Boeing Boeing offers colorful, funny evening of theatre

By Joe Jennison

Amana - During the Old Creamery Theatre’s Sunday matinee curtain speech for Boeing Boeing, Producing Director Tom Milligan promised his audience “a good laugh.” As this Theatre Blog’s assigned reviewer for the show, I felt compelled to pen the promise to paper, and then sat in the Old Creamery’s darkened auditorium and waited for the promise to be delivered.

I didn’t have to wait long.

There is a scene early on concerning a bottle of cognac and three characters forced to cover up an outlandish secret. A French housekeeper, an international lady’s man and an American tourist have just realized that two of three fiancés promised to the same man are now staying in two of the four bedrooms in a Paris flat. The housekeeper assigned to manage the house, and keep the two women from running into each other, grabs the cognac to calm her nerves. She pours a glass, it’s taken immediately away by the lady’s man, she pours another glass, and it is taken away by the tourist. And then, with no more glasses within reach, she quickly guzzles directly from the bottle. The actress playing the housekeeper milks this moment for every comic bit available and as I watched this professional comedienne work her theatrical magic, I laughed and laughed and laughed. Very funny.

Promise delivered.

The play, a two-act French farce written by Marc Camoletti and translated by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans, concerns Bernard (John D. Smitherman), an American architect living in Paris who has asked three international flight attendants to marry him. Gloria (Jessica Bradish) is an American flight attendant who works for TWA. Gabriella (Deborah Kennedy) is an Italian flight attendant who works for Alitalia. And Gretchen (Jackie McCall) is a German flight attendant who works for Lufthansa.

Bernard confesses early on that he has no desire to follow through with his commitment to any of them, and works very hard to keep that secret (and the three flight attendants) from coming out and creating trouble at his Paris flat. Helping him in this endeavor are Berthe (Marquetta Senters), the aforementioned French housekeeper, and Robert (Sean McCall), an old friend from Wisconsin who just happens to be in town.

As this is a farce, we all know that all three women will indeed run into each other at the flat, and eventually Bernard’s scheme will be unraveled, but not without first some very funny theatrics as women are whisked off to the country, locked in the bathroom or hidden away in any one of several offstage rooms. Watching these performers whisk and slam and hide throughout the course of two acts is indeed funny, and all of these performers are adept at physical comedy. Director James Fleming is obviously skilled in the art of farce and slapstick, and the play’s many comic bits are mined to perfection by this professional group of performers.

The set, designed by Tom Milligan, is a colorful piece of work: pink doorways, blue walls, orange chairs, red pillows all on top of a lush, flesh-colored carpet. Six doors fit for slamming, and an offstage front door allow for perfect timing as one flight attendant arrives as another is pushed into a bedroom or bathroom or kitchen. Costumes designed by Kamille Zbanek complement Milligan’s set nicely and are tailored perfectly. The flight attendants’ uniforms in particular are well done with the American flight attendant dressed in red, the German dressed in yellow, and the Italian in green. Later, three nightgowns are equally stunning and all three flight attendants are gorgeous to look at in silks, chiffons and one wonderful little black dress, with a red belt and black pumps lined with faux fur. These are wonderful costume details that I loved to watch and discover as each scene went on. Well done.

The six actors offer six distinct characterizations; four offer up accents. Jackie McCall’s Gretchen is a tough, and, at times brutal, German woman who is a take-charge kind of lover. Bradish’s Gloria is a scheming gold-digger from Texas who admits she is ready to commit... that is, until she finds a millionaire. And Kennedy’s Gabriella is a passionate but suspicious Italian who looks gorgeous by the way in the little black dress. Senters’ Berthe is a hard-working, put-upon French housekeeper who manages to keep her employer’s secrets under wraps, for a regularly increasing raise. Sean McCall’s Robert continually nearly gives away his friend’s dirty little secret away as he very funnily juggles globes and suitcases and pratfalls. He quietly watches with envy as his friend’s three fiancés come and go and hide and resurface. And Smitherman’s Bernard is a likeable and charming international playboy.

Farces are by nature predictable, and this one is as well. The early scenes are full of exposition and the set up at times seem to drag a bit. But this farce does pay off with some wonderful laughs, comic bits pulled off by professional actors who know how to keep things funny and moving along. The play offers lots of giggles and quite a few outright belly laughs, and I loved the colorful set and costumes and the funny multicultural characters and accents.

Tom Milligan’s promise was right on target: Boeing Boeing offers a good laugh.

“The Lady...”: An intimate look at an American icon

By Joe Jennison

Amana - I spent a very intimate evening with Ann Landers last night. She invited an entire group of us into the study of her Chicago condominium to tell us about her life, her work, her marriage and her family. And throughout the course of the evening, she also read to us from her columns and her letters, and, at one point, she became so moved by her reminiscences that she even broke down… and, from my seat, I felt the need to reach out to her and hold her hand or give her a hug – that is how convinced I was that I was actually spending time with her.

