Working Group - Iowa City’s newest professional theatre company, Working Group, is proud to present Odysseus, Iowa, for three family friendly performances: Thursday June 10th through Saturday June 12th at 7pm. Tickets are Pay-What-You-Want and the show will be presented outdoors at the Schlapkohl Farm on the outskirts of Highway 1 in Iowa City. Please call (319) 594-9051 for information and ticket reservations. Odysseus, Iowa is written by Jennifer Fawcett and Sean Christopher Lewis and features Iowa City favorites, Martin Andrews (Riverside Theatre’s Mary's Wedding), John Watkins (Guys on Ice), Jennifer Fawcett (Goat Show) and filled out by newcomers: Brian Quijada, Luke Schares and Maggie Blake.
An all ages musical play Odysseus, Iowa follows Odie, a young farm boy from the plains of Iowa whose dear Penelope has been swept away in the treacherous floods. Joined by a traveling troubadour named John, Odie sets forth on an amazing adventure across the great state of Iowa to rescue his true love. Along the way he is met by disgruntled poetry professors, lay about college students, a few cannibalistic bunny rabbits and an oh-so-lonely Cyclops. Staying true to Homer’s original Odyssey the play updates the Greek myth to comically local proportions in a style that all ages can enjoy.
Working Group is an Iowa-based professional theatre company, co-founded by three University of Iowa Theatre Graduates: Sean Christopher Lewis (MFA Playwriting, 2007), Jennifer Fawcett (MFA Playwriting, 2008) and Martin Andrews (MFA Acting, 2009). Most recently, Working Group has produced Mary Hamilton’s Pool Play at private homes around Iowa City, I Will Make You Orphans and goat show at the Adirondack Theatre Festival (Glens Falls, NY) and is currently touring Lewis’ solo show, Killadelphia to theatres across the US. They will be in residence at Riverside Theatre for the 2010-2011 season.
Sean Lewis and Martin Andrews most recently collaborated on the hit play Mary’s Wedding at Riverside Theatre in April while Jennifer Fawcett has spent the year seeing plays of hers developed and produced at the Lark New Play Center and the 78th Street Lab in NYC as well as in her native Canada.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Working Group presents new take on the Odyssey
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Auditions for Fantasticks coming up!
MVLCT - Mount Vernon Lisbon Community Theatre will present The Fantasticks July 22nd, 23rd and 24th. Auditions are Sunday, June 6th and Monday, June 7th. Callbacks will be Tuesday, June 8th. The time is 7:00-9:00 p.m. and they will take place at the First Street Building in Mount Vernon. The show is directed by Mike Moran, with musical direction by Hana Katsenes. No preparation is necessary. If you have questions, email mvlcommunitytheatre@gmail.com.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Support Red Door's Zombies
by Andrew R. Juhl
Red Door - Postcards from the Post-Apocalypse is a (1) short and (2) interesting piece of (3) vanity theatre, and it is precisely because of those three reasons that this piece does not fail onstage.
SHORT: Postcards is preceded by short sketch called “Room and Board,” which I talk about later, but the actual play itself comes in at right around 30 minutes—long enough paint the post-apocalyptic world for the audience and draw parallels from it to our own, long enough for the audience to become invested in the suffering and survival of the piece’s protagonist (writer/director Josh Beadle), and short enough to not repeat itself, overkill the theme, wear out its welcome, or beat a dead, zombified horse. You know, like that run-on sentence just did.
INTERESTING: Okay, so I’ll admit it: I’m a fan of the zombie genre. I play zombie video games, I read zombie-centric comics and books, I watch all variety of zombie moves (horror, comedy, & horror-comedy), and—of course—I’ve read The Gospels. So I will be blunt: there was nothing here I hadn’t heard or seen before. Even relegated to oeuvre of George Romero, there was nothing here I hadn’t heard or seen before.
But I’d never heard or seen it on a stage. I’d never been in the same room as a husky, brain-horny, and quite possibly Republican zombie. I’ve never been scared of a zombie who I couldn’t turn the page on, fast-forward through, or decapitate with a flick of my thumb. That was new. And it was enjoyable. I’d have to say that if I walked away from this production wanting any one thing, it’d be more zombies.
Beadle, playing possibly the last remaining human after the apocalypse, does an admirable job of relaying the psychological strain and survivor’s guilt of his character. His relays to the audience of the events leading up to and after the apocalypse contribute to a fanboy pastiche of the zombie genre as it exists currently, harkening strongly to movies such as Land of the Dead and—much more specifically—Zombieland.
In other words: if you like zombies, you’ll like this.
