Why Torture is Wrong... Struggles to be Right

By Rachel Korach Howell
Photos by Elisabeth Ross

Regan Jade Loula as Felicity; Benjamin Alley as Zamir

Iowa City - Dreamwell’s Why Torture Is Wrong and the People Who Love Them, written by Christopher Durang and directed by Adeara Jean Maurice, is a look into post 9/11 frenzy in the United States with smatterings of other hot topic political issues thrown into the mix. The story revolves around Felicity (Regan Jade Loula) and her marriage to a possible terrorist named Zamir (Benjamin Alley). We see them wake up together and it becomes quickly clear that what was, to her, a one night stand (foolishly enacted in a drunken blackout) is actually the result of being slipped a drug and forced to marry a man she doesn’t know (married by an oblivious minister who makes porn, played by Brian Tanner). Zamir’s random shouting and violent threats to keep her from annulling the marriage, are seemingly, fairly easily ingested by Felicity as she agrees to have him meet her parents.

Luella, Felicity’s mother (Sandy Goodson), a sort of Stepford shell of a once-was woman (a clear result of an overly patriarchal society and a war-mongering and abusive husband), talks mostly of movies and theatre while the father, Leonard (Randall Schroeder) gets furiously angry on the turn of a dime, brandishes hand guns at the drop of a hat, and mysteriously retreats to care for his “butterfly collection” which no one has ever seen and Felicity suspects isn’t real.

Dreamgirls Cast Soars Above Technical Difficulties

By Rachel Korach Howell
Photos by Len Struttmann and Shannon Struttmann

DiAndre Neville as Jimmy; Cameron Byrd as Marty

Cedar Rapids - TCR’s Dreamgirls is a musical mimicking the evolution of the Supreme’s: the cutthroat music business, the solid friendships overtaken by lights and glamour, the extra mile and the extra crap the African American musicians had to deal with to get noticed or even be able to take credit for their work, the girls who became strong women… It’s a lot. And it’s alllll in there, folks.

This show is centered around three phenomenal women, but we can’t get by without talking about the men who, circumstantially, ruin or enhance those ladies’ lives. DiAndre Neville works Jimmy. I love to see an actor sweat because I know that actor is working his/her darndest to give the audience everything they’ve got. He moves up and down the space, singing and dancing, in one of the most demanding performances in the show. His energy is unending and his vocals spot on. Marty (Cameron Byrd) brings a lot to the stage. His acting is subtle, strong, and honest, and that man can MOVE. Seeing him let loose during “Steppin’ to the Bad Side” in the first half of the show was a highlight for me. And I couldn’t help but smile when he popped up again in the second half. CC (Tevin Jones) also really surprised me. He is a soothing presence and it’s hard to dislike him even when he’s convinced to prefer Deena (Staisha Federick) over his sister, Effie (Alicia Strong). His singing is beautiful and he is another slick foot in the cast.

Year-End Wrap-Up!

As the year draws to a close, we at the Iowa Theatre Blog have gotten to reminiscing about the past 12 months. We're sure you have, too! So, we invited our reviewers to talk to us about their "best of" choices for 2014. It was a fun process: usually, we restrict what our reviewers can comment on. No one can review a show that a company they're affiliated with has produced, for example. Here, though, we gave them free reign to talk about what caught their attention, what moved them, what huge successes they saw in Corridor theatre in the year 2014. We hope you're as excited as we are to read the results! Also, we'd LOVE to hear what YOU think on the matter! Sound off in the comments here, or on FB, or Twitter... or just start the conversation at your favorite NYE party :-D What excited YOU about local theatre in 2014? What gave you hope for 2015? Read our reviewers' thoughts after the jump...

Shrek's Spectacle Delivers Smiles

by Rachel Korach Howell
photos by Shannon Struttmann

Nathan Nelson as Shrek;
Lovar Davis Kidd as Donkey

Cedar Rapids - Shrek the Musical, based on the beloved animated movies, maintains the moral lessons through a lens of infectious humor, well-crafted music, and all around fun.

