The King and I @ Playhouse Square, Feb. 7-26, 2017

Review by Laura Kennelly

Who doesn’t love a bit of fantasy in February? This month the KeyBank Broadway Series at Playhouse Square offers The King and I, a classic Golden Age musical currently in the Connor Palace Theatre (through Feb. 26). Directed by Bartlett Sher, this is the recently-produced and much acclaimed Lincoln Center production that won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival.

The opening scene is breathtaking: Filmy fabric curtains part and a blood-orange sky flames out behind a ship as it slowly hoves into view, looking as if it’s about to fall off the stage if it doesn’t stop in time. (It brings back the scene in Phantom of the Opera  when we’re not sure about that chandelier plummeting across the audience). After that introduction, it was easy to settle back and wait to be reminded of all the reasons the show has been winning hearts since 1951.

Good things weren’t hard to find. The story (cobbled together from a novel based on a memoir), concerns some of widow Anna Leonowens’ experiences in the 1860s when she came to Bangkok to serve as tutor to the King of Siam’s multitude of wives (dozens) and children (even more dozens). It’s touted as “East meets West,” but Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I draws its power from love stories.

There’s the unspoken love (or at least appreciation) that slowly blossoms when feisty woman (Anna, of course) meets feisty man (the King). Anna (a schoolmarmish Laura Michelle Kelly) shows her young son (Graham Montgomery) how to overcome fear with the optimistic “Whistle a Happy Tune” and muses about her loss in “Hello, Young Lovers.”

Although a lovely vocalist, Kelly seemed stuck in “teacher” mode so that a little extra frisson possible when dealing with the King (played with charm and verve by Jose Llana) didn’t really materialize. That is more likely to be true to what might have really happened than the “East meets West” vibe, but reality is overrated in a classic musical. A perfect tyrant, Llana’s King postured appropriately and sang powerfully, especially in “A Puzzlement” and, of course, with Anna in “Shall We Dance.”

Ah, but there was plenty of romance between Tuptim (the utterly lovely Manna Nichols) and Kralahome (the dashing Brian Rivera). As the only true romantic pairing in the show, they share  a wonderful duet (“We Kiss the Shadow”), but pay a high price for their love. (Young lovers often pay a high price in Rodgers and Hammerstein shows; South Pacific came out only two years earlier with the tragic story of Lt. Cable and Liat.)

The King’s first wife, Lady Thiang (Joan Almedilla), shines in the gorgeous “Something Wonderful” as she expounds on the tricky nature of love and acceptance between fallible human beings. Almedilla turned what might have been a “ho-hum” justification of polygamy into lyric emotion that, if applause is any measure, touched most of that night’s audience.

Best thing in the show? The ballet based on Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel of the period, A wonderfully fabricated “The Small House of Uncle Thomas” features over a dozen dancers portraying main characters Eliza (Lamae Caparas), Uncle Thomas (Amaya Braganza), Angel/George (Nobutaka Mochimaru), Topsy (Yuki Ozeki), Simon of Legree (Rommel Pierre O’Choa), Little Eva (Michiko Takemasa) as well as Dogs, Guards, and others. The choreography by Christopher Gattelli was based on the original choreography by Jerome Robbins. Dance Captain Yuki Ozeki and assistants Kelli Youngman and Andrew Cheng also deserve high praise for this enlivening, skillfully executed interlude.

Other dancing, especially the sweeping waltzes, added froth and glamour (even when the hoop skirts were used to comic effect). Doing justice to the rich score, Gerald Steichen conducted the small orchestra that included many local musicians.

Bottom Line: I went to this critically-lauded The King and I expecting to be blown away, and there were many good moments, but overall it seemed as if it lacked heart, something missing. But, perhaps, “The Small House of Uncle Thomas” made up for it all. I think it did.

For tickets or more information go to www.playhousesquare.org

Into the Woods

Into the Woods, Cleveland National Tour, Jan. 10 to Jan. 29

Review by Laura Kennelly (Photo by Joan Marcus)

Intertwined fairy tales conjure “what ifs” in the latest Playhouse Square Broadway Series production, the Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine hit, Into the Woods This  touring version of the recent Broadway show, reshaped and reimagined by the Fiasco Theater and Roundabout Theatre, and directed by Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld, adds an extra element of amusement even for those who have enjoyed this whimsical show before.

The clever and tuneful ensemble cast handles complex lyrics, dances, and  choreographed entrances with ease. The latter is highly important because the stage gets very busy. Almost everyone plays more than one character and/or plays a musical instrument. Some truly shine, such as Lisa Helmi Johanson as the coy little Red Riding Hood and the hapless Rapunzel.

