the nashville theatre lost and found
2009 reviews
SPRING
SUMMER
FALL
WINTER
A FIRST-CLASS ROSTER
TITANIC: THE MUSICAL
Circle Players
“TITANIC: THE MUSICAL.” An impossible idea, really. Some critics prophesied that it would be bullocks. But masters Peter Stone and Maury Yetson came through with a musical that trounced tepid doubts to set box-office records at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and win the greater majority of the 1997 Tony Awards (and this was within a year before the completely unconnected runaway success film Titanic brought renewed attention to the great, buried boat). However, there is a reason Titanic didn't last too long on Broadway; possibly because the script is truly abysmal? I’m not sure, but Circle Players, in their reproduction of this musical hit, assembles enough talent and singers to pull it off despite the lines they had to utter - and the secret lies in Maury Yetson’s incredible score, who summons the sounds of 1912, but gives them a freshness which is distinctly from our era.
The show tells the tale of the famous, doomed ocean liner and the days leading up to its ultimate demise. Director Tim Larson puts together a choir of amazing voices that truly made the show come alive. Some standout performances include that of the handsome Andrew Brooks as First Officer Murdoch, who is poised and classy as one of the many people who felt responsible for the ship sinking. Earl Landree as Edgar Beane is also a bright spot as is the woman playing his wife, Cat Eberwine. Josh Waldrep gives a heart wrenching performance as one of the ship's furnace men, Frederick Barrett.
There are a few mismatched couples cast, such as Laura Higgins as Kate McGowan, who appears to be in her mid-thirties, and falls in love with and marries Jim Farrell, played sweetly by Francis Corby, who is in high school. Despite some wee inconsistencies, the show is an amazing voyage in beautiful singing, lead by the capable John Kennerly. And the acting is appropriate enough to bring some in the audience to tears, especially at the conclusion.
Now I cannot natter on about this show unless I mention how interesting, possibly fascinating, it is to look at the set. I believe there was talk about town that it would be a miracle to bring down the boat and to pull it off on such a small stage, but once again Jim Manning scores a win - and he did it with the help of some local college engineers!
TRUDY’S TRUTH IN THEATRE:
TITANIC: THE MUSICAL certainly is an impressive show to say the least. Its high ambitions overshadow its limitations and it definitely has the ability to stir the emotions. On that note, it is much like the Titanic itself -- the dissimilarity being that the boat went down while this musical stays continuously buoyant! Circle’s production is a testament to the generous and talented pool of performers in Nashville. Even with, what this reviewer considers a shabby script, one is still taken back to Titanic in a way that is not expected.
TITANIC: THE MUSICAL has been extended an extra day. Mark your calendars and purchase your tickets for the White Star Line, now embarked at the Looby Theatre.
A PRETTY TASTE FOR PARADOX
THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE
Artist's Cooperative Theatre (ACT 1)
Saturday, 07 February 2009
There are no two ways about it. Gilbert and Sullivan’s partnership produced the absurd, the difficult, and the fanciful. And their masterpiece of ridiculous, THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, currently playing at The Darkhorse Theatre, is an all-star cast of seasoned vocalists who master this signature work with simplicity.
The set of the sea-faring tale is minimal apart from a lovely backdrop, only Lee Druce’s piano and Vanessa Davis’ flute accompany the actors, and the intermission scene change takes less than a witch’s nose wiggle. The catchy tunes and unforgettable characters are what colourfully paint the set with a laugh-out-loud journey from the oceans.
PIRATES features memorable characters such as openers Frederic (Daniel Vincent) and Ruth (Elizabeth Hayes) who energetically play a young man a bit over the top in his “slave to duty” and his hearing-impaired nursemaid who woefully croons, with flawless comedic timing, that she apprenticed him to a “pirate” over a “pilot." The cast’s vocal eloquence will continue to blow you away with side-splitting lyrics and creative rhyme, notably the booming baritone “Captain-Hook-with-a Heart” Pirate King (Joe Robinson) and the exuberant maiden “Frederic-is-mine, bitches” Mabel (Valerie Navarre) who has the operatic pipes to blow a thousand ships sails out to sea. Other highlights are adorable, speed-singing, guilt-ridden father Major-General Stanley (Hank Hildebrand), the vocally excellent ensemble of his daughters, the band of soft-hearted pirates, and the cowardly “keystone cops” who attempt to locate the pirates.
But it was the tiny moments that sent this particular reviewer into mild hysterics. For example, Isabel’s (Lynda Cameron-Bayer’s) continuous and deliberate conflict with her parasol, a cleverly choreographed ambush attempt as the pirates steal upon their victim “WITH CAT-LIKE TREAD!”, and the love-at-first-sight sequence between Ruth and the Sergeant of Police (Jeffrey Williams) which ends the show. Make sure and watch closely for these priceless, simply hilarious moments.
TRUDY’S TRUTH IN THEATRE:
These entertaining pirates shipwreck every preconceived notion that audiences may have about opera and permits them to revive their own inner radical. THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE is unquestionably Nashville’s must-see production, full of snickers and spirit. Each audience will be cheering long after the Darkhorse “curtains” close.
THE BEST MEDICINE
RUN FOR YOUR WIFE
Encore Theatre Company
Friday, 06 March 2009
An hilarious, fast-paced romp in the boroughs of London, presented by director Joel Meriwether who truly knows his farce. Timing and teamwork are critical in every show, but farce exponentially so. The cast were equal to their task in every way. They all strapped on their mental trainers (running shoes) and sprinted flawlessly through intricate blocking and prop-tossing, and weaved their misconstrued lines into a lovely tapestry of humour. Think about your Mr. Roper from Three's Company, listening at the drainpipe - but with several subjects at once!
Highlights: John's (William Keathley) apoplectic and completely un-sexy phone breathing. Barbara's (Angela Gimlin) "Lofty" and gravity-defying cleavage. (I'm so jealous.) Mary's (Abby Waddoups) shoe-flinging Dance of the Drugged. Stanley's (Hugh Britt) crawling away with a dustbin on his head. Detectives Brogue 1 and Brogue 2 (John Michnya and Frank Fox), playing "Who's NOT the Gay Policeman." And Bobby's (Bowd Beal) eager desire for King Edward and his cucumbers.
Quickie Truth: It is possible and indeed sublime to watch a heterosexual man transform into an omni-stereotypical poof.
BE YOURSELF! SWIM THE MOAT!
ONCE UPON A MATTRESS
Circle Players
Thursday, 09 April 2009
Circle Players has often been recognized in Nashville’s community theatre scene for its large-scale, large-cast, multi-costumed and elaborate sett-ed productions, and Once Upon a Mattress is no exception. Well, technically it is an exception. Mattress, like its recent predecessor, Titanic the Musical, is more cohesive, engaging, and entertaining. Plus (unlike the death-riddled Titanic) – it’s a hell of a lot more fun!
This is due in part to the choreographic feats of Kate Adams Johnson, who also choreographed Titanic, Evita, Pirates of Penzance, and likely several other shows I’ve enjoyed recently, to which I’m sure my growing pile of theatre programs will attest; theatre companies in town are certainly blessed to have acquired her talents. As I was watching Mattress, I realized how much there was to see in each number, and I often wanted to see it again so I could try and catch it all. Their version of the Spanish Panic (I won’t give away what happens!) is not my particular cup of tea, but then I’m an old fuddy-duddy. It is astoundingly well-performed, and the younger set will rave over it (pun intended.)
Mattress is another exception, in that for the first time in several productions, the band does not completely overpower the vocalists. With other shows, I thought it was just an unfortunate quality of that theatre – but this production proves that the band levels could be more controlled. Actually, in some numbers, the music is a smidge too quiet. Any chance of a happy medium? I’ll go ask my psychic.
There are some truly exception-al (!) actors on the Looby stage. Lynda Cameron Bayer, as Aggravaine, is quite rightly Queen of all she surveyed, and gives as fascinating and lively a performance as I’ve come to expect from her. Gabe Gabriel as Dauntless, is consistently adorable. Watching him, I get the sense that Mummy’s apron strings had been wound around his neck a wee bit too long, cutting off the oxygen supply to his brain! As Winnifred, Cathy Street is honest and quirky, and naturally lovable. However, hers is the only singing voice that the band threatens to overpower. Of the King’s retinue, the Jester (Nancy Whitehead) stands out as the one to watch, but she, the Minstrel, and the King, are a charming trio that often made me smile. David Williams and Emily Webb (Henry and Larkin) are masters of their craft as I have witnessed in a number of past production. These two could have been the perfect pertrarchan sweetlings of the show. Yet their characters seem mismatched as a couple, as if there is very little real love between them. Perhaps it is just my fuddy-duddiness again, but I longed for them to have been directed toward a more classic portrayal. Rather than Romeo and Juliet, or Hero and Claudio, I imagined Billy Jo growling for his beer, and the barefoot and pregnant Mindy Sue going to fetch it for him.
Although my fuddy and my duddy reared their cooperative ugly heads a few times, I thoroughly enjoyed the show, I wish I could sneak in again to be wowed by the Queen and charmed by the Prince and awed by the choreography.
TRUDY’S TRUTH IN THEATRE:
As children, we all listen to fairy tales and read our lives into them, but we also want to accomplish our lives as a virtual fairy tale even when we are adults. We never really abandon fairy tales, do we? Who doesn’t want a happy ending? Plus, they exhibit what it meant to be lovely or gallant and/or how to become kings and queens by good kismet. To read a fairy tale is to go along the storybook path to happiness; to watch it unfold on stage in a twisted, bizarre, non-standardized way is also a treat because I believe that the fairy tale is not only about happiness, but the means to obtain a little bit of happiness within oneself. Which is why I like the Winnifred character so much - so brazen. unsophisticated , and charmingly cheeky is she that she swarms the castle moat in her excitement to meet her prince! And is she okay with this? Yes she is. Let this be a lesson to you, my fairy-tale reading little princesses - be yourself!
If you think your personal schedule will not allow you to see a show this Easter weekend, let Once Upon a Mattress be your exception.
ASKING FOR DIRECTIONS
MRS. WARREN'S PROFESSION
Artist's Cooperative Theatre (ACT 1)
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
MRS. WARREN’S PROFESSION was banned from London stages for eight years because it addresses topics like prostitution. And though society has definitely progressed in matters of open discussion, it is always a challenge to readdress such issues. The sparse sets and far away setting of Act One’s production of George Bernard Shaw’s controversial play, under the direction of David Thoreson, are a fair description of the production itself. It is the story of a woman, whose successful prostitution vocation becomes known to her young adult daughter and the way the young Warren reacts to her changed circumstances.