VANITY: This piece is too short and too derivative in its current form for one to expect it to be anything but locally and personally produced. I categorize this as a “strength” because it allows the audience to tell how much effort, care, and personality were contributed to the piece by its author and star. The person on stage is speaking words that he wrote himself, and it brings a truer, more real hue to the character than is normally found.
The flipside to this is when it bleeds over to the sketch preceded Postcards: Red Door’s episodic sitcom-for-the-stage “Room and Board.” I don’t want to be too critical of this piece, but I have to say that I found it confusing, unrehearsed, and painfully unfunny. It seemed tacked-on, as if Red Door felt they needed to add more time to the show to justify their $10 ticket price. In reality, this seemingly interminable sketch (which lasted maybe 6-8 minutes) made me question my decision to volunteer reviewing Postcards and brought my opinion of the composite show down more than a few notches.
That being said, Postcards itself salvaged the performance. Josh Beadle remains an identifiable protagonist, and co-star Rick Adams delivers as one scary-ass zombie. Consider supporting these local talents by attending Postcards from the Post-Apocalypse during its final run this weekend.
Andrew R. Juhl is an area author and director. He has previously worked with the City Circle Acting Company of Coralville and Rage Theatrics.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Still Life Is a Memorable Journey
by James E. Trainor III
The problem with a lot of children's theatre is that it tends to talk down to the children. The best shows, Still Life With Iris director Leslie Charipar observes in her director's notes, speak directly to the kids, without pretense or embarrassment, honoring them as the insightful, curious creatures we forgot we were. Steven Dietz's script accomplishes these aims with a story that is universally familiar yet brashly imaginative.
Iris is a denizen of Nocturno, a dreamland where they manufacture everything that we see in the waking world, from leaves to ladybugs to cataclysmic thunderstorms. Everybody toils, but it is a joyful place, and even ordinary things are made by fantastic processes. Into this wonderland steps Mr. Matternot, a mysterious stranger with a secret agenda. He is strangely dressed and foreboding, but Iris is not afraid. She approaches him and asks: "Are you curious or lost?" (it's better to be curious, of course).
The question is emblematic of Iris' character: she is quite at home in the world of wonder, and she's never encountered anything to blunt her innate bravery. Her quest is to test this very identity, which is stolen from her in the form of her "past coat," which holds all her memories. Mr. Matternot takes it from her so that she won't suffer when she is taken away from her home and sent to live as a plaything of the Great Goods. It's a sobering moment, and the simple metaphor cuts very deep: who are we, indeed, if we don't remember where we've been? The Goods want to erase Iris's pain and smooth out her flaws, so that she can be perfect. She's smart enough to know, fortunately, that this leaves her incomplete. "What our memory leaves unfinished," Mr. Matternot remarks later, "our heart completes with ache."
It's a marvelous set-up for a fairy tale, elegant and emotionally resonant. TCR does a great job creating the magical land of Nocturno, with sparse curved platforms and looming wall units that serve multiple purposes. During the opening sequence, elaborate scenic elements are rolled on and off, each larger and more unlikely than the next. The paint and lights use a primarily blue palette to create a moonlit paradise. The costumes are particularly evocative, from unassuming patchwork cloaks for the kids to the imaginative gear worn by the tradespeople (such as "thunder bottlers" and "bolt benders") making the storm. The characterizations of the citizens of Nocturno are at once familiar and fantastic. Especially notable is Len Struttman as the Memory Mender, the crabby but caring tailor who protects everyone's coats.
The island sanctuary of the Great Goods is equally memorable. The goods live in grotesque luxury, owning only the best of everything (and only one of each thing). Bret Gothe's set and Joni Sackett's costumes are quite effective at conjuring this unusual place. Alex Williams and Dyanna Dawn Davidson, decked out in preposterous
outfits reminiscent of French monarchs, do a wonderful job of crafting these well-meaning but ultimately nasty oddballs.
The adults in the show are all fun to watch - Chad Canfield is hilarious as Captain Also, for example, and Richie Akers is intimidating (and later quite moving) as Mr. Matternot - but the true joy of this show is watching the kids perform. It's clear that director Leslie Charipar gave them a lot of structure and clear direction, as well as making sure they did their homework. The scenes between Iris, Mozart and Annabel Lee, playful and nuanced, bear her mark. She also gave them lots of freedom: The big ensemble scene when the kids are surrounded in the Tunnel of the Unwanted is quite exciting; the confrontation is organic and dynamic, and the kids are lively and wholly committed. It's an obvious but overlooked fact that no one quite knows how to "play" on stage like a child. These kids have enough guidance to give them confidence (they certainly know the story and the characters, and there wasn't a dropped line the whole night), so they're free to let loose and have fun with it. The effect is elating, if a little scary at times (my own eight-year-old was quite nervous when the kids went into the Tunnel).
