RENT, now on stage at Cain Park, introduced a new era in the history of the American musical theater

  

 
There are a handful of plays that have had a profound effect on the form we know as the American musical theatre.   
 
SHOWBOAT, with its melodramatic loosely developed storyline laid the foundation for the eventual development of the book musical.
 
Rodgers and Hammerstein carpentered the format of putting the book (story), music, lyrics, and dance blending together to create a whole when they created OKLAHOMA!.  
 
Next came CHORUS LINE, which had a series of spotlights, individually placed on members of the chorus, each with their own plot, which molded into a single story, forcing dance to be an integral part of the storyline. 
 
Jonathan Larson broke the Rogers and Hammerstein mold completely with his creation of RENT, which is generally credited with being the model for the American musical drama...serious story, no show stopping production-numbers, realistic characters.  It opened the door for such shows as DEAR EVEN HANSEN, SPRING AWAKENING, NEXT TO NORMAL and HAMILTON.
 
RENT is Jonathan Larson’s rock musical which is broadly based on Puccini’s LA BOHÈME, but, is not a translation of that epic opera.  It is a reimagining, a view of Larson’s 1996.  It puts the spotlight on the physical and psychological temperature of New York at that time.  
 
The title was chosen because Larson was looking at how, from his viewpoint, traditional society was thwarting the hopes and dreams of the MTV generation.  He chose the term rent, because it means tearing apart as well as the financial means of securing a place to live. 
 
RENT takes place in New York’s Lower East Side, before gentrification, when the old buildings and warehouses were home to the bohemian and drug worlds.  
 
The story covers about a year in the life of roommates Mark and Roger, who live in a condemned building.  
 
Roger, is HIV positive and is numb to life, trying to write a song which has only one musical line that he keeps repeating over and over on his electric guitar.  
 
Mark is trying to capture life on film, but may, in fact, be using his camera as a tool to steal himself away from life itself. They are intertwined with an exotic dancer/drug addict, a cross dresser, an HIV+ philosophy professor, an ex-friend who has married for money, and Mark’s ex-girlfriend and her lover.  Together the group deals with love, loss, illness, and everyday existence.
 
The musical is somewhat autobiographical.  Larson, who lived in the Big Apple for many years as a starving artist, sacrificed a life of stability for his art, and shared many of the same living conditions, hopes and fears as his characters.

The show premiered and quickly gained popularity fueled by enthusiastic reviews and the startling reaction to Larson’s sudden death, on the night of the script’s Off-Broadway premiere. 

Due to such overwhelming popularity it moved to a Broadway theater later the next year.  It continues to be a “fave” production script for professional, college and community theatres.
Larson, after so many years of struggle, never was aware of the show’s financial success, its receipt of the Pulitzer Prize and four Tony awards. 
 
The dynamic score includes the illuminating Light My Candle, the plaintive I Should Tell You and, the stirring Seasons of Love.  (Dayshawnda Ash stopped the show with her powerful segments of this song, the show’s anthem). Other outstanding vocals were Another Day, Without You and the title song.
 
As director Nathan Henry states in the program, “In our society, we find ourselves challenged (or chained to) social constructs that dictate what ‘love’ is and how (or who) to love.  Larson’s unforgettable story reminds us that each of us requires a supportive community and genuine human connections.  It is my hope that Larson’s words can help us remove the barriers of our society that keep us from being our full selves.”
 
I’ve seen the show on and off-Broadway, and in several other venues, and this version holds up well against the others.  The staging by Henry and choreography by Kenya Woods are exciting and exacting. 
 
Laura Carlson-Tarantowski’s symbolic metal-beam set forces the audience to focus on the characters and not be distracted by confining walls.  
 
The intimacy of Cain Park’s Alma Theater adds to the power of the presentation as it makes the audience up-close and part of the action!
 
Bradley Wyner’s well-tuned band did great justice to the music, but they did, on occasion drown out the vocals which are so necessary to be able to hear in this lyric-driven show.
 
Shane Lonergan is outstanding as Roger.  He has an excellent voice, moves well, and developed a real and textured characterization.  Benson Anderson is spot on as Mark.  He creates the right balance between geek and heartfelt persona.  Jason Eno, as professor Tom Collins, left no eye unfilled with tears with his segment of the eulogy, Goodbye Love, though his popping eye contact with the audience made for an eerier distraction.      
 
On the other hand, Tobias Yeung, failed to project, making his words almost intelligible and never created the warmth and empathy needed for the pivotal role of Angel.  He performed as being Angel, not really living the character.  And, though she had some fine moments as Mimi, Alex Lopez, let the character’s multi-level existence slip away at times.
 
The chorus was outstanding.  Not only did they sing well, but they were in character throughout and created meaningful stage pictures.  
 
CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:   RENT holds a special place in American Musical Theatre history, ushering in the era of the musical drama.  Though, thanks to science, we are long past the time when AIDS was a sure-thing death sentence, because politicians such as President Ronald Reagan and NY mayor Ed Koch denied the existence of AIDS and denied funding for research, causing many unnecessary deaths, the power of the music and the development of the characters makes it a special script with a well-honed production.  THIS IS A WELL-HONED PRODUCTION!  Standing O! 
 
RENT runs at the Alma Theater in Cain Park through June 25, 2023.  Next up:  the area premier of FUN HOME (August 10-27).  For tickets:  216-371-3000 or https://www.cainpark.com/148/Buy-Tickets

Comedy tonight—A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM @ Porthouse

 

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (or A FUNNY THING for short), which is now on stage at Kent State University’s Porthouse Theatre on the grounds of The Blossom Center, is a musical comedy/farce with music and lyrics by Steven Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart.

Its Broadway run earned it numerous awards, including a 1962 Tony for Best Musical.  But, truth be told, the production almost didn’t make it to the Great White Way. 

