Spoiler alert! Charles Dickens, one of the world's most renowned storytellers, was also an accomplished amateur magician -- who knew?! So, at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Geoffrey Sherman's adaptation of A Christmas Carol has a few on-stage "how did they do that?" tricks up its sleeves; it also has Dickens as its narrator who slips in and out of a number of minor roles in the person of actor Wynn Harmon.
Though narrative in place of dramatic action is risky business at best, hearing Dickens' prose is essential for audiences to appreciate the full flavor of his familiar Christmas classic, and while many can recite verbatim from the characters' quotable lines -- from "Bah, humbug!" to "God bless us, every one!" -- Mr. Harmon's nuanced delivery of the descriptive richness of the novel helps transport us to a distant time and place, and infuse us with just the right amount of Christmas sentiment.
Phil Monat's visually stunning sets and Elizabeth Novak's character-driven period costumes [and authentic replicas of the novel's ghostly apparitions] complete the picture.
So, while Mr. Sherman's production is traditional in most ways, his cuts and additions [including some diverting period songs] tell the story in an efficient two hours that hardly afford time for actors to be subtle in developing their characters or give audiences time to register the impact of its many short scenes before moving on to the next episode; and yet it seems to lag in a couple of them, most notably in a lengthy quibbling over the spoils that Mrs. Dilber brings to Old Joe, no fault to the actors.
None of this diminishes the impact of Sherman's vision for A Christmas Carol. -- Intact are the powerful presence of Brik Berkes as the ghost of Jacob Marley, a seven-year dead business partner who sets Scrooge [Rodney Clark] on his overnight reclamation from malicious ogre to giddy schoolboy in the finale, and the combined instructions of the ghosts of Christmases Past [Jillian Walker], Present [James Bowen], and Yet-to-Come [a mysterious non-speaking spectre].
Here too are Paul Hebron and Diana Van Fossen as the unabashedly gregarious Fezziwigs, Scrooge's persistently hopeful nephew Fred [Seth Rettberg], and Alice Sherman as Scrooge's one-time fiancee Belle, whose captivating lullaby showcases this actress's rich singing voice.
Of course, there is the Cratchit family, whose dependence on Scrooge is key to their survival. The audience's collective hearts come close to breaking through the honest simplicity of Billy Sharpe and Greta Lambert as Bob and Mrs. Cratchit, as they face their own poverty with determined faith in the goodness of mankind, love of family, and the prospect of losing their crippled son, Tiny Tim [Liam South is an ideal waif, following his older brother Crispin in playing the role at ASF].
But, it all comes down to Scrooge, doesn't it? Rodney Clark reprises the role, finding new ways to inhabit the penny-pinching miser's gradual decision to change into a man who "knew how to keep Christmas well" and be a model for us all. -- At the start, he is a villain deserving our ire, but he takes us along on his journey of self-discovery that invites us to assess our own beliefs and behaviors. Mr. Clark allows us to experience his changes of heart as he wishes he could have a word with his clerk, Bob Cratchit, or give a street urchin a coin, or mend the broken relationship with his nephew Fred. So when Christmas Day dawns and he sets about to make amends with one and all, we share his complete overwhelming joy, his childlike innocence, and his decision to "honor Christmas with all my heart". Lessons for everyone, and a fine way to introduce the Christmas season.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Faulkner: "Inspecting Carol"
Putting a satiric twist on the holiday season, Faulkner University is presenting Inspecting Carol by Daniel Sullivan and The Seattle Repertory Theatre. Using Nicolai Gogol's 1836 one-act The Inspector General for inspiration, Sullivan's play takes us to the "Soapbox Playhouse" and a rehearsal of their annual production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, a heretofore guaranteed success, and one which allowed them to pay the bills [and doesn't every theatre need a moneymaker these days?].
There are several twists to be expected: rehearsals are delayed due to any number of actors' idiosyncrasies or demands, the director Zorah [Brooke Brown] is a self-proclaimed emotionally-charged Lithuanian, 12-year-old Luther [Danile Harms] playing Tiny Tim has outgrown the part, Phil playing Cratchit [Brandtley McDonald] is a walking hypochondriac, in an attempt to be multi-cultural the company hired an untried Black actor named Walter [Erik Gunn], Larry [Allen Young] who plays Scrooge is so bored from having played the role so many times that he did it once entirely in Spanish, an impetuously eager young man named Wayne [David Brown] arrives to audition and won't be denied a chance -- and, oh yes, they owe $30,000 and they're broke!
When their new accountant Kevin [Taylor McGregor] breaks the disturbing news that the National Endowment for the Arts has suspended their funding till an investigation is conducted, the company conclude that Wayne must be the NEA inspector, and do anything to please him. Just as in Gogol's witty play, Wayne's assumed identity leads to all sorts of havoc.
