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.

 

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

GREASE @ PORTHOUSE

An incomplete review of Porthouse’s rockin’ GREASE

 
Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)

 

Sometimes going to the theater can have unexpected outcomes.  Such is the case of my reviewing the opening shows at Kent State University’s Porthouse for the past two years.  

 

Last year, for some unexplainable reason, rather than on opening night, I found myself at the preview performance of Porthouse’s FIDDLER ON THE ROOF.  The lead, who was to play Tevya, was ill, so his understudy went on in his place.  (Yes, this is live theater and the show must go on!)  The replacement was quite good and I found the production fulfilling the intent and purpose of the writers, but my review contained the warning of it lacking in “whole play” comments.

 

This year, for GREASE, I got to the theatre on the right date, the cast was all healthy and the curtain went up on time!  Everything was going along smoothly, until about 10 minutes into Act II.  Then mother nature and chaos took over. 

 

Sirens went off, indicating the possibility of a tornado.  The cast fled the stage, the audience flooded the aisles in a mad rush to get to their cars before the storm hit.

 

Unfortunately, some of the show’s highlight songs, “Beauty School Dropout,” “There Are Worse Things I Could Do,” the reprise of “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee” and the reprise of “We Go Together,” were not performed!  

 

This review, therefore, like my last year’s FIDDLER critique, is a less then complete evaluation of the production.  But, the show/review must go on, so take this into account as we examine GREASE.   

 

1971 was a groundbreaking time on Broadway for American musical theatre.

 

That year saw the rise of rock musicals and the opening of such massive theatrical hits as GODSPELL, Stephen Schwartz and John Michael Tebelak’s “Day By Day,” epic, ON THE TOWN, and GREASE.

 

GREASE is a musical with music, lyrics, and a book by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. 

Named after the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as greasers (tons hair gel adorn the male youth), is set in 1959 at the fictional Rydell High School.  

In actuality, it is based on the real Taft High School in Chicago.  The plot follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of the teen angst of that era.

The score borrows heavily from the sounds of early rock and roll.  “The book mentions social issues such as teenage pregnancy, peer pressure, and gang violence; its themes include love, friendship, teenage rebellion, and sexual exploration during adolescence.”

Jacobs described the show's basic plot as “a subversion of common tropes of 1950s cinema, since the female lead, who in many 1950s films transformed the alpha male into a more sensitive and sympathetic character, is instead drawn into the man's influence and transforms into his wild, roguish fantasy.^”

GREASE's 3,388-performance run was, at the time, the longest in Broadway history. It became a successful feature film,had two Broadway revivals, a TV show, and is a staple of regional theatre, summer stock, community theatre, high school and middle school drama groups.

On the surface, GREASE appears an easy show for teens and post-teens to perform as, mainly , the cast is playing people similar to themselves.  Right? No, wrong!

The show is about the 1970 youth…not the cyber, Trump-influenced, 2026 teens.  The era is before birth control devices, cell phones and laptops.  

Today’s kids, and even many of the people who direct and do the technical aspects of the show weren’t even alive in the greaser-era.  It is not easy for today’s youth to be these kids.  They can’t identify with the attitudes, dancing and even the walking styles of that day.  What was “shocking” then, isn’t shocking today.  What it meant to be a “good” girl it not the same.

The clothing was different.  Male teens staples—leather motorcycle jackets, tight tees (with a pack of “cigs” placed into the short-sleeved arm material), rolled denim jeans, platform shoes, and heavily greased hair were “in.” 

To dress like a 70s female,  the look included high-waisted flare jeans, maxi dresses, peasant tops, and platform shoes. Earthy tones, bright psychedelic prints, and fabrics like satin, leather and  denim were the vogue.  Identifying clothes were club jackets (in this show, the Pink Ladies shiny jackets).  Letter sweaters separated the jocks from the greasers. (The insiders, from the outsiders.)

The highlight of the Porthouse show is Martin Cespedes’s inventive, era-right choreography, the smooth flow of Terri Kent’s story development and Jennifer Korecki’s musicians and musical sound.  