I used to think that the character of Jack (Philippe Arroyo) was dumb for falling in love with Milky White, the family cow (played with true bovine sensibility by Darick Pead), but now I’m in love with the cow too. It should be noted that Pead also plays wicked sister Florinda and Rapunzel’s Prince, but it’s the cow that knocks my socks off. “She” reacts with just the right touch of charming affirmation and (sometimes) sarcasm--and all without a word! Moo.


Evan Harrington as the Baker and Eleasha Gamble as the Baker’s Wife start the action with their wish to have a child. The story is then filled out by adventures with others who wander in and out of their own various stories. Cast  members include Anthony  Chatmon II, as the sexy wolf,  Lucinda, and Cinderella’s Prince; Fred Rose as Mysterious Man; Bonnie Kramer as Cinderella’s Stepmother/Jack’s Mother; Laurie Veldheer as Cinderella/Granny, and Vanessa Reseland as the Witch. Even the “baby” (played by a bundle of rags) cries with feeling (thanks to various maidens just out of the scene).

There are, of course, many funny songs, such as the laughable “Agony” sung by the gallant princes (Chatmon and Pead). Theirs is a delicious duet dedicated to male fickleness and self-absorption. It’s even funnier in the second act than the first (like life, I guess in that it takes a bit of age to see the humor in some things).

The first thing audience members may notice when they arrive is that the Connor Palace stage looks like a jumbled mess. Framed by tiny boxed piano guts above and on the sides, it’s cluttered with junk: giant piano strings across the back, a ladder with extensions, loops of yellow yard, chairs, an  upright piano in the middle, random costumes scattered about--typical backstage storeroom vibe. Scenic designer Derek McLane created a set, which looks, in a good way, like what might have happened if a giant had tossed the traditional set for the show--trees, a house, castle, etc.--into a Vitamix and then poured the resulting concoction out onto the stage. The ladders, benches, colorful structures suggesting houses, castles, gardens, woods all get put into  use when needed by the nimble cast.  Opening night, as items were called into service, only the upright piano remained in the center, even turning its back upon us once in awhile. Other times we saw music/director pianist Sean Peter Forte admirably pounding away on the piano and becoming part of the larger story.

On opening night, while we awaited the start of the show, members of the brilliant ensemble cast begin to appear, some waving at us, others intent on getting into costume. One cast member stepped up to remind us of the rules: “no photos, no phones,” and then added something new: “Before intermission it may look as if the show is over, but it isn’t. So stick around.”

Sure enough, after the rousing  resolution to Act I, featuring the musical summing up we expect at the end of every show, the [Happy] “Ever After,” some of the audience did leave. Well, it was getting late, and the truth is that optimists and/or youngsters may leave at that point, completely satisfied. After all, the first act, shapes a complete drama of loves lost and found and evil overcome. You can safely take the little ones home and they will have sweet dreams.

However, grownups might like to stay and find out what “ever after” really means to Sondheim and Lapine. The rest of the story, as it were, is a bit cynical, with a bit of Voltairian disillusionment (as in “Candide”) laid on the contemporary mantra of “find your family where you can.”

Bottom Line: Beautifully done. It helps, more than it hurts, to know your Fairy Tales.

For tickets call 216-241-6000 or go to playhousesquare.org. The show runs through January 29, 2017.

[Review by Laura Kennelly]

West Side Story @ John Patrick Theatre, Baldwin Wallace University, Nov. 9--22

Review by Laura Kennelly

For this election week, a week where political conflict, passion, disappointment, and victory were all the talk, what better work to bring to the stage than West Side Story with its tragic conflicts? Based, of course, on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the familiar story elaborates on the damage feuds inflict on the next generation.

It’s not likely that this collaboration between the Baldwin Wallace Department of Theatre and Dance and the BW Conservatory of Music’s Music Theatre Program was planned to evoke feelings stirred up by this year’s contentious presidential election, but it was hard to watch without thinking of it.

Director Victoria Bussert’s faithful presentation of the entire original production as directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and book by Arthur Laurents, was often breathtaking. Watching both casts (the “Jets” cast on Nov. 9 and the “Sharks” cast on Nov. 10)  allowed a dramatic illustration of the unique vibe each cast generated.

Baldwin Wallace has enough young talent drawn from its top-rated music theatre program to cast the whole musical with age-appropriate gang members, a factor which added to the pathos inherent in this tragic tale of Romeo, Juliet, and their foolish families. Both Marias (Michelle Pauker and Nadina Hassan) and both Tonys (Jason Goldston and Colton Ryan) carried a little spark of sweetness that lit up the stage and made me weep (OK, I’m an easy crier) when things went horribly wrong.