As I was watching the musical, one thing that became clear to me was the difficulty in putting a new spin on something so cemented in the media - unless the new artist is willing to forego the recognizable qualities that are the purpose for the show’s creation. If one were to make new choices, it wouldn’t be the same story, with the same characters, and the audience would not be getting what they expect and desire to see when purchasing tickets for a show based on their favorite animated film. Imagine if Shrek had a French accent, if Lord Farquaad was on stilts instead of his knees, if Fiona was a brunette. Absolutely shocking and all wrong!

This is most difficult with the character of Shrek. The audience expects Mike Myers and anything short of him is automatically compared to that highest standard. So, what I looked for was if that guy was having fun. The good news? He was. Nathan Nelson (Shrek) had sporadic moments of jerky gesturing, and his voice wasn’t a powerhouse, but his presentation was more than adequate and the character the audience knows and loves was evident in his portrayal. His delivery was honest and you could tell Nelson had a lot of love for his character. However, my favorite song, “Who I’d Be,” which closes the first act, fell a bit flat for me. I love the poetry of it, the honesty within it, the simple dream of acceptance… but the song was rushed and Shrek seemed uncomfortable at times, unable to reach the power I crave in those moments when the character is so vulnerable, self-consciousness, and the rest of the world, just goes away.

Kimberly Akimbo Comes Together Beautifully

By Rachel Korach Howell
Photos by Bob Goodfellow

Jody Hovland as Kimberly; Frankie Rose as Jeff

Iowa City - David Lindsay-Abaire’s Kimberly Akimbo is chock full of the necessary humor humans must utilize in order to bear the weight of impending doom. Some may say the humor is too harsh at times. The love we hope to see is easily marred by a presentation that might not perfectly walk that line; nevertheless, you cannot deny the love that is deeply rooted within the language Lindsay-Abaire gives his characters.

Kimberly Levaco was born with a disease which ages her at 4x the rate of a “normal” human being. At 4 years old, she looks 16, and so on. We meet Kimberly on her 16th birthday, the picture of an old woman, the hopes of a budding teenager, with a wisdom and understanding of life forced upon her by her circumstances. Her parents are selfish, rude, angry, and - her mother especially - cruel to their daughter at times. She has only two friends: a nerdy dungeon master, who's a wizard with anagrams, and her quirky homeless aunt. Kimberly’s life may end soon, but she succeeds in teaching each character what it takes to truly live.

Honesty and Tenderness Center Marion Bridge

By Rachel Korach Howell
Photos by Bob Goodfellow

Lisa Margolin, Jennifer Fawcett, Heather Michele Lawler.

Iowa City - I had a difficult time keeping Daniel MacIvor’s Marion Bridge and Chekov’s Three Sisters separate in my brain (though a contemporized version of Three Sis, of course). Take away everything but those three women, save the subtext and the desperate hope laced with cruel reality, and add a modern flair. Put it on the Riverside stage for just under two hours at 350 degrees, and you’ve got Marion Bridge.

Love, Loss, and What I Wore Offers Moving Performances With Static Staging

By Rachel Howell

Coralville - City Circle's Love, Loss and What I Wore gives the audience a peek into the lives of women through monologues and quippy one-liner conversations.

As a woman, it's very easy to listen to and agree with much of what is performed. I myself have said those same things while looking in the mirror in the changing room. I've had those hopes skittering through my brain when passing a crush. I've wrestled with ill-fitting bras and I've lost half of my life in the abyss of a purse. I've stood for too many minutes, looking into my dark, over-filled, over-FLOWING closet and shouted: I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR! Don't lie: you have too.

The preshow includes images projected on a large screen surrounded by draped fabric, taking up the majority of the visual onstage, with a few nice couches and chairs arranged below it. Pictures of Audrey and Katherine Hepburn graced the screen. Chanel. Greta Garbo. Madonna. Even Paula Abdul made a cameo. It was a lovely glance at these women who have made lasting impressions and ushered the evolution of fashion as we know it today.