Director Jason Clark South and Scenic Designer Matt Dickson have things well in hand. On a flexible stage [lots of moveable parts for scene changes] that never appears crowded: the action moves along at a brisk pace, only occasionally are actors voices too soft, and the plot devices [too many to enumerate here, but suffice it to say that audiences familiar with A Christmas Carol and with theatre-lore will get an added kick out of it] provide numerous surprises from the talented cast. The razor-edged comedy may not always be as sharp as demanded by the script, but the actors are refreshingly engaging and uninhibited.
The ensemble feel to this production keeps things on an even keel with each participant's over-the-top antics threatening to overpower the others but always kept in check by the clever script and the combined talents of the acting company whose trust in one another keeps audience comfort intact. The characters' predictable in-fighting and backbiting, and a never ending surprising turn of events, ultimately result in a crazy revisionist rehearsal of Dickens' classic tale that has Scrooge ad libing his way through the morass of problems besetting the doomed production.
When the real NEA inspector Betty [Hannah Darrough] attends this rehearsal and -- surprise! surprise! -- actually likes it, the company is saved, and the audience goes home with a new and slightly skewed appreciation of A Christmas Carol.
There are several twists to be expected: rehearsals are delayed due to any number of actors' idiosyncrasies or demands, the director Zorah [Brooke Brown] is a self-proclaimed emotionally-charged Lithuanian, 12-year-old Luther [Danile Harms] playing Tiny Tim has outgrown the part, Phil playing Cratchit [Brandtley McDonald] is a walking hypochondriac, in an attempt to be multi-cultural the company hired an untried Black actor named Walter [Erik Gunn], Larry [Allen Young] who plays Scrooge is so bored from having played the role so many times that he did it once entirely in Spanish, an impetuously eager young man named Wayne [David Brown] arrives to audition and won't be denied a chance -- and, oh yes, they owe $30,000 and they're broke!
When their new accountant Kevin [Taylor McGregor] breaks the disturbing news that the National Endowment for the Arts has suspended their funding till an investigation is conducted, the company conclude that Wayne must be the NEA inspector, and do anything to please him. Just as in Gogol's witty play, Wayne's assumed identity leads to all sorts of havoc.
Director Jason Clark South and Scenic Designer Matt Dickson have things well in hand. On a flexible stage [lots of moveable parts for scene changes] that never appears crowded: the action moves along at a brisk pace, only occasionally are actors voices too soft, and the plot devices [too many to enumerate here, but suffice it to say that audiences familiar with A Christmas Carol and with theatre-lore will get an added kick out of it] provide numerous surprises from the talented cast. The razor-edged comedy may not always be as sharp as demanded by the script, but the actors are refreshingly engaging and uninhibited.
The ensemble feel to this production keeps things on an even keel with each participant's over-the-top antics threatening to overpower the others but always kept in check by the clever script and the combined talents of the acting company whose trust in one another keeps audience comfort intact. The characters' predictable in-fighting and backbiting, and a never ending surprising turn of events, ultimately result in a crazy revisionist rehearsal of Dickens' classic tale that has Scrooge ad libing his way through the morass of problems besetting the doomed production.
When the real NEA inspector Betty [Hannah Darrough] attends this rehearsal and -- surprise! surprise! -- actually likes it, the company is saved, and the audience goes home with a new and slightly skewed appreciation of A Christmas Carol.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Red Door: "The Homecoming"
Earl Hamner, Jr.'s 1970 autobiographical novel The Homecoming, later turned into the very popular television series The Waltons, is currently playing a sold-out short run at the Red Door Theatre in Union Springs in a stage adaptation (itself a Christmas season favorite) by Christopher Sergel.
Under Tom Salter's sensitive direction, the 23 member cast of area actors create a comfortable ensemble around Clay Boy [Joseph Crawford] its central character and narrator of his own story. Mr. Crawford, in his first major role at the Red Door, immediately engages the audience with his sincerity in recounting the events of Christmas 1933 in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where he is the eldest of eight red haired siblings.
At the height of the Great Depression, with a blizzard imminent and father Clay Spencer [Tim Gables] en route for Christmas at home from his job 40 miles away, brothers and sisters impatient for Santa Claus, and mother Olivia [Elizabeth Roughton] on the brink of despair and down to two-dollars to provide for her brood, Clay Boy is saddled with the responsibilities of being the temporary man of the house.
Clay Boy wants to be a writer, and though he loves & admires his father, he is frustrated by a seeming indifference from his dad who advises him to "become a responsible man, build a home, raise a family" -- the practical admonition of a practical man.
With his father very late in arriving, Clay Boy goes off in search of him, a search in which he meets an assortment of neighbors from whom he learns a great deal about his father that he never knew -- his kindness, his generosity, his love of family, and his admiration of his son. Several of these characters appear only briefly, but each makes a lasting impression -- so when Clay, Sr. predictably shows up in time for Christmas, he more than lives up to the reputation he has in the community.
