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Theatre Reviews
These Ain't Kiddie Stories
by Roger Martin on July 26, 2010
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Gee, it's nice to go to a little black box theatre, see a show put on by a small company with little money, and just enjoy the hell out of it because of the acting. That's all you really need, the acting. And the story. So if you put Ground Up & Risings' terrific cast into Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman you get an evening that's enthralling.
Written in 2003, The Pillowman is intense, imaginative, brutal, funny and layered with stories within stories. A writer is arrested on suspicion of child murder because his tales detail the gruesome deaths of children. He is interrogated, judged and sentenced by two detectives of an unnamed totalitarian state. It all sounds pretty simple but The Pillowman is anything but, and to follow McDonagh's labyrinth as performed by these actors is pure pleasure.
Katurian, the writer, is played by Curtis Belz, new to me but an actor I'd like to see again, and very soon. Sheaun McKinney is Tupolski, the “good” cop who is anything but, and Bechir Sylvain is the “bad” one. Both have a lot going on. Sylvain is all twitches, roars and fists, hiding his demons. McKinney is smooth, smiling, deadly, eyes never still. You watch him and think: what's next?
Arnaldo Carmouze doubles as both ingenious director and actor and, despite the old adage, fills both roles very well indeed. His Michal, the slow brother of Katurian, is wonderfully knowing. No bumbling idiot here. Belz and Carmouze are a delight to watch together. There's love on the stage with these two.
There are several wonderful monologues in The Pillowman and Belz and McKinney excel as fascinating story tellers.
The utilitarian set of interrogation room and next door cell is by Karl Araguez with lighting by Will Cabrera. Sound design by Arturo Fernandez.
I hope you get to see The Pillowman. It's a fine example of just how much can be done with very little.
You can see The Pillowman through August 8 at the Little Theatre, 2100 Washington Ave., Miami Beach.
For tickets call Ground Up & Rising at 866.811.4111 or visit www.groundupandrising.org.
Photo by Roger Martin.
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PermalinkThe Let Me Down Blues
by Roger Martin on July 24, 2010
Oh, yeah, that's what got me at the Kravis Center the other day, those oh why, oh why, why don't you make this joint jump blues. Florida Stage's inaugural show in the company's new home in West Palm Beach is Low Down Dirty Blues and it's a strangely stultifying experience.
Perhaps it's the physical set up of the show. Nicely raked seating in three quarter thrust doesn't really work when the central playing area becomes Big Momma's Blues Club in South Side Chicago with premium priced seating for audience members. This puts the audience watching from the center quite a way back from the stage and forces those people sitting on the sides to crane their necks sideways for ninety minutes.
Or perhaps it's because the excellent piano man, guitarist and bass player are almost lost in the dim lights and clutter at the rear of the stage.
Or, hey, maybe it's because the four singers are a mixed bag, performing without much spontaneity and relying on well used tricks to sell the twenty-five great songs.
Or, ultimately, could it be co-writers and co-directors Randal Myler and Dan Wheetman?
Sandra Reaves-Phillips opens the show with “They Call Me Big Mama” followed by Mississippi Charles Bevel with “Jelly Roll Baker” and “Look On Yonder Wall” and then Reaves-Phillips is back with “Don't Jump My Pony” and it's evident why they call the show low down and dirty. What's also evident is that the joint ain't really jumping. Things pick up, though, with the arrival of Gregory Porter with “Born Under A Bad Sign” and “Mojo Hand” and Felicia P. Fields with “I Got My Mojo Workin” and “My Stove's In Good Condition.” Porter and Fields are strong singers who don't need Bevel's choreographed moves or Reaves-Phillipps' mugging and Satchmo growls.
The performers work the café area and the stage with other fine material like “If I Can't Sell It,” “My Handyman,” “Shake Your Money Maker,” “Good Morning Heartache,” and finally give a great encore with “Every Day I Have The Blues.”
After the curtain call the musicians are finally given the spotlight and Will Barrow on piano, Mark Hamilton on guitar and South Florida's Rupert Ziawinski on bass, launch into the blues but even this one last chance to hear this fine trio is spoiled by Reaves-Phillips, standing to one side, bellowing encouragement.
Fine costumes by Rachel Laritz for the men, but the women's dresses are problematical.
Too bad this opening show at Florida Stage's new home is not up to their usual excellent standards.
Low Down Dirty Blues plays through September 5 at Florida Stage in the Rinker Playhouse in the Kravis Center, West Palm Beach. Call 561.585.3433 (in Palm Beach County) or 800.514.3837 or visit www.floridastage.org.
