The show must go on! --- Faulkner University's production of the popular comedy Steel Magnolias certainly followed this hallowed dictum on Friday night. With one cast member down with the flu after the opening performance, and her replacement called away on a family emergency less than 30-minutes before show time, veteran Faulkner actor Kari Gatlin took the stage book-in-hand, and with generous support from fellow actors and backstage crew, kept the show alive for its sold out audience.
Ms. Gatlin played Clairee, a wealthy and wise-cracking matron in a small Louisiana town who, along with several other women, meets regularly at Truvy's [Brooke Brown] beauty parlor to get their hair done, to gossip, and to find refuge from their men. The shop, on Jason Clark South's detailed naturalistic set, is a woman's domain where no self-respecting man would dare to enter, and where the women literally and figuratively let their hair down.
Playwright Robert Harling created this comic gem in 1987, and his insightful rendering of women's relationships and Southern attitudes have not lost their apeal.
Under Mr. South's able direction, Faulkner's six veteran actresses create a fine ensemble where no one character dominates; yet each one emerges as a distinct personality we all recognize from life around us.
Familiar from its many professional and amateur productions in and around Montgomery, as well as from its popular but flawed film version, Steel Magnolias lets us into the intimate lives of these women who meet regularly at Truvy's where a sign proclaiming "There is no such thing as natural beauty" signals Truvy's philosophy, though it is contradicted by the lives of the women.
Ms. Brown's vivaciously brash and compassionate Truvy hires a secretive wallflower named Annelle [a clever evolution into "membership" in the girls' club by Heather Baker] as her new born-again shop assistant on the day of a local beauty queen's wedding.
Everyone is curious about Annelle's background but get distracted by Shelby's [Sophia Priolo] wedding plans. Pretty in pink -- her signature color -- and with the soft-spoken charm of Southern gentility, Ms. Priolo shows Shelby as a woman of her own convictions that her well-intentioned mother M'Lynn [stalwart Rebekah Goldman] disapproves -- decisions ranging from hairstyles & color coordinated wedding flowers, to not taking her diabetes "medicines", to choosing a life-threatening pregnancy.
The group is complete in the entrance of Ouiser [LaVera Brown], a no-nonsense antagonistic sort who, as played with brutally comic honesty by Ms. Brown, adds pepper to the stew as a character we love to hate, and who heightens the on-stage energy of all her compatriots.
As witty and caustic repartee between Ouiser & Clairee, and mother-daughter disagreements between M'Lynn & Shelby reveal the closeness of their relationships over the play's two acts, and with Truvy moderating them and Annelle offering simple wisdom as advice, the women all gain strength from one another as they rely on the group's unity.
Though life can often be unfair, and as one character puts it "That which does not kill us makes us stronger", the women's natural beauty triumphs at the end.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Millbrook: "The Mousetrap"
A dark and stormy night -- a snowstorm, that is; telephone lines are down; a set of eccentric and suspicious characters have arrived at a remote English guest house called "Monkswell Manor" a drafty building that hundreds of years earlier had been a monastery and whose new proprietors are an inexperienced young couple about to celebrate their first wedding anniversary...and the radio proclaims that the murderer of a woman in London might be in the area. -- So begins Agatha Christie's tale, The Mousetrap, which premiered in 1952 and has been continuously running ever since, making it the longest-running play in history, and which is now being produced by the Millbrook Community Players.
Long considered to have set the gold-standard of the murder mystery genre, the play continues to entertain audiences; half the fun of seeing a play of this sort is in trying to figure out "who done it", by peeling away the layers of plot and circumstance, the "red herrings" that distract us from the truth by leveling suspicion on several of the characters before a twist-ending that reveals all. Christie herself admonished her original audiences not to reveal the ending in order that fresh audiences would be startled by the result. -- That convention is still acknowledged today, so don't expect to read the answers here.
Let's just say that nothing is exactly as it appears; every character has both opportunity and motive for the crimes, so no one is above suspicion.
Mollie and Giles Ralston [Madyson Greenwood & Doug Greenwood] play the newlyweds with sincerity and conviction. One can sense their struggling with the grand opening of their inn and trying to make the best of it. Their inexperience in managing their assorted guests' demands and eccentric behavior is engaging.
As the paying guests arrive one by one, and the storm blocks them in, there is nothing to do but try to make things as comfortable as possible. -- Mrs. Boyle [Hidi Loop] is a cantankerous sort who is hyper-critical of virtually everything and intollerant of anyone else. Christopher Wren [Daniel Harms] is a strange unkempt young man who delights in nursery-rhymes and fantasy life. Major Metcalf [Roger Humber], a salty old coot, flows with the punches. And Miss Casewell [Kayle Georgiafandis] is a masculine looking loner. -- And then an unexpected guest arrives seeking shelter from the storm; Mr. Paravicini [John Chain] is a lively Italian who wears make-up and can't seem to explain much of his background.
Before the phone goes down, a call from the police tells them that an officer will soon be there, as he suspects the London murderer will be in the vicinity because he is mysteriously connected to another murder case that happened years ago at a farm near to the Manor.