A one-woman show written by David Rambo and produced by The Iowa Theatre Artists Company, The Lady With All The Answers is a stylish and simple story featuring actress Meg Merckens as columnist Ann Landers. Merckens as Landers greets the audience as if they are guests in her home, and proceeds to share with them stories of her life and work. Merckens seems very comfortable with this style of storytelling, and actually reaches out to her audience several times, asking questions and taking polls – at one point double-checking with her audience on the correct spelling of “referring.” And later, she asks “Let’s take a poll, shall we? How many of you were virgins when you married?”

The character as written spends the entire evening working on a column and a book, a retrospective of her favorite letters over the years. She goes through files, pulls out letters from her column and creates two piles – this one goes in the book, this one does not. And then the column – yes, her column due tonight -- has to do with the disclosure to her readers that her 35-year marriage to Jules Lederer, owner of Budget Rent-a-Car, is over.

The moment where she actually discloses this personal truth to her readers is when, as she says, it all becomes real. It is at that moment that the actress very quietly sits and breaks down. Merckens makes this moment so very real and controlled that I almost felt embarrassed for the character. It was very clear that at this very public moment, Ann Landers was not about to lose her composure in front of this room-full of strangers. And so, at this moment, the two of them, actress and character, rather than pulling out the stops and bawling in front of us, instead very subtly and professionally holds back, pulls herself together, and moves on.

Throughout the course of this one hour, 45-minute intimate exchange, we learn some wonderful stories about her amazing life. About how she started her column quite by accident after the sudden death of the original writer. And about how her identical twin (and 17-minute younger) sister, aka Dear Abby, started an identical twin column just six months later without mentioning one word to her before it appeared. She tells us about the walls she broke down, about being one of the first columnists to put the word “homosexual” in print, about how she was one of the first to write about sex, and about how it was her and her reader’s advocacy that was responsible for the largest medical appropriations bill in U.S. history.

I also learned that Ann Landers personally answered up to 900 letters a day, and at one point she was read by more than 60 million people. She went to Viet Nam during the war and spoke to numerous wounded soldiers and when she returned made 2,500 calls to friends and family members of the wounded just to let them know that their loved ones were OK.

I loved Merckens’ portrayal of this multi-dimensional public figure. Merckens also is responsible for the very recognizable lisp as well as the Costume Design. Merckens is certainly supported by Wig Stylist Tammy Frame who creates that trademark hair and Set Designer Thomas P. Johnson who recreates a lavish condominium. Director Rachael Lindhart keeps the piece moving along quickly and The Iowa Theatre Artists Company itself adds to the charm by creating a welcoming theater and performance space that allows patrons to get to know other theater-lovers as the play progresses.

Yes, I felt very much like an invited guest into Ann Landers’ home at this production. And I was almost disappointed to have to leave after our brief visit. I said earlier in this review that I “felt the need to reach out to her and hold her hand or give her a hug,” and that is exactly what I did as I exited the small space – that is how convinced I was that I was actually spending time with an American icon.

The Lady With All The Answers will be performed Fridays at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. through June 26. Tickets are $20 and are available through (319) 622-3222. Find out more at www.iowatheatreartists.org

Take an old friend to see The Old Creamery’s very funny “The Dixie Swim Club”

By Joe Jennison

Amana - I have my 30th high school reunion coming up this summer.

And quite by chance, I sat next to one of my very dear high school friends last Friday at The Old Creamery Theatre Company’s production of The Dixie Swim Club. Arriving at the theater late, I sat right down and didn’t look up until intermission. When I finally looked up after a wonderful and funny Act One…

“Mary?”

“Joe?”

The years fell away and we were giggling and laughing and reminiscing together as only old, old friends could do. We both realized during this performance how very important these relationships are, and we seemed to make that observation right along with the five characters that make up The Dixie Swim Club’s fictional Pemberton College champion swim team.

Written by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, The Dixie Swim Club traces five members of a former champion female swim team as they age from 44 to 77 over the course of four very quick scenes. At play’s open, the ladies are well past their college prime and have been meeting regularly at the same rented beach cottage on the Outer Banks of North Carolina for 22 years.

Their annual getaway has only three rules: No business, no men and no children. That leaves plenty of time for martinis, skinny dipping, catching up and plenty of heart-to-hearts.

Sheree (Krista Neumann) is the organized team captain who regularly sets up the annual weekend getaway. Lexie (Gwendolyn Schwinke) is a lovable but self-centered woman who works hard to stay young and thin and perpetually remarried. Jeri Neal (Kristy Hartsgrove) is a naïve and cloistered nun, who starts the play with a very funny and poignant reveal. Vernadette (Marquetta Senters) is a wise-cracking, upfront wife and mother, who is described early on as someone who has had a “black cloud following her since the day she was born.” And Dinah (Licia Watson) is the successful hard-working lawyer, an over-achiever who still manages to never disappoint her four dearest friends.

When these five characters come together for their annual reunion at their leased beach house, the martinis and the Southern one-liners begin to flow, and the Old Creamery audiences are the ultimate winners. Four scenes and some four decades of joy and drama later, all of us are reminded of how important those long-standing relationships have become in their life and ours.

Senters’ Vernadette is a beautiful piece of stage work, goofy and touching, as she goes from funny to sad, and from healthy to ill. A monologue in Act Two, when she is about 54, is well delivered as she confronts her health-conscious friend about the importance of Southern fried chicken and biscuits: “As long as there is music in Memphis, peanuts in Georgia, there will be Chicken and biscuits on my table!”