You'll Never Get There This Way
by Roger Martin on July 16, 2010
Take the four fine musical comedy actors Allan Baker, Christopher A. Kent, Lisa Manuli and Meghan Colleen Moroney, all under the direction of David Arisco with musical direction and piano playing by David Nagy and what could go wrong?
Well, “ordinary” could peek its ugly head in here at at the Actors' Playhouse summer show Are We There Yet? and it certainly does when it comes to the writing by James Hindman, Ray Roderick and Cheryl Stern. Purportedly a show about the seven stages of life, we get sketches and songs about birth, school, marriage, death and more. You get the idea. You should; you've seen variations of them all before. Except perhaps the baby rapping about his poopy diapers.
The actors sell this show well and that's the fun part. The sad part is that they don't have a better product. The music is by John Claudini but despite the fine performances you won't be singing these songs in your bath tub. But there is some good news: we have to watch adults playing children for only a brief period.
There's a simple set, a bare stage with David Nagy playing his piano facing the audience and in front of a kindergarten painting on the back wall. Rolling furniture moves in and out. Directional sign posts on both sides of the stage are changed to indicate the passage of life. And the journey.
I saw Are We There Yet? (damn, I hate that title) at a mid-week matinee and, at a guess, 97% of the audience were ladies of a certain age. They seemed to enjoy themselves. But I heard one lady say “I like it, but I've seen better.” That kind of belied my thought that this show would do well in a retirement village social hall.
Costume designer Ellis Tillman helps the show considerably, especially with his baby rapper outfits and the money suits in Cha-Ching, one of the better numbers. Gene Seyffer's scenery, Patrick Tennent's lighting and Alexander Herrin's sounds all work well for what the show is: Summer Fare Light.
Are We There Yet? plays through August 15 at Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, 280 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables. Call 305.444.9293 or visit www.actorsplayhouse.org.
The Big C Stands for Cynical
by Roger Martin on July 11, 2010
The Big C Stands for Cynical
It's an old tale – you've got it, I want it. Loyalty's good – in its place. Only the slippery survive. Blackout on will she or won't she?
The Caldwell Theatre's summer show Secret Order is described in the Playbill as a comedic thriller. No, it's not. Not really. It's got some smart, funny lines but not much humor. A few thrills, perhaps, but it's mostly absorbing scenes of people doing what people do – striving to win. And of course they'd like to cure cancer along the way.
Young Dr William Shumway (Nick Duckart) makes a breakthrough in his cancer research. Older Dr. Robert Block (Gordon McConnell) recruits him and even older Dr. Saul Roth (Howard Elfman) pulls the puppet strings. And, no surprise, there's a twenty-one-year-old college girl (Katie Cunningham) complicating things.
A good cast here at the Caldwell. The younger actors, Duckart who gets better with each show, and Cunningham, work well with veterans McConnell, unusually line booting here and there, and Elfman, who is always solid and excels in the second act.
There's a minimalist set by Tim Bennett and lights by Tom Salzman with Randy Tico contributing bubbling beaker music. Directed by Tom Bloom, Secret Order is a cynical show that never quite goes where one expects and is all the stronger for that. And not once did I look at my watch.
Secret Order runs through August 1 at The Caldwell Theatre, 7901 North Federal Highway, Boca Raton. Call 877.245.7432 or www.caldwelltheatre.com.
Editor's Note: This press release was posted after Roger Martin had reviewed the play.
For Immediate Release: June 11, 2010 1:00 PM
Actor Gordon McConnell Hospitalized
Well known South Florida actor Gordon McConnell was taken to hospital between the matinee and evening performance of Secret Order at Caldwell Theatre on June 10th. McConnell was performing the leading role of Dr. Bob Brock. He began to feel disoriented and the Caldwell management immediately cancelled the evening performance.
McConnell underwent a battery of tests and continues to be monitored. He spent the night in the hospital and was resting comfortably. At this time no other information was provided.
“Obviously at this time, our foremost concerns are with Gordon and his family,” stated Clive Cholerton, Artistic Director. “We are hopeful and optimistic that he will have a speedy recovery.”
For the afternoon performance on July 11, Tom Bloom (director of the production) will be stepping in to the role.
“We are overwhelmingly comfortable with Tom’s ability to perform the role and provide continuity for our patrons”, said Cholerton. “We can insure that there will not be anymore missed performances throughout the run.”