When one of the guests is killed, the interrogations begin. After all, since they are isolated by the storm, the murderer must be one of them.
True to the murder mystery form, all will be revealed through various interrogations and re-enactments; though each time suspicion lands on one character, something else is revealed to shift attention to another. -- And this ensemble company make the investigation worthwhile for the audience, sustaining interest and allowing us to be convinced we have identified the culprit before the conclusion.
Director Susan Chain guides her experienced and neophyte actors through the plot's complexities, allowing each moment and each piece of the puzzle to get its fair share of attention, but she misses out too frequently on making each moment contribute to building tension so necessary in this genre by giving each one the same emphasis. A varied pace would help too in establishing a rhythm of highs and lows that is missing here.
Frequently, the actors' voices can't be heard -- partly due to the poor acoustics of the theatre, and partly due to the actors' weak projection -- but can be made clearer with focussed effort in the use of the voices.
Regardless, The Mousetrap can capitalize on its long reputation as a model of the form, and the Millbrook production makes it work.
Long considered to have set the gold-standard of the murder mystery genre, the play continues to entertain audiences; half the fun of seeing a play of this sort is in trying to figure out "who done it", by peeling away the layers of plot and circumstance, the "red herrings" that distract us from the truth by leveling suspicion on several of the characters before a twist-ending that reveals all. Christie herself admonished her original audiences not to reveal the ending in order that fresh audiences would be startled by the result. -- That convention is still acknowledged today, so don't expect to read the answers here.
Let's just say that nothing is exactly as it appears; every character has both opportunity and motive for the crimes, so no one is above suspicion.
Mollie and Giles Ralston [Madyson Greenwood & Doug Greenwood] play the newlyweds with sincerity and conviction. One can sense their struggling with the grand opening of their inn and trying to make the best of it. Their inexperience in managing their assorted guests' demands and eccentric behavior is engaging.
As the paying guests arrive one by one, and the storm blocks them in, there is nothing to do but try to make things as comfortable as possible. -- Mrs. Boyle [Hidi Loop] is a cantankerous sort who is hyper-critical of virtually everything and intollerant of anyone else. Christopher Wren [Daniel Harms] is a strange unkempt young man who delights in nursery-rhymes and fantasy life. Major Metcalf [Roger Humber], a salty old coot, flows with the punches. And Miss Casewell [Kayle Georgiafandis] is a masculine looking loner. -- And then an unexpected guest arrives seeking shelter from the storm; Mr. Paravicini [John Chain] is a lively Italian who wears make-up and can't seem to explain much of his background.
Before the phone goes down, a call from the police tells them that an officer will soon be there, as he suspects the London murderer will be in the vicinity because he is mysteriously connected to another murder case that happened years ago at a farm near to the Manor.
When one of the guests is killed, the interrogations begin. After all, since they are isolated by the storm, the murderer must be one of them.
True to the murder mystery form, all will be revealed through various interrogations and re-enactments; though each time suspicion lands on one character, something else is revealed to shift attention to another. -- And this ensemble company make the investigation worthwhile for the audience, sustaining interest and allowing us to be convinced we have identified the culprit before the conclusion.
Director Susan Chain guides her experienced and neophyte actors through the plot's complexities, allowing each moment and each piece of the puzzle to get its fair share of attention, but she misses out too frequently on making each moment contribute to building tension so necessary in this genre by giving each one the same emphasis. A varied pace would help too in establishing a rhythm of highs and lows that is missing here.
Frequently, the actors' voices can't be heard -- partly due to the poor acoustics of the theatre, and partly due to the actors' weak projection -- but can be made clearer with focussed effort in the use of the voices.
Regardless, The Mousetrap can capitalize on its long reputation as a model of the form, and the Millbrook production makes it work.
Monday, February 7, 2011
ASF: "The Flag Maker of Market Street"
To mark the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival commissioned through the Southern Writers' Project two companion-plays by writers with Alabama connections to be set in Montgomery in the 1860s. The first of these world premieres, Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder's masterfully provocative The Flag Maker of Market Street, opened on Sunday, challenging audiences to come to terms with the myths and dilemmas that revolve around the South both then and now.
In its two hours, audiences are transported back to just before the Civil War, when secession from the Federal Union caused friction within families and between friends who had divided sympathies, when the economy of the South was at risk, and when the institution of slavery was being threatened -- a whole culture was in tumult -- a time, like today, when entitled people instilled fear in the common man through intimidation and twisting facts, when fine manners disguised the brutality underneath, and when choosing convenience over what is right often ruled the day.
Ms. Wilder (the author of the prize-winning Gee's Bend that also premiered at ASF), has a gift for writing dialogue that drives her plots and distinguishes her characters & their conflicts so well that they come to life as authentic to time & place while telling compelling human stories.