Because this play is so familiar to today's audiences, and due to its sentimentality and predictable plot, its success depends a lot on the excellence of its acting company (particularly those in featured roles) and here we are in good hands. -- Emily Roughton is delightful as young Pattie Cake who believes in Santa and is so eager for Christmas to arrive; Eve Harmon's depiction of the angst-ridden adolescent Becky is a mixed-bag of anger and softness; Kim Graham and Cecelia Moorer as the eccentric spinster sisters who make bootleg eggnog are solid & unpredictably entertaining; and Mr. Gables does a fine job of bridging the practical unswerving parent with the loving-caring rock of the community.
Ms. Roughton's portrayal of Olivia is so consistently credible as she suffers while trying not to show it to her children, and demonstrates her love for her family with simple gestures and words of hope to sustain them through such difficult times. -- And it is when she and Mr. Crawford share the stage that the intimacy of a mother-son relationship rivets our attention. They are a good pair. Mr. Crawford commits fully to his role and produces an admirable balance of frustration and acceptance, puzzlement and discovery; while Ms. Roughton allows herself so unobtrusively to be the strength he needs so he can find out for himself that love and appreciation for family and friends are what is needed to get us through. -- And when Clay Boy receives an unexpected gift from his father, he is also given permission to lead his own life.
Under Tom Salter's sensitive direction, the 23 member cast of area actors create a comfortable ensemble around Clay Boy [Joseph Crawford] its central character and narrator of his own story. Mr. Crawford, in his first major role at the Red Door, immediately engages the audience with his sincerity in recounting the events of Christmas 1933 in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where he is the eldest of eight red haired siblings.
At the height of the Great Depression, with a blizzard imminent and father Clay Spencer [Tim Gables] en route for Christmas at home from his job 40 miles away, brothers and sisters impatient for Santa Claus, and mother Olivia [Elizabeth Roughton] on the brink of despair and down to two-dollars to provide for her brood, Clay Boy is saddled with the responsibilities of being the temporary man of the house.
Clay Boy wants to be a writer, and though he loves & admires his father, he is frustrated by a seeming indifference from his dad who advises him to "become a responsible man, build a home, raise a family" -- the practical admonition of a practical man.
With his father very late in arriving, Clay Boy goes off in search of him, a search in which he meets an assortment of neighbors from whom he learns a great deal about his father that he never knew -- his kindness, his generosity, his love of family, and his admiration of his son. Several of these characters appear only briefly, but each makes a lasting impression -- so when Clay, Sr. predictably shows up in time for Christmas, he more than lives up to the reputation he has in the community.
Because this play is so familiar to today's audiences, and due to its sentimentality and predictable plot, its success depends a lot on the excellence of its acting company (particularly those in featured roles) and here we are in good hands. -- Emily Roughton is delightful as young Pattie Cake who believes in Santa and is so eager for Christmas to arrive; Eve Harmon's depiction of the angst-ridden adolescent Becky is a mixed-bag of anger and softness; Kim Graham and Cecelia Moorer as the eccentric spinster sisters who make bootleg eggnog are solid & unpredictably entertaining; and Mr. Gables does a fine job of bridging the practical unswerving parent with the loving-caring rock of the community.
Ms. Roughton's portrayal of Olivia is so consistently credible as she suffers while trying not to show it to her children, and demonstrates her love for her family with simple gestures and words of hope to sustain them through such difficult times. -- And it is when she and Mr. Crawford share the stage that the intimacy of a mother-son relationship rivets our attention. They are a good pair. Mr. Crawford commits fully to his role and produces an admirable balance of frustration and acceptance, puzzlement and discovery; while Ms. Roughton allows herself so unobtrusively to be the strength he needs so he can find out for himself that love and appreciation for family and friends are what is needed to get us through. -- And when Clay Boy receives an unexpected gift from his father, he is also given permission to lead his own life.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Millbrook: "The Foreigner"
It seems that the Millbrook Community Players are always up to something -- an exhaustive and challenging five-production season, occasional scheduled "special" performances, participation in Alabama's Community Theatre Festival, and building a diverse company of community actors. Presently, they are showing Larry Shue's award winning 1984 dark farce-comedy, The Foreigner, a risky show that depicts some Southerners in uncomplimentary terms (even the good-guys are simple-minded) while lashing out at absurd excesses of these all-too-familiar bigoted stereotypes: a two-faced preacher and a redneck racist. -- Still, there are plenty of laughs to be gleaned from Shue's witty script.
Set in Betty Meeks' [Angie Mitchell] backwoods Georgia hunting lodge-cum-inn, Froggy LeSueur [John Chain], a British munitions expert, deposits his compatriot friend Charlie Baker [Roger Humber] there for some R&R so he can come to terms with his unfaithful wife's illness. A pathologically shy milquetoast, Charlie believes he has no personality and is boring to everyone, and does not want to be left alone with strangers, so Froggy invents a new identity for his friend -- a "foreigner" who can't understand or speak English -- and tells Betty it would be best to not even speak to him.