Schwinke’s Lexie takes over nearly every scene with her “it’s all about me” attitude (insert Southern accent here): “Just because I am vain and frivolous, does not mean I am shallow.” And Neumann’s Sheree very confidently plays that person that every group needs to stay together, an organized leader, who quietly insists on structure and schedules. As Jeri Neal, Hartsgrove has created a gentle soul, a nun in transition, who gets to make the biggest changes and growth throughout the evening. Watson’s Dinah is a career woman and a heavy drinker, a woman who sensitively watches over the rest as she mixes drinks and rattles off funny one-liners. “I got a martini shaker and I’m not afraid to use it,” she says in Act One.

Director Sean McCall has created a wonderful, fast-paced ensemble piece. He seems very adept at keeping the action and one-liners moving quickly. The beach house set designed by Tom Milligan is large and open and backed by a large scrim that seems to gently blow in the fictional breeze and allows for lightning and storms and bright summer North Carolina days. On this set, it is easy to imagine the beach just beyond the footlights, and, it seems very possible that, as the characters drawl from the front stage, the “afternoon sun is sparkling off the Atlantic ocean.”

Costumes are attributed to Deborah Kennedy, and the colors and styles reflect the eras and tastes of the various characters: muted oranges and turquoises and peaches – and yes, one clown suit, add to the soft feel of this comfortable beach house retreat.

I would be so curious to be backstage and watch as the hair and makeup and wigs are so quickly pulled together. Hair colors and styles and cosmetic surgeries seem to effortlessly change from scene to scene, as the women go from 44 to 49 to 54 to 77. Unfortunately, a hair or makeup credit is not listed in the program, but whoever is responsible can quietly smile as they read this. Good job.

I imagine that others with dear old friends will experience the same sense of comfort that I did from this story that follows these five diverse women through several life changes. The Dixie Swim Club is a wonderful reminder that no one is alone who has even one old friend who has known them since the days of their youth.

Mary and I can’t wait for our summer reunion.

Joe Jennison is a freelance writer and playwright living in Mount Vernon. Comments should be directed to joejennison@hotmail.com

“The Last Five Years” at Starlighters II: Time heals

By Joe Jennison

Anamosa - Two twenty-somethings meet and fall in love, get married, struggle with careers and family, and break up in just five year’s time. That is the basic premise of Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years.

The musical play would seem like any other standard musical comedy about love and marriage except for the fact that this play tells its story not only from two perspectives (his and hers), but also from two places in time: the male in this story begins at the beginning of the relationship and moves forward; the female in this story starts from the end of the relationship and moves backwards.

Originally produced in 2001, the play’s simple production values, small cast and non-traditional story-telling style has made it very popular with theaters and audiences alike. As produced at the Starlighters II Theatre in Anamosa, the musical play is a thought-provoking, enjoyable and quick evening of theater. Anyone who has been in and out of a relationship in a similar time frame will find plenty to relate to, and Brown’s music and lyrics are fun and funny and accessible.

The play opens with Cathy (Amy Friedl Stoner) singing about the end of a relationship. The song, “Still Hurting,” performed by Stoner is sad and poignant and heart-breaking, with lines such as “Jamie arrived at the end of the line; Jamie’s convinced that the problems are mine; Jamie is probably feeling just fine; And I’m still hurting.” This number is juxtaposed nicely in the very next scene by Jamie’s (Isaac Helgens) “Shiksa Goddess.” This up-tempo number sung just after he has met Cathy contains some very funny lines including “If you had a pierced tongue, that wouldn’t matter; If you once were in jail or you once were a man; If your mother and your brother had ‘relations’ with each other; And your father was connected to the Gotti clan; I’d say, ‘Well, nobody’s perfect’; It’s tragic but it’s true; I’d say, ‘Hey! Hey! Shiksa goddess! I’ve been waiting for someone like you."

This is part of the charm of this musical – that these two characters are performing together at two different times in their lives, and at two different times in this relationship. This allows Brown to comment on the end of the relationship at the beginning, and vice versa. The final number has Cathy (just after their first kiss) singing “Goodbye Until Tomorrow”; and on stage with her, Jamie (after he has just moved out) singing “I Could Never Rescue You.” And, although the audience often sees them on stage at the same time, the two characters don’t see each other, and are forced to sing individually to a “memory” of a person or a situation that has moved on in time.

The scenic design by director Brian Glick and KC Kiner, sets up the evening well. A large clock permanently set to 10:09 stares back at the audience from the stage. A smaller version of the same clock is permanently reflected on the stage floor. The two performers sing and interact and argue in front of, next to, and on top of the timepieces reiterating for all of us the volatile nature of time itself. Maybe if the characters had truly understood how precious time is things wouldn’t have ended (or started?) as they did.

At play’s opening and ending, director Glick creates a small pas de deux that has the two actors directly interacting just before they take to their separate corners of the stage to tell their different versions of the story. A host of stagehands and technicians create the illusion of multiple scenes in time through the use of large set pieces that come and go very quickly adding to the speed of the show. A boat dock slips on and off the stage with ease, piles of books appear and disappear instantly, and loose leaf typewritten pages seem to fall magically from the ceiling.