Basing her characters on actual Montgomerians of the period, though admittedly not attempting to be historically accurate in all its details, the playwright sets her play in the Dry Goods Store of George Cowles [Jack Koenig], a Unionist who owned slaves and who had ordered 200 sewing machines whose sales he thought would make him rich. His friend William Bibb [Brian Wallace], a fiery big-talker Union sympathizer, believes that Cowles should refuse to make a Confederate flag when he is asked to do so by Jefferson Davis. But Cowles enlists his newly-purchased slave Mae [Nikki E. Walker] to sew it. Lydia Frost [Adria Vitlar], a prominent local socialite with impeccable manners & charm, buys a machine and agrees to take sewing lessons, but keeps putting it off as she gets caught up in the festivities surrounding Davis's innaugural, and is thoroughly unaware of her tunnel-vision in support of the Confederacy or of her own duplicity in her treatment of people, especially slaves.
From the start, it is clear where the playwright's sympathies lie. In two monologues -- the first from Cowles who bemoans the economic divide between the haves and have nots, and who sees the impending war as about both money and ideological patriotism; the second from Mae as she relives her painful 30-lashes whipping and the strength to endure that she gains from memory of her husband in his love and quest for freedom -- we see the struggles of the South to make sense of its contradictions, of its need to "make people feel good about themselves" regardless of the cost, and of the inevitability of change. -- Pretty heady stuff, that had the opening performance's audience quietly assessing the play's themes at the intermission and after the performance ended.
But these words receive their impact through the expert direction of Leah C. Gardiner and the sensitive ensemble acting. -- One might quibble at the use of exaggerated Southern accents that can be discomforting as they can create unintentional caricatures, though here (especially in Ms. Vitlar's depiction of Lydia Frost) they effectively depict the deceptive nature of her character, one who becomes ever-increasingly frightening and crude and ultimately pathetic in her intractable insistence on her rights. In one scene particularly, she claims to be humiliated, though she has just humiliated Mae, and the picture of the two women side by side -- the one proud & haughty, the other humble and bowed -- leaves a lasting image.
Mr. Wallace's portrayal of Bibb is filled with contradictions. On the one hand, he avows the Union cause, on the other he rarely acts on his words, preferring others to do what he can not bring himself to do. His political debate with Cowles is one we could be having today -- "our rights are being taken away", "the country is falling apart" sound painfully familiar in light of recent debates of our own. And his inability to comprehend Cowles's dilemma -- to make the Confederate flag vs. to risk his livelihood for not doing so -- shows him as a counterpoint to Lydia's intractability.
And Mr. Koenig's Cowles, a man fraught with conflict & dilemma on the general political arena, is not so conflicted in his relationship with Mae. He sees in her what others do not or can not because of their blinkered vision. For others, Mae is a non-person, an invisible, one who can be overlooked or trampled without a second thought; but for Cowles, she is a talented person who can read and write and "figure" even though it was against the law for slaves to get an education, and he recognizes her abilities and trustworthiness, taking her into his confidence and thereby risking the wrath of the powerful. Mr. Koenig's ability to depict these conflicts (including a contradictory behavior in owning slaves while being sympathetic to the Union) and manage an ironic tone in many an encounter with Bibb and Lydia, provides an insightful characterization.
As Mae, Ms. Walker's ability to inhabit the slave's subservient posture [head bowed and not looking a white person directly in the eye] while communicating her independence from these accepted social restraints, and her adapting to each moment to ensure survival, as well as her uncomprehending delight at being treated as a human being by her white master, create a multidimensional character whose small triumphs should be celebrated.
Together, this ensemble creates an absorbing drama that approaches Ms. Wilder's subjects straightforwardly, leaving us to ponder them long after the curtain falls. There are no easy answers to the issues -- after all, many of them are still with us -- and the play concludes on a moment of both moving forward and taking a stand.
In its two hours, audiences are transported back to just before the Civil War, when secession from the Federal Union caused friction within families and between friends who had divided sympathies, when the economy of the South was at risk, and when the institution of slavery was being threatened -- a whole culture was in tumult -- a time, like today, when entitled people instilled fear in the common man through intimidation and twisting facts, when fine manners disguised the brutality underneath, and when choosing convenience over what is right often ruled the day.
Ms. Wilder (the author of the prize-winning Gee's Bend that also premiered at ASF), has a gift for writing dialogue that drives her plots and distinguishes her characters & their conflicts so well that they come to life as authentic to time & place while telling compelling human stories.
Basing her characters on actual Montgomerians of the period, though admittedly not attempting to be historically accurate in all its details, the playwright sets her play in the Dry Goods Store of George Cowles [Jack Koenig], a Unionist who owned slaves and who had ordered 200 sewing machines whose sales he thought would make him rich. His friend William Bibb [Brian Wallace], a fiery big-talker Union sympathizer, believes that Cowles should refuse to make a Confederate flag when he is asked to do so by Jefferson Davis. But Cowles enlists his newly-purchased slave Mae [Nikki E. Walker] to sew it. Lydia Frost [Adria Vitlar], a prominent local socialite with impeccable manners & charm, buys a machine and agrees to take sewing lessons, but keeps putting it off as she gets caught up in the festivities surrounding Davis's innaugural, and is thoroughly unaware of her tunnel-vision in support of the Confederacy or of her own duplicity in her treatment of people, especially slaves.
