The 46^th Super Bowl was in Indianapolis for the first time this whole past week.  The game itself is happening as I write this on Sunday night, but I confess I don’t care much about that.  However, some of the people that I’ve written about here on Indy Theatre Habit over the years will be performing with Madonna in her halftime show.  THAT makes me wish I still had TV in my home.  And many, MANY more of my fellow Hoosiers worked hard to make sure that everyone involved with the Super Bowl – from fans to players to owners to media and more – had a fun, safe, rewarding time all week, starting last weekend.   I admire the heck out of all of them.

So I’m going to resist the urge that sometimes comes over me to make fun of professional sports and tell you instead that I’ve been thinking a lot about humor in general.

What makes a show funny?

Last Sunday I saw two very funny shows:  “Current Economic Conditions” (written by Don Zolidis and directed by Bryan Fonseca, runs through February 12, 2012 at the Phoenix Theatre) and “Debbie Does Dallas: the Musical” (book by Susan L. Schwartz, music composed by Andrew Sherman with additional lyrics by Tom Kitt and Jonathan Callicut, directed by Andrew Ranck, music/vocal directed by Roger Smith, ran through last night at Theatre on the Square.) 

Because I saw them on the same day, I was struck by the fact that they each made me laugh often and hard, yet they were very different from each other.

“Current Economic Conditions”

In “Current Economic Conditions,” a 26-year-old woman named Lily (Maria Souza-Eglen) loses her publishing job in Brooklyn and has to move back in with her parents in upstate New York (I think it was) while she looks for another job.

Her childhood room is unchanged and so is her parents’ (Charles Goad and Jen Alexander) perception of her as an adolescent.  There are all kinds of things related to these two facts that made me laugh because I could relate to Lily’s outrage.  Jim and Elaine set a curfew, for example, and threaten to “ground” her.  Please.

But Lily hasn’t grown up as much as she thinks, either.  Yes, she was street smart enough to handle living in Brooklyn and her parents really should not wait up for her any more when she goes out at night.  But she spent her money on tattoos instead of paying off the cash advances on her credit card and now she expects her parents to pay it off.  Stuff like this made me laugh because I could relate to her parents’ outrage.

These are only a few examples.

So…one reason it is easy to relax and laugh often during this play is that no one is the “bad guy” here.  The playwright makes gentle fun of both generations and you can relate on some level to everyone, including Lily’s new boyfriend, Charles (John Goodson), a sweet cutie who is also living at home with his folks while he looks for a job.  No one in this story is completely mature or completely immature.  No one is a stereotype or a one-joke character.

I also laughed because the playwright pokes fun equally at different generations in the workplace.  Lily spends time at her job at the beginning of the play writing about her boredom on Facebook instead of taking the initiative to get the training she needs to do her job well, but her boss (Cindy Phillips) is an HR nightmare waiting to happen, too.

Another thing that makes the script funny is that two of the cast (Cindy Phillips and Bill Simmons) play multiple roles.  I laughed until I hurt at Bill Simmons’ portrayal of Lily’s fantasy boss, for example.  He is a cross between the dashing hero in a bodice-ripper romance novel and a self-esteem guru.  Oh, my, I am laughing again, remembering.

All six members of the cast are hilarious: so very, very funny in their timing, delivery, movements, and more.   Sunday was my second time to see this production.  I laughed just as much or even a little bit more the second time.

I loved “Current Economic Conditions.”  It made me laugh because it was smart, fair, compassionate, insightful, sexy…

So why did “Debbie Does Dallas: the Musical” make me laugh?

“Debbie Does Dallas: the Musical”

This piece (yes, I’m using that word…let the double-entendres begin!) is based on the famous 1970s porn film.  The stage musical is not exactly pornographic in that nobody takes off all of their clothes and you don’t actually see people having sex, but it did make me blush while I laughed. 

It is about a high school cheerleader, Debbie (Emily Bohannon), that wants more than anything to become a cheerleader for the Dallas Cowboys professional football team but she doesn’t have the money to travel to the try-outs.  She and her frenemies on the high school cheerleading team (Andrea Heiden, Linda Heiden, Maria Meschi, and Betsy A. Norton) discover that they can earn money by going to more and more sexual bases (yes, I’m mixing sports metaphors) with men (Carl Cooper, Ryan Dunn, and Rich Tunnell) who will gratefully pay them big wads of cash for it.  To stiffen the plot a bit, Debbie has never gone all the way with her boyfriend, Rick (Zachary Joyce), but he wants to, real bad.  One of the other cheerleaders, Lisa (Maria Meschi), wants to take advantage of this conflict.

I almost didn’t go see this show because I was afraid it would be stupid-funny and therefore embarrassing-funny rather than truly funny.  Fortunately, though, it was funny in a way that made me laugh honestly and often, in an engaged way.  

I think the secret of this show’s success is that it pokes fun at pornography in a way that doesn’t make audience members feel ashamed of being curious about porn or ashamed of enjoying whatever pornography they may have enjoyed in real life. But nor is it deeply reflective or politically correct.  The cheerleaders are all “good girls,” whatever that means, but showers are meant to be shared in this show and candles are meant to do more than one thing.

I also think the humor in this show works because it taps into a kind of nostalgia, at least for people my age and older.  The show is set in 1978.  The pre-show music and slides made me wonder whatever happened to my high school boyfriend.  The show itself reminded me that:

In 1979, when I was a college freshman, some guys in one of the dorms got permission to show the X-rated movie “Deep Throat” and charge admission to raise money for some worthy cause.   The guys sent away for the movie and rented a projector.  In the middle of the movie the lights came on and the audience had to wait while someone changed one huge metal reel of film for another. 

This was before the Internet, before personal computers of any kind, so I and most undergrads I knew had seen very little porn before we arrived on campus.  I went to see “Deep Throat” with a group of people from my dorm.  I don’t think any of us enjoyed “Deep Throat” as a movie all that much, but we felt sophisticated and collegiate, going to see it.  Some of us were very quiet on the walk back while others tried to discuss “the film” seriously as a work of art and/or in terms of its feminist implications. 

I think “Debbie Does Dallas: the Musical” pokes subtle, affectionate fun at that pre-Internet innocence and earnestness.  Or something.

Anyway, I enjoyed “Debbie Does Dallas: the Musical” very much, even though I had never seen anything like it on stage.

My only real disappointment with this show was that there wasn’t more singing and dancing.  For a “musical,” there are relatively few songs.  What singing there was in this production was lovely.  I enjoyed Erin Cohenour’s choreography, too, but wish I could have seen more of it.

In the End

Who was it that said a comedic film has a harder time winning an Academy Award than a drama because everyone feels the same about loss and heartache but humor is unique to each person?  (Whoever said it, I’m sure he or she said it more eloquently!)

In the end, I guess I don’t want to over-analyze why a show makes me laugh, I just want to laugh.  “Current Economic Conditions” and “Debbie Does Dallas: the Musical” both did that for me.

‘See you at the theatres…

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Oh!  P.S. – By the time I finished writing this post, the Super Bowl was over, too.  Congratulations to the Giants for winning the first Super Bowl game held in Indianapolis.  Congratulations even more to everyone involved with Madonna’s half-time show.  I saw it on YouTube not long after it was performed this evening.  How exciting and wonderful!  Good job, Madonna!  Good job, local talent!

(Photo above is of Maria Souza-Eglen and John Goodson in “Current Economic Conditions.”  It was taken by Zach Rosing and provided to me by the Phoenixt Theatre.)

On Saturday night a friend and I drove to the new Studio Theater to see the Actors Theatre of Indiana production of “Chicago the Musical.” 

The Studio Theater is part of the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana.  Carmel is just north of Indianapolis.  Actors Theatre of Indiana (ATI) is the Center’s resident professional theatre company.

The book for “Chicago the Musical” was written by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse.  The music is by John Kander, with lyrics by Fred Ebb.  Judy Fitzgerald directed ATI’s production.

I loved the intimacy of this production!  I recognized many of the performers from other professional shows in larger venues around town over the years.  It was a treat to be able to see and hear these beloved performers doing their thing up close in a cozy space and in a show that highlights their singing and dancing talents.

What the Show is About

“Chicago the Musical” is about a couple of female murderers – Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly – in the 1920s that used an unscrupulous lawyer – Billy Flynn – to help them milk the media’s fascination with them in order to be acquitted.

It is also about the fickleness of glamour and fame in general, the slipperiness of Chicago itself at that time, and the fact that almost nothing anywhere, any time, is completely what it seems at first glance.

Artistic Considerations

Because this is a musical, most of the storytelling happens through song and dance rather than spoken dialogue, although there is some of that, too.

As I mentioned earlier, it is a treat to be able to hear good professional singers and watch good professional dancers up close.  My seat was only one row down from the back of the theatre, but the house is so small and the rows of chairs so steeply raked that I could easily see everyone’s faces.  The show is polished in terms of set, sound, lights, costumes (especially costumes!), etc. but the theatrical magic – the “razzle dazzle” as Billy Flynn would say – comes from the performers themselves more than anything else.   They are the ones doing those impressive flips and lifts.  They are the ones belting those long notes. 

And if something unexpected happens – say, one dancer’s microphone cord catches on another’s button or something – we are right there with them as they gracefully untangle and dance on with a smile.  There is something uniquely appealing about being able to experience the humanity and aliveness of a professional quality show up close.

In a production this intimate, which is even more intimate than the Broadway Across America touring production of “Chicago the Musical” that I saw in 2009, there can be a lot of fun interplay between the cast and the piano player, too, especially since the 5-piece orchestra is right on stage with the cast and the piano serves as a set piece for people to sit and even dance on sometimes while they sing.  Music director Brent Marty plays the piano, sings back-up, interacts with the cast, conducts the instrumentalists behind him while facing forward to the audience, and serves as a separate character in the story at one point.  Whew!  And he does it all smoothly and admirably.

The live orchestra itself sounds steamy-jazzy and wonderful.  In addition to Brent on piano, the orchestra includes Jay Emrich on bass, Steve Stickler on woodwinds, Scott Whitford on brass, and Greg Wolff on percussion. 