A small hidden three-piece instrumental ensemble provides great musical support and the aforementioned set offers a lot of places for director Glick and his cast to create some interesting stage pictures. A wedding scene, for instance, has the two characters singing together on a platform in front of the large clock as rose petals fall from the rafters. Almost instinctively, Helgens quietly and tenderly picks the petals out of Stoner’s hair as they say their I dos. Beautiful.

Stoner is obviously very comfortable center stage and her voice is well-trained and fits the demands of the score. I loved watching her stand tall and sing her heart out as she powerfully proves her worth in this relationship. She is gorgeous and confident in this piece and shines in several numbers including “A Summer in Ohio” and “I Can Do Better Than That.”

Helgens, by contrast, doesn’t seem to match Stoner vocally. Yes, as an actor, he does seem to understand his complex (and at times unlikeable) character, and he does hit each and every emotionally complex acting note. However, he does seem to struggle with the score, and in this respect seems mismatched onstage with a thoroughbred musical comedy performer such as Stoner. A rock number in Scene Four titled “Moving Too Fast” does allow him to show off his voice and style, proving that he can deliver the musical goods when the score falls within his comfort level. But a regular switch from chest voice to falsetto and back again several times throughout the show was at times awkward and uncomfortable to watch and hear.

That said, I did like this play, the music, the set and the performances and would recommend it to anyone who has a memory of lost love. And throughout the play, thanks to Glick’s set design and staging, I was reminded again and again of the very essence of relationships and broken hearts: Time heals.

This show has closed, but Starlighters' next show is None Of The Above, which opens June 17.


Joe Jennison is a freelance writer and playwright living in Mount Vernon. Comments should be directed to joejennison@hotmail.com

'Puppets' is an important part of Cultural Corridor

by Joe Jennison

I was reminded again Friday night of why I choose to live and work in Iowa’s Cultural Corridor.

Friday night was the opening night of one of my favorite annual events: Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre’s Puppets and Pastries Dessert Theatre for Adults. The event is designed to showcase the work of several local artists, including puppeteers, and allows adult patrons the opportunity to indulge in the enjoyment of the art of puppetry while simultaneously sipping wine and eating chocolate torte. The event takes place at the Owl Glass Puppetry Center, 319 N. Calhoun St., West Liberty, and attracts a large cross-section of performers and audience members, all of whom seem to love the performing arts.

If you were to wander into the Owl Glass Puppetry Center for this event, you would find a long room set up cabaret-style, with several café tables facing a small stage. The storefront’s windows are blocked by a black velvet curtain, which sits behind the Center’s performance space. The room around that stage is painted a bright, cheerful yellow, and the walls are covered in prints of posters in vibrant blues and greens and reds. Those posters document more than 35 years of puppet shows designed for children, with titles such as The Elves and the Shoemaker, The Fisherman and His Wife and The Three Billy Goats Gruff.

At Friday night’s show, there were no children present, just a group of eight seasoned performers, any one of whom could carry an entire evening on their own. I have been to this event several times now, and knew from just a look at the list of performers that I was about to experience something special.

First up were veteran bluegrass performers Bob and Kristie Black. The Blacks, married since 1990, perform throughout the area and beyond, and have developed a style and onstage performance shorthand that is both fascinating to watch and a joy to listen to. Both are songwriters, and both have a clear understanding of the classic bluegrass catalogue. With Bob on banjo and Kristie on guitar, the duo went from classics to originals and back again. They began with Bill Monroe’s “Come Hither to Go Yonder” and ended with Ernest Tubb’s “Mean Old Bedbug Blues.” In between, the twosome sang and played their own pieces and told stories of their life together. These performers are indeed local treasures and the joy they obviously have in the work is clear and captivating and infectious.

Next up was storyteller Susan Short Gilbert who told a wonderful story from her high school years. Titled Glory Days, the story, told in two parts, very comically and dramatically told the story of “an incident” from the late 60s that her family describes as the moment where she developed a backbone. She told the story very professionally and simply, describing how that in just four short years at a Catholic high school, she went from shy and awkward and picked on, to empowered and strong and respected. Her style is so incredibly personal that at her show, one is not an audience member but rather a trusted confidante – very intimate.

Laura Kittrell performed next on a synthesizer singing a comic version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Memory.” The song, written from the perspective of someone struggling with senior moments, was a real crowd favorite – perhaps a comment on our ages? -- with lines such as “What the heck is that guy’s name? He sings with me in the Choir. Did I leave both burners on, or is my house on fire?” Very funny.

The first half of the evening ended with A Light Draw by Dave Morice, a puppet show performed by Monica Leo and Teri Jean Breitbach. One of the first pieces done by Eulenspiegel in the 1970s, the play introduced Alfred Schultz, a puppet character that has become a signature character for Eulenspiegel. He showed up later as well, twice, as a stick puppet and a hand puppet, as Leo performed a new piece titled How It All Began, which told the story of Eulenspiegel’s early history. Leo and Breitbach too share an onstage rapport that can only be the result of years of performing together, and the reunion of the duo on this stage was clearly a crowd favorite. How wonderful to see them perform together again.