And yes, Olivia Kaufmann and Shayla Brielle as Anita spiced things up as the “bad girls” who knew all about the world. Warren Franklin and Noah Mattocks as Bernardo (Anita’s boyfriend)  seemed matched in bravado for their two ladies, but only Franklin’s Bernardo graced the floor in the big dance in the gym scene. That second night the usually frantic Chino (Michael Canada) glided Brielle’s hot red-gowned Anita around the floor. Overall, the ensemble dancing, directed by Gregory Daniels, proved spectacular.

It’s hard to single out numbers in a show featuring hit after hit, but the delicious “I Feel Pretty” sung by Maria with the Sharks’ Girls (Joy Del Valle, Livvy Marcus, and Rose Upton) chiming in with exaggerated pouts and sarcastic musical quips, definitely offered a welcome dash of comic relief.

Scenic designer Jeff Herrmann’s simple staging (alternately a mural of New York City with Lady Liberty’s huge head stretched in the foreground, scaffolding, a bed, a blue sky) as well as costumes by Charlotte Yetman created a believable world with the merest of props. The full orchestra, conducted by music director David Pepin the nights I attended, switched with evident ease from romantic (“I Had a Love,” “One Hand, One Heart,” “Somewhere”) to edgy (“Jet Song,” “The Rumble,” etc.).

I opened by saying the casts were different. How? Well, while recognizing that each night a show runs generates a new vibe, on opening night the Jets seemed to fit the worried somber message of the story. The next night, in contrast, the (perhaps) better-rested Sharks blasted through the action with a snappy precision that brought out the violence edging the lives of both Upper West Side gangs. If  you are new to the story, check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Side_Story for the whole scoop. (Although in the past newspaper critics tended to summarize plots for readers, these  days it seems redundant to write what is so easy to look up.)

Bottom Line: A delightful production, a classic musical that never seems to grow old. It would be an ideal one for novice music theatre patrons (Maria even survives ...How could that happen?...it looks so weird to see her walk off...what were they thinking in Broadway land?) Oh well, who knows, who cares? A wonderful show can be forgiven plot quibbles.

Performances next week are Wednesday-Saturday November 16-19 at 7:30 pm. And Sunday, November 20 at 2 p.m. For tickets call the box office at 440-826-2240. The John Patrick Theatre, Kleist Center for Art & Drama [https://www.bw.edu/about/location/directions#kleist-center] is located on the Baldwin Wallace Campus.

Sex with Strangers @ Playhouse Square, Oct. 22--Nov. 13, 2016

Review by Laura Kennelly

Sex with Strangers by Laura Eason, now playing in the Cleveland Play House’s Outcalt Theatre, isn’t really about a hookup, though you might not be able to tell that from the title. Yes, two writers are stranded in a snow-bound B&B and yes, they do have sex. The introverted slightly older  Olivia (played with verve and passion by Monette Magrath) had hoped to spend quiet time fretting over her latest novel and what reviewers said about her work. Her peace is shattered when extroverted Ethan (played by Sean Hudock) appears. Hudock makes his character’s charming side as obvious as his crass side as he alternately amuses Olivia with his quick wit and repels her with his vulgarity.

Olivia is an old-school novelist who yearns to have a printed book on the New York Times bestseller list and to be published by classy publishers Farrar Straus and Giroux--AKA, FSG. (This is something we of a certain generation all want.)  Ethan is a media-savvy blogger, Snapchat, Facebook guy with his eyes on the popularity prize and getting plenty of $$$-generating clicks.

Life gets complicated for the two stranded writers when they discover that the snowstorm has brought down the Internet. Oh no! No fact-checking, no Twitter or Facebook. Anyone devoted to their Internet life (hand raised here!) can recognize and laugh at Ethan’s dismay. Although Olivia says she just wants to be left alone (but does not retreat to her room), she’s intrigued despite herself. They strike up a conversation and boredom leads to the bedroom before the end of the first scene.

But there’s more to this often-comic play as directed by Joanie Schultz, whose directing shows understanding of complicated social expectations. (Hi Joanie, the program notes you wrote say you worry about reviews--don’t do that! Reviews just show one person’s response.) The play is  actually about what happens to their connection over the years as they themselves turn into “reviewers”--this time of their relationship. While the playwright doesn’t fall back on the old “it was all a dream” trope to resolve the play, I wish she’d given us more information about Olivia’s core values so we would have more to base our theories about “what happened next” when the play ends without obvious resolution.