More emphasis on the era’s attitudes, spoken sounds and rhythms, and uniformly correct costuming, would have helped set the right tone for the show.

Solid versions of “Freddy, My Love,” and “We Go Together” added to the story telling.  “Grease is the Word” and Summer Nights” lite up the stage.

Thomas Anstine (a well-scrubbed, macho-lite Danny) and a pleasant though, not good girl-enough Sandy (Lucia Lazzara-Goodrich), displayed well-toned singing voices.  One could have wished for more fun in “Mooning” and a more sarcastic sound in “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee.”

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  GREASE, Porthouse-style, is a nostalgic reminder of the era of mid-1900’s and left those of a certain-age satisfied and maybe those of the Information Age/Digital Age asking “what was the attitude, grease and angst” all about.  
 
GREASE runs until JUNE 27 at Porthouse Theatre, on the grounds of Blossom Music Center.  For tickets call 330-672-3884 or go online to www.porthousetheatre.com.
 
NEXT UP AT PORTHOUSE:  JULY 7-18, SIDE-SHOW IN CONCERT.

Porthouse Theatre’s SCHOOL OF ROCK proves that “the show must go on!”

What happens when a musical film earns over $131-million on a $35-million-dollar investment?  If you are Andrew Lloyd Webber, you buy the rights and turn it into the stage musical, SCHOOL OF ROCK, with lyrics by Glenn Slater and book by Julian Fellowes. 

 

What happens when a lead actor experiences an accelerated heart beat mid-production and can’t continue in the show?  In the case of Porthouse Theatre, you pause the show, ask the audience if there is a medical person in attendance, then 20-minutes later, following the old theater adage, “the show must go on,” continue the staging with another actor, script in hand, acting and singing to the delight of the audience and wonderment of this reviewer!

 

So, what’s it all about? 

 

The musical starts with a performance by the No Vacancy Band.  Dewey Finn (Douglas F. Bailey II), who has an ADHD-type personality, has difficulty pulling back his exuberance and keeps upstaging the lead performer.  Enough is enough, and he is kicked out of the group.

 

With no income, he moves in with and mooches off Ned (Morgan Thomas-Mills), his long-time easily manipulated college band buddy, and part-time teacher, much to the irritation of Patty (Kiara Sylvie Durbin), Ned’s domineering girl- friend. 

 

When a call comes for Ned to substitute at Horace Green, a prestigious prep school, Dewey accidentally answers the phone and sees a chance for some much-needed money by posing as Ned. Despite the doubts of Rosalie Mullins (Audra Casebier), the uptight principal, he gets the gig.

 

The kids are wary of him, especially the uber-organized Summer (Parker Towns).  He also has to confront the problems of Tomika (Ava Kimble), the extremely shy daughter of gay men, who turns out to be a superstar singer; Zack (Elliott Wancata), the son of an uptight businessman who doesn’t realize his son is a musical prodigy; Lawrence (Josh DiSantis), who has no confidence, but is a keyboard wizard; Freddie (Axel Schmidt) who everyone thinks is intellectually slow, but once he gets a pair of drum sticks in his hand, he shows how talented he really is; and Billy (Mason Cooper Brosch), who is flamboyant, has an interest in fashion design, but is not appreciated by his macho father.  Each of the other kids also has untapped talent which the creative Dewey brings out through non-traditional means.

 

Dewey decides to enter them in the Battle of the Bands.  They get to the tryouts after sneaking out of school, but they arrive after the deadline time to play in the qualification round.  Summer, the brainiac, tells the casting director that all the children have an illness called “stickittothemanis,” pleads for some mercy. The manager lets the kids perform. 

 

What follows is a series of manipulations, implausible coincidences, and some out and out stretching of dramatic license.  The result?  Farce running wild and the audience having a heck of a good time.

 

Do they win the Battle of the Bands?  That’s not important.  What is significant, is that Dewey and the kids find love and self-respect and new parental understanding for these geeky kids.