Iris herself is a very difficult part, and Anna Mlodzik steps up to the challenge. The early scenes are particularly tough - Dietz crafts some excellent shtick during the first meeting with the Goods, with Iris as the straight man - and one can sense that Mlodzik wants to get the meat of the piece. When she gets there, she makes up for her impatience with the passion and commitment of her performance. During the first act, it's tough to get a bead on her as she darts about the stage, but her timing improves in the second act, and she's quite a powerhouse when she stands her ground and lashes out at her captors. Mlodzik clearly understands Iris's journey on a level emotional as well as a cerebral, and when she becomes the moral center of the play, prosecuting her right to total self-awareness, the effect is heartbreaking.
The only major issue I had with this production was the use of microphones. It's a pet peeve of mine; outside of musicals, I don't believe this technology has a place on the stage. They're very difficult to hide and the sound is artificial and distracting, creating a dangerous distance between the human beings in the audience and those on stage. I suppose one could argue that it's a necessary evil when working with children, but anyone who has school-aged kids at home can tell you that, if they really want to, they can make themselves heard. Call me a Luddite, but I say out with the microphones, in with the voice coaches.
You really should take your kids to see this play. It's a fantastic story that doesn't dumb down its psychological truths. It's crafted by a skilled playwright and brought to life by a passionate company, and the result is a joy for all ages.
Still Life With Iris runs at the Iowa Theatre Building, 102 3rd St SE in Cedar Rapids, May 14 - 23. Tickets are $20-25 for adults; $15 for Youth. You can reserve tickets by calling 319.366.8591 or from TCR's website.
(Photos by TCR.)
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Red Door's World Premiere Opens Friday
Red Door - The newest theatre company in the Iowa City area premieres a one-man show written by Josh Beadle Friday, May 14 at Public Space One in downtown Iowa City. Red Door is dedicated to presenting original works and Postcards from the Post-Apocalypse certainly qualifies.
The show is a hypothetical portrayal of a man left in a post-apocalyptic nightmare world with no running water, no viable sources of food, and 95% of the population over run with zombies. Managing Director Kerry Kieler said, “We chose this script because we think it has immense value to the dialogue people are having right here and now regarding our existence. The number of movies about 2012 or other sorts of Armageddon are quite common, it’s rare that we see something theatrical about the subject.”
Playwright and performer Josh Beadle said, “I’m just glad to be able to perform a production that is so definitely pop culture and has direct relevance to a topic that a lot or people think about whether they know it or not.” The production was written out of a conversation about what Beadle would do in a hypothetical situation concerning the end of time during this last Christmas.
The show runs May 14-16 and 21-23 Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2:30pm. Tickets are $10.
For further information or reservations call 319.329.6612 or email reddoorensemble@gmail.com.
Still Life opens Friday
TCR - Theatre Cedar Rapids offers an award winning play for the whole family this weekend in their newly rebuilt theatre in downtown Cedar Rapids. The first play for young audiences to win the Kennedy Center's New American Play award, Still Life With Iris is about one little girl's journey to get home. Iris lives with her family in the magical land of Nocturno, but when she loses her memory, all that remains of her past is a single button on her coat. With the help of new friends, can she remember who she is and find her way back home?
For more about the show, check out this video preview here. to order tickets, go here.
Cast List
Akers, Harrison: Elmer/Tunnel Dweller
Akers, Richie: Mr. Matternot/Dad
Arnold, Autumn: Hazel/Tunnel Dweller
Arnold, Stephanie: Mom/Miss Matternot
Canfield, Chad: Flower Painter/Captain Also
Davidson, Dyanna Dawn: Leaf Monitor/Gretta Good
Davidson, Scott: Thunder Bottler #1/Mr. Otherguy
Gerhold, Alisa: Annabel Lee
Hayes, Denzell: Jay
Lamas, Lanessa: Third String
Mlodzik, Anna: Iris
Schulte, Grace: Rainmaker/Tunnel Dweller
Stevenson, Annie: Ray
Struttman, Len: Memory Mender
Tiwari, Vipul: Thunder Bottler #2/Mr. Himtoo
Williams, Alex: Bolt Bender/Grotto Good
Wisner, Jon: Mozart
(Photo by TCR.)
