Bob: A Review In Five Acts

by David Pierce

Act One – The Script

You never know for sure if the way a play reads is the way a play performs. There are plays that read well but don’t carry that to the stage, and there are plays that are wonderful to watch that don’t read all that well. I have no idea how well Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s Bob: A Life In Five Acts read, but it’s everything you could want out of a night of theatre comedy.

Granted, a large part of that is the cast and the staging, and I’ll get to those, but I wanted to take a moment to talk about the script itself and to applaud Dreamwell for choosing to do the show. I love how Dreamwell hunts for little known plays to perform, and Bob was a great choice. The script is hilarious, with moments of seriousness that never drop into syrupiness, in large part because of the jokes that come in at those moments of seriousness. One of my favorite laugh lines of the night was in one of those moments, and I’m not going to tell you what it is or set up the line because part of the pleasure was the fact that the line was both unexpected and a natural thing to say at that moment. The script has bawdy, ribald humor; subtle, restrained humor; humor that rises out of the moments; and humor that’s all in the written jokes. It’s a funny show, and I found myself laughing nearly constantly. Looking back, I can’t think of more than a one or two minute stretch without a laugh. It’s a fun script, executed in a fun manner.

A review of Spelling Bee

by David Pierce
 

The cast of Spelling Bee.

Iowa City - Delightful. Causing delight, charming. Used in a sentence: The Iowa City Community Theatre’s (ICCT’s) production of The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, playing February 27 and 28 and March 1, 6, 7, 8 at the Johnson County Fairgrounds is absolutely delightful.

Delightful. D-E-L-I-G-H-T-F-U-L

I did that without even using my magic foot, writing it on my arm, saying it to myself, or any of the other spelling tricks the characters in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee use to spell the challenging (and sometimes not so challenging) words they’re given in their quest to be the champion of the 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Where to begin when talking about  a production this good? How about with this: The characters in the play are caricatures, stereotypes used to convey a quick impression. In the hands of an unskilled cast, that could be a bad thing. But in the hands of this cast, those stereotypes become living, breathing human beings, human beings with hopes and dreams and fears and worries. In the hands of this cast, you quickly see past the stereotype to the person within.

A Review of Tales of Two Cities

SPT Theatre - SPT's production of Tales of Two Cities is a very entertaining evening of all around duality.

It's an interesting premise: Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, two cities separated by some 20 miles of heartland and connected by back roads, highways, rivers, and train tracks, are vastly different creatures. I don't know if that rings true to an outsider or to a newcomer. But it rings true - it is true - for those of us born in the area and those of you who've lived here more than a couple of years. And while you could say the same thing about any two close but separated cities, it seems particularly pronounced to me with Cedar Rapids and Iowa City.

The temptation when reviewing a production that consists of a series of mostly-unrelated vignettes is to want to review each piece separately. That's in large part because of a vast-difference in the quality of the individual pieces. That's not the case here.

The writing was mostly sharp and on the rare occasions it wasn't the performances lifted the material. All of the actors brought a wonderful energy to the works, not just when they were the focus of the action, but also when they were just in the background. I can almost see one wanting to see two performances, one to watch the actors in the focus of a scene and one to watch what the performers in the background were doing.

A couple of quibbles, however. The first act is much more cohesive than the second act. The second act mostly abandons the notion of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City as distinct but related entities in favor of comedy that becomes broader and broader, though no less entertaining, as the night goes on.

Further, the comedy itself got to be a little too much. The 'Corridors of Justice' superhero sketch, which was spread over four separate pieces, eventually became just four iterations of the same joke that had been stretched pretty thin by the time we had seen the second iteration. It was obvious by the time Dubuque and West Liberty had been miraculously annexed into the Corridor that the writers were looking more for a structure on which to hang jokes than a vehicle to actually say something. The pieces were still performed extremely well, but as the evening progressed, I found myself wanting something with a little bit more meat on its bones.

I got it with the last written piece of the production, Jason Alberty's "Cities in the Superlative', a first person monologue about what the area means to him. The work had an emotional heft and strength that the other pieces lacked, and I found myself wishing we would have been given four monologues spaced throughout the production instead of four versions of the same superhero sketch.

So much for the written pieces. What about the music? Well, I think SPT should have either skipped the musical numbers, greatly reduced the number of musical numbers, or given more thought to which musical numbers to include.

This is not to say the musical numbers were bad. With a couple of exceptions, the songs were very well done, both vocally and instrumentally, with strong singing and a great band. This may have been the first time I actually liked Istanbul (Not Constantinople). Rather, it's to say that the songs did not add anything to the theme of the evening. I gave up trying to figure out how the songs related either to the piece they followed or the piece they proceeded.