The story goes that during out-of-town tryouts, the show attracted little business and did not play well.  Jerome Robbins, who was often brought in to “save” musicals, was cpntracted to give advice and make changes. He quickly realized that the opening number, “Love is in the Air,” set up the audience to expect a lovely, love story.  A FUNNY THING, though it contains lots of love stories, is a comedy, a gay romp, or, a farce, which is intended to be a bigger than life laugh-fest.  

Robbins had Sondheim introduce the show as a bawdy, wild comedy by writing the song "Comedy Tonight" as new opening number.  

After the new opening was added the audience had a psychological adjustment, changed emotional gears, and had one hell of a good time!

The tale, inspired by the immoral farces of ancient Rome as written by Piautus, tells the story of a slave named Pseudolus and his attempts to con his way to freedom by helping Hero, his young master, to woo a mentally challenged beautiful young virgin, whose only claim to fame is that, as she sings, that she is “Lovely.”

The plot displays many classic elements of farce, including puns, the slamming of lots of doors, cases of mistaken identity and satirical comments on social class, sex and male-female relationships.  

The title derives from a line often used by vaudeville comedians to begin a story: "A funny thing happened on the way to the theater".

 FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM opened in May of 1962 and ran for 964 performances.

Interestingly, Zero Mostel, a Yiddish theatre actor who basically made his Broadway reputation from his cross-eyed, double-talking, lecherous interpretation of, Pseudolous, was not the first choice to play the role. The show's creators sought Phil Silvers for the role, but he turned them down, allegedly because he would have to perform onstage without his glasses, and his vision was so poor that he feared tripping into the orchestra pit. 

“In ancient Rome, some neighbors live in three adjacent houses. In the center is the house of Senex, who lives there with wife Domina, son Hero, and several slaves, including head slave Hysterium and the musical's main character Pseudolus. A slave belonging to Hero, Pseudolus wishes to buy, win, or steal his freedom. One of the neighboring houses is owned by Marcus Lycus, who is a buyer and seller of beautiful women; the other belongs to the ancient Erronius, who is abroad searching for his long-lost children (stolen in infancy by pirates).”

“One day, Senex and Domina go on a trip and leave Pseudolus in charge of Hero. Hero confides in Pseudolus that he is in love with the lovely Philia, one of the courtesans in the House of Lycus (albeit still a virgin). Pseudolus promises to help him win Philia's love in exchange for his own freedom. Unfortunately (as the two find out when they pay a visit on Lycus), Philia has been sold to the renowned warrior Miles Glorious [he of glorious body and even larger ego], who is expected to claim her very soon. Pseudolus, an excellent liar, uses Philia's cheery disposition to convince Lycus that she has picked up a plague from Crete, which causes its victims to smile endlessly in its terminal stages.” 

Let the chaos begin!  

And, of course, this is farce, not a Greek tragedy, so a happy ending prevails for all!
Farce…farce…and more farce!  That’s the clue to making the comedic elements of the script work.  To accomplish this takes a couple of vital elements.  First, the choreography must be dynamic, lots of overdone movements, a great variety of moods and methods, and high energy.
 
Porthouse is lucky to have Martin Céspedes, multi-award winner of Cleveland Critics Circle and Broadwayworld accolades.  The dancing is dynamic, bringimg about spontaneous applause from the audience with every show-stopper…and there are many!
 
Second, the director has to keep the whole thing moving along and help develop consistent characterizations.  Terri Kent did her job!
 
Third, Pseudolus must be a master of farce!  (Think Zero Mostel.  Think Jason Alexander.)
 
Dylan Ratell has nice comedy chops, but he is not a farce-master.  He gets lots of polite laughs, but hysterical, he is not.  He needed to be!  
 
Much of the rest of cast nicely develops their roles. Tim Culver, Hysterium, does farce like farce should be played…with realistic abandonment.  ‘I’m Calm,” and his reprise of “Lovely” got the response from the audience that should have been present the whole show from all.
 
Anthony Ghali makes for a properly naïve Hero.  Joseph Ball has some good moments as Marcus Lycus. Allison Sheski is “lovely, absolutely lovely” as Phila. Rohn Thomas milks every bit of ridiculousness out of the role of Erronius.  
 
Jennifer Korecki’s nicely tuned orchestra could have used a little more “oomph” to keep the goings on moving along.  Victoria Mearini’s costumes were era-correct.
 
Capsule judgment:  There is “Comedy Tonight” at Blossom!  Maybe a little more abandonment by some in the cast, might have been desired, but it appeared the audience was having a great time and, that’s what this type of show should illicit…unabashed enjoyment!

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM runs through June 24, 2023.  For tickets go to: www.kent.edu or 330-672-3884. Next up at Porthouse is THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES (June 30-July 15) followed by THE PROM (July 21-August 6).
 
 

Sets, costumes and staging bring audience to their feet for MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL

A jukebox musical is a stage show in which a majority of the songs are well-known before they were inserted into the plot, rather than being original music penned specifically for that show.  MAMA MIA!, JERSEY BOYS, ROCK OF AGES, TINA, and JAGGED LITTLE PILL are examples of shows of this genre.

Overlapping the Golden Age of the American musical, starting in about 1943 with OKLAHOMA and 1999, the opening of RENT, the era of the musical drama, the jukebox musical has become a major Broadway theatrical commodity. 
 
Jukebox musicals often have over-blown sets and costumes, big musical sounds, lots of dynamic dancing and are bigger than life.

These elements often over-shadow the light storyline.  They tend to use theatrical devices to get the audience on its feet during the closing number or by including a recap of high energy songs from the show in the curtain call.  The intention is to get the audience to exit the theatre over-joyed by the dynamism of the production, carrying that energy in their minds as to the “wow” of the show.

A perfect example of the jukebox musical is MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL, now on stage as part of the Key Bank Broadway series, on stage at the Key Bank State Theatre.

As pre-publicity states, “Enter a world of splendor and romance, of eye-popping excess, of glitz, grandeur and glory! A world where Bohemians and aristocrats rub elbows and revel in electrifying enchantment. Pop the champagne and prepare for the spectacular... Welcome to MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL.”