My favorite piece of the evening was an original play by Amy White. Titled Teachers’ Lounge, the play concerned an English teacher whose lunch has been eaten by one of his colleagues. Alone in the lounge, he retaliates by pulling his colleagues’ lunches out of the refrigerator, and lining each lunch up on a table centerstage. Out of frustration and anger, he has a series of conversations using each lunch as a puppet of sorts to represent each teacher. This was an extremely well-written and well-acted piece of theater, wonderfully performed by Jeff White, the writer’s son, who portrayed all five characters and voices. In the short piece, writer and actor worked well together to make a comment not only about one person’s view of working at a high school, but also a larger statement about public education in general.

The evening ended with Breitbach, Gilbert, Kittrell and Leo onstage with kazoos singing “Here’s To Professor Pickle and His Jolly Puppet Show,” an original song written especially for Eulenspiegel. The song contains a very funny veiled reference to a “certain part of Professor Pickle’s anatomy,” certainly not something to share with Eulenspiegel’s matinee crowd. The group traditionally ends their annual Dessert Theatre with this song and it never ceases to make me giggle. These four performers seemed to be having as much fun, if not more, than the audience who had come to see them.

The evening reminded me of the absolute joy that is performance art: Puppets, theater, bluegrass, cabaret, wine, chocolate and kazoos – how lucky we are to have all this talent in one place, and all of these people who are willing to share said talent with us. I walked away reminded again of not only the talent available in the area, but rather, about how regularly that talent is given the opportunity and encouragement to get out onto a local stage and share through performance.

I’m sure that many of the performers mentioned above will be a part of an upcoming benefit performance for Teri Jean Breitbach Saturday, May 21, at the Mill in Iowa City. Find out more through (319) 627-2487. And mark your calendar for their next show, Coyote's Eyeball, which will be performed Saturday, April 16.

White Christmas is a magical holiday spectacular

by Joe Jennison

TCR - Theatre Cedar Rapids' production of White Christmas is a magical holiday gem.

Directed by Casey Prince, with music direction by Damon Cole and Steve Shanley, the classic retelling of the 1954 movie in the hands of TCR’s uber-talented cast and crew is a wonderful holiday gift to area audiences. Because it’s a classic, I don’t imagine I need to retell the story here, but for purposes of this review let’s briefly say that a successful male song-and-dance team meets up with a sister act and the foursome make their way to a snowless Vermont Inn to “put on a show.” And oh yes, snow falls and everyone lives happily ever after, all the while singing one fantastic Irving Berlin song after another. I loved it!

The play opens on Christmas Eve 1944 and Wallace and Davis (Richie Akers and Aaron Brewer) are performing for the troops on the Western Front. Here we also meet characters Ralph Sheldrake (Rob Merritt) and General Waverly (Dave Jepsen). Jepsen stops the singing and dancing and right away sets up his “tough-as-nails” character with some wonderful one-liners that he delivers with equal parts abrasiveness and sensitivity: “If you could march as well as you jingle, this war would be over,” he barks. Jepsen throughout the show plays both tough and funny, and when needed, he is able to use his earned comic respect to gently pull at the audience’s heartstrings.

Immediately following the 1944 scene we are whisked away to 10 years later and Wallace and Davis are now performing on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” The quick set change here is a precursor to several similar set changes throughout the piece that continue today to mystify me. Beautiful, colorful barns and train cars and entire TV soundstages, designed by Scott Humeston, seem to effortlessly appear and disappear throughout the show. Around these sets, as many as 26 brightly costumed, impeccably dressed chorus members sing and dance in unison. The costumes designed by Joni Sackett are a big part of the show’s success. It’s fun to watch her work in both the small and large roles – dozens of dancing turquoise and pinks and reds alongside costumed dancing Oxydol boxes and individual period dresses complete with matching pumps and gloves. I sat through the entire piece waiting, watching, wondering what Sackett would come up with next.

“The Ed Sullivan Show” set with its shimmering red curtain with iconic logo is juxtaposed nicely against a smoky, dimly lit Jimmy’s bar in Act One. And while Wallace and Davis perform on that big, bright TV stage, across town in a seedy nightclub sisters Betty and Judy Haynes (Katy Richter and Molly Prout) prepare for a show of their own. Richter and Prout’s first number together is “Sisters.” Costumed in Sackett-designed blue gowns, with white-and-blue feather fans, the two women are obviously very comfortable singing and dancing, and with this number, and several throughout the evening, seem to out-sing their male counterparts.

Take for instance Act One’s “Love and the Weather.” Richter waits patiently Stage Left as Akers takes his turn with the audience, and then she quietly but firmly takes her place on stage and belts her portion of the number with strength and confidence and poise. Later, she has a gorgeous turn in “Love You Didn’t Do Right By Me” performing in New York’s Regency Room standing in front of some beautiful Humeston sets in a long black Sackett-designed gown, complete with long black gloves and a diamond bracelet on her right wrist. I have watched this performer in several shows over the last few years and feel as if she has really matured and blossomed in this role. She performs “Love You Didn’t Do Right By Me” as if this 50s-era ballad was written especially for her.

