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.

The Royale @ The Cleveland Play House, May 5 to May 27, 2018

Photo: Roger Mastroianni

The Royale @ Playhouse Square, May 5 to May 27, 2018

Review by Laura Kennelly

Boxing and boxers rule in Marco Ramirez’s The Royale now playing at the Cleveland Play House’s Outcalt Theatre at Playhouse Square through May 27th. Directed by Robert Barry Fleming, the award-winning drama--two Obies, a Drama Desk, and an Outer Critics Circle Award--centers on the battle in the early 1900s to integrate the World Heavyweight Championship, in other words, to allow an African-American to fight the white champ.

As theater lights dimmed, atmospheric fog crept out from under the boxing ring placed in the middle of the in-the-round seating. The spare and effective scenic design by Jason Ardizonne-West evoked George Bellow’s 1909 painting, “Stag at Sharkey’s.” (See it in the Cleveland Museum of Art.)

In the small Outcalt space, boxing became a ballet--and thankfully, a bloodless one--with a carefully executed choreography, steps highlighted by feints, punches, and recoils. Blows and shouts represented by finger snaps and foot stomps furnished a major metaphor for life experienced both inside and outside the ring.

The Royale brought out the audacity of boxer Jay “the Sport” Jackson, who aspired to be named World Heavyweight Champion, not just Negro Heavyweight Champion (a title he already held). While inspired by the true story of boxer Jack Johnson in his battle against segregated boxing titles and his successful bid to become World Champion in the early 1900s, the story also spoke to today’s struggles. (True history side note:  take a look via YouTube at the techniques Johnson used to dominate the sport . . . fascinating.)

The outstanding cast of five, some in multiple roles, fought, negotiated, defied, taunted each other, all the while redefining their place in the world. As Jay Jackson, Preston Butler III (all muscles and six-pack abs) looked and acted every bit the confident champion. Nikkole Salter, as his sister Nina, evoked the thoughtful presence of women who always try to hold things together. Brian D. Coats, as Jackson’s trainer Wynton, offered wry and earnest advice to the boxer. Johnny Ramery, as young Fish, brought bounce to his role as Jackson’s opponent and then sparring partner. Leo Marks primarily played Max, the boxer’s manager, but also effectively, sometimes amusingly, also played all the white guys necessary to the plot.

The Royale benefited from era-appropriate costumes by Toni-Leslie James, spot-on lighting design by Alan C. Edwards, and very subtle sound design by Jane Shaw. (Shaw might have made the fight sounds even harsher, more percussive and jarring.) Pretty good dialects overseen by coach Michael Morgan brought further richness to the production.

The final scene of this short play was unexpected, a dramatic surprise, and one that brought a telling finale. It was not a kumbaya ending by any means. The only negative observation may also be a positive one: the play was too short, too much a sketch. There was much more (some suggested by a gorgeous fur coat the boxer wore for one entrance) to be explored about these characters and their interactions.

Bottom Line: Often we see dramas where an individual pays a high price for being an agent of change, as Martin Luther King did in CPH’s Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop in 2016. In Ramirez’s poetic work, the price of one individual’s proving his superiority is paid by nameless others who are punished in his stead. As the boxer’s sister warns: "Look at the dogs you're about to unleash. And when it happens, don't say I didn't warn you." I’d like to see a  fuller drama centered on (as in Macbeth, for example) the price of ambition--even if, as in this case, it’s just a small part of a much larger social movement.

Misery at Great Lakes TheaterFebruary 10, 2018

Photos by Roger Mastroianni

Well played, Great Lakes Theater! Misery, Stephen King’s 1987 best-selling thriller, is anything but misery-inducing, thanks to William Goldman’s dramatic adaptation now playing at the Hanna Theatre. Bravo to Charles Fee’s insightful direction, the fine cast and some terrific special effects. Misery had opening night viewers wincing in sympathetic pain one minute, terrorized another and laughing in the next (yes, there’s humor there).

The setup: During a winter storm, writer Paul Sheldon (Andrew May) author of the adored Misery Chastain series of romance novels (think Nora Roberts, Georgette Heyer or even Jane Austen) accidentally slides off the icy road and is trapped in his car.  He’s rescued despite a raging snow storm by the stalwart  Annie Wilkes (Kathleen Pirkl Tague) who takes him home and sets his broken legs.

That’s the backstory. Sheldon awakes to find Annie caring for him and learns she’s a nurse as well as a devoted reader of the Misery series. She is, she confides, his “Number One” fan. When Annie learns he has a new Misery Chastain romance, she quickly buys it, reads it and trouble starts: she insists that he rewrite it to her taste.  Sheldon’s relief that he’s being taken care of turns to terror when, eventually, he realizes that she intends to keep him “safe” forever. May, without undue histrionics, absorbs us into Sheldon’s plight as he brilliantly reveals his character’s  creative mind as well as his desperation. We want him to be saved; we are not sure he can be.