As to be expected, this plan is doomed. Betty is too kind-hearted to ignore her guest, and though she has been sworn to secrecy, can't resist trying to communicate with Charlie. Brother & sister -- a "simple" half-wit Ellard Simms [Corey Jackson] and spoiled self-centered and pregnant Catherine Simms [Catherina L. Curl] -- are due to inherit a fortune from their deceased father. Catherine is engaged to Rev. David Marshall Lee [Michael Snead -- replete with blond wig & polyester suit], a sleazy con-man in cahoots with local property inspector Owen Musser [John Collier] who is about to condemn Betty's property so he and the Reverend can buy it at almost no cost and open a "Christian hunting club" -- a not-too-subtle euphemism for the Ku Klux Klan -- on the premises.
Believing that Charlie can't understand them, each of the characters in turn divulges information in his presence so he becomes privy to all their devious or innocent talk. And therein lies the bulk of the humor. -- Betty maintains her naivete and trust in human nature; Catherine confesses her misgivings and dreams to Charlie's seemingly sympathetic ear; Owen and the preacher discuss their nasty plot in his presence, and Owen openly taunts this "foreigner", threatens him, and proclaims that all "foreigners" will soon be driven away.
But the plot hinges on the miraculous success of the innocent Ellard to teach English to Charlie, so that in a matter of two days, he can both communicate and thwart the bad guys. -- What starts slowly as a vocabulary lesson -- "fo-wurk = fork; aygz = eggs; gree-itz = grits" -- develops a charming connection between outcasts and gives both Ellard and Charlie more confidence.
Shue's concept is unlikely at best, and relies on the talents of his cast of characters to overcome a rather patronizing tone and keep the farcical situations moving. -- Director Fred Neighbors has a lot of veteran actors at his disposal, and while the dubious accents of the British characters are inconsistent, the rest of them are clear. Neighbors' Act I takes far too long to get through the lengthy exposition, and the pace throughout needs to pick up to sustain the farcical intent. Otherwise, the laughs come only intermittently in the two-and-a-half-hour playing time, despite the efforts of the capable cast.
Mr. Jackson, for example, is absolutely convincing as the simple-minded Ellard, and his gradual confidence is infectious. The teaching scenes between him and Mr. Humber are delightfully funny. And Mr. Humber's dead-pan behavior and his eventual realization that he actually "has a personality" brought out through his interactions with Ellard, Betty, and Catherine, and his confidence in defeating Rev. David and Owen, are controlled and credible.
There is a fine line between sinister portrayals and farcical depictions of the racist characters. Mr. Snead allows the laughs at the hypocritical preacher's expense to come easily; he is, after all, a very familiar target.
But the greater risk is left in Mr. Collier's capable hands. With close-cropped hair, a dark fitted t-shirt, and heavy boots, and with a commanding & threatening presence, he comes across as a very tainted and dangerous person -- and yet, he earns some of the most deserved laughs at the expense of his character's derision of Ellard and his racist stance against Charlie and all foreigners. -- With so much attention being paid today to Alabama's draconian immigration laws, and the call to treat all the disenfranchised with respect, the Millbrook Community Players are bringing these sensitive subjects to our attention.
Set in Betty Meeks' [Angie Mitchell] backwoods Georgia hunting lodge-cum-inn, Froggy LeSueur [John Chain], a British munitions expert, deposits his compatriot friend Charlie Baker [Roger Humber] there for some R&R so he can come to terms with his unfaithful wife's illness. A pathologically shy milquetoast, Charlie believes he has no personality and is boring to everyone, and does not want to be left alone with strangers, so Froggy invents a new identity for his friend -- a "foreigner" who can't understand or speak English -- and tells Betty it would be best to not even speak to him.
As to be expected, this plan is doomed. Betty is too kind-hearted to ignore her guest, and though she has been sworn to secrecy, can't resist trying to communicate with Charlie. Brother & sister -- a "simple" half-wit Ellard Simms [Corey Jackson] and spoiled self-centered and pregnant Catherine Simms [Catherina L. Curl] -- are due to inherit a fortune from their deceased father. Catherine is engaged to Rev. David Marshall Lee [Michael Snead -- replete with blond wig & polyester suit], a sleazy con-man in cahoots with local property inspector Owen Musser [John Collier] who is about to condemn Betty's property so he and the Reverend can buy it at almost no cost and open a "Christian hunting club" -- a not-too-subtle euphemism for the Ku Klux Klan -- on the premises.
Believing that Charlie can't understand them, each of the characters in turn divulges information in his presence so he becomes privy to all their devious or innocent talk. And therein lies the bulk of the humor. -- Betty maintains her naivete and trust in human nature; Catherine confesses her misgivings and dreams to Charlie's seemingly sympathetic ear; Owen and the preacher discuss their nasty plot in his presence, and Owen openly taunts this "foreigner", threatens him, and proclaims that all "foreigners" will soon be driven away.
But the plot hinges on the miraculous success of the innocent Ellard to teach English to Charlie, so that in a matter of two days, he can both communicate and thwart the bad guys. -- What starts slowly as a vocabulary lesson -- "fo-wurk = fork; aygz = eggs; gree-itz = grits" -- develops a charming connection between outcasts and gives both Ellard and Charlie more confidence.
