The Diary of Anne Frank @ The Cleveland Play House, October 29, 2017

Review by Laura Kennelly

It’s both painful and important to realize that The Diary of Anne Frank is based on truth, not fiction. Drawn from incidents described in young Anne’s diary, this moving drama by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett (adapted by Wendy Kesselman) is currently onstage at PlayhouseSquare.

The Cleveland Play House production, directed by Laura Kepley, brilliantly places us into Anne’s hidden life in Amsterdam during 1942-1944, a time when Nazi forces sought out and killed millions of Jews throughout Europe (as they had done from the beginning of World War II). Anne’s diary, found after her death, chronicled what happened when she and her family, as well as another couple, their son and a family friend spent two years hidden in a secret upper floor.

The claustrophobic possibilities of the intimate Outcalt Theatre’s stadium seating draw us in and fine acting keeps us watching and hoping — against all prior knowledge — that this time Anne and her attic family will escape. They don’t.

The whole cast stays in character and onstage even during intermission, reading, mending, doing laundry, getting dental work done (one hopes not really — looked painful), and napping, adding to the impression that one is watching history happen.

The audience sits on three sides, with those in the first row actually seeming to be part of Anne’s household prison. Much credit should be given to scenic designer Robert Mark Morgan for creating an abstract, yet realistic, upper room. Beds, clothes, kitchen, sink, tables all speak of lives lived in poverty and fear. The audience is surrounded by barbed wire and wooden beams, harsh reminders of prison and wartime. Lighting by Mary Louise Geiger, costumes by David Kay Mickelsen and sound by Daniel Perelstein all contribute to the play’s somber mood.

Anne Frank was only thirteen when she went into hiding. Annie Fox as Anne offers a spirited performance that makes it clear that in hiding or not, Anne Frank is a lovably complex person, unsure about what to do with her intellect (she dreams of being a journalist) or her budding sexual maturity (early printed editions of the diary omitted her sexual curiosity and her intermittent dislike of her older sister and her mother). Fox’s passionate and volatile Anne at one point shouts “I have a better side.”

She adores her father (a kindly Rick D. Wasserman), shouts at her stressed-out mother (a nervous yet generous Lise Bruneau), stomps around the attic and is often impatient with her older sister (a steadfast Sarah Cuneo). As time passes Anne develops a crush on fellow teen Peter Van Daan (an obligingly polite Yaron Lotan). Lotan’s Peter is as naive as Anne and their stolen moments in the upper room’s attic bring innocent joy to both.

Others in hiding with them are Peter’s parents. His mother cannot face their new reality and clings to her luxurious fur coat (Laura Perrotta convincingly conveys her as a woman on the edge). His father (a secretive Bruce Winant) reveals serious character flaws. The family dentist Mr. Dussel (a fussy, grumpy Lee Wilkof ) also lives with them.

The brave Miep Gies (an open and friendly Amy Fritsche) risks her life and that of her family to smuggle food to the seven in the attic. In addition, it was she who preserved Anne’s diary. Other characters include “Mr. Kraler” (a helpful Tom Woodward) who assists Miep Gies. (“Kraler” is a pseudonym for Victor Kugler whose real name was not published in the original diary.) Paul Bugallo, Randy Merrill and Peter Hargrave play Nazi enforcers, concentration camp guards (they guard us at one point), and nosy neighbors.

Anne herself never knew that her simple diary would make her famous and that millions would love her and mourn her loss. In her diary she wrote, “I finally realized that I must do my schoolwork to keep from being ignorant, to get on in life, to become a journalist, because that’s what I want! I know I can write …, but it remains to be seen whether I really have talent …”

I think we can safely say “Yes.”

BOTTOM LINE: A fine and moving production of what is now a classic.

Apollo’s Fire: 50 ways to leave your lover @ St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, November 11

Review by Laura Kennelly

Apollo’s Fire brought a new (although this wonderful ensemble often brings something new) offering to music lovers last weekend (November 9-12). Early English love songs performed by tenor Nicholas Phan and a small ensemble showed us that love has ever been problematic. Provocatively titled “50 ways to leave your lover, or A Painted Tale,” the program featured songs from the 16th and 17th centuries. They combined to recreate feelings swirling around a young man’s love, the delicious object of said love, his terribly broken heart, and his subsequent death.

In brief introductory remarks, Phan characterized his selections as “a greatest hits breakup playlist” and thanked Apollo’s Fire founder, Jeannette Sorrell, for “letting me play in her sandbox.” And “play” he did, singing with beautiful diction, precision, and feeling over a dozen sweet, angry, and sentimental songs that survived a turbulent era of British history.

Phan, with a voice sometimes honey sweet, sometimes forceful, all contained within the grey stone walls of the church, made us believe we had somehow travelled back to England. It was a beautiful program (although I’m surely glad not to have endured living in those days).

In addition to doing a splendid job accompanying Phan, ensemble members Johanna Novom and Evan Few (violin), René Schiffer and Ann Marie Morgan (viola da gamba and cello), and William Simms and Charles Weaver (lutes, guitar, and theorbo), also played selections from William Lawes’ The Royal Consort. The stem of the theorbo stretched so long and high that one wondered if at times it might not also have been used as a defensive weapon (keeping fans at bay, perhaps?).

On Saturday night, Phan also treated the audience to a lovely encore: the Whitney-Houston-made-famous “I Will Always Love You.” Phan made a great (and deliberate) point with his encore choice: our generation did not invent love’s delights and woes. The poets and composers Phan selected celebrated it (“My thoughts are winged with hopes,” John Dowland), fretted over it (“O turn not those fine eyes away,” John Blow), and despaired of it (“Not all my torments can your pity move,” Henry Purcell).