With a book by John Logan, it is based on the 2001 film MOULIN ROUGE!, which was directed by Baz Luhrmann and written by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce. 
The musical opened on 
Broadway on July 25, 2019.  As with all of Broadway, the show closed during the COVID epidemic.  It reopened, and is still running on the Great White Way. 

At the 74th Tony Awards, MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL received a total of 14 nominations and won 10 awards (the most for the evening), including Best Musical.

“MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL is set in the Montmartre Quarter of Paris, France, during the Belle Epoque at the turn of the 20th century. The musical relates the story of Christian, a young composer, who falls in love with cabaret actress Satine, who is the star of the Moulin Rouge cabaret club, [‘where all your dreams come true’].  Similar to the film, the musical's score weaves together original songs with popular music, including songs that have been written in the 17 years since the film's premiere.”

The melodramatic sit-com story line relates how in 1899, Christian arrives in the Montmartre district of Paris from Ohio, where he meets bohemians Toulouse-Lautrec and Santiago, who are attempting to create a play with songs in it. The two are impressed by Christian's musical and songwriting talents and ask for help to get their work produced at the Moulin Rouge. The trio celebrates the Bohemian ideals of truth, beauty, freedom and love.”

The duo takes Christian to the Moulin Rouge.  At the same time, the money-motivated Duke of Monroth appears.  Both Christian and the Duke both instantly “fall in love” with Satine.  Christian’s, of course, is true love, while the Duke desires Satine as another beautiful possession.

From here the “you know how this is going to turn out tale” follows a course of constant rivalry for the love of Satine.  

A series of melodramatic turn of events, throws road blocks into the love tale, when not only does Satine contract consumption, but the Moulin's financial future is in doubt, and the question of whether BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, Christian’s musical will be a success.  

The tale wraps up when “Christian decides that without Satine's love, he will load a prop gun with real bullets and commit suicide on stage during the play's opening night. Meanwhile, Satine's illness dramatically worsens. Together, she and Toulouse stand up to the Duke, who leaves the Moulin Rouge before the performance begins. As Satine performs, Christian enters and asks her to face him as he turns the gun his way. Before he pulls the trigger, Satine sings their secret song, all at once saving his life and revealing to him that she loved him the entire time. After a final song together in which the two affirm their love one last time, Satine tells Christian to ‘tell our story,’ and dies in his arms.”

The Broadway production received mixed to positive reviews.  On one hand, statements like, "If you like splash, MOULIN ROUGE! is the show for you,” to "MOULIN ROUGE! may not have the depth of some of Broadway's great musicals... [but] it's fun, tuneful and entertaining.”  

The touring production, under the direction of Alex Timbers, with choreography by Sonya Tayeh, is high on spectacular scenic design, luxurious costumes, and flashy lighting effects.  It has high energy choreography.   The voices are good. Be aware that, as is often true of the State Theatre and its poor sound design and problematic acoustics, don’t expect to clearly hear the lyrics to the songs and the spoken words. 

The cast locals will see depends on when they attend.   Substitutions are common. 

Reviewer’s night saw Courtney Reed, who usually plays the role, sing and act effectively as Satine, with Christian Douglas nicely portraying Christian, while standing in for John Cardoza.  Denzel Tsopnang was evil-incarnate, while developing the role of the Duke of Monroth, usually played by Andrew Brewer.  

Worry not who plays the roles, these are all Equity actors, very capable of stepping into the parts.    

Capsule judgment: MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL is not a great musical, but it will entertain anyone who wants to escape from the real world for a couple of hours and allow the sets, costumes, choreography, singing, performances and melodramatic sit-com plot, carry you to escape to early 1900’s gay Paree.  Be ready for a dynamic curtain call!

MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL runs through July 2, 2023.  For tickets call 216-241-6000 or go on-line to playhousesquare.org

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG at CVLT is amateur theatre at its funny best

In 1923 there was THE TORCHBEARERS.  In 1982 the stage was filled with hysterical disasters during NOISES OFF.  Now there is THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, the zany Laurence Olivier Award winner.

 
All three farces are plays about plays in which everything that could go wrong on stage does, and then some!
 
Even before the performance officially starts, the audience quickly knows that things are not theater-normal.  
 
Members of the cast wander the stage, working on the set, and ask the audience to help them find a lost dog that is needed for the show, but has escaped from backstage.  A “member of the audience” is dragged up on stage to help mend a broken mantelpiece while techies try and repair pieces of shoddy scenery with masking tape.  Yes, this looks like a disaster in the making.

The “director” of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, tells us about the group.  He explains their financial problems and their productions of such economic-restricted stagings as JAMES AND THE PEACH (without the peach) and CATS (yes, without a cat).   
No wonder with their financial problems the set for THE MURDER AT HAVERSHAM MANOR, which we are about to see, looks like it is about to fall down.  (Woops, plot revelation alert!)

In the process of the production, doors jam, windows fall out, set pieces fall off, a platform collapses in a series of slow drops with members of the cast perched on it. Chaos reigns.  

There are line flubs, late entrances, cast members are knocked out by doors which are opened at the wrong time, misplaced props, missed cues, line repetitions, wrong liquids drunk, mispronunciations, cast substitutions mid-play, physical violence between actors and the eventual collapse of the entire set.  

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG opened on Broadway in April, 2017, following a long London run.  The play then moved off-Broadway in February of 2019 and is still running.

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG is farce at its highest level.  Shtick, prat-falls, fisticuffs, double-takes, thrown glass vases, and a swordfight complete with swords that break, are all included.  
 
Director Michael J. Rogan must have had a blast directing this and didn’t have to be concerned that he was directing an amateur cast.  It is a perfect show for amateur theatres, as really good acting would run the whole premise.

Oh, and then there is the dog.  Well, much as the rabbit in HARVEY, an imaginary dog who plays a vital role in the plot.  (Come on now, could I make this up?)

