THEATER REVIEW: “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill” @ Beck Center by Laura Kennelly

Through Sat 4/14

Attention! Attention! Ladies and gentlemen, the Beck Center proudly presents Ms. Nicole Sumlin, songstress and actress extraordinaire! Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill gives a glimpse of the late chanteuse Billie Holiday’s last days as a singer. It also offers a great chance for a vocalist with acting chops to entertain, move and impress an audience. Enter Sumlin, who, as Holiday, does just that.

Scott Spence directs this Studio Theater production written by Lanie Robertson. Cameron Michalak designed the perfect set for the cozy space. There’s even a bar in the corner (genially managed by Leonard Goff as Em) and five tables for patrons close to the stage. (Despite the wine glasses and the bar, only Lady Day took a drink — or five — during the show.)

There are songs galore sung in Billie Holiday style (“What A Little Moonlight Can Do,” “Strange Fruit,” “Tain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do,” etc. Check her out on YouTube) — jazz club stylings — romantic, sexy, and (increasingly) boozy. Born in 1915, raised in poverty, she managed to create her own style before she died of liver disease when she was 44. When the play opens, she’s just out of a brief stint in jail and performing in a Philadelphia club. As dramaturg Leonar Inez Brown tells us in the program notes, there is “no happy ending, there is no redemptive moment,” but the glimpses we get of Holiday show us “moments [that] depict personal triumph.”

Sumlin shows us all that and, in a credible imitation of Holiday, sings with loving conviction while revealing, as the show continues, that the star is still addicted to booze and drugs. She’s supported in her show by pianist Ed Ridley as Jimmy Powers and Bradford McGhee as groovy bass player Ray Carter. Ridley (who is also music director of the show) plays a mean piano and (in a different sense of “playing”) a good friend to the failing Holiday. It’s a touching show about the fragility of success and the power of music.

It’s also a long show, and some had trouble staying in the bleacher seats for 90 minutes, making a big clatter as about five left at once. What might have been irritating turned into “Oh yes, that’s how it is at a club” and for me, added a dash of reality to the experience.

BOTTOM LINE: A fine ensemble effort headlined by Sumlin.

[Written by Laura Kennelly for CoolCleveland.com]]

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THEATER REVIEW: “School of Rock” @ Playhouse Square by Laura Kennelly

Through Sun 3/24

School may be classified as “work” for children, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. School of Rock, now playing at Playhouse Square’s Connor Palace Theatre, offers a raucous musical treatise about how to have a blast in school, fool parents and teachers, and learn to be a hot rock star — at least if you have the right substitute teacher.

Directed by Laurence Connor, School of Rock follows the 2003 film version with an original score by Andrew Lloyd Webber (trademark melodies seep out at odd times), raucous lyrics by Glenn Slater, and a simple storyline by Julian (Downton Abbey) Fellowes.

If you saw the film, you know the plot. If you didn’t, don’t worry— it’s easy. Poor Dewey Finn (Gary Trainor) can’t find success as a rock star. His antics in the opening “I’m Too Hot for You” show his total lack of talent as he tries to upstage the sexy lead singer of No Vacancy, the rockers he’s playing with. After they kick him out, he’s desperate enough for money to fake his credentials and hustle a job as a substitute teacher for a fifth-grade class.

Dewey, who has expertise and interest in only one thing — rock music — creates a band. He selects the talented ones to star and finds roles for the others as well. Camille De La Cruz, as the seemingly shy Tomika, gives us all a thrill when we see her suddenly transform (the way contestants on The Voice sometimes do) as she powers through “Amazing Grace.” The 12 children in his class are all adorable scene-stealers (like all children onstage). Choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter spotlights each young actor and helps us see them as recognizable individuals.

Principal Rosalie (Lexie Dorsett Sharp), like the rest of the school faculty, fails to notice what’s happening in the classroom until it’s too late, but she does get to sing the woeful “Where Did the Rock Go?” Song titles such as “Stick It to the Man” and “I’m Too Hot for You,” indicate the show’s stress on music as a medium of liberation and joy.

And for those of us who might doubt that youngsters could play so well, a recorded announcement by Andrew Lloyd Webber before the show assures that “Yes, the kids are actually playing their instruments.” Not badly either. They do have an occasional framing and back up by a small orchestra directed by keyboardist Martyn Axe, but four — guitarist Zack (Mystic Inscho), keyboardist Lawrence (Julian Brescia), drummer Freddy (Cameron Trueblood) and bassist Katie (Leanne Parks) — shine as young musicians. While she admits she lacks talent as an instrumentalist, the assertive fifth-grader Summer (Sami Bray) puts her bossy skills to use as band manager.

Opening night there were problems with scene changes, but it was interesting to see how professionally everyone handled it. The actors were told to leave the stage and after about 10 minutes, the show started again right before the point of “scene disaster.” No problem.

Bottom Line: A light-hearted, feel-good musical that may spark a few good memories in grown-up hearts. Well done, students!

[Written by Laura Kennelly]