Bottom Line: If you’re a writer, I’m pretty sure you will like this play and laugh (perhaps uncomfortably) at how beautifully it exposes the “writer mind.” It’s witty, well-paced, and very smartly done. (Need I add that it’s for adults only, although all the sex is discreetly offstage.)

Sex with Strangers runs until November 13. For tickets call  216-241-6000 or go to clevelandplayhouse.com.

Finding Neverland @ Playhouse Square, 11/1-11/20/2016

Review by Laura Kennelly

It’s a mystery why Finding Neverland, now at the Connor Palace at Playhouse Square, didn’t win Broadway awards in 2015 (tho the cast got a few nominations). Maybe there are too many grownup grumps in NYC? But in Cleveland, the show, temporarily dubbed “Finding Believeland” for the first two days (hummm, seems to have been a ball game on those two nights) found a fit audience. We all clapped for Tinker Bell and saved her too! Who wants to grow up anyway?

For a smashingly good start, the colorful “Welcome to London,” opens the show and highlights happy chaos as it melds Peter Pan’s fantasy world with the story’s “real” people. Suddenly, an  authoritative voice tells the cast to “Stop” because it’s too early in the story. And, just  like that the pirates and the mermaid and the Lost Boys dash offstage.

The Finding Neverland story (book by James Graham with music and lyrics by Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy) really begins when the already famous British playwright J. M. Barrie meets a lively family of four boys, their loveable dog, and their mother in Kensington Park. Barrie’s been having creative difficulties--he keeps writing the same romance over and over--but once he meets the Llewelyn Davies family , he’s inspired to create something new--the world inhabited by Peter Pan.

Kevin Kern (as J. M. Barrie) creates a believable portrait of the charming, vulnerable author who sells the idea of a children’s fantasy for grownups to theatre manager Charles Frohman (the naturally stressed-out Tom Hewitt). Hewitt also has the delicious scenery-chewing role of Captain James Hook. [Interesting note: Barrie’s first name is James--coincidence? I think not.]

As the boy’s mother, Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, the golden-throated Christine Dwyer sings and dances her way into our hearts (and made me cry in her wonderful final scene). Joanna Glushak (as the boys’ initially snobby grandmother), Crystal Kellogg (the unhappy Mary Barrie), Lord Cannan (the stuffy Noah Plomgren, whose hairpiece got broad laughs), and the rest of the first-rate ensemble threw themselves into being boys (lost and otherwise), servants, pirates, Indians--anything the story needed--with evident enthusiasm.

In this extravagant production, Director Diane Paulus sparks enchantment and childhood memories (at least for this former Amazon pirate) of pixie dust and fantasy worlds. The set, beautifully designed by Scott Pask, and the choreography by Mia Michaels remind us why Broadway can also be a Neverland full of wonder.

Even the curtain calls were fun. Kern donned a Cleveland Indians shirt and others sported other Tribe paraphernalia. Obviously, that went over big.

Bottom Line: In other words: I admit I’m already a fan of musicals, but this one is truly a song and dance filled joy. If you want to hook a child on the charms of theatre, this might be the perfect show. (Make them read Peter Pan first.) Laughs, tears, dogs, kids, handsome and beautiful cast, a touching and inspiring story--Neverland has it all.

Fun Home @ Playhouse Square, Oct. 2--Oct. 22, 2016

Review by Laura Kennelly

Fun Home offers a bumpy, albeit musical, and speedy flight through author Alison Bechdel’s early years. Now playing at the Connor Palace Theater in Playhouse Square, Fun Home touches on secret sex lives, ambivalent parenting, domination, and obsession, and suicide. Not for the kiddos even though it features three charming child actors.

Based on Oberlin graduate Bechdel’s graphic novel, the musical features gorgeous music by Jeanine Tesori with book and witty lyrics by Lisa Kron. Oskaar Eustis and Patrick Willingham directed this Tony-winning New York show.

When I saw the show in New York at the Circle in the Square Theatre, the audience surrounded the stage from above, so we could look down on the actors. The Connor Palace’s more conventional stage worked surprisingly well, with our attention directed to various areas of the relatively cluttered space thanks to David Zinn’s scenic design and Ben Stanton’s lighting. (The lights were scenery in themselves--and in a very good way.)

Time travel necessary in Fun Home is a challenge since it covers Alison’s early growing up years, college, and career beginning. We see the story through the perspective of grown up Alison (a convincing Kate Shindle), still perturbed by her family. She introduces small Alison (a bouncy Alessandra Baldacchino), a little girl who yearns to fly, and Medium Alison (Abby Corrigan), an Oberlin student beginning to judge her family. All three actors prove likeable and make us fans of “Alison.”