Brewer and Prout have a wonderful chemistry together, are well matched and their voices blend perfectly. They shine together in two numbers: “The Best Things Happen When You’re Dancing” and “I Love a Piano.” The former offers them an opportunity to dance together across the stage while an offstage chorus offers them a soundtrack. The latter becomes a large tap number with red and white and black costumes and some well done choreography by Lovar Davis Kidd. Bother numbers are highpoints in the show.

Jan McCool offers a wonderful comic turn as Martha Watson, and is one of several performers that really seem to understand the comic timing that is so incredibly important in musical comedy. My favorite number in the piece is Act Two’s “Falling Out of Love Can Be Fun.” Here, Richter and Prout team up with McCool and deliver a well sung (and very funny) number.

As I write this, I am still laughing at several of the comic bits. Michael Cervantes plays Ezekiel Foster, a small character that says nothing but “Ayup” throughout the first half of the play. With that one line, the veteran performer received more laughs than nearly all the other performers combined. Nine-year-old Abby Merrill relishes her small part in the aforementioned “Falling Out Of Love Can Be Fun Number,” and later holds her own on stage with this large ensemble of adults with a powerful reprise of “Let Me Sing And I’m Happy” in Act Two. And Alex Schulte plays a city slicker stage manager with an unidentifiable (and funny!) accent trying to keep the show-within-the-show on schedule: “People, people,” he says. “Mr. Pig, a literal pig, my office mate, just ate the finale!”

Nathan Sean Nelson plays a wonderfully slimy, seedy-bar owner, whose happy hour is “from 7 to 7:05 nightly.” Emily Nelson and Amy Friedl Stoner as Rita and Rhoda bounce and giggle through several scenes as two very funny chorus girls, and show up in Act Two as scantily clad Christmas trees. And Jennifer Anderson as a cigarette girl, Bradley Fritz as a skier, Lyn A’Hearn as a snoring man’s wife, Matt Russell as a train conductor and several others turn up in funny roles and costumes throughout and remind me today as I write this of why I loved this show.

I have been talking about the magical ending to White Christmas to many people this past week. I tell them about the wonderful comic timing displayed by all, the music, the dancing, the costuming and sets… and then I talk about the ending.

At the finale of the show, the characters run to open the barn doors toward the back of the stage to see the snow begin to fall, and then magically the barn goes up into the rafters and the entire cast comes on stage to sing “White Christmas.” The snow continues to fall down over the entire stage now, and then the snow and the cold comes into the auditorium as well, and magically all of us in the audience get a dusting of snow as we are standing, applauding and smiling and cheering.

But director Casey Prince went one step further Friday night last. Director Prince and Theatre Cedar Rapids also brought the first snowfall this weekend to many parts of the Corridor, reminding us all of the magic of both theatre and Christmas.

Now, that’s a talented director. Well done.

White Christmas at Theatre Cedar Rapids, 102 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids, plays through Dec. 18. The show is great and, as a result, it is sold out. To inquire about standby or cancellations, contact the box office through the Web site at www.theatrecr.org.


Joe Jennison is a freelance writer and playwright living in Mount Vernon. Questions and comments can be sent to joejennison@hotmail.com

Once on This Island cast shines despite opening night glitches

by Joe Jennison

City Circle - Friday night’s opening performance of City Circle Acting Company of Coralville’s Once on This Island at the Iowa Children’s Museum offered an entertaining evening of song and dance and storytelling, despite some obvious technical issues.

The evening started with an alarm and a loudspeaker offering an “Urgent Storm Warning.” Immediately following this alarm, eleven cast members wandered into the playing area as if coming into the mall’s storm shelter: someone from the cleaning crew, a Target check-out person, a family of shoppers, teenagers with several shopping bags and an Iowa Children’s Museum employee wearing a cotton pullover shirt. One of the shoppers is a little girl with her family who is obviously frightened by the storm.

The play’s narrator (Matthew James) begins to comfort the little girl by telling her a story using music and grand gestures and dance. He is a fine narrator and the story he begins to tell becomes the story we are all here to see: the story of Ti Moune, a peasant girl from Haiti who falls in love with a rich man from the other side of the island. The play is based on the novel My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy and is an epic love story utilizing colorful legends and Haitian folklore. Telling the story is a cast of “storytellers” who individually play all manner of roles backed up by an offstage band.

Co-directed by Rachel Korach Howell and Chris Okiishi, the story of Ti Moune is told using minimal set pieces and simple costuming. Cast members drape colorful sarongs over their modern street clothes, a directorial choice that left me frankly a bit baffled. In my opinion the street clothes took away from the story, constantly reminding me that this is a modern company attempting to recreate a timeless folktale. This may work for some, but I found myself throughout distracted by the designer tags and the sneakers and the brand names (Target, Iowa Children’s Museum) that were prominently displayed throughout.

The set designed by Michael Blake consists of colorful swinging doors that serve as a backdrop for the piece; and three small wooden blocks that are used on the playing area itself. Okiishi and Korach Howell have a lot of fun creating interesting stage pictures with the actors above, on top and peeking from behind these pieces. However, the small blocks used on the main playing area, and manipulated in several of the dance numbers, did not seem secure, and twice I saw performers struggle on top of them, once causing an audible gasp from the audience.