Now about the story and characters:

Don’t go to this show expecting the characters to be like in the movie… 

Well, actually, Bradley Reynolds, the man that plays the lawyer, Billy Flynn, did remind me a little of Richard Gere, who played him in the movie.  They both have that panther-like quality to their handsomeness.  However, Bradley gives his portrayal a layer of trustworthy Mr. Rodgers (from the children’s TV show), too, which makes Billy Flynn’s essentially UNtrustworthy nature all the more creepy.

So for the most part, don’t go to this show expecting the characters to be exactly like in the movie.  They are all drawn with more subtlety here, which takes some getting used to but which is ultimately refreshing and satisfying, and better suited to the intimate venue.

Cynthia Collins and Holly Stults each bring a relatable poignancy to their portrayals of Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, respectively.  You can imagine each of the characters asking herself, “How in the world did I get here?”  The differences in personality and life experience between the two women seem not all that large after all, which means that maybe they are not all that different from us, either.  Which is deliciously unsettling.

Paul Hansen is freshly heartbreaking as Roxie’s “invisible” husband, Amos. 

Kenny Shepard is hilarious as ALL of the members of the jury.

I did not recognize John Vessels at all as the refined and ladylike reporter, Mary Sunshine, until I got home and looked at my program.  I have seen and enjoyed his comedic portrayals several times at the Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre.  He is a funny surprise in this show, too.

Nor did I recognize Dwandra Nickole, whose dramatic work I had loved in the Phoenix Theatre’s production of “In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play” until I read my program, but I loved getting to hear her sing in this show as prison Matron “Mama” Morton.

The ensemble of dancer-singers is consistently strong and sexy.  It is captained by Carol Worcel (Murderess Liz) and also includes:  Vickie Klosky (Murderess Mona), Kristen Noonan (Murderess Hunyak), Jennifer R. Shoup (Murderess June), Sally Scharbrough (Murderess Annie), Tim Hunt (Fred Casley and other roles), Sean Seager (various roles), and Kenny Shepard (various roles.)

The choreography was adapted by Michael Worcel after Bob Fosse and Ann Reinking, with assistance from Carol Worcel.

In addition to the people I have already mentioned, the production staff includes James W. Carringer as stage manager/production manager; Duane McDevitt as scenic designer, Marti Meeker as lighting designer, Don Drennen as sound designer, and Brian Horton as costume designer.  For the most part, the design components are deceptively simple in order to let the performers’ talents shine.  However, the brick-walled set, the prison door lighting, and other subtle elements help to make this an artistically rich piece of theatre art.  The sexy costumes, created mostly from a black-grey-white palette but with lots of sparkle, are gorgeous.

I also have to say that the feather fan dance in this production of “Chicago the Musical” is adorable.  I may carve time to see this show again next weekend just because of that.

Audience and Appeal Factors

This is a show for adults that like intimate, live theatre with lots of experienced, professional singing and dancing.

I wouldn’t bring children to this show because even though it is beautiful and funny, it is also about murder, adultery, the death penalty, and other mature themes.  The sounds of the gun shots are produced by the percussionist, and the appearance of blood is produced by red scarves, but the costumes are very sexy and there are spoken references to sex.  It doesn’t matter if your kids can “take it” or not.  Get a babysitter so that the other adults in the theatre can relax and enjoy the show.

This is a different but, I think, satisfying new perspective on the show for adults that loved the movie or loved seeing a big Broadway production of it first.

If you have never seen any version of “Chicago” I bet you will recognize and enjoy the “All That Jazz” song.

This is also a fun show to start with if you have not yet seen a show in the new Studio Theater.  I was lucky enough to be in the audience for the very first show there – a concert by country music singer-songwriter Joanna Smith in March – but I did not have time to write much about it then.  The Studio Theater is a “black box” whose comfy seats and sturdy risers can be reconfigured into any one of four arrangements:  theatre in the round (seats on all sides of the stage), traverse (seats on two opposing sides of the stage), thrust (seats curved around the front and a little of the sides of the stage), and proscenium (seats only in front of the stage.)  For “Chicago,” the seats are arranged in the thrust configuration, so you may ask for a seat assignment either directly in front or a little off to either side of the stage area.

I have enjoyed two “tuning concerts” in the Palladium and I look forward to the opening of the large Booth Tarkington Theatre later this year, but I think the Studio Theater will be my favorite of all of the performance spaces in the Center for the Performing Arts.  I love being close to the artistic action.

One other FYI:  This show includes a lot of atmospheric “haze” produced from either a smoke machine or a fog machine as a special effect.  This always gives me a headache but I also think it looks cool.

Box Office, etc.

ATI’s production of “Chicago the Musical” continues Wednesdays-Sundays through May 22, 2011 at the Studio Theater in the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana, just north of Indianapolis.  For more information and to buy tickets, please call 317-843-3800 or visit www.thecenterfortheperformingarts.org.  For more information about Actors Theatre of Indiana, please visit www.actorstheatreofindiana.org.

There is free parking at the back of the Studio Theater’s building.  Turn in and park in the garage as if you were going to the Palladium, but instead of walking back outside across the yard to the Palladium, just step off the parking garage elevator on the first floor and walk inside to your right.

I forgot to check, but I think you can buy beer, wine, and soft drinks at a bar in the lobby during intermission.

Season Announcement

I did remember to pick up a flyer with the new ATI season on it.  When director Judy Fitzgerald gave the curtain talk before the show, she said that Actors Theatre of Indiana was proud to announce their seventh season.  Here are the musicals they are doing for 2011-2012 at the Studio Theater:

• “Cole,” a revue based on the life of Cole Porter, devised by Benny Green and Alan Strachan – September 9-25, 2011.
• “Forbidden Broadway” – October 28-November 20, 2011.  I loved this parody show when ATI did it at the Oak Hill Mansion in 2009.  Judy said this 2011 version will include a significant amount of new material, including spoofs from “Wicked.”
• “Godspell,” based on the Gospel According to Matthew with a score by Stephen Schwartz – February 10-26, 2011.
• “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro, music by Jimmy Roberts – April 27-May 20, 2011

ATI is also doing “Frog and Toad” again at the Pike Performing Arts Center on December 16, 17, and 18, 2011.  I cheered when I read that.  I love ATI’s production of this family favorite that is based on the endearing stories of Arnold Lobel.  I first saw it in 2008.

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh

(photo above by Julie Curry)

On Saturday afternoon I drove to downtown Indianapolis to see the Indiana Repertory Theatre’s production of “The 39 Steps.”  It was adapted by Patrick Barlow from the novel by John Buchanon, from the movie of Alfred Hitchcock licensed by IV Global Entertainment Limited, and from an original concept by Nobby Dimon and Simon Corble.  Peter Amster directed it for the IRT, where Janet Allen is the artistic director and Steven Stolen is the managing director.

I now know that the stage show was nominated for the 2008 Tony Award, and I now know that one of mystery master Alfred Hitchcock’s most famous noir films is “The 39 Steps,” but I didn’t know anything about either of these two facts going in to the IRT on Saturday.

And it didn’t matter.  This show is very accessible and so much fun!  It is a suspenseful, funny treat for stage fans and film fans alike, not to mention mystery fans.

What the Show Is About

On one level, it is the story of Richard Hannay, an Englishman in 1935 London.  He goes out to refresh himself with a “mindless” night at the theatre and finds himself thrown into dangerous matters of national security.   His sense of honor demands that he go to Scotland to find and protect the secret of “the 39 steps,” even though he doesn’t know what it means.  Along the way he gets involved with several beautiful women and dozens of other people, all with agendas of their own.

On another level, the show is about loving and respecting both film and stage.  This show makes fun of the unique characteristics of both art forms, while also celebrating them.  It says, “We are proud of the many things that stage art can do that film can not, but we also know that myriad deliberate and subtle choices go into making a good film, too, and we enjoy analyzing them and acting out the techniques.”  When the show mimics the perspectives of film, it is funny because they are unexpected on stage, but it is never mean-spirited.

Sometimes the show says, “Could a film actor make you believe all of this activity in the moment night after night?  Film making is for wussies!” but it also acknowledges its own limitations as a live stage show and makes fun of itself – for example, when there are more characters on stage at once than there are actors available to play them.

On yet another level, the show is about loving and respecting the work of film maker Alfred Hitchcock in particular.  I really only know about his work by reputation, but even I recognized the titles of his movies and laughed when they came up as lines in conversation during the show.  I bet there are even more references to his style and content that a true Alfred Hitchcock fan would recognize and relish.

Artistic Considerations

There are only four actors.  Only four!  Even though I knew intellectually that three of them were playing multiple roles, I still was startled when only four actors came out to bow at the end.

Matthew Brumlow is the earnest yet dashing hero, Richard Hannay.  He is hilarious and lovable simply because…well, forgive my stereotyping, but it is simply because he is so very English.

It is also because Matthew uses his full range of physicality – from splayed instant slumber to the lift of one eyebrow over a modest smirk – very specifically and purposefully, yet seemingly effortlessly.  The other three actors do, too.  And their timing is exquisite.

Sarah Nealis changes accents and attitudes at least twice but is always some sort of beautiful, sexy woman that just happens to be, quite awkwardly and/or temptingly, in Richard Hannay’s path. 

Rob Johansen is “Clown 1” and Tom Aulino is “Clown 2.”   They never appear in clown costume (that I recall) but they appear as just about everything else.  I think they are called clowns because their many fast character changes require the precise balance and the exuberant energy of a circus act.  They change convincingly, seamlessly, back and forth between characters – sometimes with only a few words for each!   Oh, my, they are fun to watch.

The design elements enhance the humor, the suspense, and the film vs. stage teasing in several delicious ways.  The set (designed by Linda Buchanan) seems pretty bare at first glance, but it is framed with the rich, red velvet curtain and downstage sconces that I imagine were part of every theatre in the 1930s.  Theatre trunks and other odds-n-ends are plenty to suggest richer, more complete sets – especially when accompanied by Michael Lincoln’s witty lighting design – but then one of them opens to reveal something unexpectedly detailed, for another laugh. 

Both Michael’s lighting (he was assisted by Molly Tiede) and Victoria DeIorio’s sound design make the audience participants in the story in unexpectedly funny ways.  Victoria’s compositions and sound design also include a satisfyingly rich array of aural textures; if her sounds were fabrics, they would range from satin to tweed.

Many of the costume pieces (designed very cleverly by Tracy Dorman, with wigs by Mary Schilling-Martin and additional wigs by Heather Fleming) serve as props for the actors to play with as much as they serve as descriptions of the characters that wear them.  I loved one of the women’s weather-vane pigtails, for example.