Shue's concept is unlikely at best, and relies on the talents of his cast of characters to overcome a rather patronizing tone and keep the farcical situations moving. -- Director Fred Neighbors has a lot of veteran actors at his disposal, and while the dubious accents of the British characters are inconsistent, the rest of them are clear. Neighbors' Act I takes far too long to get through the lengthy exposition, and the pace throughout needs to pick up to sustain the farcical intent. Otherwise, the laughs come only intermittently in the two-and-a-half-hour playing time, despite the efforts of the capable cast.
Mr. Jackson, for example, is absolutely convincing as the simple-minded Ellard, and his gradual confidence is infectious. The teaching scenes between him and Mr. Humber are delightfully funny. And Mr. Humber's dead-pan behavior and his eventual realization that he actually "has a personality" brought out through his interactions with Ellard, Betty, and Catherine, and his confidence in defeating Rev. David and Owen, are controlled and credible.
There is a fine line between sinister portrayals and farcical depictions of the racist characters. Mr. Snead allows the laughs at the hypocritical preacher's expense to come easily; he is, after all, a very familiar target.
But the greater risk is left in Mr. Collier's capable hands. With close-cropped hair, a dark fitted t-shirt, and heavy boots, and with a commanding & threatening presence, he comes across as a very tainted and dangerous person -- and yet, he earns some of the most deserved laughs at the expense of his character's derision of Ellard and his racist stance against Charlie and all foreigners. -- With so much attention being paid today to Alabama's draconian immigration laws, and the call to treat all the disenfranchised with respect, the Millbrook Community Players are bringing these sensitive subjects to our attention.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
AUM: "An Evening of One Act Plays"
Student written -- student directed -- student acted -------- Theatre AUM has mounted three one-act plays that were generated in a playwriting course last Spring. Though not yet the sophisticated product of experienced authors [the language has many cliches, there are a number of broad stereotypical characters and predictable conclusions, and the brief episodic scene structure prevents actors from developing characters & relationships in sustained scenes], the plays bring with them some promising signs that reflect AUM's dedication to educational theatre: an ability to present characters, plot, and conflict clearly, identifying a new talent pool of actors, as well as choosing subject matter that is current -- race, family, sexual orientation.
Played in front of Mike Winkelman's Mondrianesque structures that help define space and location for all three plays [with some simple adjustments and additions], Part I has two of the one-acts with just breathing room between them.
LaBrandon Tyre directs Amazed by Donna Smith, a short, sometimes confusing family drama whose characters are a mix of recognizably bizarre types who host an annual birthday party in the graveyard behind the family home for Constance's [Allyson Lee] long-deceased husband Beau. Though one character -- Evangeline [Samantha Blakely] -- is accepted by several universities, and Constance received a job offer in Shreveport, it is clear from the start that no one is really going anywhere, and that the petty jealousies of siblings (a lively interaction between Kerry Jackson and Amber Baldwin) will continue because, as Constance says: "even death won't come between us."
Next comes Choices by Daniel Brown. directed by Michael Krek, in which teenager Aldyn [ardently played by Jackson Wheeles], faces up to his homosexuality. Though it is something he has been taught to hate, he prays to be "normal" and gets more sympathy and acceptance from an atheist friend Stefani [Josie Profio] than from either of his parents [Ashley Stanaland & David Wilson] or the Minister [Keyra Thomas] his religious-fanatic mother enlists to engage in "spiritual warfare" to exorcise the evil spirit within him. --- Mr. Brown's attempts to include so much character-driven social commentary and amateur theology in the 30-minute playing time allow hardly any of them to register & sink in, despite some laudable performances.
Part II is devoted entirely to Keep Breathin' by Erica Johnson, and directed by Wes Milton, in which two sisters are reunited after an eight-year separation when Lizzie [Madison Clark] returns home pregnant and sick, and is cared for by Charlotte [Monique Hopkins], who puts her life on hold despite their life-long misunderstandings and mistrust, reasons for all of which are revealed in Ms. Johnson's overlong and sometimes rambling script that is long on emotional context, Biblical references, and moral platitudes from other characters.
Each of these novice playwrights shows promise, and while for now their hearts are firmly on thier sleeves, the ability to sensitively address matters that concern them may eventually allow them to write with greater efficiency and objectivity. -- A good start, and a testimony to Theatre AUM's mission of developing new theatrical voices.
Played in front of Mike Winkelman's Mondrianesque structures that help define space and location for all three plays [with some simple adjustments and additions], Part I has two of the one-acts with just breathing room between them.
LaBrandon Tyre directs Amazed by Donna Smith, a short, sometimes confusing family drama whose characters are a mix of recognizably bizarre types who host an annual birthday party in the graveyard behind the family home for Constance's [Allyson Lee] long-deceased husband Beau. Though one character -- Evangeline [Samantha Blakely] -- is accepted by several universities, and Constance received a job offer in Shreveport, it is clear from the start that no one is really going anywhere, and that the petty jealousies of siblings (a lively interaction between Kerry Jackson and Amber Baldwin) will continue because, as Constance says: "even death won't come between us."