The show seemed to be at its very best during the very creative dance sequences. Choreography by Patrick DuLaney is grand and well thought out. DuLaney takes the limiting set and costume pieces and convincingly uses them to his advantage. Throughout the production, these large colorful fabrics are creatively used to tell the story – a large blue fabric becomes a flood, a car accident is recreated by rolling the performer involved into and out of the fabric, and a beautiful moment at the end is created by using all the fabrics on stage at once to become tree branches. These moments are some of my favorite moments in the show. And all involved need to be commended for their creativity in staging.

This is truly an ensemble cast show, all of whom appear to be having a great time telling this Haitian folktale. Special note needs to be given to the two actresses that played Ti Muone. Fourth-grader Rachel Falduto was delightful as Little Ti Muone, a fine actress who seemed to hold her own alongside so many adults. And Melissa Melloy as older Ti Muone proved her power in several sequences, maybe most convincingly by using her hands and body to tell the story through dance. Several times throughout the piece, DuLaney choreographs Melloy center stage, and in those moments of pure movement, she was indeed a vision as she commits 100 percent to her dance sequences. Her love interest, played by Ryan Shellady, also is very comfortable on stage, in general, but particularly in the dance sequences, and the two together share a real chemistry that is honest and genuine. Megan Henry as Andrea, the woman who comes between the two, also delivers a fine performance.

Ti Moune’s adoptive parents played by John Bednarik and Genevieve Heinrich are convincingly parental, and both obviously have voices that carry. Heinrich’s a capella line at the end of the play: “You will always be a part of us” is delivered simply and directly and poignantly, and is much more effective than the over-pantomimed onstage discussions that take place between several cast members throughout the piece.

One of my favorite numbers was “The Human Heart” led by Megan Keiser as Erzulie with Rod McCrea shining here singing backup. Keiser seems to glow on stage – she certainly understands her medium and her audience and seems to relish every moment. She is one of those performers that has the right energy and voice, and is always just plain fun to watch.

Another favorite number was “Mama Will Provide.” The song, led very convincingly by cast member Lauren Baker as Asaka, asks the other cast members to portray breezes and frogs and birds and trees, and mosquitoes, which they all do with joy and commitment. The energy of the ensemble here, and throughout the show, is captivating and contagious, and Baker’s voice is obviously well trained and lovely to listen to. However, her voice, and the voices of several performers in solo throughout the evening, could not quite reach above the sounds of the orchestra.

Which brings me to my main concern about the opening night production: Although the orchestra was fabulous, I would argue that on opening night the music overpowered almost every performer on stage, with nearly every singer forced to attempt to out-project the fine piano, drums, woodwinds and bass that were placed upstage behind a curtain. Some succeeded such as Kehry Anson Lane as Papa Ge. His voice is indeed powerful and his evil laugh is deliciously sinister, and every time he is given the stage, he takes charge. Most of the others, however, were unfortunately overpowered by the music. (NOTE: Without prompting, director Okiishi asked me to move at intermission so that I might hear the piece better, which I did. This small step did indeed help, but I hope that this issue has been corrected for future patrons.)

I love the storytelling, the idea of an 11-piece ensemble working together to share this Haitian folktale. The music is memorable, the choreography is convincing and the creative use of textiles in the telling of the story is lots of fun. This ensemble spends much of the time genuinely smiling, and their joy is apparent. The opening night audience did indeed join the cast onstage at the finale to sing and dance, but cast members seemed a bit awkward and uncomfortable with the bit, especially when it came time to figure out how and when to end it. But even with that said, don’t be surprised if at the end of the show, you too will be compelled to get up and dance and sing with the cast at the finale as they remind us of their role as storytellers: “This is why we tell the story…”

City Circle Acting Company of Coralville’s Once on This Island continues this week at the Iowa Children’s Museum, 1451 Coralridge Ave., Coralville, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 22 and 23, at 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 24, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20, with discounts for seniors and students. Reservations and information are available online through www.citycircle.org.

(Photos by ICPixx. Check out their website here.)


Joe Jennison is a freelance writer and playwright living in Mount Vernon. He can be reached at joejennison@hotmail.com.

The Air is Free: Lawnchair Man soars high above the Corridor

by Joe Jennison

I have been singing one of the numbers from Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre’s production of Robert Lindsey-Nassif’s Flight of the Lawnchair Man again and again and again, and I just can’t seem to get it out of my head. And, I do believe that is a GOOD thing.

The song, “The Air is Free,” is a ballad introduced about three-fourths of the way through the musical comedy, that seems to sum up very concisely and artistically the musical play’s theme: no matter the obstacles against us, all dreams are possible to those who believe. This is one of 15 wonderfully written original songs in the quick-moving, one-act musical.

The play begins with the main character, Jerry Gorman (T.J. Besler), standing on a chair with a noose made out of an extension cord around his neck. Seems his job at the snack bar at Wal-Mart is not satisfying, he is not getting along with his mother (Jane Pini), and his dreams to fly are no more than a pipedream. The only real joy in his life is his faithful, loving and supportive girlfriend, Gracie (Janelle Lauer), a tollbooth worker who believes in him with all her heart. On his 34th birthday, everything seems to hit him: “Jesus had ascended by the time he was 34,” he tells his friends at his party.

