Through Sun 2/24

Once is a deeply spiritual work though that might not be obvious from its completely secular environment (a Dublin street, a bar, a vacuum repair shop, a hillside). We see love, charity and hope manifested in this tender story that never descends to sentimentality (or religiosity for that matter).

Once began as a film (it’s on Amazon right now), written and directed by John Carney. The musical came later, with book by Enda Walsh, and music and lyrics (also heard in the film) by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. The adaptation won a stack of awards, including the Tony Award for Best Musical, a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album, and four Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Musical.

I was lucky enough to see Once on Broadway, and I thought then how wonderful it was to find a cast that could “do it all” — actors, instrumentalists, and vocalists — and pull off such a show. It’s still wonderful here in the Beck Center production starring fourteen Baldwin Wallace students under the guidance of director Victoria Bussert. Musical direction by Matthew Webb,  choreography by Gregory Daniels, stage design by Kellie Green Fox and Jordan Janota all contributed to one of the best shows I’ve seen at the Beck.

When Once opens, a Dublin street musician called “Guy” (the only names we have for the two leads are generic, as in “the guy” and “the girl”) sings a mournful song, “Leave.” Guy (Jake Slater) thinks that he’s alone and it seems clear that he’s seriously depressed. We know this because he sets his guitar down and begins to walk away. No musician I’ve met would leave a precious instrument behind.

But Girl (Kelsey Brown) has been watching, and before he can leave, she speaks directly to Guy with a series of questions (in convincingly accented English). There’s a no-nonsense vibe about her when she wonders what he is doing. Girl is an immigrant from the Czech Republic. She is dragging a broken Hoover vacuum cleaner that “doesn’t suck.” Guy’s father just happens to own a repair shop. Bingo!

Brown’s captivating portrayal of Girl, manifests hope and radiates love. Girl’s flat-footed practicality contrasts with Slater’s nuanced portrayal of Guy’s self-destructive, self-pitying behavior. His Irish accent reminds us that some of the most romantic writers were Irish (such as William Butler Yeats and James Joyce). But by story’s end, thanks to their interactions through music (and a Hoover), both characters, especially Guy, seem transformed. Although Guy tries to show his gratitude to Girl, via a material present, we suspect that his greatest gift to her is that she can see he has regained confidence in his music.

Brown and Slater make a such dream duo, both strong and confident, that it’s hard to believe they are still college undergraduates. (Well, all right, they are undergrads at Baldwin Wallace and part of its select musical theatre program, but even so ….) The strong supporting cast also contributes mightily to creating a world for Guy and Girl to sing their way around. The musical numbers fit perfectly into the story. “Falling Slowly,” “When Your Mind’s Made Up,” “If You Want Me” and even the comic “Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy” stand out, but all are enjoyable.

The functional and simple set resembled the Broadway set. Various changes to switch to different places modeled the art of cooperative stagecraft as cast members moved chairs and other props in well-rehearsed steps. Everyone stayed on stage most of the time and, when needed, served as an orchestra playing a wide range of instruments.

BOTTOM LINE: A strikingly wonderful production of an amazing show with a great cast. (I may have to see it again.) It’s the perfect antidote to February — but really any other season as well.

[Written by by Laura Kennelly]

The Iliad

An Iliad @ Cleveland Play House, Playhouse Square, January 12 to February 10, 2019

Review by Laura Kennelly

How about a war story? Stomping across the bare floor of the Outcalt Theatre, the seemingly
indefatigable Tarah Flanagan as The Poet calls upon the muses to sustain and inspire her as she recounts
An Iliad. Her version, crafted by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare, is based on the Robert Fagles
translation of Homer’s classic.

Co-directed by Flanagan and Andrew Carlson, the tale plucks key incidents (usually tumultuous ones)
from the Greeks’ ten-year battle to conquer the beautiful city of Troy. It’s a story of tragedy
if you are rooting for Troy) and one of triumph (if you are for the Greeks) as woven into Homer’s epic
of battle and death.

Although Homer has been described as--among other things--a blind poet who recited from memory,
here we have no old man telling the story; instead it’s told by a robust speaker with fine dramatic gestures,
including fist-waving, weeping, waving swords, drawing lines with colored sand, and vaulting up ladders.

Flanagan talks directly to the audience, singling out members to address and even bounding up into the
seats to rest briefly as she turns to ask rhetorical questions or relate narrative elements. Flanagan’s skill
and energy as a master storyteller makes everything flow and holds our attention for some one hundred
minutes. Whew! (You may remember Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey as ancient Greek verse, composed
as early as 725 B. C. If you were required to read it in school, I can only hope your teacher’s account
was as dramatic and moving as Flanagan’s.)