Nathan Garrison is the (I imagine) of necessity very wide-awake stage manager.  Richard J. Roberts was the dramaturg – an especially fun job for this play, I bet.  I wonder if he got to watch all of Hitchcock’s movies as part of his research?  That’s what I would like to do next!

Audience and Appeal Factors

If you love entertaining theatre that is both smart and funny, cerebral and physical…

If you love the films of Alfred Hitchcock…

If you love to feel proud and delighted by what stage performers and designers can do…

If you love a good story filled with both laugh-out loud humor and yelp-producing suspense…

If you loved the polished playfulness of the IRT’s production of “Around the World in 80 Days” last year…

If you loved the polished inventiveness of the IRT’s production of “Our Town” (also directed by Peter Amster) in 2007…

Well, then, this is the show for you.

As for your kids…well, let’s see.  “The 39 Steps” is a bit darker than “Around the World in 80 Days.”  There are some scary moments and a death or two.  There are also some oblique references to sex and several sexy-funny moments.  On the other hand, “The 39 Steps” is also less purely reflective than “Our Town.” If your kids don’t get all of the historical and artistic references in “The 39 Steps,” they can still easily enjoy the physical humor if they have a little patience at the very beginning while Richard Hannay is setting up the story.

So…I wouldn’t suggest this show for little kids or even all kids in elementary school, but it would probably be okay for most people in middle school or older.

I would recommend it without hesitation to just about any group of adults, whether they know each other well or not, and whether they know much about Alfred Hitchcock or not.

Box Office

“The 39 Steps” continues on the Indiana Repertory Theatre’s main stage with a good variety of performance times through Saturday, May 14, 2011.  For tickets and more information, please call the IRT ticket office (317)635-5252 or visit www.irtlive.com.

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

P.S. – Follow me (@IndyTheatre) and/or the topic #indystage on Twitter.com.  I never tweet during a show (and I beg you not to take your phone out during a show either, for any reason, because light is as distracting as noise!) but I often tweet first impressions during intermission or immediately after a show.

P.P. S. – Both photos above were taken by Roger Mastroianni.  Roll your mouse over each to see the actors’ names.

On Friday, April 1, 2011 I drove to the Historic Irvington Lodge on the near east side of Indianapolis to see the world premiere of Q Artistry’s “Bunny Spectacular.”  It was directed by Ben Asaykwee, with segments directed by Maria Meschi.  Ryan Powell and Carrie Morgan were the assistant directors.

If you are a regular reader of Indy Theatre Habit, you know that I almost never have time to write about shows for children.  However, I made time for this show because a) I love Q Artistry’s work in general and b) a giant bunny came to visit me with free tickets to opening night.

“Bunny Spectacular” is definitely a treat of a show for families with little kids, but this solo adult had a great time, too.

What the Show Is About

“Bunny Spectacular” is an hour-long extravaganza of bunny-related songs, jokes, and stories, all performed by a variety of kinds of bunny puppets on a huge vertical stage with multiple openings.  The stories come from around the world and include humorous story-songs such as “Little Bunny Foo-Foo,” literary tales such as “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” by Beatrix Potter, and folk tales such as a Native American story about “How Rabbit Lost His Long Tail” and a “Brer Rabbit” folk tale.

Interspersed with the stories and songs are groan-and-laugh puns, one-liners, and joke stories.  There is a whole monologue of bunny lounge act schtick by the snarky MC puppet near the beginning.

The climax of the show is a special brief appearance of The Easter Bunny.

Artistic Considerations

I wrote on Lou Harry’s weekly “You Review It Monday” blog the Monday after I saw the show that this is “a hilarious combination of the old ‘Laugh-In’ comedy show and the best of public library story time.”  I stand by that comment but I want to add that this is a fully-staged live theatre piece, too.  The center of the carrot-bedecked stage is swathed with sparkly fabric curtains that raise and lower to accommodate the needs of the stories and the performers.  The two side portions of the stage have multiple little windows for the cast (all bunny puppets) to pop (or should I say “hop”) in and out of.  Sometimes there is a delightful blur of activity all over the place.  Other times a spotlight helps the audience focus its attention on the correct place on the stage.  Recorded music enhances the live singing (sometimes sung in multiple-part harmony), storytelling, and puppetry.  The human cast includes a mixture of professional and avocational performance artists.

After director Ben Asaykwee gives the curtain talk, we don’t see any human beings again until the very end, when both humans and puppets take their bows.  Most of the puppets are plush hand puppets, converted stuffed animals, or converted socks, but there is also a story done with large cardboard shadow puppets that are as big as the people behind them, and another that is done with stick puppets with moving parts.  The hand puppets, especially, are all very life-like and believable in terms of their expressions, gestures, voices, and individual personalities, but all of the puppets are manipulated to good effect by their human handlers.

The overall pacing of the show is tight and good.  The little kids sitting around me were entranced, even the boy who seemed at first if he would never stop wailing. (I think his dad let him walk around in back for a while. That helped, too.)

The humor in the show manages to be both adult and family friendly.  Oh, my, I had such a good time at this show!

The hour speeds by.  At the performance I attended, no one wanted to leave at the end.  I don’t mean that they lingered in the lobby.  I mean that they stayed seated for several minutes, as if waiting for more to happen.  I think this was partly due to the fact the show had been so much fun, and partly due to the fact that the Easter Bunny did not come out and interact with the children one-on-one.  However, my program says:

 “Q Artistry is hosting a special visit with good ole EB for everyone in the community from 12-2pm on Saturday, April 16^th and Saturday, April 23^rd.  Members of the community are encouraged to take part in this ‘first come, first served’ event.  No photographer will be present, but participants are welcome to bring their own cameras to take pictures.”

So maybe Q Artistry just decided it would make too late of a night for families to try to have the Easter Bunny come out and mingle after the show.

My program doesn’t mention a charge for these special visits with EB.  IT does say that these special photo opportunities will take place at the Historic Irvington Lodge – the same place as the show.  (According to the Q Artistry website, the “Bunny Spectacular” show costs $5 for kids ages 12 and under, $7 for everyone else.)

There were some problems with the sound equipment at first on the night that I went, but they seemed to work themselves out fairly quickly.  There was really only one disappointment for me with this show:  the librarian and story lover in me can’t help wishing that the stories and their sources had been listed in the program.  But, as I say, I had a wonderful time anyway, and it was a source of pleasure to be able to recognize so many of the stories on my own.

Who Did What

In addition to the directors and assistant directors, here is the crew as listed in my program:

• Brandi Gilbert = Light Technician
• Will McCarty = Sound, Graphic Design
• Kaitlin O’Leary = Spotlight Operator
• Lisa Marie Smith = Box Office Guru
• Jason Moon = House Captain
• Puppet Creators = Ben Asaykwee, Anne O’Leary, Meagan Moon, and Maria Meschi
• Set Construction = Ben Lamey, Robyn Lamey, Will McCarty and Ben Asaykwee
• Superstar Volunteers = Marilyn McCarty, Stella Hanley, Meagan Moon and Robyn Lamey

The cast includes:

• Ben Asaykwee
• Robin Bradford
• Maddie Deeken
• Janice Hibbard
• Robyn Lamey
• Sara Lukaszewski
• Gabrielle McAree
• Maria Meschi
• Meagan Moon
• Carrie Morgan
• Maureen O’Leary
• Ryan Powell

Audience and Appeal Factors

This show will appeal to anyone of any age (okay, age 3 and older) that enjoys cute puppets, good stories, energetic live singing, and mischievous yet ultimately family-friendly humor.

And bunnies, of course.

Box Office

Q Artistry’s “Bunny Spectacular” runs Friday nights, Saturday afternoons, and Saturday nights through April 23, 2011 (two more weekends) at the Historic Irvington Lodge.  For more information and to order tickets, please visit www.qartistry.org.

By the way, I asked Ben and Maria where most people park.  I have become a fan of the Legend Restaurant that is right across the street and down a little bit past the bus stop from the Irvington Lodge, and I can often find one open parking spot on the curb near there.  I have what my sister calls “good parking karma.”  However, I wondered about other options.

Maria told me, “There is a fair amount of street parking behind the Lodge.  We also park in the paved lots behind the building, but not the gravel lot.”

Ben said, “Parking is mostly ‘find it where you can find it’ in Irvington.  But there always seems to be plenty of street parking in the neighborhoods around and yes, if you eat at the Legend before you can simply park there and walk over ”

I walked over for a late supper after the show.  That works, too.

‘See you at the theatres…

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

P.S. – Follow me (@IndyTheatre) and/or the topic #indystage on Twitter.com.  I never tweet during a show (and I beg you not to take your phone out during a show either, for any reason, because light is as distracting as noise!) but I often tweet first impressions during intermission or immediately after a show.

(Photos and video for this post provided by Ben Asaykwee and used with permission.)

Last Sunday evening I drove to the northwest side of Indianapolis to see “Annie Get Your Gun” at the Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre.  The music and lyrics for this 1948 Broadway musical were written by Irving Berlin.  The book was written by Herbert and Dorothy Fields. It was directed for Beef and Boards by Doug Stark. (Douglas E. Stark)

It is a beautiful, beautiful production and it piqued my interest in Annie Oakley.

What the Show Is About

The story is very loosely based on some people that actually lived in the Midwestern United States in the late 1800s.  There really was a Wild West Show and it really did star a never-misses riflewoman named Annie Oakley.  Her husband really was named Frank Butler and he was also a sharpshooter.  According to pbs.org and other sources, he became smitten with Annie on the day that she first beat him in a shooting contest.  He courted her until she finally agreed to marry him.  They performed together for a while, but he eventually stepped back and became her business and publicity manager.  “He occupied much less of the limelight than his celebrated wife, but Butler didn’t seem to mind; he understood that her success helped both of them.”   They were happily married for more than 50 years.

THAT is my idea of a love story.

In the musical, Frank is a guy that thinks he wants “a doll that I can carry.”  He loves Annie but he is threatened by Annie’s skill and fame.  Annie falls in love with him the minute she looks into his eyes for the first time.  To “get him,” she has to pretend to be less talented than he is. When she lets him beat her in a shooting contest, he asks her to marry him, and they supposedly live happily ever after.