The two lead roles in the show – Pat Rulon as Mrs. Warren and Starina Johnson as Vivian Warren – are phenomenal. In fact, most of the acting throughout this production is just extraordinary. John Michnya is amusing and quaint as the fashionable Praed and Dan Millard is quite strong as the scoundrel George Crofts. Anthony DeSimone, though charming as Frank Gardner, seems a bit too uncomfortable to play Vivie’s love interest and there is an obvious lack of any kind of chemistry between the two, though I thoroughly enjoyed his animated facial expressions. Overall the acting is the production’s bright point. The show itself is, well, in a word, tedious. It drags exceedingly and obvious jokes are swept under the Victorian rug. Therefore, it became easy for the audience to fail to understand the text of the script . . . its obligations, its suggestions, its possibilities . . . I hate to say I found myself glancing repeatedly at my watch. Actors are in the human behaviour business and it just didn’t seem that these talented individuals’ noticeable gifts were exploited as they could have been to showcase the corruption at the core of Victorian culture and how the pursuit of success in this system inspired destructive behaviours.
TRUDY’S TRUTH IN THEATRE:
Ovid once said “Whether they give or refuse, it delights women just the same to have been asked.” The idea behind MRS. WARREN’S PROFESSION was to give the world the gift of tough women and the decisions they have to make. It was obviously more difficult to do in Victorian society. Johnson and Rulon are made of proud stuff and true representatives of their characters. Even in today’s society, women must often choose and prove themselves against good ole boy societies and corporate structures that still pay a woman less than a man. Until there is true equality of the sexes, women must still take the high road, like Mrs. Warren’s proud Vivie.
COMPROMISING CHARACTERS
Barefoot in the Park
05 May 2009
In BAREFOOT IN THE PARK, Neil Simon presents a few characters who have outlooks on life that are poles apart. He mingles characters that are free-thinking and generous or conventional and unadventurous, and then forces them to act out their differences. It is in these actions the audience finds the laughs as these completely different people interact with one another.
The story centers on Paul and Corie Bratter, two young newlyweds who have just moved into their first New York apartment. It is a small studio with a leaky skylight, faulty heating, and much to Paul's chagrin, no bathtub. Director Victoria Lamberth creates a wonderful 1960's atmosphere for this show with her light brown walls, cool periiod tunes, a perfectly hippie set, and corresponding costumes. Lambreth blocks the show by using the entire playing area, and includes activity over the busted skylight on the roof of the apartment. Lambreth, along with Jill Dunlap, must be a hard-working set design team and their multitude of props are handled by a very capable stage crew.
For the most part, the actors do a good job of delivering the laughs. The leading players in this show are played by real life married couple, Bryan and Aubree Gentry. Bryan takes on the part of Paul, a sedate, conventional young lawyer who doesn’t handle his wife with a button-down restraint, rather with little patience. Alongside him, Aubree's Corie is the innocent, spunky, and high-maintenance hippie-girl. She is clearly having fun with this character. However, as Corie, this actress has the correct, bubbly energy, but she repeatedly sounds as if she’s yelling to be heard over others, therefore a steady one-note performance ensues. Hopefully, she can mix in more vocal and emotional colour as the production continues. The crazy upstairs neighbour, Victor Velasco is preciously played by Joe Brennan, who is opposite in temperament, yet attractive in personality to Paul and his mother-in-law. Other comic notables are Michael Pickering at the brash, Jersey-accented Telephone Repair Man and Clayton Cabron as The Delivery Man.
The biggest scene stealer in this show is Ginny Cavin as Corie's mother, Ethel Banks. She is side-splittingly funny whether she is climbing up six (five? nine?) flights of stairs, delivering rapid-fire one liners, or popping pink pills so she won't puke the exotic gourmet food. Cavin's comic timing is that of a seasoned actor who knows how to take Simon's lines either as they are scripted or with clever interpretation and keep it at the author's intended comedic level. It was clear that my audience’s spirits lifted quickly whenever she came back on stage with quip-packed dialogue that is Mr. Simon's signature.
TRUDY'S TRUTH IN THEATRE:
One important lesson learned at the end of this consistently popular play is that set attitudes in life can inspire relationships to go south. The characters have very obvious differences at the end of the show than those they portray when it opens, whether becoming more cautious in marriage, walking barefoot in the park, vowing to calm down, or traipsing outside in a nightie. In real life, it is always refreshing to see “characters,” be it friends or family, going from one end of the spectrum to somewhere in the middle in order to make an important relationship work. Through compromises, every person can find a different kind of happiness in each other, and most likely, a sweeter one
UNLIKELY TWINS
The Producers
12 May 2009
When I arrived to view the Nashville-area debut of Mel Brooks’ THE PRODUCERS, I had my heavy doubts that the intentions embedded in the original piece would be maintained in this rendition. No offence meant to the Nashville Dinner Theatre, but, c’mon, Nashville isn’t my London, and envelope-pushing humour is often hard to find on these Southern stages. Well, I learned an important lesson---never underestimate how a humble theatre tucked in the back of a senior-center could deliver a powerhouse performance. In short, the Donelson elders hospitably ushered in another winner—THE PRODUCERS is, as my grand mum would say, “gobsmackingly” good, and their director, Tim Larson, should walk away with quite a feather in his already-bedecked cap.
Set in the late ‘50s, the plot tells the World-War II satirical tale of down-on-his luck once Broadway-king producer Max Bialstock (aptly played by Josh Waldrep), whose shows close only upon opening, and the scheme he plots with the 30-something Leo Bloom, who so desperately wants to jettison his mind-numbingly mundane accountant life. The crafty chemistry between Waldrep and Kramer leverages the show’s comedic timing to empower the supporting characters’ colourful tales, such as Franz Liebkind (played by consistently solid Tyson Laemmel), the goofy Nazi we want to deplore but who makes us instead laugh. Laemmel perfects a hokey-guttural German accent, suitably matched by his deutsche-lederhosen. But the scene-stealing laughter ignites when Max and Leo enlist the unambiguously-gay-duo, Roger Debris (Ron Cushman, whose raspy-male voice heightened the comedic irony of his dress-tromping presence) and his ever-so-wispy lover, Carmen Ghia, to direct their left-eyed interpretation of Hitler’s ascent to power. I pause to commend Jim Manning’s layered rendering of the über-flamboyant Carmen. While his Liberace-meets-Bob-Mackie costuming certainly colours his character, Manning delivers a Carmen whose idiosyncrasies are a natural fit with the character’s archetypal caricatures, such as his adorable little “hippity-hop” stage exit manoeuvre. Lastly, the bawdy humour is heated up a notch with the later entrance of the blonde-casting-couch, Swedish starlet, Ulla, whose fifteen-syllable last name I dare not endeavour to spell. Cori Najarian simply embodied Ulla, especially with her sultry affect and resilient vocals, which overcame the venue’s poor acoustics.
Certainly the principals’ successes are enriched by some stellar supporting character-work and nuanced stage choices, no doubt encouraged by Larson. To name a few, the ebullient energy and precise movement displayed by Lauren Atkins and the amusing facial-expressions emoted by Amber Boyer caught my eye. There are even puppetry showcasing fidgeting, German pigeons—engineered by Jennifer Klein and Josh Wagner, which compensated for some inconsistencies in the mise en scene, perhaps a consequence of a limited budget and proscenium stage. The proscenium staging at times compromised the fourth wall, as several actors could be seen waiting in the wings for their entrances. Yet despite the limits of a proscenium forum, the sizeable stage allows for the stand-out, large ensemble choreography (which is no surprise given Kate Adams-Johnson’s leadership in the show). Exemplifying Adams-Johnson’s professional-grade work was the sequence showcasing a gaggle of tap-dancing, walker-toting gray-hairs, something I will allow you to experience without further spoil. And the show is swimming in well-suited costume work, a feat tackled by Jane Schnelle and Mark Lynn.
TRUDY’S TRUTH IN THEATRE:
As such an inveterate, aged community-theatre maiden, I am in regular search for stage work that allows me easily to transcend my disbelief---and in THE PRODUCERS, I found another such moment in a show that is as creatively delivered as its roots likely intended. The underlying infrastructure of Brooks’ zany compilation is sensationally commanded by this cast and crew’s rejuvenating delivery of unadulterated, comedic energy—light movements, solid vocals, hearty laughs, unexpected outrages, and dazzling costume changes (congratulations are certainly owed to the stagehands and behind-the-curtain stars).
While the haunting realities of Hitler’s decimating evils will forever remain a tragic presence in the human story, Brooks’ show reminds us in a side-splitting fashion that tragedy and comedy are unlikely twins. I realized that THE PRODUCERS lets loose in a playground of customarily taboo topics, establishing the undeniably unique role the show contributes to the important mission of remembering even the darkest of chapters of our shared history.
SO MANY POSSIBILITIES
Sunday in the Park with George
17 May 2009
Who says you have to go to the theatre to be entertained?
George Seurat's painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, is one of those rare works of art that stand alone. I believe that most intelligent and sensitive human beings, if standing in front of this grand work, will find themselves transcending their spot in the museum and puzzling about why such a simple work is so powerful. I believe it is that the subject matter of this work is not some significant event, but one of the most banal of everyday settings – in this case, the good people of Paris enjoying an afternoon in on a local island park. Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine were considerably inspired by this power and they crafted a lovely musical and book around a fictionalized Seurat to bring the Sunday characters to life. This theatrical masterpiece, however, met with a similar mix of criticisms and feelings, as did the artist that stimulated their creativity.
The Boiler Room Theatre took on this mammoth production and, from what I have observed, is also meeting with mixed reviews. SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE is an amazing musical which should be respected for its original genius. Therefore, I will be brief about my review of the show because today it is not the focus topic of this piece. I admit that I was not at all taken in by the leads in this production, Mike Baum (George) and Greer Allison (Dot), though their performances as their secondary characters in Act II were more believable. It was the supporting performances which were so spot-on they nearly stole their respective show, most notable being Elizabeth Hayes, Dan McGeachy, Justin Bourdet, Macon Kimbrough, Stephanie Dillard and Kay Ayers-Sowell. And, the extremely talented Green-Williams-Beall keyboard trio valiantly took on a beautiful piece of work, though it seemed to be directed a bit less organic than it was written. It was overall a very decent production, but not at all why I decided to discuss the show . . .
The work of Sondheim is often ridiculed for its cerebral, sometimes emotionless nature which understandably makes it difficult to understand. But in GEORGE, the emotion is found on the blank canvas. For example, in “Finishing the Hat,” George sings about – yes – painting a hat. Yawn. It seems boring because it doesn’t really make a lot of sense and it does nothing for his character. But if one pays attention, they will hear of George’s struggle within himself as he watches the rest of the world from a window while his beloved Dot becomes less and less significant. It can almost be used as a magnifying glass through which one can evocatively decipher the entire play. Sondheim also goes so far past the typical, expected rhythms and couplets of a song. What is effectively “virtuoso” about this show is that he constructs his lyrics and music as if he is the human being who is singing them. Otherwise, George’s barking out a song about a dog’s day in the park would seem the dumbest idea ever. Instead, it is brilliant. A good painter tries to get inside his subjects; a good composer does the same. These may be stream-of-consciousness, contradictory, animal, scattered, smothered, and covered, but they are human. Even Sondheim’s tapping rhythms are reminiscent of Seurat’s dot-tapping colours on his canvas . . . on the surface it doesn’t make sense, but step away and you’ll see quite a masterpiece.