The sedate setting with soaring ceiling contributed to the mood inspired by centuries-old songs as they were enlivened and made relatable to today by Phan’s exceptional vocal technique and the Apollo’s Fire Ensemble’s traditionally excellent playing.

It’s too late for this program, but it’s not too late to catch the Apollo’s Fire Christmas fest (yes, this is a plug). It’s a new program created by Jeannette Sorrell: “Christmas on Sugarloaf Mountain: An Irish-Appalachian Gathering.” It features Amanda Powell (soprano), Ross Hauck (tenor), the Apollo’s Singers, and the Sugarloaf Mountain players. (Not to mention, free ginger cake and cider after the concert.)

For tickets and concert locations around town, see apollosfire.org or call 216-320-0012.

Wicked @ Playhouse Square, Nov. 8--Dec. 3, 2017

Review by Laura Kennelly

Magic still sparkles in Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of OZ. This brilliant production once again has returned to Playhouse Square (possibly for the fifth time), but then consider, this Tony-Award winner has been on Broadway since 2003 (and it’s still playing there). The time-tested winning concoction, created by Stephen Schwartz (music and lyrics), Winnie Holzman (book), and Joe Mantello (director) enchants, amuses, and entertains. The touring version, thanks to its all-round excellent cast, good small orchestra plus adept mechanics, offers Cleveland a dashing Broadway-quality production.

Imagine taking a favorite story, The Wizard of Oz (by L. Frank Baum), later made into a film classic, and then turning the whole familiar story inside out. That’s akin to what novelist Gregory Maguire did when he created the Wicked storyline from plot threads in Baum’s original.  

Wicked shows nothing directly about Dorothy Gale, but she figures significantly in the story anyway--just around the corner and up the yellow brick road. If, by chance, you are like me and have never seen the show or read Maguire’s book then I don’t want to spoil the delightful surprises in store for you. (In the past, I had avoided the show, on principle, I suppose and indulging in “How dare they mess with the Oz series” and other foolish thoughts.)

So I can testify as one who comes to it fresh. And folks, I loved it even before the curtains parted. A giant dragon head with flashing eyes crowned the stage, making it look rather like a Viking ship and a green stage curtain centered with sparkling emeralds promised Oz delights.

Blonde and beautiful Glinda the Good comes bubbling down from the sky to begin the story. Ginna Claire Mason’s Glinda moves delightfully from airhead narcissist to one who just might be a good queen some day. Her “Popular” brings back memories of “Legally Blonde’s” Elle and everyone else who ever won prom queen back in the day.

Elphaba, her green-skinned classmate is just a bit different, but Mary Kate Morrissey makes her appealing and vulnerable. Morrissey’s vocal range is also impressive as she sustains note  high and low, especially in ”No Good Deed.” Mason and Morrissey sell the closing duet, “For Good,” like two who really believe its “feel good” message..

The whole cast (including the monkeys) clambers, dances, and scrambles entertainingly  along the way as they sketch out the full stories of the wizard, the tin man, the scarecrow, and even a bit of  the cowardly lion. Susan Hilferty’s costumes are beautiful, though the citizens of Oz look a lot like those in District One in The Hunger Games (but Wicked came first).

Bottom Line: A classy production with an excellent cast. No wonder denizens of Northern Ohio love this show and return to Oz time and time again.

Anything Goes @ Baldwin Wallace University,  Nov. 8--Nov. 19

Review by Laura Kennelly

It’s light, it’s frothy, there’s lots of dancing, and tons of amazing young talent. What’s not to like? Anything Goes, the sprightly classic now onstage at Baldwin Wallace University’s John Patrick Theatre (in Kleist Auditorium) features music and lyrics by Cole Porter (with book by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse).

Age becomes it. Anything Goes first appeared in 1934, but it dances right into (and over) today’s concerns (celebrity, the Stock Market, crime, churches, social status). Directed by Jim Beaudry, choreographed by Gregory Daniels with music direction by Beth Burrier, over two dozen tuneful actors (some no doubt destined for Broadway like so many BW alums) prance, dance, and generally dazzle.

It all begins with a sea voyage (as does many a good tale). In the 1930s, if you wanted to go to England, you most likely took a huge ocean liner across the Atlantic. By a series of mischances, the S. S. American sets sail with some very odd characters indeed. There’s love too. Several “boys” meet several “girls” as the show progresses and romance wins out (as it must in a 1930s musical).

The leads are double cast. I saw the “Billy Cast” that featured velvet-voiced Veronica Otim as nightclub singer Reno Sweeney. Reno gets the best songs--and Otim (a bit Eartha Kitt, a bit Dorothy Dandridge, and all Veronica) handled them like a pro: “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “You’re the Top” (a snappy duet with Charlie Ray as the hapless stowaway Billy Crocker),  “Friendship” (with the delightfully comic Marcus Martin as master criminal Moonface), and “Anything Goes” (with the whole chorus).

But dancing takes precedence in this toe-tapping musical and rhythmic feet moving across the stage with precision and grace make bring real joy. It’s a first-rate show (and I won’t even say “for a college production” because the set by scenic designer Jeff Herrmann and assistant Rose Musto has a professional vibe).

Bottom Line: Lots of beautiful dancing, most at a dizzying rate, great young voices singing classic songs--go if you can.

There are shows November 15 to 18 at 7:30 pm. and a 2 p.m. show Nov. 19. For tickets go to https://www.bw.edu/events/2017/fall/11-11-Anything-Goes or call the box office at 440-26-2240.