From the start, it is clear where the playwright's sympathies lie. In two monologues -- the first from Cowles who bemoans the economic divide between the haves and have nots, and who sees the impending war as about both money and ideological patriotism; the second from Mae as she relives her painful 30-lashes whipping and the strength to endure that she gains from memory of her husband in his love and quest for freedom -- we see the struggles of the South to make sense of its contradictions, of its need to "make people feel good about themselves" regardless of the cost, and of the inevitability of change. -- Pretty heady stuff, that had the opening performance's audience quietly assessing the play's themes at the intermission and after the performance ended.
But these words receive their impact through the expert direction of Leah C. Gardiner and the sensitive ensemble acting. -- One might quibble at the use of exaggerated Southern accents that can be discomforting as they can create unintentional caricatures, though here (especially in Ms. Vitlar's depiction of Lydia Frost) they effectively depict the deceptive nature of her character, one who becomes ever-increasingly frightening and crude and ultimately pathetic in her intractable insistence on her rights. In one scene particularly, she claims to be humiliated, though she has just humiliated Mae, and the picture of the two women side by side -- the one proud & haughty, the other humble and bowed -- leaves a lasting image.
Mr. Wallace's portrayal of Bibb is filled with contradictions. On the one hand, he avows the Union cause, on the other he rarely acts on his words, preferring others to do what he can not bring himself to do. His political debate with Cowles is one we could be having today -- "our rights are being taken away", "the country is falling apart" sound painfully familiar in light of recent debates of our own. And his inability to comprehend Cowles's dilemma -- to make the Confederate flag vs. to risk his livelihood for not doing so -- shows him as a counterpoint to Lydia's intractability.
And Mr. Koenig's Cowles, a man fraught with conflict & dilemma on the general political arena, is not so conflicted in his relationship with Mae. He sees in her what others do not or can not because of their blinkered vision. For others, Mae is a non-person, an invisible, one who can be overlooked or trampled without a second thought; but for Cowles, she is a talented person who can read and write and "figure" even though it was against the law for slaves to get an education, and he recognizes her abilities and trustworthiness, taking her into his confidence and thereby risking the wrath of the powerful. Mr. Koenig's ability to depict these conflicts (including a contradictory behavior in owning slaves while being sympathetic to the Union) and manage an ironic tone in many an encounter with Bibb and Lydia, provides an insightful characterization.
As Mae, Ms. Walker's ability to inhabit the slave's subservient posture [head bowed and not looking a white person directly in the eye] while communicating her independence from these accepted social restraints, and her adapting to each moment to ensure survival, as well as her uncomprehending delight at being treated as a human being by her white master, create a multidimensional character whose small triumphs should be celebrated.
Together, this ensemble creates an absorbing drama that approaches Ms. Wilder's subjects straightforwardly, leaving us to ponder them long after the curtain falls. There are no easy answers to the issues -- after all, many of them are still with us -- and the play concludes on a moment of both moving forward and taking a stand.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Wetumpka Depot: "First Baptist at Ivy Gap"
Now in its 31st season, the Wetumpka Depot Players are currently offering Ron Osborne's comedy, First Baptist at Ivy Gap, and playing to sold-out audiences.
Set in the church's fellowship hall (on a realistic reproduction of a period rural interior), at first in 1945 and in Act II in 1970, its talented ensemble of six women -- their strengths and their issues -- is familiar to us all: Wanda [Edith Ellington], the feisty preacher's wife and compassionate comfort-giver, Luby [Sherida Black], the anxious widow whose son is serving in World War II, Olene [Kami Scarborough], who flaunts her dreams of becoming a Hollywood star, Mae Ellen [Merelee Robinson], the church's renegade organist who also wants to escape small-town life, Sammy [Jen Tuck] the community's outsider, and Vera [Valari Lagrone Radford], the rich and influential snob.
Though they try to put aside their differences to serve the Lord while rolling surgical dressings for the Red Cross, it is clear from the start that these Christian women all like to gossip, and "love hearing things that shouldn't be said". Yet, some of their unspoken secrets and yearnings threaten this small group's unity.
In Act II, another war is going on, and their lives have changed in many ways: Sammy's oldest son is serving in Viet Nam, Luby has become a recluse since her son died in World War II, Olene in her return for the church's 100th anniversary almost scandalizes the women with her career "success", Edith, Mae Ellen, and Vera remain -- but all six of them have softened with age and experience, though their individual personalities remain intact.
Director Carol Heier guides her cast gently through the simple plot, and makes the most of its slight material. Osborne revisits many of his themes about the strengths that women give to one another [seen recently in a production of his play Wise Women at the Red Door Theatre in Union Springs] -- and is reminiscent of the Depot's production of The Dixie Swim Club.
First Baptist of Ivy Gap is a familiar and predictable piece that nonetheless shows how forgiveness and simple values and friendship -- and time -- can heal even deep wounds and misunderstandings.