Stephen Sondheim’s musical, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, is one of those rare works of art that stand alone. I believe that most intelligent and sensitive human beings, if watching this grand work, will find themselves transcending their spot in the theatre and puzzling about why such a simple work is so powerful. I believe it is that the subject matter of this work is that it takes a seemingly dull and trivial event and makes it significant. After all, it is those events that make up a life, is it not? In this case, a painter and his subject, a mother and her nurse, a baby and her protective mother, flighty girls, affected soldiers, a grandmother and her second-hand memories, a young man and his dreams to create . . . each “Dot” on this canvas a thought, a hope, a pain, or a woe, all making up the glorious mural of life.
Go see this show and let The Boiler Room players educate you in the ways of Sondheim, but do not, I repeat, do NOT expect to be entertained. If one goes in with that expectation, it will be seen the way the characters Jules and Yvonne saw George’s previous paintings. But such is the tragedy of Seurat's and Sondheim’s genius. Go to remember that “however you live, there’s a part of you always standing by, mapping out the sky, finishing a hat, starting on a hat . . .” – and in one of those moments you may actually discover that there never was a hat in the first place.
So many possibilities
WHAT
Rhubarb Theatre Company
09 June 2009
Rhubarb Theatre Company has officially caught my attention.
Local actor Trish Crist has written an excellent new play called WHAT, with remaining performances on June 10, 11, 12, and 13 at the Darkhorse Theatre. I had the pleasure of catching the show this weekend; its “20 vignettes, 5 actors, 13,092 words, and 1 couch” were charming, surprising, funny, occasionally sad or painful, and overall the best original writing I’ve seen in my time in Nashville.
The play brings nondescript, often unnamed characters down many different roads, discussing and discovering what we “seek, fear, avoid, value, accept, cherish, and deny in our everyday lives” - a bold premise, but one that is carried out beautifully by Crist, also performing in the show, along with Nashville theatre veterans Jack E. Chambers, Chris Basso, Megan Murphy, and relative newcomer Dave Shetler. Each of the actors directs four of the vignettes, some of which have a semi-through line throughout the show, others of which are just one glimpse into a person, and all of which stand on their own as great pieces of theatre.
Ms. Crist wrote an honest, believable script, and fit herself well into it - I have enjoyed her acting in the past, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous about the playwright performing her own work, which in my experience can often lead to a slightly skewed performance, one that is a little too close to the material for an objective approach. She was right in it, however, and I thoroughly enjoyed the frankness and reality of her characters. Megan Murphy never ceases to amaze me with her versatility and her ability to be over-the-top, but just in the right amount, so that I still see a real person in each of her characters. Her relationships to the other characters in this show were always clearly defined and wonderfully true.
Chris Basso was brilliant, playing roles from emotionally destitute to goofy and fun to nervous; I believed every word out of his mouth, and more than once he touched a place in my heart that hasn’t been touched in a while now. Similarly, Jack E. Chambers made me giggle and made me sigh inside in many different ways. In one vignette, I was nearly beside myself watching him be the typical violence-driven man, entertaining himself playing video games. Dave Shetler fit in extremely well with the others, and brought a wry approach to his characters, of which I am particularly fond. He has a different spirit onstage from most of our actors in Nashville, and it was refreshing to see a new face so good at what he was doing.
The production as a spectacle was lovely too - although, using the word spectacle, I suppose I mislead. Richard Sparkman’s set is small, utilizing a couch and coffee table, a countertop, a piece of art, and a free-standing door to take us into the lives of each of these people. The lights, by Shane Caudill, were a standout to me in Nashville productions. They were run smoothly and right on cue, drawing us into each word, rather than distracting here and there. I barely noticed them before thinking back on it, and that’s how lights should be in a piece like this. Also, the lovely, relaxing, sometimes haunting set-change music, written and recorded by Mr. Chambers on guitar, was in the perfect mood.
WHAT explores many subjects and characters, all of which I think every one of us can in some way relate to. It is worth going on every level I can imagine; I highly recommend it this weekend - in fact, I’m considering going again, which I rarely have the time or frankly the impetus to do. Good work, Rhubarb.
TRUDY'S TRUTH IN THEATRE MOMENT:
In my favourite of the vignettes, a series of about four or five spread through the show, all the actors sit as if having a small party in one’s apartment, progressively getting drunker throughout the night, and having moments I very well recognize in my own life as they alcoholically pontificate on subjects both serious and silly, as good friends do. I felt like I was there with them, making those memories that the characters would always cherish about their time together, and it reminded me of how important it can be to spend such time with the people we love. It’s not about the drunkenness (which is most definitely not necessary or even truly recommended - I don’t want to be sending the wrong message here!), it’s about the time that we all need to just hang out with people we trust and talk and laugh and learn about ourselves and each other, without inhibition and with the utmost love and respect. They portrayed those moments beautifully, and it made me miss some of the people in my past, all the more treasure the people in my present, and relish the thought of who the new ones might be in my future.
DRY AND DELICIOUS
"Blithe Spirit"
11 JUNE 2009
Noel Coward's scripts are to audiences as martinis must be for his Ruth Condomine. "Dry as a bone," yet terribly delicious.
When Coward’s Blithe Spirit made its London West End bow at the Piccadilly Theatre on July 21, 1941, England was in the deathly vice grip of World War II - a country under attack physically, emotionally and spiritually. Still, Coward’s brilliantly witty tale of mortality, marital fidelity and general absurdity would go on to set a British box office record run of 1,997 consecutive performances, a feat that would remain unrivalled until Boeing, Boeing in the 1970s.
That a macabre comic story with said themes could be such a rousing success in the face of such hardship is, depending on your point of view, either a fine example of the storied emotional strength of the British – continuing to support great art and literally laughing in the face of danger, or a testament to the legendary acerbic comic genius of Noel Coward. In fact, it’s both, but for our purposes, it’s rather more the latter.
The play opens on a summer evening at the home of novelist Charles Condomine and his wife Ruth. Condomine’s next novel will involve elements of the occult, and to acquire some initial research, he has invited the eccentric Madame Arcati to dinner. Madame Arcati, a self-proclaimed medium and an author herself (of quirky children’s books and biographies of minor royals), is generally known in the village as being a bit on the dotty side. Condomine doesn’t necessarily think anything will happen when Madame Arcati conducts her séance. Rather, he hopes to learn some “tricks of the trade” when the loopy medium does her business. Joining the Condomines and Arcati for dinner are the Condomines’ neighbours, Dr. and Mrs. Bradman.
After dinner, the party gathers around a table for the séance as Madame Arcati does what she thinks she does best. While the resulting séance appears to have resulted in nothing so much as a few fleeting moments of entertainment for the party, Condomine knows better … for it seems that Arcati has conjured the spirit of his deceased first wife, Elvira, and only he can see and hear her. And this is where the real fun begins. Elvira begins to spin a web of delicious deviance in the Condomine household with darkly comic results.
Pull-Tight Players, closing out its 40th Anniversary Season, is producing this perennial favourite for the third time in its history. (Coincidentally, Blithe Spirit is currently enjoying a popular new revival at the Schubert Theatre in New York, starring Angela Lansbury, Rupert Everett and Christine Ebersole.) The joys inherent in a Coward play are as much about the acerbic, quick wit that the actors spit and toss about as if it were light as feathers, as it is the plot - more really. Coward’s dialogue is any dry comic actor’s dream, and the cast generally acquits itself well.
Mark Slagle, taking on the central role of Charles Condomine, leads the cast superbly, wonderfully capturing the predicament of an English gentleman whose pseudo devil-may-care attitude gets brutally tossed about when his comfortable life begins to crumble all around. A key to Condomine’s personality is given early in Act One when he denies ever being dominated by anyone. The action in the play proves quite the contrary, as that is one of the very causes of his undoing, and Slagle portrays this essential character element quietly but deftly. As his wife Ruth, Nashville newcomer Heather Climer mixes just the right measures of rationality, incredulity and warmth to create an excellent down-to-earth foil for the coolly devious machinations of Elvira, played by Jeanne Drone, and the dotty zaniness of Madame Arcati, portrayed by Pat Street. Miss Climer is a real boon to the Nashville theatre community; frequently the role of Ruth comes off as merely secondary, but in Miss Climer’s hands this Ruth holds her own. One looks forward to seeing what new opportunities Miss Climer will find in our theatrical landscape!
Jeanne Drone’s Elvira is all chilled mirth – her re-emergence into Charles' life and subsequent hilarious taunting of Ruth, at least at first, is obviously delicious to her as she glides about, working the Condomines like some kind of mad puppeteer. One wishes, however, that the director had reined in her tendency toward indication and mugging. This audience member didn’t need a snaky hand gesture to know that Elvira was talking about a snake, nor was it necessary for Elvira to keep winking at us every time she made a joke.
Madame Arcati, which is surely one of the great comic roles in the canon, is given just due by Pat Street, who stepped in at the last minute to take on the role. She gives Madame Arcati lovely and subtle motherly warmth that blends beautifully with the more eccentric sides of the character, almost grounding the craziness in a small but meaningful way. The cast is rounded out by Robby Coles (Dr. Bradman), Becky Leopard (Edith) and Maddie Logan (Voice of Daphne), the most notable being Kathy Crisp's portrayal of quirky, over-zealous Violet Bradman. I giggled every time she uttered a word.
T.J. Aiello’s and director Laurie Sackett’s set is quite lovely and the requisite special effects required by the story are pulled off with nice aplomb, receiving the desired visible and audible audience response. This audience, which seemed to be particularly wrapped up in the goings-on, was quite receptive.
If there is any complaint with the production, it is that the pace can be a tad uneven at times. Many scenes zip by with classic Coward speed, while others seem to shift gears and get a bit stuck in the mud, so to speak.
Blithe Spirit, while touching on themes of mortality and fidelity, is still, before all else, a comedy. And a divine one at that. No one can top Coward when it comes to firing off one brilliantly funny line after another. One can never absorb all the comic treasures in his writing on one viewing. Pull-Tight Players take on the possibilities of this ghost of a tale and blithely put them to good use, with lots of spirit.