The cast, Julian Kruyne (Trevor), Christopher Bizub (Chris), Brandon Paul Ferris (Jonathan), Greg A. Smith (Robert), Kevin Derrick (Dennis), Laura Telepak (Sandra), Miron Gusso (Max) and Bekah Neubecker (Annie) form into a unit that plays off each other to create a symphony of hysteria.  

Kudos to the backstage crew, who actually make the whole thing work:  Victor Bernardo, David Bruney, Kaitlyn Hope Poschner, Sarah Dellinger and John Telepak.

Tom West not only designed a set that works perfectly, but must be a mechanical genius to have devised all the set disasters. 
 
Steven J. Madden choreographed some terrific stunts.
 
Capsule Judgment:  Like any farce, the quality of the ridiculousness is only as effective as the cast and director.  In the case of THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, all of the needed elements are present and laughter reigns.  Go! Laugh! Forget the angst of the world.  HAMLET this ain’t!
 
THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG runs through June 18, 2023 at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, followed by KINKY BOOTS from July 21-August 12, 2023.
 
For tickets call 440-247-8955.

Superlative script, expert directing and compelling acting make for spellbinding Beck production

DOUBT:  A PARABLE, which is now on stage at Beck Center for the Arts, won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play.  It ran for 525 performances in its Broadway run.  It was adapted into a much-heralded feature film.  The plot centers on the conflict between Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the head nun and principal of St. Nicholas School and Father Brendan Flynn.  She is a rigid, former married women, who has a strong sense of duty, formed by her very conservative principles, who seemingly glories because she terrifies both her students and faculty. He is articulate, personable, popular with the students as he is liberal and reaches out and befriends them.  The script, to some degree, is based on Shanley’s experiences as an Irish-American whose family lived in the Bronx district of New York City.   In his program bio for the Broadway production of DOUBT, the author, who was a NYU honors graduate, mentions that he was "thrown out of St. Helena's kindergarten, banned from St. Anthony's hot lunch program and expelled from Cardinal Spellman High School.”  He also indicates that he was heavily influenced by one of his first teachers, Sister Margaret McEntee, on whom he based the character of Sister James. The play is set in a fictional church school, in the Bronx, during the fall of 1964.  It opens with a sermon by Father Flynn, addressing the importance of uncertainty.  He states, "Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty."  Thus, he sets up not only the title of the play, but the major concept of the plot. Sister Aloysius, insists upon constant vigilance. During a meeting with a young nun, Sister James, Aloysius reveals a deep mistrust toward her students, her fellow teachers, and society in general. Naïve and impressionable, James is upset by Aloysius’s severe manner and harsh criticism and seems to question the negative evaluations that the older nun has given her over her joy of teaching, the love of her students, and creative educational methods. Aloysius and Father Flynn are put into direct conflict when she learns that the priest had a one-to-one befriending meeting with Donald Muller, St. Nicholas’s only African-American student.  Mysterious circumstances lead her to believe that sexual misconduct occurred.  In a private meeting, purportedly regarding the up-coming Christmas pageant Aloysius, in the presence of James, openly confronts Flynn with her suspicions. Flynn leaves the meeting quickly indicating that he has been ambushed! Flynn's next sermon is on the evils of gossip. Sister Aloysius meets with Donald's mother, Mrs. Muller.  Much to the Sister’s frustration, Mrs. Muller says she supports her son's relationship with Flynn.  Before departing, she hints that Donald may be “that way" which may cause her husband to be beating him. Conflicts between Flynn and Aloysius continue.  After a lie, inuendoes and accusations are exchanged, the play comes to a startling conclusion, leaving the audience with its own doubts.  Director Don Carrier, the play’s director states, “I saw the original production of DOUBT: A PARABLE a number of years ago and was taken by its ambivalence, suspense and element of mystery. The central question about truth and certainty is something we all experience. I hope our audience will experience that doubt as the play unfolds. Where does truth live?"   The Beck production is spell-binding.  The focused direction, quality of the acting and the technical aspects are all superb!   Derdriu Ring, one of our area’s finest actresses, is perfection.  The multi-Cleveland Critics Circle and Broadwayworld award winner, doesn’t act Sister Aloysius, she is the sister! Bravo!    Christopher Bohan, another Cleveland Critics and Broadwayworld award recipient, is compelling as Father Flynn. Another Bravo!   Gabriella O’Fallon perfectly underplays the roll of Sister James. The character’s doubts are created as reality.  The actress’s creation of the role is real!  Still another Bravo!   Tamara French, making her Cleveland debut on the Beck Center Stage, clearly shows, as her bio indicates, what “true grit and love means,” in her short, but fulcrum role as Mrs. Muller, a mother who will do anything to defend her son.  And, still another Bravo!   Jill Davis’s set, aided by Adam Ditzel’s lighting, moves the scenes along smoothly and develops all the right moods.  Angie Hayes’s sound design carries us perfectly from religious feelings to being out-of-doors.  Wow!   Capsule judgment: What a joy to attend a theatrical production which is based on a well-selected, thought-provoking script, that gets the highest quality of directing, acting and technical aspects.  There is no doubt that this is one of the best local theatrical experiences of this or any season!  Bravo!!!   DOUBT:  A PARABLE which runs in the Studio Theatre through June 25, 2003 at Beck Center, 17801 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood.  For tickets call 216-521-2540 or go to beckcenter.org   Up next at Beck:  ONCE ON THIS ISLAND (July 7-August 6).

