Outstanding Performances of 2011

by James E. Trainor III

Theatre is a collaboration between a great number of artists with a wide variety of abilities - from writers to actors to graphic designers and everything in-between - but the role of the individual actor is unique because it gives the art a very personal feel. An actor can be a evocation of the audience's collective demons, a warm guide into a world of wonder, or simply an entertaining host for an exciting night out.

Today I want to talk about a few people who did a particularly memorable job of creating characters in the past year. This list is by no means exhaustive; we cherish all those who spend their time and energy bringing imaginary worlds to life. Please post in the comments if you have particular performances you remember fondly from 2011.


Mike Wilhelm as Mr. Applegate

Damn Yankees, TCR

Damn Yankees is a musical comedy about a man who offers his soul in exchange for the chance to be young again and win the Washington Senators the pennant. It's a fun, heartwarming, and clever piece that pops when it gets going. To really swing for the fence on this one, a company needs someone who can bring considerable stage presence to bear as Mr. Applegate, the sly, smooth-talking devil who tries to con honest Joe out of his soul.

Applegate does it all: sings, dances, even lights his cigarette with a flashy bit of stage magic. Wilhelm embodied the role with the smooth carelessness that can only come from weeks of careful practice. Whenever he stepped on the stage, the dramatic stakes rose and the pure fun of the piece went up a notch. The charm, grace and gleeful evil he brought to the role really sold the premise of the piece.

K. Lindsay Eaves as Abigail Williams

The Crucible, Dreamwell

If Mr. Applegate is the devil you love to hate, Abigail Williams brings a more realistic, decidedly frightening face of evil to the stage. The destructive, opportunistic girl embodies all the mendacity, paranoia and perversion that is present in Miller's depiction of the Salem witch trials. She is the shrill counterpart to the calm, maddeningly rational Danforth; a more active and therefore more dangerous evil.

K. Lindsay Eaves portrayed this vicious young lady with boundless energy and tireless commitment. She was never afraid to take things to the next level, and was always working with the other actors silently as the consequences of Abigail's schemes played out. The result was the perfect atmosphere for a script of this caliber. The work of Eaves and her scene partners kept the tension in this classic drama agonizingly high, and if you missed it, I'm sorry to say you missed one of the best productions of The Crucible to come to the Corridor in quite a while.

Saffron Henke in The Syringa Tree

Riverside Theatre

The area has no shortage of profoundly dedicated professional performers. Facilitated by companies like Riverside Theatre, these artists are able to bring incredibly immersive works like The Syringa Tree to the stage.

The Syringa Tree tells the story of South African apartheid from a variety of perspective, most notably from that of Lizzie Grace, who introduces us to this morally ambiguous world with childlike innocence and whose story we follow throughout the play. The show is remarkable because the same performer creates all the characters, and Henke did an amazing job creating a world that was absorbing from beginning to end. With no other actors and little set dressing to speak of, she applied her considerable skill and experience to play all parts, with equal dedication, in this bemusing, tragic and ultimately invigorating story.

Lincoln Ginsberg as Tobias and Emmy Palmersheim as Little Stone

Sweeney Todd and Eurydice, TCR

Theatre is above all else a art that enlivens the spirit of community, and an important part of that is passing down our traditions to our children. TCR does a fantastic job of selecting shows that allow young actors to work directly with a script, onstage with their elders, learning the craft as part of the community.



Lincoln Ginsberg and Emmy Palmersheim stood out this year as two young performers who went above and beyond in some really challenging roles. Ginsberg played the ill-fated Tobias in Sweeney Todd to chilling effect. He was charming, energetic, understood the tone of the show, and took direction well. The image of Tobias's final moments strike is probably the most haunting thing I've seen on the TCR mainstage, and I've been screaming at vampires, pirates and assassins in that space since I was a boy myself.



Emmy Palmersheim did a remarkable job in Eurydice, a poetic and quirky modern retelling of a famous Greek Myth. She worked well with the other actors and has a very striking stage presence. She also successfully directed a very funny ten-minute piece The Ethical Dilemma of a Sandwich Down the Pants for TCR Underground. Acting in a surrealist tragedy and directing a funny short play require completely different skill-sets, and to accomplish both in one season is deserving of recognition.

So, a round of applause to these artists, and to all those who brought us out to the theatre this year to draw inspiration, confront uncomfortable truths, or just plain have a good time.

What were your favorite performances this year? Memorable characters? Hilarious or shocking moments? We'd like to hear from you; follow the "Comments" link below to post your thoughts.

Check out Eurydice: A Thought Provoking Re-imagining of a Classic Myth

by Matthew Falduto

Cedar Rapids - Sarah Ruhl is one of the most promising young playwrights working today; it is safe to assume we have not seen her best work yet. Theatre Cedar Rapids has chosen to present one of her better known plays, Eurydice. The play tells the Greek myth of Orpheus from the point of view of Orpheus' love, Eurydice. On their wedding day, Eurydice dies. Orpheus, the finest musician in all the world, is so desperate to get her back, he travels to the Underworld, using his music to charm the Lord of the Underworld to allow him to take Eurydice back to life. There is a condition, of course. As Orpheus leads Eurydice back to the surface, he is commanded to not look back at her until their journey is complete. If he does, he will lose her forever. At the last moment, fearing he has been tricked, he turns and sees her, condemning her to the Underworld forever.

This play is a wonderful re-imagining of this classic story. Ruhl's Eurydice is a strong woman who makes decisions and does not allow her fate to be dictated by Orpheus. This allows for a thought-provoking climax, as Eurydice is the one who makes the decision of whether she will return to life or remain in the Underworld. One can just imagine Ms. Ruhl thinking to herself as she's typing away at her computer, "Why does her whole fate have to rely on Orpheus? Girl's got to take control."