TRUDY’S TRUTH IN THEATRE
Oh, you silly Americans! I must admit that it’s a pet peeve of mine, as a native Brit, that when attempting high British accents you feel you must elongate every single vowel and turn all your “Ds” into Ts”. We don’t talk that way! But dear ones don’t stop trying! I’m proud of Pull Tight for being brave enough to tackle a sophisticated, British comedy, and despite some glaring “Americanizations,” you made me feel quite at home. Let’s hope my countrymen appreciate Brits doing Tennessee Williams as much as I appreciate Tennesseans doing Noel Coward. Kudos, Pull Tight
New Perspective Festival
San Diego, California
June, 2009
While I was sitting in Shakespeare Pub last weekend, enjoying a pint with a number of now-too-rarely seen ex-pat friends in San Diego, California (headquarters, if you do not know, to the British American Society and home of many ex-pats) one of my companions mentioned a local theatre festival in which I might be interested. The owner and producer, I was told, was a relatively recent transplant from Nashville, whom I might have seen on stage there. I was intrigued. A night of theatre with good friends and a Nashville connection? You bet your sweet bippy.
After a bit of conversation with festival owner Kelly Lapczynski, my west-coast theatre friend begged a favour: would I write a review of the evening’s entertainment? As I was more than a few miles from my regular readership, I wondered what use my words might be until my friend explained the purpose of his request. You see, the festival is comprised of three programs of eight short plays each – for a total of 24 scripts written, performed, and directed by San Diego Theatre Artists in a format meant to market their talents to the local community of folks who might eventually hire them – Artistic Directors and Casting Agents – and to promote them through the media (for more on the mission of the festival, visit its website at perspectivefest.com). As it happened, I would be seeing the only program (Program Two) which none of the local critics were available to attend due to other openings around town, and which (we were told) featured some worthy talent who would not otherwise be recognized.
How could I say no to that? I am more than happy to recognize them with this guest review. So let’s begin, shall we?
Program Two began with Craig Abernethy’s SWELL, which would seem (given the dialogue) to be a simple piece about two under-educated and over-confident long-term employees of Corporate America relishing their territorial superiority over the better-educated and abler new hire. Director Mark Stephan, however, added a layer of odd irony to the piece with a play on the word “swell,” having his new hire become pregnant, progress through 9 months of gestation, and give birth on stage all during the self-important droning of her co-workers. The stunning Laura Kaplan hit the comedy notes and struck some attractive poses, while Mary Deaton gamely produced progeny without pulling focus. Kristina Bender also appeared.
Next was Michael Clark’s AMUSE BOUCHE, which I am told is appropriately named for its serving as the author’s selection as a taste of his longer work, L’ATELIER ROUGE. As the concerned waiter in Thomas Keller’s Matisse “bouchon,” Brendon Slater is a true talent, underplaying the role nicely and creating a character with whom we want to spend much more time. As restaurant patrons, Tom Andrew gives a good but predictable performance as the unlikable husband and Leticia Martinez delivers her lines as his wife in a monotone which does not serve the piece. Martinez is new to the craft, though, and shows promise.
Following AMUSE BOUCHE, we find Brendon Slater has slipped backstage to direct Jacqueline Goldfinger’s excellent HIS LAST FIGHT, well cast with Terence J. Burke in the role of the once-great fighter Palooka and Sara Moneymaker in the role of the young, female boxer he tries to convince to “go home.” Reed Willard is seen momentarily, and in fine form, at the end of the play, but heard offstage through much of it as the announcer who gives us the unfortunate play-by-play when “The Kid” shakes off Palooka’s advice for an ill-fated fight. My only complaint with this piece was that Burke chose to exude his power through his voice, allowing his volume and accent too often to overpower his words and make him difficult to understand.
Rounding out the first act was David Wiener’s FEEDING TIME AT THE HUMAN HOUSE, one of the more creative bits of short writing I’ve seen in a long time – an opinion borne out by the fact that while this script was in rehearsal for the San Diego festival it was winning accolades in New York, where it won Best Play in the 15th Annual NYC 15-Minute Play Festival. Dawn Williams and Director Jonathan Sturch slip easily into the roles of zoo-kept baboons whose very human midlife concerns about the ravages of age and the future of their relationship are hilariously turned on end in light of the female’s 15th birthday (“my rear end doesn’t swell like it used to”). Add to that the male’s conspiracy theory about “what the dolphins are up to” and you’ve got a complete winner. This show in itself was worth the price of admission.
Act two began with Jack Dyville’s THE AVERAGE JOE, which had some very clever ideas, which director David Sein didn’t fully realize on the stage. In it, God has decided on an encore performance of the Great Flood and asks “average Joe” Noah Nathanielson to take on the task of building the modern Ark and rounding up two of every creature in a year’s time. In this day and age, however, Noah is not able to get the proper building permits, the necessary allotment of wood, and can’t get anywhere near a spotted owl. Charles Peters, in the role of Noah, makes a noble effort with the piece, but direction which has his wife (played by M. Susan Peck) miming invisible props which could be better indicated and God (played by Betsy Bruce Osmun) lifting invisible windows which imply a fourth wall we shouldn’t be seeing through make the piece a difficult sell.
Next came Kevin Six’s LOVE UNREQUITED: AFTERNOON (ASIAN GALLERY). This piece was the second of three of Six’s gallery pieces spread out over the festival, one per program. While I’ve heard that the other two galleries – MORNING (AMERICAN MASTERS) and EVENING (EUROPEAN GALLERY) – are contenders for Best of Fest honours when the votes are tallied at the close of the festival, this one was unfortunately not well served by a set of four actors with utterly different acting styles ranging from the understated and breathy, through the monotone, and into the over-emoted.
From the Asian Gallery, we were lead onto a golf course for Kathleen McLaughlin’s TEED OFF, a somewhat familiar treatment of the difference between two generations of soldiers (those in the Great War and those in Viet Nam), the treatment of them on their return, and their frustration that the peace they fought for – and which others fight for still – will never come. The “surprise” ending isn’t much of a surprise but is excellently played by Jonathan Dunn-Rankin and Michael Niederman.
Ending the evening was Steve Koppman’s CELL SHOCK, a riot of a script about the end of quiet enjoyment everywhere through the rampant public usage of cell phones by the loud and inconsiderate – people who believe that they are entitled to hash out the minute details of their lives in public places with the expectation of privacy at the expense of those around them. You might guess that I felt a particular affinity for this piece, though its message will no doubt be lost on those most needing to learn it. Instead, we laugh as we suffer along with the poor schmo Marty (Charles Peters’ second appearance in a more rewarding role) who can’t get his work done through the long monologue of the “very blunt” woman talking about the end of her relationship next to him, excellently-played by Samantha Ginn.
I wish I had known about the festival in time to have seen the other two programs, in all featuring the talents of more than 100 San Diego Theatre Artists.
TRUDY’S TRUTH IN THEATRE:
While not everyone who took advantage of the opportunity to market themselves in the festival was necessarily marketable, the festival itself was an incredible event which put a large number of very talented artists in the same place at the same time, allowing them to promote themselves, network, and make the connections necessary for the next great bit of theatre they’ll do. If that’s not worth promoting, I don’t know what is.
IS THAT DAY TODAY?
Street Theatre Company
09 July 2009
Tuesdays with Morrie. I have to confess that I am not a big fan of Mitch Albom’s best-selling memoir, because to me it falls into sentimentality and self-flagellation a bit too easily for my taste. But what a surprise is Jeffrey Hatcher’s stage version! He has managed to turn Albom's work into something containing charming wit and a great deal of excellent common sense.
In Street Theatre Company’s production, Ken Jackson plays Morrie, Bakari King plays Mitch, and Death is played by ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, aka Lou Gehrig's disease). This story recounts Albom’s real-life conversations with Morrie Schwartz, a beloved former college professor who was dying of this terrible illness.
Paul Cook’s staging of TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE is inspiring for the most part because of Jackson's genius. He is a one-man comedy/drama. He juxtaposes awful disease symptoms with feisty one-liners. His voice is splendidly elastic, ranging from high-pitched gotcha comebacks to quiet, softer grief. Even in his bookended dance forays does he don the two masks of theatre: comical, yes, but also tender.
Mitch is a know-it-all winner who can't escape uncertainties about himself and life. He lost a beloved mentor when he was just out of college and is therefore panicked by fatal illness. Yet here he is, immersed in a second beloved mentor's unalleviated progression of dying. King plays this mostly with cheerful denial, which makes his eventual surrender to truth and mourning very touching.
ALS did a fantastic job of reminding us what a wretched, fatal thing it is … which steals every muscle, every nerve, every part of what physically makes up a human being, yet leaves the brain functioning to witness it all and until the very end. Though it definitely plays its part well most of us who have had to watch it perform would rather see it step off of the world’s stage forever.
TRUDY’S TRUTH IN THEATRE
In one scene, as Albom arrives for his weekly visit, Professor Schwartz recalls a dialogue in which he said he was not looking forward to the day when he would be too weak to clean his own ass. Albom asks, somewhat sheepishly, “Is that day today?” “Don’t get your hopes up,” Schwartz replies. A hilarious anecdote, yet a profound question someone with this affliction must ask on a daily basis. Is today that day? The last day I can feed myself? The last day I can kiss my spouse? The last day I take a breath?
Every human being must face that day, but Schwartz knew it was inevitable. Cook manages to avoid letting this become a sob-fest from beginning to end, as do his actors, and the author’s script, because despite the grim nature of death and dying, this play is more than a tear-jerker. It is a triumph of the human spirit and one of those shows you may not think you want to see, but you'll be glad you did. Just be sure to still have a few tissues at the ready.
A PRETTY HOW-DE-DO
ACT 1 - Artist's Cooperative Theatre
09 August 2009
After the great success of their production of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE this past February, ACT I has once again dipped into the well of Gilbert and Sullivan’s works to give us THE MIKADO. Although it gets off to a shaky start, for the most part the operetta is in good hands under the direction of Bob Fish.
I admit I was concerned when the first few songs were lethargically performed, though well-sung, by the Men of Titipu, Nanki-Poo (Daniel Sadler), and Pish-Tish (Steven Luboniecki), and I feared I was in for a dreary evening. Fortunately, the show began to pick up with the entrance of the wryly humorous Pooh-Bah (John P. Wilson), the Lord High Everything Else, and it really hit its stride once we were introduced to Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner, played with great comic bravado by James “Jay” Rudolph.
The choral singing in “The Mikado” is strong from beginning to end, and many of the individual voices shine. Daniel Sadler sings beautifully, though his performance would be more enjoyable if his gestures were a bit less stilted and his facial expressions more varied. More satisfying is the performance of Whitney Rose Cone as Nanki-Poo’s love, Yum-Yum, whose lovely soprano is a joy and who makes Yum-Yum‘s innocence charming. And she is supported by two equally charming performers, Val Navarre and Vicki White, as her sisters Pitti-Sing and Peep-Bo, who delight with their first song, “Three Little Maids from School Are We.”
The strongest vocal performance comes from Francine Berk, as the elderly Katisha, whose unrequited love for Nanki-Poo caused him to flee the imperial court. Berk’s contralto is impressive from her entrance late in the first act, and she makes a formidable antagonist to the young lovers. As the title character of the operetta, L.T. Kirk is at turns commanding and kindly.
