© 2008 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
artsalamode.com
Information from this site may not be reproduced in print or online without specific permission from artsalamode.com
Imagine approaching a producer and saying you have a musical comedy play about twenty-something, self-mocking, X-rated puppets; would he/she like to take a chance? Today, producing plays in New York, or anywhere for that matter, is not for the timid. Going halfway with Avenue Q would have been disastrous, but Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx have created a clever, entertaining show that provides the audience with enough recognition of this generation’s post-college plight that most will find it particularly hilarious, if sometimes achingly true.
How do you navigate your life after you (and your parents) have made a college degree the focus of years and years of your young existence, only to find out it’s not the magic answer you thought it would be? What next? That’s the question for the characters in this Sesame Street influenced show. How do you find a job/love/fulfillment once you’ve accomplished your educational goal? How do you deal with the let down?
You might think that actors in full sight holding puppets next to them would distract the audience, but it’s easy to accept, especially because of the wonderful puppetry and performances by the cast. Princeton (Robert McClure) follows his dream by rushing to New York City where his first shock is trying to find an affordable place to live. After starting at Avenue A, he ends up at Avenue Q. Here he and the rest of those he meets try to deal with the angst of their times. “What do you do with a BA in English?”
The music provides a background of simple childlike melodies yet is shrewd in using lyrics in the syntax of those growing up with unlimited possibilities, meaning delightfully politically incorrect and/or confrontational, with a liberal use of curse words. Especially amusing are: “Everybody’s a Little Bit Racist,” “The Internet is for Porn,” “Schadenfreude,” “You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want.” Because the words come from innocent-looking puppets it’s outlandish rather than shocking. There are also humorous videos that “instruct” the audience and add to the humor. The utilitarian set design by Anna Louizos is a perfect complement to the action, as is the lighting by Howell Binkley.
The ensemble cast is excellent across the board, with those manipulating puppets not breaking character, but rather reflecting the emotions of their puppets. Robert McClure plays the new college grad, Princeton, with a believable, naïve hopefulness, as well as playing Rod without awkwardness in switching characters. Anika Larsen brings wonderful energy to Kate Monster, Lucy and others. Angela Ai gets big laughs by going against the stereotype of a shy, demure Asian woman who defers to her man. Danielle K. Thomas, as Gary Coleman (yes the actor), keeps the audience from getting tired of jokes at his expense because she brings such good humor to the part. Cole Porter plays a likeable thirty-two year old still looking for himself. David Benoit shows versatility with his mix of characters. Maggie Lakis and others in the ensemble add to the fun when called on.
While some of the jokes can be crude, and the full frontal nudity (even with puppets) is jarring, it’s an evening that provides wit, originality, and imaginative soul-searching while making points about a generation told they could do anything, be anything they wanted, and that all are “special,” which turns out to be a huge overstatement. Not everyone’s dreams are going to come true, although the play ends on a high note.
It leads to some second thoughts like: if everyone’s a star who’s going to do the heavy lifting? Doesn’t the world still need plumbers? Review by Ann Marie Oliva
Ann Marie Oliva is an award-winning playwright with over 80 productions across the U.S. She is the producer/editor of ARTS à la Mode and a judge for the National Youth Theatre Awards. Ann Marie is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
This 1992 Tony-winning musical, based on the 1930 Gershwin show, Girl Crazy, adds more of their famous songs for a nostalgic return to the romantic, jazzy, tap-dance magic of an earlier era. The CPCC production brings both of the play's settings, New York City and Deadrock, Nevada, to full life on the stage--with fantastic sets and costumes, talented performers, and terrific energies.
We begin backstage with Bela Zangler (Gerald Colbert) and his Zangler Follies dancers. A young hopeful, Bobby Child (Nic Bryan), grabs Zangler for a quick tap audition, but blows it by landing on Zangler's foot. We then see the bright lights of Broadway, outside Zangler's theatre, with sparkling signs and a period limousine. Out of the car emerges Bobby's wealthy mom, Lottie Child (Elyse Williams), who fights with her son about his desire to work in theatre, while she wants him in her banking business--a drama resonating perhaps with some in the Charlotte audience today. Bobby is sent by her to Deadrock, to foreclose on an old theatre there (again ringing a current theme). He reluctantly accepts, also escaping his New York fiancée (Dionne Eleby), then day-dreams a dance with the Follies girls--who pour out of the limo to join him onstage.
The scene shift to Deadrock provides a radical change of tone--from New York glitz to the hot, dry, comical, yet still wild West. We soon see both the exteriors and interiors of a saloon and the defunct theatre--in elaborate multi-level designs by Robert Croghan, who also designed the amazing array of costumes. (Full disclosure: I work with Prof. Croghan in the Theatre Department at UNC-Charlotte. My son, Luke Pizzato, also plays Jimmy, one of the Deadrock miners, in this show.)
