John Patrick's comedy A Bad Year for Tomatoes is the Millbrook Community Players' current offering this season, playing to almost full houses, and entertaining audiences with the antics of eccentric characters & silly siutations.
Director Stephanie McGuire sensibly changes the script's setting from New England to "somewhere in the South" to accomodate the actors' natural Southern accents, ones which fit so well in the mouths of the local sheriff, bumbling simpleton, and town gossips. And, she has changed some references to actual events and off-stage celebrities to suit the new location in both place and time.
Myra Marlowe [Shea Jackson] is a well-known television actress noted for playing a "granny" on a popular sitcom, who escapes from Hollywood to "search for something real" in her life, winding up in the rural village of Beaver Haven where she believes she can remain incognito to plant tomatoes and write her memoirs. The only person who knows of the pretense is her long-time friend (and potential love-interest), Tom Lamont [John Chain], who swears to keep her secret, as she introduces herself to everyone by her real name, Myrtle Durdle.
No sooner has she arrived, however, than the locals descend on her from all points nearby in the small neighborhood. The "Hospitality Committee" is comprised of Cora Gump [Rae Ann Collier] and Reba Harper [Nancy Power], who proceed to interrupt virtually any sense of privacy. Though Reba often claims "I don't like to gossip...", hardly a word from her mouth is anything else...and Cora backs her up in warning Myrtle/Myra about Willa Mae Wilcox [Ginger Collum], a strange flamboyant person they call a witch among other things.
While the women continually intrude on Myrtle's attempts to dictate her memoirs, a local handyman named Piney [John Collier in a role he perfectly underplays] provides some of the best comic moments in the play as he speaks in monosyllables and takes everything literally while bargaining the cost of his handyman services, much to Myrtle's frustration.
In a desperate move, Myrtle invents a crazy sister named "Sis Sadie" who, if she escapes from her locked room upstairs, will wreak havoc in the community...and winds up disguising herself as "Sis Sadie" on several occasions in her attempts to be left alone.
The cliche-filled plot contrives to insinuate a murder has been committed when "Sis Sadie" mysteriously disappears, and the truth will be revealed through the intervention of a well-meaning Sheriff [Mark McGuire] only after a lot of confusion, accusations, and silliness.
It is too bad that all the action of the play is performed upstage of the proscenium curtain, distancing the actors from the audience; segues between scenes need to be tightened up to avoid long gaps of time in the dark; and more assured delivery of lines and characters will hopefully come in time...but the show is otherwise easy on the eyes and ears.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
WOBT: "The Complete Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged)"
Although any one of William Shakespeare's 37-or-so plays would take over three hours to perform in its entirety, in less than two hours, Prattville's Way Off Broadway Theatre is delighting their all-too-small audiences with a merry romp through all the plays [plus the 154 sonnets and other occasional poems by the Bard]: The Complete Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged).
Devised some years ago in England by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield -- who call themselves the R.S.C., the "Reduced Shakespeare Company", not to be confused with the Royal Shakespeare Company of Stratford-upon-Avon which they call the "other" Shakespeare Company -- this show has been entertaining audiences around the globe with its irreverent approach to Shakespeare's canon, and its topical references to whichever community where it is performed.
Though it helps to be familiar with Shakespeare's works, it is not a prerequisite to enjoyment of this piece...and if you ever get lost or feel out of place, one of the three energetic and self-effacing actors who play all the roles is there to guide you through.
First-time director Matthew Givens is fortunate in having three capable actors to bring this piece to life: veterans Joshua Diboll & Wes Milton have been performing in and around Montgomery for several years, and newcomer Kalonji Gilchrist demonstrates a good deal of talent to match (and spar) with them. -- Imagine, for example, the complete telling of Shakespeare's English History plays (about a dozen of them) as a football match in which the crown instead of a football is passed from one king to another while other characters are often "slaughtered" on the fields of battle.
Or witness Romeo & Juliet with Three Stooges and WWF references; or Shakespeare's most gruesome telling of Titus Andronicus [in which the bad-guys are killed and served to their mother in a pie] as a Southern Cooking TV Show; or Othello told as a very clever "rap"; or the Scottish play [never say the name Macbeth in a theatre because the play is "cursed"] in terrible Scottish accents...or: well, you get the picture.
Add to this some good-natured audience participation; plenty of cross-dressing [after all, someone has to play the women's roles, and in Shakespeare's theatre there were no actresses allowed on stage]; and Hamlet played three times in succession, each one briefer that the one before; several "ad-libs" and "takes" and "editorial asides" to the audience, and you have an enjoyable evening's entertainment, emerging with a knowledge of Shakespeare too.
