THEATER REVIEW: “Be More Chill” @ Playhouse Square by Laura Kennelly

Jahir Hipps

Fri 4/5-Sun 4/7

Yes, it’s possible to think up a fresh musical about high school! Evidence? Be More Chill, the latest Baldwin Wallace University and Playhouse Square collaboration directed by Jon Martinez. Those lucky enough to see one of the four sold-out performances at the Allen Theatre laughed and empathized with the struggles of poor Jeremy Heere, an insecure high school student who accepts a magic pill that (as it turns out) offers a popularity that is too good to be true.

Be More Chill gives a funny, sometimes raunchy look at high school adventures. This rollicking play with music and lyrics by Joe Iconis, and a book by Joe Tracz drawn from the novel by Ned Vizzini, has something for anyone who has ever been in high school or will be. (That would be everyone, right?) The cast makes sci-fi paranoia seem both real and ridiculous — and very very musical.

Outstanding dance routines executed (seemingly) perfectly by the agile cast of fourteen BW students moves action from school to social events, and back to school. They also shift the elements of the set, consisting of moveable units, without missing a beat.

Jahir Hipps as our hero Jeremy Heere brilliantly morphs from nerd extraordinaire to life of the party, to popular guy (and back). Amy Keum as Christine Canigula, the girl Jeremy has a crush on, delights with her bouncy optimism. Warren Egypt Franklin as a visible manifestation of the Squip (a tiny supercomputer) makes sci-fi believable as he gradually takes over Jeremy’s life.

Others in the ensemble include Enrique Miguel, Jake Slater, Charlie H. Ray, Shelby Griswold, Nadina Hassan, Veronica Otime, Marcus Martin, Nick Cortazzo, Courtney Hausman, Andrew Nelin, and Gillian Jackson Han. Keyboard player Matthew Webb conducted the small band.

Be More Chill, which has become a cult favorite since it first appeared in a New Jersey regional theater in 2015, just opened this March on Broadway, so if you would like to see it, it’s still to be found.

BOTTOM LINE: Cleveland hit it lucky with this fresh musical delight. I doubt it’s possible to be more chill anywhere, even NYC.

[Written by Laura Kennelly]

The Taming of the Shrew @ Great Lakes, March 29-April 14, 2019

Review by Laura Kennelly

Director Sara Bruner’s The Taming of the Shrew at the Hanna Theatre brings a welcome fresh look, lots of insight, and--most importantly--plenty of laughs (it is, after all, a comedy). This Great Lakes production of the Shakespeare classic also boasts a dynamic cast, one that speaks clearly enough for jokes to be funny and moves quickly enough to keep us involved.  

It’s a simple story set in Italy. Baptista Minola (Steve Pickering) insists that his oldest daughter (Katherine) must be married before the younger one may be allowed to be wed. (It’s actually to Katherine’s benefit because that way she will be taken care of when her father dies.) Bianca (Mandie Jenson) has three suitors and they are all smitten with the young woman they imagine is as sweet as she seems to be. Bianca fears she will never be married if she has to wait for Katherine to find a husband.

Rather than a battle between the sexes (or even stereotypes) as some directors would show it, Bruner shows us a battle between a very angry, rude woman (Katherine) who resents her situation and a self-confident adventurer (Petruchio) who wants to better his lot in life by marrying “up.” Bianca’s suitor, the dashing Hortensio (Eric Damon Smith) tells Petruchio the situation, but warns him Katherine is “difficult.” No problem, Petruchio says.

When Katherine (powerhouse Jessika D. Williams) marches on stage, Williams shows her as a terrifying “shrew.” Kate hits, throws, and yells at family, servants, and visitors whether they deserve it (some do) or not.

As the story continues (and after they are wed) Jonathan Dyrud’s stalwart Petruchio mirrors Kate’s temper to (ultimately) achieve an effective alliance. (One can only imagine what power the two united must have enjoyed in later life.) Dyrud, tall and confident, and Williams, also tall and confident, seem well-matched. Williams’ usurping of the famous “Kiss me Kate” command brings extra laughs.

The humor is broad and the farce gets frenetic (which I like). One highlight Friday night was Joe Wegner’s Grumio (a servant to Petruchio). I’m told Wegner varies his comic bit from performance to performance, but we saw him slide into the theatre from the audience (via a section divider) and then, reciting lines all the way, march through a center row of occupied seats (with an “excuse, pardon,” etc.) to the stage. After which he peered out into the audience saying “Hi, Tom Hanks!” Hammy, but hysterical.

The excellent ensemble (now the norm for GLT) included Lynn Robert Berg, Taha Mandviwala, David Anthony Smith, Maggie Kettering, Andy Nagraj, Ethan Hennes, M.A. Taylor, Krista Harmon, Nate John Mark, Jessie Cope Miller, and Jodi Dominick. Dominick, in disguise as father to one of Bianca’s suitors, also brought laughs with an outrageous Jersey accent straight out of “The Godfather.”

The set (designed by Russell Metheny) resembled an Elizabethan stage. In what may be a permanent practice, onstage seating (this time with seats onstage and seats on a balcony) also proved popular. (Kudos to the unknown audience member on Friday night who allowed himself to be crowned with a tin pot and reacted happily to the gentle sport made of him.)

Costume designer Leah Piehl created clothes for Kate that allowed her to look as rough as the men (boots and breeches) and elegant costumes for the more traditionally dressed characters. Jessie Cope Miller’s elegantly-gowned “Widow” looked rich compared to the practically gowned  Kate, a fact which made one suspect that Petruchio desired the rigorous Kate for more than her money.

Bottom Line: In Shakespeare’s era “comedy” meant the play always had to end with a wedding. In this witty and gorgeous production, the wedding itself begins the laughs. Bravo Great Lakes (and thanks)!