 

 

WALKING TO BUCHENWALD gets better production than script deserves at Con-Con   Roy Berko (American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)   At the start of the opening night of BUCHENWALD, it appeared that no matter the quality of the script the audience was in for a rough night.  Lighting guffaws, a confusing scene with actors speaking directly to the audience, but talking to other actors seemingly miles apart, with no visual means of the messages being conveyed.  Not a healthy beginning.   Once they pulled out phones, and got into the swing of things, and the lighting-tech got their act together, the five-person cast did themselves proud, getting numerous laughs, while trying to convey Jacobson’s disjointed tale.   ​We meet lesbian lovers, Schiller and Arjay.  The duo decides to take Schiller’s parents on a trip to Europe.  The parents are uptight about travel, uptight about doing anything out of their comfort zone, are uptight about leaving their Oklahoma ways.  But, interestingly enough, they are, by self-admission, probably the only two liberal Democrats in the Okie state.   Schiller's dad, Roger, is eventually willing.  Arjay succeeds in convincing Mildred to join the three of them.  Once in London, then Paris, then Germany, near the site of the Buchenwald concentration camp, the foursome is confronted with comments about the incompetency of the U.S. political system, U.S. versus European food habits, the role of museums and other sociological issues. Sounds like this could expose very delightful, quirkier, and ridiculous situations and dialogue.  And, if Jacobson knew precisely what he was trying to accomplish, it probably could have been.   The writer and theatre try to pawn this script off as an intellectual approach to examine “cultural, national and gender identity, politics, marriage, death, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, life and death, all within an examination of if God exists.”  Is also probes “what it means to be a parent, a spouse, a child; what it feels like to be in a relationship with a partner who is your temperamental opposite; to be a liberal in a Red State; an American in a Trump-like western world; someone dying in a world obsessed with hollow positivity; and what it means to be a European shackled to an America teeming with reemerging nativism.  Jacobson doesn’t seek to determine who is to blame for anything. None of us is to blame. All of us are to blame. Blame God.”   Yep, all that “stuff” in a two-act-play.  With intermission.  Intermission is needed to give you time and breath while trying to crawl out from the avalanche of ideas the author is throwing at us.   As one review said, “BUCHENWALD lingers long after the final curtain, its puzzles working their way into your dreams.” (No, thank you!)   The positive are the performances!   John J. Polk and Nanna Ingvarsson seamlessly portray Schiller's parents Mildred and Roger and their respective character metamorphoses.  Ingvarsson begins as a complaining, former grade school teacher set in her ways.  But once in Europe, she blossoms into a vibrant purveyor of life, even while complaining that she isn’t given time in England to do genealogical research.  (Oh yeah, genealogical connections are another topic the writer loads into the script.  And, no, no-one finds they had relatives killed in Buchenwald, though that might have been a great plot twist, one that could be a possibility based on the title.) As a former theatre director, Polk spouts out Jacobson's most meta lines on the theatre scene. As the one with German ancestry, Roger transparently reveals his very mixed feelings on actually visiting the Buchenwald concentration camp. Emmy Cohen is right on target as Schiller, a somewhat obsessive young lady who thinks that having a comprehensive itinerary is the only way to have a good time and tour.  Arjay, as interpreted by the very competent Carolyn Todd, is the peacemaker between her girlfriend and herself as well as between Shiller and her parents.   John Peters plays a number of integral supporting roles trying valiantly to differentiate them all with different foreign accents and distinct body language.  Characters include a British tourist at the Darwin Centre, a French waiter upset over the ugly Americans not liking the food, a scary German truck driver, and a talking corpse in the Body Worlds Exhibition.  (Don’t even ask why that is included in the script. Capsule judgment:  Every once in a while a director and actors shine, while the script they are working with doesn’t really deserve to garner the quality.  This is the case of WALKING TO BUCHENWALD, the Tom Jacobson play now on stage at convergence-continuum.   WALKING TO BUCKENWALD runs Thursday-Saturday at 8PM, June 2-24, 2023​ at convergence-continuum, 2438 Scranton Road.  For tickets go to www.convergence-continuum.org.   Next up at con-con:  MOONRISE AFTER THE MOUNTAINS FALL, June 29-July 1, followed by EXIT PURSUED BY A BEAR from August 11-September 2.

THE LIGHT @ ENSEMBLE

 

Ensemble’s Cleveland premiere of THE LIGHT is theater at its finest!

 
Roy Berko
(American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)
 
Loy A. Webb’s THE LIGHT, which is now having its Cleveland area premiere at Ensemble Theater, introduces Rashad, a firefighter, and Genesis, a charter school principal, on what should be one of the happiest days of their lives.
 
Unfortunately, their joy quickly unravels when ground-shifting accusations from the past resurface asking, “Can their relationship survive the growing divide between them over who – and what – to believe? 
 
THE LIGHT is a reckoning that unfolds in real time and peels away the layers of truth, doubt, pain.  It implores, “is love enough?”

The play begins with a much-anticipated marriage proposal. But after an enthusiastic “Yes! Yes! reply to the proposal,” it swerves into darker terrain. It recalls a moment when a woman said, “no” and it wasn’t heard, or was ignored.

Language is important.  This play is a rom-com, a drama, as well as a tragedy. Do we have a word for that? Do we want one?

This is a tear-struck thesis play, proposing that, as Genesis says, “black women are at the bottom of virtually everything in society,” their labor undervalued, their hurt unrecognized. They deserve to be heard and seen and believed, not because they are someone’s wife or mother or daughter, but because they are human beings.”

The play is focused and creatively directed by Jeannine Gaskin, with intimacy direction by Julia Fisher.  The runway set, with the audience on each side of the stage, was attractively designed by Ian Hinz, who also did the light design.  (Sidenote:  holding the final light cue for a brief few more seconds would have added to the suspenseful ending.)

The two-person cast is superb.  Both Nicole Sumlin (Genesis) and Ananias J Dixon (Rashad)  give flawless, emotionally vulnerable performances.  Neither acts their characters, they live their personas.  Tempers are held in check and then explode.  Tears are held back and then flow.  Each is stoic and then totally vulnerable.  Bravo!  Bravo!  Bravo!  

CAPSULE JUDGMENT:  Every once in a while a theater-goer is blessed with an emotional and logical experience that lives for a long time in their being.  Such is THE LIGHT, Loy A. Webb’s searing must-see play that is having its Cleveland area premiere at Ensemble Theater.
 