Faced with a mortgage they cannot pay, the theatre's owners, Polly Baker (Julianne Katz) and her father (Kevin Campbell), are offered a buyout by the saloon owner, Lank Hawkins (Michael Seward). They resist, of course. Then Polly and Bobby fall in love, through the Gershwin magic of "Shall We Dance?" And Bobby comes up with a plan to save the theatre by bringing the Zangler dancers, now on break, to Deadrock for a benefit. But when Polly learns that Bobby is the banker sent to close her theatre, she falls out of love with him. So, he disguises himself as Zangler to continue his plan and recapture her heart.
As the dancers arrive and teach the local miners new moves, Gershwin passions take over again. The clumsy miners are transformed into dapper tappers and the girls also become musical instruments in their hands, with a comical, joyous rendition of "Slap That Bass." Such magic, while bringing a ghost-town theatre back to life, fails to draw an audience on opening night. Even the two British tourists (the Fodors), arriving on the train, merely sample Lank's saloon-hotel and skip the show. And yet, the chorus and leads still realize an East-West rebirth with "I Got Rhythm"--and us as their audience.
After the real Zangler arrives, pursuing his beloved dance director, Tess (Emily Hunter), we get more farcical fun with the double Zanglers, with the miners rehearsing a saloon shoot-out, and with corny puns sprinkled liberally throughout the play. Of course, the desired audience does come eventually, with Bela's advertising budget, and true love is found in multiple ways through Deadrock's theatrical goldmine.
All the acting here matches the sleek sophistication and yet silly charm of the many musical numbers, in an overall blend well mixed by director Tom Hollis. The tap choreography by Eddie Mabry is especially spectacular--across the stage floor or on roof tops, a table, and gold-mining pans. Overall, this is a Broadway-quality musical, with local and regional actors, bringing high-class pizzazz to the dusty West--and to our Southern summer stock. The rousing encore at curtain call is also not to be missed; so don't leave early, humming Gershwin tunes, after the first round of applause. Review by Mark Pizzato
Mark Pizzato is Professor of Theatre at UNC-Charlotte and author of Ghosts of Theatre and Cinema in the Brain and Theatres of Human Sacrifice. His plays have been published by Aran Press and his screenplays, produced as short films, have won New York Film Festival and Minnesota Community Television awards.
What is an American? Where is home?
What if the law views you as "illegal" in the only country you've known since childhood? And threatens to prevent you from returning if you leave--or may force you to leave if the authorities find you? If that's the way it is, then you're in "limbo."
With this show, CAST creates a new kind of theatre for the Charlotte community, combining traditional Latin American music, singing, and dancing with a real-life, political drama in English, Spanish, and Spanglish. This can be a powerful mixture for Latinos in the audience who, like many in the show's cast, have backgrounds and current conflicts akin to those of the main character. Yet, many spectators who are not bicultural, or not bilingual, will still appreciate the story of Marie González. She is a Missouri college student who dreams of reuniting with her Costa Rican parents, while also continuing her life in America, but can't because they were deported and she might be barred from returning if she left--because of her legal limbo.
CAST also brought Marie González to Charlotte to speak after the show during its opening weekend. She explained that she's become a political activist to help the many others who are also in "limbo" now, as children of immigrants who were raised in the U.S. and feel it is their home, yet do not have the legal right to live here. As Limbo shows, her parents came to the U.S. on a tourist visa, ran a Chinese restaurant, and yet failed to get resident status. They were deported, but she was given a special, limited "deferral" to finish college--though not to stay for graduate school.
Others rallied around her cause, including Senator Dick Durbin (Democrat from Illinois), who is trying to get a "Dream Act" through Congress, which will give more rights to immigrant Americans who have lived most of their lives here, but were not born here. As González explained, her parents risk a 10-year ban against visiting the U.S. if they come to see her here and she risks the same if she goes to Costa Rica. Yet, she cannot apply for a student visa (to go to law school here) unless she leaves the country. Clearly, this is a Catch 22 in the current law, which likewise affects thousands of high school graduates in America, she says, who cannot go to college.
This is also a very timely issue in North Carolina, since our community college system decided just last May to ban undocumented students from degree programs here, based on the state attorney general's interpretation of national law. (The UNC system still admits illegal immigrants, but they must pay out-of-state tuition rates.)