Secret Order
By Bob Clyman
July 7 – August 1, 2010
William Shumway………………….………….……..Nick Duckart
Robert Brock ……………...…………………...............Tom Bloom
Alice Curtin ……………………………...….…Katie Cunningham
Saul Roth …………………………………..……...Howard Elfman
Director …………………………………….………..…Tom Bloom
Stage Manager ………………………………..…….James Danford
Scenic Designer ………………………………….…....Tim Bennett
Lighting Designer ……………………………….Thomas Salzmann
Costume Designer …………………………………Alberto Arroyo
Evenings: Wednesday – Saturday at 8:00p.m.
Matinees: Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2:00p.m.
Prices $38 and $45 Students $10.00
Order by phone 561-241-7432 or 877-245-7432
Order on line caldwelltheatre.com
Group Rates available 561-995-2333
Look Out! Here Comes Zoetic!
by Roger Martin on July 08, 2010
Well, it ain't quite LeBron, Dwyane and Chris Bosh but it's close if you're speaking theatre. Michael McKeever, Christopher Demos-Brown and Stuart Meltzer have just announced their new theatre company...and the terrific actors joining as company members.
They're calling it Zoetic Stage and yes, I had to look it up. Zoetic means, according to the Dictionary of Obscure Words, “living” and “vital”. Knowing these guys, I'd say that's pretty apt.
Stephanie Demos-Brown, Christopher's wife, is the fourth founding member of Zoetic and will serve as President of the Board of Directors.
First on stage for Zoetic is Michael McKeever's South Beach Babylon at a yet to be decided venue. Indeed the entire first year for the company will be spent in existing spaces while a permanent home is established.
David Adjmi's Stunning will be the second play produced, followed by Christopher Demos-Brown's Wrongful Death. The final show for the first season will be Carlos Murillo's Diagram of a Paper Airplane.
“It is the goal of this company to present top quality theatre to the South Florida audience. We want their experience to be the best it possibly can be. Everything - from production, to script, to the venue itself – needs to be the highest quality we can possibly present,” Meltzer says. “We are talking about a company of extremely committed artists with years of experience behind them. This is the teal thing.”
With this crew running Zoetic Theatre it should indeed, be the real thing.
Photos by Roger Martin.
Industrial Strength Dance Performance at the Arsht Center
by Marj O'Neill-Butler on July 02, 2010
Tap Dogs, the Australian import, made its way into the Arsht Center on Wednesday night (June 30). This raucous and noisy tap show is more a percussion show than tap show. There are mics all over the stage to pick up the sounds of the taps on various stage floors. There is recorded sound, very loud, and a live, very lively percussionist situated on a high platform above the stage. And that is not to say the dancers are not talented. They are extremely fit and skilled dancers who were completely sweated up in the first five minutes.
The show opens with a spot on one man’s leg. It moves and taps and gradually the light widens to reveal Sheldon Perry, the lead dancer and dance director in a showy opener. He’s casually dressed. No top hat and tails for this bloke. A metal wall lifts and reveals feet, ten of them, for a funny, mysterious set of steps whereby the feet appear and disappear. Then these men are revealed, also dressed for watching a football game on TV. They are loose and athletic, dancing with abandon while keeping the rhythms going.
Travis Knights has a solo where he taps faster than the speed of light. He also has a large personality that spills over the apron and into the audience. Then there is the Kid, Dominic Mortezadeh, who gets a terrific solo. And the dancer with the mustache who does a duet with a basketball that creates the bass sound for the performance of his feet. The solo eventually turns into a group number with balls bouncing and flying over heads all the while the feet keep moving. I told you there were no top hats and tails.
The men dance on an elevated floor, on ladders, with ropes, and with blowtorches. The setting is like a giant erector set. Did I say loud?
By the end of an hour and a half, sweat is literally flying off the men as they spin. They move together and in contagion. They give it their all. Although a bit repetitive and darkly lighted, I did enjoy the dancers’ abilities.
At the end of the performance, the opening night audience got a short look at the Tap Pups, a local group of tap dancers who were selected to appear onstage with the Tap Dogs. Very talented kids who performed with skill and verve. I’d like to see more of their work.
Tap Dogs appears at the Arsht Center through July 10, 2010. Tickets range from $40 to $50 and may be purchased at the box office by calling 305.949.6722, or visit www.arshtcenter.org.
A Perfectly Swell Affair
Theatre Review
by Roger Martin on June 26, 2010
If you remember 23 skidoo, chicken inspector #22, the bee's knees and the cat's pajamas, you're going to just love The Drowsy Chaperone playing now at the Broward Stage Door Theatre. And if you have no idea what I'm talking, about you're going to love the show anyway.
How could you not? Pretty girls and handsome lads singing, dancing and hurtling over the acting fences to the 2006 Tony award-winning score and book. But there's more...a lot more.
