Theatre Louisville

REVIEW: The Gin Game

2012-02-11T22:30:00.001-05:00

“We laugh with pity at the vanity of the human will.” Gustave Flaubert

“It is the human will that is funny.” D. L. Coburn

Reviewed by Mark Sawyer-Dailey

As a critic, one always looks at a production with a critical eye– occupational hazard. But last night’sopening night of the Bunbury’s newest offering, D. L. Coburn’s only hit play,THE GIN GAME, was critic-proof. It wasperfection, masterful in so many ways that it makes my job all the easier. Andthe audience raved about it.

“This winner of the 1978 Pulitzer Prize, whichstarred Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn, and was later revived with Julie Harrisand Charles Durning, uses a game as a metaphor for life. Weller Martin isplaying solitaire on the porch of a seedy nursing home. Enter Fonsia Dorsey, aprim, self righteous lady. They discover they both dislike the home and enjoygin rummy so they begin to play and to reveal intimate details of their lives.” Warning: Adult language abounds.

THE GIN GAME was Actor’s Theatre of Louisville’s very first HumanaFestival play in 1976 and was revised a few years ago by said theatre. The Bunbury’s production far surpassedATL’s: while ATL’s version lacked heart,last night’s GIN GAME was loaded with heart. ‘I laughed, I cried, it was betterthan…ATL’s!’

Two things you can always expect at the Bunbury, a great set and aterrific sound design. The Bunbury is awonderful space, and as always Steve Woodring fills it well with anothersuperior set…the porch of Bentley’s home for Seniors. If the Gin game is ametaphor, so is this porch, set away from the rest of the world, a collectionof old and discarded objects which are never used, and as we see erosion in thecharacters lives, we soon discover it in their environment. Mr. Woodring is another special gift toLouisville audiences, and has found a perfect home for his work at the Bunbury.His lighting was just right: supportive and not intrusive. I only have two minor flaws for theevening, and one was the lightning effects appeared to be a technical error,and not planned. The other was audiencemembers entering late and leaving early: in such an intimate space, ‘tis mostdistracting. What happened to “No lateseating”? The sound design was symbolic(supportive) but not intrusive, as a sound design should be. (Don’t believe me? Just watch and listento any Woody Allen film…like “Manhattan” or “Midnight in Paris”)

I am most critical of theatre directors in Louisville, but realizethat this is a national problem: we don’t know how to teach our directors todirect. So I say to all local directors,go and see THE GIN GAME as an example of how to direct a play. Juergen K. Tossmann’s directing is flawless:the play moves at a swift and steady pace, and all the pauses and silences areearned, not wasted. His shaping of theplay, moment by moment, shows careful planning, and unity, and the arc of theplay was easily seen, without brining attention to it. Blocking is only 20% of the director’s task,and Mr. Tossmann’s was clear, clean, and supported all of the play’s actions,intentions. Simple. Less is more.

If local directors can take much away from the play’s direction,then local actors should get thy-selves to see these two superior performancesby Matt Orme (Weller Martin) and Liz Vissing (Fonsia Dorsey). What can one say about two well-seasonedactors such as these? I have been a fanof Mr. Orme’s works for years, but one of the high points of my acting careerwas working with him in 1776. He is an actor’s actor, a consummateprofessional onstage and off, and a real gentleman; generous and giving, on andoff stage. The man brings so muchintegrity and heart to his work, he is inspiring to me, and should be to otheractors. His Weller Martin was right onthe mark. He found the arc of hischaracter, and crafted his performance around it. He found humor when needed, pathos whenneeded, quiet moments when needed. Muchof his dialogue was spoken in anger, not an easy task to maintain for almost twohours. But he did it, as it wasn’t abouthis anger, which for young actors means “more yelling and stamping of feet,” butmore importantly, about what made him angry. He modulated his performance, and the payoff was terrific. Don’t miss this one, and never miss theopportunity to work with this genius.

Liz Vissing’s Fonsia Dorsey was just as wonderful: she stood herground with Mr. Orme’s powerful curmudgeon. Another of Louisville’s greats, Ms. Vissing played foil for Weller, andwas equally as strong when Martin played foil to her. What a delightful back and forth, a solidpartnership of give and take on the stage. It shows what teamwork will do. (Many local theatre artists forget the adage, “If I want to look goodonstage, I need to make you look good!”) Her every moment was full and you knew exactly what she wanted and whereit came from, another sign of her greatness as actor whether it’s comedy ordrama. I can’t imagine a more perfect Fonsia.

If you like a play that does it all: entertains you, moves you,makes you think, is a totally unified work of art, and will inspire you tosupport theatre, the Bunbury’s THE GIN GAME is just right for you. Don’t miss it, and tell your friends. But hey, this is just my opinion, don’t takemy word for it, see it for yourself. Support live local theatre.

PS: This note was given to us at the door last night: smartmarketing! “Please Help Fund THE GINGAME https://power2give.org/go/p/504 Your donation will be matched Dollar forDollar” - ours was!

THE GIN GAME runs February 10th-26th
Wednesday through Saturday- 7:30 pm
Sundays - 2:00pm

It replaces previously announced ‘On An Average Day’.

Weller Martin.....Matt Orme
Fonsia Dorsey.....Liz Vissing

THE DIRECTOR
Juergen K. Tossmann

SET AND LIGHTING DESIGN
Steve Woodring

FURNISHINGS AND COSTUMING
Marty Crawley

Bunbury Theatre Company at the Henry Clay
604 S. Third Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40250
502 585-5306
bunburytheatre@gmail.com
http://www.bunburytheatre.org

REVIEW: Once in a Blue Moon

2012-02-11T12:32:00.000-05:00

LEPETOMANE’S ONCE IN A BLUE MOON

A Review byCarlos Manuel

There is something veryexcited about going to see a show that has been created by a group of artistswho most likely sat down around the kitchen table with a couple of beers, andsaid to each other, “Okay, what can we do next?” After creating 5 Things, which Le Petomane presented atThe Bard’s Town Theatre, Once in a BlueMoon seems to be an idea they decided to put together while developing amuch more theatrical and intellectual concept. This is not to say that the showisn’t entertaining. It is, but smart or intelligent? It is not.

Unmistakable though, Once in a Blue Moon has a clear plot andis well-structured. It is clear that at least one member of the company, if notall, understands the importance of the “hero’s journey.” In this case, the maincharacter is a heroine by the name of Ruby, who, against her will, is throwninto an adventure, where she has to overcome a few obstacles in order to defeather antagonist, and of course live happily ever after.

Ruby is born to royaltyand has been given the gift of singing. The problem is that singing isprohibited in the kingdom—something that is explained at the beginning of theplay but I honestly forgot within seconds. Because she can’t sing anywhere,Ruby decides to go to an isolated place where she can do it to her heart’scontent. Unfortunately it is there where three entities from another dimension (BlueSlickster, Blue Rouge, and Coyote Blue) step into her world and steal hervoice. Because this a fairy tale, there is a narrator, named FairyThoughtfather, who guides the story, breaking the fourth wall (like in anystorytelling play) and communicating with the heroine. He encourages Ruby tofind her voice, travel to the other dimension and take back what was stolenfrom her. And of course, she does, bringing the closing of the play to a happynote.

The show opens with anoriginal music piece played by the members of the cast. Then a narrator sings acouple of songs to set the scene and the style of the work. It turns out that Once in a Blue Moon is a play with musicand songs because it is all about the desire to sing or the desire to express oneselfthrough singing. Ironically, I find the singing to be the weakest element inthe production.

I can easily tell the fouractors are experienced and as an ensemble they are very comfortable with eachother. They’re very talented and know how to play off of each other. It is alsoclear they know how to create a journey, use plot point devices, and have theirheroine confront her enemies, triumph over them, learn a lesson and emergeanew.

I can almost guaranteethat someone in the company has read Joseph Campbell and/or Christopher Vogler—essentialreading material for any writer. Yet, with all the experience and perhapsknowledgeable literature, Le Petomane’s Oncein a Blue Moon is short of creativity and cohesiveness. All the elementsneeded to create a good theatrical experience are present, yet there are timeswhen I felt I was watching amateur improvisation or an unfinished/unpolishedsegment.

There are however,memorable moments filled with wit, laughter, sexual tension, and good acting.Heather Burns as Coyote Blue is hypnotizing, and as Mona Moonstone and Floshe’s hilarious. Tony Dingman brings the sexual tension in Ruby as BlueSlickster, and as Trucker Joe his hip hop is spot on—too bad the stompingsegment felt more like a child’s tantrum than a cacophony of rhythmic steps. KyleWare’s narration as Fairy Thoughtfather is witty and Kristie Rolape’s Ruby iscomical.

The majority of charactersin this story are underdeveloped. And even though the heroine’s journey isinteresting, the stakes are not high at all. At the end, there aren’t anymemorable moments and no one in the audience truly ends up caring for any ofthe characters or story.

Yet, I can’t help myselfbut wonder that if the company were to spend a little more time developing moresolid dialogue, turning the characters into three-dimensional entities, andgiving Ruby a more meaningful and tangible existence, Once in a Blue Moon could be an excellent theatrical piece. As itis right now, it is too short (1 hr 15 min), filled with lots of empty moments,and although well-plot out, it isn’t solid and polished enough to feel like a “finishedproduct.”

Or maybe I needed to havea couple of beers before seeing the show because there were a lot of people whowere laughing out loud at the opening night show. Then again, these were thesame people who, as soon as the lights when out on the stage and the firstmusical sounds were heard, were already giggling because they knew the actorsand these people knew the actors were going to be funny no matter what they didor said.

Once in a Blue Moon

at the Rudyard Kipling (Oak Street)

Fri., February 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Sat., February 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Mon., February 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Thu., February 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Fri., February 17 at 7:30 p.m.
Sat., February 18 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets
$8 -- 20 sliding scale
Contact us@LePetomane.org or 502-609-2520 for show reservations or more information, or find them onFacebook.

For pre-show dinner reservations, please contact the Rudyard Kipling directly at (502) 636-1311.

REVIEW: In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play

2012-02-09T22:42:00.002-05:00

A Review byCarlos Manuel

Presenting the subject offemale orgasms and the discovery of the vibrator per se is not a subject onecan easily approach, especially on the stage. Yet, Sarah Ruhl uses her uniquevoice to write about both matters in an intellectual, comfortable, andentertaining manner.

Set at the turn of the 19^thC., Sarah Ruhl’s comedy introduces the audience to the professional life of Dr.Givings and his fascination with the use of electricity to treat women (and men)with vibratory massages to improve the symptoms of hysteria. The play is alsoabout his romantic life (or lack thereof) with his eager-for-life and thirsty-for-lovewife.

Dr. Givings’ medicalapproaches are so successful that every patient who comes to see him showssignificant signs of recuperation yet, when the doctor decides treatments areno longer needed, the patients find themselves begging to come back becausethey are sure that without such vibratory massages, their symptoms are bound tocome back.

And while Dr. Givings’professional life flourishes, his personal life diminishes, mainly because he’sunable to emotionally connect with his wife, who slowly but surely discoversthat what women experience during the time they are treated by her husband, arenothing but erotic and sexual reactions to the electrical stimulations.

By the end of act one,Mrs. Givings’ emptiness has inundated not only her inner self but also herentire house. But thanks to the closerelationship that by now she has developed with Sabrina Daldry (one of thepatients), she is able to overcome her loneliness and soon find the courage topull her husband from his unemotional and scientific approach to their lovelife.

By the end, both husbandand wife, who have been physically and emotionally apart from each other, endup braking the taboos of the times by daring to look at each other’s bodiesunder the light and by finally having the opportunity to express their love,not only with words but physically too. It is through these incredible journeysthat the characters find their existence and their meaning in life, which onlysupport Sarah Ruhl’s smart and energetic writing.

Actors Theatre ofLouisville’s production however, is not as electrifying at it should be. Theactors are professionals in their parts. The set design and lighting areincredibly accurate and effective. The costumes and wigs are beautiful andsomething to admire. Yet, the entire production seems to be under a sedativeand very much in the need for an electrical jolt. (Yes, the pun is intended.)

I was not expecting to seea production with humorous physical gags and cheap sexual innuendos. Sara Ruhlis much more than that. In fact, her take on this matter is found in theprogram’s notes. I was expecting, though, a production I could heartily enjoy andbe entertained by from beginning to end.

Sara Ruhl’s script is crisp,funny, emotional, moving, and intelligent, and every actor in it is incrediblygood. All of them play their part with precision and professionalism, yet, Iblame the director (Laura Gordon) for inducing in the cast a sleeping spellthat almost took over several members of the audience who started to yawntowards the end of act-one and in the middle of act two.

If it hadn’t been for theingenious moments where the characters are intrigued about the use of theDoctor’s new contraption which cures women’s hysteria or about the appearanceof an eccentric male artist who also suffers from hysteria, the productionwould have fallen flat from the start.

Both Tyla Abercrumbie asMrs. Givings and Matthew Brumlow as the French painter Leo Irving bring to thestage the much needed energy in this production. When matters turns to theemotional and moving, Jenny McKinght as the “wet nurse’ and in the very lastscene Mr. Grant Goodman as Dr. Givings know how to touch our hearts.

Overall, In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play isfun and entertaining, as well as intelligent and moving. And although ATL’sproduction isn’t incredibly electrifying, it is still a production which mustnot be missed.

In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play

by Sarah Ruhl

Co-production with Milwaukee Repertory Theater
Actors Theatre of Louisville
316 W Main Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
502-584-1205
info@actorstheatre.org
http://www.actorstheatre.org

Runs through February 18, 2012

So Many Plays!

2012-02-09T19:14:00.001-05:00

Just take a look at the side bar for all the openings in February! Louisville theatre is booming! If you can't find something you like, you are a real curmudgeon!! There are so many shows running now, we at Theatre Louisville can't possibly review them all. But that doesn't mean you should not go to see them!

And don't forget about college and high school theatre productions. You might be surprised by what you see, and for a bargain to boot. Broadway's stars of tomorrow can be seen for a mere pittance!

If you'd like to join the ranks of our esteemed reviewers, drop an email to: theat.louisville@gmail.com
We can't pay you, but you get free tickets~and the fame and glory of being a theatre critic!

REVIEW: dirty sexy derby play

2012-02-02T17:26:00.003-05:00

Reviewed by MarkSawyer-Dailey

Brian Walker both wrote and directed dirty sexy derby play and it is just that: very dirty, verysexy. Warning: this play is not for the faintof heart – it is THE BOYS IN THE BAND meets WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF andmight make David Mamet blush. But it might also be titled dirty sexy derby key-party post tornado of 1974 play. Play: four couples meet on Derby Day 1974 (still inthe midst of the sexual revolution, pre-AIDS) to indulge in a key (partnerswapping) party. All of the charactershave secrets, and want to communicate something. Mr. Walker’s writing is tight, the dialoguemoves right along, and is often very funny: references to “Louisville” made theevening more enjoyable, “You can get anything on Bardstown Road.” Friday’saudience greatly enjoyed it. If youdon’t like this opening paragraph, screw you, but read on.

When writing I try not to add a disclaimer or apologize, butI feel that I must. We had themisfortune of sitting behind three middle aged women, drinking, and talking,checking electronic devices through the entire play, marring a good 10% of theplays dialogue. And this play’s directoris wise enough to understand ‘pace’, and moves the dialogue along at a terrificrate; so much was missed thanks to this rude, obnoxious, selfish trio. I ‘shushed’ them four times, and I noticedtwo other audience members did the same (thanksfor that support; more theatre people in the room should have; more audiencemembers should do some ‘Shhhhhh-ing’) and they wouldn’t button it. How sad that three people, amidst a fullaudience, feel that they have the right to ruin a play for those of us whounderstand theatre etiquette and stay quiet until intermission. Perhaps a preshow speech might have assistedthem in getting the hint? The characterof Vanessa, the hostess of the party and the first of many characters to speakdirectly to us, could have mentioned it? I believe that the play’s consistent style would have allowed this. But it appeared to be a ‘girl’s night out’and nothing was going to stop them from having fun…to the detriment of perhaps50 other audience members?

While I am on this rant, I take exception to Shaun Kenney’sbio ,”He is and always will be the best damn stage manager this company hasseen.” No, perhaps the second best,because Mr. Kenney was sitting in the back, above the audience, near the threeweird sisters. He must have heard their rudeness – he certainly heard three ofus shushing them. But he chose to donothing. Where was the house manager, orwait-staff? Producers need to know andreact accordingly, that how an audience feels about rudeness ultimately affectstheir feelings about the play…it did ours. In a year’s time it will mar my memory of the play.

The metaphors of the play (Derby, key party, and posttornado) were clear and helped to communicate the play’s deeper meanings: an odd group of people converge at the party,each carrying a secret, each wanting to find a way out of the lies of theirlives. It is dirty…the prurient in mesays “filthy” as the C word, women as bitches; blow jobs; simulated sex acts; samesex kissing…are all bantered about frequently. It came close to being gratuitous, but seemed justified at end ofplay. The older, more conservativetheatre practitioner in me questions this use of vulgarity which at times,seemed like pushing the envelope too hard. Can’t we make the same point in plays without it? As I think back on this production, I can’treally see it done without the language, so perhaps it is necessary. It certainly says something about the peopleand their times. But I realize that I am an older theatre-goer. It seemed that all of the sexual jargon andreferences stopped short of nudity. (Sexacts were simulated) Why not ‘go all theway”? Have some creative fun with theonstage cunnilingus, or sex acts. Don’t justwade in, dive in!

Dialogue was earthy and sexy; perhaps the actions should havebeen also. If you want to get a 10 on mypeter meter, just do it. Take yourpanties off and toss them aside before the acts. When one loses a rather cruel game (rightfrom THE BOYS IN THE BAND) and has to expose himself….his chest!?!? This is a sex party for goodness sakes. Drop trou, facing upstage. Or we could deal with seeing Francine’sbreasts when she flashes her neighbors.

I am not a fan of this style of theatre that Mr. Walkerwrites very well – loud, angry, and bitter. A play has to have a main character, one whom we like and can identifywith on their journey, their arc. Thenagain, I am old fashioned. But I personally did not like any of thesecharacters. We like the characters inVIRGINIA WOOLF, we like the characters in Mort Crowley’s play THE BOYS IN THEBAND (two of my favorite plays). We rootfor them.

I do question any playwright who directs their own work:it’s difficult; you have no objective eye from which to approach the work. Mr. Walker loses track of the actual spine ofthe play, which was a bit confusing. Hedid well in blocking eight people on a small set for the vast majority of theevening. Since the space is not raked,when actors were sitting downstage, their action and dialogue was lost to thosein the rear. The character of Francinespent much of the play sitting down, down stage left…a wise choice if you havean actor that can fill and sustain this length of time. And Mr. Walker’s Francine is just such anactor who sustained it. Which leads meto the performances.

The performances were very solid and the actors were intotal command of the words, their objectives; and their choices were, for themost part, terrific. The key party’shosts, Vanessa and Carl, were played convincingly by Briana Clemerson and CoreyLong, and as hosts, carried the bulk of the dialogue. Well handled by both actors. I have been along time fan of Ms. Clemerson’s work and it’s great seeing her back onstage. Iwant to see more of her acting. There is a great deal of screaming in thisplay, and it gets tiring after awhile. Do you like being yelled at? Iwish she had been able to find some variety, some modulation and not always gofor the obvious choice – screaming. Ibelieve that Vanessa was the main character: perhaps by softening all of heryelling, she may have earned more sympathy, and thus, become the maincharacter. The director should have assisted her with this, which is not aneasy task. Some of her lines were lostin her screams.

The first of the party guests were Lana (Elizabeth Cox) andTim (Todd Zeigler), two nebbishes who are currently living in a motel whiletheir tornado-ravaged home is under repair; well done. Next couple to arrive was Francine andVictor, (Leah Roberts and Andy Epstein). Now, I am a huge fan of Leah Roberts and have never been disappointed inher work, and am always thrilled to see her continue to work, and improve…likea fine wine. (I am eager to see her playMartha in WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF in 15 years!!) Her Francine was no exception – terrificwork, as always. Victor had, perhaps,the biggest secret of the guests; his work was good, and he was very convincing.

And then comes Theresa and Dennis, played extremely well bythe amazing Sarah “you will get crabs!” East and Eric Welch. Good ole Louisville rednecks, they werecomic relief and as well as different social level among the guests. Their accents were spot on, perhaps too good,as they spoke so fast this viewer often lost some of the words. But Ms. East received a well deservedapplause on her final exit, as her work was one of the most solid andconsistent among the ensemble. Mr. Walker’swords were a great part of this ovation, by the way = great team work. Mr. Welch’s Dennis was also very fine, andhis character did grow on me, like a fungus. The ensemble was so obviously having fun, enjoying each other, that onealmost forgets the vulgarities so freely used.

