighting and Patrick John Kieran’s sounds aid in highlighting the turmoil.

CAPSULE JUDGMENT:  The GLFT proves the old saying in theatre that performing drama is easy but doing farce is hard.  At the end of the performance, half the audience was on its feet cheering, while the rest were in the aisles running for the exits.  Didn’t hate it, but I was caught in the stampede.

NOISES OFF runs through May 18, 2025.  For tickets go to greatlakestheater.org or call 216-241-6000

TWELFTH NIGHT (or WHAT YOU WILL) delights many at Great Lakes Theater

In 2023, stating that it “encouraged homosexuality” because of its cross-dressing characters, a New Hampshire school system banned a production of William Shakespeare’s TWELFTH NIGHT, sub-titled:  WHAT YOU WILL.

The romantic comedy, which contains the honored lines of the Bard, including ““Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em,” and “Why, this is very midsummer madness,” is a play that, though it contains no references to or scenes of Christmas, was supposedly commissioned for production at the end of that holiday season. 

The play centers on “the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck on the coastline of Illyria.

Viola (disguised as a page named 'Cesario') falls in love with the Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her, thinking she is a man.”

Sounds farcical?  It contains many segments which, as Shakespeare oft did, was filled with humor and melodramatic opportunities. 

“Some modern scholars believe that TWELFTH NIGHT, with the added confusion of male actors and Viola's deception, addresses gender issues "with particular immediacy".  They also accept that its depiction of gender stems from the era's prevalent scientific theory that “females are simply imperfect males.”

Yes, TWELFTH NIGHT does explore gender identity and sexual attraction, having a male actor play Viola enhanced the impression of androgyny and sexual ambiguity.  It also, as was the custom of the day, that the role of young men and boys would be played by males.  Homosexuality?  No, a little cross-dressing, yes!  

“In the comic subplot, several characters conspire to make Olivia's pompous steward, Malvolio, believe that she has fallen for him. This involves Olivia's uncle, Sir Toby Belch; another would-be suitor, the squire Sir Andrew Aguecheek; Olivia's servants Maria and Fabian; and Olivia's fool, Feste. Sir Toby and Sir Andrew engage themselves in drinking and revelry, disrupting the peace of Olivia's household.”
 
GLT’s production, under the direction of Sara Brunner states in her program notes, “Our production illuminates how grief and joy are not opposites but rather are intimately linked.”
 
She accents the dramatic and comic, and throws-in some farcical interludes.  Not as many as is common in other productions of the script, thus cutting down the chance for hysteria.  This restraint may account for the polite, rather than screaming standing ovations that often conclude other stagings.
 
Courtney O’Neill’s curving levels, which create the illusion of continuous water movement, works well.  It is enhanced by Rich Martin’s lighting.  Mieka van der Ploeg’s ageless perky costumes work well.
 
The cast is universally strong.  Grayson Heyl (Viola/Cesario), and Nic Scott Hermick (Sebastian) are believable as the twins.  James Alexander Rankin makes a perfect fool of himself as squire Sir Andrew Aguecheek.  Dar’Jon Marquise Bentley well fits that role of Sir Toby Belch.
 
CAPSULE JUDGMENT: TWELFTH NIGHT gets a pleasing production at GLT.  It could have been enhanced by broader farce and more joyous attitude.  As might be said of the New Hampshire Board of Education that banned the play, “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” (AS YOU LIKE IT)

TWELFTH NIGHT continued at Great Lakes Theater, in performance at the Hanna Theatre through April 6, 2025.

Next up at GLT:  NOISES OFF, the uproarious backstage farce, from April 25-May 18.

For tickets to GLT shows go to greatlakestheater.org or call 216-241-6000.

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.  

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.

