Millbrook: "Not a Creature was Stirring...not even a Moose"

The holiday season is off to a good start with the Millbrook Community Players' gently affectionate production of Pat Cook's Not a Creature was Stirring...not even a Moose.

A lot of silliness occurs in the office of J. J. Garnes [Steve Phillips], the editor of a weekly newspaper who is always looking for an angle on a story that would sell more papers than those of his frenemy Winona Pershing's [Tracey Quates] rival newspaper.

While he bemoans the commercialization of Christmas, it is clear that J. J. is eager to reap its benefits when he discovers a sentimental note to Santa from "Joey", and sets out to discover the boy's identity to capitalize on his heartwarming story. -- Act I is replete with two staff members -- Delilah [Karla McGhee] and Sarah [Donna Young] --whose pointed quips entertain us and challenge J. J.; and a corrupt Mayor [Michael Snead]. 

To complicate matters, there is a story about a mysterious "wish-granting ornament" in the shape of a Moose that seems to fulfill the wishes of anyone holding it.

Act II brings in an eccentric crop-duster pilot aptly named Buzzy [Carol Majors adds significant energy every moment she is on stage]; her escapades as Santa in dropping presents from her plane to needy children are hilarious. The presents are provided by Fiona [Cheryl Phillips] whose compassion for the children is laudable. -- But when concerns arise regarding the presents, both the Mayor and his inept henchman Sgt. Slattery [Hudson Lee-Thor] get more in the way than being helpful

At the center of the play's Christmas themes is the janitor Barney [John Chain], whose pearls of wisdom and unassuming demeanor in describing the magical ornament and his repeated message os Hope and Faith argue the true meaning of Christmas, and force others to wonder whether Barney is the real Santa or one of his Elves.

There is a kind of Scrooge reclamation when J. J. finds out "Joey's" true identity, and he winds up doing something decent for the needy children [and perhaps for his employees as well].

An enjoyable light comedy to start the holiday season.

Theatre AUM: "The Importance of Being Earnest"

Oscar Wilde's ever witty The Importance of Being Earnest has been a theatrical staple for professional, community, university, and high school companies for as long as one can remember, and is now showing at Theatre AUM in director Mike Winkelman's fast-paced, energetic, and inventive interpretation.

With its attention to COVID protocols [everyone on stage and in the audience wears a mask, and safe distanced limited seating is observed], the ensemble acting company once again exhibits AUM's commitment to quality productions that explore various aspects of world theatre. -- Here is a comedy from a bygone era presented [with a few contemporary mannerisms] that affords actors and audience members a glittering display of witty dialogue from actors who embody their characters eccentricities with aplomb. 

Whether its contrived plot is credible, or whether anyone ever actually spoke with such precious affectation is beside the point; the actors carry it off. -- It's all about the language, and as one of the characters notes: style is more important than sincerity. The script shows Wilde at his best, and though some of the actors often lack the vocal support that stresses operative words to communicate information and make the cleverness understood, they make up for it in delineating the character relationships that keep the plot moving forward.

It is also an old-fashioned three act play that sets up the action, brings it to a climax, and resolves the confusions. -- Jack Worthing [Jared Jones] visits his London friend Algernon Moncrieff [Worth Harris] who interrogates him about his name: you see, Ernest is the name he uses in town, and Jack is his name in the country, having invented a fictitious brother to afford an excuse to leave one or the other place. And Algy has a fictitious sick friend Bunbury he uses for the same purpose. -- Complicating matters is that Ernest/Jack is in love with Algy's cousin Gwendolyn [Tabitha Neyerlin], but his desire to marry her is being thwarted by her mother, Lady Bracknell [Cole Hamric], whose interrogation of Ernest finds that he is an orphan who can't prove his heritage, and concludes that he is not a proper match for her daughter.

Jack returns to the country, having determined to get rid of his fictitious brother to avoid further complications; but Algy gets there before him and falls for Jack's ward Cecily [Kaylee Baker] by pretending to be Jack's brother. -- Cecily is schooled by Miss Prism [Yahzane Palmer] who likes the local man of the cloth Canon Chausuble [Brandon Baggin]. -- Both of the young men have proposed to their chosen ladies who know them by the name of Ernest; so when Gwendolyn shows up in the country, much confusion occurs...and, as it is a comedy, must be resolved, not the least of which is Jack's parentage.