Once again, CAST has transformed its lobby, as well as its larger theatre space, for this production. Murals with Latino images (created by Carlos Herrera Burgos) extend from the lobby into the theatre, forming a background to the stage. The audience is invited to join in a salsa dance prior to the show. There is also much dancing, guitar playing, and singing at key points during the play, with traditional folk ballet and brightly colored costumes, or newly choreographed movements (by Christy Edney and Brenda Giraldo) in the drama's transition points.
Marie's life story is framed by a tale of two college students, one white (Bob Glahn) and one Chicano (Juan Carlos Piedrahita) who make a documentary film, using interviews with Marie (Brenda Giraldo) and others--as Glenn Hutchinson used in writing this play. Some of the interviews are acted out. Interviews are also shown on video-screens above the stage, along with other dramatic scenes projected there. The multi-media, multi-ethnic, and multi-lingual mix thus reflects both the play's creation and the participation of many in the audience--as well as the cast--in its stories, emotions, and politics.
Many questions remain about specifics in Marie's life, including legal and political details, or about others also struggling for their identities and rights. Especially compelling is the subplot of Danielle (Cristina Layana) who fights with her co-worker Isabel (Elena Mateus) about whether she should marry an American to get legal status. But only fragments of her drama are shown. Likewise, Marie's parents (Frank Dominguez and Delia Rabah) are sympathetic but not fully developed as characters--when visited in their home by La Migra (Jonavan Adams and Christy Edney), then questioned, and forced to return to Costa Rica within 45 days. Yet, even spectators whose politics are different from the play's will probably be made more aware of the human suffering caused by a strict adherence to the current law in such cases.
Some of the actors in this show have more experienced onstage than others, but all contribute to an ensemble work with much to offer. Powerful emotions of real-life Latinos are expressed throughout the play. In dance, music, song, and drama (onstage and onscreen), Limbo celebrates and documents a pressing problem for many in our community, as well as an important political issue in this election year. With our current terrorist fears, racial rivalries, and legal conflicts, can the immigrant's sueño still be realized as a free American life? Review by Mark Pizzato
Mark Pizzato is Professor of Theatre at UNC-Charlotte and author of Ghosts of Theatre and Cinema in the Brain and Theatres of Human Sacrifice. His plays have been published by Aran Press and his screenplays, produced as short films, have won New York Film Festival and Minnesota Community Television awards.
Shakespeare Carolina continues their season with the ambitious production of one of Shakespeare’s bloodier plays, Richard III. Despite the nearly three-hour playing time, it is an engrossing evening. Hank West’s unapologetically nefarious Richard and Brian Willard’s charmingly amoral Buckingham are a fascinating duo and drive the play very well. The careful use of original music (by Jill O’Neill) and Cyd Knight’s artful lighting create a foreboding atmosphere that belies the utilitarian setting (used with little variation by both Twelfth Night and Richard III). This is one to see.
Audiences will surely find the labyrinthine plot a challenge, but briefly the play tells the story of Richard the Third’s rise to power through murder and deceit. The play is (for the most part) artfully cut down to its essence (and is still nearly three hours), so audience members should try to read the play before attending or at the very least download a synopsis. Some key characters are cut (though still referred to in the script) and some actors are double cast, so if you’re not familiar with the play, you’re likely to become confused. Still, O’Neill shepherds his cast well and the meat of the play is readily accessible.
O’ Neill is particularly interested in the women of this play, and through careful stage pictures and casting, this focus is clear. The women are the survivors of so much of the devastation this play portrays. Stephanie Howieson is marvelous as the bitter Queen Margaret whose powerful curse haunts the rest of the play and provides one of Shakespeare’s darker messages: sometimes revenge is enough to live for and enough to die for. Iesha Hoffman, who is equally wonderful in Twelfth Night embodies the horrified mother of Richard very well. These two performers are forces to be reckoned with, and they are a joy to watch. Carrie Anne Hunt’s (who is so lovely in Twelfth Night) portrayal of Lady Anne is darker and more raw than some might be used to. Though often it is portrayed that Lady Anne is seduced by Richard’s words (though he has killed her father and her husband), O’Neill and Hunt give us a woman who has no choice but to go along with whatever the man in power tells her to do. It is a study in the effects of oppression. Karen Surprise’s Queen Elizabeth also embodies this theme.
As mentioned before, Hank West’s Richard is strongly defined. Hunch-backed with a withered hand, Richard is universally reviled and his own self-hatred drives his villainy. West’s sly looks, serpentine glances, and his measured portrayal of a man’s descent into paranoia and madness is effective. His scenes with Brian Willard are particularly powerful. Willard plays Buckingham with a kind of boyish earnestness that is a nice contrast to his evil intent.