I can’t help wondering, though, if the Annie in the musical will have to continue to give up parts of herself in order to maintain the illusion.  It wouldn’t be worth it to me.

Artistic Considerations

Fortunately, however, Frank and Annie’s musical marriage is, ultimately, not mine to worry about.  I am free to tell you about the many aspects of the show that I enjoyed.  These include the songs, the singing, the costumes, and the set.

I bet you will recognize many of the songs from this show, or at least “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”  What theatre lover hasn’t sung that catchy pep talk/anthem in a talent show or during a tech week at one time or another?  And it’s originally from THIS show!

I recognized “Anything You Can Do” and “Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly,” too.

Other songs were completely new to me.  My new favorite song of all time, or at least a new addition to my top 100, is the inspirational “I Got the Sun in the Morning.”  I am going to learn all the words and sing this snappy song to myself when I want a reminder of how to have an attitude of gratitude.

The singing of all of the songs in this production is completely lovely, a real pleasure.  Especially satisfying are the songs sung by the two leads, Curt Dale Clark and Tiana Checchia.

Kurt Dale Clark is the charismatic Frank Butler, a self-proclaimed “Bad, Bad Man.”   I always swoon when Curt is on stage but in this show as Frank he is…well, let’s just say that I came home with some rich fodder for my fantasy life.  (I know I implied above that the musical Frank is a jerk, but I don’t have to marry, or even live with, the men I incorporate into my fantasy life.  This Frank looks GREAT in his suits and I’m a pushover in my fantasy life for a man that sings well.)

Tiana Checchia is completely likable as the irrepressible and rough-hewn Annie Oakley.  Annie takes good care of her three young siblings, she works hard in the Wild West show, she works hard at learning to read, and since Frank says he “needs” a woman that is all “pink and white,” she works hard on becoming that, too.  Along with showing us Annie’s strong, cheerful work ethic, Tiana gives Annie a naïvely joyful quality that is very appealing.

And did I mention how great she sounds?

When Annie and Frank sing about falling in love – “They Say It’s Wonderful” – the two actors perfectly capture and convey that wonderful feeling.

The rest of the ensemble is strong, too, across the board.  Annie’s three younger siblings, played by Brielle Boynton, Molly Oates, and Ellie Oates, are adorable.

The costumes – especially the men’s suits and the women’s long, bustled dresses and parasols – are a treat to look at.  They were designed by Jill Kelly.

The set, designed and lit by Michael Layton, includes a fun, thematic floor and some nifty smoke.

Who Did What

In addition to the two leads and the children, the show also stars:

J.R. Stuart as Charlie Davenport, the well-meaning manager of the Wild West show. 

Jeff Stockberger as the larger-than-life Buffalo Bill. 

Jack Milo as Sitting Bull, Annie’s adoptive father. 

Katie (aka Katherine) Proctor as Dolly Tate, Frank’s snippy assistant. 

The following graceful dancer-singers actually play multiple roles but they are listed in my press kit’s Fact Sheet as:

Steve Calzaretta as Pawnee Bill. 

Adam Shaff as Wild Horse. 

Jonathan Jensen as Mac. 

Bobbi Bates as Mrs. Iron Tail.

Erin Cohenour as Mrs. Yellowfoot.

Deb Wims as Silly Sister.

**********

Besides the director and the costumer, the crack-shot design team includes:

Doug King, choreographer.

Kristy Templet, musical director.

Daniel Hesselbrock, sound designer.

Bill Mollencupp, technical director.

Ed Stockman, stage manager.

Eddie Curry and Jeff Stockberger, assistant stage managers.

**********

In the orchestra up in its loft:

Conductor Kristy Templet is on keyboard.

Terry Woods is on keyboard, too.

Neil Broeker is on woodwinds.

Tim Kelly (any relation to the costumer designer, I wonder?) is on percussion.

David Coleson is on trumpet.

**********

As always, admission includes Chef Odell Ward’s comfort food dinner buffet.  My server this time was Billie.  Her attention to me was thoughtful but not smothering: just right.

Audience and Appeal Factors

The song in which Annie is adopted by Sitting Bull – “I’m an Indian Too” – made me uncomfortable because while it is semi-respectful of the fact that there is no such thing as a generic Indian tribe, it also has Annie making fun of individual Native names.  “Chief Dropping Pants?” Please.  However, Tiana makes it clear that Annie is touched and proud AND nervous to have been invited to the ceremony, so maybe those lyrics are supposed to convey those mixed emotions in the same way that anyone can make a not-funny joke when they’re nervous.

Also, there are several times in this show when guns are pointed into the audience.  When my friend Dave taught me how to shoot a pistol years ago, his first rule of gun safety was to never, ever point a gun at someone unless you intend to kill them, even if you think the gun isn’t loaded.  So, every time a gun was “fired” into the audience in this show it pulled me out of the story.  I think the shots are just recordings, actually, not even blanks, but the guns were realistic enough overall to make me nervous.

Anyway, I mention these two things here in the suggested audience portion of the review just as something else to consider when you’re thinking about which friends to invite along.

In general, I would say that this is a completely family friendly show.  I wouldn’t bring preschoolers to it but I could see bringing a family with school-aged children and older.  Although I don’t want my goddaughter growing up to think she has to cut herself down in order to “get” a man to marry her, I would love for her to know about Annie Oakley’s skill, determination, optimism, and loyalty.  This show introduces all of that.

This show will also appeal to people that love visually and aurally beautiful musical theatre.

Box Office

“Annie Get Your Gun” continues at Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre through May 8, 2011.  Show times include some weekday evenings and matinees.  For more information please visit www.beefandboards.com.  To purchase tickets, please call the Box Office at 317-872-9664.

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

P.S. – Follow me (@IndyTheatre) and/or the topic #indystage on Twitter.com.  I never tweet during a show (and I beg you not to take your phone out during a show either, for any reason, because light is as distracting as noise!) but I often tweet first impressions during intermission or immediately after a show.

Last Sunday afternoon I drove to the Carmel Community Playhouse in the Claypool Terrace shopping area of Carmel, Indiana (just north of Indianapolis) to see the Carmel Community Players’ production of “I Hate Hamlet.”  This comedy was written by Paul Rudnick.  It was directed for CCP by Lori Raffel and produced by Risa Krauter.

It was so good!  I leapt to my feet to applaud even before the house lights came up for the curtain call.  I drove to my next appointment with a wet but smiling face, feeling grateful for every person that answers the call to be a stage actor.

The following Thursday I went back to see the show a second time and enjoyed it tremendously again.  I wish it ran for three weekends instead of just two.  (I also wish I had a photo from the show to share with you, but never mind.)(Update 4/10/11 – Lori Raffel emailed me the above rehearsal photo.  Thanks, Lori!)

Tonight and tomorrow afternoon are your last chances to see this funny and exceptionally well directed all-volunteer production. 

What the Show Is About

A relatively famous TV actor, Andrew Rally, has come from Los Angeles to New York to try to revive his career and his artistic energy.  However, he has mixed emotions about the opportunity that has brought him here: a chance to play the title role in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” in an outdoor theatre.

His real estate agent finds him an apartment that used to belong to the famous stage and screen actor John Barrymore.   Andrew balks even further when he sees how ornately decorated the apartment is.  “This is not me,” he says.  Not this apartment, and not this role.

But his realtor and his girlfriend, who is also an actor, both urge him to stay.  They even hold an impromptu séance to try to contact Barrymore’s ghost, with no luck.

After they leave, however, John Barrymore does appear.   He is determined to help Andrew answer his true calling as an actor and as a person, whether Andrew wants his help or not.  John stands firm even when Andrew’s TV agent, Gary, tells him about an obscenely lucrative new TV deal.  Andrew learns about passion, humility, and more.  In the process of teaching Andrew, John finds growth and peace for himself, too.

This is a play about the importance of “facing the dragon” in work and love, even when you’re not sure that you will survive. 

It is also a play that acknowledges in a funny way the reasons some people resist going to see live theatre and maybe always will.  But it also acknowledges the reasons why the rest of us – artists and/or audience – will never give it up.

Artistic Considerations

Both the leads and the supporting characters – as written and as acted in this production – are strong and fully-fleshed (yes, even the ghost.)  This is definitely a comedy, and therefore it is silly and fun, but there are also many delightful little layers of deeper meaning in the script that have been teased out just right by the director and her ensemble of actors.  I think I am going to tape “Are you an artist or a lunchbox?” and “Yes, I went back to Hollywood, but first I played Hamlet – have you?” over my desk to remind me of them.

The brotherly dramatic-comedic energy between Earl Campbell, who plays the lost yet likable Andrew Rally, aka the reluctant Hamlet, and Eric Bryant, who plays the womanizing (but never beastly) and more experienced John Barrymore, aka the established Hamlet, is a treat to be around, especially when they are verbally sparring.  Their rapier duel, choreographed by Eric, who is an experienced fight choreographer as well as actor, is also fun and exciting to watch.   Both men tap into, and convey, their characters’ emotions and humor in deeply satisfying ways.

Sarah McGee gives Andrew’s ingénue girlfriend, Deirdre McDavey, a ditsy and demure – but not stupid – charm.  Laura Lanman Givens is a hoot as the feisty-sexy, pseudo-psychic realtor, Felicia Dantine.  And Shawn Evans is a comedic avalanche as the fratboy-esque TV agent, Gary Peter Lefkowitz.

But I have to say that my favorite supporting character is Andrew’s no-nonsense, German-American theatre agent, Lillian Troy, played by Ginny Burt.  Lillian is aging and she is ill, but she once had a fling with the great John Barrymore and no one can take that away from her.  I was enthralled by the fact that with only a few lines and scenes, Ginny manages to show us the full range of Lillian’s personality and life experience.  There is one breathtaking scene in particular in which Lillian’s current harshness and frailty fall away for the moment and she is sublimely ageless and beautiful.  The healing in that scene makes me swoon again whenever I think of it.

My program lists Brian G. Hartz as dialect coach.  Ginny’s German-American accent, in particular, is consistent and sounds authentic to me.

Who Did What Well on the Design Team

R. Brian Noffke is the stage manager and lighting designer.  The lighting design includes some nice, soft spots that enhance the effectiveness of the more serious monologues.

Director Lori Raffel designed the sound, which includes some witty little musical enhancements to some of the more melodramatic scenes. 