THE LIGHT runs through June 11, 2023 at Ensemble Theatre, housed in the main academic building’s Performing Arts Center, at Notre Dame College.  There is free parking in the easily accessed lot at 4545 College Road (off Green Road), South Euclid.
 
For tickets call 216-321-2930 or go to www.ensembletheatrecle.org

Superlative touring DEAR EVAN HANSEN is an absolutely must see!

 

Rogers and Hammerstein’s “OKLAHOMA” ushered in the era of book-centric American musicals that have been designated as “musical comedies.”  The beginning, middle and ending structured stories normally contain singing, dancing, show stoppers, comedy, a few conflicts, and a satisfying ending, in a two-act format.

 
In the near recent-present, ushered in by “RENT” shows like “COME FROM AWAY,” “THE COLOR PURPLE” and “SPRING AWAKENING” have brought the genre to a new probing of sociological and psychological issues including schizophrenia, incest, rape, homosexuality and social responsibility, thus ushering in the format of the “musical drama.”  These scripts center on dramatic storytelling and less glitz, spectacle and contrived story lines.  They often contain some humor, but the emphasis is on realism and societal investigation.
 
“DEAR EVAN HANSEN,” now on stage at the Connor Palace, has to be ranked, along with “HAMILTON” and “NEXT TO NORMAL” in the top three of musicals of that genre.  It shines its spotlight on social anxiety, suicide, family angst, and teenage drug addiction as major plot issues.

The musical is loosely based on an incident that took place during the musical’s composer and lyricist Benj Pasek’s high school days, when a teenager invented an important role for himself, leading to credit that he did not earn and, therefore, did not deserve.

The show’s musical sound is that of pop-contemporary musical theatre, borrowing format elements from modern compositions.  It is art songs and narrative storytelling.  
 
This is not the style of Rogers and Hammerstein or Lerner and Loewe, but that of new voices, such writers as Jason Robert Brown (“PARADE” and “LAST FIVE YEARS”), Jonathan Larson (“RENT”), Lin-Manuel Miranda (“IN THE HEIGHTS” and “HAMILTON”), and Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (“NEXT TO NORMAL”).  Their music uses pop and rock to tell provocative, boundary-pushing stories.

The story of “DEAR EVAN HANSEN” centers on a teenager with social anxiety.  Upon the advice of his therapist, in order to expose himself to the positive parts of life, Evan writes letters to himself detailing what was “good” about each day.  

Besides Evan and his mother, Heidi, Jared, Evan’s only “friend,” and their attention-starved school-mate, Alana, the story-circle also includes Connor and Zoe Murphy and their parents, Larry and Cynthia. 

Conner is a troubled teenage drug-user, with anger management issues.   Zoe is the girl that Evan crushes on from afar.  In spite of their wealth, the Murphy family is in major crisis and appears to be falling apart due to parental conflicts and Conner’s drug and conduct issues. 
At school, one day, Connor makes fun of Evan’s awkwardness and knocks Evan to the ground.  Zoe apologizes for Connor’s actions. 
 
That same day Connor encounters Evan again, and unexpectedly offers to sign the cast on the boy’s broken arm.  Connor accidentally finds one of Evan's self-encouragement letters in the computer lab’s printer, reads it, becomes furious at the mention of Zoe, and storms out, taking the letter with him. 

Several days later Evan is called to the principal's office and told that Connor has committed suicide.  Evan’s letter was found in Connor’s pocket, but it is assumed to be Connor’s suicide note addressed to “his friend Evan,” since it started, “Dear Evan Hansen” and was signed “Me.” 

Evan is invited to the Murphy house to explain his supposed friendship with Connor.  Though he intends to "nod and confirm" to avoid making things worse, Evan, in a fit of panic, lies, pretending he and Connor had been best friends, emailing each other from a secret account. 

Thus, the story spins into a tale of humorous, but mainly angst-laden misinterpretations, a growing closeness of Evan and Zoe, an on-line fund raiser to honor Connor, growing conflict between Evan and his mother, and Evan admitting his lack of friendship with Connor.  
The emotional tale ends as Evan admits to finally being at peace with who he is.

“DEAR EVAN HANSEN,” which opened on Broadway in December 2016 to universal rave reviews, was nominated for nine Tony awards, and won six statues, including those for Best Musical and Best Score.

On March 12, 2020, the show suspended production due to the COVID pandemic.

Performances resumed on December 11, 2021. The show closed its Broadway run on September 18, 2022 after 1,678 regular performances.  The script will soon be released for local professional and then collegiate and community theatre performances.

Before that happens, and we are inundated with amateur productions of this fine script, the touring company, like the one now in CLE, will finish their professional runs.

The touring production is mesmerizing.  The quality of this tour, is everything that the Broadway version was.  The technical aspects and the quality of the performances are of the highest level!

From the opening number, “Anybody Have a Map?,” to Connor’s I want/am song, “Waving Through a Window,” to the emotion-draining “Requiem” and finally to the first act ending, the gut-wrenching “You Will Be Found,” which found many in the audience vocally sobbing, the show is an emotional roller-coaster.
 
The second act, though well done, is somewhat anti-climactic.  Part of the issue is that it lacks the humor and drama of the opening stanza.  Secondly, the pacing is slower, and finally, though the song “Finale” is affirming, much of the play’s final spoken speech, given by Coleen Sexton, as Evan’s mother, was lost in a low volume mumble.
 
Tiny, sensitive Anthony Norman, is spell-binding in his development of the socially inept Evan.  He visually has the weight of the world on his slender shoulders and pounding in his troubled head.  He gives his own spin to the role, totally immersing himself into the psyche of the ego-weak Evan.  He didn’t portray Evan, he was Evan!  He didn’t just sing songs, he presented meanings to the words of the score.  Bravo!
 
(Side notes:  Having seen Tony winner Ben Platt on Broadway as Evan, local audiences can be assured that Norman’s is his near-equal.)
 
The rest of the cast is equally strong.  August Emerson is angst-right as the conflicted, moody Connor. 
 