The songs in the first act were at least centered on songs where the idea of cities or at least the word city played a prominent role, presumably because of a lack of songs featuring the words 'cedar' or 'rapids'. The songs in the second act didn't even have that saving grace, which added to the feeling that the second act wasn't as cohesive. Because the songs aren't adding to or elaborating on the theme, they begin to end up detracting from it.

This is nowhere as evident as in the closing song, 'Long Way Home'. The vocalists didn't mesh and there were some ill-advised stretches for high notes. This alone might not have been so bad if the song hadn't just followed the best written piece of the night. Ultimately, the song lessened the emotional impact of the written piece.

But I don't want to give anyone the wrong idea here; though I would have liked to see SPT explore the theme a little more fully and a little more seriously, I thoroughly enjoyed this production. When I'm reviewing, I hardly ever find myself so caught up in a work that I quit thinking about what I'm seeing and start reacting to the performances in front of me. Yet I found myself in that position, as audience member and not as critic, repeatedly during the performance. I would strongly urge anyone to go see Tales of Two Cities; I may even catch it a second time when it comes to Iowa City on April 24th.

--David Pierce

David Pierce is a four-time past president of the Iowa City Community Theatre. He has acted, sung, directed, and worked backstage for far too many local productions to mention. He is a writer both by trade and inclination, with law and journalism as an educational background.

A Review of A Delicate Balance

ICCT - This winter has played havoc with a lot of people and a lot of events. Some of those events are obvious - school, work, vacations. Some are not so obvious, like plays. The Iowa City Community Theatre's (ICCT's) production of Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance is another victim of the winter storms, both by truncating the production to one weekend, and by being the root cause of the factors that keep a very good production from being a great production.

I should put some biases out front. I love the ICCT play space. Yes, it's not much to look at from the outside; yes, when the house lights are on it's hard to forget your sitting in a modified barn. But when the house lights go down, it's one of the best and most versatile stages in the area. I also love Albee. I consider him one of the top two or three finest American playwrights. So I will concede that I was pre-disposed to like this production.

But I've discovered one thing about reviewing plays - the more I enjoy a production, the more I turn the reviewer cap off and turn the audience member cap on. The reverse is true as well - the less I enjoy a production, the more time I spent thinking about what to say about the production instead of actually getting involved in the production as an audience member. I spent a lot of time on the edge of my seat, totally engrossed in what I was seeing onstage, hanging onto the way the actors were performing the beautiful Albee language.

That's not to say the production was without flaw. There was one pretty big one, and I think it important to state it up front. It quickly became obvious that the performers didn't know all their lines - four of the five actors who appear onstage in Act One held scripts. Act Two sees the sixth member of the cast take the stage for the first time, and she too carried a script. By the time we reached Act Three, all six actors were carrying scripts.

The actual script usage varied. Some actors made extensive use of their scripts; others barely looked at it, and there was one performer I never saw look at her script. This is a problem I lay solely at the feet of winter. I've worked onstage with many of these actors before, and I have never known them to have problems with lines. Further, I have to believe it was killing them to be carrying a script.

The funny thing is though, while it was bothersome when the play opened and one actor was using a script and the other wasn't, by the time it became obvious that all were relying on scripts, it also became less distracting. I think if it had been announced pre-show that because of the shortened rehearsal schedule, the actors will be carrying scripts and looking to them every now and then, it might not ever have been a distraction at all.

That's not to say you never noticed it - strangely enough, one of the times it was most noticeable was during a major discussion scene in Act Three, and there it was noticeable because of its absence. It was a scene with very little, indeed almost no, script usage, and the snap and flow of the scene made you realize what the production could have been if the entire show had been done from memory. Because that's the problem with reading as opposed to acting - you can still get the tone and the inflections, but the pacing drops. Reading adds a slight moment of hesitation, like an engine hiccuping instead of running smooth.

But despite this, I still really enjoyed the production. The reading was the only problem I had with the show. All six actors gave strong performances, with Nelson Gurll standing out as Tobias, the true center of the story. His performance is the anchor of the production, allowing the others to play off him. Paula Grady as Claire is also quite good, and her interplay with Nelson is one of the highlights of the show. She uses the anchor he provides to full effect, giving full rein to Claire's eccentricities knowing full well that Nelson's strength won't let her spin out of control. The rest of the cast is similarly good, bringing the sort of quiet intensity you need to do this particular script well.

It's a shame this cast didn't have another week to rehearse, and it's a shame this cast doesn't have two full weeks of performance. It's a very good production, and one well worth seeing.

--David Pierce

David Pierce is a four-time past president of the Iowa City Community Theatre. He has acted, sung, directed, and worked backstage for far too many local productions to mention. He is a writer both by trade and inclination, with law and journalism as an educational background.