Review of Tiny Houses @ the Cleveland Play House

THEATER REVIEW: “Tiny Houses” @ Cleveland Play House by Laura Kennelly

Photos by Roger Mastroianni

Through Sun 4/14

Ever want to run away? Leave city stress behind? Chelsea Marcantel’s comic new play, Tiny Houses, at the Cleveland Play House, shows one witty take on this impulse in a perfectly paced production directed by Laura Kepley.

The set, constructed while we watch in the Outcalt Theatre, consists of a vacant lot plus a trailer big enough to support a small house. During the course of the play, the actors (and their assistants) assemble a real tiny house. This solves a familiar challenge playwrights face — what to have their characters doing while they deliver the dialogue and actions that really run the story. Marcantel has come up with one perfect solution, at least in the hands of Cleveland Play House technical directors Devin Gallo and Liam Roth; carpenters Cayla DeStefano, Andy Rowland, and Kaleb Yandrick; and scenic artists Brendan Kelly, Jennifer Hitmar Shankland. Other members of the design team included Arnulfo Maldonado, Elizabeth Mak and Joanna Lynne Staub.

The uniformly convincing and persuasive cast adds the necessary element of delight as we watch New York City native and financial diva Cath (Kate Eastman) and her boyfriend Bohdi (Peter Hargrave) after they move to the far west. Why do they move? Bohdi (who has little money) has convinced Cath that they should move back to his hometown in Oregon so that they can live a more authentic life in the woods. In a tiny house.

Lucky for them Bohdi’s old friend (Michael Doherty) lets them live with him while they build the house. Soon Ollie’s former girlfriend Jevne (a delightfully ditzy Nandita Shenoy), appears — all eager to help (and, as one might expect when old girlfriends meet new ones, complications ensue).

To combat her feelings of helplessness Cath soon hires Jeremiah, a construction supervisor (aka the handyman one always dreams of having around). The handsome, athletic James Holloway, playing the only one on stage who has the slightest idea about building a house, soon becomes indispensable to the inept housebuilders. He’s like the hero in a western who appears just in time to rescue the pioneer settlers (in this case not from hostile elements, but from themselves). We fall for him.

Amy Clark’s clever costumes amplify the characters’ personalities. For example, unlike Eastman (whose Cath wears practical NYC clothes and colors), Shenoy’s Jevne gets to  sport colorful outfits, including leggings which feature Frida Kahlo faces.

BOTTOM LINE: As it turns out, building a tiny house may be as complicated as building a huge house. One thing for sure: both always take longer, require more decision, and complicate life in unimaginable and (for an audience), entertaining ways.

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]

THEATER REVIEW: “Ken Ludwig’s Sherwood” @ Cleveland Play House by Laura Kennelly

Photos by Roger Mastroianni

Through Sun 2/24

Ken Ludwig’s Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood, now at the Cleveland Play House’s Allen Theatre, sets a snappy pace. As seen in previous CPH Ludwig comedies (such as Baskerville, A Comedy of Tenors and The Game’s Afoot), farce rules in this capsule sketch of the triumph of Robin Hood and his Merry Band. It’s directed by Adam Immerwahr.

While nothing is safe from Ludwig’s gentle mockery, it’s all in good fun. Arrows fly (see if you can figure out how they do that without killing each other), towers are scaled, bad guys are trounced, and new love comes for Robin (yes, it’s Maid Marion, but it was a surprise for Ludwig’s Robin).

There’s likely no point in reviewing the plot — everyone knows the tale of Robin Hood’s resistance to tyrannical authority way back in 1194 England,  don’t they? Ludwig’s play touches familiar legendary aspects of this (perhaps) mythological rebel who resisted injustice, was popular with the peasants (most of us were peasants back then) and lived in the woods (sometimes).

Zack Powell portrays Robin Hood with the charismatic flair one needs for heroic deeds (and for charming others into following his schemes to save the country). Maid Marion (Amy Blackman) became his self-confident (and independent) love interest. (Of course, this is 2019 so she has to be her own woman, not some delicate flower.)

My favorite character was Jonah D. Winston’s John Little, but (as he tells us), he quickly got to be called  “Little John” by Robin’s crew. Winston’s large frame lent itself perfectly to typecasting, but it didn’t hinder him from keeping up with the crazy antics that Robin instigated.

As the diminutive Sheriff of Nottingham, a hilariously self-important Steven Rattazzi made the most of his character’s size and idiosyncrasies. Another funny fellow, Prince John (Price Waldman),  managed to speak almost as eloquently as a Shakespearean hero (and as the play revealed, that’s no accident).

Other ensemble members include the stalwart Friar Tuck (Doug Hara), the oft-flustered Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Josh Innerst) and the unlucky Deorwynn (Andrea Goss). The ensemble cast plays more than their primary roles, pitching in as needed to fill out the story. There’s no lack of small asides, jokes and hammy poses from every side of the stage.

The set is a delight that (sometimes) includes a flowing stream (with lilies and plunking water sounds) and a giant all-purpose tree trunk built into a two-story castle. Scenic designer Misha Kachman and sound designer Nick Kourtides cleverly used both set and sound to enhance. The characters raced around without mishap, thanks to choreographer Robert Barry Fleming, who mapped out seemingly complex transitions.

Jess Goldstein’s costume design enabled quick changes necessary to the story. Lighting designer Nancy Schertler made sure our eyes followed the paths that enhanced the special effects. The arrows that flew across the set and stuck into walls, trees, etc. were especially well-designed to fool the eye.

BOTTOM LINE: Sherwood Forest is still a terrific place to visit for an evening of good-natured fun.

[Written by Laura Kennelly]

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]