 

The musical score, which includes iconic songs from the film, adds well-crafted additional theatrical melodies.  Among the show stoppers are, “You’re in the Band,” “Stick it to the Man,” “Math is a Wonderful Thing,” and “School of Rock.”  Throw in “If Only You Would Listen” and “Time to Play,” and you have the makings of a solid score.

 

A positive staging of SCHOOL OF ROCK requires adorable music-talented kids, an uninhibited slacker dude to portray Dewey, an on-point rock band, and creative staging. 

 

Fortunately, theater director Terri Kent and choreographer Martin Céspedes have found most of the right ingredients.

 

In the original production, most of the kids played musical instruments to the awe of the audience.  In this staging only four of the munchkins actually play, with Jennifer Korecki and her off-stage band providing back-up. 

 

Considering how hard it is to find 5^th graders who can proficiently play musical instruments, it is an acceptable method of meeting one of the scripts challenges.

 

Even with this needed solution, begging the question, why?, several of non-instrumental kid cast members are way too old to be elementary students, and some of the Ensemble are too young to be playing the parents of the kids.

 

Douglas F. Bailey II did the role of irrepressible Dewey in excellent production of SCHOOL OF ROCK at Cain Park several summers ago.  He was “slacker perfect” in that presentation.  Therefore, I was a little off-put in early scenes when he dialed down the broad farce in this production.  Now I realize why the characterization was somewhat off when, during the second act the show was halted and we eventually found out that Bailey was ill and couldn’t continue to the final curtain. (Morgan Thomas-Mills, did the last scenes, sing and acting” with script in-hand.  (BTW…he was quite good and, if the director hadn’t wanted to have a look-alike of Jack Black, who played Dewey in the film version, Thomas-Mills would have creditably played the role.)

 

Special kudos to Josh DiSantis, Parker Towns and Ava Kimble for well-crafting their roles and to all the rest of the kids in the cast for their nicely textured performances.

 

As is usually an issue at Porthouse, due to the open walls of the tent-like theatre, the sound was an issue.

 

The last scene where the kids and Dewey really break loose should have found them in funky rock costumes, not in assorted garments which looked like they were scarfed together.

 

In the long run, at-least not on the rain-filled Sunday matinee, where many of the audience brought bouquets of flowers to give their children after the standing ovation curtain call, did anything matter except for the fact that the show went on.

 

Capsule judgment:  SCHOOL OF ROCK is a fun-filled show with a moral message. The Porthouse production was nicely done, in spite of some age-casting problems and a mid-production medical issue. The music rocked.  The cast entertained.  It’s the kind of show that audience’s love.  

 

SCHOOL OF ROCK runs through August 3, 2024 in the Porthouse Theatre on the grounds of Blossom Music Center.  For tickets call 330-672-3884 or go online to www.porthousetheatre.com.

 

 

 

YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN ”kind ‘of” misses the mark on Porthouse stag

 

Few realize that when reading a Peanuts comic strip, watching a television show based on the writings of Charles M. Schulz, or seeing the theatrical YOU’RE A GOOD MAN CHARLIE BROWN, a version of which is now on stage at Porthouse Theatre, that they are being exposed to the author’s religious sensibility.

Schultz, a conservative Protestant, believed that only through “sharing of burdens and triumphs and fears and joys a person could navigate the immense challenges of life.” 

An examination of the five decades' worth of Peanuts comic strips, inspired Robert L. Short’s to write a series of books of "popular theology", “The Gospel According to Peanuts” and “The Parables of Peanuts.”

YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN, with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner, opened off-Broadway) on March 7, 1967, staring Gary Burghoff (who went on to be Radar on M*A*S*H) as Charlie Brown.  It ran 1,597 performances. 

The show was revived on Broadway in 1999. This production, with additional music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and dialogue by Michael Mayer, attempted to add a playfulness which, according to the producers, was not fully developed in the original script. 

 It also introduced audiences to Anthony Rapp (Charlie Brown), who went on to originate the lead role of Mark Cohen in Broadway’s RENT and Kristen Chenoweth (Sally Brown), who went on to originate the role of Glinda in the 2003 musical WICKED.
 