After a short while a muse does indeed respond to The Poet’s opening cries for help. Eva Rose
Scholz-Carlson, composer, suddenly appears as a mute muse, sits down, and begins to accompany
The Poet with quietly appropriate and dramatic responses as she draws her bow across
the cello she has brought with her.

The play stays true to the promise of Fagles’ opening lines--“Rage--goddess, sing the rage of Peleus
son Achilles,/ murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,/
hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls….”
Death and rage are movingly described. When The Poet lists the soldiers who die of plague or injury
by the ships or outside the fortress, she makes it personal, interspersing references to lads from Dallas,
Akron, from Cleveland, from Parma, etc. as she does later when she lists hundreds of wars in
chronological order from the Greeks to Syria (hence, today).

Her lists suggest the utter futility of trying to “settle” anything via war and emphasizes Homer’s
conversation between Achilles and Priam near the end of the epic when Achilles says
“So the immortals spun our lives that we, we wretched men/ live on to bear such torments….”
It’s not optimistic about humans ever ending wars and fighting, and yet, it credits efforts at
reconciliation as exemplified by Achilles releasing Hector’s body to be buried in ceremonies in Troy.
The war is put on hold for twelve days. But, of course, it continues later.

Other notable elements: Creator Flanagan’s clever costume design allowed The Poet to remain
onstage while suddenly shifting into different outfits. (I counted four from rough coat to pretty yellow
Grecian dress.) Scenic designer Ian Stillman provided an ingenious setting for The Poet to spin her
story.

Bottom Line: An engaging performance in the grand tradition of epic story-telling.
I’d advise a quick review of Homer’s epic (try wiki) and not having a drink before the show to avoid
sleepiness or having to exit before it’s over.

Shrek:The Musical

Shrek the Musical @ The Beck Center, December 7 through January 6

Review by Laura Kennelly

The spirited Shrek at the Beck (isn’t it cool that it rhymes?) mixes a perfect combination of fairy tale characters, monsters, and music to kick off the holiday season. In this well-executed production (well, maybe not opening night since there was a brownout and a 45-minute wait before things got started), Director Scott Spence and his merry crew offer a treat for children and the adults that bring them.

With book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire and music by Jeanine Tesori, the show is based on the DreamWorks Animation Motion Picture, which in turn was based on the children’s book by William Steig.

Like so many fairy tales, very bad things set the story moving. Poor seven-year-old Shrek gets tossed out of his home by his parents. They are ogres and that’s the way ogres act. He’s a bit shocked, but philosophical (and his parents seem rather glad to have their place to themselves again). Once out into the “Big Bright Beautiful World” Shrek adapts, making his home in a swamp and, while knowing he is ugly, his great green face topped by funny little horn-knobs reflects contentment.

Until! Until a host of famous storybook characters (Pinocchio, The Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, a Wicked Witch, The Big Bad Wolf, Peter Pan, Ugly Duckling, Fairy Godmother, The White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, Sugar Plum Fairy,  Humpty Dumpty, and an Elf) shows up in his swamp.

Lord Farquaad has forced them to leave their homes in the Kingdom of Duloc. In order to restore his peaceful isolation, Shrek agrees to rescue Princess Fiona, who--coincidentally, was (like Shrek) sent away at age seven--in her case, to live in a tower. The evil Farquaad intends to make her his bride.

As with many good stories, things happen along the way.

Four strong leads created joy and kept us engaged. As Shrek, local favorite Gilgamesh (G. A.) Taggett presented a goofy grump so loveable that we soon forget his green face and that he is, indeed, quite ugly. Equally appealing is Remell Bowens as Donkey, Shrek’s travel companion and true friend. Bowens’ broad comic gestures and (let’s face it) donkey manners, brought laughs and grins whenever he appeared.

Natalie Steen brought charm (and always tasteful comic vulgarity) to the ladylike demeanor of Princess Fiona, a beauty seeking to kiss her one true love and thus remove the terrible spell she had been cursed with.

As the very short Lord Farquaad, Brian Altman ruled supreme in his role, one which required significant physical effort, especially when he danced.

The ensemble (consisting of the aforementioned fairy tale characters) moved impressively to a generous helping of tuneful song and dance numbers. Cheers to both musical director Larry Goodpaster and choreographer Martin Cespedes for creating plenty of fun--especially at the curtain call.