Patricia Schiro-Long designed everyone’s just-right costumes.  The Shakespearean costumes, especially, are stunning.

The set was designed by Kurt Krauter and Lori Raffel, and decorated by Risa Krauter and Lori Raffel.   The props were provided by “cast and crew.”  There is a lovely suit of armor, and some nice touches in the form of several gilded accessories, the ghost of some “B” monogrammed wallpaper, the exact globe-shaped liquor holder that is referred to by one of the characters, a glowing fireplace, a painting of Eric Bryant as John Barrymore, and a rich, almost throne-like chair that was/is his favorite. 

My only quibble with this whole show is that another chair – the one in front of the sofa in Act Two – is so tall that depending on where you sit it either blocks the audience from seeing the actors that are sitting and talking on the window seat (if you sit house left) or it blocks the audience from seeing Andrew and Deirdre in their clench at the foot of the stairs (if you sit in the front row, house right.)  It is not a huge chair but the audience sits slightly below the stage and the floor is level, not raked, so it doesn’t take much.

But as I say, this is just a quibble and I only mention it because it is the only thing that was less than satisfying about this show.  If you do find your view blocked, don’t worry, it will only be the one time and it won’t last very long. 

Audience and Appeal Factors

“I Hate Hamlet” is a “must see” for theatre junkies, but it has appeal for a broader audience as well because we all, I think, struggle with the questions of “What is important to me?” and “What am I supposed to do with my life?”

I saw another production of this show back in 2008.  I couldn’t write about it then because I was judging it for the Encore Association of community theatres.  (It was presented by the Our Town Players in Franklin, Indiana.)  Carmel’s production is more deliciously “adult” than I remembered.  There is no nudity, explicit sex, gore, death, or profanity so I don’t think that it would offend or embarrass anyone in an all-adult group of theatre-goers.  However, there are a couple of well-filled, subtly sparkling codpieces that are tastefully but unmistakably displayed and one is referred to – okay, grabbed - in a frank and funny way.  Also, the characters flirt a lot and talk earnestly quite a bit about whether or not to have sex.  So, I would not recommend this for families with young children at all, and families with older children or young teens might feel embarrassed to see it together.

“I Hate Hamlet” is a contemporary story with a fairly contemporary setting (although the characters check a stack of printed newspapers for their reviews the morning after opening night) but I bet that fans of traditional Shakespearean theatre will appreciate this piece, too, simply because the playwright actually loves, rather than hates, “Hamlet.”

Box Office

There is a performance of the Carmel Community Players’ “I Hate Hamlet” tonight at 8pm and tomorrow afternoon (Sunday, April 10, 2011.)  For more information and to make a reservation, please visit www.carmelplayers.org or call the box office at 317-815-9387.

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

P.S. – Follow me (@IndyTheatre) and/or the topic #indystage on Twitter.com.  I never tweet during a show (and I beg you not to take your phone out during a show either, for any reason, because light is as distracting as noise!) but I often tweet first impressions during intermission or immediately after a show.

Last Saturday night I drove to the southeast side of Indianapolis to the Buck Creek Playhouse to see the Buck Creek Players’ production of “Auntie Mame.”  It was written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, based on the 1955 bestselling novel by Patrick Dennis.  It was directed for Buck Creek by Andrew Ranck and produced by Cheryl Kern.

I love the 1974 movie version starring Lucille Ball and I would like to read the novel some day.  Now, after seeing this non-musical stage version, I am fonder than ever of the irrepressible title character and her story. 

What the Show Is About

The year is 1928.  Mame Dennis is a wealthy flapper throwing outrageous parties every night because “Life is a banquet and most poor sons of bitches are starving to death.”  Her much more conservative brother dies and names her as the guardian for his young son, Patrick.  Mame doesn’t know anything about taking care of a child, but she takes Patrick under her wing with love and good intentions.  She teaches him how to make a martini and what to do about words he doesn’t understand, and they happily figure out everything else as they go along until…

1)   Mame’s brother’s executor insists that Patrick go away to boarding school, and

2)   In 1929 the bottom drops out of the American economy.

Then we share Mame’s unfortunate attempts to succeed at a job long enough to get a paycheck.  We also share in Mame’s much more fortunate adventures in love, followed by her whirlwind world travels with her new husband.  She follows her own advice to “Live! Live! Live!” but continues a mutually loving correspondence with her nephew.  Ultimately, when he most needs her, she is there for him, whether he wants her to be or not.

Artistic Considerations

I love the director’s artistic vision for this piece.  In the press release that Scott Robinson, Buck Creek’s Director of Publicity and Marketing, sent me, there is this quote from the director, Andrew Ranck:

“When I first starting sharing I was directing Auntie Mame, almost every person said, ‘Oh, you will need a gigantic staircase and beautiful clothes.’  I was taken aback that people who knew the show remembered the set and costumes, but didn’t mention the heart and soul of the piece – relationships.  In a piece that spans 20 years and condenses a book to half its size, characters become more important than plot.  Their interpersonal relationships become universally devoid of time, place, and costumes.  Sure we have great clothes, and a beautiful home for Mame, but I hope that we explore the absurdist extremes of humanity through a hysterical portrayal of a woman with a huge heart, an undauntable spirit, a fluctuating bank account, and an undoubtedly forgiving liver.”

There is a huge, all-volunteer cast for this piece, and under Andrew’s direction everyone in it does a good job, but I was especially enchanted by Carrie Bennett Fedor, who brings Mame herself to life with endearing wit, warmth and sparkle.

Over the years, Mame surrounds herself with several quirky people that could have been played as mere stereotypes but again, under Andrew’s direction they are rounder than that, and therefore fun to watch.  It is easy to believe that Mame cares about them.  For example, Tommy Kruse plays her Japanese butler, Ito, as more odd than ethnic, making the portrayal funny rather than offensive, even with today’s sensibilities.     

I especially enjoyed Nan Macy’s vibrant portrayal of Mame’s best friend, the drama queen Vera Charles, and Tristan Ross’s swoon-worthy portrayal of Mame’s big-hearted husband, Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside.

I also especially admired Melissa DeVito’s consistently lyrical Irish accent in her portrayal of Mame’s no-nonsense housekeeper, Norah Muldoon; Ericka Barker’s consistent (and funnily bitchy) southern accent in her portrayal of Mame’s romantic rival, Sally Cato Macdougal; and Linda Heiden’s consistent (and excruciatingly funny) ivy league accent in her portrayal of the older Patrick’s fiancée, Gloria Upson. 

I also loved both the younger Patrick Dennis (Noah McCullough) and the older Patrick Dennis (Brandon Alstott.)  What well-spoken cuties!

But I appreciated everyone’s performances and I can’t help thinking that it must have been a lot of fun for such a large group to get to know each other during the rehearsal process.  Which is neither here nor there in terms of seeing the show, I know, but still…I bet good relationships off stage helped to inform the good relationships on stage.

Andrew said, and I agree, that the relationships between the characters should take precedent over the set and costumes.  However, I also have to say that the clever multi-level set for this production is used to very good effect and the costumes are lovely. 

Also:  The lighting design is satisfying, especially the sillouette effect at the very beginning and the sunset effect at the very end.  It is fun to see the painting on the easel change for almost every scene.  The various pieces of music for the scene changes are perfectly chosen. The scene changes themselves are fast and smooth, and the pacing of the almost-3-hours-long show (with one intermission) is good and brisk. 

(Please see below for the design team members’ names.)

Who Did What

I am very grateful to Scott Robinson for emailing me the cast and production staff as part of the press release so that I could cut-and-paste them into this review rather than type them all in.  I like to have everyone’s names here in my blog so that they will be easy to search for later if needed.

Here is the cast:

Mame Dennis……………………………………………..CARRIE BENNETT FEDOR

Vera Charles………………………………………………………………..NAN MACY

Norah Muldoon……………………………………………………..MELISSA DEVITO

Agnes Gooch…………………………………………………………ANNIE GORAJEC

Young Patrick Dennis………………………………………….NOAH McCULLOUGH

Patrick Dennis…………………………………………………..BRANDON ALSTOTT  

Ito……………………………………………………………………….TOMMY KRUSE

Sally Cato MacDougall……………………………………………..ERICKA BARKER

M. Lindsay Woolsey…………………………………………………….DON BECKER

Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside……………………………..TRISTAN ROSS

Mr. Babcock………………………………………………………….TOM KRUGHOFF

Pegeen Ryan……………………………………………………..LINDSEY PADDOCK                                                  

Rounding out the large cast with multiple roles are:

EVELYN BROWN

PAIGE CASSIDY

MATT CONWELL

MICHAEL HAMPTON

LINDA HEIDEN

DENNIS KARR

BRIAN KENNEDY

KEN KERN

BRENDA LOGSDON

MARISSA LOGSDON

LINDSEY PADDOCK

RALPH PASSMAN

MIMI PRUETT

ANDREW RANCK

GEORGANNA TEIPEN

DARA TURNER

CASEY VOTAW

Director Andrew Ranck makes his Buck Creek Players directorial debut with this production.  Joining Ranck on the production team are Cheryl Kern (Producer), Lea Viney (Set Designer/Technical Director), Linda Rowand (Costume Designer), Donna Jacobi (Costume Coordinator), Jeff Rowand (Lighting & Sound Designer), Lynne B. Robinson (Assistant Producer), Ruthie Weller-Passman (Assistant Director), and Melissa DeVito (Properties).

Audience and Appeal Factors

This is a family-friendly show but I think its length and the fact that it is more character-driven than plot-driven probably make it a more appropriate choice for teens, adults, and families with older children rather than families with young children.

It fits Buck Creek’s 2010-2011 season theme of “From Page to Stage” and because of its book and movie tie-in would make an enjoyable, out-of-the-ordinary outing for a book group.  (I bet BCP’s next show, “Frankenstein: A New Musical,” would, too.  It opens on June 3, 2011.)

It is a good choice for anyone looking for heartwarming stories with strong female characters.

Box Office

Buck Creek Players’ production of “Auntie Mame” runs for only one more weekend, through Sunday, April 10 at the Buck Creek Playhouse at 11150 Southeastern Avenue.  Tickets are $14 for adults and $12 for students and senior citizens (ages 62 & older) and can be reserved by calling (317) 862-2270.  Group discounts are also available for prepaid parties of ten or more.

For more information or directions to the playhouse, please visit www.buckcreekplayers.com.