Set in the church's fellowship hall (on a realistic reproduction of a period rural interior), at first in 1945 and in Act II in 1970, its talented ensemble of six women -- their strengths and their issues -- is familiar to us all: Wanda [Edith Ellington], the feisty preacher's wife and compassionate comfort-giver, Luby [Sherida Black], the anxious widow whose son is serving in World War II, Olene [Kami Scarborough], who flaunts her dreams of becoming a Hollywood star, Mae Ellen [Merelee Robinson], the church's renegade organist who also wants to escape small-town life, Sammy [Jen Tuck] the community's outsider, and Vera [Valari Lagrone Radford], the rich and influential snob.
Though they try to put aside their differences to serve the Lord while rolling surgical dressings for the Red Cross, it is clear from the start that these Christian women all like to gossip, and "love hearing things that shouldn't be said". Yet, some of their unspoken secrets and yearnings threaten this small group's unity.
In Act II, another war is going on, and their lives have changed in many ways: Sammy's oldest son is serving in Viet Nam, Luby has become a recluse since her son died in World War II, Olene in her return for the church's 100th anniversary almost scandalizes the women with her career "success", Edith, Mae Ellen, and Vera remain -- but all six of them have softened with age and experience, though their individual personalities remain intact.
Director Carol Heier guides her cast gently through the simple plot, and makes the most of its slight material. Osborne revisits many of his themes about the strengths that women give to one another [seen recently in a production of his play Wise Women at the Red Door Theatre in Union Springs] -- and is reminiscent of the Depot's production of The Dixie Swim Club.
First Baptist of Ivy Gap is a familiar and predictable piece that nonetheless shows how forgiveness and simple values and friendship -- and time -- can heal even deep wounds and misunderstandings.
Monday, January 17, 2011
ASF "Encore": Bear Country
While Broadway is showing a play about the legendary football icon Vince Lombardi, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival is bringing back -- for a short revival on the Festival Stage -- its record-setting 2009 production of Michael Vigilant's Bear Country, a tribute to the University of Alabama's Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant.
The transfer from the Octagon Theatre, while it loses some of the intimacy of the smaller space, has kept the play intact and managed to explore Vigilant's text to reveal a wider range of relationships and characterizations both of its central character, the "older" Bryant masterfully played by Rodney Clark, and the "younger" version played by William Peden, who are supported by James Bowen and Christopher Burns who each play a number of roles with unflinching honesty.
Director Tim Rhoze and his capable cast bring us the now familiar story of Bryant's humble beginnings and his journey to iconic status as a football coach [with obstacles along the way], retaining always the simple humanity of the man who beleived in good sportsmanship on the field and good behavior off it...a class act.
Though the play is filled with historically accurate details and football statistics, this is not a play about football; rather, it is a play about a man -- one who has flaws and is often arrogant, but whose influence is felt even today. From what we see on stage, it is not surprising that Bryant's legendary impact on his players is treasured.
Playing to an almost full house on Katherine Ross's simple set, we are first introduced to "the Bear" as he is packing up his Tuscaloosa office on his retirement from the U of A, and reminisces about the important moments in his life that brought him to this point.
In his signature hat & blazer, Mr. Clark looks uncannily like the man himself, allowing us instant access to his story. But it is not just the physical similarity that is striking. As the two acts recount the ups and downs of Bryant's career with honesty and humor, Mr. Clark's stature, his commanding presence [especially as he addresses us from behind his desk], and his ability to engage the audience in ordinary human details creates a powerful presence: a man to admire.
Mr. Burns -- who plays nine roles -- easily segues from one to another, and imbues each with a distinct personality: Bryant's uncle who introduced him to football while listening to a game on the radio, no-nonsense coaches, television reporters, attorneys who try to trap him into confessing to fixing a game are all given full force by Mr. Burns's ability to instantly change demeanor and truthfully depict each one.
Mr. Bowen's impersonations of Bryant's boyhood friend as well as a small-town restaurant owner where Bryant once had a helping of chittlins, are presented with such natural charm, and are contrasted by his depiction of a hard-nosed student protestor demanding the inclusion of Blacks on Alabama's football team.
Mr. Peden's characterization of Young Bryant from teenage through early coaching jobs capitalizes on his ability to develop credibly in age and experience, from a gawky teenager to a settled adult. Along the way, we see him encounter the coaches who molded him by demanding his committment to the game and to sportsmanship.
Together, this ensemble is grounded in Mr. Vigilant's narrative and Mr. Clark's ability to get to the soul of the man...a man who loved his parents, wife & family; a man who drank Coca-Cola and ate Golden Flake potato chips; a man who kept his promises. As he says in the play: "Remember this if anything -- It doesn't cost anything to be nice...to be honest...to be a man of your word."
The transfer from the Octagon Theatre, while it loses some of the intimacy of the smaller space, has kept the play intact and managed to explore Vigilant's text to reveal a wider range of relationships and characterizations both of its central character, the "older" Bryant masterfully played by Rodney Clark, and the "younger" version played by William Peden, who are supported by James Bowen and Christopher Burns who each play a number of roles with unflinching honesty.