But the show really belongs to James Rudolph, a gifted clown whose facial expressions, antic behaviour, and comic timing combine to make Ko-Ko a delight to watch. His performance alone would be worth the price of admission.
Note should be taken of the excellent six-piece orchestra, led by music director Lee Druce, as well as the atmospheric set designed by Pete Hiett and the lovely costumes designed by Mark Lynn. They help make THE MIKADO a feast for both the ear and the eye.
TRUDY’S TRUTH IN THEATRE:
Overall, for all its light-heartedness, this operetta is largely about death! We have a Lord High Executioner who doesn’t want to execute anyone, a young lover who considers suicide when it appears his love must marry another, and an old woman who is in love with a much younger man and who sings about preferring death over a life without love. In other hands this material might lend itself to very black and unpleasant comedy, but Gilbert and Sullivan’s light touch make it all seem very trivial. We know that in a G&S world, nobody is going to die, and all will turn out right for our heroes. In a world where everything often does not turn out right, it’s comforting to let ourselves escape to a benign land of happy endings for a couple of hours.
Furthermore, truth itself is an elusive thing in THE MIKADO; Nanki-Poo pretends to be an itinerant musician rather than the Mikado’s son, and Ko-Ko, Pitti-Sing, Pooh-Bah hatch a scheme to trick the Mikado into thinking his son has been put to death when he really has married Yum-Yum, and Ko-Ko declares his love for Katisha when he is actually disgusted by her. Of course, in the end the truth is revealed, as it must be, for lies always fall apart eventually. Of course, some lies have a long life, but sooner or later the truth comes out … maybe not as satisfactorily in real life as in THE MIKADO … but that is what musical theatre is for, is it not?
From a pretty taste for paradox to a very pretty how-de-do, ACT 1 continues to give us a wonderful night at the theatre with one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s many clever, comic operettas. THE MIKADO runs for two more weeks at the Darkhorse Theatre.
Someone might think this is a little ... STAGED.
Community Players
17 August 2009
“I can’t see your show; I have rehearsal!”
The curtain is open at the very top of the first act. The house lights over the stage are warming-up as the actors mill uncharacteristically in house. The stage manager and the tech sit on the lip of the stage discussing the information that should be dispensed to the audience on opening night. The director calls the actors to the stage to begin rehearsal. They make their ways leisurely to the stage ... or not. This scene seems so familiar; I forget I'm watching a play. Actors bickering, tech grumbling, director pleading … I'm at home. I was so comfortable in that environment that I almost got out of my seat to head to the kitchen for a cup of coffee along with Jerry Dunbar, the director of Murder Most Foul, the play within the play in PLAY ON! by Rick Abbot, currently showing at Community Players Theatre.
Stay with me here. The show in rehearsal, Murder Most Foul, is an “original play by a local playwright,” Phyllis Montague played by Barbara DeHarde. The other players consist of the actors: Henry Benish played by David Hutson, his wife, Polly Benish, played by Olivia Scott, Smitty played by Alwyn Mothershed, Billy Carewe played by Lucas Hutson, Saul Watson played by Logan Masterson, and Violet Imbry played by Kellye Mitchell, the stage manager, Aggie Manville, played by Angie Bianchi, the lighting/sound/scene tech, Louise Peary, played by Martha Stephens, and the director, Jerry Dunbar, played by Asa Ambrister.
Each character was well defined and interesting, and the difference between the actors in rehearsal and the actors acting was deliciously distinct. Example: David Hutson's Henry Benish was what I would describe as "Redneck" (can I say that in Tennessee?), but Henry's character, Lord Dudley, was pompous, proper British. All in all, it's a great ensemble with lots of good reactions and acting choices. I have to note, however, that Asa Ambrister and Kellye Mitchell were delightful highlights. Asa's quirky director-isms were spot-on as he paced and squatted for emphasis like a temperamental toddler. Kellye's Violet was delightfully ditzy and masterfully, purposefully “over-acted” with lots of big, silly gestures and intonations.
I needed three hands for this show; two to clap and one to wipe my laughter tears away. The rehearsal process was filled with interruptions, missed cues, heated attempts to interpret and reinterpret the script, arguments, and romance. It is beyond hilarious as the rehearsing actors covertly counter each other when they're blocked from audience view ... when the hammering of set work maddens the despairing director ... when the playwright shows-up the night before dress rehearsal with just a few pages of additions. Will they make it? And even if they do, will it be terrible?
TRUDY’S TRUTH IN THEATRE:
For the theatre crowd, Rick Abbot's PLAY ON! is like going back to our hometown and seeing all our family and friends through Crazy Glasses. This show gives us a chance to laugh at ourselves and it gives the rest of Nashville a chance to peak into our theatrical lives and see how damn ... weird ... we really are, removing any previous doubt! If you are a theatre nerd, you do not want to miss this production. Come out to Community Players and jump in with all three hands.
No excuses now. It is rehearsal AND a show! Who says you can’t do both?
S.O.S. SUCCESS!
Shakespeare in the Park
17 September, 2009
Loves labours were not lost this summer ... they were found in abundance and overflowing when a community, mostly believed to support commercial music, flooded Centennial Park with volunteers, actors, directors, sponsors, and most importantly ... an audience.
The Nashville Shakespeare Festival, one of the most successful theatre companies in Music City, is known for quality, professional theatre at in incredibly affordable price ... IT IS FREE. How does a professional company, full of Nashville's best talent, afford to pay their actors and still maintain the freedom to put on their productions at no cost to the audience? By the continuous support of "viewers like you," to quote a famous television broadcasting company. This brilliant troupe is funded by business sponsorship, individual donation, and government support.
However, the much relied upon corporate support that receded with the recession left this 22-year old company with a certain gap in their annual budget. In a recent interview, Denice Hicks, Artistic Director, shared with The Nashville Theatre Lost and Found that, "Save Our Shakespeare (S.O.S.!) was a campaign to raise awareness that without extra support from the community, the Shakespeare Festival might not make it to the end of the year." So sleeves were rolled up and an S.O.S. sent out.
But how could they lose when so many theatre patrons rushed to their aid with volunteers, support from the Nashville theatre community, two FABULOUS productions ... and so many bums in seats?
They didn't lose. Hicks excitedly reviews: "The community doubled their usual contributions! Consequently, they came within dollars of making up the gap! Many board members exceeded their original pledges, crew members worked for less than they usually get paid, and everyone committed to presenting Shakespeare in the Park for an extra (5th) week this year to help make the extra money we needed. Having the cast, crew, board and community unified in this effort absolutely affirmed that the Nashville Shakespeare Festival is an important player in the city's cultural prospectus."
I had the pleasure of sitting in the audience for THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, ABRIDGED. Othello performed as a rap, the histories as an American football game, all the comedies in one archetypal plot involving six sets of twins, four ever-accelerating Hamlets including one done backwards ... This show supplies an evening of broad grins and a generous helping of belly laughs.
Now on to the actors - Benjamin Reed, Brad Brown, and Christopher Campbell. Sigh. Hicks took a chance when she allowed these three Idiots to take such liberties with the tried-and-true works of our beloved Bard. :-) Of course, each move they made paid major comic dividends. What a show! These chaps could not have been surpassed in their perfect execution of comedic timing. I've said it before - it is terribly difficult to continue to be a stealth critic when I am laughing that hard and loud.
THANKS TO YOU, NASHVILLE, these fully-staged, professional productions will continue to be presented free of charge to the public.
And thank YOU, Nashville Shakes, for letting me bring my dog; we both enjoyed it thoroughly!
NASHVILLE THEATRE IS
FILTHY RICH WITH TALENT
review of Nate Eppler's "FILTHY RICH"
It is always gratifying to see local playwrights strike gold, and the gold is definitely in a comic vein at Chaffin’s Barn Dinner Theatre these days.
FILTHY RICH, written by Nate Eppler, is a lunatic farce about a pair of inept con men who try to swindle an eccentric mother and daughter (think Big Edie and Little Edie Beale of Grey Gardens), with hilarious results. Eppler, who also appears in the production, has pulled out all the comedic stops with this play, which never goes in a predictable direction.
The plot of FILTHY RICH is so wild and full of surprises that I don’t want to give away too many of the twists and turns, as each one is attached to jokes that deserve to remain unspoiled. So suffice it to say that the con men’s plans are continually thwarted and complicated, and that there’s more to these characters than meets the eye.
As the lunatic mother and daughter who are the objects of the con, Erin Parker and Layne Sasser both give broad performances that in many plays would be too much, but which in this one are just right. Parker’s borderline bipolar Annie is endlessly self-dramatizing and absurdly self-absorbed, and her non-stop energy helps propel the play along. Sasser’s Russian-accented Anna bulldozes her way through the action, asking inconvenient questions and bollixing up the con men’s plans.
As Frederick, the brains of the pair of con artists, J. Dietz Osborne combines pomposity with a slow fuse, usually directed at his bumbling partner Larry, played with great abandon by playwright Eppler. Frederick thickly lays on the charm for Annie, yet he is constantly wrenched back to exasperation by Larry’s ineptitude, and Osborne makes these shifts seamlessly, to our delight.
Eppler plays Larry with a wonderful blend of tenacity and stupidity, trying hard to do his part in the swindle despite his difficulty understanding exactly what he is supposed to do. Eppler has impeccable timing, and his natural likeability makes Larry makes him an endearing scoundrel. I don’t know if he wrote the part with himself in mind, but it is hard to imagine anyone else improving on his performance.
David Compton has directed a seamless production, giving his four actors multiple opportunities to do what they do best. The set, designed by Compton and Johnny Peppers, is a wonder of, as the program says, utter disrepair, filled with a wondrous assortment of the moth-eaten and the bizarre.
But it is the sublimely wacky costuming of Billy Ditty that really steals the show here. Annie’s outfits include such unlikely components as a beach ball, sweetener packets, and Barbie heads, and are worn in almost every way but that which the manufacturer would have intended. Anna’s clothes are no less imaginatively assembled, while the men’s clothing run the gamut of 70’s men’s styles, from relatively tasteful (Frederick) to absolutely tasteless (Larry). Each costume change brings on new laughter from the audience and perfectly captures the characters who are wearing them.
TRUDY’S TRUTH IN THEATRE:
The amount of talent in Nashville never ceases to amaze me. Nate Eppler is both a fine playwright and a gifted actor, and he will be directing the next show at Chaffin‘s Barn. Billy Ditty not only creates wonderful costumes but also dances and choreographs. David Compton acts as well as directs, and J. Deitz Osborne does the same. I’m certain the other people associated with this production have other talents that I’m not aware of. So when I hear (and sadly, I do hear) comments about the lack of talent in Nashville, I wonder where these people are getting their information. They certainly aren’t seeing productions such as FILTHY RICH and many of the others I have seen since I have been writing these reviews. Nashville is filled with capable performers and theatre technicians, many of them with multiple abilities, and they deserve more appreciation than they sometimes get. Bravo, to them all!