After a rocky start (as mentioned above) the scenic design by Don McBride, projection design by Brittany Merenda, and sound design by Carlton Guc all contributed to our delight.

Bottom Line: Absolutely no reservations in suggesting that those who might be looking for a fun way to share holiday celebration time with family (especially children) and friends should look into a visit with green monster Shrek and his motley crew.

Chicago @ Playhouse Square, November 27 to Dec. 2
Review by Laura Kennelly

Chicago, now briefly (only six shows) at Playhouse Square’s Connor Palace Theatre, claims to be the longest running musical ever (and yes, it’s still on Broadway). It won six 1997 Tony Awards. Why? Besides the obvious appeal of women in jail (ask the producers of Orange is the New Black about that), it brings together some of Broadway’s greatest hits (such as “All That Jazz” and “Cell Block Tango”) and a distinct and generous serving of Bob Fosse-style dancing.

The national tour production, directed by David Hyslop showcases David Bushman’s choreography, jazz hands, and more as produced by a dozen or so terrifically fit looking dancers.

Set in the 1920s, the book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse furnishes a brief, wry glance at the criminal and grasping and murderous minds of Velma Kelly (Terra C. MacLeod) and Roxie Hart (Dylis Croman). Both Kelly and Hart killed their partners after passion went wrong (“He Had It Coming”). MacLeod and Croman have previously played their parts on Broadway and while they handled challenging dance moves with aplomb, they sometimes failed to convey any impression that they were engaged in their roles.

On the other hand Eddie George succeeded in acting the part of Billy Flynn, their lawyer. The NFL veteran and Heisman Trophy winner gave Flynn the requisite flair and charisma that flim-flam lawyer Flynn required to convince juries that his clientele deserved to be set free.

As Matron “Mama” Morton, Jennifer Fouché, brought humor and great vocal chops to “When You’re Good to Mama.” And as press reporter Mary Sunshine, D. Ratell nearly stole the show with over-the-top interactions. Paul Vogt as Amos Hart turned “Mister Cellophane” into a touching anthem for those who feel overlooked.

The practical and minimal sets, designed by John Lee Beatty placed the small orchestra onstage on risers behind the actors. The set allowed for lively comic interactions with conductor Brian Whitted.

But tastes (mine anyway) have changed and the thin story crafted by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse served merely to string song and dance acts together. A more accurate title would be (IMHO) Chicago: A Musical Revue, since it’s very much like a dance recital and all the moves feature the same vibe (albeit a sexy-strip club one thanks to clingy black costumes by William Ivey Long).

The lighting design (by Ken Billington) used spotlights to excess, allowing dark shadows on most of the stage all the time. It reminded me of restaurants that feature mood lighting so (I suspect) they don’t need to clean the corners or the floors all that well.

Bottom Line: If you are already a big fan of Chicago then you might enjoy seeing an old friend one more time. If you don’t make this production, check out the excellent 2002 film [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299658/] with Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Gere. Just remember, this is not a lavish production and so don’t go expecting to get one. (This last remark is in memory of an irate customer at intermission who was telling a hapless Red Coat something to the effect that “It’s not worth the $80 I paid.”)

Cabaret at Baldwin Wallace, November 7 & 8

Cabaret at Baldwin Wallace University, Nov. 7-18)
Review by Laura Kennelly

Dead silence at the end of a musical? That’s a big Yes! First-night audiences (November 7 and November 8) at Baldwin Wallace’s spectacular Cabaret sat stunned after the affecting first-night performances offered by both the “Sally” and the “Cliff” casts. It felt as if it were inappropriate to cheer at the bitter ending of John Kander and Fred Ebb’s Cabaret. Director Victoria Bussert translated the title song that proclaims “Life is a Cabaret” into a beautiful and bitter truth.

The plot of this 1966 musical (based on the 1951 play I Am A Camera by John Van Druten spun off Christopher Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin) differs slightly from that adapted for the film starring Liza Minnelli, which softens (a bit) this tale of life in 1931 Berlin. Bussert’s fierce version of the original musical softens nothing.

The story opens when Hitler is beginning his rise to power, but the amusing and risque antitics of the entertainers in Berlin’s Kit Kat Klub distract us from that fact. At least at first. The Emcee’s frenetic “Willkommen,” punctuated by sexually suggestive gestures made us suspect the Kit Kat Klub wasn’t for children. When the gorgeous ladies sashayed from behind the sparkly string fringe curtain, we were sure.