Director Tim Rhoze and his capable cast bring us the now familiar story of Bryant's humble beginnings and his journey to iconic status as a football coach [with obstacles along the way], retaining always the simple humanity of the man who beleived in good sportsmanship on the field and good behavior off it...a class act.
Though the play is filled with historically accurate details and football statistics, this is not a play about football; rather, it is a play about a man -- one who has flaws and is often arrogant, but whose influence is felt even today. From what we see on stage, it is not surprising that Bryant's legendary impact on his players is treasured.
Playing to an almost full house on Katherine Ross's simple set, we are first introduced to "the Bear" as he is packing up his Tuscaloosa office on his retirement from the U of A, and reminisces about the important moments in his life that brought him to this point.
In his signature hat & blazer, Mr. Clark looks uncannily like the man himself, allowing us instant access to his story. But it is not just the physical similarity that is striking. As the two acts recount the ups and downs of Bryant's career with honesty and humor, Mr. Clark's stature, his commanding presence [especially as he addresses us from behind his desk], and his ability to engage the audience in ordinary human details creates a powerful presence: a man to admire.
Mr. Burns -- who plays nine roles -- easily segues from one to another, and imbues each with a distinct personality: Bryant's uncle who introduced him to football while listening to a game on the radio, no-nonsense coaches, television reporters, attorneys who try to trap him into confessing to fixing a game are all given full force by Mr. Burns's ability to instantly change demeanor and truthfully depict each one.
Mr. Bowen's impersonations of Bryant's boyhood friend as well as a small-town restaurant owner where Bryant once had a helping of chittlins, are presented with such natural charm, and are contrasted by his depiction of a hard-nosed student protestor demanding the inclusion of Blacks on Alabama's football team.
Mr. Peden's characterization of Young Bryant from teenage through early coaching jobs capitalizes on his ability to develop credibly in age and experience, from a gawky teenager to a settled adult. Along the way, we see him encounter the coaches who molded him by demanding his committment to the game and to sportsmanship.
Together, this ensemble is grounded in Mr. Vigilant's narrative and Mr. Clark's ability to get to the soul of the man...a man who loved his parents, wife & family; a man who drank Coca-Cola and ate Golden Flake potato chips; a man who kept his promises. As he says in the play: "Remember this if anything -- It doesn't cost anything to be nice...to be honest...to be a man of your word."
Monday, December 6, 2010
Millbrook: "Irving Berlin's White Christmas: the musical"
The holiday spirit has come to Millbrook in a charming production of Irving Berlin's White Christmas: the musical. Taking its cue from the 1955 film, but with several additional songs by Berlin interspersed throughout its two-and-a-half hour length, director A. John Collier's production is delighting its sold out audiences.
In part a backstage musical, in part a traditional love story, in part a patriotic statement so necessary in times of war, and in part just plain old nostalgic sentiment for the hoildays -- this version warms the heart from beginning to end.
Despite the limitations of a small stage [though Millbrook's stage has been permanently enlarged for this production], Collier & Company have created a workable space to house several scenic locations and a large number of actors -- 31 to be precise. Quite an accomplishment.
In addition, Collier has mixed some of the area's most experienced actors with a number of newcomers to his stage, built some stunning costumes, and delivered a solid show that could transform any Grinch or Scrooge in the audience.
In 1954, veteran song & dance team Bob Wallace [David Brown] and Phil Davis [Jason Morgan] are about to rehearse a new nightclub act in Miami, and are impressed by a new act by sisters Betty [Brooke Brown] and Judy Haynes [Lauren Morgan].
Attempting a love-match between Bob & Betty, Phil switches their train tickets for ones to Vermont where the girls have been booked for the Christmas holidays at an inn owned coincidentally by retired General Waverly [Roger Humber], who the men had served under in World War II.
The inn is on the verge of bankruptcy, and balmy weather threatens its holiday bookings. To help the General, Wallace & Davis conscript their entire cast & crew to rehearse in Vermont and add the Haynes Sisters as headliners.
As is to be expected, this chestnut of a play has assorted romantic misfirings, but all will turn out for the best...the show must go on, the inn saved, and the pairs of sweethearts united.
Solid performances and strong vocals hold this White Christmas together. Mr. Morgan is an excellent comic foil to Mr. Brown's more serious character. Their romances are innocently depicted and aided by the ingenuous style of Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Morgan. All four are effervescent in their roles.
Mr. Humber delivers one of the most convincingly truthfull and understated characterizations of his long community theatre career as the General. -- The General's granddaughter Susan is played by Maddie Hughes; she performs the role credibly and is featured in a rousing version of "I'm Happy".
The role of the housekeeper has been enlarged in this stage version to an Ethel Merman type known as Martha "the megaphone" Watson [Eleanor Davis], who also wants to be in the Wallace & Davis show. And deliver she does. Ms. Davis gives a standout performance as a feisty realist with a motherly concern for Susan and a loving attitude for the General. She can belt out her songs with the best of them, and her bright smile literally lights up the stage.
Irving Berlin's songs create a holiday atmosphere. Those who recall the film are irresistably drawn to novelty numbers like "Sisters" and sentimental favorites like "Count Your Blessings", but it is the signature "White Christmas" that has everyone in the audience singing along and exiting the theatre with the holiday spirit.