Mr. Winkelman guides his troupe through the complications of the plot, and engages us with their assorted antics along the way. Even the servant roles -- Lane [David Wilson] and Merriman [Jonah Maynard] -- are expanded with quirky stage business. He is abetted by Val Winkelman's character driven period costumes [with a few modern touches], and an evocative minimalist scenic design by Aileen Zeigler. And a clever use of Gilbert & Sullivan tunes sustains a spirited lightheartedness throughout.

The Importance of Being Earnest at Theatre AUM tickles the funny bone in this delightful production.

Cloverdale Playhouse: "The Legend of Georgia McBride"

"Everyone should go to the theater. Because it is there that we see the struggles of those we might otherwise misidentify as 'other.' It is there that we go to see ourselves." [Playwright Theresa Rebeck on the NYTimes Opinion page A17, Friday, October 15, 2021]

The opening night audience at the Cloverdale Playhouse clearly saw themselves represented on stage as they laughed, cried, applauded, and cheered throughout The Legend of Georgia McBride by Matthew Lopez, who made history in September as the first Latino to win in the "Best Play" Tony Award for The Inheritance.

Not so long ago, and before "Ru Paul's Drag Race" became mainstream, it would have been problematic in River Region theatres to feature actors in drag, or a loving mixed-race couple, but in ...Georgia McBride they are both depicted successfully and without editorial comment.

Casey [Jay Russell] is a down-on-his-luck Elvis impersonator at a Panama City, FL bar called "Cleo's". With overdue bills to pay, and impending eviction by landlord Jason [Michael Buchanan] for missing rent payments, and his African American wife Jo [Lavia Walker] announcing her pregnancy, Jason breaks the news to her that he has been fired from his Elvis gig by bar owner Eddie [Chris Roquemore], and relegated to bartender.

What he doesn't tell her is that Elvis has been replaced by a drag show featuring flamboyant Miss Tracy Mills [David Rowland] and her unreliable stage partner Rexy [John Selden]...and that he has been conscripted to join the show. -- Much to resolve in the two hours' traffic on the Cloverdale Playhouse stage.

Lopez's script has an improbable plot, underdeveloped characters, and several songs that are a lot of fun to watch though they do not otherwise contribute to the action, yet audiences get caught up in the show largely due to its exuberant performances, sensitive attention to significant social issues, some technical wizardry, and the spot-on direction by Eleanor Kerr Davis and Scott Page.

Davis and Page [sounds like a vaudeville double-act, doesn't it?] keep the action moving at a steady pace, finding a rhythmic mix of comedy, pathos, social insights, and dynamic lip-synched songs. -- J. Scott Grinstead again impresses us with a minimalist set design that evokes specific locations and utilizes  a revolving stage for the first time at the Playhouse. -- Costumes by Ms. Davis and Beth Shephard and their team contrast working class characters with spectacular drag personae. -- David Rowland [wigs, make-up, choreography] adds a drag-professional standard that impacts the signal moments in the play; his alter-ego is, after all, the inimitable Chloe Von Trapp.  -- This is a fine collaborative effort that supports the play's themes and the ensemble cast's many talents.

Each of the characters is on a journey of self-discovery and acceptance. -- Mr. Buchanan's good-old-boy Jason seems oblivious of others' needs at first, though he ultimately admits to a regretful decision he made in the past. -- As the narrator/emcee and tunnel-visioned bar owner, Mr. Roquemore is a delight as he slowly accepts both the economic impact of the drag show to his business as well as the "otherness" of the divas.

In her Playhouse debut, Ms. Walker delivers a quietly natural quality in Jo. If "quiet ones often go unnoticed", that is not so here. Ms. Walker is an "other" force to deal with when she discovers Casey's lies; it is his lack of trust in her that must be remedied, and she knows it. And, as much of the play emphasizes the importance of love of all sorts, she becomes the catalyst for it.