These talented actors are to be commended. They have quite a physical workout in the two-hours' playing time, and they have entertained. Good show!
Devised some years ago in England by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield -- who call themselves the R.S.C., the "Reduced Shakespeare Company", not to be confused with the Royal Shakespeare Company of Stratford-upon-Avon which they call the "other" Shakespeare Company -- this show has been entertaining audiences around the globe with its irreverent approach to Shakespeare's canon, and its topical references to whichever community where it is performed.
Though it helps to be familiar with Shakespeare's works, it is not a prerequisite to enjoyment of this piece...and if you ever get lost or feel out of place, one of the three energetic and self-effacing actors who play all the roles is there to guide you through.
First-time director Matthew Givens is fortunate in having three capable actors to bring this piece to life: veterans Joshua Diboll & Wes Milton have been performing in and around Montgomery for several years, and newcomer Kalonji Gilchrist demonstrates a good deal of talent to match (and spar) with them. -- Imagine, for example, the complete telling of Shakespeare's English History plays (about a dozen of them) as a football match in which the crown instead of a football is passed from one king to another while other characters are often "slaughtered" on the fields of battle.
Or witness Romeo & Juliet with Three Stooges and WWF references; or Shakespeare's most gruesome telling of Titus Andronicus [in which the bad-guys are killed and served to their mother in a pie] as a Southern Cooking TV Show; or Othello told as a very clever "rap"; or the Scottish play [never say the name Macbeth in a theatre because the play is "cursed"] in terrible Scottish accents...or: well, you get the picture.
Add to this some good-natured audience participation; plenty of cross-dressing [after all, someone has to play the women's roles, and in Shakespeare's theatre there were no actresses allowed on stage]; and Hamlet played three times in succession, each one briefer that the one before; several "ad-libs" and "takes" and "editorial asides" to the audience, and you have an enjoyable evening's entertainment, emerging with a knowledge of Shakespeare too.
These talented actors are to be commended. They have quite a physical workout in the two-hours' playing time, and they have entertained. Good show!
Friday, September 9, 2011
AUM: Unseen
Hard on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Theatre AUM is producing the World Premier of Unseen by the university's Provost, Jeffery Scott Elwell. The play recounts the devastating effects of the death of one Roy Gibbons [Neil David Seibel] on his wife, sister, and young son...one of many a story that likely unfolded in thousands of households here and abroad.
Montgomery is hosting several tributes and observations memorializing the 9/11 victims, and this study of its impact on an ordinary family caught up in bureaucratic insensitivity and psychological therapy is effective in its treatment of events and issues that continue to haunt us.
At its opening, a powerful slide-show of the construction of the World Trade Center Towers culminating in photos of the September 11th attacks had the audience in rapt attention; at its end, Mike Winkelman's set was revealed: an arrangement of platforms depicting the play's various locations placed amidst the grey-ash rubble with iconic skeletal frames at the rear...and the audience response was a visceral intake of breath.
Director Val Winkelman handles Elwell's episodic structure by finessing the breaks between scenes with La'Brandon Tyre's effective sound scoring. -- With hardly a sustained scene in it, the cinematic storytelling relies on moments that connect us to the lives and conflicts of its individual characters.
Young Roy "Junior" Gibbons [AUM freshman Nik Smith] "sees" his father at a memorial service, despite the fact that Roy Senior's body has not yet been found after the collapse of the building where he worked. Convinced that his father is still alive [though no one else can see him] Junior's insistence concerns his mother Helen [Sarah Worley] and sister-in-law Susan [Alicia Fry], beginning a series of sessions with a psychiatrist [Michael Krek] for both the boy and later his mother.
Roy and Junior each need one another, and their lives are unsettled. Roy can not rest nor completely die while someone believes he lives, and his son relies so heavily on his father's presence that he can not accept his death.
Compounding the immediate issue of grieving is the bureaucratic handling of insurance claims by an Investigator [Daniel Brown], who, though not completely lacking in compassion when he hears of Junior's absolute conviction of his father being alive, delays the insurance process till Roy's death can be verified.
Elwell's script is a work in progress that evokes the time and various understandable human responses & reactions to the catastrophic events of 9/11. Lacking some concrete details of the lives and relationships among its characters, we are given a touching picture that could draw us in more with fleshing out these elements and extending scenes to develop them.
The AUM ensemble actors are credible in their portrayals under Ms. Winkelman's tutelage, and there are some especially effective moments when hardly a word is spoken or needed.