In part a backstage musical, in part a traditional love story, in part a patriotic statement so necessary in times of war, and in part just plain old nostalgic sentiment for the hoildays -- this version warms the heart from beginning to end.
Despite the limitations of a small stage [though Millbrook's stage has been permanently enlarged for this production], Collier & Company have created a workable space to house several scenic locations and a large number of actors -- 31 to be precise. Quite an accomplishment.
In addition, Collier has mixed some of the area's most experienced actors with a number of newcomers to his stage, built some stunning costumes, and delivered a solid show that could transform any Grinch or Scrooge in the audience.
In 1954, veteran song & dance team Bob Wallace [David Brown] and Phil Davis [Jason Morgan] are about to rehearse a new nightclub act in Miami, and are impressed by a new act by sisters Betty [Brooke Brown] and Judy Haynes [Lauren Morgan].
Attempting a love-match between Bob & Betty, Phil switches their train tickets for ones to Vermont where the girls have been booked for the Christmas holidays at an inn owned coincidentally by retired General Waverly [Roger Humber], who the men had served under in World War II.
The inn is on the verge of bankruptcy, and balmy weather threatens its holiday bookings. To help the General, Wallace & Davis conscript their entire cast & crew to rehearse in Vermont and add the Haynes Sisters as headliners.
As is to be expected, this chestnut of a play has assorted romantic misfirings, but all will turn out for the best...the show must go on, the inn saved, and the pairs of sweethearts united.
Solid performances and strong vocals hold this White Christmas together. Mr. Morgan is an excellent comic foil to Mr. Brown's more serious character. Their romances are innocently depicted and aided by the ingenuous style of Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Morgan. All four are effervescent in their roles.
Mr. Humber delivers one of the most convincingly truthfull and understated characterizations of his long community theatre career as the General. -- The General's granddaughter Susan is played by Maddie Hughes; she performs the role credibly and is featured in a rousing version of "I'm Happy".
The role of the housekeeper has been enlarged in this stage version to an Ethel Merman type known as Martha "the megaphone" Watson [Eleanor Davis], who also wants to be in the Wallace & Davis show. And deliver she does. Ms. Davis gives a standout performance as a feisty realist with a motherly concern for Susan and a loving attitude for the General. She can belt out her songs with the best of them, and her bright smile literally lights up the stage.
Irving Berlin's songs create a holiday atmosphere. Those who recall the film are irresistably drawn to novelty numbers like "Sisters" and sentimental favorites like "Count Your Blessings", but it is the signature "White Christmas" that has everyone in the audience singing along and exiting the theatre with the holiday spirit.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Faulkner: "Guys and Dolls"
Based on Damon Runyon's popular stories set in New York's world of gamblers and their women, the ever-popular 1950 Tony Award winning Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling, and Abe Burrows musical Guys and Dolls is currrently captivating sold out audiences at the Faulkner University Dinner Theatre.
From its first appearance on Broadway, Guys and Dolls has rarely been absent from professional and amateur stages -- and with good reason. It contains some of musical theatre's most memorable songs ["Luck Be A Lady", "I've Never Been in Love Before", "Bushel and a Peck", "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat", and "Adelaide's Lament" among them]; and some of its most memorable characters in Sky Masterson & Sarah Brown, Nathan Detroit & Miss Adelaide, Nicely-Nicely Johnson, and Big Jule. Put these together with two untraditional love stories, Runyon's masterful mixture of street slang with formal speech patterns, and a tremendously sophisticated wit, and what emerges is a challenging show that reaches through time to remain as topical as when it was first written.
The combined efforts of director Angela Dickson and musical director Marilyn Swears have challenged their large ensemble cast to tell the story clearly and sing & dance their way through its complex moments with seeming ease. -- Favored with strong singing voices and some significant stage experience, the featured roles come across convincingly, especially as they have to manage the intentionally stilted Runyonesque dialogue.
Nathan Detroit [Chris Kelly] has his hands full: he is the organizer of "the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York", but needs $1000 to keep it going; at the same time, he has promised the featured entertainer at the "Hot Box" nightclub, Miss Adelaide [Bethany Telehany], that he is giving up gambling and intends to marry her after a 14-year relationship. She has been more than patient, and he consistently finds excuses for staying away from the altar.
While Sarah Brown [Kari Gatlin], a soldier in the "Save a Soul Mission", tries valiantly to recruit & save the local sinners, Nathan sees in her a quick fix to his money problem: he gets the high-rolling Sky Masterson [Michael Morrow] to agree to a bet -- that Sky can get Sarah to accompany him to Cuba for a fling. Sky is such a slick operator, that he convinces some at the mission that he is a repentant sinner, and promises Sarah that he will fill her evening salvation session with at least a dozen sinners. Once in Cuba, Sarah falls for Sky, and he falls for her as well, having second thoughts about cheating her and the mission.
Runyon's characters, despite their shortcomings [drink, gambling, etc.], are really pretty decent sorts, and though he accordingly presents his men and women with different sets of priorities -- men want their freedom, and women want the security of marriage and a home -- they come across as likeable even with their faults, and especially when each realizes that no one side is perfect.