Why Marry? opens tonight
Ushers Ferry - Join the Ushers Ferry Theater Company for an evening of classic romantic comedy as they bring the first play ever to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize to life on the Ambroz stage. Why Marry?, written by Jesse Williams, was first performed in 1918 and follows three couples, their uncle and their clerical cousin as they explore and debate the merits of social convention and marriage in modern times. Directed by Kristin Stewart, the show runs May 13-15 and May 20-22 at the Ambroz Recreation Center, 2000 Mt Vernon Rd. SE, Cedar Rapids. Curtain is 7:30 PM. To order tickets, call 319-286-5731. Tickets available at the door, subject to availability.
Cast List
Rex ............ Zach Johnson
Jean ........... Kait Davids
Lucy ........... Paula Grady
John ........... Jim Stewart
Theodore ....... Larry Hansen
Julia .......... Barb Arceneaux
Karen .......... Diana DeSerano
Ernest ......... Eddie Skaggs
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Baltimore Waltz features good performances
by Matthew Falduto
City Circle - Paula Vogel's Baltimore Waltz is a very personal play written for her deceased brother. Vogel goes so far as to request theatre companies to print her brother's letter regarding his requests for his funeral in the program. City Circle did this and while I suppose it was supposed to have the effect of drawing the audience in, to me it felt like I was intruding on a rather personal story. Playwrights often use personal experiences when creating their work, but rarely so blatantly do they make that personal experience part of the show. For some, perhaps, it enriches the experience, but for me, it was rather off putting.
All that said, the actors in this show offered strong performances. Bryant Duffy, who has been a consistently good performer at a number of different venues in our area recently, is charismatically engaging as usual. He plays Carl, the brother of Anna, a young teacher who has been diagnosed with a fatal disease. Anna and Carl decide to head to Europe for one last whirlwind adventure. Duffy commands the stage throughout the show, wringing all the humor and pathos he can out of the script. Nicole Vespa, who plays Anna, turns in a fine performance as well. Perhaps she could have found a few more quiet moments for the character as she mostly seemed to have a single level of emotion, but overall she created a true character for which we developed empathy. The standout of the cast was certainly Kehry Anson Lane who played a myriad of characters throughout the show, each funnier than the previous one. Lane is well known to audiences from TCR to Riverside and everywhere in between, and the reason we see him so often is that he's just that good. He fully commits to every character, is willing to scour the words and actions for humor and drama, and presents it all in such a way that it hardly looks like he's working at all.
The set included impressive opening walls that provided a couple of interesting looks. But for a play about a journey of last hurrahs, I thought the walls could have used some color. The drab off white did nothing to enliven the scene. More troubling were the stagehands who moved benches around on stage as actors moved into place for the next scene. The stagehands didn't always seem to know where to go and were often having to awkwardly move around the actors. Once or twice could be forgiven, but as it happened over and over again, it became very distracting and pulled me out of the show every time. One hopes that this will not be an issue in future performances as they learn where they need to move to for each scene to flow smoothly into the next.
There were plenty of great moments in Baltimore Waltz. Unfortunately, the sums of the parts did not equal more than the whole, providing us with an uneven evening of entertainment.
Matthew has a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Iowa. He has directed, acted in, and produced theater in the Iowa City area for over twelve years. He has worked with the Iowa City Community Theatre, City Circle and Dreamwell, of which he is a founder. Two of his plays have been produced in the Iowa City area. In another brief life, he also worked as a technical writer.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Southern Comforts is delightful
by Andrew R. Juhl
ITAC - Southern Comforts is a delightful, safe, and entirely predictable piece of theatre leading this season for the Iowa Theatre Artists Company.
If you’ve never been to see a show in the comfortable, intimate 117-seat venue that houses the ITAC, this production would be a great way to cut your teeth. This reviewer, for one, plans to see at least one additional show there this year, if not two or three.
One of my biggest peeves when watching a play is when I’m very aware that I’m watching a play, but ITAC’s competent, professional actors and crew made me forget that fact several times throughout the show. Instead of liking or not liking an actor or performance, I found myself liking or not liking particular characters and their situations; I actually felt a connection, at times, to the make-believe world constructed by this troupe of entertainers, evoking a few emotions that assiduously strayed away from my default temperament of limitless snark.
Meg Merckens and Robert Gardner play ‘Amanda Cross’ and ‘Gus Klingman’, two widowed retirees with too much time and too much loneliness on their hands. Gardner’s Gus is an implacably obstinate man who likes things a certain way and who never strays far from his home when he can avoid it, and Merckens’ Amanda is the fiery, adventurous southern belle who somehow catches is eye and grabs his heart. The two shouldn’t work, but they do, and the audience never really suspects that they won’t end up together.