The rest of the company is strong as well, though some of the moments of double casting are confusing. Many of the actors from Twelfth Night are also in Richard III and I applaud their dedication to their craft and the countless hours they must have invested into these fine productions.
Some of the cuts in the play lead to confusion, especially the elimination of the Duke of York (young Prince Edward’s brother), because the princes are referred to in the plural throughout the play. Cutting such a complicated work is a necessary evil and insanely complicated, so this is a minor quibble.
Technically the play is elegant and effective. The costuming, though simple, is appropriate and conveys the information we need to know about each character. I particularly enjoyed the original music.
My sixteen-year-old daughter attended the play with me and said that Richard III is in her “top five” favorite Shakespeare plays now (right after Hamlet), and it’s easy to see why. With sword fights, intrigue, strong female characters, and one of the most interesting anti-heroes ever put on the stage, as I said before, this is one to see. Review by Tim Baxter-Ferguson
Tim Baxter-Ferguson is an associate professor of Theatre at Limestone College and Chair of that program. He is a resident playwright at Theatre Charlotte and has had his plays produced throughout the United States and Canada.
Having run off and on since 1997, Shakespeare Carolina has provided Carolina audiences with classic theatre, including last year's productions of The Taming of the Shrew and Hamlet (both performed at Theatre Charlotte). This year they are back (again at Theatre Charlotte) with a production of the bard's most famous gender-bending comedy, Twelfth Night. Once again, we are given a thoroughly enjoyable evening that makes Shakespeare's sometimes difficult language crystal clear.
Running at a brisk two hours, this production speeds through the story of Duke Orsino's pursuit of the Lady Olivia. Unfortunately, Olivia is still deeply in mourning for both her father and (more recently) her brother. Meanwhile, a ship wreck separates twins Viola and Sebastian. Viola, thinking her brother is dead, disguises herself as a man in order to serve Duke Orsino. It is in this position that both Orsino and Olivia fall in love with Viola.
The magical kingdom of Illyria is suggested simply by stacked platforms and wooden cubes. The simplicity of the staging is effective enough and does not detract from the magic of the story. In fact, it is when this production keeps things simple that it is most effective.
I was impressed with the comic lunacy of last year's production of Taming of the Shrew; Twelfth Night takes that lunacy even further and to even better effect. Featured in the play are Colby Davis, who plays the incorrigible clown Feste; Tom Ollis, who portrays the partying drunkard, Sir Toby Belch; David Loehr as the mincing would be suitor to Olivia, Sir Andrew Aguecheek; and finally the earthy Karen Surprise, who plays Lady Olivia's servant. It is this quartet that drives the energy and comedy of this production. The musical numbers are particularly inventive!
Also especially strong in this production are the performances of Carrie Anne Hunt as the cross-dressing Viola/Cesario and Iesha Hoffman as the Lady Olivia. Hunt is charming and plays both boyish charm and feminine wiles equally well. Hoffman is a joy to watch and commands every scene she is in.
In contrast, Jimmy Cartee as Orsino is an unusual choice for the role. With glasses on and a humorous, almost nerdy Woody Allen-like demeanor, it is a different take on the lovestruck duke than I am used to. He's not given a lot of time to establish this portrayal, so it was difficult to decide if it worked or not.
Similiarly, Joe Mertes as the other half of the twins is one of the more problematic actors in the play. Though he looked every inch the romantic lead and has a wonderful voice, his habit of pausing before many lines made it difficult to determine if it was for dramatic effect or a problem with memorization. (I saw this production in the first week and it's possible some of this will have improved in later performances.)
Though both the lighting and scenic design are simple and effective, I did feel the costuming seemed overdone. I would have liked to see the elegance and simplicity of the set mirrored in the costumes. I question, in particular, the fact that the twins are not really costumed similarly despite the fact the script mentions on more than one occasion that they are wearing nearly identical outfits. I am more than willing to suspend my disbelief (and happily) but when the “twins” have nearly a foot's difference in height between them and are not dressed similarly at all, it is difficult to understand why anyone would confuse the two—especially, and here's a big SPOILER to follow—Olivia marries Sebastian because she thinks he is Cesario.
All in all, despite these minor quibbles, I strongly recommend this production. It's truly one of Shakespeare's more enjoyable comedies and it's well-realized here. One of the strengths of Shakespeare Carolina's productions is that the clarity of the play is stressed and even those unfamiliar with his work should be able to follow the plot and enjoy it. It's important to support companies such as this, and I hope the crowds continue to grow. Review by Tim Baxter-Ferguson
Tim Baxter-Ferguson is an associate professor of Theatre at Limestone College and Chair of that program. He is a resident playwright at Theatre Charlotte and has had his plays produced throughout the United States and Canada.