Tague’s Annie is a no-nonsense kind of gal who radiates a brilliant streak of crazy and sells her character’s insanity so carefully that we can’t really believe she’s going to do what she does. She just seems so “nice,” fixing him up a bed, nursing him, feeding him. But — just be glad if you don’t have any Number One fans. Trust us, you don’t want them.

Things look worse and worse. Eventually we pin our hopes on Nick Steen as Buster, the local sheriff, who is friendly, but nobody’s fool. But then things go awry in an explosive scene involving the whole cast (all three of them).

It’s an excellent production overall — what we’ve come to expect at Great Lakes. Costumes (Alex Jaeger), lighting design (Paul Miller), sound (Josh Schmidt) and especially special effects (Jason Tate) all hit just the right note. The cleverly designed set by scenic designer Gage Williams allows us to see both inside the house and outside.

The coolest thing about this play is that it’s funny. Maybe you have to be an aspiring novelist (raises hand) to think it funny, but a certain humor vibrates throughout. What if fans could capture their favorite authors and make them write things over? (If I could I’d drag Anna Karenina off the tracks, cure Beth March and save Snape.) While the  play (and the 1990 film) isn’t as violent as the novel, don’t bring the toddlers.

On the bright side, the story still can serve as a counterbalance to one’s unbridled wishes for fame and fortune. The idea ricochets inescapably around the plot that sometimes when you get what you want, it’s not what you want after all.

BOTTOM LINE: Happiness, not misery, at the Hanna. There were gasps of horror in the audience around me, but there were also soft chuckles and “ooos.” This outstanding production and its fine cast creates a dark comic horror and brings a wonderful theatrical escape from winter’s gloom.

Appeared in Cool Cleveland (Feb. 20, 2018)

Love Never Dies @ Playhouse Square, Jan. 9--28, 2018

Review by Laura Kennelly

Phantom of the Opera fans rejoice! No chandeliers fall, but the mysterious Phantom still holds dangerous powers. Music still means love. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies, running until January 28 at Playhouse Square’s Key Bank State Theatre, reveals the tortured genius at work (I mean the Phantom, of course).

The show calls on the varied talents of a large creative team: lyrics by Glenn Slater and Charles Hart; book by Webber, Ben Elton, Glenn Slater, and Frederick Forsyth, and orchestration by Webber and David Cullen. Although it opened in London’s West End in 2010, Love still hasn’t made it to Broadway.

But never mind. It’s got Broadway-style flash and dazzle. Despite a few dubious plot twists (but what fan of Phantom cares about that?) the capable cast blazes through the romantic, telenovela drama. If you’ve not seen The Phantom of the Opera then please see it first: all will then become clear when you see Love Never Dies.

One might quibble over whether it’s “love” or “obsession” that never dies, but hey--it’s an old-school, romantic musical. Some songs, such as “The Beauty Underneath” and “Once Upon Another Time” offer pleasant memories of the original show.

Back to the plot. It’s been ten years since the Phantom disappeared. Now a world-famous opera singer, Christine Daaé (rich-voiced Meghan Picerno) has married her Raoul (a mercurial Sean Thompson) and they have a ten-year-old son, Gustave. (Gustave's part is double cast and the night I went it was handled with stunning clarity and impressive vocal range by Jake Heston Miller.)

The family arrives in New York after she’s invited to perform at Phantasma at Coney Island for a huge sum at the invitation of a well-known impresario. And that’s where the spooky left me. Coney Island? Place of fun, swims, hot dogs, and muscle builders? Just sounds like fun, not menace (though I know anywhere can be).

Gardar Thor Cortes, as The Phantom (yes, of course he shows up), seems so suave and kind (and he has such a beautiful tenor/baritone voice) that one wonders why Christine didn’t get over the mask phobia faster. He’s still manipulative, so we can’t give him a pass.

The Coney Island setting is a great excuse though for the second most entertaining performer in the show (the first being Miller’s Gustave). To call stuntwoman Katrina Kemp (who plays Fleck) diminutive and cute misses the point: she’s that, but she’s also an athletic dynamo with excellent timing (she debuted in showbiz playing Chucky the Killer Doll at Universal Studios).

Kemp and trio partners Richard Koons (as the chubby Squelch) and Stephen Petrovich (as the tall Gangle) do their best to turn Coney Island into a place of fun mixed with mystery. I’m not sure how they fit into the story, but I really don’t care. It’s a pleasure to see their teamwork.

Other characters include bossy Madame Giry (Karen Mason) and her daughter, the insecure Meg Giry (Mary Michael Patterson).

Marvelous set and costume design by Gabriela Tylesova (including a stage-filling gown that makes Christine look like a peacock), a fine orchestral score ably directed by Dale Rieling, and eye-catching choreography performed by the nimble ensemble cast, all contribute mightily.

Bottom Line: It’s a fine night of entertainment if you already know and love the original show. Webber proves, however, that it’s hard to compete with yourself. It’s no Phantom of the Opera.

Side Note: Kudos to the RedCoat volunteers who calmly and competently ushered us out before the second act because smoke and fog used in the show had alarmed the Playhouse Square fire alarms. After about five minutes, they brought us back into the theatre. All clear. Thanks!

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