Meg Merckens does a fine job inhabiting the role of Amanda Cross. Her accent kept reminding me of Rue McClanahan’s ‘Blanche Devereaux.’ She had fine comedic timing and worked the entire stage with admirable luster, using every piece of scenery and every backdrop as a real person would. A set it not a museum, and she doesn’t treat it as one. More as a complaint with the script than with Merckens, however, I tired quickly of her shrill, exasperated tone. The play is full of arguments between these two characters, and as such, requires her animated delivery, but by the end of the evening I was as afraid for Merckens’ vocal chords as I was my own eardrums.
Robert Gardner’s portrayal of Gus, in my opinion, outshines Merckens’ Amanda. As an old stonemason, he's built a metaphorical wall around his house and his life to keeps others at bay. He doesn’t like change, he doesn’t like new things, and he doesn’t seem to like other people in general. It is his obtuse deliberateness that is the driving force behind nearly every argument in the show, and his resistance to the obvious that spurs the climatic events in the second act. He is, to be blunt, an unlikable character. Or at least, he should be. But Gardner’s unerring delivery and commitment to the character’s almost childlike sense of naiveté at trying to understand the mind of a woman rings true with the audience. It was his lines I laughed at, his reactions that made me smile and think, and his compromises that made me want to call some loved ones after the show to let them know how much I care.
Act I begins a little slow, but reaches a fun and funny conclusion at its third scene. The tone darkens substantially in Act II as the two characters are forced into larger and more important confrontations, and the play ends on a poignant—if somewhat morbid—note. There are two acts, six scenes, and an intermission, and it’s all wrapped up in a little under two hours, which was just the right amount of time for a piece like this. Any longer, and I would have been checking my watch; any shorter, and I would have felt cheated.
I would be remiss without also pointing out the expertly-made set. The set in this production played a big part in maintaining believability in and identification with the characters. It reflected amazing craftsmanship and attention to detail, right down the runners on the hardwood staircase that the real-life version of Gus would undoubtedly have insisted upon.
This play about love and the end of life will make you laugh, think, and feel. So I say unto you, loyal readers of the Iowa Theatre Blog: go forth and give this still fledgling local company a look. And bring a friend.
Andrew R. Juhl is an area author and director. He has previously worked with the City Circle Acting Company of Coralville and Rage Theatrics.
Friday, May 7, 2010
City Circle announces cast of Charlie Brown
City Circle - The cast list for City Circle's production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown has been announced. The play opens June 11.
Charlie Brown: David Rudolph
Lucy: Amy Ostrem
Linus: Justin Gorgone
Schroeder: Adam Jedlicka
Sally: Hannah Green
Snoopy: Nick Pearce
Chorus:
Megan Henry (Woodstock)
Emilia Szmyrgala (Little Red Headed Girl)
Katherine Smith
Genevieve Seider
Mitchell Widmer
Baltimore Waltz opens tonight!
City Circle - Sometimes things don't always go as planned in the theatre world. City Circle had planned to open The Threepenny Opera a week or so ago, but an unexpected illness in the production team forced them to switch gears. Instead, tonight Paula Vogel's The Baltimore Waltz opens. We had a chance to talk to the director of the show, Greg Redlawsk, as well as one of the actors, Nicole Vespa.
Could you tell our readers a little bit of what the show is about?:
Greg: Well, The Baltimore Waltz is a play that revolves around a fantastical trip made by a brother and sister to Europe after the sister has been diagnosed with ATD (Acquired Toilette Disease) and their search for some sort of cure, some sort of hope.
Nicole: Right, when Anna gets diagnosed with her disease, she and her brother Carl decide to take the European vacation they have always planned. During the trip Anna decides to cut loose and live life to the fullest -- by eating out a lot and lusting after various European men. Anna is a fun character to play -- she is sweet and thoughtful, but she can also be incredibly selfish and short-sighted. She has a sense of humor about her predicament though, and I think that's what really carries her through all the things that happen to her during the play. She's a very feeling person - as she says to Carl at one point during the play, "I can remember the things I feel." Anna is really a stand-in for Paula Vogel herself, because the play is an homage to Vogel's real-life brother, Carl and the vacation they never got to take together.
Greg: It is also a thinly veiled but heartbreakingly poignant critique on how people responded to the AIDS crisis in the late 80's and early 90's.
This show was added to the season after Three Penny was canceled. Greg, can you talk a little bit about how this show came to be? Did you suggest it?