As the Emcee, both Charlie Ray and Nick Drake radiated gorgeous charm, but the story’s cruelty and pain was not obscured. Despite embracing giddy joy in the opening scenes, Ray movingly revealed the Emcee’s final disintegration in the poignant and real “I Don’t Care Much.” A nimble dancer (as well as a beautiful one), an equally effective Emcee, Drake produced bitter laughs when he and a “monkey” dancingly mocked love (and racial prejudice) in “If You Could See Her.”

Sally Bowles, star of the Kit Kat Klub, turns out to have many dramatic realizations as both Sallys proved. Nadina Hassan brought out the singer’s glamourous yet neurotic persona. And on the next night, Shelby Griswold showed Sally as bouncy, full of vibrant life and, at the same time, one suffering from frenetic despair. Both Hassan and Griswold made Sally someone easy to like, dislike, and fear for all at the same time--in other words, an ordinary human, except for her ability to belt out “Don’t Tell Mama” and wail “Cabaret.”

Zach Landes and Enrique Miguel also shared a major role as Cliff, Sally’s boyfriend. Both actors, again created quite different Cliffs--maybe partly in response to different Sallys? The first night Landes seemed a shy writer just trying to catch up with events, more comfortable behind his typewriter (think Woody Allen) and the next evening Miguel played the writer as glamour boy, one used to parties and socializing with “important” people (think F. Scott Fitzgerald).

A touching and tuneful Erin Niebuhr, who played Fraulein Schneider both nights, first brought joy when she and Herr Schultz fell in love (“It Couldn’t Please Me More”) and grief when she admitted she was a survivor, not a martyr (“What Would You Do”).

Herr Schultz, a careful Jew who insisted he’d be all right since he was also German-born, was played as likeable if naive by Sam Columbus. The other Schultz, deep-voiced Marcus Martin brought a sense of irony to the role (Martin is African-American, Columbus is not) that forced considerations about who might be in a similar situation in America today.

Other outstanding members of the cast included Eric Graupensperger as the seemingly affable German businessman Max and Willem Sandercox as his loyal friend, Ernst. It’s Ernst whose “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” (sung with Emmy Brett’s scheming Fraulein Kost) that provides a chilling end to the first act. It’s not “Edelweiss,” thought it starts out in a similar cheerful, nature-loving manner and pretends to be a song for children.

Ten Kit Kat Girls and ten Kit Kat boys showed spunk and highly disciplined dance moves as part of the club’s entertainment. Choreographer Gregory Daniels and the dancers really do put on quite a cabaret show for us--and yes, it’s naughty and nice all at once.

Well-designed costumes by Tesia Dugan Benson added to our sense of place and history. Perched on a balcony above the stage, conductor Beth Burrier led a small ensemble which provided cool music (and a few atmospheric riffs on its own). The set designed by Charlotte M. Yetman featured stairs up to the band allowing the action to swirl and twirl around and around--perhaps mimicking the chaos in the “real world” below them.

Bottom Line: This stunning Cabaret offers a powerful metaphor. Of what? You get to decide. And even if it doesn’t provoke deep thoughts (and I argue that it does) it’s an electric “don’t miss” show beautifully done. Life may indeed be a cabaret.

Memphis @ Cain Park, June 14 to July 1, 2018

(Photo by Steve Wagner)

Memphis @ Cain Park, June 14 to July 1, 2018

Review by Laura Kennelly

I love it when shows remind us that the “Olden Days” were lively--even way back in the 1950s. Memphis (The Musical), winner of four 2010 Tony Awards (including Best Musical) rocked (well, of course) the packed Alma Theatre last Friday at Cain Park. (It probably didn’t hurt the summer celebration mood that it was also Wine Tasting Night there, but I digress ….)

Memphis (book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro with music and lyrics by David Bryan) tells the story of how one Memphis DJ popularized the music he heard in black clubs via his late-night radio show. As the well-known story goes, Elvis Presley Jerry Lee Lewis, etc. all owe their inspiration to what they heard growing up in the South.  

[Geography Note: At the time, the city of Memphis was ideally situated to spread black music northward--conveniently situated just north of Clarksdale, Mississippi and other small towns on the Delta Blues Trail that leads from and to New Orleans, home of the best music in the world (IMHO).]

Once the DJs started playing rock and roll records, there was no stopping the trend. Director Joanna May Cullinan and Music Director Jordan Cooper allow the talented cast and crew to simply enjoy the music and so illustrate why white folks (and, by extension, the rest of the world) loved it.