What’s it all about?  Charlie Brown and the entire Peanuts gang explore life's great questions as they play baseball, struggle with homework, sing songs, swoon over their crushes and celebrate the joy of friendship. 

Through brief vignettes, spanning the months from Valentine’s Day to Beethoven Day, from wild optimism to utter despair we watch as bossy Lucy who is hopelessly in love with piano prodigy Schroeder who doesn’t give her the time of day, as perfectionist Sally mocks blanket-toting Linus, as Snoopy on his doghouse, and the “blockhead,” himself, Charlie Brown, who is in love with the “little red headed girl” all blunder through life. 

Shultz’s bottom line is that persistence wins out.  “Charlie Brown often lost, failed at much, but he never gave up. Even though he knew Lucy was going to pull the football away before he could kick it.... even though he knew the tree was going to eat his kite…he persists.”  When he watches as Lucy “teach” her little brother, Linus the “truths” of life, such as “You can also determine a young elm tree's age by counting its leaves,” “snow comes up out of the ground like grass  and the wind blows it around to make it look like it's falling,” and “the way grass grows involves insects tugging seedlings to the point that they grow to their adult state,” he responds by beating his head against a tree, which, according to Lucy, “will loosen the bark and make the tree grow.”

The difficulty of staging a show like YAGMCB is not apparent.  It has a small cast, little orchestra, one simple set, no costume changes.  Easy, huh?  Nope!  Adults, even young adults, often have difficulty being children.  Simple songs can have complex meanings.  The music must have an underplay of youthful joy.

The Porthouse production, under the direction of Amy Fritsche, is pleasant enough but, in spite of clever choreography and some fun schticks, it lacks the child-like wonder, emotional happiness, and emphasis on the joys of life that makes a script like this grab and hold the emotions of an audience.
 
The most of the cast acts at being children, not being children. They don’t really live in each of their character’s worlds, they pretend to be their characters.

From its opening notes, the music is played way too seriously and there is a lack of child-like wonderment of life. This is not PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.

Highlight numbers include “My Blanket and Me,” and “Beethoven Day.”  

The most realistic performances are given by Cole Stellato as Schroeder and Drew Fitzgerald as Linus.

The set design, which is wisely decorated in crayon primary colors, causes problems for the audiences seated extreme left and right.  They can’t see into the hollowed-out center of the backwall, so the actions that take place in that area can’t be seen.

Capsule judgment:  YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN, in spite of its appearing to be an easy script to stage, is quite complex.  The Porthouse production is pleasant, but misses out on creating some of the joy of childhood and the textured realities of the Peanuts gang.

YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN runs July 4-12, 2024 at Porthouse Theatre, on the grounds of Blossom Music Center.  For tickets call 330-672-3884 or go online to www.porthousetheatre.com.  (Note that this is NOT a children’s show.)
 
NEXT UP AT PORTHOUSE:  SCHOOL OF ROCK, July 18-August 3, 2025.

Preview of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at Porthouse

 

