Reviews

Dr. Katherine Brandt (Janet Ulrich Brooks), a music scholar is obsessed with trying to solve the Beethoven riddle despite her battle with ALS and her deteriorating relationship with her daughter. Brandt’s drive sends her to Bonn, Germany to the vast Beethoven archives. Kaufamn’s drama is accompanied throughout by a grand piano centered on stage with George Lepauw playing one of the 33 variations during each scene.

As the mystery unfolds, we see Katherine’s ALS render her increasingly debilitated as well as us witnessing Beethoven’s deafness and deteriorating health, But each has a passion that compels them toward solving their mysteries. Her Beethoven is fixated on finishing all the possible variations; for Katherine it is solving the “why” of Beethoven’s fixation.

Skin Tight is a 50 minute two-hander about a couple living in a special relationship despite being married. We find Tosha Fowler (Ekizabeth) and her husband Tom (Tony Bozzuto) engaged in a highly physical game where ultimate violence…

Nelson uses the family brunch setting to explore the family dynamic in terms of how world events actually directly and indirectly affects individuals and the family relationships. These folks speak about ltheir losses, memories and we see the struggle by all to maintain the moral equilibrium in a fast-changing world that somehow escapes them.

The dignified older gentleman, Miguel de Cervantes, played with genuine lovableness by Jim Harms gradually yet honestly wins the souls of his cellmates as he vividly weaves the story of Don Quixote. From Harm’s powerful opening number “I, Don Quixote” we know we’re on a dream-like journey.