Robert Petkoff plays Alison’s conflicted father, Bruce. The character doesn’t seem as likeable as he did the first time I saw the play, but perhaps that’s because I now know not to trust unsuspecting young Alison’s eyes. Susan Moniz as Alison’s put-upon mother, Helen, does an excellent job with the one-dimensional part the story assigns her. (I’d love for Bechdel to attempt the story from alternating points of view, starting with the mother: PS: Just checked and she did this, see the graphic memoir Are You My Mother? Now we can finish the story.)

Characters supporting Alison’s life journey include Small Alison’s little brothers John (Lennon Nate Hammond) and Christian (Pierson Salvador). The trio gets well-deserved laughs in the ironically-titled “Come to the Fun Home” as they jump in and out of a showroom casket (one of the family businesses is running a funeral home).

Karen Eilbacher shines as the sexy,  friendly Joan, Alison’s Oberlin college girlfriend. She inspires Corrigan’s exuberant  “I’m Changing My Major [to Joan].” Rounding out the small cast, Robert Hager plays various hunky men that Alison’s father likes.

A small orchestra directed by Micah Young provided a rich accompaniment to the proceedings just before them on the stage.

Bottom Line: Wait until you’re feeling fairly strong before you see it because it may make you think about things you’d just as soon not, such as dysfunctional families, a daughter’s distress, and how the past provides more than enough “revenge” for a memoirist.

Fun Home runs through October 22. For tickets go to playhousesquare.org or call (216) 241-6000

Photo: (From L) Alessandra Baldacchino as 'Small Alison', Pierson Salvador as 'Christian' and Lennon Nate Hammond as 'John' in Fun Home. Photo by Joan Marcus

Review of Twelfth Night at Great Lakes

Twelfth Night @ Great Lakes Theater, Hanna Theatre, Sept. 30-Oct. 30, 2016

Laura Kennelly

There’s plenty of “Wait for it . . .  wait for it” guffaw-worthy comedy in the Great Lakes Theater production of Twelfth Night now playing at the Hanna Theatre. Directed  by Drew Barr, the play seemingly doesn’t miss a chance for obvious farce (and good for that!), but it also delights in romance and unexpected love.

Like all Shakespeare comedies, the plot is ridiculous. Fraternal twins, separated by shipwreck, wash up on an island, but neither knows the other is alive. Meanwhile on that island a Duke pines for a lady who does not pine for him.  The love-struck Duke’s now familiar words open the play and set the tone for this rom-com: “If music be the food of love, play on.”

And play they do--in more than a musical sense. Local laughs come immediately in the first act when twin Viola (the convincing and comely Cassandra Bissell) washes up on a strange island and is told she’s in Illyria. She remarks in surprise “And what should I do in Illyria?” Although even Shakespeare couldn’t have anticipated an extra joke, this reference tickled Elyria residents and the rest of us too.

Viola soon disguises herself as a man to qualify for a position working for Orsino, Duke of Illyria. The Duke (a dashing Juan Rivera Lebron) thinks he loves the wealthy countess Olivia (the scornful, flighty Christine Weber). Olivia, in turn, has eyes for Viola’s twin Sebastian, (Jonathan Christopher MacMillan).

Much of the real comedy (that is, farce) revolves around the interactions between members of Olivia’s circle: her blustering uncle Sir Toby Belch (the now-legendary Aled Davies), her clueless suitor Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Tom Ford), her officious steward Malvolio (Lynn Robert Berg), her jester Feste (M. A. Taylor), and clever servant Fabian (Laura Welsh Berg). All are funny, but Berg’s fearless portrayal of Malvolio’s cluelessness (it involves a drastic change of costume and a yellow corset) takes the comedic cake. They are supported by an engaging ensemble, many of whom may be observed in the background during the play reading books (beach reading for an island setting?)

An especially delightful touch was the music, which indeed did “play on,” thanks to a very tuneful Feste (Taylor), accompanied by a muse (Jillian Kates) floating on a platform above the stage with her electric guitar. Composer Daniel Kluger and Music Director Joel Mercier created a bit of magic there.

Scenic designer Russell Metheny, and costume designer Kim Krumm Sorenson joined by Rick Martin (lighting) and Lee Kinney (sound) created clever sets that required a “double vision” at times.

Bottom Line: While some of the comic elements might be trimmed (it’s a long play), it ended with a wonderful scene which I won’t spoil. We had to wait a long time for the last laugh (hence the “wait for it” above), but the final scene was so worth it. I think the moral must be that love, truly, is indeed blind.

For tickets call Great Lakes Theater at (216) 241-6000

Photo: Ken Blaze