The music is quintessential Handel: Baroque, ornamental, beautiful. He often riffs on a single textual line for minutes on end, like an Enlightenment-era MC5, which is aurally impressive, but does occasionally leave those on stage looking for ways to act around the repetition. Sellers often gives them actions representing certain lines, which are repeated with them.
We find a flirty former actress, Theresa (Lori Myers); a distant 16-year old, Lauren (Rae Gray); a divorced carpenter, Schultz (Steve Kay); an old hippie husband, James (Joseph D. Lauck); and the instructor, Marty (Carmen Roman) Jame’s wife. The group has little in common except that each desire to experience ‘creative drama’ through an adult acting class.
The power of this story is marvelously presented in the subtle, subdued nuances by Philip R. Smith in his understated performance as Ethan Frome. Nice work here. Louise Lamson’s Mattie exudes youth and innocence while Lisa Tejero’s Zeena is a controlling person with a strange sense of obligation. The story’s ending will stun and surprise you. This is an impressive and reserved work of art that depicts the tragedy of unfulfilled love and desir
Book by Craig Lucas Music and lyrics by Adam Guettel Based on the novel by Elizabeth Spencer Directed by Michael Leeds Light in the Piazza Shines on Romance Music transcends language, and nowhere is this more apparent than in Act II of Light in the Piazza when Fabrizio Naccarelli agonizes in Italian over the loss … Read more
It all begins with the fluidly lyrical writing by Jose Rivera. He moves from topics and personalities with a terrific grasp for language and colorful imagery that can be funny, wrenching, bitter and/or brutally honest as he lets his characters speak their minds. Rivera aptly depicts each individual so vividly that he demonstrates his keen eye for individuals. The assortment of characters, who mostly died prematurely, are a melting pot of urban Latinos, white and black, male and female characters that are a microcosm of today’s society.
This show, I’m afraid, is a case of great talent being squandered on wretched material. Everyone on stage is doing a good job; some are doing an exceptionally good job. But the show . . . the show is so bad.
Studs Terkel is an icon in America, particularly in Chicago, for his great detailing of American oral history. This musical, composed by a slew of songwriters from James Taylor to Lin-Manuel Miranda, but especially Stephen Schwartz, uses Terkel’s Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do as source material.
When Dr. Stockmann discovers that the town’s spring water has been contaminated with bacteria that can poison folks, he unleashes a conflict that threatens the economic viability of the entire town. The springs are to be a tourist attraction with the springs marketed for their healing powers for the sick. Despite the doctor’s proof that his initial findings are correct, Mayor Peter Stockmann tries intimidation to silence his brother.
The best part of this kitchen sink relationship drama came from the sarcastically biting retorts and observations from Alan – the gay friend of the married folks. Mitchell J. Fain was funny as the glib Alan. But he also really is a down-on-life loser devoid of empathy.
As Harmond researches the old house, it turns out to have a significant past. It was the home of Aunt Ester, the hereditary folk priestess whose tale goes back to 1619, when the first shipload of African slaves was brought to Virginia. Harmond also fins out that his family paid the taxes on the location for years. He comes to realize, with the help of the outspoken Sterling Johnson (Antoine Pierre Whitfield) – the self-appointed union member and construction expert, that doing the ‘right thing’ may necessitate re-evaluating his grandiose plans for the Hill District.
But is Samuel J. and K. – a play about two brothers from Naperville, one of whom is an adopted African baby, and their travel to Cameroon to find themselves – appropriate for SYA, and, perhaps more important (because kids will rise to the needed maturity level, given the chance), a good play?