ALWAYS...PATSY CLINE

 

Juke box musicals are stage theatrical presentations in which a majority of the compositions were written before the presentation was conceived, rather than being original music conceived for that show.  They tend to be long on songs and short on a well-conceived plot. Shows in this classification are MAMA MIA, MOULIN ROUGE, JERSEY BOYS and ROCK OF AGES.  Each of these has a score composed of well-known songs, shoe-horned into a plot, which may be real, fictional, or a combination of reality and make-believe. ALWAYS…PATSY CLINE, now on stage at the Hanna Theatre, where it is being produced by Great Lakes Theater, as part of its Kulas Musical Theater Series, is an example of the Juke box musical genre. Created, and originally directed by Ted Swindley, the GLT production is competently directed by Victoria Bussert.   It tells the “truish” story of “Patsy Cline’s friendship with a fan, Louise Seger, which started in 1961, when Cline was in her late 20s, and continued until her death in a plane crash, at age 30.  Told through Cline’s music, the tribute features 27 songs and many of her hits such as “Crazy,” “I Fall to Pieces,” “Sweet Dreams” and “Walking After Midnight.” In spite of having only an eight-year career, Cline, whose given name was Virginia Hensley, is considered to be one of the influential vocalists of the 20th century.  She was “one of the first country music artists to cross over into pop music.” She was a member of the Grand OIe Opry.  The 1961 single, “I Fall to Pieces” was her first song to top the “Billboard” country chart.  This was followed by the smash hit “Crazy,” recorded after she recovered from the effects of a car accident.   In 1973, she became the first female performer to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.”  Her version of "Always" made the Billboard country chart in 1980.   Don’t expect any of these facts to be presented in ALWAYS…PATSY CLINE.  With the slight storyline, centering on her short-termed friendship with Louise Seger, who heard her on a television show and became infatuated with her, the musical is more concert than play.     “The pair met while Cline was performing at the Esquire Ballroom in Houston, Texas. Seger brought Cline home following the show and they spent the night together. The pair would remain in contact through letters before Cline's death. Much of the script relied on the letters exchanged between the two during the course of several years. Seger acts as the show's narrator and revisits memories she shared with Cline through their letter exchanges.”   After an off-Broadway production, the musical went on to become a smash hit In Chicago and repeated its success in Virginia and Denver.  All three were blessed with extended runs.     The GLT production, as evidenced by the joyous reaction of the audience the afternoon I saw the show, was peopled by fans of Cline.  Many sang out or did lip-sinks to the presentations by Christina Rose Hall, who portrayed the country star.     I must admit not to be either a country music fan, nor a follower of Cline, so I can only react from a dramaturgy and staging perspective.     I found the script shallow, underdeveloped, often trite in parts.  I don’t think all the intricacies and interesting aspects of her life, which I found in researching Ms. Cline, were developed.  I don’t think the “play” told us the “real” story of the woman, who was a leader in her field and obviously, very talented.  It centered on a quick segment of her life, leaving me frustrated, wanting to know more of her and less emotional manipulation.   From a musical standpoint.  Musical director Mathew Webb, as we have become accustomed to expect of this talented musician, did a fine job of developing the right musical sounds and had his musicians underscoring, rather than playing full out, thus allowing the audience to hear the lyrics to the songs.  Lyrics which carried meaning and told important messages about Cline.   Both Christina Rose Hall (Patsy) and Harmony France (Louise) have fine singing voices.   France has a nice touch with comic timing.     Hall facially resembles Cline, but It is difficult to accept her as being the right age image for the role.  As the man sitting next to me, who was obviously well-versed in his “Patsy Cline,” emphatically stated, “She’s too long-in-tooth for the role!”  I also wish she had emotionally “let loose” in some of her songs.  After a while, they all sounded the same.   Capsule judgment: Hey, “Stupid Cupid,” if you have “True Love” for country music, you’ll have “Sweet Dreams” and feel “True Love” when you think back to having seen ALWAYS…PATSY CLINE.  For the rest of us, “Come on In and Make Yourself at Home” and realize that you are not “Crazy” for being a semi-fan and not echoing the Patsyites yelling, “How Great Thou Art.”   ALWAYS…PATSY CLINE runs at Great Lakes Theater from April 26 through May 19, 2024.  For tickets go to  https://www.greatlakestheater.org  or call (216) 241-6000.

THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR is a farcical delight at Great Lakes Theater

Sir John Falstaff is at it again!  Yes, the chubby delightful bumbler, who was in the Bard’s HENRY IV, Parts 1 and 2, is now lighting up the stage in Great Lakes Theater’s THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, thanks to Elizabeth I.  The Queen was so infatuated with the character that, according to rumor, she asked Shakespeare to write another play with Falstaff, this time depicting the rogue in love.  
 
THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR was first published in 1602.  It takes place in the town of Windsor, the location of the famed Windsor Castle in Berkshire, England, thus the title.    
 