The show’s storyline is based on the larger-than-life personality of a white radio DJ named Dewey Phillips (yes, related to Sam Phillips, the founder of Sun Records). He’s called Huey Calhoun in the show. Douglas F. Bailey II handles the demanding role of a person “with no boundaries” with seemingly inexhaustible energy.

(Quibble: Bailey gets the cadence right, but no self-respecting southerner from that area would ever land on the final “g” the way he does. It’s “goin’,” not “goinG.” Trust me, honey, on that one, or take a listen on YouTube. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jGgOoCRamI])

But OK, DJ Bailey admires and then recruits a black singer, the reluctant Felicia Farrell (Nicole Sumlin) to sing for a wider audience. Her reluctance is overcome by his persistence (and love). The beautiful Sumlin’s terrific Felicia sings like a powerhouse with the ensemble and touches our feelings on the love songs (“Love Will Stand”).

The  most fun part of the show comes when local teens, devoted listeners to Calhoun’s late-night radio shows, start dancing. They create a demand for more and more of this “new sound” and both black and white kids groove to the new beat. At the beginning the dozen plus dancers sort themselves according to race, but by show’s end they’ve merged into one talent-packed joy-provoking ensemble. Choreographer Leilani Barrett makes the small stage seem larger than it is as the dancers fill every nook and cranny with movement.

Other cast members include Michael Swain-Smith as the “mute” Gator (but watch out!), Anthony Savage-Williams (as Delray, owner of the Rock ‘n Roll bar), Elijah Dawson (as good-guy Bobby), and Cynthia O’Connell as Mama (who just doesn’t “get” her son).

Bottom Line: Music can be a wonderful and powerful meeting place. This Cain Park show tunefully celebrates this idea.

Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin @ The Cleveland Play House, June 7 to June 24

Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin @ The Cleveland Play House, June 7 to June 24

Review by Laura Kennelly

I think I met Irving Berlin last night (June 14). Well, that’s what it felt like after Hershey Felder channelled the great songwriter to a happy crowd at The Cleveland Play House’s Allen Theater. Felder, as Berlin, shared a well-presented selection of the composer’s greatest hits. (The prolific Berlin wrote over 1,000 songs during a career that spanned both World Wars, the Depression, FDR, JFK, and beyond so there’s no attempt to be comprehensive, but the musical numbers chosen did evoke their eras.)  

When the show opens, we see Berlin as an old man in a wheelchair (he died at 101 in 1988). Suddenly, years drop off, he stands up and starts telling his story. All he remembers of Russia was when he was five years old, hiding and watching his house burn down. His Jewish family emigrated to the United States and settled in New York (the city he never left) and began to create a new life.

As it turned out, the youngster was a natural musician with a gift for writing melody and lyrics. He made a good living (he learned early to keep the rights to everything forever) composing vaudeville ditties such as “My Wife’s Gone to the Country, Hurrah! Hurrah!” (1907) before moving on to fame and fortune writing musicals. He was a major figure in what became fondly remembered as the Golden Era of Musicals (i.e. the 1940s and 1950s) with shows such as “Holiday Inn,”  “Annie Get Your Gun,” and “Call Me Madam.” Almost as a side job he also wrote for Hollywood films (including the musical “White Christmas”). Felder offers short clips with Fred Astaire dancing and singing Berlin’s music.

It’s almost easier to say what popular song from those years isn’t by Irving Berlin than to say what is. His hit songs include “White Christmas” (of course), “Puttin on the Ritz,” “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “Heat Wave,” “Blue Skies,” “Always,” and “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.” And, of course, “God Bless America” made famous by Kate Smith in 1938.

Felder, who accompanies himself on the piano for most songs, inserts clips and quips to keep things moving briskly along, but be warned, there’s no intermission and it gets long--music-packed, but long. The night I went, he asked for audience questions after the show--questions which proved amusing (“What do you think of critics?”) and informative (“What’s next?”).

Felder, who has already done (and still does) musical/theatrical recreations (such as this one) that focus on great composers such as Beethoven, Gershwin, Chopin, answered the last question by playing a Debussy Arabesque.

Bottom Line: Fun time for summer evening.  It’s either a history lesson or a stroll down memory lane or both. Personally, it was a pleasure to remember (and even sing along--well, he invited us to at one point) the songs that first made a music theatre junkie out of me. And, by the way, June 24 at 6:30 p.m. there will be an extra show: One of Felder’s Great American Songbook/Sing-along performances where the audience joins in all the time.