Newcomer Nik Smith is particularly convincing as Junior, capturing many of a budding-teenager's vocal & physical behaviors. Ms. Worley's depiction of the distressed wife & mother shifts gears from concern to grief believably, though she often speaks very quickly and softly, rendering her words almost inaudible. Mr. Krek's psychiatrist mixes the script's gentle humor with a professional demeanor meant to soothe or at least not disturb his patients. And Mr. Seibel lends a comfort to his role that is an admirable lesson for the student actors.
Fitting so well into this week's commemorations, AUM's Unseen might also have a life of its own afterwards.
Montgomery is hosting several tributes and observations memorializing the 9/11 victims, and this study of its impact on an ordinary family caught up in bureaucratic insensitivity and psychological therapy is effective in its treatment of events and issues that continue to haunt us.
At its opening, a powerful slide-show of the construction of the World Trade Center Towers culminating in photos of the September 11th attacks had the audience in rapt attention; at its end, Mike Winkelman's set was revealed: an arrangement of platforms depicting the play's various locations placed amidst the grey-ash rubble with iconic skeletal frames at the rear...and the audience response was a visceral intake of breath.
Director Val Winkelman handles Elwell's episodic structure by finessing the breaks between scenes with La'Brandon Tyre's effective sound scoring. -- With hardly a sustained scene in it, the cinematic storytelling relies on moments that connect us to the lives and conflicts of its individual characters.
Young Roy "Junior" Gibbons [AUM freshman Nik Smith] "sees" his father at a memorial service, despite the fact that Roy Senior's body has not yet been found after the collapse of the building where he worked. Convinced that his father is still alive [though no one else can see him] Junior's insistence concerns his mother Helen [Sarah Worley] and sister-in-law Susan [Alicia Fry], beginning a series of sessions with a psychiatrist [Michael Krek] for both the boy and later his mother.
Roy and Junior each need one another, and their lives are unsettled. Roy can not rest nor completely die while someone believes he lives, and his son relies so heavily on his father's presence that he can not accept his death.
Compounding the immediate issue of grieving is the bureaucratic handling of insurance claims by an Investigator [Daniel Brown], who, though not completely lacking in compassion when he hears of Junior's absolute conviction of his father being alive, delays the insurance process till Roy's death can be verified.
Elwell's script is a work in progress that evokes the time and various understandable human responses & reactions to the catastrophic events of 9/11. Lacking some concrete details of the lives and relationships among its characters, we are given a touching picture that could draw us in more with fleshing out these elements and extending scenes to develop them.
The AUM ensemble actors are credible in their portrayals under Ms. Winkelman's tutelage, and there are some especially effective moments when hardly a word is spoken or needed.
Newcomer Nik Smith is particularly convincing as Junior, capturing many of a budding-teenager's vocal & physical behaviors. Ms. Worley's depiction of the distressed wife & mother shifts gears from concern to grief believably, though she often speaks very quickly and softly, rendering her words almost inaudible. Mr. Krek's psychiatrist mixes the script's gentle humor with a professional demeanor meant to soothe or at least not disturb his patients. And Mr. Seibel lends a comfort to his role that is an admirable lesson for the student actors.
Fitting so well into this week's commemorations, AUM's Unseen might also have a life of its own afterwards.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Millbrook: "Sister Robert Anne's Cabaret Class"
Showing for too-few nights, the Millbrook Community Players are showcasing the talents of Brooke Brown in a one-woman musical show, Sister Robert Anne's Cabaret Class, the latest in the cottage industry Nunsense productions. Accompanied on the piano by Katy Gerlach as Sister Mary Katherine, Ms. Brown's Sister Robert Anne takes us on a one-and-a-half hour ride that capitalizes on her strong singing voice and capable comic delivery.
Brooklyn born and street smart, Sister Robert Anne storms onto the stage, clicker and notecards in hand, to teach her students [us, the audience] how to put together a cabaret act, mixing this extended monologue with several songs and reminiscences of her past juvenile delinquent behavior & salvation from it at a strict Catholic school.
Dressed in a familiar black & white habit, though with colorful sneakers on her feet and a number of simple props to create moods or characters, Ms. Brown owns the stage and commands our attention -- this is done by direct address to us and frequent audience participation moments that audience members good-naturedly joined.
Though it might seem a strange vocation for this pugnacious Sister, her attitude is best expressed in Act II when Sister Robert Anne says: "If you love what you're doin' the payoff is great." -- And Ms. Brown clearly loves what she's doin'. She relishes in impersonating Bette Davis and Ethel Merman, admires Elvis, and knows that there are several ways to "become a star" -- the convent being somewhat unconventional, but with a payoff.