The costumes reminded me of my youth, and lights wereterrific, as was the set. For a smallspace, they consistently do very fine work and make it happen withintegrity. Let’s support the Bard’sTown, and encourage them.

While I have your ear, I would like to rave about the Bard’sTown Theatre and pub, 1801 Bardstown Road, @Speed Avenue. This new establishment must be commended andencouraged. We dined preshow and thefood was terrific. The menu is very clever: appetizers = “Prologues”; main courses = Act Iand Act I, ii; desserts = “Epilogues”. You can choose from a Corn-delia; TheJulius Caesar Salad; To Bean or Not to Bean; Two Noble Crab Cakes; The Mushroomof Venice and last but not least, Cymbeline-guini. The upstairs theatre has been reworked intoa very fine performance space, and with the already mentioned lack of rakedspace, works extremely well. I stronglyhope we all support the Bard’s Town, for many reasons. We must. It is too important of an opportunity for Louisville’s audience andtheatre artists not to take advantage of. Check it out: www.thebardstown.com.

In short, if you can deal with all the language andsimulated sex scenes, and person to person cruelty, you should see this play(again, not for the faint of heart) you will see some fine ensemble work, and asolid technical play. But hey, don’ttake my word for it, it’s just one person’s opinion; go see it and decide foryourself. Ends Feb. 4.

dirty sexy derby play

Written and directed by Brian Walker

The Bard’s Town Theatre

1801 Bardstown Road

Louisville, KY 40205

January 26, 27, 28, February 2, 3 & 4
7:30pm

$15 General Admission, cash only please

Call 502.876.0532 to reserve tickets.

Cast:
Briana Clemerson as Vanessa
Corey Long as Carl
Elizabeth Cox
Sarah East
Leah Roberts
Andy Epstein
Eric Welch
Todd Zeigler
and Michael Roberts

REVIEW: A Little Night Music

2012-01-25T19:20:00.001-05:00

Reviewed by Mark Sawyer-Dailey

StephenSondheim’s romantic adult, erotic musical A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC opened Thursdayat Center Stage, and is a must-see production. (Note: Mature Subject Matter, involves switching partners). Artistic Director and Scenic Designer, JohnLeffert, opened the production with a speech praising his actors, saying he wasblessed to have such fine actors donating their time and talent to theproduction.

Heis indeed blessed to have such a fine ensemble cast and production staff at hisdisposal, as they all worked well together to create this delightful,sentimental, witty musical, based on Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 film, SmilesOf a Summer Evening. Pauline Kaelwrote of the film, “Bergman found a highstyle within a set of boudoir farce conventions: in Smiles of a Summer Night, boudoir farce becomes lyric poetry.The sexual chases and the round dance are romantic, nostalgic; the coy bits offeminine plotting are gossamer threads of intrigue. The film becomes an elegyto transient love: a gust of wind and the whole vision may drift away.”

The genius Sondheim knew not to mess with the film’s structureand style. Set at the turn of twentiethcentury Sweden, the wealthy, fifty year old lawyer, Fredrik Egerman has beenmarried for three years to his nineteen year old virgin wife, Anne. His adultson from a former marriage, Henrik, is studying to be a priest. Their servantis the young and sexually confident Petra, who easily falls for every man. Fredrikgoes to the theater with Anne, sees the famous actress (his former mistressDesiree Armfeldt) and he meets her alone after the performance. They go to herhouse, Fredrik spills milk on his suit, so she gives Fredrik the robe andpajamas of her present lover, the military Count Carl Magnus Malcolm, who ismarried to Anne's friend Countess Charlotte Malcolm. However, Malcolmunexpectedly arrives and the three have a unpleasant encounter. Desiree plots a weekend in her mother's,Madame Armfeldt, summer estate with Fredrik, Anne, Henrik, Malcolm andCharlotte, with the intention of seducing Fredrik again. Along the night, withthe three smiles of love (the young, the old, and the foolish), four couplesare formed.

If this sounds confusing, it isn’t – thanks to all the terrificstory tellers under the guidance of Mr. Leffert. The primary storytellers are the talentedchorus of five (Jeff Sammons, Margot Woolridge, Christy Shircliff, TymikaPrince, and one of the most dedicated, hard working local actors, Cory Vaughn)who begin the story singing and dancing a waltz, strongly choreographed byValerie Hopkins (“Night Waltz”); theythen continue to ‘host’ the story. As amemory play (“Remember”) they were excellent guides.

The performances were even and solid, from Russ Dunap’s frustratedFredrik (“Now”), Barbara Meyerson Katz’s delightfully naughty Madame Armfeldt(“Liaisons”), Lauren McComb’s confident, sensual Petra (“The Miller’s Son”), toJamie Tobelmann’s wizened, cynical jilted wife, Charlotte (“Every Day A LittleDeath”). As the young lovers, KyleBraun’s Henrik and Emily Fields’ Anne sang beautifully (“Soon”) but weredirected to be larger stylistically than the other characters, and so, seemedless sympathetic. Ms. Fields’ bad wigdidn’t help this, as she appeared more comical than sympathetic. Ms. Katz’s wig was also inferior to herwonderful acting, and her own enjoyment of her role.

I save the best for last, Colette Delaney’s Desiree Armfeldt. What does a critic say about Colette Delaney,a real treasure to Louisville audiences, no matter what her role, in whatevertheatre! And she’s played all thespaces, and most of the great roles. I overheardan audience member say, “We saw the original A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (1973 with601 performances) and Ms. Delaney was better than the original Desiree” (GlynnisJohns). Normally I would attribute thisto an overzealous audience member admirer – but in this case, I believeit. She is the consummate performer, anda first class lady, both onstage and off. Working with her is the proverbial dream. It seems that she can do no wrong. Her “Send in the Clowns,” the show’s biggesthit, was worth the entire evening. Mr.Leffert wisely staged her sitting alone on a bed, looking full front, unmoving:simple and elegant.

Musically the show was very strong, from the Orchestra under thewatchful eye of Angie Hopperton, to all of the musical numbers – I didn’t see aweak number. It would be a difficulttask for any performer to follow Ms. Delaney’s “Send In The Clowns” but Ms.McComb’s “The Miller’s Son” did just this: strong, powerful, moving.

Technically, this production was like Mr. Leffert’s set design,simple yet sophisticated, with the actors moving swiftly to change thebeautiful, elegant furniture. TheresaBagan’s lighting design was not up to its usual brilliance: dark areas and actorsoutside of spotlights…perhaps a lack of instruments, a common problem. Not to sound repetitive, but Mr. Leffert’sblocking and movement was simple and elegant and effective. One issue I had was that the importance ofthe play’s last moment was lost, due to lack of focus and timing. But this wasopening night and has perhaps since been solved. All in all, the evening livesup to and beyond expectation.

A Little Night Music
directed by John Leffert

CenterStage
3600 Dutchmans Lane
Louisville, Kentucky 40205
(502) 238-2753
jleffert@jccoflouisville.org
http://jewishlouisville.org

Thursday, January 19; Saturday, January 21; Thursday, January 26; Saturday, January 28; Monday January 30; Thursday, February 2; and Saturday, February 4 at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays, January 22; 29 and February 5 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18 per person. Based on availability, there will be 20 $10 rush tickets sold for weeknight performances. Rush tickets must be purchased in person at the Jewish Community Center (3600 Dutchmans Lane) on the day of show prior to 5 p.m. For information and ticket reservations, call 459-0660.

REVIEW: Almost, Maine

2012-01-22T13:42:00.001-05:00

Craig Nolan Highley and Sean Childress

Reviewed by Carlos Manuel
photos by Larry Chaney

Almost, Maine,presented by Wayward Actors under the direction of Neil Brewer, is a play byJohn Cariani consisting of a series of vignettes about the people living soclose to the “northern lights” that apparently they affect people’s feelings.The title of the play comes about because the people of Almost, (populations56) never organized themselves to become a town but they “almost” made it, soAlmost is not a town but a place in Maine.

The series of vignettesare used as a window, allowing the audience a quick peek into those who inhabitsuch place. After seeing the show, I’ve come to the conclusion that everyone inAlmost has been affected by the gaseous particles of the earth’s atmospherebecause everyone suffers from either a lack of love or too much love. At thesame time many residents seem to have some sort of disease because they expresssudden desires to kiss strangers, to feel absolutely no physical pain, or toliterally “fall” in love.

Katie Graviss and Craig Nolan Highley

The trick to accept andget into the world the people of Almost, Maine live in, lies behind the factthat four actors are supposed to play the 20 or so different characters who aresupposed to speak in a very unique way. Unfortunately, Neil Brewer’s decisionto cast an array of actors takes away from what is perhaps the script’sstrongest element. And while it seems tobe explained in the script, it is “almost” unforgivable that the actors do notspeak with a Maine accent. To make matters worse, some of the actors at thisproduction’s opening night forgot or stumbled through many lines while otheractors seemed to be lost on stage or had no chemistry.

There are, however, a fewactors who were a delight to watch, Craig Nolan Highley as both Chad and Jimmy wasendearing while as an actor, Mr. Brewer, showed more potential than as adirector. Katie Graviss, Rebecca Chaney, Mason Stewart and Sean Childress arealso actors making strong and convincing choices. Though I must mention thatevery aforementioned actor but Mr. Childress, played at least two characters,allowing them to show versatility.

Neil Brewer and Jayme L. Thomas

The set by Ray and NeilBrewer is simple and minimalistic; the lighting by Nick Dent serves itspurpose, the original music by Julian Fleisher has its magical charm, and thecostumes (no credit listed) seem appropriate for time of year (winter) andlocation (Maine.)

The play, with its seriesof vignettes is short and, like the Aurora Borealis, is supposed to come andgo, leaving you with an unexplainable feeling, as if you were in love. But thedirector’s choice to have a 15-minute intermission, which is almost as long asany of the vignettes, only interrupts the fluidity, pace, and rhythm of theplay. I’m sure there is supposed to besomething ‘mystical’ about this play but unfortunately, this production doesn’tquite come together to present such magic to the audience, “almost” making meleave before it was over. Almost.

Almost, Maine
By John Cariani
Directed by Neil Brewer
Presented by Wayward Actors Company

Featuring: Rebecca Chaney, Sean Childress,Katie Graviss, Craig Nolan Highley, Julie Mayfield, Michael McCollum, Emily Miller, Sara Renauer, Hy Stein,Mason Stewart, Jayme Thomas, Frank Whitaker

January 20, 21, 23, 27, 28 at 8PM ;Jan. 29 at 2PM.

Mex Theater, Kentucky Center for the Arts
501 E Main Street
Louisville KY 40204
1.800.775.7777

REVIEW: The 7-Shot Symphony

2012-01-21T21:35:00.002-05:00

Reviewed by Sherry Deatrick

As I was leaving the Bard’s Town Theatre, I heard a fellowaudience member say, “Oh, these poor people down here, they don’t know what abeautiful show they missed upstairs.” She was right.

I can’t sing enough praise for The 7-Shot Symphony, by Minneapolis-based Live Action Set theatretroupe, playing for a short engagement at the Bard’s Town, as part of their southeasternUnited States tour. This company isdedicated to their art. They’ve beenperforming and refining this show for two years, and it shows. Everything was perfect. No line flubs. No missteps. The seven actors often moved as one entity. The costumes even blended together to form avisually pleasing array of authentic Old West attire.

Highly skilledin physical theatre, the actors move like ballet dancers who are trapped in agraphic novel, or a spaghetti Western. They use surprising gestures to transmitthe play’s action. For example, sixactors might be bent at the waist, one behind the other, to form a landscape,while the seventh actor uses his hand to signify a horseback rider traveling inthe Old West. Live music by a groupcalled Tree Party (in the style of Ennio Morricone) adds to the visceralexperience of this once-in-a-lifetime show. The actors also play instrumentsand sing (beautifully) at various times during the show as well. I guarantee you will not see anything like itanywhere else.

So, what is this show about? Imagine setting five myths from all over the globe in one location:America’s Old West frontier. Brilliant! The program provides ashort refresher course on the myths, but I would suggest not reading about themso the performance can wash over you anew. In brief, the myths are:

1. A 14^th century Japanese myth aboutrival swordsmiths.

2. Odin, Fenrir, Loki.

3. Orpheus and Eurydice.

4. Anansi, a West African/Caribbean tale of acunning spider.

5. Middle Eastern Gilgamesh and Enkidu.

These stories seem to have nothing in common. But director Ry Underbakke explains thatalthough the gods of these myths are no longer worshipped, the stories continueto have meaning because the themes are universal. Good. Evil. Love. Loss. Trickery. Lust. Struggle. But most important, humans’ innate drive to create a better life.

If this all sounds a bit intellectual, rest assured, it’s asunpretentious as apple pie. Merging thesemyths with America’s mythical frontier strikes a unifying chord we respond toinstinctively. The stories may befamiliar, but they are woven together in unpredictable ways, leaving theaudience uplifted at the end.

It’s impossible to single out any one performer as “the best”because all are fantastic. One smallsuggestion – I noticed some of the actors tended to tilt their head up or downsometimes, which tends to diminish the energy flow between actor andaudience.

This is what real theatre is all about, folks. Go and see this award-winning show if you can, and be amazed.

The 7-Shot Symphony

Presented by Live Action Set

January 20th- 7:30pm, 19th-2pm, 21st- 7:30pm, 22nd- 7:30pm

At the Bard’s Town Theater

January 20th- 7:30pm, January 21st at 2pm, Sunday, January 22nd at 7pm and Monday,January 23rd at 7:30pm.
WHERE - Bard’s Town Theater, Louisville, KY

This production is developed by Live Action Set under the primary creative directionof Ryan Underbakke and written by Matt Spring and Ryan Underbakke with and performedby Mark Benzel, Joey Ford, Damian Johnson, Emily King, Matt Riggs, Dustin Suggs, andJenna Wyse. Local band Tree Party-- Joey Ford, Jenna Wyse, Travis Bolton, Andy Carroll,and Derek Trost-- will perform originally composed music live with their violin, mandolin, electricguitar, upright acoustic bass. Debbie Tallen creates the lighting design, and Mandi Johnsonand Amelia English create costumes.

REVIEW: Fiddler on the Roof

2012-01-18T16:35:00.001-05:00

Reviews for REALPeople

by Alonzo R. Richmond

Fiddler on the Roof

For someone who hasnever seen Fiddler on the Roof, Ionly had a slight idea of what to expect. However, my expectations were highlysurpassed!

JOHN PREECE stars asTevye, the downtrodden milkman whose traditions are bumping up against achanging world. He has played the role for over 30 years, and it shows in hisperformance. The twinkle in Preece’s eye as he talks with God, the tiredresolution of a man married 25 years and the confusion with the new ideas comenaturally to the veteran actor. It is difficult to tell where Preece ended andwhere Tevye began. That is the sign of a good actor. Blend that natural ease,with a strong baritone voice and you have the nearly perfect Tevye. Aside fromthe perfection that was Tevye, this national touring company had one of thestrongest ensembles I've seen. Golde, played by PAMELA D. CHABORA, is Tevye’swife. She performed a strong duet with Preece on Sabbath Prayer, andgave a very strong performance.

SARAH SESLER (Hodel)has the voice of an angel. ANDREW BOZA (Motel) is on his first national tour asMotel, the tailor who defies tradition by asking for the hand of Tevye’s oldestdaughter, Tzeitel. His gave a great performance, his beautiful, high tenorvoice filled the theatre perfectly. I hope to see alot more from this youngman.

This production of Fiddler, presented by Broadway AcrossAmerica, revives Jerome Robbins’ original direction and choreography (includingan impressive bottle dance). I was in awe of the very clean and precisechoreography.

Overall, I was verypleased with this classic show. Preece will warm your heart and bring laughterto the age old story of change vs. tradition. Give it a try and maybe it willbecome a tradition of your own.

Fiddler on the Roof will be at theKentucky Center for the Performing Arts tonight through Sunday. Performancesare Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8p.m. and Sunday at 1PM and 6:30 pm. Tickets are available through the KentuckyCenter Box Office in person or at 1.502.584.7777, online athttp://www.kentuckycenter.org/ and at Ticketmaster locations.

EDIT: We have learned that Pamela D. Chabora did not play Golde on opening night. The role was played by Gerri Weagraff instead.

REVIEW: Boeing-Boeing

2012-01-16T13:55:00.002-05:00

Derby Dinner Playhouse opens Boeing-Boeing by Marc Camoletti, translated by Beverly Cross and Francis Evans; directed by Lee Buckholz.

Sara King as Gretchen, Melissa Carlile-Price as Gloria, Megan Bliss as Gabriella, and Tyler Bliss as Bernard

Reviewed by Brian Walker

With the temperatures hitting season lows Derby Dinner is heating things up with their latest offering, the 60’s farce sex comedy Boeing-Boeing. The play was written in 1962 and enjoyed much success, first in London and later moving to Broadway and film (the 1965 movie stars Jerry Lewis and Tony Curtis). It was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1991 as the most performed French play throughout the world. In 2008 it enjoyed a successful Broadway revival and won a Tony for Best Revival of a Play. Alright, enough history.

Plot. Bernard is an American architect living in Paris and he’s engaged to three flight attendants from three different airlines at the same time. With the help of his housemaid Bertha he keeps track of their time-tables and comings and goings so that they are never in Paris(or his flat) at the same time. His scheme has been going along pretty well until his old school chum Robert comes to town for a surprise visit and the three women unexpectedly find themselves in town at the same time. Insanity and chaos and comedic farceness abound with a few dirty bits thrown in for good measure.

Derby Dinner Playhouse scores a hole in one with their production of this classic gem. I brought my mom because she shares my affinity for dinner theatre and we couldn’t keep from giggling most of the night. The script has this wonderful 60’s sensibility which is incredibly naughty without being vulgar, full of zany one-liners, biting wit and larger than life characters.

Lee Buckholz’s direction is close to pitch perfect, guiding a seamless and effortless appearing cast to make bold, outrageous choices with a dizzying pace and smart, creative blocking.

Tyler Bliss as Bernard and R. Joseph Price as Robert were a wonderful dichotomy tag team of physical comedy and both very easy on the eyes. Their predicaments and situations become more and more exhausting and insane as the play progresses but Mr. Bliss and Mr. Price appeared to be having just as much fun as the audience and both were just a delight!

Melissa Carlile-Price, Megan Bliss and Sara King were all fantastic as the three objects of Bernard’s affections: Gloria, Gabriella and Gretchen. They each brought something original and interesting to their roles and all three very easy on the eyes. I can’t pick a favorite (maybe Bernard and I have a bit in common); each were engaging and gave electric and sensual comedic performances and did fine jobs with their respective dialects (Gabriella is Italian and Gretchen is German).

For me and my mom, Tina Jo Wallace stole the show as the cigarette smoking, beret wearing French housemaid who tirelessly aids Bernard in his schemes. Her comic timing was right on point and her dry, sarcastic delivery took an easily overlooked character and elevated it to something very special.

What can I say? I’m a sucker for a good sex comedy and Boeing-Boeing delivered the goods. The only negative thing I can say about the entire evening is maybe it’s a tad too long. I think attention spans were probably a bit longer in 1962 and I felt like both acts could have ended about ten minutes before they did.

Other than the script's length, it was a perfect night at the theater. Service and the pre-show Footnotes were impeccable as always and the show was a fun, relaxing diversion from the real world and I would highly recommend this production. Treat yourself to a slice of hummingbird cake too (it’s my new favorite).

Derby Dinner Playhouse
525 Marriott Drive
Clarksville, Indiana 47129
812-288-8281
http://www.derbydinner.com

January 10 through February 19, 2012

Looking Back at 2011

2012-01-07T18:29:00.000-05:00

Frequent contributor Cory Vaughn has compiled a list of highlights of local theatre in 2011. And the winners are:

TOP FIVE THEATRE PRODUCTIONS OF 2011

1 Maple andVine, Actors Theatre Louisville 2011 Humana Festival
The 2011 Humana Festival drew mixed reviews from the New York critics intheir ivory skyscrapers, from whence they look down their noses at thebourgeois theatergoing tastes of the teeming masses who pay their hard-earnedcash to keep the theatres open, and theatre critics off the unemployment line.But there was one production to come out of this year’s festival upon whomeveryone seemed to agree, from ATL subscribers and visiting alumni to no less abroker of aesthetic irrelevancy than the NewYork Times’ Charles Isherwood,whose mostlydisparaging wrap-up of the 35^th anniversary festival was allpraise for Jordan Harrison’s Maple andVine.