LIGHT SENSITVE IS LIFE SENSTIVE
If you believe that theatre has the power to change people, you must see this show. If you want to be able to say the classic line: “I laughed, I cried; it became a part of me” - and really mean it, you must see this show. If you want to truly know what it means to hold a mirror up to nature, you must see this show. And if you want to see what all theatre should aspire to be, YOU MUST SEE THIS SHOW.
Do I have your attention? Good. Because my effusive praise for The Other Me Theatre Company and their production of Light Sensitive is well deserved. I was privileged to see its premiere this August at Encore Theatre. Sadly, I didn’t make it until the end of the run, so I didn’t get to tell everyone that they MUST SEE THIS SHOW. (I’ll keep saying it until you buy your ticket!) Luckily for all of us – except for the box office at Encore (sorry!) – the show is being revived for another run at Murfreesboro Little Theatre. See dates and times above, and be sure to call for reservations. Be there. I mean this sincerely. You will not be disappointed.
LIGHT SENSITIVE is funny and touching and surprising and a bit painful and above all, riveting. Not because of any elaborate staging or thrilling subplots or effects – this play is powerful in its simplicity, and powerful because of its simplicity. The plot itself is easy on the brain, but what happens speaks volumes about the human condition in ways the audience can’t expect – and therefore can’t guard against. For we all are almost always on our guard, you know. The dark anonymity of a theatre is one of the few places we allow our guards to slip just a bit (perhaps).
The three characters that pass through the unkempt flat in Hell’s Kitchen are similarly on their guard. Each has some sort of handicap, be it physical, social, emotional, etc., but they all have what I might call a “circumstantial” handicap. Their pasts have trained them to lead “lives of quiet desperation,” and they have lived this way so long that they are almost comfortable with their dissatisfaction. Indeed, what they guard themselves against is change. They may not like their lives very much, but at least they don’t get hurt. (Sounds unpleasantly familiar, doesn’t it?)
Several transformations occur when these three lost people are brought together. But these transformations aren’t of the cinematic variety, where the music swells, the light glints in an eye misted with joy, and suddenly the sun bursts forth and banishes the gloomy clouds, etc. ad nauseum. No – change just happens. There was no one “aha” moment that altered the characters; there were so many subtle moments that accumulated - and not all in a forward direction. The subtle moments seem so insignificant, and yet by the end, each of the characters is transformed as much as the stage is during the intermission.
LIGHT SENSITIVE stars the three founders of The Other Me: Bowd Beal, Anastasia Zavaro, and Todd Seage. This is truly a team to watch. The honesty with which they portray these very real people is what captivates the audience, and slowly begins to chip a wee hole into our protective coverings as we watch. The external and internal handicaps are obvious but not overplayed. Their banter was extremely natural – including long silences that many other productions might eschew. The characters they created are quirky, fault-riddled, and sometimes uncouth – but they are real and we love them and root for them as if we’ve known them for years. For we have. They are us.
TRUDY’S TRUTH IN THEATRE:
In this case, I can find no truth more profound than the play itself. It is the truth. This is the way life happens. When you come to see this production, you will not be watching a play. You will be a voyeur in reality. And you will be a different person when you leave.
"I LOVE TRASH"
by Trudy S. Gordon
Who knew trash could be so enjoyable?
Street Theatre Company, one of my favourite envelope-pushers in the area, has certainly managed to take the trash of Armadillo Acres Trailer Park in Betsy Kelso and David Nehls’s THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL into more than just laughable caricatures. They are actually playing real people – who just happen to be larger-than-life . . . and the trashiest-of-trashy Floridians. Having grown up across the pone, the American ideal of Trailer Trashhood is something I have learned to love since living here in the South, but had I never really understood what this way of life meant. The experience of seeing this show was just what I needed to make me “get it.”
The musical takes place in Armadillo Acres in Stark, Florida, and the home of Betty, Lin, and Pickles, our Greek chorus of mobile-dwellers, playing both hostesses and peanut gallery. Led by an oh-so-enthusiastic Jama Bowen as Betty (with hair and makeup to rival the love child of Dolly Parton and Jamie Lynn Spears), the girls welcome us without a hint of trepidation – and allow for no such thing from the audience. Jama’s powerful voice and unrelenting charisma are a fantastic start to the show. Lin, played by the versatile Laura Matula (who was STC’s Eva Peron same time last year), is the bitch of the bunch. I mean, who wouldn’t be, with a husband on death row? Cori Laemmel’s Pickles, a 17-year-old with chronic makes us as hysterical as her pregnancies (thus how she earned the name Pickles). The three women, often singing in close three-part harmonies, sound fantastic together, and never miss a beat in playing their various roles throughout the show, From a Sally Jessie Raphael show rip-off to men at the local strip joint they are the most satisfying trash I’ve seen in a long while.
The plot of the musical centres around agoraphobic Jeannie, another incarnation of Cathy Street, who hasn’t been able to make herself leave the double-wide since her baby son was kidnapped 15 years ago. Her husband, Norbert, patience wearing thin with a socially-freaked wife who won’t be able to go out for a twentieth anniversary date with him, starts stepping out with the new girl in town, young Pippi, on the run from a crazy boyfriend. Ms. Street’s Jeannie moves from being hilarious as she attempts to step off the front steps – in water wings – to touching (and still funny) as she realizes what’s happening behind her back, and in the meantime turns in a more-than-notable vocal performance. Norbert, played by Nathan Fleming, is as redneck as he can be, funny as hell, but still makes the struggle between loving his wife and wanting his mistress very real. Jennifer Landes-Vann plays the spicy stripper Pippi, and I must say, even being the straight woman I am, she was as hot as she was funny, and with a voice to die for.
Then there’s Duke, the crazy boyfriend from whom Pippi can’t seem to get far enough. He’s a burly, mean, permanent marker-sniffing badass who makes no bones about leaving road kill – although I wouldn’t be surprised if he stopped to save the meat. Joe Robinson plays the part to smelly, cut-off-and-flannel perfection – with a surprise ending worthy only of a trailer park.
Kudos to the entire cast for the dynamics they create together and for bringing a sense of reality to parody, which is the biggest and hardest task in making parody truly as good and as funny as it can be. Kudos also to musical director Benjamin van Diepen and the band – true, the sound in the garage where they are appropriately performing is not the best in quality, but the band and the singers make it work to where the words are understandable and one eventually forgets the sound is not that good. Gabrielle Saliba’s choreography is for the most part simple, but always apropos, and certainly fits the styles of music and character. The very functional set by Amber Wallace is wonderful, Steven Steele’s lights are great, and Abby Waddoups’s costumes are simply a marvel. Overall, director Larry Tobias and his assistant Tyson Laemmel kept the pacing perfect and utilized an odd space to more than its full potential.
From our introduction to the people of Armadillo Acres to the hilarious closing number THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL is more fun than whizzing on the electric fence or tipping the cows or even beer pong. My one critique isn’t even a critique – just be sure you know where you’re going before you leave; it’s not in what you’d call a normal location for a theatrical production! On the plus side, it’s BYOB.
TRUDY'S TRUTH IN THEATRE:
Sometimes it’s best to just look at life for what it is, love it, laugh, and keep right on living it, with the knowledge that we’re not perfect, or even great, and that yes, we all live lifestyles that somebody is going to find funny in one way or another. Embrace it. Whether it means you think the best place to pick up men is at a line dance with an Icehouse Light in hand, or you’re convinced that you’re the only queen worthy of taking Liza’s place in the world someday (screw gender!), we all must be who we are, be willing to laugh at ourselves, and love what we see.
PYTHON, ANYONE?
Circle Players, MAME
MAME
Everyone has that favourite relative . . . the uncle who taught you how to ski or the grandmother who let you stay up past your bedtime. I had a Great Aunt Dotty who made me tea (complete with nasty cucumber sandwiches) at 4:00 o’clock sharp every afternoon when she stayed with us one summer. She was a quirky, funny lady with a small figure, a huge smile, and short brunette hair, though dyed red to perfection until she passed at age 86. She was my Auntie Mame. You have one too, don’t you? My guess is anyone who sees Circle Players’ current production of the Broadway classic MAME, whether or not they give it a good review, leaves with a grand smile and fond recollections of his or her own “best girl.” Hell, I found myself in so much reverie I believe I may have drawn attention to myself singing out the title song at the end of the first act.
Now playing at the Looby Theatre this holiday season is MAME (or perhaps more appropriately a strangely satisfying mix of “tame,” “lame,” “same,” and “fame”) by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. Directed by Macon Kimbrough, the curtains open with a visual bang to Mame Dennis' bohemian apartment and Jim Manning’s beautiful faux marble set; a raucous flapper party straight from an old black-and-white film. Though often awkward and difficult to manage, the set turns successfully into several different backdrops throughout the show, from the lively streets of New York City to a beauty parlor to college dorm rooms to the southern plantation home of Mame’s future beau, Beau. Whew! Nice work, Mr. Manning.
Over-the-top stereotypes abound in MAME, but do so purposefully, and have since the 1956 inception. Circle’s production is no exception, including Michael Tajalle’s hilarious portrayal of Ito the Japanese butler, Suzie Safdie’s dead-on feared and awed southern mama, Mother Burnside, Laura Amond's saucy southern Scarlett-on-a-horse, Sally Cato, and Anne-Geri Fann’s Mrs. Upson, represented as well as a bigoted stick-in-the-arse (and that’s a compliment). Audience laughter also abounds when the set opens to the plantation, though not directed at the stereotypical hoop skirts, parasols, and accents representative of the deep south, but at the name of Beau's southern home, “Peckerwood.” Talk about pushing the envelope! And above all, let us not forget the lead character, Mame Dennis, portrayed magically by Jamie London, the woman who blatantly wears pants, corrupts children, and invites unwed mothers into her home. It makes me giggle to hear MAME ironically advertized as a family show because these are the many reasons MAME was so cutting edge in it's hey day. And it is important to note that the original book, by Patrick Dennis, was an autobiographical perspective of a small child who was taken in by his unconventional auntie. All this to say . . . MAME has offended people for decades! Yay!
Jamie London’s Auntie Mame is honest and beautiful, with a wild, adventurous spirit and a belting voice that doesn’t overpower; it hits right to the heart. Ms. London wears a different dishy costume every time she is on stage, which is every scene, so kudos to whatever backstage miracle makes that happen. Cary Street plays Mame’s bosom buddy, Vera Charles, and it is obvious the two enjoy their chemistry. Though Ms. Street is somewhat believable in her role, the lines and songs that refer to Vera's low baritone voice are a bit lost on the fact that Ms. Street, well, isn't. Francine Berk as Agnes Gooch is absolutely adorable, hilarious, and a formidable soprano, though again, however enormously talented an actor may be (and she certainly is), it is a casting choice that makes a character plausible, so Kimbrough's impregnated Gooch is also a bit of a stretch.