When she lets us in on some "confidential" [and possibly risque] editorializing or advice, Ms. Brown's quick aside comments are punctuated by knowing looks and an animated face, letting us in on secrets with a shrug or a wink & a smile. In short, we like her because she is just like us. And she can sure belt out a song, making the body microphone almost superfluous.
There are several "in" jokes from film and theatre that are delivered so quickly we hardly have time to register them, but just as in any class, we are meant to pay attention.
On a technical note: the lighting kept Ms. Brown in shadow for much of the performance; simple adjustments to the aim & focus of the instruments would let this talented actress be seen to best advantage.
There are only a few performances of this good-natured production, and the Millbrook Community Players are also dishing up a tasty buffet dinner with the show.
Brooklyn born and street smart, Sister Robert Anne storms onto the stage, clicker and notecards in hand, to teach her students [us, the audience] how to put together a cabaret act, mixing this extended monologue with several songs and reminiscences of her past juvenile delinquent behavior & salvation from it at a strict Catholic school.
Dressed in a familiar black & white habit, though with colorful sneakers on her feet and a number of simple props to create moods or characters, Ms. Brown owns the stage and commands our attention -- this is done by direct address to us and frequent audience participation moments that audience members good-naturedly joined.
Though it might seem a strange vocation for this pugnacious Sister, her attitude is best expressed in Act II when Sister Robert Anne says: "If you love what you're doin' the payoff is great." -- And Ms. Brown clearly loves what she's doin'. She relishes in impersonating Bette Davis and Ethel Merman, admires Elvis, and knows that there are several ways to "become a star" -- the convent being somewhat unconventional, but with a payoff.
When she lets us in on some "confidential" [and possibly risque] editorializing or advice, Ms. Brown's quick aside comments are punctuated by knowing looks and an animated face, letting us in on secrets with a shrug or a wink & a smile. In short, we like her because she is just like us. And she can sure belt out a song, making the body microphone almost superfluous.
There are several "in" jokes from film and theatre that are delivered so quickly we hardly have time to register them, but just as in any class, we are meant to pay attention.
On a technical note: the lighting kept Ms. Brown in shadow for much of the performance; simple adjustments to the aim & focus of the instruments would let this talented actress be seen to best advantage.
There are only a few performances of this good-natured production, and the Millbrook Community Players are also dishing up a tasty buffet dinner with the show.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Faulkner: "Smokey Joe's Cafe"
It's cool! It's hip! It's the Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller musical revue, Smokey Joe's Cafe...and, it's the best family entertainment in town that serves as a refreshing antidote to the sweltering weather in the dog-days of summer.
Directed by Angela Dickson, with musical direction by Marilyn Swears and her excellent 4-piece rock & roll band, and Kari Gatlin's creative choreography, Faulkner University dishes up an impressive musical entertainment that showcases the triple-threat cast's energetic talents in acting, singing, and dancing.
Taking us back to the 1950s -- the good old days celebrating romantic love in its various guises -- the play begins & ends with an invitation to the audience to "come back to the old neighborhood" and value the comraderie that allows us to honestly assess the present from the experiences of the past. -- Though there is no plot to speak of, the 40-or-so songs celebrate the inherent goodness in all of us.
It's non-stop entertainment all the way that keeps the audience engaged in familiar and not-so-familiar songs of the period [some like "Loving You" and "Hound Dog" made famous by Elvis Presley]. -- Too bad there were some unfortunate microphone glitches and some all-too-demure costume adjustments that drew attention to themselves and spoiled the otherwise authentic period look that costumer Emily Martin had established so well with her choices of evening gowns & tuxedos, and 1950s-era jackets & hats.
It took a couple of numbers to get the right rhythm to the evening, but when Kristi Rowan Humphreys took the stage with "Dance With Me" along with Michael Williams and the soon to be showcased male quartet [Tony Davidson, Matt Dickson, Eric McIntire, and Chase McMichen whose four-part harmony was spot-on], the show took off and never stopped. -- The quartet was featured several times in Act I -- "Keep On Rollin'", "Searchin'", "Poison Ivy", and "On Broadway", and as a quintet in Act II with Mr. Williams in "Little Egypt" (hugely funny), "There Goes My Baby", and "Love Potion #9 (Mr. McMichen at his comic best).