Buck Creek’s 2011-2012 Season

About a week ago, I was delighted to receive an announcement of Buck Creek’s 2011-2012 season.  Here is most of that email (bolding is from me):

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Buck Creek Players, the all-volunteer community theater on Indianapolis’ southeast side, is proud to announce their 38th season of quality theater, It Takes Two, in 2011-12.  Three comedies and three upbeat musical comedies will take the playhouse stage to expose audiences to the importance of relationships experienced on a daily basis…and how our lives are changed because of them.

Opening the season with a two-weekend run in Fall 2011, is William Inge’s American classic, Bus Stop.  Set in the 1950′s, this warm, affectionate comedy brings together a variety of down-home characters passing one another in a street corner restaurant.  Their lives intertwined, these seemingly ordinary people reveal extraordinary qualities.  The poignant play serves up lots of laughs, a touch of romance, and maybe even a tear or two as the story unfolds over one hilariously turbulent night.  Mr. Inge’s Bus Stop shows that our lives weave together affecting each other in subtle yet profound ways each and every day.  John Carver makes his directorial debut at the playhouse with this production.

Ring in the holidays at the playhouse in December 2011 with Irving Berlin’s White Christmas.  Based on the beloved, timeless film, this heartwarming musical adaptation features seventeen Irving Berlin songs and a book by David Ives and Paul Blake. Veterans Bob Wallace and Phil Davis have a successful song-and-dance act after World War II. With romance in mind, the two follow a duo of beautiful singing sisters en route to their Christmas show at a Vermont lodge, which just happens to be owned by Bob and Phil’s former army commander. The dazzling score features well known standards including “Blue Skies,” “I Love A Piano,” “How Deep Is the Ocean,” and the perennial favorite, “White Christmas.”  Matthew Konrad Tippel returns to direct this holiday classic which will have the entire family leaving the theater humming.

For more than half a century the name Florence Foster Jenkins has been guaranteed to produce explosions of derisive laughter. Not unreasonably so, as this wealthy society eccentric suffered under the delusion that she was a great coloratura soprano when she was in fact incapable of producing two consecutive notes in tune. Nevertheless, her annual recitals in the ballroom of the Ritz Carlton hotel, where she resided, brought her extraordinary fame. As news of her terrible singing spread, so did her celebrity. Her growing mob of fans packed her recitals, stuffing handkerchiefs in their mouths to stifle their laughter — which Mrs. Jenkins blissfully mistook for cheers. The climax of her career was a single concert at Carnegie Hall in 1944. Famously, it sold out in two hours. Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins by Stephen Temperley, tells her story through the eyes of her accompanist, Cosme McMoon. A talented musician, he regards her at first as little more than an easy way to pay the rent, but, as he gets to know her, his initial contempt gives way to reluctant admiration, then friendship and affection. Eyewitness accounts of their concerts vary so wildly it is almost impossible now to separate fact from gossip. Hence this fictional “biography,” in which we follow the story of their partnership from its earliest days to their concert in Carnegie Hall and its aftermath. With each new imagined triumph Florence’s confidence soars. Faced with her boundless certainty, Cosme comes to revise his attitude, not only towards her singing but to the very meaning of music itself.  This musical odd couple for the ages will take the Buck Creek Players stage for six performances in Winter 2012, under the direction of D. Scott Robinson.

Harold is a depressed, death-obsessed nineteen-year-old proverbial “rich kid” who spends his free time attending funerals and pretending to commit suicide in front of his mother. At a funeral, Harold befriends Maude, a delightfully wacky octogenarian, who has a real zest for life. She and Harold spend much time together during which she exposes him to the wonders and possibilities of life. What she teaches saves him and will captivate audiences.  Adapted from his 1971 cult film starring Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon, Colin Higgins’ comedy, Harold and Maude, will command the stage for two weekends, Spring 2012, under the direction of Ed Mobley.

If you’ve ever sat in a dark theatre and thought, “Dear Lord in Heaven, please let it be good,” then this is the musical comedy for you!  It all begins when a die-hard musical-theater fan plays his favorite cast album on his record player, and the musical literally bursts to life around him in his living room, telling the rambunctious and comedic tale of a brazen Broadway starlet trying to find, and keep, her true love.  The Drowsy Chaperone, with music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison and book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar, pays tribute to the Jazz-age shows of the 1920′s and the power those shows held to transport us into a dazzling fantasy…lifting our spirits in times of need.  D. Scott Robinson will direct this “musical within a comedy” for a three-weekend run Summer 2012.

Hold your breath because here comes thoroughly modern Millie in a magical mythical musical set in the roaring twenties when bobbing your hair and rolling your stockings was considered daring.  Millie even colors her lips!  Thoroughly Modern Millie Junior is a high-spirited musical romp that will have audiences dancing the Charleston.  Taking place in New York City in 1922, this Playhouse Players Youth Production tells the story of young Millie Dillmount, who has just moved to the city in search of a new life for herself.  It’s a New York full of intrigue and jazz – a time when women were entering the workforce and the rules of love and social behavior were changing forever.  Local talent ages eighteen and under will have your toes tappin’ as this production hits our stage for two weekends Summer 2012, under the direction of Ruthie Weller-Passman.

 ABOUT THE BUCK CREEK PLAYERS

Buck Creek Players (BCP) began in 1973 when the Franklin Township Civic League formed a committee to present performing arts under the name of “Four C’s Theatre.”  On November 13, 1974, the name was changed to Buck Creek Players, Inc., and was formalized under the Indiana Not for Profit Corporation Act of 1971 (501(c)3).

Initially, Buck Creek Players performed in elementary and high schools, and in October of 1978, moved to its first home, a historic church located at 7820 Acton Road.  The church was built in 1872 with an addition in 1952.  The main space of the building was the sanctuary which was 31 feet wide by 48 feet deep, with the stage using one-half of the space and the seating using the other half.  The space enabled BCP to offer performing arts in an intimate setting for a maximum of 90 people.  In 2002, the church was sold to United Faith Baptist Church.

In 2001, Buck Creek Players moved into its current home, the Buck Creek Playhouse, at 11150 Southeastern Avenue.  The current space was originally built as an indoor tennis facility that was later converted into a church.  Much of the space was rebuilt to accommodate the productions it would now house.  While increasing capacity, the space is still intimate, seating a maximum of 130 people.

********** 

“Harold and Maude” is one of my all-time favorite movies, so I am especially curious about Buck Creek’s production of the play, but really, the whole season sounds good to me.  I hope I can get to all of these shows!

‘See you the theatres…

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

P.S. – Follow me (@IndyTheatre) and/or the topic #indystage on Twitter.com.  I never tweet during a show (and I beg you not to take your phone out during a show either, for any reason! light is as distracting as noise!) but I often tweet first impressions during intermission or immediately after a show.

P.P.S. – The photos above were taken by Aaron B. Bailey.  In the top photo, of course, is Carrie Bennett Fedor as Mame.  In the lower photo she is joined by Nan Macy as Vera Charles and Noah McCullough as Young Patrick Dennis.

Last Thursday night I drove to the Phoenix Theatre in downtown Indianapolis to see the Midwest premiere of “This,” by Melissa James Gibson.  It was directed for the Phoenix by Dale McFadden, assisted by Jonathan James Courtemanche.  It was produced by the Phoenix’s Producing Director, Bryan Fonseca.

It is a smart, delicately funny show that made me wish I had brought a whole box of tissues with me.

What the Show Is About

Four 40-ish people that have been friends since college – plus one newcomer – play a party game one night that unintentionally triggers an emotional earthquake, which in turn triggers deeper explorations of previously ignored feelings. 

One woman is approaching the first anniversary of her husband’s death.  One man is beginning to re-evaluate his (he thinks) self-involved life.  A couple of people that have been married and childless for twenty years have not slept in weeks because they now have an infant.  All four of them are second-guessing their careers and recalibrating their relationships to each other.  All four of them are beginning to realize that how they would like to be regarded is not how others see them, and it may never be.

This (“This,” heh) is a coming-of-middle-age story, familiar yet fresh.

Artistic Considerations – The Script

One reason it is fresh is because of the playwright’s deceptively playful language.  I don’t have any examples to give you because I was sitting mere feet away from the actors and I didn’t want to distract anyone by jotting down my favorite lines.  (And the many scene changes happen at the speed of light so I couldn’t scribble in the dark the way I sometimes can.)

However, I can tell you that sometimes the characters speak in unison in a way that probably prompted a “Jinx!  You owe me a Coke!” comment when they were younger.  Sometimes a character will ask a question that is obviously about one topic but another character will answer it with a question that plays with it instead of answering it.  All of the conversations are bright and talky.  All of them include verbal riffs on the themes of boundaries – acknowledging them, protecting them, renegotiating them, filtering them – and waiting, and sorrow, and more.

Sometimes during the show I would catch myself thinking, “Oh, people don’t talk like this in real life. They aren’t this verbally agile and their conversations aren’t this layered with symbolism!” 

But then I would remember all of the gifted hipsters that I know.  They talk exactly like this!  They talked this way when we were all trying to appear intellectual in college and they talk this way now when we are all just a little more tired and practical all of the time.

And even if the conversations in this play did not quite sound authentic, I would still love them for their poetic, artistic qualities.

At the end of the play, my face was wet and I was clapping enthusiastically, but I didn’t stand up because I was also thinking, “Okay, but wait.  I loved this, but who was it about?  What was really going on here?”

Now that I have had a few days to think about it, I realize that it is about all five characters equally.  There is a plot to “This” but the narrative arc is smoothly submerged in the clever banter, so what the play feels like is a slice from a communal tree showing the many rings, or a wedge of soil sample showing the layers of rich sediment, or a cruelty-free, cross-section microscope slide of a living organism that has a few decaying cells. 

In other words, there is a satisfying beginning, middle, and end, like our teachers said all stories have to have, but they are subtle, and there is a very clear sense that “before the beginning” and “after the end” also exist.  In some ways, we are only getting a peek into the five characters’ lives.

Which is, when I think about it, a very respectful way of writing about them.

And, since I related strongly to every single character, I appreciate that.

I imagine the title comes from the playwright saying, “This time of life – when people haven’t even quite realized that they are entering middle age, let alone thought about male or female menopause or having a midlife crisis or how to make the next twenty or thirty years count – is fascinating.  Here, look at this…and this…and this…”

It could have been an overwhelming hodge-podge of topics but somehow it all works.