There were a dozen women performing, all incredibly talented, who carried the show through a rollercoaster of highs and lows, fear and excitement, love and loss. Each woman wearing a different style of black dress, keeping them all individual, yet connecting them through a central truth: one can never go fashionably wrong in black.

Monologue scripts can be difficult to maneuver through at times. So many funny and beautiful stories are told, but there is very little to hold them together. Each woman is tasked with gaining the attention of the onlookers right on the heels of a completely different (though always woman-centered) tale and it can cause a large amount of static throughout the piece. Transitions seemed a bit cold or clunky, even jolting at times. Paula Grady’s Gingy pieces were meant to create a frame for the show, but it wasn’t enough for this reviewer. The audience doesn’t get a plot to cling to, which makes for an awkward ending to the show as well (it is very difficult to end something which doesn’t have the beginning and middle that the general public is accustomed to having).

The women originally come out in a sort of "meet & greet," shaking each other's hands as if meeting for the first time, each carrying a wine glass, with a plate of strawberries placed on a coffee table center stage. But, I wanted more wine and more eating, adding a familiarity between them. There was a tentative nature to the women when someone was performing a monologue, but I knew that a room full of women drinking and eating would be more boisterous, vocal, fun. I wanted to hear them commit to agreeing with the speaking person, repeat what they said in humor or horror, touch each other in support, but any of this that did occur was lack luster and unsupported. There was a conversationality that was missing from the piece on a whole. The portions where the women were all chiming in seemed more energized, though suffered from pacing issues. That, combined with some awkward staging, worked against the intimacy the show needs to convey. It separated the women on stage more than drew them together which, in turn, created a disconnect between the performers and the audience. More interaction and comfort on stage would have also acted as an audience guide, showing us how they react and leading us to join them, essentially inviting us into that room where they’re all sitting instead of keeping us looking in through the bay window.

Several performances really stood out. Mary Rinderspacher delivered her piece with an adorable honesty that was difficult to resist. It was hard to imagine her doing anything other than performing for an audience as I watched her work through her monologue with ease and confidence. I look forward to seeing her perform again soon!

Kathy Maxey was a joy to watch. She interacted with many of the other women, straying from the staged norm of a center stage monologue delivery, and moved about the space, drawing in the audience as well as the others sharing the stage with her. Her honesty was lovely to watch and the show really came alive in her hands. It was a treat to watch her even when she wasn't the center of attention as her ability to listen was simply unmatched and she remained invested in every woman and every story told. 

Robyn Calhoun delivered a beautiful piece towards the end of the production. When you go into a show about women, you know there are certain buzz issues that will be showcased: body image, rape, breast cancer, etc. It would be so easy for an actor to wallow in the tragic nature of some of the topics brought up. But, Robyn navigates her piece with a respect that I believe many victims of cancer would be able relate to. She was vulnerable and specific and fought her tears. The actor in me knows how good it can feel to give in to emotions, but that's not what makes a performance dynamic. It's the fight. And Robyn gave that to us.

Honorable mention also goes out to the work of Ramya Hipp, Krista Neumann, and Leslie Nolte.

Though it would be sad to lose any of these amazing actors, I wonder if a smaller cast would have allowed for more dynamic staging, more connections between the women on stage, and let the audience to really connect with the individuals more (especially had they each been given more to say; more than a few minutes for the audience to get to know them). The original casting suggests five women, and though the twelve on the CCPA stage were each wonderful to watch, I think if the work had been more concentrated, it could have better served the piece on the whole.

Though there may be some flaws with this production, it remains a wonderful celebration of women and is actually pretty relatable to both genders. My partner, who sports different machinery than I do, found himself drawn into the stories even though he's never been through the embarrassment of wearing white while menstruating. And, truly, this show is a wonderful chance to see so much local female talent in an incredible venue and it will definitely get you talking! 

Love, Loss, and What I Wore runs at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts February 14-16, 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets available here. Information on the outreach efforts associated with this performance is available here.