Saturday, April 29, 2017

Something Rotten!

Something Rotten! @ Playhouse Square, April 26-May 14
Review by Laura Kennelly



‘Tis a happy occasion for the provinces (AKA Cleveland, to put it in Elizabethan style) when [Broadway] Royalty visits. And, make no mistake, Something Rotten! offers a very very happy occasion--it’s one of the best new musicals around. The National Touring Company of  Something Rotten! (the Broadway show closed January 1st) brings rich and silly merriment to the Connor Palace.
This musical, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, offers light-hearted fun perfect for spring. Yes, there’s satire, but set so far in the past that no one will mind (not even English teachers) having a bit of fun at The Bard of Avon’s expense. As the first extravagant production number jokes, “Welcome to the Renaissance where everything is new.”  Based on appearances (lush, witty, totally extravagant costumes, clever adaptable sets), there’s nothing second rate about this touring hit.
If you love Shakespeare, and hate musicals, you’ll love it; if you hate Shakespeare and love musicals, you’ll love it (one of the best songs is “God, I Hate Shakespeare”). If you love both (hand raised here), then you are in heaven.
Neither the iconic Renaissance bard nor the musical theatre culture escapes loving mockery. When Shakespeare puts on a show, it’s in the park (as in popular community productions today featuring “Shakespeare in the Park”). When the brothers discuss writing a “A Musical,” enough well-crafted allusions to famous musicals seep in (sometimes just a chord or two, sometimes a set or a light) that everyone will likely recognize favorites.
The premise sounds as if it might inflict serious historicity upon us. Fear not, facts are few, but it’s wonderful to consider the possibilities: What if amongst Shakespeare’s rivals (and he did have many) were two bumbling brothers, Nick and Nigel Bottom, who ran into a soothsayer named Nostradamus who told them the next new stage fad in Renaissance England would be musicals?
Turns out he’s not the best of soothsayers, but he does have a vision--of sorts. That’s the plot and the inspiration that leads to a riot of silliness and some pretty catchy tunes by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick (who perhaps drew on life experience as a brother-duo writing team when creating the show’s Bottom brothers). For a look, see [http://www.broadway.com/videos/156167/video-go-behind-the-music-of-something-rotten-with-karey-wayne-kirkpatrick/]
Three key members of the cast were in the Broadway show (Adam Pascal as Shakespeare, Rob McClure as Nick Bottom, and Josh Grisetti as Nigel Bottom).  With rockstar swagger Pascal’s Shakespeare flaunts and struts his way through crowds of fainting fangirls. And his eyes? Well, David Bowie has nothing on Pascal for eyeliner. Tres chic.
Other players include  Maggie Lakis as Nick’s much-put upon wife, Bea; Blake Hammond as the befuddled Nostradamus (related to, but not the famous prophet “Nostradamus”);  Autumn Hurlbert as gifted poet Nigel’s sweetly girlish love, Portia; Scott Cote as the pompous Puritan Brother Jeremiah, and Jeff Brooks as unofficial producer/backer Shylock.
Kudos, too, to Nick Rashad Burroughs, as the minstrel who strolls onstage to open the show and welcome us to the Renaissance “where everything is new.”
Something Rotten doesn’t stint on special numbers, well-executed dancing, and spunk. Much of the show’s merriment is carried by what seems to be hundreds of different characters, all played by the quick-stepping and enthusiastic ensemble. The ensemble cast includes Baldwin Wallace University’s Lucy Anders, class of 2015, as well as Kyle Nicholas Anderson, Daniel Beeman, Mandie Black, Pierce Cassedy, Drew Franklin, Juliane Godfrey, Leah Hofmann, Kristie Kerwin, Ralph Meitzler, Patrick John Moran, Joel Newsome, Con O’Shea-Creal, and Tonya Thompson.
Praise also to those who see to the little details that make things work: Scott Pask (scenic design), Gregg Barnes (costume design), Jeff Croiter (lighting design), Peter Hylenski (sound design), Josh Marquette (hair design), Phil Reno (music director/conductor), Glen Kelly (arrangements), Larry Hochman (orchestrations), Steve Bebout (associate director).
Bottom Line: Clever, involving, funny, and fresh. Highly recommended.