The action comes at a quick pace, though scene changes need to be managed more quickly & efficiently, and many of the characterizations are absolutely delightful. As we watch the romantic relationships develop, we get thoroughly engaged in their lives, and root for them to resolve their differences.
Mr. Morrow and Ms. Gatlin convince us of their affection in "I've Never Been in Love Before", appearing to have real feelings for each other. Mr. Kelly's bumbling efforts at avoiding marriage are quite funny. He is matched with Ms. Telehany's sensitive [and hilariously funny] "Adelaide's Lament"; and in "Marry the Man Today" with Ms. Gatlin, Ms. Telehany demonstrates a real talent for the comedic musical stage: a standout.
Tony Davidson's rousing rendition of "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" nearly brings down the house; and Paul Blount's grandfatherly advice to Sarah in "More I Cannot Wish You" is the singular most touching moment in this production.
In a brilliant casting choice, Bill Nowell plays Big Jule -- the toughest, meanest, and biggest gangster of them all. Mr. Nowell's slight frame and diminutive stature are no hindrance to his depiction of Big Jule; he gets away with it brilliantly and dominates the stage as if he physically filled it up.
With the entire company of 34 actors performing together only a few times, the stage does get a bit crowded, but all in all the staging remains fluid, the action moves along, and we are swept away by the energy of the actors and the brilliance of the script and the music.
From its first appearance on Broadway, Guys and Dolls has rarely been absent from professional and amateur stages -- and with good reason. It contains some of musical theatre's most memorable songs ["Luck Be A Lady", "I've Never Been in Love Before", "Bushel and a Peck", "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat", and "Adelaide's Lament" among them]; and some of its most memorable characters in Sky Masterson & Sarah Brown, Nathan Detroit & Miss Adelaide, Nicely-Nicely Johnson, and Big Jule. Put these together with two untraditional love stories, Runyon's masterful mixture of street slang with formal speech patterns, and a tremendously sophisticated wit, and what emerges is a challenging show that reaches through time to remain as topical as when it was first written.
The combined efforts of director Angela Dickson and musical director Marilyn Swears have challenged their large ensemble cast to tell the story clearly and sing & dance their way through its complex moments with seeming ease. -- Favored with strong singing voices and some significant stage experience, the featured roles come across convincingly, especially as they have to manage the intentionally stilted Runyonesque dialogue.
Nathan Detroit [Chris Kelly] has his hands full: he is the organizer of "the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York", but needs $1000 to keep it going; at the same time, he has promised the featured entertainer at the "Hot Box" nightclub, Miss Adelaide [Bethany Telehany], that he is giving up gambling and intends to marry her after a 14-year relationship. She has been more than patient, and he consistently finds excuses for staying away from the altar.
While Sarah Brown [Kari Gatlin], a soldier in the "Save a Soul Mission", tries valiantly to recruit & save the local sinners, Nathan sees in her a quick fix to his money problem: he gets the high-rolling Sky Masterson [Michael Morrow] to agree to a bet -- that Sky can get Sarah to accompany him to Cuba for a fling. Sky is such a slick operator, that he convinces some at the mission that he is a repentant sinner, and promises Sarah that he will fill her evening salvation session with at least a dozen sinners. Once in Cuba, Sarah falls for Sky, and he falls for her as well, having second thoughts about cheating her and the mission.
Runyon's characters, despite their shortcomings [drink, gambling, etc.], are really pretty decent sorts, and though he accordingly presents his men and women with different sets of priorities -- men want their freedom, and women want the security of marriage and a home -- they come across as likeable even with their faults, and especially when each realizes that no one side is perfect.
The action comes at a quick pace, though scene changes need to be managed more quickly & efficiently, and many of the characterizations are absolutely delightful. As we watch the romantic relationships develop, we get thoroughly engaged in their lives, and root for them to resolve their differences.
Mr. Morrow and Ms. Gatlin convince us of their affection in "I've Never Been in Love Before", appearing to have real feelings for each other. Mr. Kelly's bumbling efforts at avoiding marriage are quite funny. He is matched with Ms. Telehany's sensitive [and hilariously funny] "Adelaide's Lament"; and in "Marry the Man Today" with Ms. Gatlin, Ms. Telehany demonstrates a real talent for the comedic musical stage: a standout.
Tony Davidson's rousing rendition of "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" nearly brings down the house; and Paul Blount's grandfatherly advice to Sarah in "More I Cannot Wish You" is the singular most touching moment in this production.
In a brilliant casting choice, Bill Nowell plays Big Jule -- the toughest, meanest, and biggest gangster of them all. Mr. Nowell's slight frame and diminutive stature are no hindrance to his depiction of Big Jule; he gets away with it brilliantly and dominates the stage as if he physically filled it up.
With the entire company of 34 actors performing together only a few times, the stage does get a bit crowded, but all in all the staging remains fluid, the action moves along, and we are swept away by the energy of the actors and the brilliance of the script and the music.
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