Briefly, a narrator, Man In Chair, plays a reissue LP record of a 1928 musical comedy, and surprise, the show springs to life right there in his apartment. There is a bride, a groom, best man, show producer, producer's ditzy girlfriend, a bride's best friend, servants, gangsters, a Latin lover, pastry chefs, and a lesbian aviatrix and a drowsy chaperone. Oh, and don't forget the Chinese. Forgive me if I've missed anyone.
Dan Kelley, endearing as Man In Chair, doesn't just watch the show, he wanders in and out of it, revealing, explaining and delivering some of the funniest lines in a piece that's full of funny stuff. I don't want to give away the bits here, but think about it: The Drowsy Chaperone won the score and book Tonys. There's a lot going on and the seventeen person cast delivers every bit of pleasure therein.
Production values are uniformly high, with direction by Dan Kelley, assisted by Chrissie Ardito who also did the wonderful choreography. David Nagy is the musical director with orchestrations by David Cohen and sound design by David Torres. The set and lighting is by Ardean Landhuis. And the costumes, ah the costumes, they're by Kimberly Wick.
There's a lot of good theatre going on around here this year and this show is right up there at the top with its excellent direction and strong, talented cast.
The Drowsy Chaperone plays through July 25 at the Broward Stage Door Theatre, 8036 West Sample Road, Coral Springs. Call 954.344.7765 or visit www.stagedoortheatre.com.
Photos by Roger Martin.
It's A Laff Riot, Folks...
Review of Speech and Debate
by Roger Martin on June 22, 2010
Teachers diddling pupils, Abraham Lincoln, chat rooms, gay and lesbian alliances, drunken blog postings, somewhat singing, The Crucible, abortions, Bible stories illustrated, video projections, dancing, my parents will kill me, conservative politicians stalking young men, blackmail, failed auditions, the dreams and angst of high school seniors, nude bodystockings, laughter...if these are a few of your favorite things you're going to love Stephen Karam's Speech and Debate playing now at Joe Adler's GableStage.
Directed by Amy London and using recent New World graduates David Dearstyne, Ryan Didato, and Jackie Rivera with Patti Gardner supplying a little adult sanity, this latest GableStage show whirls furiously and hilariously through the machinations of three high schoolers trying to get cast in a high school play (Diwata), publish newspaper stories about the Mayor and certain young men (Solomon) and troll the gay forums in search of love (Howie).
If this sounds like a Glee knock-off, be aware that Stephen Karam has crystal balls, premiering his piece Off-Broadway in 2007, two years before Glee lit up the TV.
Speech and Debate, a long one-act with a couple of false endings is not a perfect piece but London and the cast make it so damn funny nothing else matters.
Jackie Rivera as Diwata is a comedienne of the first water. No matter how turgid the line or normal the step she'll get the guffaw. Watch her drinking and blogging, singing her own musical version of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. She wears bright blue Crocs. (Thank you, Ellis.)
Ryan Didato is school newspaper reporter Solomon, wearer of Polo shirts, khaki pants and white sneakers, is owned by uptight parents, and is a seeker of the Truth, especially if it concerns conservatives and illegal sex. He counts out loud when he dances and looks swell in his body colored undie-duds.
Howie, the gay kid, rewrites and illustrates Bible stories (drawings by Michael McKeever), and teaches dancing to the Boy Scouts of America. He could go on tour as the dancing Abraham Lincoln.
Patti Gardner doubles as a high school counselor and a radio reporter in a fright wig. (Thank you again, Ellis)
The set by Lyle Baskin, purple cubes on a bare stage, seems sparse at first but works well, as does the lighting by Jeff Quinn and Matt Corey's sound. Crocs and wig, Ellis Tillman is the costumer.
This is a fun show, one that melds the hilarious with the serious with no detriment to either.
Speech and Debate plays through July 18 at GableStage, 1200 Anastasia Avenue, Coral Gables. For info call 305.445.1119 or visit www.gablestage.org.
And Then God Said to Me...
by Roger Martin on June 21, 2010
Bobby Reyburn has a can of gas and a match. He burns down a church. With 37 people inside. Naturally God told him to do it. What a monster is Bobby. Well, no, not really. Not as played by Mark Della Ventura in the Alliance Theatre Lab's Coyote on a Fence by Bruce Graham.
Della Ventura, fascinating as Bobby, a member of the Aryan Brotherhood who hates Jews and Blacks, was gang raped so badly he walks with a limp, sees out of only one eye, is uneducated and ignorant, and was birthed by a prostitute. And of course he desperately wants to see his name in the prison newspaper. The prison being in Texas and his cell being on Death Row next to long-time con John Brennan, editor of the aforesaid prison paper.