Thom Garrison's music direction is top notch, and his orchestra, albeit very small, sounds lovely and never overtakes the voices they accompany. The choreography, by Kate Adams Johnson, is more than sufficient, while not particularly inventive, with the exception of “That's How Young I Feel,” a rollicking, enjoyable tune featuring college students led by Mame. The costuming, while not flawless, is lovely and fairly remarkable for a community production of such a large show, and considering the panic I saw online when the costumer fell ill, I give a hearty applause to the Nashville theatre costumers mentioned in the program, both community and professional, who pitched in when Circle was in need. Wherever did you find all those lovely hoop skirts?
Other notable ensemble highlights are Tonya Pewitt, an excellent dancer with an equally perfect Irish accent, Daniel Vincent, who sweetly made me wish for a Lindsay Woolsey in my life, Terry McLemore's bullying Babcock, and Tim Larson’s heart-warming southern gentleman with a name even he can’t remember. Tucker Day’s younger Patrick is also precious and he has a lovely voice to boot. A few low lights were some heartfelt moments that were lost in the delivery, such as older Patrick’s dialogue with his Auntie Mame by phone and subsequent reaction to a very serious tragedy that could have left the audience in tears, but doesn’t meet the bar enough to do so. Understanding the intent of the dialogue is everything in any production and several characters were culprits. The aforementioned set transitions take up a large amount of time and though there are lovely highlights in the show, there is something missing in the general spirit of the story. Maybe it is simply that a family company like Circle cannot take the tawdry references quite far enough, or maybe Macon Kimbrough's direction is slightly disjointed where character development is concerned, but this MAME is nearly perfect when it comes to putting the action on the stage and in that, the director's vision is certainly realized.
Circle Players' MAME is worth a look for a fun night out, with or without the family, this holiday season.
TRUDY'S TRUTH IN THEATRE:
Seeming and Being are not as far apart as people like to think. It is the hyper-realist of Mame, the simulation lady, that is so intriguing . . . and all who know her are sort of strapped in for an adventurous ride through Never land. The thing that we have to talk about, of course, is how these amusement park adventures have material consequences. The fun house is not always so much fun, but, but damn, it is never boring. According to Mame's dialogue and attitude there is a culinary adjective that describes every aspect of life and since the Moral Majority wishes they were as “delicious” as we are, go ahead. Have another martini, or better yet, Ito's pickled python, and I'll make a nasty cucumber sandwich in my reverie.
DOUBLE-HEADER HOLIDAY MADNESS!!
The Last Night of Ballyhoo and Hard-Boiled Christmas
The Boiler Room
by Trudy S. Gordon
I'm doing way too much lately, but I can't seem to help myself. It is the holiday season and I can do nothing but go “hog-wild” over the many theatrical goings-on in Nashville! I’ll try to keep my long-windedness at bay in this one review for the two shows currently playing in repertory at the Boiler Room Theatre (THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO and A HARD-BOILED CHRISTMAS).
THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO written Alfred Uhry, most famous for his earlier DRIVING MISS DAISY is a wonderful show with a mostly wonderful production at the BRT, directed by Laura Skaug. The first time it was recommended that I read the play, it took me a while to “get it” until I did some research on the subject matter. It focuses on the dynamics within a Southern Jewish family in the late 1930s, and what happens when a young Jewish man from New York comes to work for the family company – I’ve now seen it a number of time and have come to really love it as a period social piece and a show that fits a niche not often addressed in the theatre.
Adolph, played by the masterful Dan McGeachy, owns the family mattress company by default, and lives with his widowed sister Boo and also-widowed sister-in-law Reba, with Terry Occhiogrosso and Adele Akin taking the roles, respectively. Boo, a hard, very traditional woman has her sights set on Peachy Weil, of the esteemed and rich southern Jewish Weils, to escort her daughter Lala to the biggest Jewish youth event in the South called “Ballyhoo.” Ms. Occhiogrosso’s portrayal of Boo is surprisingly unsympathetic, but she definitely has her moments of sensitivity. The actor in me gets the feeling that she’s much easier to understand as a partnering actor than as an audience member, but that’s just my gut.
The tables are turned some when Adolph brings Joe, the New York fellow I mentioned, home for dinner one night. Lala, always the rebel daughter, garners a large crush on him and hopes that he’ll be her escort to Ballyhoo, while her mother is disgraced by the thought. Brad Oxnam’s rendition of Joe is perhaps not what I would have had in mind for the character, but he makes it work. His innate pride at being a Jew throws off the whole family, who would like more than anything to fit in, in a time where Jews in the South were heavily alienated. Mr. Oxnam may not have the initial charm and classic good looks the role calls for, but he plays Joe’s sweetness and later angry offence to a satisfying enough result. It’s not hard to believe that Reba’s daughter, Sunny, just coming home from college for Christmas (yes, Christmas, not Chanukah) falls for him, and steals him away from the pining of Lala, who in turn does attend Ballyhoo with Peachy Weil.
Lost yet? Go see it. I promise it makes sense.
Christina Candilora plays Lala, and hits all the right buttons in the area of Lala’s oddity and social awkwardness. Occasionally her emotions seem a little contrived, but for the most part, she carries the main plot points well enough. Her beau peachy is played by Chris Basso, and he really does a bang-up job. His snobby character is not easy to like, and that’s how he should be. I love an actor who is willing to take one for the team and be the arse that no one wants to root for, especially since in the end, there’s something very charming and likeable about him. Jaclyn Johnson is a sweet Sunny, although a very small character – not small in the writing or stage-time sense, but small in her portrayal. But she is most certainly a lovely girl, and her scene with Adolph is particularly touching.
The best moments in the show come from Mr. McGeachy, at times a soft old loving uncle, at other times a realistic and tough-loving brother, and from Ms. Akin, who practically steals the show, appropriately underplaying the slow, sweet, always-a-step-behind Reba, who can think of nothing but finishing the sweater she’s knitting for Sunny.
Laura Skaug’s direction is a staging miracle on a somewhat clunky set. Don’t get me wrong, the set and props look fantastic, there’s just not a lot of room left to move around on the stage, and Ms. Skaug makes it look as natural as can be.
A HARD-BOILED CHRISTMAS is an original show, conceived and directed by Jamey Green, who also co-wrote the script with Sarah Morgan. While BALLYHOO is a somewhat more serious play, HARD-BOILED is pure silliness and fun. Utilizing Christmas songs we all know and love (and some rare pieces, as well), the ensemble cast lets us just sit and enjoy an evening of goofing off and playing with people you love.
It is clear that Jack E. Chambers, Hope Dyra, Luke Dyra, Taylor Green, Sondra Morton, Megan Murphy, Scott Rice, W. Scott Stewart, and Laura Thomas Sonn all like each other – at least most of the time! Their work as an ensemble is tight and it seems they could not be having more fun. Hope and Luke Dyra and Taylor Green are the children in the cast, and they should have been given microphones like everyone else, but they got the job done volume-wise. They are cute to watch, and have some promising work ahead if they stick to it and keep letting fantastic adults such as the aforementioned show them the ropes. The adult ensemble is hysterically funny; I always respect it when an ensemble cast knows how to stay an ensemble cast and not begin fighting to upstage their partners.
Highlights for me are Megan Murphy (just in general – she’s a joy to watch at any moment, even though she doesn’t try to steal focus), Jack E. Chambers’s loose Jimmy Stewart impression, and the funniest sketch I’ve seen in ages – the adult ensemble in the 2nd Grade School Christmas program. Oh, I know the latter sounds cliché and overdone, and it usually is, but this one is truly excellent!
Jamey Green’s direction and music are wonderful. The pacing is good, the band sounds great (and for once at the BRT not overpowering the singers), and Lauri Gregoire’s choreography is simple and fun. It is performed on Corbin Green’s BALLYHOO set, with Katie Gant’s lighting. The lighting is gorgeous for BALLYHOO and slightly awkward for HARD-BOILED – but with the limitations of two shows on one design, it definitely does the trick. It is simply missing a few of her dressings and props from BALLYHOO and it works better than one might think it would!
All in all, go see these two shows if you can possibly make it to both of them. They are both worth catching, but if you can only see one, pick based on your mood. If you want one that is poignant and semi-serious, get to THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO or if you’re just in the mood to howl with laughter, choose A HARD-BOILED CHRISMTAS. Either way, get out there and support the Boiler Room Theatre. They’ve done some excellent work this Christmas season, and it may just be the relief you need after a long day of pushing through shoppers and wading through wrapping paper and picking Scotch tape out of your hair.
TRUDY’S TRUTH IN THEATRE:
“The best things in life are free,” right? Of course this doesn’t pertain to the tickets to these shows, but once you get in to either of them, you will see played out before you the proof of the statement, and why it’s become the catchphrase it is. Whether from enjoying your time with friends and family and letting your troubles fly away, or from learning the hard way what it means to love someone and to love who you are, both of these plays remind us of necessary truths, especially necessary during the holidays. Laughter really is what brings us together and makes us family, even when we’re not blood relatives. Taking pride in who we are, what we believe, and what we stand for makes us stronger, better people, and that’s something that can’t be bought or sold or given. Two very different points, but equally important ones, and these two productions are a great reminder.
MARK CABUS
DISCUSSES A CHRISTMAS CAROL
in an interview with Trudy S. Gordon
Charles Dickens created some wonderful characters in his familiar story, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, including a host of wonderful characters, including Scrooge, several ghosties, his well-meaning relatives and the poor but happy Cratchit family. Last Christmas I had the privilege of watching Mark Cabus recreate ALL 34 of them on stage, as he and Carolyn German adapted from the original text into his one-man-show. I sadly thought I was witnessing the last performance in Nashville after a ten year run, so when I heard Mark was remounting the show for yet another holiday season I knew I would be a very bad British girl not to give him the hearty applause he deserves.
You and I have seen MANY adaptions of the classic story, haven't we? Yet this one is truly unique and, if Mark continues mounting this brilliant performance, it will become a Christmas staple in my household. I will let Mark tell us more.
TSG: WHAT WAS THE ORIGINAL INSPIRATION FOR THE CHOICE TO PRESENT THIS TIMELESS STORY AS A ONE-MAN SHOW?
MARK: Years ago, when I lived in LA, I saw Patrick Stewart's solo CHRISTMAS CAROL, and despite the fact that he is a marvelous actor, I, unlike so many, felt the play wanting. It just didn't deliver the goods in my opinion. The poster was magnificent with Stewart standing in simple Victorian garb, gesturing off-camera and surrounded by mysterious fog, but none of this appeared in the play, and I wanted it to. It was Stewart, reading and performing, from the book without much in the way of lighting or sound effects. It was too spare, too Spartan. I wanted more DRAMA! More theatrics! LOL.