At the age of fifteen Solomon Rabinovich adopted the pseudonym  “Sholem Aleichem,” a Yiddish variant of the Hebrew expression meaning "peace be with you" and used as a greeting.   As an adult he was a European “folkshrayer” (a folk-story teller) who wrote over forty volumes in Yiddish thereby becoming a central figure in Jewish literature, best remembered for his fictional confessions, letters, and monologues.   In spite of the success of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF today, Sholem Aleichem was not a successful playwright in the US in his lifetime.  When he came to the US, near the turn of the 20th century, his plays were not well received because they were “old fashioned” and about experiences the newly arrived immigrants wanted to forget.    Success came three years after his death, when the Yiddish theater actor, Maurice Schwartz, did an adaptation of Aleichem’s TEVYE DER MILKHIKER, which consists of 8 of his tragic-comic stories.   Each of the tales had a farcical plot, employing stylistic humor, with a serious under-belly.  In a classically rabbinic manner, Tevye, the main character, tells stories about his village of Anatevka and life with his wife Golda and his five daughters.  He asks questions of God and sprinkles his speeches with “biblical verses.”  Some of these are mangled and others are just made up.  Of the eight Tevye stories, five were later woven into the script of the musical, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, which became a Tony award winning musical.   Mistakenly, many believe FIDDLER is a translation of a play written in Yiddish (Jewish).  It is not!  The musical was written in English and is based on a compellation of Aleichem’s stories. It was not until 2018, when the National Yiddish Theatre, Folksbiene, mounted a Yiddish adaptation entitled FIDLER AFN DAKH that FIDDLER was spoken and sung in Jewish.   The musical takes place in Tsarist Russia in 1905.  Tevye attempts to maintain traditions while outside influences encroach upon century-long patterns.  His three older daughters each make life changing decisions, which moves them further from customs of their faith, and an edict from the Tsar, that evicts the Jews from their village, further destroys life as Tevye has known it.   When Joseph Stein, Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock joined forces to write FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, now recognized as one of the greatest of American musicals, they did so in order to create an homage to their heritage.  A heritage which included hundreds of years of Jews in eastern Europe, whose life style and lives had been destroyed by pogroms (uprisings), forced evacuations, and ultimately by the “final solution,” the Holocaust.     Traditions are the guts of the life of these people, for, as Tevya, the central character indicates, "A fiddler on the roof. Sounds crazy, no. But in our little village, you might say everyone is a fiddler on the roof. You might ask, 'if it's so dangerous there, why do we stay up?' Because Anatevka is our home. And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word: Tradition!”    The original Broadway production, which opened in 1964, was the first run of a musical to surpass the 3,000-performance mark. In spite of original doubts that it would only be of interest to Jewish audiences, the show has been extraordinarily financially profitable and well-received.  The original production was nominated for ten Tony Awards, winning nine, spawned four Broadway revivals, a film adaptation, and countless international, community and school productions, one of which is now on stage at Porthouse Theatre. It may surprise many to know that FIDDLER almost didn’t make it to Broadway. The show’s out-of-town tryouts were met with many of the audience walking out of the theaters before the final curtain.   When Jerome Robbins came in as the new director the problem was unearthed.  He asked what the show was about.  The usual answer was “a dairyman and his marriageable daughters.”  It’s is recounted that Robbins said, “No, no, no, that’s no good.” Someone said, “It’s about the dissolution of traditions, a way of life.”  Robbins responded, “Yes, that’s it.  We have to establish the traditions at the beginning and then the audience will see how they’re breaking down.  That’s the show!  The song has to set up the major theme of the villagers trying to keep their society running as the world around them changes.  It sets the show on a clear journey and the audience’s bought into the tale.”  Instead of walking out, they started to give it standing ovations and a clear path to Broadway and beyond.                          The song “Tradition” (“Traditsye”) replaced the original opening, “We’ve Never Missed a Sabbath Yet” which showed the frantic preparations for the Sabbath but not clearly enough to understand what was to come, which is a requirement for an opening song of a musical.     Robbins added the circle entrance, holding hands, introducing the unity of people of Anatevka.  