The women [Alyssa Boyd, Brittney Johnston, and Bethany Telehany joined Ms. Humphreys] too had ample talents to demonstrate in their quartet numbers: "Neighborhood", and especially their anthem to women's lib, "I'm A Woman", that brought the house down.
There are some high quality individual singing voices here that also blend well in duets, quartets, and ensemble singing. -- Whether in the effervescent "Trouble" performed with a lot of class by Ms. Telehany and Ms. Boyd, or a touching rendition of "Love Me/Don't" by Mr. McMichen and Ms. Johnston, or the sophisticated "You're the Boss" by Ms. Boyd and Mr. McIntire (whose comfortable bass voice complimented so many of the songs in the show), or Mr. Dickson's tender "Loving You" with a back-up chorus, the clever comic combining of Mr. Davidson's "Treat Me Nice" with Ms. Humphreys' response in "Hound Dog", and the comical ensemble "D. W. Washburn" that segued into a rousing evangelical rendering of "Saved" led by Ms. Humphreys, they gave constantly changing moods and interpretations to these numbers.
Solos allowed cast members to demonstrate a significant range too: Ms. Telehany's "Falling" featured her clear soprano; Ms. Johnston's passionate and deeply felt version of "Pearl's A Singer" was heartbreakingly good; Ms. Boyd's seductive temptress singing "Don Juan" was a delight; Mr. Davidson's amazingly strong falsetto rendering of unrequited love in "I (Who Have Nothing)"; and Ms. Humphrey's riveting version of "Fools Fall In Love" which was the simplest and single most compelling presentation of the night that allowed us into the inner life of the person.
An unexpected treat featured the band in "Some Cats Know", Ms. Swears' confident piano complimented in this bluesy number by Andrew Cook's smooth & enticing saxophone, percussion riffs by Trey Holladay, and laid-back bass provided by Mark Roberson.
Ms. Dickson and her entire company deserved the enthusiastic standing ovation they received. By the evening's end, we had all been affected by the production's good nature, its sensitive treatment of love & relationships, and the energy & enthusiasm of its talented cast. It's nice to exit the theatre feeling good. Would that there were more such high-quality guileless entertainments around.
Directed by Angela Dickson, with musical direction by Marilyn Swears and her excellent 4-piece rock & roll band, and Kari Gatlin's creative choreography, Faulkner University dishes up an impressive musical entertainment that showcases the triple-threat cast's energetic talents in acting, singing, and dancing.
Taking us back to the 1950s -- the good old days celebrating romantic love in its various guises -- the play begins & ends with an invitation to the audience to "come back to the old neighborhood" and value the comraderie that allows us to honestly assess the present from the experiences of the past. -- Though there is no plot to speak of, the 40-or-so songs celebrate the inherent goodness in all of us.
It's non-stop entertainment all the way that keeps the audience engaged in familiar and not-so-familiar songs of the period [some like "Loving You" and "Hound Dog" made famous by Elvis Presley]. -- Too bad there were some unfortunate microphone glitches and some all-too-demure costume adjustments that drew attention to themselves and spoiled the otherwise authentic period look that costumer Emily Martin had established so well with her choices of evening gowns & tuxedos, and 1950s-era jackets & hats.
It took a couple of numbers to get the right rhythm to the evening, but when Kristi Rowan Humphreys took the stage with "Dance With Me" along with Michael Williams and the soon to be showcased male quartet [Tony Davidson, Matt Dickson, Eric McIntire, and Chase McMichen whose four-part harmony was spot-on], the show took off and never stopped. -- The quartet was featured several times in Act I -- "Keep On Rollin'", "Searchin'", "Poison Ivy", and "On Broadway", and as a quintet in Act II with Mr. Williams in "Little Egypt" (hugely funny), "There Goes My Baby", and "Love Potion #9 (Mr. McMichen at his comic best).
The women [Alyssa Boyd, Brittney Johnston, and Bethany Telehany joined Ms. Humphreys] too had ample talents to demonstrate in their quartet numbers: "Neighborhood", and especially their anthem to women's lib, "I'm A Woman", that brought the house down.
There are some high quality individual singing voices here that also blend well in duets, quartets, and ensemble singing. -- Whether in the effervescent "Trouble" performed with a lot of class by Ms. Telehany and Ms. Boyd, or a touching rendition of "Love Me/Don't" by Mr. McMichen and Ms. Johnston, or the sophisticated "You're the Boss" by Ms. Boyd and Mr. McIntire (whose comfortable bass voice complimented so many of the songs in the show), or Mr. Dickson's tender "Loving You" with a back-up chorus, the clever comic combining of Mr. Davidson's "Treat Me Nice" with Ms. Humphreys' response in "Hound Dog", and the comical ensemble "D. W. Washburn" that segued into a rousing evangelical rendering of "Saved" led by Ms. Humphreys, they gave constantly changing moods and interpretations to these numbers.