Next comes Choices by Daniel Brown. directed by Michael Krek, in which teenager Aldyn [ardently played by Jackson Wheeles], faces up to his homosexuality. Though it is something he has been taught to hate, he prays to be "normal" and gets more sympathy and acceptance from an atheist friend Stefani [Josie Profio] than from either of his parents [Ashley Stanaland & David Wilson] or the Minister [Keyra Thomas] his religious-fanatic mother enlists to engage in "spiritual warfare" to exorcise the evil spirit within him. --- Mr. Brown's attempts to include so much character-driven social commentary and amateur theology in the 30-minute playing time allow hardly any of them to register & sink in, despite some laudable performances.
Part II is devoted entirely to Keep Breathin' by Erica Johnson, and directed by Wes Milton, in which two sisters are reunited after an eight-year separation when Lizzie [Madison Clark] returns home pregnant and sick, and is cared for by Charlotte [Monique Hopkins], who puts her life on hold despite their life-long misunderstandings and mistrust, reasons for all of which are revealed in Ms. Johnson's overlong and sometimes rambling script that is long on emotional context, Biblical references, and moral platitudes from other characters.
Each of these novice playwrights shows promise, and while for now their hearts are firmly on thier sleeves, the ability to sensitively address matters that concern them may eventually allow them to write with greater efficiency and objectivity. -- A good start, and a testimony to Theatre AUM's mission of developing new theatrical voices.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Cloverdale Playhouse Extra: "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill"
For three performances only, the Cloverdale Playhouse hosted independent director Anthony Stockard's production of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, a biographical songbook of one of the Twentieth Century's most popular and influential music icons -- Billie Holiday -- the legendary Lady Day of the title. -- As an opening act, Ricky Powell set an effective mood with a 30-minute set of period songs.
Set in a seedy Philadelphia "club" in 1959 [the Playhouse was transformed simply with tables & chairs on the floor in front of a small stage to replicate the place], a few short months before her untimely death at 44 from cirrhosis of the liver aggravated by her addictions to drugs and alcohol, Georgia native Ashley Bishop's Billie Holiday drifts in and out of an alcoholic haze in singing more than a dozen songs that link and comment on several important episodes of Holiday's life.
Dressed in a creamy period-perfect gown designed by Danny Davidson, wearing Holiday's signal gardenia in her hair, and brilliantly accompanied by Byron Thomas as Holiday's long-suffering pianist Jimmy Powers, Ms. Bishop evokes the essence of Billie Holiday rather than attempt a personification of her -- a good choice that affords her ample opportunities to showcase her own sometimes husky singing voice and acting skills as she finds her way through Lanie Robertson's intentionally rambling, disjointed, and non-linear script that captures the deterioration of the person we see before us.
Billie Holiday's life provides rich fodder for today's tabloid celebrity-fixated sensationalism, and the text honestly recounts such events in her life: rape as a child, abusive men, a strained relationship with her mother whom she calls "the Duchess", racism, drug addiction, and alcoholism, along with a series of successful recordings and performances with the great band-leaders & jazz/blues singers of her day. And, the play's focus is appropriately on the songs that often complete the episodes or reveal the struggles she was subjected to in both her private and public lives.
On her entrance, Ms. Bishop's chatty approach immediately engages the audience, and though she appears bright and happy, the first two numbers -- "I wonder where our love has gone" and "When a woman loves a man" -- despite their "bounce", tell us that this is a woman in denial, and that there is a great deal more she intends to reveal in the next 90 minutes. -- She tells us early on that "singing is the best part of living to me" [a refrain heard frequently throughout the play], and that when things get too hard to bear, Jimmy "fixes things" for her: "What a little moonlight can do" suggests that "moonlight" from Jimmy might be more alcohol or drugs to get her through her psychological pain.
Then follows a series of tawdry events that she tells with what honesty she can muster, punctuated by some fairly salty language: events she witnessed as a child in a brothel, awareness of racial divides between blacks and whites in the Jim Crow South -- "all our blackness is on the outside" she says ironically -- musical influences by Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Artie Shaw, and others, and her love for her first husband Jimmy "Sonny" Monroe, the man who got her addicted to heroin -- she tried it to prove her love for him, she says.
Ms. Bishop's renditions of "God Bless the Child" and "Strange Fruit" -- the songs everyone wanted to hear Holiday sing in nightclubs -- are given with passion determined by the back-stories of her personal life, and lead to her temporary breakdown. -- After a brief intermission, she returns with assistance, defensively sings "Ain't Nobody's Business" and indicates through rambling dialogue how much she needs attention and verification of self-worth. She has come to the end of the line -- at least for this night -- and with "Don't Explain" gives the most convincing phrasing of a song in Billie Holiday's style in this show. As "singing is the best part of living" for Billie Holiday, then Ms. Bishop's singing is the best part of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill.