Mr. Selden's Rexy [full name Anorexia Nervosa; "It's Italian", she quips] bears the brunt of early derision as the bitchy drunkard; yet Rexy consistently returns from stupor to claim a place in the show, and in an Act II confessional provides the most compelling back-story of a violent teenage assault on someone who appeared as "other" to the perpetrators and that garners compassion. Indeed, "Drag is not for sissies."

The biggest journey of self-discovery resides in Mr. Russell's Casey, abetted by Miss Tracy Mills. -- Miss Tracy questions Casey's abilities as a drag performer, but recognizes his potential and determines to mentor him, exercising both maternal concern and realistic expectations. Whether delivering sassy repartee, or offering necessary advice to "find yourself and be true to it" or to "make fewer messes in your life", or performing several show-stopping numbers, Mr. Rowland's Miss Tracy is, in a word: dazzling!

Watching Casey's transformation under Miss Tracy's tutelage lets audiences into both the sense of "otherness" Casey feels when he first dons women's clothes, and the gradual comfort as he assumes the role of country music diva Georgia McBride. Mr. Russell inhabits the role so that audiences might share with him their own discomforts with "otherness" of any sort, and to be able to join with him and the entire cast at the Finale's rousing celebratory dance party.

At a time when intolerance and misunderstanding abound, when LGBTQ-bashing rears its ugly head all too often, when anyone perceived as "other" becomes a victim of hate crimes, when bias and prejudice are excused in the name of exercising one's rights, or when one refuses to listen to an "other" point of view, The Legend of Georgia McBride points the way to rectifying such issues as cast and audience join together to celebrate their unique differences and common humanity.

WOBT: "The Addams Family: a new musical comedy"

First-time director Hunter Smith cut his performance teeth at Faulkner University, and furthered his acting career at the Wetumpka Depot, The Millbrook Community Players, and others; so he shows up here at Prattville's Way Off Broadway Theatre to deliver a well-crafted, energetic production of The Addams Family: a new musical comedy.

Abetted by spooky costumes [Kevin Mohajerin] and set pieces [Tanner Parrish], strong musical direction [James Keith Posey], and vibrant choreography [Alex Rikerd and Mr. Posey], as well as strong performances by his 22-member acting company who are only occasionally placed in overcrowded staging, it looks like Mr. Smith is off to a good start.

As a lead-up to Halloween, The Addams Family is an appropriately ghoulish selection for the season, and WOBT has taken appropriate COVID measures to ensure the safety of its limited audiences in this sold-out run.

Based on cartoon characters created by Charles Addams, and the cult-classic television show, the sometimes plodding plot/book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, and music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa are filled with both the familiar characterizations of the principal characters and clever dialogue references to contemporary social concerns.

The characters, for all of their otherworldly eccentricities, have always been rendered as "normal"; their domestic lives are much like ours, but with a tongue-in-cheek stamp that is meant to make us reflect on our own eccentricities. -- So, when Wednesday [Kristen VanderWal] falls for the normal Lucas Beineke [Tanner Parrish], and invites him and his parents Mal [Eric Arvidson] and Alice [Kayli McNally] to dinner at the Addams' home...well, you can imagine the result.

But we discover, as do they, that "normal" is a part of shared family values, and not the exclusive domain of regular folks like the Beinekes. Just like the Beinekes, Gomez [a charismatic James Keith Posey] and Morticia [Alex Rikerd reprises the role with comfortable pizzaz] have trust issues; Pugsley [Amy Lynn Miller] has a teenager's doubts; Grandma [Melanie Boulware] is unabashedly frank; Wednesday and Lucas are challenged by meaningful conversations about their relationship; and Fester [Sam Wallace gives a touching idiosyncratic performance as a "moonstruck" devotee]. Even the silent Lurch [Connor Carraway] gets a moment to actually speak.

Musical numbers serve to both comment on and move the action forward, and are mostly delivered with assurance, especially by the principal actors. Ms. Rikerd and Mr. Posey have a fine chemistry, and their talents are showcased in numerous songs. Ms. McNally's confession in "Full Disclosure" is powerful. Ms. VanderWal and Mr. Parrish are at their best in "Crazier Than You". And Mr. Wallace will steal your heart in "Fester's Manifesto" about love and Act II's declaration of his love in "The Moon and Me".