This bittersweet tragicomic fantasy followed burnt-out New Yorkers Katha, anAll-American publisher, and Ryu, an Asian-American surgeon, from their sterilepenthouse in the fast lane of Manhattan to a gated community where the simpler(if less enlightened) lifestyle of 1955 is recreated in painstaking detail, insearch of a more fulfilling existence. It was immediately hailed as the hit ofthis year’s festival and snatched up by Playwrights Horizons, where it justrecently completed its premiere New York run, featuring two of its Louisvillecast members, Peter Kim (as Ryu) and Jeanine Serralles (as the secretive queen beeof the 1955 town), reprising their roles alongside three new co-stars. SurelyMarc Masterson is somewhere in California beaming right now that one of thelast Humana Festival premieres he produced in his tenure as Actors Theatre’sArtistic Director seems destined for greatness.

ATL drew charismatic performances from Kim and Serralles as well as KateTurnbull (Katha), Paul Niebanck (as enigmatic Dean, the coordinator of the 1955re-enactors), and Jesse Pennington (as several smaller but importantcharacters), supported by top-notch designs all around (particularly ConnieFurr Soloman’s costumes) unified by Anne Kauffman’s directorial vision and asneaky and surprising script by Harrison which examined the pros and cons ofnow and then – the conveniences and the isolation of the 2010s, the simplicityand the prejudices of the low-tech 50s – as well as the greater theme ofself-deception, without taking sides between the two eras or the five principlecharacters attempting to straddle them. Perhaps that was the most notableelement of Maple and Vine: itrespected its audience enough not to tell us how we should react to it and leftus instead to draw our own conclusions.

(Ed. note: This was my favorite of the Humana Festival and I'm happy it is doing well.)

2 Equus(both productions)

ED. NOTE: All references to a Wikipedia feud have been removed from this post. We are unaware of the facts surrounding this situation.

It was Equus that brought 2011’sbreakout star to our attention, and that star turned out to be a young man whoshared the stage with me in University of Louisville’s 2007 production of Urinetown the Musical. Although he madeus all laugh in a series of quirky bit parts, everyone in the Urinetown cast knew that young Drew Cashshowed the makings of a highly effective character actor, capable of doing somuch more than that script allowed him. None of us, however, could haveimagined Cash had in him the bravura performance he gave in both productions asthe traumatized seventeen-year-old delinquent Alan Strang.

The famous nude scene which brings the play to its climax (recreated vividly atActor’s Choice, and only slightly modified at IUS), is only the most obviouschallenge Cash faced. Alan’s grizzly transformation from quiet, neglected childof a dysfunctional family to a worshipper and mutilator of horses requires theactor to be just as mercilessly exposed in a sense throughout the entire play.Cash spent the better part of a year with this endurance test of a role,grabbing Louisville and New Albany audiences by the throats and taking us on anunforgettable ride; anyone who saw either production of Equus will be haunted by this performance, the best of 2011, foryears to come!

However, Cash is not the sole reason why Equusmade No. 2 on my list; he was matched by the gravitas of veteran actors J.R.Stuart (at IUS) and Roger Fristoe (at Actor’s Choice) in the second lead roleof child psychiatrist Martin Dysart, and surrounded by good work from the manyprofessional and student actors in support. The vastly different visions of their respectivedirectors made for two equally riveting evenings of theatre. Seely’s productionwas more austere, but benefited from a more experienced cast and aninvestigative approach to the sociological problems that produced an AlanStrang. Hesselman’s production was also well-performed by the student actorsbacking up Cash and Stuart, but he and designer Rebekkah Meixner gave them theadded bonus of an imaginative and nightmarish physical production.

3 Zanna,Don’t!, Pandora Productions
What a lovable production this was! Pandora Productions redeemed a somewhatlackluster 2010-2011 season with this clever musical satire of Middle-Americanhomophobia, from the other perspective. That is, heterosexuality is outlawed inthis parallel universe, and the two hottest couples in school – oneguy-and-guy, one girl-and-girl – must turn to the local matchmaker and hismagic wand for help when one of the guys and one of the girls begin to realizetheir forbidden feelings for each other.

When I first saw the show in May, I was too quick to dismiss the “forgettable”songs by Tim Acito and Alexander Dinelaris, some of which I am still thinkingabout seven months later, but I was instantly a fan of the subversive and attimes bittersweet story they told through these songs. Director Michael Drury,along with musical director John Spencer and choreographer Frank Goodloe, chosetheir cast well. Zachary Burrell, Lamont O’Neal, Lauren McCombs, and JillSullivan all gave winning performances as the quartet of star-crossed lovers,Robbie Lewis was funny and engaging as the long-suffering title character, andSara Renauer, Patrick Brophy and Ben Gierhart fine in key supporting roles.

While I still think the final scene was a bit of a downer, it made its pointquite effectively, and the ultimate message is one of tolerance that wasperfectly in keeping with the Pride Month festivities during which Zanna made its Louisville premiere. It isthis Pandora Production, and not TheRocky Horror Show, that deserves to be brought back on an annual basis.

4 Edith CanShoot Things and Hit Them, Actors Theatre Louisville 2011 Humana Festival
One of the things I look for in a Humana Festival premiere is a look atlife from a perspective I never have seen it from before, and with A. ReyPamatmat’s fascinating look into the lives of three abandoned children raisingthemselves somewhere in the heartland of America, we got it in spades. While Maple and Vine deserves all the praiseand attention it is getting from Broadway producers, I hope they don’t forgetthis understated gem. Sure, it was at times eye-rollingly manipulative in itsreach for the pathos, but the three characters it gave us to follow for nearlythree hours rang true, even if some of the situations into which Pamatmat putthem did not.

Adult actors playing children can be a cloying device if it isn’t done right.Fortunately, Pamatmat and director May Adrales successfully steered actorsTeresa Avia Lim, Jon Norman Schneider, and Cory Michael Smith’s performancesaway from cliché. The burgeoning romance between responsible sixteen-year-oldKenny (Schneider) and his shy best friend Benji (Smith) was sweet, funny, andwinning to root for, but it was Ms. Lim who gave a particularly charmingperformance in the title role: with her high spunk, her sense of adventure, hertrusty bb gun, and her stuffed frog sidekick, tomboyish Edith is truly one of akind.

5 A Man ofNo Importance, Pandora Productions
Sometimes it is easy to forget what a fine actor Michael Drury is, becausein his capacity as Pandora Productions’ Artistic Director, that’s the one thingyou usually won’t see him doing. Thissummer, however, he turned over the directing reins to Steven Jones and tookthe stage to give us all a long-overdue reminder. In the local debut of theunderappreciated Ahrens and Flaherty musical A Man of No Importance, Mr. Drury wowed us as the sweet andfanciful Alfie Byrne, bus conductor, amateur theatre impresario, and devoutCatholic gradually awakening to his homosexuality in early 1960s Dublin. No Importance examines Alfie as alatter-day reincarnation of his favorite playwright, Oscar Wilde, whosecontroversial play Salome he isattempting to stage for his church’s drama group, over the objections of churchauthorities and the suspicions of his art-deprived family and friends.

Alfie’s journey toward self-realization is seen in his relationships with thebrawny bus driver who becomes the object of his desire (Jason Button), the shyand secretive grocery clerk he chooses as his Salome (Laura Ellis), and hisstern but loving sister (Tiffany Taylor), all well played. There was equallyfine work from a dozen or so gifted character actors playing the misfits inAlfie’s amateur theatre troupe in the basement of St. Imelda’s Church. I am abig fan of Ahrens and Flaherty, whose shows include Ragtime, Once On This Island,Seussical, and the animated film Anastasia, and I loved the combinationof their knack for storytelling in theatre songs with the idiom of my Irishancestry.

6 HonorableMention: The Mousetrap, Louisville Repertory Company
I have a confession to make: I already knew the identity of the murderer inAgatha Christie’s long-running murder mystery play, because I had auditionedfor the Louisville Repertory Company’s revival of it earlier this year, and inmy research I had stumbled onto the spoiler in the play’s Wikileaks – oops, Imean Wikipedia – article (criminal of them, by the way, to divulge thisinformation over the objections of Christie’s descendants). However, Christie’srogue’s gallery of colorful characters and the actors Amy Lewis Zieglerwrangled to portray them resulted in enough red herrings to make me wonder fromtime to time if I had it wrong (I ultimately didn’t, but never mind).

Carrie Cooke and Frank Whitaker played a young married couple who have chosenthe worst possible weekend to open their newly-renovated bed and breakfast inrural England; the guests are an ill-mannered rogue’s gallery of eccentricitiesand unpleasant secrets, the amenities are insufficient for the weekend, asevere snowstorm strands them all inside the house for the weekend . . . and aserial murderer is loose in the area. By most accounts, the prep work for LRC’sproduction was a similarly chaotic affair, but it didn’t show from the finishedproduct, thanks to a realistic and moody set and fine acting by all,particularly by a deadpan Elizabeth Cox and an over-the-top Steve Zimmerman astwo of the potential suspects, a supremely bitchy Jennifer Starr Tennant as avictim, and a no-nonsense Bryce Woodard as the police detective on the case.

Then, there was Michael Roberts, younger brother of Theatre 502 regular LeahRoberts, in a standout performance as creepy drifter Christopher Wren. ThisDickensian eccentric filled a big void in the theatre community this Halloweenafter audience favorite Marc Bovino ended his highly successful four-year runas the downright spastic Renfield in ATL’s Dracula.With his weird and fey mannerisms, razor-sharp timing, mercurial wit, andirresistible sense of mystery, Mr. Roberts not only stole The Mousetrap at every turn, he actually out-Renfielded the newRenfield!

Le Petomane's 5 things

TOP TEN PRODUCTIONS I WISH I HAD REVIEWED IN 2011

1 The Drowsy Chaperone, Derby Dinner Playhouse

2 Fabric, Flames and Fervor: Girls of theTriangle, Looking for Lilith

3 5 Things, Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble

4 The Changeling, Savage Rose Theatre Ensemble

5 Chasing Ophelia, The Bard’s Town

6 Hunter/Gatherers, Theatre 502

7 Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Actors TheatreLouisville

8 Merrily We Roll Along, Trinity High School

9 The House of Bernarda Alba, Looking for Lilith (at Shelby County CommunityTheatre)

10 The Sound of Music, Derby Dinner Playhouse

REVIEW: The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity

2012-01-06T14:19:00.003-05:00

Actors Theatre of Louisville opens The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, by Kristoffer Diaz, directed by KJ Sanchez.

Kamal Angelo Bolden

(photo by Alan Simons)

Reviewed by Brian Walker

A play about professional wrestling didn’t exactly entice me as an entertaining night of theatre. I hadn’t read any of the press about the show and had assumed I’d be watching a sort of bi-op exposé on the sport. But as the unconventional curtain speech started, I realized I was in for much much more.

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity uses wrestling as a backdrop to explore themes and issues that are contemporary to all of us: pop culture, racism, consumerism, stereotypes and even our roles as Americans on the global stage. Kristoffer Diaz’s script is exciting and theatrical, witty and smart while straying into some base, off-color humor without sacrificing its social impact. He is just as concerned about telling a good story as he is concerned with changing the world and that delicate balance is what makes the script so completely accessible and successful.

The production that accompanies the script succeeds in being a very entertaining and satisfying night of theatre.

Chad Deity is the biggest most famous wrestler in the world. He is the star of the show and the reason millions tune in every week. Macedonio “The Mace” Guerra is one of the many second tier wrestlers whose sole purpose is to continue to make Chad Deity look good. My favorite line of the show: “In wrestling, you can’t kick a guy’s ass without the help of the guy whose ass you’re kicking.”

“The Mace” is tired of being the loser and succumbing to the corporate racism and stereotypes of his industry, so he enlists the local Indian cool kid (Vigneshwar Paduar) in his Brooklyn neighborhood to team up with him to create a theatrical wrestling entrance that will trump Deity’s. Ultimately they succumb to corporate racism and stereotypes and become the anti-American terrorist characters The Fundamentalist and Carlos the crazy Mexican (?). They begin staging good vs.evil battles with the wrestler who embodies the spirit of America and “gives US soldiers something to fight for”: Chad Deity.

The set-up becomes the impetus for several themes that could be easy parallels in our own lives including stereotyping individuals because of what country they come from and our sense of overwhelming American pride, which sometimes can look very different to people who are not Americans. Not to mention our obsessions with our own modern day “deities” from Lady Gaga to Derek Jeter and what lengths we’ll go to worship them.

The play succeeds on many levels but at its core is this scathing social commentary that attacks your senses and allows you to find your own answers to the questions proposed.

The theatrical elements of the show were fantastic! The audience is subjected to loud music, visceral images on the video screens hanging from the grid and a very spirited supporting cast who scream from the aisles, hold up signs and throw stuff. Lots of stuff. If you’re lucky you’ll have the unique experience of reaching for hundred dollar bills falling from the sky (just check out the picture on the front before you put it in your wallet!). All of the devices succeeded in creating an active experience for the audience as opposed to a passive sort of viewing, and even for this non-fan of wrestling, the effect was very intoxicating and it became very easy to play along.

KJ Sanchez directs the piece with a great eye for theatricality and uses fantastic use of the Bingham. There are constantly things happening everywhere and the world Ms. Sanchez has created is halfway to this production being the success that it is. I also think it’s cool that Ohio Valley Wrestling was utilized in creating that world.

Call me a fan boy, but the star of the night is unquestionably Kamal Angelo Bolden in the role of modern day god Chad Deity. The role is written to be larger than life and Mr. Bolden unapologetically and quite deftly takes it there and then some. It is impossible to take one’s eyes from him while he’s onstage; his presence while performing is a little piece of theatrical magic and lemme tell you something else folks he is freaking hot! His wrestling skivvies are worth the price of the ticket and his huge eyes were piercing as they peered into the “crowd” as he delivered one of his several unforgettable speeches. I and my girlfriend who accompanied me were compelled on more than one occasion to rise to our feet and scream for him to take us and to take us now at any cost; somehow we were able to find the self-control to not do this until we got into my car and were safely on our way home. Mr. Bolden succeeds in taking a role that could very easily be steeped in stereotypes and "big" acting to a place of drizzling charm and a wonderful intensity that was just so much fun to watch.

Alex Hernandez and Ramiz Monsef (photo by Alan Simons)

Alex Hernandez does a respectable job in the pivotal role of Macedonio “The Mace” Guerra. He is listed as a replacement for another actor who was supposed to play the role when the programs went to print. I think that Mr. Hernandez will fall easier into the role the more he performs it. This isn’t Mr. Bolden’s first time portraying Chad Deity and the contrast between his comfort in the role and Mr. Hernandez’s inexperience in his was fairly apparent. Mr. Hernandez has the chops and does a fine job, but I could see him being much stronger with more time in the role working with the ensemble.

Ramiz Monsef was also very good in the role of Vigneshwar Paduar (The Fundamentalist). His portrayal of the neighborhood cool kid who wouldn’t mind being famous (but realizes it may not be worth the trouble) was spot on and very funny. His honest and underplayed end monologue was one of the best of the night.

Kamal Angelo Bolden and Jamin Olivencia (photo by Alan Simons)

It’s exciting to see Actors Theatre of Louisville take chances with brand new plays outside of The Humana Festival (both with Chad Deity and the upcoming Sarah Ruhl play In The Next Room-or the vibrator play). In my humble opinion (and based on the completely full house Thursday night) it seems the risk has paid off as they’ve taken a great script by a new playwright and created a top-notch, exciting production that can be enjoyed by traditional theatre-goers and the once every three years non-theatre-goer alike. They’ve given spotlight in our community to an important new voice of the American Theatre in Kristoffer Diaz and I say hell yes and thank you kindly!

Kamal Angelo Bolden and Jamin Olivencia (photo by Alan Simons)

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity
by Kristoffer Diaz
directed by KJ Sanchez
January 3 – February 4

Actors Theatre of Louisville
316 W Main Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
502-584-1205
info@actorstheatre.org
http://www.actorstheatre.org

REVIEW: Stones in his Pockets

2011-12-30T18:29:00.001-05:00

Reviewed by Sherry Deatrick

Looking for a break from the holiday fanfare? Need something to balance out the forced revelry? Then go see Marie Jones's Stones in his Pockets, directed by Kathi Ellis, at the Alley Theater. But hurry, it ends this weekend.

The play is set in Ireland, and a Hollywood film company is on location. Lee Look and Doug Sumey portray a couple of extras in the crowd scenes. They also play every other character, using the simplest of gestures (hats on or off) or accent changes to signal a new character. At times, these fine actors even became women, without being campy or coy.

The set is mostly empty, with a kelly green cloth or sheet over the back wall (does this stand for Ireland?) There is a line of shoes between the audience and the stage -- one pair for every character other than the two main ones. I thought the actors would be changing shoes quickly whenever they changed roles, but this did not happen. And it's probably for the best, since the pace was frenetic enough. At times I had trouble understanding who was speaking through the actors, especially in the beginning. I also had trouble understanding their realistic, but thick accents at times also. Adding to the Alley Theater's acoustical problems was the fact that another play was loudly going on down the hall. .

The story is rather simple. The downtrodden, unemployed Irish people are happy to take roles as extras for low pay and all the lemon meringue pie they can eat. Jake (Doug Sumey) catches the eye of the female lead, and soon he's in her trailer. He doesn't get to "give her one," since all she's interested in is his accent. Her dialect coach isn't giving her enough authenticity.

The playwright fleshes out the characters through their interactions. But the play isn't about characters so much as it is about class distinctions, and exploitation. Other critics (in other cities) have said the ending is too sentimental, or contrived. After I left the theatre, I was in agreement. But having pondered it over the day, I think differently. It's really saying that everyone exploits everyone, even the downtrodden, given half the chance. If this makes no sense, it's because I can't give away the story twist. You'll have to see the play or take my word for it.

How much worse could you do by spending your evening watching these fabulous actors take on a multitude of roles? Well you could do worse if you get the popcorn. It was really salty and stale, and had too many crunchy kernels. I know, I didn't have to eat it, but I had not had dinner and was therefore hungry.

ShoeString Productions presents
Stones in His Pockets by Marie Jones
December 15, 16, 17, 29, 30 and January 1 at 7:30p.m.

The Alley Theater, 1205 East Washington Street, Louisville
$15.00/$18.00 at the door; $12.00/$15.00 at the door seniors and students with valid id

Director: Kathi E.B. Ellis. Actors: Lee Look, Doug Sumey. Sound design: Laura Ellis. Stage Management: Nancy Clinton

502-713-6178 or boxoffice@thealleytheater.org

REVIEW: The Kings of Christmas

2011-12-11T16:57:00.001-05:00

The Bard’s Town Theatre world premieres a wacky, original play: The Kings of Christmas, by Doug Schutte, directed by Doug Schutte and Scot Atkinson.

Reviewed by Brian Walker

The Kings of Christmas takes the holidays on a detour with an off-beat, cleverly constructed, witty little black comedy and I’ll go ahead and start by saying I laughed my holly off.

Carter King has returned home for Christmas to spend the holiday with his crazy family to discover the death (and mutilation?) of the family cat Marley (“Marley was dead: to begin with…”). Carter is put on trial in the living room by his Uncle Frank where each eccentric member of the family gets to tell their side of what they saw.

Without copying and regurgitating the source material, Mr.Schutte uses A Christmas Carol as his indication and Carter King is swept into the past by his Elvis impersonating dead (?) father to discover what’s happened to his family in Christmases past to make them all so…special. Revelations are made, magic tricks initiated and mistletoe discovered in what culminates into an original and delightful holiday play. I don’t want to give away too much because a lot of the fun of the show is in the discoveries along the way; made quite honestly and without contrivance. Though I found the script lost its way a few times in some of the more absurd situations, in the end it comes together very well and is very successful in its conceits.

The energetic and passionate cast was terrific! The pacing was on fire and kept the show moving at the perfect rhythm. Each member of the cast brought their own uniqueness to their roles which added up nicely and gelled perfectly into one seriously dysfunctional family.

Jake Beamer gives the standout performance as Kennedy King,the unconfident magician who wets his pants when he gets nervous. The role is very cleverly written but Mr. Beamer inhabits it so fully, so unabashedly that it was close to impossible to pay attention to anything else when he had the stage. His Kennedy was hilarious while still maintaining this great level of real and honest emotion and vulnerability. Bravo! One of the best performances I’ve seen this season so far.