Set in a seedy Philadelphia "club" in 1959 [the Playhouse was transformed simply with tables & chairs on the floor in front of a small stage to replicate the place], a few short months before her untimely death at 44 from cirrhosis of the liver aggravated by her addictions to drugs and alcohol, Georgia native Ashley Bishop's Billie Holiday drifts in and out of an alcoholic haze in singing more than a dozen songs that link and comment on several important episodes of Holiday's life.
Dressed in a creamy period-perfect gown designed by Danny Davidson, wearing Holiday's signal gardenia in her hair, and brilliantly accompanied by Byron Thomas as Holiday's long-suffering pianist Jimmy Powers, Ms. Bishop evokes the essence of Billie Holiday rather than attempt a personification of her -- a good choice that affords her ample opportunities to showcase her own sometimes husky singing voice and acting skills as she finds her way through Lanie Robertson's intentionally rambling, disjointed, and non-linear script that captures the deterioration of the person we see before us.
Billie Holiday's life provides rich fodder for today's tabloid celebrity-fixated sensationalism, and the text honestly recounts such events in her life: rape as a child, abusive men, a strained relationship with her mother whom she calls "the Duchess", racism, drug addiction, and alcoholism, along with a series of successful recordings and performances with the great band-leaders & jazz/blues singers of her day. And, the play's focus is appropriately on the songs that often complete the episodes or reveal the struggles she was subjected to in both her private and public lives.
On her entrance, Ms. Bishop's chatty approach immediately engages the audience, and though she appears bright and happy, the first two numbers -- "I wonder where our love has gone" and "When a woman loves a man" -- despite their "bounce", tell us that this is a woman in denial, and that there is a great deal more she intends to reveal in the next 90 minutes. -- She tells us early on that "singing is the best part of living to me" [a refrain heard frequently throughout the play], and that when things get too hard to bear, Jimmy "fixes things" for her: "What a little moonlight can do" suggests that "moonlight" from Jimmy might be more alcohol or drugs to get her through her psychological pain.
Then follows a series of tawdry events that she tells with what honesty she can muster, punctuated by some fairly salty language: events she witnessed as a child in a brothel, awareness of racial divides between blacks and whites in the Jim Crow South -- "all our blackness is on the outside" she says ironically -- musical influences by Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Artie Shaw, and others, and her love for her first husband Jimmy "Sonny" Monroe, the man who got her addicted to heroin -- she tried it to prove her love for him, she says.
Ms. Bishop's renditions of "God Bless the Child" and "Strange Fruit" -- the songs everyone wanted to hear Holiday sing in nightclubs -- are given with passion determined by the back-stories of her personal life, and lead to her temporary breakdown. -- After a brief intermission, she returns with assistance, defensively sings "Ain't Nobody's Business" and indicates through rambling dialogue how much she needs attention and verification of self-worth. She has come to the end of the line -- at least for this night -- and with "Don't Explain" gives the most convincing phrasing of a song in Billie Holiday's style in this show. As "singing is the best part of living" for Billie Holiday, then Ms. Bishop's singing is the best part of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Faulkner: "The Pirates of Penzance"
It's not often that Montgomery audiences have an opportunity to see productions of Gilbert & Sullivan, the 19th Century masters of comic opera; but, Faulkner University is now showing The Pirates of Penzance, one that ranks with The Mikado and The H.M.S. Pinafore among the most popular of G&S works for well over 100 years, and the only one of their plays to have made its debut (1879) in the United States.
The performance style established by their collaborator Richard D'Oyly Carte's company is prescribed in extraordinary detail regarding movement, musical score, staging, and sets -- something like the prescriptions of some classical ballet. -- Directed at Faulkner by Angela Dickson, with music by Marilyn Swears' spot-on 3-piece orchestra, the 25-strong cast of Faulkner students, alumni, faculty, and community members respect the D'Oyly Carte traditions, but are not slavish to them, putting their own anachronistic stamp on the play and making it more accessible to today's audience.
Subtitled "The Slave of Duty", Pirates tells the story of one Frederic [Chase McMichen] who, on reaching the age of 21 becomes a full-fledged member of a band of pirates; his hard-of-hearing nurse Ruth [Jesse Alston] mistook giving him to a "pirate" instead of a "pilot" when he was very young. Frederic tells the Pirate King [Matt Dickson] that he will leave them and be duty-bound to bring the pirate band -- who, despite their swagger, are a motley crew of tenderhearted men who never hurt orphans -- to justice.
Taking Ruth with him and promising to marry her (she is the only woman he has ever seen till now), when he encounters a bevy of beautiful young women -- all sisters -- he rejects Ruth and falls instantly in love with Mabel [Christina Burroughs], the favorite of these daughters of Major General Stanley [Chris Kelly], and they swear eternal fidelity.
This far-fetched tale soon has the pirates wooing the other sisters, the Major General intervening, and pretty much everyone claiming to be an orphan to escape the pirates' wrath. -- But honor and duty must trump all, causing a lot of confusion and convoluted plotting that will very cleverly be remedied by the end with the help of the local Police Leader [Brandtley McDonald], and his company of Keystone Cops.