Greg: Yeah, I suggested it. I was on the City Circle Board at the time, and so I was aware of the situation as soon as it happened. The Board looked at a number of different options, but eventually decided on going with my proposal. It was at times a bit hectic, just due to the rushed nature of the whole process, typically of course seasons are laid out at least around six months in advance, giving the directors time to find their production teams and prepare for the show, but despite the limited time frame, this show's ended up coming together pretty effectively.
Greg, why did you want to direct this show?
Greg: Well, first of all, this is an extremely well written play. The text is strong and emotionally demanding but still malleable enough to stand up to a number of different conceptual ideas and directions. It is also a particularly challenging piece in that it has thirty scenes in ninety minutes, which presents a certain difficulty when it comes to matters of flow and pacing. While the subject matter of the play is highly personal to the playwright, themes of how one deals with grief and the notion of death can resonate with just about everyone. And that resonating is also a result of the specificity. Vogel didn't try to make it general to appeal to the broadest possible audience, instead she embraced the specificity of her circumstances which lead to a play that is intense and dramatic, gripping and impossible to ignore.
This show combines humor with pretty serious subject matter. How did you deal with the combination of these two elements?
Nicole:It can be hard at times! The play definitely has extremes between funny and serious, light and dark. The play is really a meditation on the loss of a loved one, so it could have gone to a really dark place. Instead, Vogel chose to make it darkly humorous throughout. I heard a quote at some point (and I'm paraphrazing here) that there is a thin line that separates pain from laughter. There are so many things in life that are like that...if you couldn't laugh about them, you'd cry. In that way I think it's a really truthful play...Vogel doesn't have the characters languishing with grief. Instead she has them celebrating life and trying to make the most out of the little time they have left together.
Greg: I think the major thing that the actors have to do in a show like this is simply embrace their given circumstances. Like in any comedy, it is only funny if the actors are truly invested and truly believe in their actions. The humor comes from the situation. So in a play like this that mixes in humor and serious subject matter in starkly vivid and surprising ways, the major thing that must be done is an adherence to this philosophy, the notion that the characters themselves are real people, respond in real ways, and it is the absurdity of the situation that causes both humor and drama to exist simultaneously. The playwright did that work, the work of making it alternately funny and serious. I also do have the habit of working with physicality, something we didn't have as much time for in this process, but an actor can never forget how much their physical body influences their emotional state. So when I say the actor needs to be committed to the given circumstances, that commitment is not only mental, not only about will, but also about the body being physically ready to respond to the demands of the script and work in harmony with intuitively internal responses as well.
And can you tell us a little bit about your actors?
Greg: We have an interesting amount of variety within this three person cast. All three have significant theatre experience, but manifested in some different ways. Kehry Lane is a regular around these parts, and is an absolute joy to work with. His experience makes him able to take on a demanding role like The Third Man (who actually plays twelve different parts) with fluidity and seeming ease. Bryant Duffy has been acting for years as well, with experience in summerstock and theatre around the region. He and Nicole Vespa have developed a great on stage sibling relationship that has gotten stronger throughout the production due to their abilities to work honestly and effectively in their characters. Nicole is currently a high school theatre teacher in Washington Iowa and brings a great freshness to the role of Anna.
Nicole, how has this show compared with others you've done in the area?
Nicole:It's been a lot of fun. I'm really excited to be acting again, and I hope to do more of it in the future. Frankly, all of my recent experiences in theatre have been very positive - I've been lucky enough to work with very talented actors and directors, on well-written plays that really has a heart. I have no complaints.
What challenges have you had to face in the rehearsal process?
Nicole: The language! During the course of the play, characters speak French, German, and Dutch. My character has relatively few lines in a foreign language, but that is a challenge! The play is a very language-rich, which is part of what makes it fun to play around with, but also a definite challenge at times. Overall this has been a really fun play to rehearse, though.
Greg: And there are always a variety of challenges when it comes to a rehearsal process. This play is particularly difficult because, as I mentioned before, it is constantly moving in and out of scenes and you have to find a way to make those changes fluid and smooth so as not to interrupt the sort of whirlwind atmosphere the show engenders. I'm a director who likes to keep tinkering until the end, I often restage scenes multiple times throughout a process, but as we had a little bit less rehearsal time for this show than has been the norm for me, I've had to adjust my style a little bit. I love physical warm ups but have abandoned them for this show, I staged the show more quickly than I may have liked, and not having a stage manager can at times be difficult. But through it all the actors have been a pleasure to work with, have helped keep the process moving forward in a smooth and efficient way, and I'm quite pleased with the end product.
What moments stand out for you in this show?