Doug Schutte never disappoints; his dry and resigned Uncle Frank served as part narrator, part Elvis impersonator and part Santa Claus, and he was tons of fun throughout. And though probably not the point but I still gotta say: that Elvis costume was hot, hot, hot!

Scot Atkinson does sane and oblivious asshole son very well and his journey as Carter King, which is at the heart of the script, was honest and well timed, engaging and I easily identified with his voyage.

Jennifer Levine was a delight as the matriarch of the family and gave a splendid performance balancing broad comedy with real and truthful emotion.

Ben Gierhart made me laugh at least thirty two times as the zany and touched son Clinton King. His realization that he wasn’t asleep as Santa made his way into their house was one of my favorite moments of the show.

Beth Burrell does a great job at staying out of stereotype-land with her portrayal of Wendy Williams, the hometown girl still carrying a torch for Carter King. Of all the roles it felt like she had the least to do but managed to make the most of it with some great moments, some great inclinations and some great legs!

Of the seven holiday shows I’ve seen this season, The Kings of Christmas definitely stands out as one of the most original, one of the most side-splitting and one of the most contemporary holiday offerings to choose from this year. It takes risks, doesn’tapologize for its absurdity and holds up a mirror to all inviting us to remember what is important in our lives, especially at this time of year.

So just go see it! Support a brand spanking new original play by a brand spanking new theatre company and laugh your holly off like I did; I’m fairly certain even the foulest Grinch won’t be disappointed!

The Kings of Christmas
Written by Doug Schutte

The Bards Town
1801 Bardstown Road
Louisville, Kentucky 40205
(502) 749-5275
thebardstown.com

December 8-11, 14-17 (all shows at 7:30 PM)
Tickets: $15, available on the web or by phone

REVIEW: A Christmas Carol

2011-12-11T16:29:00.001-05:00

Actors Theatre of Louisville presents Fifth Third Bank’s A Christmas Carol, written by Charles Dickens, adapted by Barbara Field, and directed by Drew Fracher. This year’s production is dedicated to longtime Actors’ company member Fred Major, who passed away last January and played numerous roles in the show over the years, including Ebenezer Scrooge (1994-1997).

Reviewed by Brian Walker

This is the 36th year Actors Theatre has presented A Christmas Carol. That is pretty incredible! I remember the very first time I saw it as a child and I was blown away. Actors' production of A Christmas Carol is the very first full length, "at an actual theatre" play I had ever seen and it ended up becoming a holiday tradition I looked forward to every year. The several times I saw it in my youth helped shape the theatre artist I am today and my love for what theatre can do. I looked around the packed Pamela Brown Theater last night during the second act and I saw myself on the faces of dozens and dozens of children who were enraptured, in love, entertained, scared, ecstatic, etc, etc and I was so delighted to have the opportunity to relive my own memories and witness a few new ones in the making and couldn't help but wonder how many new theatre enthusiasts we gained last night alone.

And the production was just as flawless as I remembered it being when I saw it for the first time in 1985 at the age of eight.

A Christmas Carol is undeniably the mother of all Christmas stories so the expectation is that a production should stand up to the brilliant source material. Under Drew Fracher’s direction, this year’s production is indeed the mother of Actors’ season thus far and justified its staying power before the first act was barely half through. It has become an entrenched holiday tradition in Louisville and the reason is simple: they do a damn good job with it. The cast, the set, costumes, special effects (it snows!!!), music, choreography and lighting are all top notch.

If we theatre artists can come up with a few more local generational theatrical traditions like A Christmas Carol at Actors Theatre, we may never mention the so-called “decline” of theatre again. A Fourth of July must see production? Anyone? Arbor Day? No?

This year’s production features Lauren Hirte as the Ghost of Christmas Past and she was by far and away my favorite part of this year’s offering. Her background is with Lookingglass Theatre Company and she created some beautiful moments with two long, flowing white pieces of fabric hanging from the grid. Her mastery at aerial acrobatics raised the production to modern wow-factor awesomeness, not to mention her ghost was the perfect mix of concern and innocence, nurture and strength and her silver glitter uni-tard was fierce.

William McNulty boasts the record for number of times reprising the role of Scrooge; this year being his tenth. He isn’t quite as good as Scrooge McDuck (my all-time favorite Ebenezer Scrooge from Mickey's Christmas Carol), but he comes in a very close second with his careful and deliberate portrayal of the original Grinch. He endears the audience to him early on and gets us rooting for him and that makes for an exceptional pay off when (spoiler alert!) he does finally wake up a changed man. It’s easy to portray Scrooge as a vile villain, it is vastly more difficult to portray a man with a broken heart and an indifference to humanity and Mr. McNulty succeeds on all levels.

My other favorite performance was from Navida Stein. Her Mrs. Fezziwig was so much fun and was so engaging; I couldn't take my eyes off her and then she went and played the violin like it was nothing! Wonderful!

The music, the singing, the dancing; it was all wonderful and textured and layered the production so beautifully. I always get choked up when they sing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" at the end, and opening night was no exception.

Actors Theatre's current production of A Christmas Carol made me laugh, it made me slow down and enjoy my holiday season, it made me remember magical moments of my childhood I don’t think about very often and it made me grateful to be a part of this long theatrical tradition we have here in the‘ville. If you haven’t checked the show out in a few years or (God forbid) you’ve never seen it; this would be a year I’d highly recommend.

A Christmas Carol
adapted by Barbara Field
from Charles Dickens
directed by Drew Fracher

Actors Theatre
316 W Main Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
502-584-1205
info@actorstheatre.org
http://www.actorstheatre.org
December 6 – December 23, 2011

REVIEW: The Santaland Diaries

2011-12-09T12:39:00.001-05:00

Reviewed by Sherry Deatrick

Believe it or not, I don't enjoy being a meanie. Especially at this holly jolly time of year. That's why it pains me to say bad things about the Bunbury's production of The Santaland Diaries, starring Ted Lesley.

Maybe he was having a bad night. Maybe the demands of a one-man show are just too great. But I've never seen Lesley strike out like this. And I've seen Lesley give outstanding performances in many roles. In fact, in all other plays I've seen him in, Lesley has shone. (I'm thinking of his appearances in Assassins, The Full Monty, The Rocky Horror Show, to name a few.)

From the outset (on Thursday night's performance), Lesley seemed nervous, which I found hard to believe from this seasoned performer. His quavery voice and unsure footing gave it away and I felt myself trying to send him positive thoughts to help him gain focus. I was ready to excuse the flubbed lines at the beginning. But, they continued throughout the one-hour performance. (Example: "She had 9th degree...er, 3rd degree burns over 90 percent of her body...") There were times when Lesley worked with the flubs to make it appear the character was ruminating and suddenly remembered another story he wanted to tell. But most of the time, he tried to correct himself, only drawing more attention to the mistakes. The pacing was odd, as the show felt rushed even while it dragged on in parts.

At times, Lesley rose to the task and brought the angry elf to life, and the audience responded in kind. It was in those moments that Lesley let go of his ego and started having fun. There's no doubt that doing a one-man show without a break is a challenge, and I applaud Lesley for taking it on. It can't be easy giving a one-hour monologue with no other actors on stage..

There are some funny bits, to be sure, in this diary of a disgruntled Macy's elf from a more "innocent" time period (early 1990's). But this theatrical adaptation (by Joe Mantello) is no substitute for humorist David Sedaris's original essay.

The Santaland Diaries
by David Sedaris, adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello (incorrectly spelled "Montello" in the program)
Directed by Juergen Tossman
Starring Ted Lesley

Bunbury Theatre Company at the Henry Clay
604 S. Third Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40250
502 585-5306
bunburytheatre@gmail.com
http://www.bunburytheatre.org
Tickets $21.00 General / $18.00 Seniors / $15.00 Students

December 7th-18th
Wednesday through Saturday- 7:30 pm
Sundays - 2:00pm

Show Dates:
Wed Dec 7 - 7:30
Thur Dec 8 - 7:30
Sun Dec 11 - 5:30
Thur Dec 15 - 7:30
Sat Dec 17 - 5:00
Sun Dec 18 - 7:30

This play has mature themes and is not intended for children

REVIEW: The Matrix LIVE! (A Parody)

2011-12-05T11:39:00.001-05:00

The Alley Theater opens The Matrix LIVE! (a parody) written and directed by Todd Zeigler.

Reviewed by Brian Walker

Did you see the movies? The first one, yes, everyone did, but did you catch the sequels? The Matrix came out in 1999 and then the sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions in 2003. Where were you? Do you remember who you were with? (I like to do that with movies…) I saw all three in the theatres and can remember most of those details pretty well. I can remember them much better than the plots of the films themselves (especially the second and third turd-ball installments) and I kind of wish I’d watched them before seeing this as I was ill-prepared for my night at The Alley Theater. This parody relies very heavily on the audience’s knowledge of the films themselves; not just knowledge that they exist. There are some good times had by all, but especially at about two and a half hours in, you better know something about the movies or you’ll be out to sea without a paddle.

If you haven’t seen the films this little review isn’t really the place for me to delve into the whole philosophy and story lines and twists and turns so go rent the first one and pretend they never made sequels. The Matrix is a taut, mind-bending, science fiction opus that even managed to make Keanu Reeves look cool as shit.

As a play, no way. I couldn’t see it working unless it was some multi-million dollar Spider-Man type Broadway musical budget and even then what on earth would the songs sound like? But a parody? Oh yes, ripe material for such an undertaking what with the cult following the films continue to have, the great characters, the ridiculous sequels…it seems that parodies are popping up all over American theatre these days and I say if it puts butts in the seats and gives people some good times then hell yes! What with Alley’s tremendous success with Evil Dead and Point Break it only makes sense to keep the good times rolling.

They were wise to recruit Mr. Zeigler to come up with an original parody based on this heavy hitter in the science fiction film lexicon. He has a gift for broad comedy and making people laugh. His writing is wacky, smart and clever while remaining completely accessible to non-theatre-going theatre-going folks. He cleverly begins with some introductions from the filmmakers Andy and Larry Wachowski and their dream to produce their masterpiece The Matrix onstage. We’re introduced to their assistant and she in turn holds “auditions” for the male lead of Neanu. The role is given to the bartender and bam; they’re off.

As things get going the brothers are in and out tweaking as things go along, their assistant stays next to Neanu for the entire show with the script, coaching him along and taking over as needed and actors who wear green t-shirts act as “special effects”doing various things including making the actors fly through the air, creating elevators and giant human eating robots. Everything works really well. The jokes are hitting their marks, all of Mr. Zeigler’s wonderful devices are building steam and momentum. The ensemble of actors are jumping around everywhere, chasing each other and creating some great sight theatre and fantastic little bit characters. My only real quibble with the first act was the multiple references to Alley’s production to Point Break (which unfortunately I missed), they all went over my head and fell pretty flat for my party as well. Then intermission. First Act: One hour.

Before intermission starts the brothers are informed (?) that they are all actually going to do a parody of the entire trilogy and not just the first movie. Ha ha, very funny, right? Oh great joke! That would take all night. They wouldn’t do that; would they?

Yep.

Act two begins at the end of the first movie and barrels right into the second. Now this is where things get really hazy for me because the show starts to get really redundant really fast. I’m confused as soon aswe’re into the second film. I expected things would get really "Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged" and we’d be treated to crazy, tight, quick conclusion to the wonderful little parody this troupe had created. Unfortunately this was not the case. Jokes are regurgitated, things begin to look the same and it just keeps going on and going on. Then intermission. Yep. Another one. Second Act: We’re at two hours.

Act three (I’m just going to be really honest) was just a big convoluted mess that kept trying to be a nice big payoff for the audience who had (by the end of it) invested three hours of their social calendars to, but unfortunately it just never happened. It just seemed to go on and on and on and I felt so bad because all the actors were working and trying so hard but I was so lost and so many things were going over my head and I just gave up. End of the third act and it’s been three hours.

In my humble opinion this production needed a few more editors’ eyes and a few more pairs of scissors before it hit the boards and it would have been a really stellar night of theatre. The first act was clear, energetic, hilarious; I was having a blast but act two lost me and act three frustrated me; you can’t just keep hitting an audience (especially a modern audience, like it or not) over the head with the same joke and the same shtick and the same routine for three hours. I kept thinking about all of the really successful film parodies that I love and I can’t think of one over 90 minutes and I think there’s a reason for it. For a successful parody you’ve got to quickly get in, have fun with the source material and rip it apart and then quickly get out before the audience starts asking “okay, what’s next?”

All of that being said I will repeat: the ensemble of actors really did work their asses off, made me laugh a shit ton (mostly in act one) and were all very passionate about what they were doing. I don’t know some of the cast and the program doesn’t actually state who played which character so I’ll just leave it with some descriptions on a few of my favorites: The gal who played The Wachowski brothers’ assistant was hilarious; she was someone I could totally see on an SNL sketch and she worked it all night. Elizabeth Cox (who I do know) was totally awesome; she went there and committed 100% and after the first intermission was totally under-utilized. Ray Robinson made me giggle just about every time he was onstage; he’s got a knack for silly characters. Ben Unwin and the guy who played the other Wachowski brother were both energetic, easy on the eyes and great physical comedy actors.

If you’re a fan of these movies I have no doubt you will have a blast at this show. If not, or especially if you’ve never seen them, be warned, almost everything will go over your head. You’ll still have some laughs but I imagine you will also find yourself scratching your head about two and a half hours in asking yourself, “Is this still going on?”

The Matrix LIVE! (a parody)
by Todd Ziegler

Alley Theater of Louisville
1205 E. Washington Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
502-713-6178
thealleytheater.org

December 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16 & 17, 2011. All shows at 7:30

Tickets, Advance: $18 General Admission; Student, Senior, Military $16
Day of Show: $20 General Admission; Senior, Military: $18; Student: $10 with valid current student ID at the box office

Season ticket eligible * Group Rates available

REVIEW: Gays in Toyland

2011-12-02T18:17:00.001-05:00

Pandora Productions keeps the holiday theatrical train moving here in Louisville with an original world premiere: Gays in Toyland, written by Jim Hesselman, directed by Michael Drury with musical direction by Doug Jones.

Front Row sitting l to r: Kate Holland, Jason Cooper; Standing front row: Julie Zielinski; Standing back row l to r: Mike Fryman, Patrick Brophy & Joe Hatfield

Reviewed by Brian Walker

Being gay, or even a bit different from the norm, it is easy to feel left out of the holidays. Many of us have to keep who we are close to us as we attend the endless barrage of family events and Christmas happenings, we don’t see our people in the holiday specials or the Christmas movies and a good cock and balls ornament are few and far between. Pandora offers all us "misfits" a cute and distracting Christmas present wrapped up in a little show full of “alternative” carols, big characters, hilarious skits and gayness from head to toe.

Patric (Mike Fryman) is opening a toy store in an upscale shopping district that’s a little bit different from the norm. He’s offering toys that are a little bit strange, a little bit special, a little bit gay. Think Island of Misfit Toys but at a drag bar. Robert (Joseph Hatfield) stumbles in looking for work (and a little possible nookie on the side) and before the end of ACT I we have a hodge-podge of unlikely holiday revelers including a few elves on the run from the North Pole (Kate Holland and Jason Cooper) and a female impersonator (Patrick Brophy) who’s lost her job now that she’s too “real” and they’re all trying to make the toy shop successful before the bigoted landlord throws them out on the street and forces them to close. Marketing ploys are used, heartstrings tugged and at the end a familiar face swoops in to save the day.

The script is simple, if not a bit trite at times. It’s a holiday play that’s full of camp, fun musical numbers and gay jokes and not big on character development or making realistic connections between A and B. It would be better thought of as one big fabulous Christmas skit and as long as you go in with no expectations of a strong, believable story arc or a satisfying conclusion that costs something, you’ll have a great time. And to be fair, that seems to be all the show is really concerned with doing: giving the audience a fun evening of theatre and providing a home for gay folks to come together and celebrate Christmas for our own gay reasons and not the status quo or the religious mythology that goes along with it over at Grandma’s house. And gay sympathizers are welcome too; you’ll have just as much fun as the gays.

Michael Drury makes great use of the space and guides the ensemble of talented actors with a limp wrist and a pocket full of glitter. Bits are milked, scenery chewed and sight gags abound in what culminates into a successful and campy good time.

Mike Fryman

Mike Fryman and Joseph Hatfield are adorable as recently discovered gays and toy proprietors. Mr. Fryman brings a wonderful non-apologetic sincerity to the role that gave me a toothache. Seeing Mr. Hatfield play gay always gives me a chubby and the boy can sing! I had no idea! My favorite number of the evening was their duet (of sorts…) “I’m not Gay!” where they both try to convince each other of their assured heterosexuality (girl, please!).

Patrick Brophy was great in the role of the transgendered guardian angel Noelle and it was so refreshing to see this type of character in a main role. His acting was stronger than his singing but at the end of the evening it didn’t matter because of all the characters, the audience becomes the most endeared to Noelle for standing up to bullshit, doing something nice for a stranger and being super fierce, and much of that is attributed to Mr. Brophy and not the script.

Kate Holland and Jason Cooper were tons of fun as the rogue,mischievous elves. Again, I thought the acting chops were stronger than the singing but they were so darn cute so again; it didn’t matter.

The ensemble hadn’t a weak leak among them and they all added the energy and enthusiasm the show needed to keep me engaged and interested. Robbie Lewis had about eighteen wonderful moments but his Ken skit was worth the price of the ticket: completely and totally hilarious! Laura Ellis was so good as an old fat lady I didn’t even realize it was her until after it was over (not to mention the fact she has the best singing voice of the bunch). Alex Craig was terrific as Mr. Utt, that classic villain from every kid’s movie we all love to hate for being such an asshole. Susan Crocker left me wanting more of her voice; the tiny glimpses I got offered some true amazingness. Julie Zielinski rounds out the ensemble and was great in the role I shouldn’t tell you about cause I don’t wanna ruin the big reveal!

Kneeling l to r: Kate Holland, Jason Cooper; Standing l to r: Mike Fryman, Patrick Brophy & Joe Hatfield

Gays in Toyland will make you laugh and revel in your holiday gayness like nobody's business and we Christmas-loving gays need to get our fixes where we can. Pandora offers a silly and light-hearted alternative to the normal holiday fare and I say Ho, ho, ho!

Gays in Toyland
A Pandora Original

Pandora Productions
502.216.5502
pandora.productions@insightbb.com
PandoraProds.org

At the Victor Jory theatre
(Actors Theatre - 316 W Main Street)
December 1 - 11, 2011

Actors Theatre's New Artistic Director

2011-11-29T12:09:00.001-05:00

I, for one, am excited about this news!
Edited, from the horse's mouth:

Obie Award-winning Director, Les Waters has been named Actors Theatre’s new Artistic Director. Waters, who for the past eight years has been the Associate Artistic Director at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, California, will transition to his new post effective January 9, 2012 and assume full-time duties at Actors Theatre in late March.

Waters has more than 30 years of experience in theatre and has forged a formidable career as a director. A strong proponent of contemporary work and adaptations of classic material, Waters has an impressive track record of collaborating with some of theatre’s most prominent playwrights, including Caryl Churchill, Charles Mee and Sarah Ruhl, and he has been a champion of important new voices such as Will Eno, Jordan Harrison and Anne Washburn.

Les Waters said, “It is an honor and a privilege to take up the reins at Actors Theatre of Louisville, an organization I’ve long admired. I’ve had the opportunity to direct twice at Actors Theatre, and I was deeply impressed with the theatre, its staff and the community at large. I am excited to begin working with the board of trustees, staff, volunteer core and Actors Theatre’s extended family of theatre artists. I am committed to making theatre here that is passionate and intelligent, funny and heartfelt and to leading Actors Theatre to new artistic endeavors. I look forward to being a part of this community, to making a new home in Louisville, and to continuing Actors Theatre’s incredible legacy of local and national acclaim.”

Throughout Waters’ eight year tenure at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, his shows garnered great critical acclaim, routinely ranking among the year’s best by critics in The New Yorker, New York Times, Time Out New York, Time Magazine, and USA Today. In 2009, he made his Broadway debut with renowned playwright Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), which premiered at Berkeley. His other productions at Berkeley Repertory Theater include the world premieres of Concerning Strange Devices from the Distant West, Fêtes de la Nuit, Finn in the Underworld, Girlfriend, and To the Lighthouse; the American premiere of TRAGEDY: a tragedy; the West Coast premieres of Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice and Three Sisters; and extended runs of The Glass Menagerie, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Pillowman, and Yellowman. Waters has numerous credits in New York, his native England, and at theatres across America. He led the MFA directing program at UC San Diego where he continues to teach. Waters is an associate artist of The Civilians.