The ensemble of Addams Ancestors are given individualized roles to play, and the group numbers show off their ensemble skills.

Though there are obstacles in the way of Wednesday's and Lucas's romance, all will be resolved by the end [it is a musical comedy after all], and audiences should exit the theatre feeling just a little bit better about returning to the "normal" world.

Wetumpka Depot: "Big Fish"

 Big Fish -- just say the title around these parts and get ready for a chorus of glowing sentiments about Daniel Wallace's novel, the popular film with an adapted script by John August, the recent HGTV program that transformed Wetumpka and featured the "Big Fish House", the Wetumpka High School production not long ago of the John August and Andrew Lippa musical version which is now being staged at the Wetumpka Depot to almost sold-out audiences.

Opening night's limited and [mostly] masked audience gave director Kristy Meanor's production an enthusiastic reception as the Depot returned to in-person shows. -- Her fluid minimalist set design had actors shifting its many moveable parts in full view. Daniel Harms' efficient choreography, along with Carol Heier's character-driven costumes and Thomas Rodman's evocative lighting, combined with energetic performances by the 17-member cast made for an enjoyable evening's entertainment.

Randy Foster's music direction was in full force, with the actors steadfastly singing along to a recorded soundtrack; they met the challenge, though the soundtrack itself occasionally overpowered some solo singing voices.

Though there are few surprises in this retelling of Big Fish, our enjoyment relies on the freshness of the production, and we fill in the missing pieces of the narrative [some of the set decorations help with this].

Essentially focused on a contentious father/son relationship, Big Fish centers on Edward Bloom [Chris Kelly] and his grown son Will [Gage Leifried] as the son tries to decipher the decades-long autobiographical stories his father weaves, with added romanticized embellishments that confuse the younger man who doesn't understand his father, something he needs to do before it's too late, and in order to pass on the heritage to his pregnant wife Josephine [Xandria Hataway] and his yet unborn son. 

And these stories include a Witch [Desirae Lewis] who has told Edward the truth about his death, a circus ringmaster named Amos [Cushing Phillips] who is also a werewolf, and a misunderstood giant named Karl [Jordan Berry]. Add Jenny [Kyndall Stoker] a lovestruck schoolmate, and a high school rival Don [Johntavious Osborne], and even a Mermaid [Kaitlyn Lawless] who shows up every once in a while, and Will's confusion is understandable.

While the Young Will [Shepherd Grier] bridges the past and the present, Edward's wife Sandra [Angela Dickson] is the rock of the family. The love of Edward's life from the time they first met, her steadfastness, and Dr. Bennet's [Michael Hall] diagnosis that Edward hasn't long to live, gently brings about the connection that both father and son have wanted for so long.

The actors in the featured roles do yeomen's work in telling the Big Fish story, and deliver some fine individual moments in song. -- While the "Ensemble" troupe play numerous other roles and develop some recognizable portraits, they often let loose with energy and volume that could be pulled back a bit to support rather than dominate the action.

All in all a solid production, Big Fish ought to complete its run on a high note that keeps its audiences entertained by its fresh approach.

ASF: "Shoebox Picnic Road Side: Route One"

 There are only a few days left to see the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's "World Premier" production of Shoebox Picnic Road Side: Route One held outdoors [weather permitting] under a peaceful grove near the theatre building.

Deneen Reynolds-Knott' 40-minute play hearkens back to the 1950s. Ramona Ward's finely rendered period costumes, and a soundtrack of popular songs blaring from classic cars complete the picture as a small caravan of an African-American family stops en route between New York City and North Carolina  for a roadside picnic; and after the actors/characters "bless the food", a shoebox picnic awaits each audience member.

While this scenario could depict almost any American family in the 1950s, it is clear that, though white people might choose a picnic as an alternative to a restaurant, the characters in this play do so out of necessity to avoid being turned away from a "whites-only" establishment, or worse, to have risked their lives had they tried.