A review of Heroes Stories

Rage - Despite one pretty wide miss, Rage Theatrics' Hero Stories hits the target, its six parts adding up to one very entertaining evening. The production, playing at the Old Creamery Theatre in Amana through January 27th, will have you laughing, thinking, and thrilling, sometimes all at the same time.

There are three pieces in each act of Hero Stories, with the first piece in each act being a snippet of an existing work and the other two segments original works. The production opens with The Siege of Rochelle , taken from Dumas' The Three Musketeers. This is the portion of the novel where the Musketeers, plus D'Artagnan and faithful lackey Grimaud, attempt to hold a bastion for one hour to win a bet. The line readings from the leads was a little unpolished - a nearly silent Brian Tanner as Grimaud conveyed more emotion with facial expressions and gestures than the leads did with dialogue - and I think it was a mistake to leave in dialogue referring to the palace intrigue aspects of the novel. That dialogue had nothing to do with the actual action taking place, and it might have been confusing for someone unfamiliar with the story. But the action was first rate. Fast-paced, hectic, thrilling - a flurry of swordplay and motion that was fun to watch. All in all, a good way to start the evening.

I wish I could say that the next piece, Fine Men of Ostermark, was a good way to continue the evening. Sadly, this was the poorest piece of the evening. The work opened on a dark-blue-lit stage with a small circle of bright light off to one side. The circle wasn't large enough to cover the four actors standing in that location, and except for one brief moment later in the work, the lighting never improved. Several of the actors had projection problems, though not being able to hear the actors may have been a blessing: the script was nothing but a long string of sophomoric jokes. Appropriately enough, the only joke that had an enjoyable payoff involved no dialogue, only the grunting of Brad Cary's Ira.

On the other hand the next piece, The Legends of Robin Hood and Little John, was the highlight of the evening. A Rashomonesque retelling of the first meeting between Robin Hood and Little John, the piece features that meeting as seen through the eyes of three characters, Little John (Brad Cary), Robin Hood (Adam Turner), and Little John's wife Fanny (Mollie Laylin). All three actors brought high energy and fine comedic skills to the piece, displaying the sort of give and take that makes theatre come alive. It's always a pleasure to watch good actors playing off each other, taking the energy of another actor and bouncing it back through their own performance. The acting, combined with the smart writing of Jeff Goode and the crisp direction of Nate Kula and Nancy Mayfield, made for a throughly entertaining little screwball comedy.

After a brief intermission, the second act opened with Captain Blood. A very short work, this piece seemed to exist only as a reason to provide a fight scene between Aaron Haworth's Peter Blood and Erik Wissenberg's Levasseur. I'm not complaining, mind you - this was one of the best extended duels of the evening. The fight between the two ranged from blade to fist, and the action was the most realistic of the evening. I just wish the scene had gone on a little longer; what was there made me want to see more.

The next piece, The Post-Apocalyptic Adventures of Charlie Punter & The 8th Century Kid, made me want to see less. A jumble of cliche sci-fi situations and hokey dialogue that went on a bit too long, the piece was redeemed by strong acting and direction. While the cast as a whole was good, Brian Tanner, Adam Turner, and Mollie Laylin in particular stood out, bringing a nice comedic energy to the work. And though long, the piece never lagged; Scott Lewis' direction kept things moving, flowly briskly through a number of different scenes and set changes that in less-skilled hands might have tested the audience's patience.

The evening closed with Pop Tart Hero, a Walter-Mittyesque story written and directed by Matt Falduto. Easily the most heartfelt and emotional piece of the evening, Pop Tart Hero tells the story of Stan, a young man whose interior life is far more exciting and fulfilling than his actual life. Thomas Heinrich is perfectly cast as Stan, and he quickly captures our sympathies, making us root for him to break out of his shell and live the life he wants to live. Falduto's script is funny, thought-provoking, and ultimately heart-breaking. Pop Tart Hero also features the most imaginative use of fight choreography of the evening, as Nate Kula and Nika Niehaus act out a video game fight as Stan and his roommate play a console game. It's the perfect piece to end an extremely enjoyable evening of theatre.

It's interesting to note that in the two best pieces of the evening, The Legends of Robin Hood and Little John and Pop Tart Hero, the fight choreography exists to service the story. In the other pieces, the story exists to service the fight choreography. (Except for Fine Men of Ostermark, where the fight choreography and story both exist solely to service the jokes.) I think that's why those two pieces work the best - the action flows organically out of the stories instead of having the story be a supplement to the fight scenes. In those two works the stories are the goal, rather than a framework for a fight scene. That leads to a work that, like Hero Stories itself, is greater than the sum of its parts. Despite one misfire, Hero Stories as a whole is a production that should not be missed.

--David Pierce

David Pierce is a four-time past president of the Iowa City Community Theatre. He has acted, sung, directed, and worked backstage for far too many local productions to mention. He is a writer both by trade and inclination, with law and journalism as an educational background.