And then, he decides to do something extraordinary: he decides to tie hundreds of helium balloons to his lawnchair and take off over the suburbs of New Jersey on a magical flight that immediately captures the attention of TV crews, NASA and the FAA. These scenes with Besler in an actual lawnchair high above the stage on fly-rigging are some of my favorites in the piece. From the sky, Besler’s character imagines conversations with Leonardo Da Vinci (Jeff Jablonski), Amelia Earhart (Nina Swanson) and a tap-dancing Charles Lindbergh (Zach Parker). Besler has a beautiful voice and appears so incredibly comfortable on the lawnchair high above the crowd. This show belongs to him and he seems quite comfortable stepping in and taking control of this character’s dream and destiny.

Of course, a great dream such as this in musical theater requires great obstacles. And here Nassif and writing partner Peter Ulllian (book) create a masculine-but-female FAA Agent (played by Leslie Charipar) that has a very funny moment with Lauer, as they fight over a communication device. The two seem to be channeling Lucy and Ethel as they create a humorous moment of very well-rehearsed, slapstick comedy. Very funny.

The scenery and costumes, credited to Quinn Fortune and Curtis Phillips for the Cumberland County Playhouse in Crossville, Tenn., deserve a mention here. The sets are painted a beautiful sky blue with clouds, and against that backdrop are gorgeous reds and greens and yellows, bright, bright colors that remind the viewer of a live-action Dr. Seuss book. This is a very well-done fantasy that has the look of a Seussical dream -- the creativity involved in this piece is non-stop. The ensemble becomes cars at Gracie’s tollbooth, a neighborhood pilot (Scott Schulte) and his uppity flight attendant (Kate Knudsen) spend a great deal of the piece in a wearable airplane with an accordion middle that they carry across the stage as they dance and sing and rumba. And the music and comedy seem to build throughout the evening up to and including the aforementioned “The Air is Free” number. A nine-piece orchestra conducted by Daniel Kleinknecht keeps the evening moving along, and flying effects by Hall Associates Flying Effects adds much to the production.

There are so many scenes and songs that I loved that require mentioning here: there is a wonderful recreation of the French film The Red Balloon on stage that is just a hoot. Nina Swanson in this piece plays the little boy in the movie and the entire piece is done on a large, recreated TV console that includes real balloons, a slingshot and a very obvious puppet tied to Swanson’s neck – hysterical.

Several smaller characters added fun and humor to the piece as well, including Steve Rezabeck as a completely uptight Wal-Mart manager, and the aforementioned Parker, Swanson and Jablonski as fantasy portrayals of Lindbergh (as Jimmy Stewart), Earhart (as Kathrine Hepburn) and Da Vinci (as someone very Italian, sorry couldn’t place the characterization). I loved these portrayals most of all, very unexpected and totally in keeping with the crazy, colorful fantasy set up by the production team. Kate Knudsen’s Blaire is gorgeous in turquoise (and heels!); Schulte’s Big Jack Preston is completely boorish and lovable. And Lauer’s Gracie offers a full-throttle commitment of love and support of her beau Jerry, which is just as strong and as passionate as Pini’s Mother Gorman’s insistence that her son deny his dreams in favor of a Wal-Mart 401k and health benefits.

At this time of year, the message of pursuing your dreams no matter what the reaction of family, friends, and the general public is so incredibly important. It may be very human to encourage (or outright demand) that our young people continue on a path of security and comfort, but I hope every young person in our community has the opportunity to see and hear and take Nassif’s message to heart.

“You can own the highways and you can own TV,
But you can’t own the air, sir, the air is free.”

I love this song and am listening to it over and over in my head, even as I type this. Congratulations to Nassif and Ullian and Besler and Lauer and Schulte and Knudsen and Pini and Parker and Jablonski and Swanson and the Rezabecks and every other hardworking castmember involved in this production. This high-flying, fun-loving, colorful evening of magic, music, comedy and, oh yes, fly-rigging is a must-see for anyone who still believes that dreaming does matter. I loved it!

“You can’t own the air, sir, the air is free.”

Flight of the Lawnchair Man was commissioned by the Prince Music Theatre, Philadelphia, Penn., which produced the world premiere of 3hree in October 2000 and was originally developed in The Harold Prince Workshop Musical Theatre Program at the Directors Company in New York City. It was also presented at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s Festival of New Musicals in 2004, and was originally produced by The Goodspeed Opera by Michael P. Price, executive producer and Sue Frost, associate producer.


Joe Jennison is a freelance writer and playwright living in Mount Vernon. If you’d like Mr. Jennison to review your show, send him a quick email at joejennison@hotmail.com.

Editor's Note: Due to limited resources, The Iowa Theatre does not regularly cover the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre. However, we are more than willing to publish reviews of such shows, and others in the area, that go beyond our focus. If you are a freelance writer who would like to write about a particular show that is outside of our normal coverage, drop an email and we'll see if we can get it posted.