Pierce Wheeler is delightful as Jared Kleinman, the sex-obsessed, computer nerd, and Evan’s only friend.  
 
Micaela Lamas was properly self-centered as Alana.
 
As the adults, John Hemphill (Larry), Lili Thomas (Cynthia) and Coleen Sexton (Heidi) all nicely textured their roles.  
 
For the younger generation, the extensive use of newsfeed, and computer and I-phone communication, will illuminate “life-as-it-is.” Others might find the constant bombardment of visual stimulation to be over-load.  The changes aren’t a-comin’, they are here!  The growing use of computer-generated sets and special effects, like the contemporary musical sounds, is part of what makes for the modern musical drama.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: “DEAR EVAN HANSEN” is a mesmerizing evening of contemporary musical theater.  Complete with pop-contemporary music sounds, staged with narrative storytelling tunes, and a relevant story line, it is one of the finest examples of the new wave of musical dramas.  Don’t go expecting show-stoppers and an escapist plot.  This is life as it is being lived, with all its angst and issues.  The touring production, with choreography by Danny Mefford and direction by Michael Greif, is standing ovation worthy and is an absolutely must see!!  
 
“DEAR EVAN HANSEN” runs only May 21, 2023 through as part of the Huntington Featured Performance Series.  To purchase tickets, visit playhousesquare.org, call 216-241-6000 or go to www.playhousesquare.org
 

CLEVELAND THEATER CALENDAR—June-August, 2023

	Though it seems like it will never be here, there will be summer and the 216/440/330 theater scene will heat up.  Here’s a list of some of the offerings that are being staged.  SUPPORT LOCAL LIVE THEATER!   BECK CENTER  216-521-2540 or http://www.beckcenter.org 8 p.m. evenings, 3 p.m. matinees   DOUBT:  A PARABLE--May 26-June 25 (Studio Theatre)                   This Pulitzer Prize-winner for Drama draws one into an issue of suspicion in the query of a Catholic school in the Bronx in the 1960s. Principal Sister Aloysius’s suspicions about the relationship between a priest, Father Flynn, and a young male student will raise questions long after this play is over!   ONCE ON THIS ISLAND—July 7-August 6 (Senney Theater)             Tony Award-nominated musical in which a wise peasant girl on this tropical island uses the power of love and the beauty of acceptance to bring together very different people.             BLANK CANVAS 440-941-0458 or www.blankcanvastheatre.com   LIES ABOUT LOVE—June 9 & 10                   A unique intwining of poetry, music, images and dance on themes of love, loss, motherhood and the human struggle.   LEAP OF FAITH—June 30-July 15                   Based on the film of the same name, this musical follows an electrifying “Reverand” and con artist who finds himself in a small Kansas town.  He meets the sheriff and her son and love forces an ultimate cynic to take a leap of faith.   COMMA—July 28-30                   Cleveland native Jeff Glover’s play about good and bad decisions, beautiful and horrible miracles, and real or imagined love.   PETER AND THE STAR CATCHER—August 18-September 2                    Based on the Disney-Hyperion novel, the play features a dozen actors portraying more than 100 characters in discovering the Neverland we never knew.   CAIN PARK 216-371-3000 or http://www.cainpark.com Thursday-Saturday 7 pm, Sunday 2 pm   RENT—June 8-25                   The rock musical follows a year in the life of a group of young artists struggling to create and survive in New York’s Lower East Side under the shadow of poverty, social unrest, and the AIDS epidemic.  With universal themes of falling in love, finding one’s voice, and living for today, it teaches us to measure our lives in love.   FUN HOME—August 10-27                   Area premiere of Alison Bechdel’s groundbreaking graphic novel memoir of the same name, the musical explores the haunting pull of memory and its power to shape one’s identity.   CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE   216-241-6000 or go clevelandplayhouse.com 7:30 Wednesday-Saturday, 2:30 Saturday and Sunday   WATCHING BUTTERFLIES—JUNE 17-24                   Five children find themselves in a room. Why are they there? How did they get there? Can anyone get out? Who is a helper? Who is not? The children must rely upon their collective skills, talents, and experiences to find a way to health, safety, and understanding.  Inspired by and created in partnership with families in Cleveland.   ERMA BOMBECK:  AT WIT’S END—JULY 29-AUGUST 20 (Outcalt Theatre) Chronicles Ohioan, Erma Bombeck’s fascinating story, beginning in 1964 with the launch of her groundbreaking newspaper column through her emergence as America’s favorite mother.  Filled with Bombeck’s own wit and wisdom.   CLEVELAND SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL Free admission, except where noted.     For the past 25 years Cleveland Shakespeare Festival has delivered FREE and ACCESSIBLE theatrical productions directly to all of Northeast Ohio!    For plays, times and places go to http://www.cleveshakes.com   convergence continuum convergence-continuum.org or 216-687-0074 Thursday-Saturday @ 8   WALKING TO BUCHENWALD--June 2-24                   Using his personal experience as a jumping off point, playwright Tom Jacobson takes the audience on an ominously comic trip in which learn that the world no longer admires the U.S.   EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR—August 11-September 2                   A dark revengeful comedy in which two people are freed from their past.                     OHIO SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens (outdoor performances) Thursday-Sundays (6:00 gates open for picnicking, 7:30 Greenshow performance, 8 show begins) 714 N. Portage Path, Akron ohioshakespearefestival.com or 1-888-718-4253 opt.1   LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST--June 29-July 16                   Whimsical rom-com-meets-buddy-play.  Silly disguises, mistaken identities, a play-within-a-play, and all the favorite Shakespeare devises come together for a whimsical night under the stars.   TWELFTH NIGHT—July 27-August 13 Lady Viola is shipwrecked on the beaches of Ilyria. To protect herself in an unknown land, she pretends to be a boy and takes on a page’s role to Count Orsino.  Problem is: she falls madly in love with him. Add in some drunken uncles, fools, fops, and pirates, and you’ve got one of Shakespeare’s most perfect comedies.                                                                                                                                                                                  PLAYHOUSE SQUARE 216-241-6000 or go to www.playhousesquare.org.   BROADWAY BUZZ   Get the inside scoop on every KeyBank Broadway show from host Joe Garry one hour before each performance. Broadway Buzz Pre-Show Talks are held in the Upper Allen, accessible through the Allen Theatre lobby. Admission is free.   MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL--June 7-July 2, 2023 Enter a world of splendor and romance, of eye-popping excess, of glitz, grandeur, and glory! Baz Luhrmann's revolutionary film comes to life onstage, remixed in a new jukebox musical mash-up extravaganza. A celebration of Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and — above all — Love.   LATE NIGHT CATECHISM—JUNE 11                   The irrepressible Sister teaches a class to a roomful of "students." Throughout the course of the class the benevolent instructor rewards the "students" for correct answers with glow-in-the-dark rosaries and other nifty prizes. Naughty students may well find themselves on stage sitting in a corner reflecting their actions.  Be on the watch for flailing yardsticks.   COME FROM AWAY—July 25-28                   On 9/11, the world stopped. On 9/12, their stories moved us all. The true story, set to music, of 7,000 stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them. Cultures clashed and nerves ran high, but uneasiness turned into trust, music soared into the night, and gratitude grew into enduring friendships.    SIX THE MUSICAL—August 8-September 10 From Tudor Queens to Pop Princesses, the SIX wives of Henry VIII take the mic to remix five hundred years of historical heartbreak into an exuberant celebration of 21st-century girl power!   PORTHOUSE Blossom Music Center http://www.porthousetheatre.com or 330-929-4416 or 330-672-3884   A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM—JUNE 9-24                   One of the funniest musicals ever written, takes comedy back to its roots, combining 2000-year-old comedies of Roman playwright, Plautus, with the infectious energy of classic vaudeville. Comedy tonight!   THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES—June 30-July 15                   It’s 1958 at the Springfield High School prom. Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy and Suzy, four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their crinoline skirts learn about life love while serenading with classic ’50s hits including “Lollipop,” “Dream Lover,” and “Stupid Cupid.”    THE PROM—July 21-August 6                   Area premiere of a new hit musical, about inspiring people to accept their differences, becoming the star each person was meant to be, and there’s no business like getting in other people’s business.