REVIEW: Sherlock Holmes and T'was the Murder Before Christmas

2011-11-28T11:28:00.001-05:00

WhoDunnit? Murder Mystery Theater opens the world premiereof A. S. Waterman’s Sherlock Holmes and T’was the Murder Before Christmas.

Reviewed by Brian Walker

This being the second show put on by this troupe that I’vehad a delightful evening of theatre at, I’m going to go ahead and claim thetitle of “fan of murder mysteries.” Thefull room at the Hyatt last Saturday night indicates to me that I’m not aloneand that the genre (and art form) are alive and well in the ‘ville. The audience ranged from mystery aficionado,following all the clues and asking the actors a ton of questions to the casualobserver who felt uncomfortable interacting with the actors but were engagedthroughout. The result (at least to mycasual observances) was a room full of happy and satisfied diners andtheater-goers.

The premise (lifted directly from the program): “London,1890: A killer has struck every year onChristmas Eve and he…or she…is lurking in the shadows! Will Holmes and Watson solve the case? Match wits with the greatest detective of alltime and save the intended victim!”

Instead of the audience coming into a murder which hashappened (which seems to be more often the case with murder mysteries), we’reinvited to help solve the mystery BEFORE the murder occurs which added a nicelevel of suspense to the night’s proceedings.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson arrive at the mission houseon Christmas Eve to investigate before the killer strikes again. They have sequestered all the folks whohappened to be there in an effort to ferret out the killer. They include the head matron TemperancePaine, the boozing Dr. Cecil B. Tubbs, the lady of the night Hermione Blaze,the crazy tenant Bramble Strange and the socialite Gardenia Welltower. They’ve all got a back story and as the dramaunfolds most of them seem to have motive as well.

The premise and the colorful characters (I love the names;where did she come up with them?!?) all add to the fun of trying to catch thekiller and my nephew and I found ourselves hopelessly wrapped up in the wittyand playful script, the spirited performances from the ensemble and thedelicious food!

A. S. Waterman penned the script and I found it to be muchtighter than the last production I saw. It held the spirit of the Sherlock Holmes mythology while standing on it’sown as a delightful little murder mystery. The dialogue was witty and precise and the characters, while allsatisfying the archetypes of the classic model of a good mystery, kept from becomingcaricatures of themselves.

Erica Goldsmith as Hermione Blaze and Beth Olliges asGardenia Welltower were the standout performers of the evening. Their dichotomy of good girl versus bad girlwas very well crafted and they really inhabited their characters the mostsuccessfully as they made their rounds to the tables for questions from theaudience. I can only imagine howdifficult it must be to stay in character as folks berate you with stupidquestions and stuff their faces in front of you, but both these ladies did asuperlative job both with the scripted material and with their improvisations.

NilesWelch as Bramble Strange and Rick O’Daniel-Munger as Dr. Cecil B. Tubbs wereboth also a lot of fun to watch and provided some great comic moments while theinvestigations were going on. However, the script never successfully framed eitheras possible murderers and they both remained on our least likely list afterquestioning them at our tables.

Penny Brill as Temperance Paine inhabited her role as thestuffy matron so convincingly that we almost felt awkward questioning her. Her nastiness and intolerance seethed fromher pores making her the almost sure bet for the killer (or was she?).

So whodunit? You’rejust going to have to go see it to find out. My nephew (again) felt very accomplished in having figured it out whileI (again) was relatively deflated as I was totally off base.

A. J. Green as Sherlock Holmes and Dustin Perry as Dr.Watson were fine in their roles, but provided the least engaging performancesof the evening. There just wasn’t astrong connection between the two actors as one would expect with these twoiconic “buddies” and their seriousness and commitment often came off as angryand frustrated. It may have been how theroles were directed, but they seemed to me to be having the least amount offun.

I must also state that the staff and service were impeccable. We were treated like kings by the conscientious and personable wait-staff.

WhoDunnit Murder Mystery offers a delightful holiday treatthat’s completely different from any of the other local Christmas theatricalofferings currently on the boards. Thisis a show the whole family (however you define it) can see together and really enjoytogether and if you’ve never seen a murder mystery, this is the troupe to gosee!

(ED. NOTE: The show is double cast. This review is from the second week of performances.)

Sherlock Holmes and T'was the Murder Before Christmas

Presented by:

WhoDunnit Murder Mystery Theater
Performing at The Hyatt Regency

320 West Jefferson Street
Louisville, Kentucky
(502) 426-7100
http://www.whodunnitky.com

Nov 19 - Dec 17

Actors Theatre's New Artistic Director

2011-11-23T13:21:00.001-05:00

Nope, we don't know who it is. But if you know, please tell us!

ACTORS THEATRE OF LOUISVILLE

TO NAME NEW ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Actors Theatre of Louisville will announce its new Artistic Director at a special press conference on Tuesday, November 29, followed by a public reception that evening to which members of the public are invited to attend.
PRESS CONFERENCE 10 a.m.

Actors Theatre of Louisville will hold a special press conference to announce the appointment of a new Artistic Director. The Press Conference will also be broadcast live at www.livestream.com. For a direct link visit ActorsTheatre.org.

PUBLIC RECEPTION 4.30 p.m. -6.30 p.m.

That evening Actors Theatre of Louisville will open its doors and host a public reception to welcome the new Artistic Director. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from the new Artistic Director for the first time. This event is free and open to members of the public.

WHEN: Tuesday, November 29

WHERE: Actors Theatre of Louisville, 316 West Main Street

REVIEW: ReEntry

2011-11-21T13:26:00.001-05:00

Actors Theatre opens the Marine docu-drama ReEntry by Emily Ackerman and KJ Sanchez, directed by KJ Sanchez.


Larry Mitchell in ReEntry

Reviewed by Brian Walker

“All of the dialogue in this play came directly from interviews conducted by Emily Ackerman and KJ Sanchez with members of the Marine Corps and their family members.”

Maybe it’s just me (and I’ll admit a bit of bias here) but when I go to see a play I want to hear the dialogue of the playwright. I want to be told a story that feels like a story that I could only be told while sitting in the audience of a play. Very similarly I like to see actors portray characters, directors stage scripts and designers execute lighting, scene and sound elements. In my opinion compiling a play entirely with actual transcribed dialogue is the same as letting Marines play their parts onstage. As earnest and ‘real’ as they may have seemed, I would wager to say that their performances would be lacking that special something that only an artist would bring to it, and I must admit the text for ReEntry left me feeling the same. It was missing something that only a story-teller can bring to the end product of a production. Plays need creator(s), not expert scrap-bookers.

The subject matter of ReEntry is so noble and important and vital to all Americans to see and understand that it is unfortunate what this production ends up feeling like: something better conveyed in a film documentary or a 60-Minutes TV special. Even the moments which were contrived to make the piece more theatrical, like the choreographed scene changes and stylized marching numbers, just came off looking silly and trite next to the heavy (andI’ll say it again: important) subject matter being analyzed.

ReEntry focuses on a handful of members of the Marine Corps and their families, attempting to paint a broad picture of what it is like to be a member of the armed forces; being deployed to war, coming home and re-entering society, going back to war and repeating the cycle over and over and over again. Their stories are captivating and moving and made me realize how lucky we are to live in America and it made me thankful to every man and woman who ever put on a uniform and served their country. In telling their stories, in making me aware and conscious of something that I may have never thought about in my spoiled reality, Ms. Sanchez and Ms. Ackerman have succeeded. But for me it just never rose above the documentary I could have been watching on my television and I wished for more story-telling, more honest theatricality and a clearer through line of beginning, middle and end.

That being said, there were some undeniably strong moments of the evening that only theatre could have been the vehicle for and the impact was felt by everyone in the audience, unfortunately for me and many of my fellow theatre goers that evening (if much of their body language was any indication) they were too few and far between and more often than not I found myself getting bored.

The exceptions:

Brandon Jones’ monologue towards the end of the show which turns into an open indictment on the audience (and all of America) for being lazy and spoiled was electric and goose-pimple inducing and gave me that theatrical energy that I was missing much of the show. He was powerful and he looked into the eyes of the individual audience members as he spoke and it was incredible to be on the receiving end of those accusations.

Larry Mitchell’s scene honoring a fallen soldier was also very powerful and heart-wrenching and was an effective moment which rose above the dry documentary of the rest of the production.

Ben Rosenblatt gave the best performance of the evening. His characters were well defined and theatrically animated and he never came off as flat or trying too hard to seem real, which many of the other actors fell prey to over the course of the evening which resulted in my difficulty in connecting to this piece as a play.

Is ReEntry a bad show? No way. It has some powerful moments and some real truths that all Americans should be required to be made aware of. I just wish it took better advantage of all the wonderful devices the theatre can provide and had given me more moments that rose to the occasion of being a play.

ReEntry

In association with American Records

by Emily Ackerman and KJ Sanchez
directed by KJ Sanchez

Actors Theatre of Louisville

316 W Main Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
502-584-1205
info@actorstheatre.org
actorstheatre.org

November 15 - December 17, 2011

REVIEW: The Wedding Singer

2011-11-18T18:39:00.001-05:00

Youth Performing ArtsSchool presents

THE WEDDING SINGER

Book by CHAD BEGUELINand TIM HERLIHY

Music by MATTHEWSKLAR

Lyrics by CHADBEGUELIN

Based on the New LineCinema film written by TIM HERLIHY

Directed by GEORGETTEKLEIER

Reviewed by CoryVaughn

(Ed. note: This show must be great - we have had two reviews submitted independently -- see Alonzo Richmond's "blurb" for his point of view!)

DuPont Manual High School’s musical theatre program, alongwith those of Floyd Central and New Albany High Schools, is one of the mainreasons I was inspired fairly early in my life to pursue theatre. All threeprograms made a huge impression on me during countless elementary and middleschool field trips to student matinees. Although I think I’ve done pretty wellby myself in my relatively young career, I sometimes regret not attending anyof these schools. These young performers are off to a giant head start. I amnot allowed to review productions at Floyd Central, where my sister Angela ischoral director and musical director for their theatre productions, or at NewAlbany, where I am an occasional substitute teacher, but for the first timeFriday night, I had the pleasure of reviewing a production of Manual’s YouthPerforming Arts School.

Let me say first of all that The Wedding Singer, which they have chosen to open their 35^thseason, is not a great piece of musical theatre (and given the source material,how could it possibly be?), and it seems an odd choice for the school whoseacclaimed theatre program gave us the first local productions of Les Miserables and Jason Robert Brown’s Thirteen, but it is a good showcasepiece for the talents of director Georgette Kleier and her students, who havegiven it 150% and put on an occasionally funny, often cute, sometimes lagging,and consistently entertaining and high-energy production of an average show. Iknow instinctively that these students are working their butts off and beinggraded on it, and yet, it doesn’t show. They genuinely seem to be having agreat time, and it’s their commitment and spunk that makes the show better thanit probably should be.

Unless you spent the 1990s living under a rock, youundoubtedly know that The Wedding Singer,like far too many musicals on Broadway these days, is based on a movie, andthat that movie starred Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. Sandler was titlecharacter Robbie Hart, a failed rock singer whose sole livelihood comes fromsinging at wedding receptions, all of which seem to take place at the samemulti-purpose banquet hall in a kinder-gentler New Jersey circa a 1985 that,for all I know, never really existed except as a garrulous parody of itself.When Robbie’s own wedding goes down in flames (his bitchy fiancée leaves thepoor schmuck stranded at the altar via a particularly charming Dear Johnletter), he loses his mojo, and very nearly his mind. But gradually he iscoaxed out of the (at one point literal) dumps by his burgeoning friendshipwith sweet young caterer Julia (Barrymore) who waitresses at the same weddingswhere he sings, and who is engaged to a womanizing corporate shark for whom termslike “douche bag” and “yuppie scum” are too flattering. You can pretty much seewhere this is going.

If you’ve read some of my previous reviews, you know that Iam not a fan of the way today’s generation of Broadway producers seemdetermined to put every movie ever made onstage and make them sing and dancefor a quick buck, but I suppose I’ve learned by now to live with it, and aslong as this thoroughly derivative method of theatremaking contributes a fewenjoyable songs and characters worth spending two hours with, then why the hecknot?

The book, adapted from Tim Herlihy’s screenplay by Herlihyand lyricist Chad Beguelin, does a nice job of smoothing out some of the roughedges of the characters. Robbie is much more sympathetic, sweeter, less cloying,more of an everyman, and less of a nebbish. The show requires immenselyappealing leads to carry its predictable plot, and with seniors Sean Sullivanand Bailey Rose at the helm, we’re in capable hands. They’re adorable together,and they are backed up by a constantly moving chorus and supporting actors whomanage to be engaging and funny despite their one-note (or in the case of TylerJohnson-Campion as flamboyant backup singer George, one-joke) characters andtotal lack of any decent songs to sing. Kendrick Thielmeier at least has some zippyone-liners as Julia’s much-more-promiscuous cousin and confidante; she alsogets the lion’s share of Gail Benedict’s choreography, including a well-played Flashdance homage against the neonbackdrop of Lamont Cowden’s ubiquitous star-drop, here lit up in bright purplesand greens. The vibrant 80s color palette also inspires some pretty wackycostume and wig designs by Amy Berry.

The tone for the evening was set immediately, with Manualprincipal Larry Wooldridge taking the stage in his absurd mullet wig to declarethat opening night (November 11, 2011) as “Heavy Metal Day,” and stage managerMax Abner reading a particularly witty and snarky variation on the obligatory cell-phonewarning. Wooldridge was not the only faculty member to join in the onstage fun;Manual and YPAS students will recognize assistant principals Daryl Farmer andGreg Kuhn and teachers Katie Blackerby, Nichole Finley, Alexis Rich and JasonSeber in gag cameos toward the end. Now if only several of them, most notablyKuhn, were not victimized by defective body mics. But then, even the leads attimes sounded overwhelmed by the seventeen-piece pit band; they sound great,but they could stand to lower the volume by a couple decibels.

The Wedding Singer’ssomewhat lackluster 80’s-pastiche score, by lyricist Beguelin and composerMatthew Sklar, produces little hit parade material, which is ironic,considering the mid-80s soundtrack was the best thing about the film! Unlikemany of my peers, however, I base my judgment of a musical theatre score not onwhether I leave humming the tunes, but whether I want to hear them again. I canrecall at least four original songs that fell pleasantly enough on my ear towarrant a second listen, and in the age of MammaMia! and countless other utterly unimaginative jukebox shows, four ain’tbad. The first two songs, Robbie’s “It’s Your Wedding Day” and Julia’s wistful“Someday,” are so infectious, so giddy, that it’s a little disappointing hownothing that follows really comes close. True, “Not That Kind of Thing” has agreat and memorable hook, and there is also a sweet Act Two duet for our twoleads entitled “If I Told You”, but those who lived through the 1980s willwithout question recognize in those songs the influence of Van Halen’s “Jump”and Journey’s “Faithfully,” respectively. Homage or outright plagiarism? You decide,but I can’t deny I enjoyed listening to them the first, and second, and thirdtime. And of course there are two Sandler-penned holdovers from the movie, butthey were slight then and slighter now.

I say it again, it is the surprisingly professionalperformances of the teenage stars that make this show worthwhile. Inparticular, I could not be prouder to see young Sean Sullivan, who hasfrequently danced in the choruses of shows I have done at CenterStage, so totallynail his long-overdue star turn as Robbie, and if he achieves his goal ofstudying music education at Eastern Kentucky University (noted in his bio), Ihope he inspires his future students to perform with the same joy and gustothat has always served him so well.

Reviewing YPAS shows is always tricky, because they areusually double-cast, and that is the case here. My review is based on the castI was able to see, and that doesn’t seem fair to those equally hard-workingstudents who alternate in the principal roles. Perhaps, when I return toLouisville from California this weekend, I shall have to become the firstcritic in town to review the same show twice. Till then, both casts will belisted in the credits at the end of this article.

For you in the general public, the coming Friday andSaturday evenings are your last chance to catch The Wedding Singer, but it is my understanding that several studentmatinees are also planned. For you teachers and administrators concerned aboutthe language in the movie, fear not: Kleier and company have cleaned it upnicely, and perhaps like me, one of your students will find inspiration in theaccomplishments of YPAS’s performing arts.

The Wedding Singer

Youth Performing Arts School
1517 South Second Street
Louisville KY 40208
502-485-8355
Website: www.ypas.org

Remaining Public Performances: November 18 and 19, 7:30pm

Tickets:

General Admission: $12.00
Students (with ID): $9.00

Taylor Dant takes over the role of Robbie Hart for thisweekend.

November 18^th will feature Bailey Rose (Julia),Jordan Adams (Sammy), Kendrick Thielmeier (Holly), Tyler Johnson-Campion(George), Grace Theobald (Rosie), Alex Kapp (Glenn), and Ashleed Soldo (Linda)

November 19^th will feature Rachel Hafell (Julia),Jordan Adams (Sammy), Kathleen Niemann (Holly), David Watkins (George),Courtney Doyle (Rosie), Tayler Lynch (Glenn), and Audrey Adams (Linda)

REVIEW: Sanders Family Christmas

2011-11-18T14:48:00.001-05:00

Derby Dinner Playhouse rings in the holiday season with Sanders Family Christmas, written by Connie Ray and conceived by Alan Bailey, directed by Bekki Jo Schneider with musical direction by Scott Bradley.

Janet Essenpreis as June Sanders
and Paul Kerr as Burl Sanders

Reviewed by Brian Walker

My third holiday play of the season and it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet and that doesn’t bother me in the least. Sanders Family Christmas was the first one of my season steeped in Jesus and religion and that didn’t really bother me either. Like many Americans, my Christmas traditions don’t have anything to do with religion, but I can still appreciate what the time of year represents to most Christians and can easily get caught up in the Christmas mythology and what it represented to me as a child. So I’ll just go ahead and state the obvious: I had a great time at this show.

There is something that is just really fun about going to the Derby [Dinner Playhouse]. Eating is one of my favorite things to do next to seeing theatre so the combo is undeniably suited for me. Plus there’s a bar.

Walking into the theatre was the first great thing about my night at Derby Dinner: they’ve got it all dolled up for Christmas with runners on the tables, holly on the walls and the pictures wrapped in holiday paper. Despite the fact that it’s mid-November I was immediately transported to December 24th before the show even began, and I gave myself over to the infectious good spirit that seemed to permeate the room.

The second great thing about my night was the food. Dinner is in the name of the theatre so I feel I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention my delight with the cream based penne pasta dish and the stewed peas. Delicious! This is also the only time of year they serve their legendary cranberry salad which I could have easily eaten an entire plate of. The only low point was the brownie; it was a bit dry and pedestrian next to their other amazing dessert options (my partner got the Peanut Butter Pie again and it really is a little piece of food heaven).

The third great thing about my night was the staff. Sitting back and watching this team of waiters, performers, bussers and kitchen staff seamlessly keep the entire room of patrons happy was quite an incredible show in itself. They bring customer service to the next level and smile the whole while and make you want to come back. Then half of them get up and sing in the Footnotes portion of the show, which was delightful and a perfect musical appetizer to the main event. They do an arrangement of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" that is just goose-pimple inducing (and apparently on sale in the gift shop!).

And finally the fourth great thing about my night at Derby Dinner: The show!

The plot is simple enough: The Sanders Family are one of those old-fashioned traveling musical families where everyone either sings or plays an instrument (from the gospel musical comedy Smoke on the Mountain). They return to Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church for some good old fashioned witness-bearing and music playing. It’s Christmas Eve 1941 and Reverend Mervin Oglethorpe is trying to get the nerve to ask for a certain Sanders lady's hand in marriage, Cousin Jim is home from Hollywood with tales of Gene Autry and making movies and Dennis Sanders is about to leave his family to join the war efforts in Europe.

The story is limited but effective and beautifully quaint, and the actors have created some wonderful characters that really bring the family, the music, and Christmas Eve in a Baptist church to life. The actors include the audience in the shenanigans and we’re made to feel like guests of the congregation and part of the family. One lucky audience member was even brought up onstage and it was so adorable watching him get into it. He was a star for sixty seconds and we all cheered him on and he couldn’t get the grin off his face after it was all over (I kept checking…).

The show’s real energy force is of course from the music. About every five minutes or so the family breaks out in songs which range from bluegrass holiday to church hymns to classic Christmas carols. There’s a banjo, several guitars, a mandolin, twenty-some odd bells, a triangle, a piano and an upright bass and they are all played with ease by the members of the cast. There wasn’t a weak performer in this bunch and they were all a ton of fun to watch. My favorite musical numbers were "Cactus Christmas Tree," "Christmas in the Mountains" and "Christmas in Other Lands Medley," but all of them were engaging and expertly performed.