“Key themes of Merry Wives include love and marriage, jealousy and revenge, social class and wealth.”

In brief, we watch as “Falstaff arrives in Windsor very short on money. He decides that, to obtain financial advantage, he will court two wealthy married women, Mistress Ford and Mistress Page. Falstaff decides to send the women identical love letters and asks his servants to deliver them to the wives. When they refuse, Falstaff sacks them, and, in revenge, the men tell the husbands Ford and Page of Falstaff's intentions. Page is not concerned, but the jealous Ford persuades the Host of the Garter Inn to introduce him to Falstaff as a 'Master Brook' so that he can find out Falstaff's plans.”

Thus, we are off on a merry farce with lots of pratfalls, double-takes, over-acting, bad accents, misguided love, jealousy, revenge, blackmail, mayhem and a happy ending!

Every aspect of the GLT production is sublime.  

Farce is hard to perform…the timing, the controlled overacting, the unrealistic realism must be precise.  In this production, it is!

The playful set (a Jeff Hermann conception) of lime green outlined houses of Tudor design, creative costumes (Daniele Tyler Mathews creations) with hand-painted flower patterns that mimic the vertical stage curtains, sprightly music (Matthew Webb compositions) and attempts at dancing, all add to this smile-along.

GLT newcomer, Daniel T. Parker, was seemingly born to play Falstaff, the knight of mischief.  He is delightful and perfectly villain-light, making us cheer each time he gets embarrassed and maimed!

Jessie Cope Miller (Mrs. Ford) and Jodi Dominick (Mrs. Page) cavort with glee as Falstaff’s tormentors.  

Jeffrey C. Hawkins, over-acts with positive effect as the up-tight Mr. Ford.  Anthony Michael Martinez (Dr. Caius) and Nick Steen (Sir Hugh Evans), use overdone accents to enhance their over-blown characterizations.

The rest of the cast walks the difficult rail of being farcical without over doing it.

Congrats to director Terri McMahon for keeping the whole production light and fun and engaging.
 
Capsule judgment:  Though generally described as a lesser work, with the right production, the tale of Falstaff, the rotund rascal who attempts, unsuccessfully, to woo and con the two wealthiest married ladies in the town of Windsor, can be a delight.  GLT’s staging, with its glorious set, entrancing costumes, and wonderful acting is so good, that even if you aren’t a Bardophile, it’s a must-see 
 
Next up at GLT:  ALWAYS PATSY CLINE, a musical celebration of the country legend, April 26-May 19, 2024.
 

For tickets https://www.greatlakestheater.org  (216) 241-6000. 

Murder, mystery, farcical humor…AGATHA CHRISTIE’S MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS @ GLT

 

 
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.  
 
Known as “The Duchess of Death", the "Mistress of Mystery", and the "Queen of Crime,’” her popularity was based on her plots being possible and logical.  As a literary critic once wrote, "At the start of each novel, she shows us an apparently impossible situation and we go mad wondering ‘How can this be happening?'. Then, slowly, she reveals how the impossible is not only possible but the only thing that could have happened.”
 
Though she is best known for her novels, she also wrote the world's longest-running play, THE MOUSETRAP which has been performed continually in London since 1952.  An interesting bit of theater history is that Christie gave the rights, and therefore all of the royalties to THE MOUSETRAP, to her grandson Mathew Prichard as his 9^th birthday present.
 
Because Dame Christie wrote plays, be aware that MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, which is now on stage at Great Lakes Theater, don’t assume that she was the script’s author.  The playscript was adopted by Ken Ludwig, from the Christie book.
 
Ludwig is a well-known writer who specializes in farcical works.  His LEND ME A TENOR, MOON OVER BUFFALO, SHAKESPEARE IN HOLLYWOOD, THE GAMES AFOOT and A COMEDY OF TENORS have had local productions.  In fact, THE THREE MUSKETEERS is now on stage at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre.  His LEADING LADIES, received its world premiere at Houston’s Alley Theatre, in co-production with the Cleveland Play House.
 
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS is widely regarded as one of Agatha Christie’s greatest literary achievements.  First published in 1934, the play version had its world premiere in 2017.
 