Nicole:So many! It's hard for me to narrow it down. There are so many scenes that Kehry is in that make me laugh. I am so lucky to be working with such a great cast and director...the whole process has really been a pleasure!
Greg: I mean, the major moment that sticks out for me is the final scene, which I won't talk about here so as not to spoil the surprise. I'll just say that there's a tenderness and vulnerability in those final moments that really elevates the entire production to something special. It's just an amazingly written and acted ending, and I can't wait for people other than me to see it.
The Baltimore Waltz opens tonight at 7:30 at the Children's Museum in Coral Ridge Mall. For more information, go here.
Monday, May 3, 2010
You will love Opal
by Meghan D'Souza
Old Creamery - Everybody Loves Opal delivered exactly what it promised: laughter provided by Old Creamery regular Marquetta Senters as Opal Kronkie. Senters molded right into this role as a fun-loving, affectionate, positive woman who lit up the room the moment she shuffled onto the stage that had been transformed into Opal's home full of junk that she collects. You know, because if you keep it long enough, you never know when something might come back in style. With a heart as big as Opal's, it's no wonder she welcomes three perfect strangers to rent her second floor shortly upon meeting them. She only sees the good in people.
Only these people, Brad (Andy Brown), Sol (Jason Grubbe), and Gloria (Lisa Margolin), are not who she thinks they are at all. These three friends are con artists who want to eliminate Opal. When she's gone, the insurance money is theirs. But with all of the plotting and attempts they make, their worlds are turned around. The comedy comes in all that goes wrong and in the end we are treated to a heartfelt lesson about faith and true friendship.
Brown, Grubbe and Margolin did a fantastic job as a trio. They bounced off each other, making it believable that they've been friends long before Opal came into their lives. Margolin's body language and voice were highly effective to convey the humor throughout the play. She also transitioned from a criminal into a person with a good conscience and made that a smooth ride for those of us in the audience.
Brown handled difficult scenes well. His character was drunk in one scene and instead of going over-the-top, which could have been easy, he was able to remain believable. However, his character may have worked a little bit better with a different way of speaking. All of the other characters had southern accents while Brad over enunciated his words. This may have been a way to show that he was once a professor, because the script called for Brown to use an unnecessarily large vocabulary and use quotes that left the other characters dumbfounded. If he didn't use precise diction and didn't have a southern accent, then we may have been left wondering why he didn't use more in his speech to show that he was a professor.
I don't like to leave small roles out. Those take a lot of hard work, and the audience was left laughing at the scene involving Tom Milligan as a doctor and Senters. Their dialogue was so quick and very funny, I'm amazed that they didn't mess up their lines or crack a smile. Milligan asked Senters a series of questions that she either quickly answered or chose to go on a tangent about her cat, forcing Milligan to push for an answer. That was, by far, my favorite scene of the whole play. The way these two actors worked together was incredible.
If there was one thing that I would change about the play to improve it just a bit, it would be a combination of the costumes and the items chosen to be on the set. While the set, itself, was very creative with the skeleton of a house packed with all sorts of junk in every nook and cranny available, some of the junk chosen threw me off when I began to wonder what time period we were in. I suspected it was probably the 1920's because of the slang used, like "Cripes!" and because the rent was $10 per month. But the set had a red and chrome kitchen table that is associated with the 1950s, a radio that I had in the 1980s, and a television that wouldn't have existed until the 1990s. Then again, Opal stayed warm with a radiator, cooked with a small gas stove, and used a basin for her water.
I looked to the costumes to try to figure out what era we were in, but everyone was wearing something different. Grubbe's fedora and suits gave a 1920's flare, but Brown was often in short sleeved button-down shirts or a sweater vest and slacks. Margolin's skirts were too short to suggest it was before the 1950s, but as nice as her outfits were, they did not have a specific time period tied to them. Senters wore slacks and different tops throughout the show. Again, the slacks suggest it was after the 1950s, but there wasn't anything specific about the outfits to tell the audience what year it was.
With rent at $10 and the slang the characters were using, a sense of continuity brought through with the set and costumes would have added a little extra bonus to the play. However, this didn't bring the play down. Actors with good comedic timing and a good bond with each other that translated on stage is what made this play. The title doesn't lie. I really do love Opal.
Hopefully not the final chapter
by Brad Quinn
ICCT - Although Neil Simon can pretty much be depended on for a laugh, this may be one of his more weighty offerings. I knew very little about this show going into it, but knowing Neil Simon in general I had some idea of what to expect. In many ways, I was wrong.
When the subject matter is divorce, adultery, and the death of a spouse, you can be assured that it’s not going to be all fun and games. So those of you looking for nothing but a laugh, this show may not be for you.