And in truth, the most interesting relationship is not between Orpheus (Alex Williams) and Eurydice (Hannah Spina), but instead between Eurydice and her father (Scot Hughes). Father died before the play begins, but he has not given up on the chance of communicating with his beloved daughter. This goes counter to the way the Underworld is supposed to work. One is supposed to allow a dip in the River Styx to wash away all memories of one's life. But Father refuses for he misses his daughter terribly and cannot let her go. When she arrives, he helps her to remember her life and him.

Hughes is wonderful in the role of Father, handling the humorous moments well, but truly shining whenever the script calls for him to show love for his daughter. In a truly lovely moment in the script, he becomes a tree to shade Eurydice and provide a place for her to rest. At another point, her creates a home for her. Leslie Chariper's direction has him using simple string to create this home. As touching as the moment is, it's equally heartbreaking when he has to remove the home later in the show. This is just one of many excellent choices by this talented director.

Alex Williams does a fine job capturing the whimsical joy of being young and in love as Orpheus. Scott Humeston relishes every interesting moment of the characters he plays. As "A Nasty Interesting Man," he exudes malevolence. As "Lord of the Underworld," he actually finds a lot of opportunity for comedy, which he also performs admirably.

Hannah Spina as Eurydice must be commended for a strong performance. She is joyful and fearful and strong. In love with Orpheus, she is determined to make sure he is paying attention to her, not just his music. She plays every moment, from giddy love to dawning realization of fate, perfectly. She embodies exactly what we want in our modern female hero.

The actors in the supporting roles are also good. The chorus of "Stones" fight
against Father and Eurydice's resistance to the "rules" of the Underworld, which boil down to forgetting one's life. Big Stone, Little Stone, and Loud Stone, played by Nick Walters, Emmy Palmersheim, and Mike Wilhelm respectively, provide much of the comedy of the show, though there is a wonderfully played sinister undertone to their actions. Particular kudos must go to Costume Designer Richie Akers for creating the most fascinating costumes for this chorus of the dead.

The set, designed by Bret Gothe, is simple and effective. A metal frame (reused from Sweeney Todd?) allows for a second level upstage. Utilizing the trap doors in the stage to excellent effect, Gothe offers us three pools of blue light which effectively communicate the otherworldliness of the Underworld. Boards placed over the pools give a sense of the final fateful journey back to the surface. Everything is simple allowing the audience to complete the world with its own creativity.

I strongly encourage you to check out Eurydice. It boasts strong performances, a story that tugs at your heart while making you laugh, and a creative design that allows for one's imagination to dance along with the performers. It runs through April 23. For tickets, go here.

Eurydice opens Friday

Cedar Rapids - The first time Leslie Charipar saw a production of Eurydice, she was literally moved to tears.

She’s now hoping the show will move local audiences the same way, when Charipar’s production of Sarah Ruhl's play performs at Theatre Cedar Rapids April 8-23.

Eurydice retells the classic Greek myth of Orpheus — only it’s from the perspective of Eurydice, Orpheus’ wife. Eurydice dies shortly after the couple’s wedding and is sent to the Underworld, where she is reunited with her lost father. However, Orpheus yearns to bring her back from the dead, and goes on a mission to find her — a decision that forces Eurydice to choose between returning to the land of the living, or staying behind in the land of the dead.

Playwright Ruhl does more than just change the focus of the Orpheus story with Eurydice. She also makes heavy use of poetry and imagery in her adaptation.

“Sarah Ruhl’s use of language is so beautiful and fresh and unexpected,” says Charipar, the Artistic Director of Theatre Cedar Rapids. “It’s different from a typical translation. It feels more like a good piece of music than a novel.”

The cast of Eurydice is full of veteran TCR volunteers, including Hannah Spina (White Christmas) as Eurydice; Alex Williams (Crimes of the Heart) as Orpheus; Scot Hughes (It’s A Wonderful Life) as the Father; Scott Humeston (A Streetcar Named Desire) as the Nasty Interesting Man and the Lord of the Underworld; and a Chorus of Stones made up of Emmy Palmersheim (Gypsy), Nick Walters (Annie) and Mike Wilhelm (The Laramie Project).

The show also promises to be visually lush and imaginative, with set design by Bret Gothe and lighting by Derek Easton and costumes by Richie Akers.

“These people are totally capable of delivering Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice, and I am really excited about our audiences being introduced to this playwright and this story through this production,” Charipar says. “It’s a lovely show.”

Eurydice performs April 8-23 at TCR as part of the Linge Series, sponsored by the Linge Foundation. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, as well as a 2:30 p.m. performance Sunday, April 17. Tickets are $20 or $25, with $12 rush tickets available at the door. For tickets or more information, visit www.theatrecr.org, call (319) 366-8591 or visit the box office, 102 Third St. SE, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Here's a sneak peek video:

TCR Announces Eurydice Cast

Cedar Rapids - Theatre Cedar Rapids has announced the cast of Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl. The classic Greek myth of Orpheus is re-imagined through the eyes of its heroine. Dying too young on her wedding day, Eurydice must journey to the underworld, where she reunites with her father and struggles to remember her lost love. With contemporary characters, ingenious plot twists, and poetic dialogue, the play is a fresh look at a timeless love story.

Cast:

Scot Hughes - Father
Scott Humeston - Nasty, Interesting Man/Lord of the Underworld
Emmy Palmersheim - Little Stone
Hannah Spina - Eurydice
Nick Walters - Big Stone
Mike Wilhelm - Loud Stone
Alex Williams - Orpheus