Brennan, played by Travis Reiff, is an almost celebrity, his writings on the deaths of his Death Row fellows and his arguing for the abolition of the death penalty having brought him to the notice of the BBC and the New York Times. He's an educated man, plays chess by mail, writes on an old typewriter without a ribbon (carbon paper), reads and tries to tell the world he is innocent of shooting a man in a drug deal. Travis Reiff is a grounded actor whose stage weight is always there. No missteps here as John Brennan.
Brennan is the arrogant King of the Row and then suddenly the seemingly innocent Bobby Reyburn is put into the cell next to him. Reyburn changes Brennan's disdain to forbearance and then, ultimately, friendship. See them playing catch in the exercise yard.
There's a Greek Chorus at work, too, in Coyote on a Fence. Kirsten Upchurch, as prison guard Shawna DuChamps, sucks beer from a bottle, willingly uses her baton, and protests a little too much that she's not worn down by all the years and all the executions. She just goes home to bed at night and forgets all about the prison life. Right.
New York Times reporter Samantha Fried, played by a just right Jehane Serralles, meets Brennan in the prison. She wants to write about his life and ideas but the interview ends badly with Brennan, cuffed, on his knees and being choked into submission by a baton across the throat as DuChamps screams for respect.
There's no doubt this is a political play but this is forgiven and forgotten with the force of Adalberto Acevedo's direction and the performances of his cast.
Mike Stopnik designed the realistic set (check out the ingenious exercise yard). The equally good sounds and lights are by Howard Ferre and Will Cabrera.
A note here about the Main Street Playhouse where the Alliance Theatre Lab is presenting Coyote on a Fence through June 27. It's a small, intimate black box with raked seating in Miami Lakes at 6766 Main Street. There are good restaurants within walking distance and free parking nearby. For more information call The Alliance Theatre Lab at 305.259.0418 or visit www.thealliancetheatrelab.com.
Now, About Those Diamonds
by Roger Martin on June 08, 2010
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Richard Jay Simon's Mosaic Theatre is playing with the big boys. What was once a black box with barren sets and scant audience has now, over the years, become professional with every good meaning of the word. The production values and the direction and acting demonstrated in Mosaic's current show, Groundswell, are the equal of any regional theatre in this area.
Simon runs Mosaic as a business, evident in the packed houses watching his shows. Evident, too, in the people he hires and the shows he selects. The people he hires: Douglas Grinn, scenic designer and technical director; John D. Hall, lighting designer; Matt Corey, sound designer; K. Blair Brown, costume designer; Luann Cardinal, properties master; Naomi Zapata, production stage manager; Marckenson Charles, actor; Peter Haig, actor; Gregg Weiner, actor; and Richard Jay Simon, director.
Throw this gang together and you get ninety minutes of really good theatre. Groundswell, set on an isolated beach on the west coast of South Africa, is playwright Ian Bruce's rage against the politics and injustices of his home country. But it is not all strident posturing here as Gregg Weiner, menacing but you gotta love the guy, Peter Haig, forever the gentleman and Marckeson Charles, slyer than you first suspect, strive to survive.
Marckeson Charles is the perfect black servant, Thami, opening a luxury lodge off-season to guest Smith, a wealthy businessman played by Peter Haig. Gregg Weiner is Johan, an ex-policeman, fired unjustly, he believes, and now living in a cottage on the lodge grounds. He's a handyman and earns extra money diving in the sea for diamonds scattered in the sand. Thami and Johan want Smith to finance them into a small diamond mining operation. It is the only way they'll escape their desperate lives.
Richard Jay Simon directed the old pros Haig and Weiner and Charles, an old pro in this, his first professional production. There's not a mis-step to be seen here. I had the pleasure of seeing Charles recently in his original one-man show: Ballad Of A Child Soldier. Impressive. A young actor with a large future.
You know the old semi-witticism “exiting the theatre singing the set”? It's generally used when nothing else resonates, but in the case of Groundswell you'll be singing the set and the lights and the sound regardless of the excellent performances on stage. Fog rolls, the warning bell tolls on its offshore buoy, bushes bend in the blustery winds and I swear I saw the shadow of his dog following Johan on his first exit.
It's good stuff.
Groundswell plays at The Mosaic Theatre through June 27. The Mosaic Theatre, 12200 West Broward Blvd., Plantation. For tickets call 954.577.8243 or visit www.mosaictheatre.com.
Check out this video on Groundswell:
http://ka.uvuvideo.org/_Groundswell-at-the-Mosaic-Theatre/video/1060294/86294.html