Solos allowed cast members to demonstrate a significant range too: Ms. Telehany's "Falling" featured her clear soprano; Ms. Johnston's passionate and deeply felt version of "Pearl's A Singer" was heartbreakingly good; Ms. Boyd's seductive temptress singing "Don Juan" was a delight; Mr. Davidson's amazingly strong falsetto rendering of unrequited love in "I (Who Have Nothing)"; and Ms. Humphrey's riveting version of "Fools Fall In Love" which was the simplest and single most compelling presentation of the night that allowed us into the inner life of the person.
An unexpected treat featured the band in "Some Cats Know", Ms. Swears' confident piano complimented in this bluesy number by Andrew Cook's smooth & enticing saxophone, percussion riffs by Trey Holladay, and laid-back bass provided by Mark Roberson.
Ms. Dickson and her entire company deserved the enthusiastic standing ovation they received. By the evening's end, we had all been affected by the production's good nature, its sensitive treatment of love & relationships, and the energy & enthusiasm of its talented cast. It's nice to exit the theatre feeling good. Would that there were more such high-quality guileless entertainments around.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Red Door: "The Exact Center of the Universe"
Denise Gabriel has returned to the Red Door Theatre in Union Springs to direct her second Summer production. and brought two recent graduates from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro where she teaches to enhance a local production of Joan Vail Thorne's Southern-themed provocative comedy, The Exact Center of the Universe.
What at first glance is yet another in the popular genre of plays about strong Southern women [Steel Magnolias, et al.], Ms. Gabriel's firm hand and respect for Thorne's script prevent it from a dependance on predictable and stereotypical characters and situations. Only occasionally do her talented actors over-indulge and drop character -- perhaps to the delight of the local audience, but at the expense of otherwise truthful characterizations that would earn the laughs nonetheless. -- Performances are individually distinct and credible, each actor contributing to the ensemble with confidence and security in their roles.
In its two acts set in the 1950s and 1960s, Vada Love Powell [Betty Hubbard] is the self-appointed doyenne of the town, on first appearance a "powerful force" and stalwart defender of traditional values and good taste who takes the moral high-ground in her pronouncements, and whose authority has never been challenged -- especially by her son Appleton "Apple" [Stephen Spencer], who also serves as the narrator of the piece [with a nod to Tom Wingfield in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie].
She has smothered her son for all of his adult life, especially after the death of her husband, Mr. Powell, also played by Mr. Spencer, in dream-like sequences brought on by Veda's weak heart.
Living as she does in self-imposed isolation from the world's diversity [race, religion, etc.] that she chooses to ignore and presumes inferior, she seems impervious to change and ignorant of her own prejudices. As one character says, if "you live a lie long enough, you grow into it." -- Backing her up are Enid [Kim Graham] and Marybell [Janet Wilkerson] other members of her coven who gossip regularly in Enid's tree house while playing canasta, drinking tea and sherry, and consuming sweets, and whose down-home philosophy provides a clever commentary on the main action.
At the beginning of the play, Veda interrogates a young woman she presumes to be Apple's sweetheart Mary Ann [Kaleigh Malloy], only to find out she is Mary Lou, her identical twin, when Apple phones to tell his mother that he and Mary Ann are married. Coming as she does literally from the wrong side of the tracks [Mary Ann is also a Catholic from Italian extraction], Veda's control has been thwarted, bringing on a cycle of mistrust, fear, and regret. Veda is used to getting her own way, and everyone defers to her will, though she begrudgingly accepts her son's marriage.
Act II occurs ten years later, when Apple and Mary Ann have settled in town and produced children, with a kind of detente agreed with Veda. Mary Lou and Veda have become confidantes, perhaps because Mary Lou's excursions to exotic places intrigue Veda; but some of Mary Lou's explicit photographs of indigenous people are deemed "dirty" by Veda and therefore unfit for her grandchildren. -- Though she insists that she never "interferes", rather "intervenes", she oversteps the boundaries of parental authority, bringing outrage from Apple and Mary Ann's finally standing up to her mother-in-law.
Safely set in the not-too-distant past when [accurately or not] life was better and right & wrong absolutes were agreed, one can not help but notice the resonance of the play's themes on today -- when certain elements of our society take their opponents hostage and presume to impose their personal version of morality and right living on everyone regardless of the diversity that enhances understanding and tolerance.