So, years pass, several folks dropped hints in my ears about covering the same territory as Mr. Stewart, and I had to admit I was intrigued but not committed. Then I moved back to Nashville and was looking for a way to fully express myself, my skills, and I remembered A CHRISTMAS CAROL. I contacted Carolyn German and Wendi Lowery, two friends and former students, asking them to form as alliance, a Green Room (hence the name) to produce a solo performance of the Dickens' fable. We three pitched in money and time -- Carolyn serving as assistant director and editor, Wendi as marketing and producing director -- and we presented the play at Darkhorse Theater in December of 1999.
Now that sounds like it was easy, but it was a six-month process of editing and re-editing Dickens' novella down from ninety-eight to fifty-six pages and thirty-six characters. We worried that even this was too long, but I felt to cut more was to clip the story of its internal energy, its baroque spirit. Dickens' language is so bizarre and eccentric, and most stage productions lose his extraordinary phrasing in their adaptations. I wanted to retain that wording so I was stuck with a full two hours and twelve minutes worth of monologue (Stewart's was only ninety minutes.). YIKES! I took me six weeks of constant memorization. I listened to taped recordings of my reading the script. I conned friends into running lines with me by cooking them dinner. I drove everybody crazy by drifting off in the middle of conversations to some passage I was having difficulty with and performing it in my head. It was arduous, the hardest thing I've ever done.
Finally, when Opening Night arrived, I was terrified, visibly shaking. The play was introduced, began, and I don't remember a single moment between the first lighting of the candle and my final bows at the end. They tell me I did all right. Kevin Nance of the Tennessean raved (a rarity for him, if I remember) and became a huge advocate for the play, offering us newspaper coverage every year we produced. Recently, I learned from a mutual friend that Kevin, now working at the Chicago Sun-Times, still remembers the play fondly and says its one of his favorite theatrical experiences ever. Now that's pretty gratifying and worth all the effort made.
Beyond that, I believe the reason the story plays so well as a solo performance is that, while it is the journey of one man from darkness to light, it is an every person story. We ALL want to believe that, if someone as lost as Scrooge can be redeemed, so can we.
TSG: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE GREATEST ACTING CHALLENGES IN PRESENTING DICKENS’ STORY AS ALL OF THE CHARACTERS?
MARK: Well, memorizing it is the obvious one, of course. It's TWO HOURS AND 12 MINUTES LONG!!! Who does that sort of thing?? I mean, really?? It's masochistic. But on another level, probably the greatest challenge is sustaining a performance for that length of time. There is no downtime. Even during intermission, I'm backstage flipping through my script, going over my lines, organizing and reorganizing the performance in my head.
It's simply a quick respite in the middle of a 20K marathon. I re-hydrate, and then, go. All the way to the finish line.
Keeping the characters separate is actually pretty easy for me. Honestly. They each have their own voice, their own physicality. They know when it’s their turn to speak. I have portraits, literal portraits of most of the characters in my notebook. I scrounged through library art books for weeks researching the likenesses of each major and minor person in the story. So now, on the night of a performance, I spread them out on my dressing table every night to reacquaint myself with them and they with me. It gets pretty crowded in there, but it's like a reunion every year, all of us getting back together like old friends.
Of course, most actors find the lack of an acting partner to be the most daunting portion of a solo performance, but I don't. The audience is my collaborator, and with nearly 200+ confederates who react and laugh and cry with every step I take, I've got all the help in the world. It's a bit intoxicating, actually. Now, I don't wear my glasses so the faces in the back are more than a bit of a blur, but the ones in the front, I can see, and they are rapt. They're so much fun to watch. And that's something people are surprised at. I do watch them too. We are all on the journey together, and it's so grand to see how committed folks get to taking it with me. I mean, they get into it! Someone even brought a seeing-eye dog last Christmas, and he was awesome, watching every move and gesture. It was hilarious.
TSG: WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE CHARACTER? WHAT IMAGES OR SCENES STICK WITH YOU THE MOST AND WHY?
MARK: Mrs. Cratchit is, bar none, my favorite character. She's loosely based on my mom, and I think she's spunky and funny and speaks her mind. I've always gravitated toward women like that. All my women friends are outspoken and possess great senses of humor. But Mrs. Cratchit wouldn't really reveal herself were it not for Bob's irrepressible personality. He pulls her out of her dark tailspins, and they compliment each other so very nicely. I like playing Bob too. You know, he's normally played as this tall, lanky, almost effete man, but in the book, Dickens describes him as "little Bob." The dictionary says "bob" means short, quick movements so I came at his character with a notion of a shorter, stockier man, a jolly blue collar-type, which is so against everyone's idea of Bob that I think it allows him more maneuverability, more latitude as a character. He's always looking for the positive side of every issue. He's quite a lot of fun to play. The little teasing exchange between he and Mrs. Cratchit after dinner when they toast Scrooge is one of my favorite moments. It's completely my own creation. I was never satisfied with Mrs. C. getting all morose over Bob crediting Scrooge for their Christmas meal. For her to stay upset would be to ruin the fragile joy Bob and the family cling to. Bob has to nip it in the bud, and he does that by tickling her back to her good humor again. I love playing that moment, and I can tell the audience enjoys it too. It's so human and genuine.
TSG: THIS IS A VERY SHORT BOOK, AND NOT THE ONLY CHRISTMAS STORY THAT DICKENS WROTE, YET ITS MESSAGE ENDURED AND BECAME SUCH A PART OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING CULTURE. WHY DO YOU THINK A CHRISTMAS CAROL IS AN ALLEGORY FOR MODERN TIME? IS IT STILL A SOCIAL COMMENTARY?
MARK: I think the last sentence of my previous answer is your answer, Trudy. It's so human and genuine. There isn't a false note in the whole story. I honestly believe that the reason so many people dislike A CHRISTMAS CAROL--and there are many--is because most adaptations--film or stage--choose to sentimentalize it, reducing it to sugary pulp fiction. But it's grittier than that. It's not a pretty Holiday story. Dickens reveals a very ugly side of humanity, our ability to diminish others, reducing them to figures and statistics. Unlike Bob or nephew Fred, Scrooge sees his fellow humans as burdens rather than assets. He has placed the material over the spiritual, and I'm not speaking about religion. Though Dickens casually drops a few hints with regard to a Christian doctrine, he seems more focused on the idea of embracing a golden rule approach to life. He insists we willingly, even enthusiastically, accept and support humanity with all its warts, reveling in life and taking nothing for granted. And if that isn't relevant in a modern context, I don't know what is.
TSG: SCROOGE SAYS, “I AM NOT THE MAN I WAS.” IS IT A CHALLENGE TO MAKE SCROOGE’S TRANSFORMATION BELIEVABLE? WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
MARK: When I first started working on this play, I knew that, in order for Scrooge's redemption to pay off at the end, it had to be earned. He couldn't be a cartoon curmudgeon, someone we could dismiss with laughter and tsk-tsking. He had to be far-gone, a lost cause. And we had to start in a very dark place. Dickens leads off with the words "Marley was dead, to begin with." We start in a grave, the darkest, most feared place on earth. We, like Scrooge, have to climb out of that hole in order to find any redemption. No one else can do it for us. That's why I shut all the lights out and open the play with the lighting of a single candle. Because, we need to know that even in the pit of despair, there's always hope of light. I think that's worth pointing out, don't you?
TSG: TO WHAT EXTENT IS SCROOGE A COMIC CHARACTER FOR YOU, IF AT ALL? IF SO, WHAT MAKE HIM DROLL?
MARK: Well, he is funny, isn't he? He's just so blasted bad-tempered and surly. Even when confronted with the ghost of his deceased partner, Jacob Marley. He gets cross with it for frightening him. You'd think he'd like something, be positive about something, but no. He seemly hates everything. He finds fault in everything. Especially Christmas. How do you hate Christmas?? I know there are folks that dislike this season, but I've never understood that. It's my favorite time of year so I can't quite grasp how anyone could find fault with it. I'm much more like Scrooge's nephew, Fred, in that regard. But Scrooge is quick-witted and sharp-tongued, and I think we always respond to anyone that can hold their own, especially with ghosts.
TSG: TELL US ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITIES YOU’VE HAD TO PRESENT THE SHORTER VERSION TO ORGANIZATIONS. HOW CAN SOMEONE GET INFORMATION TO SEE IT OR PLAN IT FOR THEIR WORK, SCHOOL, OR CHURCH?
MARK: The lovely ladies at TPAC Education have been booking my abridged version of the play for the past six years, and the relationship with them has been wonderful. They truly love the play and get every bit as excited as I do about presenting it every year. We estimate I've performed for over 12,000+ Middle Tennessee students.
If anyone wishes to book this easily managed production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL for their school, business or private party, they should call Kristin Horsley at (615) 687-4291. I've performed this abridged version for schools and universities all over the state. I've played holiday parties for big corporations and for small families in the privacy of their living rooms.
One of my favorite shows was for an audience of six, a husband and wife, their two sons and the sons' wives. It was a surprise Christmas gift from the father to his family, and it was such a fantastic treat for all of us. We gathered in the family parlor in front of their blazing fireplace. The furniture was all antique Victorian so the atmosphere was perfect. The Christmas tree twinkling in the corner, I played for an hour for my very private audience, and afterward, we had hot cocoa and cookies. It was very, very special.
TSG: THERE ARE COUNTLESS VERSIONS OF THIS TALE. DO YOU HAVE ANY OPINIONS ON WHETHER OR NOT IT SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE TOLD IN THE CLASSIC ORIGINAL OR IN ANY FORM?
MARK: Trudy, I don't care if someone produces it as a paper bag puppet show, as long as they stay true to the intention of the author. Charles Dickens offered a very sophisticated message through a very ingenuous method: a tabloid serial. Now that takes real talent and courage. But the old Mr. Magoo cartoon is fantastic for that very reason. It's silly and anachronistically surreal as Mr. Magoo stumbles around Victorian London, but the producers weren't afraid to make it dark and scary. Death is frightening to us all--even Mr. Magoo--and should never be treated lightly. The Muppet adaptation is also great. Jim Henson knew when to be light and when to be dark. He walks a fine line and never fumbles. Too many producers and directors want to turn this simple story into a glitzy spectacle for holiday audiences, but I've proven with this production that that's not really what people want out of this story. They want, more than anything else, the genuine reassurance that there is hope for them. That's all. If you can do that with stop-motion action figures, then you've got my attention. LOL.
TSG: I LIKE TO ASK AT LEAST ONE COMPLETELY RANDOM QUESTION IN MY INTERVIEWS. SO, MARK, WHAT WOULD YOU WEAR AS CAMOFLAGE IF YOU WERE HIDING IN A GINGERBREAD HOUSE?
MARK: Now that's not something you get asked everyday. When you said "random," you meant it! Well, there'd have to be lots of frosting, I suppose. And probably some peppermints and gum drops too. But I don't know ... I think I'd be too busy eating to worry about hiding. And that's brings up another question: why would I NEED to be camouflaged in a gingerbread house in the first place? Who am I hiding from? Answer me that!
Reviews below by Trudy S. Gordon