Cary Wiger was a standout performer as Reverend Mervin Oglethorpe. His reverend was unassuming,sweet, gentle and completely adorable. It would be easy to see this role lost in the big performances of the family members but Mr. Wiger was having so much fun it was near impossible to take my eyes off him while he was onstage.

Janet Essenpreis was also really fantastic as the non-singing member of her family June Sanders. She rings bells, does sign language and endears the entire audience to her simple but honest and engaging presence.

I would listen to Rita Thomas (Vera Sanders) sing the phone book; her voice is powerful and unique and her mama was a real treat.

I left the theater feeling great; excited for the holiday season to begin for everyone else. I had a wonderful time, some good laughs and I would highly recommend this show to anyone who loves some good ole’ country Christmas music and a first-rate buffet. The religious overtures can become a bit too much for us non-Christian types, but the ensemble seems to understand that they would and peppers the show with some of the things that make the holidays special for the rest of us: being with and celebrating your family and friends, being good to each other and being good to ourselves.

Sanders Family Christmas
Directed by Bekki Jo Schneider

Derby Dinner Playhouse
525 Marriott Drive
Clarksville, Indiana 47129
812-288-8281
http://www.derbydinner.com
November 15 through December 31, 2011

Featuring Cary Wiger, Paul Kerr, Rita Thomas, Janet Essenpreis, Tina Jo Wallace, Bill Hanna, and Scott Bradley.

REVIEW: The Flu Season

2011-11-17T10:28:00.001-05:00

Reviewed by Sherry Deatrick

Will Eno's The Flu Season opened to a full house at U of L's Thrust Theatre last night. The audience, mostly students, may have been required to attend (I heard some of them griping about having to write a paper about the play), but they sure seemed to enjoy it. Especially the naughty parts (more about that later). I was tickled to hear audience members gasp during the somewhat steamy scenes.

The play is certainly a challenge -- for both the actors and the audience. And the U of L cast and crew did a nice job of meeting it.

The play is an exploration into the craft of fiction writing, and offers a glimpse into the author's private hell. A character named "Prologue" (Reese Fisher) describes the setting and action of the play. At first, Prologue is excited, optimistic even, about the new work. On the other end of the spectrum is Epilogue (Meredith Johnson), the cold, criticizing and self-doubting aspect of the playwright who's just sick of the whole thing.

Illustrating the playwright's frustration (rather than just telling us "I have writer's block!) is a wonderful scene in which the characters stand frozen on stage, and then gesticulate at Epilogue, who pushes them away like toys outgrown.

Audience members cringed (with good reason) when Prologue and Epilogue singled out certain people to ask rhetorical questions of. Not knowing whether an answer was actually expected, some tried to respond but were awkwardly ignored.

And now for the "story." A young man (Conrad Newman) and woman (Deanna Gillispie) meet in a psychiatric hospital. The nurse (Blair Boyd) is an unstable flibbertigibbet flitting about trying to get the patients to get out into the world. They'd rather retreat to the man's room and get (almost) naked. Their doctor (David Miller) talks mostly about himself ("I remember tall blonde women on bicycles in the Netherlands").

The plot is just the playwright's exercise, or excuse, to revel in language and explore the nature of communication. The events unfold like a cartoon, or a sit-com, albeit one aimed at an intelligent crowd. There are tons of witticisms. "Alexander Graham Bell, that has a nice ring to it," says the man while the couple contemplate children's names.

Christopher Isherwood compares Eno to Samuel Beckett. Edward Albee calls Eno "one of the finest young playwrights I've come across...." I would compare him to Eugene Ionesco filtered and shaped by the excesses of the 1990's, which gave us all more free time to become introspective, but lose empathy for others. The bottom line -- the play is a fun ride that will fire your neurons if you love language play.

It's impossible to pick a standout performance due to the unique qualities of each character. All did a fine job despite the fact that their characters were mere toys of the playwright. The program lists a "Television Reporter," and the press release hinted it would be played by a famous local newscaster, but alas, there was none in sight. Unless I missed it. Or maybe he called in sick with the flu?

The Flu Season
By Will Eno
Directed by Jim Tompkins

University of Louisville
Thrust Theatre
2314 S. Floyd St.
Louisville, KY

Tickets are $12 for the general public, $10 for UofL faculty and staff, and $8 for students and senior citizens.
For tickets and information, call 502-852-6814 or visit louisville.edu/theatrearts

Runs Nov. 16-19 at 8 p.m. nightly plus 3 p.m. matinees Nov. 19 and 20.

Humana Festival 2012

2011-11-15T18:10:00.001-05:00

As soon as I get some free time (ha ha ha) I will post more information about these plays. If you can't wait until then, go to Actors Theatre's website!

But here's the list of winners (snipped from Actors Theatre's press release):

This year’s Festival will feature 10 world premieres that celebrate 14 vital voices in American theatre today. This season, the Humana Festival runs February 26 through April 1, 2012.

Idris Goodwin, who will make his Humana Festival debut, said, “How We Got On launches my most recent theatrical endeavor: to pay homage to Hip Hop in the Midwest, the culture that shaped me as a writer. What greater affirmation than to participate in this country's most essential new play festival."

"I'm tremendously grateful and thrilled that my odd play about a vampire with second thoughts will premiere at the Humana Festival,” said playwright Greg Kotis on having his play selected. “I've had the honor to participate in the Festival twice before, first as a co-author of BRINK! (an anthology show written for and performed by Actor Theatre's Acting Apprentice Company), and then as a performer in and an author of one of the ten-minute plays. The Humana Festival continues to be one of the essential events of our national theatre season, and I'm very happy to be a part of it once again."

This year’s festival program will feature (in chronological order):
Seven full-length world premieres, including
The Veri**on Play by Lisa Kron
How We Got On by Idris Goodwin
The Hour of Feeling by Mona Mansour
Eat Your Heart Out by Courtney Baron
Death Tax by Lucas Hnath
Michael von Siebenburg Melts Through the Floorboards by Greg Kotis
Oh, Gastronomy! by Michael Golamco, Carson Kreitzer, Steve Moulds, Tanya Saracho and Matt Schatz, performed by the Actors Theatre Acting Apprentice Company.
An evening of three Ten-Minute Plays (to be announced)

Nancy Niles Sexton

2011-11-15T18:08:00.001-05:00

We are sad to hear of the passing of Nancy Niles Sexton last Thursday. From Walden Theatre's press release:

A visionary in the field of arts education, Mrs. Sexton founded Walden Theatre in 1976 to give young people the opportunity to grow and develop through the study and experience of theatre. Her leadership as Producing Director oversaw the organization's inclusion as a member of the Fund for the Arts and the purchase of its property on Payne Street, where the Nancy Niles Sexton Stage honors her legacy. She served as Producing Director until 1999, though she maintained an active role with young actors and playwrights beyond her official retirement.

Mrs. Sexton shared her expertise as an educator with lectures and workshops on theatre training for young people throughout Kentucky as well as in Indiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Ontario. Along with founding Walden Theatre, she launched a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1976 that led to the creation of the first Shakespeare Festival by and for young people in the United States. She also started Walden Theatre's young playwrights program, which continues to develop and produce new student works every year for the theatre going public.

Mrs. Sexton wrote 15 original works for Walden Theatre, and several of her plays -- covering everything from the life of Thomas Edison and the 1937 Louisville Flood to the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II -- are still performed for area school students. She co-authored the play My Days as a Youngling which was based on the early years of her uncle, Kentucky balladeer John Jacob Niles, and a performance of the play was broadcast on the KET public television network.

My Days as a Youngling was recognized with the Distinguished Play Award presented by the Children's Theatre Association of America in 1983. Other major recognitions include the Presentation Academy Tower Award for Women Leaders in 1999, a Gheens Premier Award in 2007, and Walden Theatre's inaugural Stage-Setter Award for Arts Community Impact in 2008.

Mrs. Sexton earned a BA in English/Drama from the University of Kentucky, and she did graduate work at the Yale Drama School. She was a member of Actors Equity Association, and she performed the folk music and legends of Kentucky all her life. She directed widely throughout her career, including an AFTRA Award-winning production of The Taming of the Shrew for WKPC-TV. As an actor, she performed with the Kentucky Opera, Actors Theatre of Louisville (including the Humana Festival of New American Plays), Stage West (Springfield, Mass.), and Walden Theatre.

She took huge delight in the achievements of her grandchildren and had fond memories of all the students she taught over the years. She is survived by her loving husband of 53 years, Robert Sexton; children Robert Franklin Sexton III (Nancy) and Charles Niles Sexton (Laura); grandchildren Aaron, Ian, Ben and Rena; sister, Beverly Niles; niece, Sandy Bennett.

Her funeral service will be 10 a.m. Thursday, November 17, 2011 at St. Matthews Baptist Church, with burial in Cave Hill Cemetery to follow. Her visitation will be 2-8 p.m. Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at Pearson Ratterman Brothers Funeral Home, 12900 Shelbyville Road. In addition, there will be a memorial celebrating Mrs. Sexton's life and career on Saturday, November 26, 3-5 p.m. at Walden Theatre.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Mrs. Sexton's memory can be made to Walden Theatre.

Alonzo's "High School Musical" Wrap-Up #2: Oliver!

2011-11-15T17:54:00.001-05:00

Silver Creek HighSchool's Oliver!

Wrapped up by Alonzo Richmond

Seeing Oliver!this weekend made the production the third High School show I'd seen in a week!It was also the second Charles Dickens' novel turned musical I'd seen in aweek.

We all know the storyof the orphan Oliver, and if you don't you need to get your tickets to SilverCreek's version of the show. Here are just a few highlights:

The show kicked offwith over 75 kids singing the classic Food Glorious Food opening number.Kids were flowing into the theater from every direction possible. Director NathanShewell is one the most ambitious men I know, and to direct this manyyoung grade school kids is beyond belief!

Mr. Bumble portrayedby Senior Timothy Stucky enters singing the title song followedby "Boy For Sale". Stucky shows his experience in this role, which Ihad heard was going to be portrayed by some old guy who wouldn't have been ableto do the role justice as Stucky did! ;) While Tim is fantastic, he still hassome untapped potential. There is yet another level I hope to see him achievebefore graduation next Spring! Well Done!

Mr. and Mrs.Sowerberry, the funeral operators are introduced and all I can say is WOW!First, it was great to see Seth Sheffield in a nice characterrole. But it was senior Hannah Waters who wins the "Oh MyGod, I was Totally Caught off Guard by How Great Her Performance was Award!Waters played several roles and it seemed that she was in EVERY SCENE in ActOne! She really stretched herself and stepped up her game in this productionand was a sheer joy to watch! Waters carries the girls vocally as well, evenwhen her mic stopped working.

Oliver is portrayedby Miss Ashlyn Gross. She has a beautiful voice and looked greatonstage! I see loads of potential here as well. She also played Annie in"Annie" and Ti Moune in "Once on this Island."

5th grader CooperSmith (Dodger) is nearly flawless! When he made his entrance the firsttime, I turned to my neighbor (SC alum Jenna Ryan) and said "this kid isgood!" Her response was "Wait til you hear him sing." I didn'thave to wait much longer to be absolutely blown away by his rendition of ConsiderYourself! Mom, keep pursuing this! Your son is so gifted and a naturalonstage and I couldn't believe this was his first show! Don't forget this youngman's name!

Another young man'sname who I think no one can forget is Cody King. Whether he isplaying Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, TonTon in Once on thisIsland or Rooster in Annie, King never lets you down. I have had thepleasure of following his short but full theatre career and have seentremendous growth. Cody portrays Fagin, a master in the business of teachingyoung boys to pick pockets. Although I think some of the end of Act 1 is poorlywritten King and Fagin's Gang made me love it all! Reviewing the Situation was outstanding andhad me engaged the entire number. One word for you sir, Brilliant!

Bethany Hansen (Nancy) has shownherself strong in the Theatre Department and is a fine, fine actress. Hansen'sperformance is elegant and subtle but moving, beautiful work! Junior MaddyLobeck did well as Nancy's friend Bet. Lobeck's high alto vocalspierced through and served as a nice treat during the evening. Minus a fewearly cut-offs Lobeck is nearly perfect.

Bill Sykes, Nancy'sabusive boyfriend is portrayed by a tantalizing Robert Coomer.Why do I use the word tantalizing? Here is its definition: to excite thesenses or desires of (someone). Coomer is great in this role; however whenhe really realizes his worth and talent, the sky will literally be the limit.Coomer is a very humble young man which is awesome and I respect him so muchfor that but in my opinion it could be holding him back. This is an actor withpotential to be a leading man in almost any show. As soon as he grabs hold ofthat... he'll be unstoppable. Great show Robert!

Ben Sauer is always a joy to watch;his sultry bass vocals just take show to another level. Garrett Frenchmade his stage debut and delivered his ACT ONE monologue nicely. Once wegive him something to do with those hands, he'll be set. Lindsay Miller isbeing groomed nicely and has a sweet voice. Sean Turley, Kayla Bransetterand Riley Billings are just a hoot to watch on-stage.

You will be doingyourself a huge favor by seeing this production! Nathan Shewell and CathyRyan direct these students so well and it is worth putting down your iPods,turning off your televisions and buying a ticket.

MainStage series’prices are fixed at $10 adults, $8 senior citizens and $6 for students. VIPSeats are $5 extra per ticket and offer you premier seating and complimentaryfood and drink inside the VIP Lounge during intermission. All seating isreserved.

The box office isopen 5-7 PM one week prior to all performances. Download the ticket reservationform or call the 24-hour ticket line, 812-246-7440. Please leave your name,phone number and ticket information and one of our box office staff memberswill return your call. All unpaid reservations will be held for 10 days beforebeing released for resale.

* VIP upgrade includes best seating and an Upscale intermission lounge with complimentary food.

Silver Creek High School
557 Renz Avenue
Sellersburg, Indiana
812-246-7440
silvercreektheatre.com/

November 11, 12, 18, 19 at 7:30 pm
November 13, 20 at 2:00 pm

Alonzo's "High School Musical" Wrap-Up #1: The Wedding Singer

2011-11-14T17:33:00.001-05:00

The Wedding Singer: The Musical isa 2006 musical by Matthew Sklar, Chad Beguelin, Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy.It is based on the 1998 Adam Sandler film of the same name.

Wrapped up by Alonzo Richmond

When I heard that GeorgetteKleier decided to direct The Wedding Singer at YPAS, I mustsay I was a little surprised to say the least. As a former student the school,it didn't seem like a "normal” choice. However, it was was nice to see theschool go in a different and fresh direction this year! Ms. Kleier and herdirection didn't disappoint! So I decided to write a short blurb about theshow!

Sean Sullivan is the anchor in theshow as Robbie Hart, joyous turned heartbroken downer wedding singer. Themulti-talented student shines in what I believe his best performance to date!Sullivan is double-cast with Taylor Dant who will perform the role thisweekend.

Robbie's fiance Lindawas portrayed by a phenomenal Ashlee Soldo. This young lady is a star!When she started singing I saw everyone around me open their programs to findout more about the vocally superb theatre major. Well done!

I was excited to see BaileyRose as Julia, Robbie’s new love interest. The character is a hopelessromantic who quickly learns that her own love life is not what she thought itwas. Rose shows her strong acting ability in this role. She was simply a joy towatch. Great job! Senior Dance major Rachel Hafell is double cast with Rose.

Holly (KendrickThielmeier) is Julia's no-nonsense, party girl cousin with an attitude.Knowing Thielmeier personally, this role was perfect for her. Kendrick's powervocals didn't disappoint! KUDOS!

Alex Kapp (Glen) year afteryear continues to show his tremendous growth and gave a strong performance inthis role.

Robbie's friends andband mates were portrayed by Tyler Johnson-Campion (George) and JordanAdams (Sammy). TJC almost stole the show with his extremely over-the-topportrayal of the "androgyn" who's reminiscent of Boy George andPrince. Senior Jordan Adams never ceases to impress me. This kid has naturalcharisma and a stage presence for days! I believe if he wants it, he can go farin the theatre.

Grandma Rosie (GraceTheobald, Courtney Doyle) is hands down one of the standout roles in theshow! Theobald was fantastic!

Other standoutsinclude Seniors Te'Era Coleman, Kyle Green and Owen Kresse, Junior SidneyJohnson and Sophomore Chris Brumley. Another special treat is theSTAFF CAST MEMBERS! --

Katie Blackerby,Nichole Finley, Jason Seber, Darryl Farmer, Alexis Rich and my personalfavorite, my former break-dancing Assistant Principal Mr. Greg Kuhn.What a treat to watch these teachers on-stage!

YPAS vets TimMurner (Music Director) and Gail Benedict (Choreographer) continueto show their students and audiences why they have been a part of moremainstage musicals than any other staff members.

Memorable songsinclude: It's Your Wedding Day, Casualty of Love, Saturday Night in the Cityand Grow Old with You.

This of course is nota full "review," just a little encouragement to support our localhigh school theatre. I suggest you to get your tickets now!

Tickets are $12.

To book tickets or toschedule your school for a field trip to see this show call

(502)485-8355.

Youth Performing Arts School

CAST:

ROBBIE: SeanSullivan/Taylor Dant

JULIA: BaileyRose/Rachel Hafell

SAMMY: Jordan Adams

GEORGE: TylerJohnson-Campion/David Watkins

HOLLY: KendrickThielmeier/Kathleen Niemann

GLEN: AlexKapp/Tayler Lynch

ROSIE: GraceTheobald/Courtney Doyle

LINDA: AshleeSoldo/Audrey Belle Adamas

ANGIE: RominaKrosnyak/Hannah Thornhill

Ensemble STUDENTS:

Te'Era Coleman ChrisBrumley

Ellie ChancellorTyler Chandler

Curtis Lipsey Amanda Steier

Owen Kresse SarahWesthoff

Madison Cunningham

Cate Payne AndyWooldridge

Joel Houlette EmmaSmith

Devin O'Toole ShannonAmos

Sidney Johnson KyleGreen

Donnie Miller LeighDucas

Cana Rhode JackLindsey

Luisa Powell ZacHolman

(TylerJohnson-Campion and David Watkins will perform in the ensemble when they arenot performing as their featured role.)

DANCE CAPTAINS:

TylerJohnson-Campion, Rachel Hafell, Bailey Rose

ROBBIE WAS PLAYED ONTHE 11th AND 12th BY SEAN SULLIVAN, AND WILL BE PORTRAYED BY TAYLOR DANT ON THE18th AND 19th.

Nov.18th Cast:

Bailey Rose, JordanAdams, Tyler Johnson Campion, Kendrick Thielmeier, Alex Kapp, Grace Theobald,Ashlee Soldo, Romina Krosnyak

Nov.19th Cast:

Rachel Hafell, JordanAdams, David Watkins, Kathleen Niemann, Tayler Lynch, Courtney Doyle, AudreyBelle Adams, Hannah Thornhill

REVIEW: A Christmas Story

2011-11-11T18:47:00.001-05:00

Henry Miller (photo by Alan Simons)

Round Three for A Christmas Story at Actors Theatre of Louisville, written by Philip Grecian based on the motion picture A Christmas Story by Warner Brothers which was written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark with was based on the book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd. Directed by Drew Fracher.

Reviewed by Brian Walker

Second Christmas play in one week and I’m almost giddy. I went into work this morning and listened to the Muppet Christmas album with John Denver and on my way home I dug out my Indigo Girls holiday album and blasted it in my car. I’m in the holiday season now and there’s no turning back. I can’t get un-Christmased at this point and really, why would I want to? I have five more weeks of holiday plays to look forward to and I’m just going to go ahead and buy some candy canes and my 2011 ornament and I’m going to live it. Bring on the holiday plays!

A Christmas Story (the movie) has become one of those quintessential Christmas things that I just have to do every year. I can honestly say I’ve seen the movie every Christmas since the age of seven. Its story and characters have always resonated with me. From standing up to a bully, dreaming of a toy for four weeks only to open it and look at it and play with it that first time, Asian jokes, dealing with a younger sibling, wanting to do the right thing but not always being very good at it. There are so many things that I love about it. Its grittiness. Its honesty.

Actors Theatre’s current production of this modern classic is in a word: terrific! It captures the magic and the sincerity and the humor of the film and brings the world to life making the story that much more special and immediate and engaging.

I’ve written before about theatre and tradition because going to see plays during the holidays was such a special part of my childhood and sitting in the audience of A Christmas Story I was reminded why. Before the play began I looked at my partner and around at all the other families, some with kids, many without, and there was just this sense of excitement and of okayness with the world because we were about to be Christmased and I was overtaken by the power of traditions and how fantastic it is that theatre still plays such a major role in many people’s modern holiday traditions.