Tuesday, April 25, 2017

 Freaky Friday@Allen Theatre, Playhouse Square, April 15-May 20
Review by Laura Kennelly
Never mind “being in someone else’s shoes.” How about exchanging bodies? That’s the premise of Freaky Friday, the Cleveland Play House’s last show of the 2016-2017 season. This Disney pop/rock theatrical production takes a light look at the common “You just don’t understand” wail that often comes from both mothers and daughters.  After  Disney movies plus TV shows based on the idea (and in this musical’s case, specifically on Mary Rodger’s novel, Freaky Friday), the comic story itself won’t surprise.
     Magic happens and a mother and daughter suddenly find themselves inhabiting each other's body. They only have one day to switch back because the mother is getting married the next day (‘nuff said there).
    Thanks to clever and very talented leads, Heidi Blickenstaff (as Katherine, the super-busy mom who uses her own wedding partly as a marketing ploy) and Emma Hunton as Ellie (Katherine’s rebellious teen daughter), the opening night show brought laughs plus a few sighs, looks, and  nudges amongst the mother-daughter pairs who filled the Allen Theatre.
Among the highlights in this frothy comedy: Biology class. There, Chris Ramirez as Adam, (Ellie’s secret crush) brings back memories of how easy it was to fall for “hot” guys back in high school. Hunton’s expressions as she sings “Oh Biology” (in Biology Class of course) with Ramirez are priceless. Suddenly, she (now with her mother’s mind) remembers “Oh yes, that’s what it’s like to host all those new hormones.” And, since she has her mother’s knife skills, she wows her biology teacher and class with her efficient dissection technique.
    Of course (it’s Disney), after almost two dozen musical numbers (likely nothing that will make the top charts, but pleasant enough) and a bit of easy dancing poses, the story ends happily. Both mother and daughter gain new respect for each other’s lives after living them for a day.
    The small orchestra, led by Andrew Graham, provided upbeat music as they played on stage behind a screen.
Bottom Line: Empathy gained via magic, quick funny, and efficient. Blickenstaff and Hunton win highest marks for excellent character switching--adding comedy and a bit of pathos to an otherwise familiar joke.

Freaky Friday, directed by Christopher Ashley, with a new book by Bridget Carpenter and a pop‐rock score by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, plus choreography by Sergio Trujillo plays at the Allen Theatre through May 20, 2017
Photo:

From left to right: Emma Hunton (Ellie) and Chris Ramirez (Adam). Photo credit: Jim Carmody.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Hamlet @ Hanna Theatre, March 31-April 15 Review by Laura Kennelly



Yes, it still ends badly. Heaps of bodies litter the Hanna Theatre stage at Hamlet’s conclusion. But director Charles Fee and the Great Lakes Theatre team make this beautifully staged tragedy  fresh, even new.


Fee has pruned Shakespeare’s revenge drama into a lean, stylish creation with an askewly modern slant that references Freudian Mama Love and pop psychology. On opening night #2 with Jonathan Dyrud as our hero (#1 featured Laura Welsh Berg in the title role) this interpretation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet proved unique and deliciously satisfying


Unspoken implications emerge about motivations and values. Why does Hamlet rather unquestioningly believe the apparition which may or may not be his father’s ghost? What’s to be gained from revenge anyway? How could he treat the innocent Ophelia (and his mother for that matter) so poorly? In a powerful performance, Dyrud reveals our hero as a compelling cross between evil and good, a man who channels an obsessive edge that pushed his responses no matter who got hurt. Hamlet, in short, was a well-spoken spoiled brat with little empathy who probably shared more personality traits with his ruthless Uncle Claudius than he realized.


Erin Partin creates a lovely, wistful beauty as Ophelia, his abandoned girlfriend. Her gowns and songs were fetching. Laura Perrotta as an elaborately coiffed Gertrude, convincingly shows her as a woman too taken with her own insecurities and with the manly authority of Hamlet’s uncle (given surprising sympathetic portrayal by David Anthony Smith) to do much more than reflect distress.  Dougfred Miller, as the sententious Polonius, seems like a “good guy” and his remarks don’t seem nearly as trite as they do when quoted by our contemporaries.


Other cast members with pivotal roles in this Elizabethan-era soap opera include Lynn Robert Berg as the spooky apparition, Nick Steen as gallant Laertes, M. A. Taylor as Reynaldo, Christopher Tocco as Horatio, and Aled Davies as the Gravedigger.


Scenic designer Russell Metheny creates an outstandingly dreamy version of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. The multi-leveled set seemed candlelit, thanks to a chandelier with flickering candles (really electric, but you couldn’t tell). The center stage lift was used to great advantage. The set itself offered audience members a captivating choice, whether to sit in the audience (where this reviewer sat), in the “pit” (people sitting on benches were close enough to put their drinks onstage during intermission), or on the stage, just behind the actors in tiered seating. It was kinda the Globe back in the day (with the quality in the boxes and the peasants below), and kinda not.


The production alternates male and female actors playing Hamlet, which isn’t much of a stretch considering that in Shakespeare’s time males played all the roles. I regret that I only had time to see one of the Hamlets.

Bottom Line: A truly fascinating new look at a classic that paid tribute to tradition (the set, the costumes) and to innovation (thanks to very fine acting that made familiar lines sound fresh). Shakespeare isn’t dead. There’s a reason his works still grace our stages and haunt our imaginations: He’s just that good.

Photo credit: TRG Reality