 

KEN LUDWIG’S MORIARTY not one of CPH’s shining moments

 

Ken Ludwig is the crown king of writing modern farcical plays.     Ludwig and the Cleveland Play House seem to have a “thing” for each other.  He has had world premiere productions of his scripts A Comedy of Tenors (2015), The Games Afoot (2011) and Leading Ladies (2004) on CPH stages.  His KEN LUDWIG’S MORIARTY: A NEW SHERLOCK HOLMES ADVENTURE is now having its premiere on the Allen stage.   The public relations release from the Cleveland Play House states of the show, “Five actors play over 20 roles in this brand-new adventure that has danger—and laughter! —around every corner.”   The stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have been very popular as adaptations for the stage, and later film, and still later television.    A recent source lists over 25,000 Holmes-related productions and products. They include the original writings, "together with the translations of these tales into sixty-three languages, plus Braille and shorthand, the writings about the writings or higher criticism, writings about Sherlockians and their societies, memorials and memorabilia, games, puzzles and quizzes, phonograph records, audio and video tapes, compact discs, laser discs, ballets, films, musicals, operettas, oratorios, plays, radio and television programs, parodies and pastiches, children's books, cartoons, comics, and a multitude of other items — from advertisements to wine.”  Talk about a cottage industry!   Ken Ludwig’s professional theatre career started with his first Broadway play, LEND ME A TENOR in 1989 which was bannered in the New York Times as "one of the two great farces by a living writer.”  That play won three Tony Awards.   His second Broadway show CRAZY FOR YOU ran for over five years and won the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Laurence Olivier Awards as Best Musical.    Too bad A NEW SHERLOCK HOLMES AVENTURE isn’t going to add to that reputation.  It definitely is not of the quality of his very clever and humorous adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1902 novel THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES.   My review of that show stated, “CPH’s production, creatively directed by Brendon Fox, leaps over all the farcical barriers to create mayhem.  Sets zoom on and off stage, costumes morph from being one thing to being another, lighting and sound effects create mystery and intrigue.  The audience is taken on a silly overly dramatic journey as the intrepid investigators escape a dizzying web of clues, silly accents, disguises, and deceit. “    The story line for the NEW SHERLOCK HOLMES ADVENTURE centers on the investigation into the Bohemian king’s stolen letters and cascades into an international mystery filled with spies, blackmail, and intrigue.  Holmes and Watson join forces with American actress, Irene Adler, to take down criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty and his network of devious henchmen.   The overly obvious plot, the poorly developed humor, and poor directing, all add up to a rather boring sit.   The cast Jeffrey M. Bendere, Talley Gale, Nick Gaswirth (Dr. Watson), Olivia Gilliatt, and Christian Pedersen (Sherlock Holmes) try hard, but the slow pace, poorly designed sets, in which the same chairs never leave the stage and are shuttled around in attempts to try and create different settings, all just get in the way. The show isn’t helped by the lack of vocal projection by several of cast members.   Maybe the problem is Ludwig tried to duplicate what he has done before and the gimmicks seem repeats and miss the mark. Maybe it’s the lack of creative staging.  Maybe it’s the lack of dynamic technical works.     Whatever, this is not one of CPH’s shining moments!   Capsule judgement:   I wish I could say that the relationship of positive productions by CPH, Ludwig and Sherlock Holmes continue with their latest co-adventure.  Unfortunately, I can’t.  KEN LUDWIG’S MORIARTY: A NEW SHERLOCK HOLMES ADVENTURE is short on clever writing, adventure, humor, pace and enjoyment.  Too bad!   The show runs through May 21, 2023 in the Allen Theatre.  For tickets call 216-400-7000 or go to https://www.clevelandplayhouse.com/