However, there is a lot to recommend this script for those of you who are looking for some depth to your comedy. Maybe it is hard to imagine a comedy which is anchored by death and marital strife, but Simon pulls it off with his usual flair. All that is needed is the right people to bring it to life.
Does ICCT’s presentation of Chapter Two achieve this? Yes…and no. I can say with certainty that the opening night show which I saw was absolutely crisp and the cast was firing on all cylinders. Unfortunately, the only real problem with that is that the supporting cast actually outshines the leads.
Without a doubt, Ken Van Egdon steals this show away from the rest of the cast, playing the part of Leo Schneider, the younger brother to the play’s romantic lead. Granted, with only four people in the cast this is not as hard to do, but his stage presence and comic timing set a standard that the rest have difficulty achieving. And just when you think his character is nothing but a comic foil, Van Egdon manages to reach deep and pull some real feeling out of a particularly emotional scene in the second act.
Robyn McCright also more than pulls her weight as Faye Medwick, best friend to the play’s female lead character. I have had the pleasure of seeing Ms. McCright in a number of other performances, and this one is truly her best yet. And it is a brave as well as comic performance…she performs one scene dressed in a flimsy negligee and another in nothing but a sheet. Other actresses might flinch from this but she charges at it straight ahead. Her scene with Van Egdon in the second act is probably the highlight of the show.
The two leads were played by David Pierce, as George Schneider, and newcomer Caroline Sheerin as Jennie Malone. It is to be hoped that Ms. Sheerin continues to pursue the theater now that she has returned to the stage after being absent since high school, as she shows a great deal of promise. Unfortunately, where this show really suffers is the lack of chemistry between the two romantic leads.
Pierce in particular seems out of place as George. Not that he doesn’t have the tools of a comic actor, but he is about 10 years too old for the part and seems a bit more milquetoast than the part would call for. The two together have no spark, and this becomes quite evident when they kiss onstage for the first time. It is difficult to play romance on the stage, but the challenge of such stage romances is that you really only have a very short amount of time to establish the relationship as legitimate in the audience’s eyes and you have to make use of every moment.
The story relies on this relationship to make it work. George is a writer who has recently lost his wife to an unnamed illness, and Jennie is an actress who has just been divorced. Neither is eager to start a new relationship, but through the machinations of brother Leo and friend Faye (and a happy accident) George and Jennie meet and begin a whirlwind romance that neither is particularly equipped for. The first act of the show details the background of these characters, including Leo and Faye, and is generally light-hearted and fun. The accidental first meeting between George and Jennie is particularly well written. However, the second act is much heavier on the drama and emotion and is more difficult for the audience to get in to (although not unrewarding for those who stay with it). There is also a subplot which, while in some ways seemingly unnecessary, actually threatens to become more interesting than the main plot.
At the end of it all, though, I do think the audience was well satisfied and got their evening’s entertainment out of it. Not only was the cast on fire for opening night, special mention has to be made for the set, beautifully constructed by Rich Riggleman. Riggleman is a veteran who has built many fine sets over the years for various local productions, but this one may be his finest. The set consists of two apartments side by side, and it was designed in such a way to allow them to share the same stage but be completely distinguishable from each other. Aiding in this endeavor is an apt lighting design by Andrew Couch. Each apartment has its own hallway lighting and interior lighting that are independent of each other and allow the audience to truly feel that they are separate spaces despite having no real boundaries between them.
There is the possibility that this show may be the last performance ICCT ever gives. I certainly hope that is not the case and that they rescue themselves from the financial trouble they find themselves in. If this does end up being their last show, it is certainly not an unworthy one. And I would recommend for anyone reading this to go see the show and enjoy it for what it is. For it may not be perfect, but it is still a fine evening’s entertainment.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Southern Comforts opens May 7
Iowa Theatre Artists Company will present Kathleen Clark's Southern Comforts beginning on May 7th. It is a comedy about marriage, death and readjustment in the Autumn years. Meg Merckens and Robert Gardner play Amanda, an aging southern belle who lost her husband in a car crash, and Gus, an retired stonemason and widower. Amanda's daughter, who goes to Gus's church, brings her to New Jersey; when she knocks on Gus' door to collect a contribution, the seed is sown for a relationship that is the subject of a warm and thoughtful two-person play.
Southern Comforts runs May 7th to 30th, 7:30 on Fridays & Saturdays with 1:30 matinees on Fridays and Sundays. Tickets are $20-$25 ($10 for students); call 319-622-3222 or visit ITAC's website.