“It's 1934.  Passengers aboard the opulent Orient Express awake to frightful news: Overnight, the American business mogul among them was stabbed to death behind locked doors. Thankfully, debonair detective Hercule Poirot is on the train and on the case. He promptly begins interviewing suspects, securing alibis and forming theories about the killer, who remains at large and could be closing in on the next victim. As the plot thickens and the travelers grow restless, Poirot presents scenarios about who murdered the mogul and why, taking the audience on a wildly glamorous crime-solving ride.”
 
It helps, in watching the play to know that the novel is a meditation on revenge and justice. In addition, Ludwig’s adaptation for the stage streamlines the plot, which was inspired by the famous kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby.  Be aware that the ending is unlike any that Christie ever wrote as two different conclusions can logically be induced.  Also, that the GLT production is directed by the theater’s Artistic Director, Charles Fee.
 
Fee, as the director makes a great difference in how the play is staged.  He loves farce.  There is no slammed door, double-entendre, pratfall, absurdity, ridiculous situation, reversal of expectations and mistaken identity, that the man does not like, and he feels obligated to use as many as possible in his staging.  
 
Given that Ludwig is a master at writing farce, and Fee is accomplished in staging them, the audience gets a delight filled “Christie” experience.
 
Fee is supported by a superb set of technicians.  Rick Martin’s opulent, art-deco revolving “moving” train set is ingenious.  His lighting design and Patrick John Kiernam’s sound design underscore the tension and action.  There is even a snow storm on stage.
 
The large cast, is headed by David Anthony Smith, and his marvelous mustache, as Hercule Poirot.  The actors all know how to perform the difficult task of performing farce.  Every one of them is believable as the perpetuator of the crime.   And, who knows, maybe they are!!!  Hmm…who did it…the conductor or the actress or the secretary or . . .?
 
Capsule judgment:  Agatha Christie’s MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS gets a wonderful staging at GLT.  It challenges the imagination, it delights, it makes for a special evening of theatre.  Yes, if you want a couple of hours out of the time we are all spending in this stressful world, this is an absolute GO SEE!
 
Agatha Christie’s MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS runs through March 3, 2024.  For tickets go to https://www.greatlakestheater.org  (216) 241-6000.
 
Next up:  March 22-April 7, 2024:  THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR.

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

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

Intimate Hanna Theatre a perfect venue for swingin’ AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’

The setting in which a musical production takes place, often affects the pleasure one gets from the experience.  A perfect case in point is AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ presently being staged by Great Lakes Theater in its intimate Hanna Theatre home. 

 
AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ is a musical tribute which celebrates Fats Waller and his music.  It is a series of song and dance numbers, sans any story line.  The segments are woven together by choreography and music transitions.  It requires an up-close and personal experience.  The closer the better.  This is not a production to stage at the likes of the Connor Palace or the State Theatres.
 
The show echoes the performances presented at the Cotton Club and Savoy Ballroom, the great New York black playgrounds of high society, and the Lenox Avenue dives filled with piano players banging out the new beat known as swing.  
 
It was an era of rowdy, raunchy and humorous songs that reflected Waller, his music and view of life as a journey meant for pleasure and play.
 
The evening features GLT veterans, Jessie Cope Miller and Colleen Longshaw, who are joined by Tyrick Wiltez Jones, David Robbins and Brittney Mack and William Knowles, who serves as both the musical director and Waller.
  
The show was conceived by Richard Maltby, Jr. and Murray Horwitz and is locally directed and choreographed by Gerry McIntyre.
 
Creative staging, which often finds the performers singing to, playing with, and including the audience in the actions, plus dynamic choreography, makes for fun.
 
The actors croon, jive, wail, and dance their way through the songs that made Waller a household name in the heyday of American big band jazz music, singing such hits as “The Joint is Jumpin’,” “Spreadin’ Rhythm Around,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” “’Tain’t Nobody’s Biz-Ness If I Do,” I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling,” “Your Feet’s Too Big,” and the show’s namesake “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”
 
The goings on include a Finale of six songs, including such classics as “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter,” “Two Sleepy People” and “It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie” that keep the audience singing, clapping and stomping all the way out of the theatre.
 
Capsule judgment:  If you love, even like jazz and want to swing back into the long-gone era or the Harlem Renaissance this is a show for you!
 
AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ runs at Great Lakes Theater’s Hanna Theatre home until May 21, 2023.  For tickets go to https://www.greatlakestheater.org/or call (216) 241-6000