Gilbert & Sullivan's brilliant lyrics and melodies carry the plot and themes about social class distinctions and Victorian "honor", or satirize the era's opera trends, so it is essential that they are heard and understood by the audience. -- The Faulkner actors/singers appear committed to their roles and relationships, producing some sweet romantic scenes, jealous tirades, swashbuckling derring-do, and comical stereotypes, but they are inhibited by the very live acoustics in the theatre. Their accurate diction is most effective in solos, duets, and small group numbers, but suffers in choruses and at times when their lively stage action and/or spontaneous and deserved audience responses render their words incomprehensible.
That notwithstanding, there are a number of performances that brighten the stage. Mr. Dickson struts around the stage with vigor as the Pirate King, and Ms. Alston's long-suffering Ruth is credibly presented. Mr. McDonald's Police Leader's dead-pan attitude and robotic Keystone Cop demeanor [and his strong & clear singing voice] give him full attention. As the young lovers, Ms. Burroughs and Mr. McMichen make a believable connection, and have voices that enrich the lyrics with intention and clarity. They also play off one another's reactions with knowing glances, and Mr. McMichen's narcissistic swaggering gets the most out of Frederic's character.
In a virtual non-speaking role as the Police Lead Dancer [and chorus member, pirate, et al.], Michael Williams gives the most sustained, focussed, and always in-the-moment performance in this show. Everyone else, take note.
But the showcase number is given to Mr. Kelly. "I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major General" is a signature G&S piece: rapid-patter witty lyrics sung at lightning speed by a character actor who knows what he is about. His imposing physical image, his facial expressions, his exquisite comic timing, and his command of the stage bring the house down, and rightly so. It is this that shows G&S the way it is meant to be.
The performance style established by their collaborator Richard D'Oyly Carte's company is prescribed in extraordinary detail regarding movement, musical score, staging, and sets -- something like the prescriptions of some classical ballet. -- Directed at Faulkner by Angela Dickson, with music by Marilyn Swears' spot-on 3-piece orchestra, the 25-strong cast of Faulkner students, alumni, faculty, and community members respect the D'Oyly Carte traditions, but are not slavish to them, putting their own anachronistic stamp on the play and making it more accessible to today's audience.
Subtitled "The Slave of Duty", Pirates tells the story of one Frederic [Chase McMichen] who, on reaching the age of 21 becomes a full-fledged member of a band of pirates; his hard-of-hearing nurse Ruth [Jesse Alston] mistook giving him to a "pirate" instead of a "pilot" when he was very young. Frederic tells the Pirate King [Matt Dickson] that he will leave them and be duty-bound to bring the pirate band -- who, despite their swagger, are a motley crew of tenderhearted men who never hurt orphans -- to justice.
Taking Ruth with him and promising to marry her (she is the only woman he has ever seen till now), when he encounters a bevy of beautiful young women -- all sisters -- he rejects Ruth and falls instantly in love with Mabel [Christina Burroughs], the favorite of these daughters of Major General Stanley [Chris Kelly], and they swear eternal fidelity.
This far-fetched tale soon has the pirates wooing the other sisters, the Major General intervening, and pretty much everyone claiming to be an orphan to escape the pirates' wrath. -- But honor and duty must trump all, causing a lot of confusion and convoluted plotting that will very cleverly be remedied by the end with the help of the local Police Leader [Brandtley McDonald], and his company of Keystone Cops.
Gilbert & Sullivan's brilliant lyrics and melodies carry the plot and themes about social class distinctions and Victorian "honor", or satirize the era's opera trends, so it is essential that they are heard and understood by the audience. -- The Faulkner actors/singers appear committed to their roles and relationships, producing some sweet romantic scenes, jealous tirades, swashbuckling derring-do, and comical stereotypes, but they are inhibited by the very live acoustics in the theatre. Their accurate diction is most effective in solos, duets, and small group numbers, but suffers in choruses and at times when their lively stage action and/or spontaneous and deserved audience responses render their words incomprehensible.
That notwithstanding, there are a number of performances that brighten the stage. Mr. Dickson struts around the stage with vigor as the Pirate King, and Ms. Alston's long-suffering Ruth is credibly presented. Mr. McDonald's Police Leader's dead-pan attitude and robotic Keystone Cop demeanor [and his strong & clear singing voice] give him full attention. As the young lovers, Ms. Burroughs and Mr. McMichen make a believable connection, and have voices that enrich the lyrics with intention and clarity. They also play off one another's reactions with knowing glances, and Mr. McMichen's narcissistic swaggering gets the most out of Frederic's character.
In a virtual non-speaking role as the Police Lead Dancer [and chorus member, pirate, et al.], Michael Williams gives the most sustained, focussed, and always in-the-moment performance in this show. Everyone else, take note.
But the showcase number is given to Mr. Kelly. "I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major General" is a signature G&S piece: rapid-patter witty lyrics sung at lightning speed by a character actor who knows what he is about. His imposing physical image, his facial expressions, his exquisite comic timing, and his command of the stage bring the house down, and rightly so. It is this that shows G&S the way it is meant to be.
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