Artistic Considerations – This Production

The strong ensemble of actors in this particular production certainly helps make it work.  I imagine that director Dale McFadden was the catalyst for their tightly-paced, increasingly intense interactions. The actors’ individual portrayals are seamless, too.  Unlike the characters in many teenage coming-of-age stories, the characters in a coming-of-MIDDLE-age story have a lot of slashes after their names:

Donna J. Edmond plays Marrell, a jazz singer/wife/new mother/grounding rock.   I think if asked, Marrell would say that she likes people to think of her as a status quo challenger.  She is politically active, after all, and she is in a bi-racial marriage.  But in many ways she is actually a rule follower.  Donna conveys the subtle dichotomies in Marrell’s earthy personality with wit and grace.  The way she holds her newborn infant, too, is very believable.  (Surely it is a doll?  There is no baby listed in the program.)  Also, this isn’t a musical, so I wasn’t expecting to hear live singing, but we do get to hear Donna sing and it is a treat. 

One of Marrell’s best friends is Jane, played by Jennifer Johansen.  I have loved Jennifer’s work in shows by the Indiana Repertory Theatre and the ShadowApe Theatre Company, but I don’t think I have ever seen her work in such an intimate space as the Phoenix’s main stage.  Good heavens, up close she is gorgeous!  And riveting as Jane – a beautiful poet/test proctor/mother/widow who hates games and wishes that people thought of her as having a ready smile.  Jennifer skillfully portrays Jane as both irresistibly present and subconsciously missing in action.

Their friend, Alan, is played by Scot Greenwell.  Alan is a mnemonist/entertainer/alcoholic/single man/gay man/rascal who is tired of waiting for…something.  Some kind of redemption or connection or…something.  He scorns “do-gooders” but he wants his “dear friends” to think of him as someone admirable.  He is a tad bitter, but he hasn’t stopped hoping for…something.  (I think that’s why he always clicks “reply all,” so as not to miss any chances at finding that something.)  He also thinks that if he can begin doing good, there is a still a chance for him to make his life matter.   He doesn’t realize that it already does matter and that he already helps the people around him.  Scot’s nuanced portrayal of Alan is, itself, very dear in a good way:  Alan is a witty, intricate, un-slot-able man and friend.

Ryan Artzberger plays Marrell’s husband, Tom – a carpenter/husband/former college grounds keeper/new father/adulterer.  I crush on Ryan every time I see him on stage, but in this role he is even hotter than usual.  Tom is not the “bad guy” in this piece – no one is – and Ryan’s sensitive portrayal of him shows both the innocent cluelessness and the immature cluelessness (there is a difference!) in Tom’s character.  Tom wants to be seen as, and be, someone who is truly loved, but he is afraid he never will be.

Eric J. Olson plays Jean-Pierre, a doctor/Frenchman/handsome man/potential lover.  Eric’s seemingly effortless portrayal of Jean-Pierre brings out the sexy irony in him: he has the intoxicating attractiveness of any foreigner but especially a foreigner that is comfortable with sexual intimacy…plus the compassionate, essentially detached quality that any good healer needs to have in order to be effective.  Eric as Jean-Pierre shows us what it’s like to show up and be reasonably interested in other people, but not become enmeshed in their drama.

I didn’t consciously notice while I was watching the show, but I am delighted now, looking back, to notice the many ways in which the Phoenix’s design team also illuminated and enhanced the play’s themes.

In designer Linda Janosko’s set, for example, the separate homes of the friends overlap as if there is no boundary between them, just like several aspects of their lives.  They are mostly delineated only by Laura Glover’s precise lighting design.  A scene in a night club steps across the traditional boundary between stage and audience: the Fourth Wall is still more or less intact but only because strangers in a crowded club don’t usually talk to each other.  The actors are literally inches away from the audience members in the first row, as if they were all sharing a table in the club.

And the insouciant painting of a little girl with flowers on the back wall!  It is highlighted before the show begins, perhaps to foreshadow the middle-aged realization that “growing up” is a life journey, not something you complete when you turn 18 or 21 or…

Who Did What

In addition to the people already named:

Andrew Hopson designed the sound.  Ashley Kiefer designed the costumes.  Rachel Lambert was in charge of props.  Kemmie Mitzell was the French tutor.  Tom Robson was the dramaturg.  Musical arrangements are by Terry LaBolt.  Murray McGibbon is the Television Host Voice (on Alan’s TV appearance.)  Nolan Brokamp was the technical director.  Cody Grady is the light and sound operator.  My program also lists Anthony Morton as assistant stage manager, but it does not say who he assists.  Maybe he is the stage manager, too?

Audience and Appeal Factors

The press release that I received from Lori Raffle, Marketing and Media Relations Director for the Phoenix, says that this show is “best described as a melancholy comedy” and that it premiered Off Broadway at the end of 2009.

It sort of reminds me of the movie “The Big Chill.”  However, “This” is wittier, rounder, and more cathartic.

There is no nudity or violence, and I don’t remember any curse words, but because of the references to death and adultery and because of the play’s themes, I would call this a show for adults only.

It took me a HECK of a long time to figure out how to write about “This” – and I’m still not sure I nailed what I want to say about it – but I very much enjoyed it.  I would like to make time to see “This” again.  It resonated deeply with me, but I think it is about everyone, eventually.

Box Office

“This,” by Melissa James Gibson, continues at the Phoenix Theatre through Sunday, April 24, 2011.  Thursdays and Sundays are Cheap Seats Nights, thanks to Duke Energy.  For more information and to make reservations, please visit www.PhoenixTheatre.org or call the box office at 317-635-PLAY (7529).

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

P.S. – Follow me (@IndyTheatre) and/or the topic #indystage on Twitter.com.  I never tweet during a show (and I beg you not to take your phone out during a show either, for any reason! light is as distracting as noise!) but I often tweet first impressions during intermission or immediately after a show.

P.P.S. - Photo above was taken by Zach Rosing.  Back row, left to right: Donna J. Edmond, Ryan Artzberger, Scot Greenwell, Eric J. Olson.  In front: Jennifer Johansen.

Last Friday I drove to the Indiana Repertory Theatre in downtown Indianapolis to see the opening night performance of the world premiere of “The Gospel According to James.”  It was written by Charles Smith and directed by Chuck Smith.  It was commissioned by the IRT and its artistic director, Janet Allen, after she read two books by Indiana historian James Madison:  The Indiana Way and A Lynching in the Heartland: Race and Memory in America.  It is the tenth new play in the IRT’s Indiana Series.

It is a powerful, richly layered, surprisingly multi-issue drama that left me exhilarated.

I agree whole-heartedly with what some person I don’t know (@Dime30) tweeted right after the Friday night performance:  “OMG,” he wrote.  “Go and see ‘The Gospel According to James’ @IRTlive. Powerful, gripping, awe inspiring, emotional, it’s not what u think, it’s better.” (bolding is mine)

What the Show Is About

This show is about a lynching that happened here in Indiana in 1930.  When I have tried to talk about this show to people in person during the past few days, I can see them shutting down when they hear this first sentence.

So let me say here instead, first, that this is a show about the freedoms and burdens involved with truth telling and truth collecting.  It also includes good, chewy food for thought about race relations, male-female relationships, use and abuse of power, the responsibilities of historians, and more, but its main topic is the paradoxical complexity and simplicity of truth telling.  It is NOT about preaching or shaming or even blaming.

My program says that “This play is a fictional account inspired by real events.” 

I haven’t read much about the real events, but I think these are the facts:

On August 7, 1930, in Marion, Indiana, two young black men were killed by a mob of white people that thought the young men had raped a young white woman and killed a young white man.  The mob was going to kill a third young black man that they thought had also been involved, but something or someone stopped them.  The third man eventually served time in jail for being an accomplice.

We don’t know for sure anything else about what happened.

In the play, the surviving black man, James, and white woman, Marie, have come back to Marion in the 1980s – she to bury her father and he to receive a pardon from the governor.  James has also come to ask Marie to publicly tell her story about what happened.  She resists.  He persists.  As they talk, their memories return to life and the stories of all involved become, perhaps, clearer.  Or at least, the fact that there are many possible truths becomes clearer.  In any case, eventually both the man and the woman – and the audience! – are transformed and put on a path towards healing.

Artistic Considerations – The Script

I requested a media pass for this show simply because I hadn’t reviewed a show at the IRT in a while.  After I made my reservation, I read Jay Harvey’s preview article about the play in the Indianapolis Star on March 17, 2011.  Something in it made me think the show was going to infuriate me:

Jay quoted the playwright as saying about James, the surviving black man, “It doesn’t matter whether or not he told the truth.  If he’s willing to step forward, he’s allowed to tell what story he chooses.”

“It doesn’t matter whether or not he told the truth?!”  I shook my fist at my computer screen.  “The hell it doesn’t matter!  No one deserves to be lynched, but did the two murdered men do what they were accused of or not?  Was the survivor an accomplice to a crime or not?”

When I read the article, I was feeling angry about politicians and corporate leaders that lie about what they are doing.  Telling the truth matters!  Of course it matters.

However, after seeing “The Gospel According to James,” I also now think that lynchings happen – really, any sort of mean-spiritedness happens – because angry, frightened people don’t calm down long enough to discern the whole truth about a situation. 

I’m also more sensitive now to the fact that many truths are multi-faceted and that even if there had been five people with video cameras on that road when the white man was killed, they still wouldn’t have been able to fully document the truth and context of what happened.

I’m also more sensitive to the fact that a person can have good, life-or-death reasons to lie.

Does this mean that telling the truth doesn’t actually matter after all?  Nope.  It matters more to me than ever.  I just know now that telling the truth is sometimes not a simple matter of – pardon the expression – black or white.  And it can’t always be told completely by just one person.  Everyone’s stories are important.

“The dead don’t care about justice or revenge,” James tells Marie. “They just want to be remembered….Tell (the truth about) what you remember.”

And then he listens.

Each of the characters in this play (except maybe Claude – the murdered white man who is portrayed as sociopathically cruel before he dies) is fully, satisfyingly human, impossible to slot neatly into either “the good guys” or “the bad guys.”  Even James, who is basically a good guy, lapses into the despicable “you’re an emotional woman, therefore you are lying or confused or at the very least what you’re saying doesn’t matter” response when Marie says something that makes him uncomfortable. 