There is no mention of the well-known Greenbook listing safe places for African-Americans to stop, and for the most part, the atmosphere of Ms. Reynolds-Knott's script is comfortably light-hearted, with colloquial dialogue that is disarmingly ordinary; the women share recipes for fried chicken and potato salad and talk about fashion and music icons like Dinah Washington; the men talk about the Brooklyn Dodgers and take friendly digs at the one of them who always arrives late; the children talk about their dreams of the future and don't quite understand why they can't stop at a Howard Johnson's for a clam roll.

The ensemble acting company create recognizably naturalistic characters who appear to be living relatively happy lives -- they banter, gently discipline their children, make plans for a better future -- but underneath all this seeming comfort is a continual and almost undetectable watchfulness. Their parked cars shield them from the public road, there is a real concern for the people in the car that lags behind, their words are guarded when it turns to the subject of race. 

There is one moment when car horns are heard from nearby -- a signal probably from white people that they ought to move on -- that causes a well-practiced ritual that positions the men as sentries, and the women distracting the children by bringing them near the cars and protecting them from danger.

Other than that one discomforting moment, there are no incidents to speak of. Audiences have been offered a peek into the characters' lives and can relate to them. We like them; they are good people; their hopes and dreams are ours. We have invested in their lives. 

Before they leave, Ms. Reynolds-Knott provides a coda in which the assorted characters break the fourth wall to tell us what happens in their family "five years from now...ten years from now...twenty-five years from now...fifty years from now"; though a lot has been accomplished, and a lot has changed, their journey isn't yet over. So, when they pack up and get back on the road, we miss them and wish them well.

Cloverdale Playhouse: "The Guys"

"Where were you on 9/11?" "Are you ok?" "Why would someone do that?" "Is a return to normal even possible?" -- Questions relevant both then and now on the 20th anniversary of both the attacks that changed the world forever and the costly war in Afghanistan that followed.

For two nights only on its outdoor "Courtyard Stage", The Cloverdale Playhouse is presenting a staged reading of Anne Nelson's The Guys, in commemoration of the legions of men and women first responders at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, as well as those serving at the Pentagon and the brave citizens on United Flight 93 who diverted it from its targeted destination, the U.S. Capital, and crashed it in a field in Pennsylvania. -- It is also a fund-raiser for Montgomery Fire and Rescue.

Written in just nine days, The Guys premiered Off-Broadway at The Flea Theatre in New York in December 2001. Based on the playwright's experiences, it recounts the meeting of its two characters who piece together their experiences, their grief, their bewilderment, their anger, and their helplessness in coming to terms with events they could not control. -- Nick [Scott Page] is a NYFD Captain who lost eight members of his team, and is conscripted to deliver eulogies for his fallen friends -- "the guys" of the title; Joan [Sarah Walker Thornton] is a journalist who comes to Nick's aid to help shape his thoughts into meaningful words to deliver to the bereaved.

With all the media attention on this anniversary from networks and cable stations, we tend to get lost in the overload from talking heads touting the first responders as "heroes". -- But it is words that matter, and Ms. Nelson is so keenly aware of this that she avoids such heightened language by referring to the men as "the guys": ordinary people who have families, go to church, drink with their buddies, welcome newcomers into their midst, and work as a team. These are "the guys" we should commemorate. -- And audiences get to know them and respect them through the conversations between the two characters.

Mr. Page shows Nick as a good "guy" so broken and guilt-ridden by the catastrophe that he can't express what needs to be said, and is apologetic for dragging Joan in to his predicament. Ms. Thornton's presents Joan's anger and frustrated empathy unapologetically. Once she gets him to talk about his friends with her open-ended questions and then molds the details of their lives and experiences into ordinary words, they create a bond that enables them to continue, and they emerge as fully realized and empathetic characters.

Directed sensitively by Greg Thornton, who affords his actors room to explore the nuances of the script's themes and character relationships, and supported by J. Scott Grinstead's technical direction, the result is a touching and provocative evening that has audiences riveted throughout its 75-minute running time.

An America that seemed unified after 9/11 when politics, religion, and social status did not seem to matter, is now fraught on almost every quarter some 20-years later, where insurrectionist citizens threatened the fabric of our democracy, and where a global pandemic has become an excuse for divisiveness. The question remains: "Is a return to normal even possible?"