So of course I loved the show. I had a great time. It is the kind of play an adult and a child can sit side by side and truly enjoy, albeit on different levels, but it is a credit to the story teller(s) for the seamless way A Christmas Story entertains us all.
My most favorite parts of Actors’ A Christmas Story are actually the differences from the movie.

The entire production is narrated by the adult Ralph Parker (played by Larry Bull), who we hear in the movie but of course never see. Having him part of the play really makes the story resonate for adults and they did some fun and interesting things incorporating him into the action. Larry Bull was fantastic in the role; giving a very subtle and smooth opposition to some of the craziness going on around him.

The other thing that I really loved was the elves. They moved furniture, they danced, they threw snow, they danced some more and then moved some more furniture and they were all wonderful and entertaining and I couldn’t wait for them to pop back out. Acting apprentices Lisa Dring,Jonathan Finnegan, Marianna McClellan, Maggie Raymond, Keaton Schmidt, Calvin Smith, Trent Stork and Amir Wachterman brought the inane and logistical to awesomeness and I am very much looking forward to seeing more of their work! Also: best curtain speech EVER! Got the evening off to an energetic and unapologetic start and I loved it!

Henry Miller and Jessica Wortham (photo by Alan Simon)

Jessica Wortham and Justin R. G. Holcomb reprise their roles of Mother and The Old Man from last years production and I’m so glad that they did. They were a ton of fun and succeed in being reminiscent of the iconic performances from the film while still creating their own roles and their chemistry together was great.

Katie Blackerby shines in a small role as Miss Shields and left me wanting to see more of her work. Cast her in something larger, please. This lady can carry a show and I’d love to see what she could do with a role she could really sink her teeth into.

The kids are all fantastic; many of them returning from last year's production. Carter Caldwell, Marty Chester, Will DeVary, Kylie McGuffey, Arabella Paulovich and Gabe Weible were all delightful and all managed to stand out in their own ways and measure up to the wonderful adult talent on the stage. Favorite moments: Oatmeal. Flagpole. Plastic Spider.

Henry Miller returns as Ralphie Parker and this kid really is great. Peter Billingsly's performance (Ralphie from the movie) is so burned into the memory of so many generations that he has a huge pair of shoes to fill and he never shrinks to the challenge and succeeds in doing what the actors playing his parents do: making the role his own.

Much kudos to the design team too. It was all perfect as you would expect at a production at Actors. And it snows! A lot! I love snow on stage; it looks so cool and a buddy of mine actually showed me how they get it to do it last week and it's got the theatre nerd in me all excited.

You only have a few weeks to catch this little gem before the other Christmas play arrives so I’d suggest you hop to it and go relive some holiday memories of your own. This being the second year I’ve seen the show it seems I’ve started a little Christmas tradition of my own and I really think this is a show I’d go to again and again (just like the film only better cause there are dancing elves). Long live A Christmas Story in the Actors Theatre season! I’d take it twice over that Tuna play any day! (Ed. note: Thank goodness the days of Tuna are over!)

A Christmas Story
by Philip Grecian
directed by
Actors Theatre
316 W Main Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
502-584-1205
info@actorstheatre.org
actorstheatre.org

November 8 –27, 2011

New School Play Addresses Bullying

2011-11-10T18:08:00.001-05:00

Bullies, beware: A new school assembly program from Drama by George is aiming to stop you in your tracks.

What a Character: Bullying is an hour-long presentation for students in grades K-6. It teaches children how to recognize bullies, how to respond if a bully bothers them, and how small acts of kindness can make a big difference in the lives of their classmates. Since its premiere in summer 2011, What a Character has already scheduled a dozen performances for about 2500 students in Kentuckiana schools and organizations.

Veteran actor-educators George Halitzka and Zach Nord present this highly-interactive, energetic dramatic program. During What a Character, George decides he wants to be popular at school. If he learns enough putdowns and shuns the kids who are “different,” he’s sure he can become cool. But then Zach shows him the effect that bullying—even the verbal kind—can have on others. Finally, George (and the audience) discover what bullying looks like, and how to stop it.

Bullying, which goes beyond ordinary teasing to become an ongoing pattern of physical or verbal intimidation, is an epidemic problem in American schools. The National PTA reports that almost one-third of all children have been bullied at school, and the website Bullying.org estimates that a student is harassed every seven minutes on the playground. Bullying cannot be “cured” with any quick solution, but educators nationwide are recognizing the need for creative approaches to the problem. What a Character provides schools with a valuable resource in their bullying-prevention toolkit.

What a Character: Bullying is now available for bookings in Kentucky and Indiana schools. For more information, visit dramabygeorge.com, or call (502) 718-5090. Drama by George also offers character education programs on other topics (such as Responsibility and Honesty), as well as theatre workshops for all ages.

FREE STUFF!

2011-11-10T17:11:00.001-05:00

I posted a while ago that Chrystopher Hancock has an entire set that he used for a play one time in storage. At that time he was asking $300 for it. Well, he really really needs to get rid of it so now it's FREE!

A full sized office desk, file cabinet, park benches (4), desk chair, a ton of wood and set pieces used for flooring and walls. Hopefully there's a theatre company out there in Louisville who needs this stuff....it's worth over $900 and he IS GIVING IT AWAY!

Send an email to: theat.louisville@gmail.com and it will be forwarded to Mr. Hancock.

REVIEW: A Very Special Holiday Special

2011-11-10T15:53:00.001-05:00

Le Petomane gets the holidays rolling early with A Very Special Holiday Special


(Kyle Ware and Abigail Bailey Maupin, at the 1st production)

Reviewed by Brian Walker

I manage a bookstore and we have holiday music playing (yes already) and today an unfortunate looking woman came up to the register and she said to my associate, “I’m leaving. I was happily shopping but you having this music playing is just way too early. After Thanksgiving, that’s what I say. It’s just too early.”

I quelled the urge to murder her for being such a nasty human being and simply said, “That’s a matter of opinion." I work in retail and therefore the holiday season starts on November 1st. Thanksgiving is no longer our barometer and Halloween now marks the beginning of the red and green cheer. Awesome. I love Christmas. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest to have a two month celebration for my favorite holiday and I look forward to picking out the Christmas CD’s in September and it is a testament to my self control that I wait until November 1st to put them in.

So it is ironic and amusing to me that I found myself on November 9th at a holiday show and I couldn’t have been happier. A silent confirmation that I’m not the only Christmas enthusiast in the world and that (get over it) the holidays start when we say they do and anybody who doesn’t like it can go poop themselves. (Ed. note: donning adult diaper now.) Le Petomane gave me everything I was hoping for in whetting my appetite for holiday indulgence and insincerity made sincere just by me wanting it to be.

Le Petomane’s production opens with a little non-holiday teaser entitled En Route. It was a simple idea: three women at a park bench bird (or man) watching and in true Le Petomane fashion it was completely different and delightful and served as a perfect appetizer to the main course. The three women were masked and the piece was choreographed to a piece by Beethoven (I have no idea the name of it). Heather Burns, Gregory Maupin and Kristie Rolape expertly use their physical motions to tell an engaging and funny story.

Then the real fun begins.

We’re at the North Pole and the elves are busy at work on building toys. Professor Nedrick has a new concoction intended on improving productivity only it hasn’t been tested yet and when… well… I don’t want to say too much. It’s no fun if you know what happens. There’s a giant elf, a lot of whole milk and Santa himself makes a special appearance and that’s all I’m going to tell you.

That and I’m going to tell you to go see this show. I laughed my ass off the entire evening. I am a sucker for any Christmas special ever anywhere and this is like seven of them all wrapped up in one done by folks who clearly enjoy a good Christmas special. Macy’s day parade: check. Out of nowhere musical numbers which are sappy but still make you smile: hell yes. Hero saves the day in the end: you’re just going to have to find out.

The ensemble is fantastic. They work together and combine their talents like a well oiled machine. Watching them create is like watching a perfectly executed piece of choreography or an orchestra coming together to produce sound; they come together and they create this magic energy that is so engaging and entertaining and theatre. Like if you were to go to a museum exhibit on theatre or to show a newborn what the art form of theatre was you could show them a video of Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble and all would be understood and respected and none of us would ever have to worry about never having an audience again because folks would be hooked. They’re that good at creating a world that we can buy into and believe in and that’s what theatre is all about.

Kyle Ware is exceptional and I want to watch him crush buildings and eat people always.

Abigail Bailey Maupin sings! Is there anything this woman can’t do? Her elf is everything you’d ever want, wiggling nose and all. Her duet with Mr. Ware’s Kenny was a highlight and my partner and I giggled about it the whole way home.

Heather Burns takes Mrs. Klaus to the next level adding business savvy to the mother of all elves and she can sing too!

Gregory Maupin’s Professor Nedrick was right on point in all of his smug and smarty-pants glory. Plus…yep, you guessed it…he sings!

Tony Dingman plays about eighty-three different elves and each one hilarious and different. Was the whole red shirt ensign thing totally a Star Trek reference or am I just that addicted to Star Trek that that’s all I see? I may never know but Mr. Dingman's red shirt ensigns were all fantastic regardless. (and he sings)

Merry Christmas. Who cares that it’s six weeks early. The holidays make us all better human beings because we’re all hyper-conscious of not being dicks and I think that starting that early is A-okay in my book. Do yourself a huge favor and start your holidays early and go see our finest local troupe bring the holidays alive like nobody's business.

A Very Special Christmas Special and En Route
Created and performed by Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble
November 9-14; and 16-20 at 7:30 pm
Bard’s Town Theatre
1801 Bardstown Rd. (at Speed Ave.).

NOTE: ALL PROCEEDS FROM 11/13 SHOW GO TO KENTUCKY HARVEST

Tickets are available at Le Petomane's reliable and cost-effective (for you) $8-$20 sliding scale.

For ticket reservations and more information, contact Us@LePetomane.org, (502) 609-2520.
For dinner reservations, call the Bard’s Town at (502) 749-5275.

REVIEW: A Christmas Carol, the Musical!

2011-11-07T18:42:00.001-05:00

Left-Caleb Fath, (Marley's Ghost);Right-Zach Hebert, (Ebenzer Scrooge).

Reviews for the REAL Person

by Alonzo R. Richmond

A Christmas Carol, the Musical!
Presented by Floyd Central and New Albany High Schools
Book: Mike Ockrent and Lynn Ahrens
Music: Alan Menkin
Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens

Having attended a performing arts high school (YPAS), my expectations are always high when seeing a high school show. I was surprised to say that Floyd Central/New Albany just raised those expectations even higher! I will go on record saying: "THIS IS POSSIBLY THE BEST HIGH SCHOOL SHOW I HAVE EVER SEEN!" Within the first five minutes of this production, the stage is FILLED with more than 175 student actors from throughout the Floyd County School System. WOW! My eyes didn't know where to look! I don't know that I have ever attended a live performance where so many students took to the stage! The cast was strong, the orchestra didn't miss a step and the technical crew soared beyond belief!

Of course we all know the story of Ebenezer Scrooge. Inspired by the classic Charles Dickens novel, this Christmas Carol features Zach Hebert as tight-fisted Ebenezer Scrooge, who sees the errors of his ways just in time to oversee the "best Christmas ever" for his long-suffering clerk Bob Cratchit (David Kane) and Tiny Tim (Evan Stansfield). On this occasion, the spirits materializing for Scrooge's benefit include Caleb Fath as Jacob Marley, Madeline Coffey as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Brantley Seawright as Ghost of Christmas Present, and Jordan Haworth as the spooky Ghost of Christmas Future.

Some highlights include the song "Link by Link," wherein the ghostly Marley and a chorus of wraiths perform a lively ball-and-chain dance number. Caleb Fath shines!!! He is fantastic.This young man's voice was like butter. After leaving the show, I couldn't stop talking about him and how great he is. The Ghost Chorus was sensational! I loved every moment. Another big dance number was the outsized Christmas celebration in the home of Scrooge's first boss, Mr. Fezziwig (Trevor Boley), which allowed Boley to do what he does best! He and Erica Mohler led the cast beautifully and was nearly flawless.

Scrooge, played by a young but brilliant Zach Hebert! This young man made me forget that I was watching a high school show! I trust that Hebert plans to continue performing after graduation, surely he has a long career ahead of him! His baritone vocals were on point! Hebert and Kane worked very well together and Kane has a great voice as well!

Other standouts included Madeline Coffey as the Ghost of Christmas Past. My jaw nearly hit the floor when I heard her beautiful soprano voice. Her tone was well defined and beyond her years. Alex Williams (Young Marley), Kayla Eilers (Emily) Collen McDonald (Scrooge's Mother), Missy Cathcart (Old Hag) Brody Earnhardt and Lora Lambert as the Fred and Sally also stood out and wowed me. I was very impressed that even the students in the smaller roles were very talented. Although they played the roles for only minutes at a time, they made the most out of what they were given and that is what makes a top notch show!

Ms. Bette Weber Flock's choreography was not wasted on these students! Well done. Angela Hampton's musical direction also served its purpose. There were moments that I believe the orchestra was a little over-powering and the ensemble could have sounded more full with so many kids onstage. However that was a minor complaint. My other complaint was that many times there were so many people onstage that I didn't know where to look. The follow spot or spotlights didn't seem to do the trick at times.

While the actors and dancers were great, I think the "techies" must be recognized. With kids flying and using trap doors, appearing and disappearing this was a technically stunning production! Again, I forgot this was a high school production. Chris Bundy and his Technical Theatre Classes deserves high marks here! He and ZFX created a masterpiece with the flying characters as well.

David Longest and Chris Bundy may appear to be "rivals" but truth is they make a BRILLIANT team! With both men racing down the pike to retirement, this was quite the final Fall/Christmas show to choose. While many schools are giving students fewer opportunities to shine, they have taken a huge chance by boosting the numbers up! I admire these two ambitious men, the resources here are incredible! Wouldn't it be great to see Floyd, New Albany, Jeff, Silver Creek and even Clarksville come together to celebrate the arts? I've been blessed to see strong productions at all of these schools and encourage you to support them all, let's show our kids our support and that with hard work, determination and heart, that you can do anything!

The show is being presented at The Floyd Central H. S. Performing Arts Center. Final Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, November 11,12 at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinee on November 13 at 2:00 p.m. Prices are $12 for adults, $10 for senior citizens and $6 for students. A limited number of V.I.P. upgraded tickets are also available for an additional $6 per ticket and includes choice seating and an upscale intermission lounge with hors d'oeuvres, desserts and beverages.

NOTE: Due to the past popularity of the show, reservations are strongly suggested to avoid disappointment. Reservations may be placed by calling the 24-hour box office line at (812) 542-2284.

Floyd Central High School
6575 Old Vincennes Road
Floyds Knobs, Indiana 47119
website

REVIEW: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Part 1

2011-11-04T17:07:00.001-04:00

Reviewed by Sherry Deatrick

Sci-fi geeks will probably enjoy Alley Theater’s productionof The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,Part 1 (hereafter referred to as H2G2),although they might cringe at some parts of it (explained below). Butyou don’t have to be a sci-fi fan to have fun at this show. If you’ve ever beencomforted by the sonorous tones and somber music of BBC radio shows, you’ll likehow it washes over you and wraps you in a warm cocoon, safe from the maddingcrowd.

The show is a reenactment of the first BBC radio broadcastof H2G2. The set and costumes make you feel you’reback in those good old days of 1978. Even the props used for sound effects are authentic (for example, anancient tape recorder is used for clicking sounds). The music is suitablyprog-rock. Before the show starts, we hear such obscure hits as “Set the Controlsfor the Heart of the Sun,” by Pink Floyd. I especially liked the weird 70’spants worn by Scott Goodman (who played Zaphod Beeblebrox, among others). There is one anachronism on the set, and ifyou spot it, you get a buck off the small popcorn sold at the bar. Whoo! No, I won’t tell you what it is. Nomatter how you much you grovel. Now thatI think of it, there might be two anachronisms.

If you don’t know the story of Arthur Dent and his last-minuterescue by an alien named Ford Prefect from a doomed earth, well, you’ll justhave to read the book or see the show. Witha dash of the Firesign Theatre and a spoonful of Monty Python, H2G2 is witty science fiction. The jokes are subtle – you won’t be howlingin your seat – but you’ll probably find yourself tittering here and there.

Alan Canon, as “The Book,” immerses himself deeply in hisrole. He’s totally committed to theproduction, and steers it as a captain would a ship. Very intense. Kent Carney’s Arthur Dent reader guy never missesa beat. Like most of the actors, he usesthe radio script only as a prop, instead of reading from it. In other words, he's memorized his lines. He sounds exactly like a BBC radio reader. Likewise,John Aurelius (as alien Ford Prefect) is pinpoint perfect as a BBC radiopersonality. Kimby Petersen (asTrillian, et al.) switches between various characters with ease. I enjoyedwatching her be the radio actor, bored and chewing gum while waiting for herturn in the studio. Great platformshoes!

Problems: On openingnight there was a terrible buzzing sound coming from one of the speakers. The volume was also too loud. And here’s the real head-scratcher: Since when does Slartibartfast (Tom Dunbar) speakwith a Ron Whitehead-like western Kentucky twang? I don’t know if this was the actor’s or thedirector’s choice. Whoever made it, waswrong. The jarring accent sticks out like a sore thumb, amid all the other actorswhose British accents are very good (thanks to Kathi Ellis’s dialectcoaching). Slartibartfast is supposed tobe wise and world-weary, sort of like a wizard. He’s not a wizened reject from HillbillyHandfishin’. Further, Dunbar stumbledfrequently over his lines, even though (and perhaps because) he was readingdirectly from the script.

Opening night saw a sparse audience, and only one person brought a towel. There was supposed to be a grand opening party for the new space after the show, with a live band. Sadly, most people (myself included) did not stick around for it. Well, it was a miserable rainy night.

Despite these problems, I encourage fans of the genres (bothsci-fi and radio plays) to see the show. It’s quite relaxing, even while pondering the questions of life, theuniverse and everything. It will perhapsenlighten as it entertains. At times, I felt that I was at a real avant garde happening. It’s aworthwhile experience.

The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy (Part 1)
The Radio Plays by Douglas Adams

Directed by Dana Hope

Alley Theater of Louisville
1205 E. Washington Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
502-713-6178
thealleytheater.org

November 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18 and 19, 2011. Shows at 7:30 PM.

Tickets: $18 Advance, $20 day of show. $2.00 off for students, seniors and military.
STUDENTS: Purchase $10.00 tickets DAY OF SHOW at the box office with valid, current student ID

REVIEW: The Mousetrap (IUS)

2011-11-01T14:55:00.001-04:00

Reviews for the RealPerson

by Alonzo Richmond

The Mousetrap

by Agatha Christie

Indiana UniversitySoutheast Theatre Department

In a season whereover-the-top murder mysteries are being performed, one often gets lost in thehype of the comedy-driven genre. However, IUS Theatre Department tackles themuch more serious yet classic tale of The Mousetrap! Agatha Christie originallywrote this tale for Queen Mary which opened in West London in 1952. CurrentlyThe Mousetrap holds the record as the longest running theatrical performance inhistory! In an attempt to keep the surprise ending a mystery, Christie hasrequested that no film or short story version of the play be published until atleast six months after the West End production has closed.

The play is yourregular ‘who-dun-it’ mystery. Eight people are snowed in at a guest house:Mollie and Giles Ralston, the owners; four invited guests, each with eccentriccharacteristics; the unexpected guest, who turns up after his car overturns inthe snow storm; and a detective. Once everyone has arrived it is not longbefore a murder takes place and the detective assembles all the guests togetherand interrogates each one. During the interrogation we learn a little moreabout these secretive, mysterious characters.

Even though this isyour normal whodunit, the script is quite good. There are enough false cluesto keep you guessing and a few hidden ones that mean if you stay alert you willnot be too surprised to discover that the murderer is ****. Just kidding! Ifyou want the answer to that question then you will need to go and see thisquintessentially English murder mystery for yourself.

I didn't realizeuntil the show started that I had never seen an IUS production, so I wasn'tsure what to expect. These students quickly convinced me that they are worthseeing! I have to award the MVP title to a young but very strong Jenna Ryan (MollieRalston). Ms. Ryan soars in her portrayal of the young proprietor of MonkswellManor, where the entirety of the play takes place. Jenna is a freshman andSilver Creek High School alum, but her performance showed the audience that shecould hang with her older counterparts exceptionally well! She carried much of the show with herbelievable character portrayal and delivery. While Ryan was strong, it wan'tthat she was "better" than anyone else--just more consistent. I lookforward to future productions with Jenna leading her cast!