Lessons can be learned from this production of The Exact Center of the Universe which unfortunately had only three performances. Perhaps the Red Door might re-think its one-weekend-only performance schedule so more people might experience productions of this caliber.
What at first glance is yet another in the popular genre of plays about strong Southern women [Steel Magnolias, et al.], Ms. Gabriel's firm hand and respect for Thorne's script prevent it from a dependance on predictable and stereotypical characters and situations. Only occasionally do her talented actors over-indulge and drop character -- perhaps to the delight of the local audience, but at the expense of otherwise truthful characterizations that would earn the laughs nonetheless. -- Performances are individually distinct and credible, each actor contributing to the ensemble with confidence and security in their roles.
In its two acts set in the 1950s and 1960s, Vada Love Powell [Betty Hubbard] is the self-appointed doyenne of the town, on first appearance a "powerful force" and stalwart defender of traditional values and good taste who takes the moral high-ground in her pronouncements, and whose authority has never been challenged -- especially by her son Appleton "Apple" [Stephen Spencer], who also serves as the narrator of the piece [with a nod to Tom Wingfield in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie].
She has smothered her son for all of his adult life, especially after the death of her husband, Mr. Powell, also played by Mr. Spencer, in dream-like sequences brought on by Veda's weak heart.
Living as she does in self-imposed isolation from the world's diversity [race, religion, etc.] that she chooses to ignore and presumes inferior, she seems impervious to change and ignorant of her own prejudices. As one character says, if "you live a lie long enough, you grow into it." -- Backing her up are Enid [Kim Graham] and Marybell [Janet Wilkerson] other members of her coven who gossip regularly in Enid's tree house while playing canasta, drinking tea and sherry, and consuming sweets, and whose down-home philosophy provides a clever commentary on the main action.
At the beginning of the play, Veda interrogates a young woman she presumes to be Apple's sweetheart Mary Ann [Kaleigh Malloy], only to find out she is Mary Lou, her identical twin, when Apple phones to tell his mother that he and Mary Ann are married. Coming as she does literally from the wrong side of the tracks [Mary Ann is also a Catholic from Italian extraction], Veda's control has been thwarted, bringing on a cycle of mistrust, fear, and regret. Veda is used to getting her own way, and everyone defers to her will, though she begrudgingly accepts her son's marriage.
Act II occurs ten years later, when Apple and Mary Ann have settled in town and produced children, with a kind of detente agreed with Veda. Mary Lou and Veda have become confidantes, perhaps because Mary Lou's excursions to exotic places intrigue Veda; but some of Mary Lou's explicit photographs of indigenous people are deemed "dirty" by Veda and therefore unfit for her grandchildren. -- Though she insists that she never "interferes", rather "intervenes", she oversteps the boundaries of parental authority, bringing outrage from Apple and Mary Ann's finally standing up to her mother-in-law.
Safely set in the not-too-distant past when [accurately or not] life was better and right & wrong absolutes were agreed, one can not help but notice the resonance of the play's themes on today -- when certain elements of our society take their opponents hostage and presume to impose their personal version of morality and right living on everyone regardless of the diversity that enhances understanding and tolerance.
Lessons can be learned from this production of The Exact Center of the Universe which unfortunately had only three performances. Perhaps the Red Door might re-think its one-weekend-only performance schedule so more people might experience productions of this caliber.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Wetumpka Depot: "All Shook Up"
Fresh from representing the Southeastern United States at the "American Association of Community Theatres" National Festival in Rochester, NY with their highly praised production of Second Samuel, the Wetumpka Depot Players are currently showing All Shook Up, a lighthearted tribute to Elvis Presley, with nods to William Shakespeare [see: Romeo & Juliet, Twelfth Night, and As You Like It], John Waters' Hairspray, Mel Brooks' The Producers, tv's Happy Days, Grease, and every 1950s Rock & Roll romance.
With a limited Broadway success a few years ago, Joe DiPietro's script weaves some 25 songs made famous by "the King" into a pleasantly diverting entertainment.
Director Kristy Meanor deftly guides her 10 principal characters and large ensemble cast through the play's 19 scenes over 2 acts, that tell the story of Chad [Bradley Moon], a motorcycle-riding roustabout lady-killer [who breaks into song at the drop of a comb], and his impact on a small town.
Though he captures the hearts of virtually every young woman in the town, the most smitten is Natalie [Sarah Eckermann], a grease-monkey in her father Jim's [Tom Salter] garage, who resorts to disguising herself as a man she calls "Ed" in order to become Chad's trusted sidekick.