He then enhanced the theme by adding lots of ferocious dancing, including the bottle and bar dances, to express Jewish robustness and resilience.   It may surprise many that the now famous bottle dance is not a Jewish wedding tradition.     Robbins did “field research” for Fiddler by attending Orthodox Jewish weddings and festivals where he was thrilled with the men's dancing.  He observed one man entertaining the participants by tottering around with a bottle on his head pretending to be drunk.  Research revealed that what the man was doing a traditional Paraguayan dance.  Robbins combined that idea with Klezmer music and the now famous bottle dance sequence came to life.  (“To life, to life, l’chaim.”)   The script went through many titles including TEVYE, A VILLAGE STORY, TO LIFE, ONCE THERE WAS A TOWN, and WHERE POPPA CAME FROM.  Finally, the producers settled on the painting "The Fiddler" by Marc Chagall, one of many surreal paintings he created of Eastern European Jewish life.  The fiddler is a metaphor for survival, through tradition and joyfulness, in a life of uncertainty and imbalance.  Chagall’s art was also the inspiration for the original sets for the show.   The story is carried through not only words, but significant and meaningful music and lyrics.  The score includes such classics as “Matchmaker,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” “To Life,” and “Sunrise, Sunset.”   Confession:  Inadvertently, I came to the show the night of the preview performance, a no-no for reviewers.  The comments which follow must be tempered by my not giving the performers and musicians the opportunity to properly prepare for being reviewed.   The role of Tevya will normally be played by Porthouse favorite and Kent State faculty member, Tom Culver.  His understudy, Baldwin Wallace University vocal performance major, Aiden Eddy, performed the role at the preview.  Eddy has a powerful and well-trained voice.  He is a loving Tevya, much in the pattern of Broadway’s Luther Adler and the film’s Topol.  Though there were laughs, he does not play for them through exaggeration as Harvey Fierstein and Zero Mostel did when they played the role.  The scenes where Tevya’s resolves are tested are well-interpreted with sincerity and emotional confusion.  If it was not announced that he was understudy he would have been more than accepted as the “for-real” Tevya.)   The production started with a twist on the norm:  a Hebrew blessing, which was entirely appropriate, set a perfect tone for cuing the audience to the serious underpinning of the tale.  The perfectly pronounced and cantorial sound of Noam Siegel, the recipient of the Dr. Roy Berko Endowed Commemorative Scholarship, was inspiring.   Tevye’s older daughters’ Tzeitel (Marianna Young), Hodel (Ellie Stark) and Chava (Chloe Lee Hall) were all excellent.  Stark’s character development and her vocal rendition “Far From the Home I Love” was a show highlight.   In most productions, the Fiddler appears at the beginning and end of the tale.  Not so with Terri Kent’s inventive direction.  Fiddler Jared Morisue-Lesser, was intertwined within the tale, thus highlighting the importance of continued adherence to tradition throughout the show.     This bowing to tradition was also displayed in actors’ touching the mezuzah (a prayer scroll placed on the doorpost of a Jewish homes) and then kissing the fingers in respect to God, the appropriate wearing of prayer shawls and male head coverings, the kissing of a prayerbook when it was picked up after it was dropped on the floor, and the conservative women’s clothing.   The show’s highlight is Martin Céspedes’s inventive choreography.  Every scene sparkled with meaningful movement.  Mazal tov!   Many of the cast needed to keep in mind that there is a cadence to the way Yiddish, the language of the residences of Anatevka, is spoken.  It is not an accent, but a rhythm.  Accents need not be used, but the cadence is necessary to help create the “tam,” the taste, of the script.   Jennifer Korecki’s large orchestra was cantorial and klezmer-correct, but, at times, needed some work on the blending of sounds.  This should come as the group plays the run-of the-show.   CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  Reviewing a preview performance of a show is a disservice to the director, choreographer, musicians and cast.  Usually this is the first chance to perform before and get used to an audience’s presence.  But, seeing a preview, I did, and I was pleased that Director Terri Kent and choreographer Martin Cespedes’s FIDDLER, was generally set and ready, only needing little polishing needed in vocal cadence, keying and waiting for laughs, and some musical blending.     FIDDLER ON THE ROOF runs until August 11 at Porthouse Theatre, on the grounds of Blossom Music Center.  For tickets call 330-672-3884 or go online to www.porthousetheatre.com.   NEXT UP AT PORTHOUSE:  YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN, a musical based on the “Peanuts” comic strip.  (Note that this is NOT a children’s show.)