(The top picture shows Brad Cary, Mollie Laylin, and Adam Turner in Robin Hood. Bottom picture shows Thomas Heinrich, Matthew Falduto and Emily Dokken in Pop Tart Hero. Both photos taken byShuva Rahim.)

A review of Godspell

Catalyst - It's tough to do a play at Old Brick, the space Catalyst Acting Company has chosen to put on its production of Godspell. Cavernous is a generous term for describing the space. The size of the hall forces tough choices when setting up the house, when lighting the play space, and when blocking the show.

Godspell is the sort of show that should be a success at Old Brick. The set, lighting, and staging requirements are minimal, thus eliminating many of the problems most plays put on at Old Brick face. Catalyst's set consisted of eight doors, symmetrically arranged around the stage. At the back of the stage was another door lying flat on two sawhorses. On the wall behind the stage were three curtains, two white curtains flanking what appeared to be a metallic shower curtain.

When it originally opened, Godspell was a radical departure from the normal way the lessons of the Gospels were presented. The message of Godspell was that it was fun to become a follower of Christ, that becoming a follower of Christ was a celebratory event. The main focus of Godspell is teaching these lessons in a new way, not about telling a good story. (This being the main difference between Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar - Superstar ultimately could care less about the teachings of Christ and is entirely focused on telling a good story.) These days, elements of that Godspell approach are a part of most mainstream religious services. It is a testament to the quality of the show that what was once a radical departure from the norm is now, in many ways, the norm.

As the play opens, members of the company appear one after another, each singing as a representative of a different theological strain. At least, they were doing that if you could hear them. Several of the singers were not able to project above the three-piece orchestra. This problem continued throughout the entire show, not just the opening number. There were also pitch problems at several spots in the opening, and these too continued throughout the entire show.

Let me digress for a moment here. It's tough to do a musical. There are few things more difficult to do onstage than act and sing at the same time. You don't have to worry about pitch when performing in a non-musical; you don't have to worry about keeping time with musical accompaniment. If you forget your lines in a non-musical you can often cover without the audience knowing. If you drop a line while singing a song, everyone knows. Further, you might not even be aware of some of these problems until performing before an audience for the first time. In general, for a musical to be a success, it must depend on the singers in the cast.

There are some very good singers in this cast, and the highlights of the show all revolve around them. Rachel Brown's performance of Day By Day was stunning, as was Jeffrey Mead's lead on We Beseech Thee. Those two, along with Carol Johnk (who did a very good job with one of the show's poorest songs, By My Side), were great on Light Of The World. Jessica Fannuchi's O, Bless The Lord was also quite good. The other players had a mix of moments, with good voices that tended to get lost against the accompaniment.

Still, the ultimate success or failure of Godspell is less about the members of the company and more about the actor playing Jesus. As written, the Jesus of Godspell is part carnival barker, part circus ringmaster, part vaudeville entertainer, and all showman. As written, people are drawn to the Jesus of Godspell because of his personality and charisma as much as being drawn to his teachings. John Marshall brings none of those qualities to his performance as Jesus. There was no joy, no happiness, no sense of celebration to his performance, and the show as a whole suffers from those elements. It didn't help that large portions of both his speaking and singing parts were lost to the space. Marshall's Jesus was all teacher, which is fine in general, but not how the role is written. This made the production as a whole less about a celebration of Christ and his lessons and his message and more about teaching.

The choreography was by a number of different artists with Arts a la Carte, and the result has an unevenness that should have been anticipated. Some of it was quite good, some of it was quite wooden, and certain portions were (unintentionally) funny. I understand that part of the impetus behind the project was the collaboration with Arts a la Carte, but perhaps it would have been better for the sake of the production to have one lead choreographer through whom the other choreographers filtered ideas.

The three-piece orchestra was quite good. I don't think that the problems with hearing some of the vocalists were due to the musicians being too loud as much as they were due to the singers not projecting enough. The lighting was quite good throughout, and the set and staging first rate.

Despite what you might think from the review, I have no hesitation about recommending the show to anyone. Every thing I mention is easily correctable, and it isn't difficult to see most of the problems stemming from opening night jitters. Good casts and good directors learn as a show goes on, and this cast is a good cast and this director, Jeff Shields, is a good director. Godspell runs through Sunday, and ticket information can be found here.

--David Pierce

David Pierce is a four-time past president of the Iowa City Community Theatre. He has acted, sung, directed, and worked backstage for far too many local productions to mention. He is a writer both by trade and inclination, with law and journalism as an educational background.

(Pictured are Rachel Brown, Jessica Fannuchi, Roxanne Gustaveson, Michael Sotelo, Frederica Kenyon, John Marshall, Carol Johnk, Meghan Henry, and Jim Brewer.)