While Ryan was theMVP, there were other really strong performances including my personalfavorite, Blake Oliver (Christopher Wren). Wren is a very peculiar, flamboyant, young architect.He admits he is running away from something, but refuses to say what. Thatquickly makes him a suspect in the murders. This Theatre minor showed that hehas what it takes to steal the show, because he nearly did just that! Oliverembodied the character perfectly. I studied him throughout the show and Ididn't see a single moment of character breaking! Oliver's Act II scene withJenna Ryan was simply outstanding. These two are very compatible as onstagefriends and produced some of the finer moments of the show.

Will Gantt ( Detective Trotter)shines as the "savior" of the houseguests. He interrogates each one on a voyage ofdiscovery to determine who the murderer is. At the start of Mr. Gantt entranceI wasn't sure what to make of his performance. It wasn't until after the showthat I realized how convincing he really was. Will has a bright future ahead ofhim as a leading man. However after the murder was revealed, I felt that hisperformance fell short just a bit. He went from extremely convincing to workingtoo hard to convince us. Other than that and a few stumbles over lines, welldone! One of Gantt's strongest moments came when he shared the stage with ChristinaBiller (Miss Casewell) an aloof, masculine woman who is clearly hidingsomething. Biller has moments of true greatness! I really enjoyed watching heruse of her strong facial features.

Josh Martin (MajorMetcalf)continues to surprise me. He is a very solid and committed performer whodeserves to be taken seriously. While we know very little about Metcalf, Martinuses what is written and runs with it! Josh Martin is a great actor.

Giles Ralston,Mollie's husband of one year was portrayed by a young David Beach.. Beachhas the potential to be a true threat inthe local theatre scene. His debut performance was strong. At times the accentwas a little forced which made some lines hard to understand. However, this isa minor issue. Well done.

A very mysterious manarrives unexpectedly and is clearly in some type of disguise. BobbyLightfoot (Mr. Paravicini) did well in this complicated role.

The second victim ofthe murderer is Mrs. Boyle, portrayed by Kristin Gilbert. Gilbert wasquite funny as the critical older woman who is pleased by nothing she observes.Gilbert deserves praise for a good performance. My only criticism is that attimes she played the character a little young.

Perhaps the bestaspect of the show was Rebekkah J. Meixner-Hanks' set design. Wow!I was really blown away by the attentionto detail. The perfect wood trimming was simply beautiful. One of the best setsI've seen in a long-time!

These students havethe great advantage of having stage and direction veteran, Jim Hesselman.His experience shines through his students in this production. KUDOS!!

You still haveanother weekend to get out and see this production. I am confident you willenjoy!

November 4th, 5th @8:00pm and Sunday November 6th @ 2:30pm

Agatha Christie's TheMousetrap

Director: JimHesselman

Scenic Design:Rebekkah J. Meixner-Hanks

Technical Director:Herb Caldwell

Costume Designer:Natalie Bowman

Stage Manager:Stephen Minotti

Not Sweeney...Not Sweeney Todd!

2011-10-28T17:59:00.003-04:00

This sounds like a fun night (tomorrow) -- (reprinted from Facebook) - I've heard both of these singers, and they are fab!

Time	Saturday, October 29 · 7:00pm - 10:30pm

Location	The Bard's Town 1801 Bardstown Road

Created By	Kathryn Rae Furrow, Herschel H. Zahnd III

More Info	Celebrate an Evening of Evil... Tickets may be reserved by calling 502.541.1833. An evening of the Broadway Nasties - big shows, big egos, big voices! Join Kathryn Rae Furrow & Herschel Zahnd III as they celebrate the villains of the Great White Way. Including songs from: Jekyll & Hyde, Phantom of the Opera, Little Shop of Horrors, The Scarlet Pimpernell, and maybe, just maybe...Sweeney Todd. Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 at the door. SEATING IS LIMITED for this ONE NIGHT ONLY event. Tickets may be reserved by calling 502.541.1833. Proud to be an SIABC Awareness Event! Visit www.facebook.com/SIABC for more information. :)

REVIEW: Little Shop of Horrors

2011-10-28T16:51:00.000-04:00

CenterStage opens the cult classic Little Shop of Horrors; music by Alan Menken with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman. (based on the film by Roger Corman) (screenplay by Charles Griffith).

Reviewed by Brian Walker

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; musicals can go either way with me. It’s usually a love it or hate it thing with zero room in between. Because of this reason (and the risk of hating something...) I generally do not seek musicals out and try and come up with good excuses why I can’t see them when a friend is in one. I’m a little ashamed to say that this was the first production I’ve seen from CenterStage. Seeing as they sell wine and beer at the entrance you’d think I’d be all over it but alas I didn’t know. Word on the street is that they produce quality musicals and when I heard they were doing Little Shop (incidentally one of those musicals that I do love), I jumped at the chance to review and I’m so glad that I did. This company knocks this production out of the park and actually has me thinking (along with the last two musicals that I’ve seen) that maybe I am a musical person after all.

Seymour (Chris Bryant) is a down-and-out floral assistant working in a shop on skid row that discovers a new breed of plant and calls it Audrey II (after his secret crush). He becomes a superstar when folks discover this strange and unique plant in the shop and then he becomes an accomplice to murder when he satiates his plant’s need for human flesh by feeding it some. Based on the very dark comedy film of the same name by Roger Corman from the early sixties (not a musical), Little Shop mixes rock and R&B music with a campy and macabre script to fantastic results. I have always loved this musical and even secretly adore the movie even though they completely changed the ending (but the baby Audrey plant in the window-sill is so cute!). It’s great music, fun characters and alien invasions and it has enjoyed much success around the world since it opened Off-Broadway in 1982 (I didn’t know this but it actually didn’t get a Broadway production in NYC until 2003).

CenterStage gets it all right ladies and gentlemen with a near perfect production.

All technical aspects of the show were great; I can’t come up with a quibble with anything. The set was simple but functional and set us right down in skid row without the smell. The Audrey II puppets were topnotch and looked great. Costumes were lovely with my favorites being these leotard plant numbers from the finale and pretty much everything the Urchins wore. They also made great use of a small stage, keeping choreography simple but clean and fun.

The live orchestra (which consisted of John Spencer conducting and on keyboard, Pat Facktor on clarinet/bass clarinet/tenor sax,Ricky Spears and Danielle Cirelli on trumpet, Doug Payne on guitar, Ben Moseron bass and K. Michelle Lewis on percussion) was also great and they didn’tmiss a beat. Their playing didn’t overtake the actors singing and there were zero sound issues (that I noticed)on opening night. Haunting goodness on "Feed Me," rock awesomeness on "Be a Dentist!" and the finale was just fantastic!

In any production of Little Shop the Urchins have to be strong, soulful and (dare I say) beautiful women who serve as the narrators/chorus for the entire show. They comment on the story, help it along and make money from suckers on the way. Tamika Skaggs, Cierra Richmond, Tymika Prince and Katie Bowles fill the bill and then some and were dynamite as Chiffon, Crystal,Ronnette and Brenda. They had the vocal chops to entrance the audience and the acting chops to tell the story and I adored watching and listening to them. They each have a special soulful tone to their voice and they harmonized perfectly together. Many of their songs were followed by cheers from the audience (mostly from me).

Rusty Henle as Seymour’s boss Mushnik was a lot of fun to watch and brought a special kind of asshole to the role that didn’t make you mind so much when he gets swallowed by a plant. Vocal support during a few moments of his songs was shaky, but his acting and stage presence made up for it.

Jordan Price plays Orin the psycho dentist among like sixteen other roles and he was terrific in all of them. I kept thinking, “is that another actor?” His talent as a character actor is abundant and I loved seeing how he was going to distinguish his next one. His dentist was a fantastic and theatrical douche-bag you hate but love to watch and his tight leather pants were also very nice.

Rush Trowel was tons of fun as the voice of Aubrey II in all of his ghoulish sauciness. I’ve always wanted to hear this role done as a huge flaming drag queen and though my wish wasn’t granted in this production, Mr. Trowel still lives up to the huge expectations of the role. Special kudos should also be given to Nick Duett and Brian Bowles who operated/manipulated this huge thing. Together, the three of them brought a plant from outer space to life and I left the show wanting my own little Audrey II.

The show-stopping, get your tissues and sit up straight performances of the evening were delivered by the show’s two leads: Chris Bryant as Seymour and Lauren McCombs as Audrey(1). They were in a word: awesome. Mr. Bryant’s Seymour was funny and heartbreaking, geeky without being a caricature, vulnerable without being a wimp. And the boy can sing! Oh Lord, child, he sang the shit out of that role and looked like he was having fun while he was doing it. Ms. McCombs Audrey was the perfect yang to Seymour’s yang; sexy and awkward, hilarious and tragic, self-deprecating while keeping her dreams important. I loved loved loved watching and listening to the two of these artists create these roles for themselves and not doing versions of other things they’ve seen and I was blown away when they started singing. Just really fantastic work.

If the standing ovation on opening night was any indication, word is going to spread like wildfire that CenterStage has a great production on their hands and if you like musicals, and especially if you like this musical, you’re not going to want to miss this show!

Little Shop of Horrors
Directed by John Leffert

CenterStage
3600 Dutchmans Lane
Louisville, Kentucky 40205
(502) 238-2753
jewishlouisville.org

October 27 - November 13, 2011

REVIEW: The Rocky Horror Show

2011-10-25T11:40:00.002-04:00

Reviews for the REALPerson

By Alonzo R. Richmond

The RockyHorror Show

Pandora Productions,under the artistic direction of Mr. Michael J. Drury, strives for"profound relatedness and belonging by and for our diverse humancommunity." Pandora's production of Richard O'Brien's The Rocky HorrorShow has become a yearly staple for Pandora and the Louisville area. In myhumble opinion the extravaganza has soared to new heights this year.

On the way to visitan old college professor, two clean-cut young people, Brad Majors and hisfiancée Janet Weiss, run into trouble and seek help at a freaky mansion.However, little did they know that the mansion is inhabited by alientranssexuals from the planet Transylvania and Dr. Frank-N-Furter is in themidst of one of his maniacal experiments. You will have to buy your tickets toexperience this adventure of a musical! Let's take a few moments to discuss theactors and actresses who worked so hard on this production.

I have to start bystating that my main issue with Sunday's performance was the microphones andsound system. There were several rings, feedback and missed cues. At manypoints throughout the show, I couldn't understand several lines and lyrics.With that being said, the cast continued on as consummate professionals andforged ahead! I'm sure Mr. Drury will nip that in the bud before the nextperformance.

Each show I like toname a MVP, for giving the strongest, most memorable performance. The RockyHorror MVP goes to the incomparable Eddie D. Lewis as the"sweet transvestite" Frank-N-Furter. Mr Lewis steals each scene andmusical number he is involved in, and rightfully so. The role which has beenportrayed by Christopher Cherry in the past took a new turn this year.Eddie's performance was reminiscent of his stellar roles in CenterStage's LaCage Aux Folles (Albin/ZaZa) and The Producers (Roger DeBris). Hecaptivates his audience, pulls them in and holds their attention for theduration of the show! I wasn't sure what to expect from Eddie in this role, itcould've failed; however, it was just the opposite! WOW! Lewis's vocals weresuperb, but the 12 o’clock number (“I'mGoing Home”) nearly had me and other audience members in tears! Ladiesand gentlemen, this is what it means to STEAL THE SHOW!

However, there wereother standouts in the show as well!

Laura Ellis(Columbia)reprises her role for the third time as the "groupie" Columbia. Shesoared in her vocals and nailed the character, well done! Ellis's harmonieswith Susan Crocker (Magenta) were nearly flawless. Both ladies really shinedhere! Dan Canon (Riff-Raff), also reprising his role was strong at times. Therewere moments that he seemed to strain to belt out those high"rock-god" notes. However, I believe it was partially due to thesound issues.

The incredibly toned ZachBurrell (Rocky) shines yet again as Frank-N-Furter's newest experiment: ablond, well-built man named Rocky Horror. Mr. Burrell was last seen on aPandora stage as Mike in Zanna Don't last spring, where he really stoodout as a strong vocalist and actor. His performance here was just as strong, Ilook forward to Zach's future theatre career!

Kyle Braun (Brad) was very reminiscentof a young Christopher Reeves as Brad, the role formerly portrayed by MikeFryman and Robbie Lewis, while Katie Nuss (Janet) seemed to havegenerally strong vocals, however at times she was drowned out by thesuper-charged, super strong vocals by ensemble members. Clearly, Gayle King (MD)put her magic to work here, there were moments of real beauty, namely “I'mGoing Home,” “Sweet Transvestite,” and “Don't Dream It, Be It!” One number thatfell short was “The Time Warp,” although the entire cast was onstage, I couldhear a handful of people singing and the energy dropped as well. But, the castmade up for it in the finale! What a way to close show, with the band jammingwith them. The band was rocking and I had the pleasure of sitting right besidethem! I do think there could have been a little more guitar, it seemed to be alittle faint, but great work!

Frank Goodloe's new and freshchoreography filled the stage with vibrancy and life! Ensemble standouts wereAmos Dreisbach, Janelle-Renee Hunnicutt, Leigh Nieves and Morgan M. Younge.Seeing a wide variety of body types in this show made it more enjoyable to me.Everyone looked different! Nice work!

Lucas Adams (Dr.Scott/Eddie)was ok when I saw the show. However it wasn't until the next morning that Irealized how great he really was! Mr. Adams nailed to comedic timing and rockedhis vocal performance! The audience seemed to love Mr. Ted Lesley (Narrator)and keep the story going with ease!

Overall, this was apretty solid production. There were moments that seemed a little odd, but Iwill place the blame on the space and sound. Mr. Drury is to be praised forbranching out and trying something new this year by producing the show at TheConnection Theatre. Filled with memorable songs and over-the-top lines RockyHorror is worth seeing!

The Rocky Horror Show

October 20-23, 26-31,7:30pm

Pandora Productions

At The ConnectionTheatre

120 S. Floyd Street(enter from Market Street)

Tickets: 502-216-5502

www.PandoraProds.org

REVIEW: Blithe Spirit

2011-10-20T09:12:00.001-04:00

Bunbury Theatrepresents

BLITHE SPIRIT

by NOEL COWARD

Directed by JUERGENK. TOSSMANN

Reviewed by CoryVaughn

“Just in time for Halloween!” is a phrase that could be usedto promote several of the current theatre offerings in town. Between ActorsTheatre’s annual production of Dracula,the Alley’s revival of Evil Dead, Pandora’sback-for-the-third-year Rocky Horror Show,and CenterStage’s upcoming Little Shop ofHorrors, it seems the entire theatre community hopes to replenish itscollective coffers this fall by taking full advantage of the geeky necrophilia thatlies buried, so to speak, deep within the heart of a surprisingly large portionof the audience. While Bunbury Theatre’s new production of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit, the opening show of theirtwenty-sixth season, contains no vampires, zombies, transvestite aliens, orcarnivorous plants, the play does offer a treat in the form of Coward’strademark wit, a trick or two up the sleeves of its sneaky narrative, and the involvementof at least one trouble-making visitor from the supernatural realm.

It also has a rather surprising similarity with Dracula, in that both plays concern aninsular community of snooty, pretentious, upper-middle class Brits looking downtheir noses at the world beyond their posh country estates, whose comfyexistences and particularly condescending attitudes toward the occultists intheir midst are shaken up by the arrival of the honest-to-goodness supernaturalcharacters of their respective titles. In Dracula,Dr. Seward and his staff don’t take the superstitious warnings of Van Helsingor the insane rants of Renfield seriously and laugh at the eccentric foreignCount next door behind his back, until it becomes deadly clear that an actualvampire has invaded their neighborhood. Similarly, in Blithe Spirit, Charles and Ruth Condomine invite the quirky mediumMadame Arcati to conduct a séance at their latest dinner party so that mysterynovelist Charles can write about it in his latest book . . . and theyaccidentally end up summoning the ghost of Charles’ first wife!

When I think of Noel Coward, my mind conjures up images ofclass, dry wit, scathing social satire, and some of the funniest maritalsquabbles ever recorded in the English language. I knew I would find all of theabove in this production as I stepped into the Henry Clay Theatre and facedSusan S. VanDyke’s gorgeous set, a Kent, England manor house of the type onlyCoward’s characters could inhabit; it appears to have been built on roughly thesame blueprint as the Wild Goose Lodge from TheForeigner (another of VanDyke’s creations) and Old Granddaddy’s house from Crimes of the Heart, but with largecurtained bay windows as its centerpiece, and decked out with all the necessaryaccoutrements of conspicuous wealth. Marty Crawley’s lush costumes – akaleidoscope of colorful serapes, turbans, satin pajamas, elbow-length silkgloves, smoking jackets, et al – also set the stage for the antics of these post-warEnglish elites, at the center of which stand Roger Fristoe and Claire Shermanas one of Coward’s classic bickering couples.

Fristoe and Sherman are Charles Condomine and his second oftwo domineering wives, Ruth, married for five years at curtain-up, although hestill keeps a picture of his late first wife Elvira on the piano, which Ruthpointedly continues to turn face-down at every opportunity. She suspects he maynot entirely have moved on from his marriage to Elvira, which suspicion, amplydemonstrated, provides the arc of a very slow first scene in which we also meetthe Condomines’ high-strung housekeeper Edith and, seemingly, their onlyneighbors, Dr. Bradman and his bubble-headed wife Violet. Jennifer Levine (Ihope I am spelling her surname correctly, as it is spelled two different waysin the program) and Teresa Wentzel affect a series of broadly funny charactertraits and tics as the brainless doctor’s wife and the graceless maid, respectively;the latter actually gets a phenomenal payoff in one of three genuine surprisesto be found in the second act, but Levine and straight-man Tony Prince areshortchanged. Coward only develops the Bradmans insofar as their roles asfunctionaries allow, mainly using them to reinforce the exclusivity andsnobbery of the Condomines’ social milieu, and to fill the extra seats aroundthe table at the séance which provides the turning point of the Condomines’farcical downfall.

Of course the highlight of any production of Blithe Spirit has always been in thetour-de-force opportunity for a quirky senior actress to chew the scenery asthe eccentric medium Madame Arcati. Mary Ann Johnson, despite a few instanceswhere she seemed to be searching for the correct line (and to be fair, she hasa LOT of them), avoids descending into caricature and remains pleasantlyunderstated, making this dotty, ascetic, slightly xenophobic spiritualist intothe normal character of the bunch. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a singleperformer receive such enthusiastic applause from the audience on every singleone of her exits.

It is Madame Arcati who accidentally resurrects Elvira(Susan McNeese Lynch), at which point the real fireworks begin, with Fristoespouting some of Coward’s best one-liners in arguments with not one but twowives. Sherman, in the somewhat thankless role of the live wife, gives herconsiderable imagination a lot of exercise; I thought the hardest thing anactor had to do was deliver an audition monologue, because he/she has toimagine their acting partner is there when they’re not, but Sherman may haveproven me wrong by performing a series of improbable misunderstanding sceneswith Fristoe while pretending Lynch is notthere (you have to see it to understand). Lynch’s Elvira is equally aswillful as Sherman’s Ruth, but more enigmatic and mischievous, an overgrowngirl with a devious side that is only gradually revealed.

While I certainly do not aspire to the heights of snobberythe Condomines and the Bradmans reach, I do hope that if I ever marry, thearguments I’ll have with my future wife will be one-tenth as literate andspirited (again, so to speak) as the ones Coward puts into their mouths. Iwon’t say whether the spirit world has the last laugh on these boobs, but Iwill say the ending is satisfying and surprising, and for someone who hasworked at Actors Theatre for ten years and knows how every single specialeffect in Dracula is done, to saythat he was surprised by the special effects of the closing minutes of Blithe Spirit is saying a lot indeed.

Blithe Spirit

Bunbury Theatre

604 South Third Street, Ste. 301

Louisville KY 40202

502-585-5306

Website: http://www.bunburytheatre.org

Presented at the Henry Clay Theatre

604 South Third Street, Downtown Louisville (third floor)

October 14-31

Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30pm

Sundays at 2pm

Tickets:

General Admission: $21.00

Seniors (over 62): $18.00

Students (with ID): $16.00

Children (under 13): $10.00

Starring: Roger Fristoe (Charles Condomine), Mary AnnJohnson (Madame Arcati), Claire Sherman (Ruth Condomine), Susan McNeese Lynch(Elvira), Teresa Wentzel (Edith), Jennifer Levine (Violet Bradman), and TonyPrince (Dr. Bradman)