"Miraculous" ANNIE wraps up the season at Porthouse Theatre

Terri Kent, the Artistic Director of Porthouse Theatre, Kent State University’s summer home on the grounds of Blossom Center, states in her program notes for ANNIE, “I believe the arts have the power to transform lives and I believe in miracles.”   Kent, therefore, chose to end the venue’s “Miracles! Season” with the tale of an orphan named Annie, who, through guts, gall and cuteness charms herself, in miracle-like fashion, into the life of Oliver Warbucks, the mid-depression billionaire, and, in the process outsmarts the conniving orphanage matron Miss Hannigan, and her dastardly brother, Rooster.   ANNIE, the musical, is loosely based on “Little Orphan Annie,” which was a daily comic strip created by Harold Gray.  “The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and it made its debut on August 5, 1924, in the New York Daily News.” With its commentary on politics, American life and depression angst, the strip, in contrast to many of the escapist writings and illustrations of the comics genre, attracted adult readers, rather than children.   If you were a reader of the comics version of the story, don’t go expecting any strip you’ve read in the newspapers, as Meehan used only the characters of Annie, Oliver Warbucks, and Sandy in his plot, and wrote an original story, with new personae. The Meehan tale is set in New York during the downbeat Great Depression. The author stated that he saw “the character of Annie as a 20th-century American female version of the titular orphan characters created by Charles Dickens in works such as Oliver Twist and David Copperfield, with the mystery of Annie's abandonment and unknown parenthood as consistent with a strand of mysteries in Dickens' tales.” It's “1933 in New York City, eleven-year-old Annie is housed in an orphanage. When six-year-old Molly wakes up from a bad dream, Annie comforts her by singing about her own parents; even though they abandoned her at the orphanage as a baby, she holds on to the hope that they will come back for her.” Annie decides to escape to search for her parents, but is caught by Miss Hannigan, the alcoholic, nasty matron of the institution.   Annie finally does sneak out of the orphanage, wanders the streets, finds a dog which she names Sandy, is caught and brought back to Miss Hannigan, is chosen by Grace, Mr. Warbucks’s aid, to be a guest at Warbucks’s home as a guest-orphan for the Christmas holidays.  And, as we all know will happen, she charms the man, his staff, President Roosevelt, and the audience, is adopted and becomes a non-orphan.  “Leapin’ lizards!” Ah, to live in the world of comics and miracles! ANNIE opened on Broadway in 1977, won seven Tony Awards, including for Best Musical and ran for nearly six years.  It spawned a national tour, international productions and numerous community and little theater productions. The musical's songs "Tomorrow" and "It's the Hard Knock Life" are among the most popular tunes of Broadway. THE Porthouse production, under the focused direction of Terri Kent, with Artistic Collaboration and choreography by Martin Céspedes, gets a warm and comfortable staging.  The negative thoughts of the script are minimized and the positive is stressed.  Even Miss Hannigan’s obnoxious ways are down-played.  This approach minimized some of the humor, but left the “miracle” aspects present. First and foremost, the role of Sandy, the stray dog is played by Bean Kent (Kent?  Oh, yes, the director’s own sandy colored poodle, who had its own director—AB Dog Training). Bean’s entrance was deservedly met with appropriate “uhhs and ahhs!” The obedient animal was well-behaved and seemed to relish the attention! Parker Towns, who is double cast with Ava Kimble, made for an adorable and winsome Annie, the day I saw the production.  (Ava Kimble plays the role when Kimble plays July.)  She has a strong singing voice and developed a consistent characterization.  (But, where were the head of ringlets and signature Annie dress?) Dante J.L. Murray, who recently lit up the Porthouse stage as Pontius Pilate in “JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR,” has a big voice and was convincing as Daddy Warbucks. Courtney Elizabeth Brown was charming as Grace Farrell.   Amy Fritsche was properly obnoxious as Miss Hannigan, as was Matthew Gittins as her brother Rooster, though I would have liked for each to have played the roles with more exaggerated farce. The orphans were delightful.  Martin Cespedes’s choreography, a little more subdued than his usual work, was filled with his signature creativity.  Capsule judgment:  There is no “Maybe” about it, since “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without Smile,” get down to Porthouse theatre, today, not “Tomorrow” to see the “Little Girls” [and the rest of cast] of ANNIE, do their thing! ANNIE runs through August 4, 2024 at Porthouse Theatre on the grounds of Blossom Center.  For tickets go to http://www.porthousetheatre.com or call 330-929-4416 or 330-672-3884.