Natalie has another suitor in Dennis [Jeff Langham's comic timing helps him turn in a heartbreakingly funny characterization of a loveable "innocent" whose eventual blossoming garners cheers from the audience].
And her disguise and essential goodness make 'her/him' attractive to Sandra [Sonjha Cannon], a seductive Amazon who owns a local museum, and provokes one of a number of gender-confused relationships -- another one when Chad reluctantly and awkwardly falls for "Ed".
Chad influences the men in town too. Dennis and Jim both emulate his biker swagger and black leather costume, helping make them attractive respectively to Sandra and Sylvia [Shelley Williams -- the no-nonsense African-American proprietor of a local honky-tonk].
When Sylvia's daughter Lorraine [newcomer Taylor Finch is one to watch] falls for Dean [Matthew Walter], the son of the mayor Matilda [Sally Blackwell], whose self-righteous bullying makes her a character we love to hate, the more serious overtones on interracial marriage come to the fore through these likeable teenagers' adolescent yearnings.
Key to all this is DiPietro's clever use of Elvis' songs [all performed without microphones] to develop character and further the plot, whether to establish Chad's rebellious nature with "Jailhouse Rock", or Dennis' true feelings with "It Hurts Me", or Sylvia's passionate rendering of "There's Always Me", or to encourage Natalie with "Follow That Dream", or for Dean and Lorraine to risk social censure with "It's Now Or Never", or just fine ensemble singing of "Can't Help Falling In Love".
And it is to everyone's credit that these recognizable archetypes take on a degree of truthfulness that allows us to connect with their frustrations, challenges, and honest emotions.
Central to it all is Chad, and here Mr. Moon has found his "inner Elvis", his dark good looks, self-assured manner, swivelling hips, and confidently strong singing make his performance a stand-out; yet, he is also very much an ensemble actor who shares the stage attention generously with the rest of this talented company.
With a limited Broadway success a few years ago, Joe DiPietro's script weaves some 25 songs made famous by "the King" into a pleasantly diverting entertainment.
Director Kristy Meanor deftly guides her 10 principal characters and large ensemble cast through the play's 19 scenes over 2 acts, that tell the story of Chad [Bradley Moon], a motorcycle-riding roustabout lady-killer [who breaks into song at the drop of a comb], and his impact on a small town.
Though he captures the hearts of virtually every young woman in the town, the most smitten is Natalie [Sarah Eckermann], a grease-monkey in her father Jim's [Tom Salter] garage, who resorts to disguising herself as a man she calls "Ed" in order to become Chad's trusted sidekick.
Natalie has another suitor in Dennis [Jeff Langham's comic timing helps him turn in a heartbreakingly funny characterization of a loveable "innocent" whose eventual blossoming garners cheers from the audience].
And her disguise and essential goodness make 'her/him' attractive to Sandra [Sonjha Cannon], a seductive Amazon who owns a local museum, and provokes one of a number of gender-confused relationships -- another one when Chad reluctantly and awkwardly falls for "Ed".
Chad influences the men in town too. Dennis and Jim both emulate his biker swagger and black leather costume, helping make them attractive respectively to Sandra and Sylvia [Shelley Williams -- the no-nonsense African-American proprietor of a local honky-tonk].
When Sylvia's daughter Lorraine [newcomer Taylor Finch is one to watch] falls for Dean [Matthew Walter], the son of the mayor Matilda [Sally Blackwell], whose self-righteous bullying makes her a character we love to hate, the more serious overtones on interracial marriage come to the fore through these likeable teenagers' adolescent yearnings.
Key to all this is DiPietro's clever use of Elvis' songs [all performed without microphones] to develop character and further the plot, whether to establish Chad's rebellious nature with "Jailhouse Rock", or Dennis' true feelings with "It Hurts Me", or Sylvia's passionate rendering of "There's Always Me", or to encourage Natalie with "Follow That Dream", or for Dean and Lorraine to risk social censure with "It's Now Or Never", or just fine ensemble singing of "Can't Help Falling In Love".
And it is to everyone's credit that these recognizable archetypes take on a degree of truthfulness that allows us to connect with their frustrations, challenges, and honest emotions.
Central to it all is Chad, and here Mr. Moon has found his "inner Elvis", his dark good looks, self-assured manner, swivelling hips, and confidently strong singing make his performance a stand-out; yet, he is also very much an ensemble actor who shares the stage attention generously with the rest of this talented company.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)