And in another part of the play he says, “I was there but I didn’t do anything!”  Marie laughs and says, “What do you think being an accomplice means?”  This exchange resonated with me on personal, political levels.  I MUST make time to write to all of my legislators about the various things that have been on my mind!

But in the meantime can you tell that I love this play?  I’m holding back on telling you all of the things that I love because I don’t want to spoil it for you.  But I will tell you that it took me twice as long as usual to drive home after the show because I had to keep pulling over to jot down more things that I wanted to cherish!

Most of all, I love that in James’ and Marie’s exploration of the truth, a bit of the truth of what might have been is also included and honored. 

Oh, I’m getting chills again, writing this review.  I definitely need to see this show at least once more before it leaves Indianapolis and heads up to Chicago for a run at the Victory Gardens Theatre.  Maybe I will take a road trip and see it there, too.

Artistic Considerations – This Production

Chuck Smith’s deft direction brings out the surprising bits of humor in the script.  The acting is superb across the board.  Truly outstanding.  There’s a lot of storytelling in this show, especially between the two older characters, but it felt real to me, like dialogue that might happen in real life.

Andre’ De Shields (www.andredeshields.com) and Linda Kimbrough play the older James and Marie, respectively.  Their younger selves are played by Anthony Peeples (Apples) and Kelsey Brennan (Mary.)  It is fascinating to look back and forth and see how the young people “have changed” over the years, carrying their individual burdens.

(By the way, you can watch an interview of Anthony Peeples on the IRT’s blog, here.  I love what he says about ensemble theatre meeting his needs for community.  There is also an interesting video interview of Diane Kondrat.)

Marcus Davis Hendricks and Tyler Jacob Rollinson play the two young black men that will eventually be murdered:  Tommy Shipp and Abe Smith, respectively.  Keith D. Gallagher plays the young white man that will eventually be murdered.

Christopher Jon Martin and Diane Kondrat play Mary’s parents, Hoot Ball and Bea Ball, respectively.  Hoot is “a man who lived his life upside down” in many ways, and Bea is the woman that tells him, again and again and again, what he wants to hear, hoping that this time he will believe her and treat her differently.

Each character is portrayed with rich nuance by his or her actor.

The set, designed by Linda Buchanan, is elegant but somber – what you would expect from a funeral parlor – but surrounded by ghostly trees that behave in unexpected ways, especially under Kathy A. Perkins’ agile lighting design.  I don’t know who to credit for evoking the automobiles but the method is clever.  Bits of music composed by sound designer Ray Nardelli smoothly add another layer of emotion.  Rachel Anne Healy’s 1930s and 1980s costume designs add grounding layers of period authenticity.

Janet Allen and Richard J. Roberts were the dramaturgs for this world premiere.  Nathan Garrison and Joel Grynheim are the stage managers.  Casting was by Claire Simon Casting.  Krystle Smith assisted the lighting designer.  Wigs (what wigs? I don’t remember any wigs!  they must have been very well done!) are by Heather Fleming.

Audience and Appeal Factors

Curse words, violence, and mature themes make this a show for adults and older teens rather than families with children or young teens.  My press kit says that this show is “not recommended for youth under 17.”

This show is a good choice for adults who love chewy, transformative plays that are well acted and beautifully produced.  This show is also a good choice for adults that enjoy the unexpected, especially in terms of conversation rather than theatrical razzle-dazzle.

And, of course, this show is a good choice for adults that are interested in Indiana history, as long as they understand that presenting factual, historical analysis is not the main purpose of this piece.

Box Office

“The Gospel According to James” continues at the Indiana Repertory Theatre through April 10, 2011.  For more information and to buy tickets, please call the IRT Ticket Office at 317-635-5252 or visit www.irtlive.com.

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

P.S. – Follow me (@IndyTheatre) and/or the topic #indystage on Twitter.com.  I never tweet during a show (and I beg you not to take your phone out during a show either, for any reason!) but I often tweet first impressions during intermission or immediately after a show.

P.P.S. – All photos above were taken by Julie Curry.  If you are reading this on your laptop or desktop computer rather than your smartphone, roll your mouse over each photo to see the actors’ names.

Last Sunday afternoon I drove to the Marian College campus on the west side of Indianapolis to see the Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre’s production of “Cabaret.”   I had never seen this Tony award-winning musical before.

It is so poignant!  Also, both the quality of the performers (all volunteers) and the quality of the design team (all paid professionals) in this production are excellent across the board.  I just stood right up at the end to applaud.

What the Show Is About

In 1931, a penny-poor but confident American novelist, Cliff Bradshaw (Joshua Ramsey) goes to Berlin to have adventures and write about them.  One of the reasons he is attracted to Berlin is because of its tolerant, “anything goes” atmosphere.  He plans to support himself by giving English lessons.

On the train on the way to Berlin, an apparently wholesome adventurer named Ernst Ludwig (Paul Hansen) befriends him.  Ernst gives Cliff the name of an affordable boarding house in Berlin.  Cliff negotiates for a room there, sets up his portable typewriter, and begins to frequent and write about a nearby hot spot called the Kit Kat Klub.  At this nightclub, all kinds of sex are okay, there is a telephone on every table for calling people at other tables to flirt with them, and, as the Emcee (Jeremy Allen Brimm) says, “Everything is beautiful!”  It is a good place to forget your troubles for a while.

Soon the star of the club’s live show, or cabaret, a lovely English rose named Sally Bowles (Betsy A. Norton), moves herself into Cliff’s room after she is fired by the owner of the club.  Cliff tries to resist at first, because how will he be able to concentrate on his writing if someone else is living in his room?  But Sally proves irresistible.

In the meantime, the owner of the boarding house, self-sufficient Fraulein Schneider (Vickie Cornelius Phipps) and the sweetly bumbling neighborhood fruit seller, Herr Schultz (Mark Fishback), are falling in love in their own way.  When Fraulein forbids one of her tenants, the saucy-grouchy Fraulein Kost (Niki Hurrle Warner), to bring any more of her numerous sailor “nephews” to her room, Fraulein Kost fires back that she will tell everyone that Fraulein Schneider has had Herr Schultz to her room.  Herr Schultz gallantly declares that they are engaged to be married!  But after Fraulein Kost leaves in a huff, he proposes for real.  And Fraulein Schneider accepts.

For most of the first act, everything truly is charming and fun, or at least as Cliff says, “It is terrible and tacky and everyone is having such a wonderful time!”  Nobody really gets who Hitler is or why they should be worried about him. 

That begins to change for some of the characters in Act Two.

Artistic Considerations

According to the “Entr-acte Facts” essay by Brent E. Marty in my program, “Cabaret” the musical is based on a play called “I Am a Camera,” by John Van Druten, which was based on a 1939 story called “Goodbye to Berlin,” by Christopher Isherwood.

(I always have to remind myself not to confuse English-American novelist Christopher Isherwood – who died in 1986 – with Charles Isherwood – who is currently a theatre reviewer for the New York Times.)

I hope to read Christopher’s work some day to see if all of the complex characters in this musical originated in his story.  They each resonated with me very strongly in their own ways. 

For example, the chemistry between the middle-aged Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schulz as they fall in love is so tender and believable at first that I found myself saying, “Aww! You cuties! This is what I want, too!” 

But equally believable is Fraulein Schneider’s fear of losing her home and everything else that makes her feel safe if she goes ahead and marries Herr Schulz after she learns how much the Nazis hate him for being Jewish.  Equally believable is her hope that following the rules, if she can figure them out, will protect her.  It is easy enough for Cliff to say that it won’t matter what happens to her and Herr Schulz because they will have each other.  She has always survived best on her own.

And although Cliff comes to understand that he and his roommate (his lover? the delicate ambiguity of their relationship is perfectly portrayed by the two actors) have been “asleep,” I could also relate to Sally’s not wanting to leave a potentially doomed Berlin.  She feels alive there!  “When I left Chelsea…,” she sings, “…I swore I would die like Elsie…the happiest corpse I’d ever seen.”   Also, it is what she knows now.

All of the singing and dancing are as satisfying as the acting.   The dancers are all sexy; the singers all know what they’re doing.

Framing it all and popping in and out with humorous visual and musical commentary is the enigmatic Emcee.  Jeremy Allen Brimm is FASCINATING in this role:  an androgynous shape-shifter that is both “awake” and not.  Or maybe it is more accurate to say that the Emcee is himself completely awake but uninterested in raising anyone else’s consciousness because then he would be out of business.  Yet he can’t help teasing at people’s defenses in oblique ways. 

I overheard someone at intermission say to her companion, “He IS funny, isn’t he!”  I agree, but he is so much more than that.   We are watching Cliff’s story as he writes it, but we are in the Emcee’s audience as well, and we can’t hide anything from him.

The design elements are, as usual at Civic, all gorgeous.  I was especially intrigued and delighted by Ryan Koharchik’s lighting design:  it is glittery-dark in the Kit Kat Klub, soft and drab in the boarding house, and stark, bright white at the end. 

I also want to give a special shout to the all-woman Kit Kat Orchestra.  They are so feisty and fabulous on their little platform!  Dorothy McDonald plays saxophone.  Lisa Halcomb plays the trombone.  Susan DiMicco and Faith Harlan play the piano.  Sephanie Carter and Cheryl Guise play the drums.  (I’m sorry, I don’t know if the two pianists and two drummers take turns within each show or alternate shows.)

Here is the rest of the “Who Did What”:

The book for “Cabaret” is by Joe Masteroff.  Music by John Kander.  Lyrics by Fred Ebb.

The production was directed by Robert J. Sorbera, artistic director for the Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre.  It was choreographed by Michael Worcel and music directed by Brent E. Marty.  The set was designed and lit by Ryan Koharchik.  Jean Engstrom designed the costumes.  Michael J. Lasley designed the sound.  Debbie Williams designed the hair and makeup.  Allison Ackmann is the stage manager, assisted by Deena Fogle.

The Kit Kat Klub Girls include Kristine (Shannon Branic), Fritzy (Nathalie Cruz), Frenchie (Vickie Klosky), Rosie (Jordan Lugar), Texas (Lauren Madden), Helga (Jenna McGregor), Lulu (Ashley Saunders), and Heidi (Tiffany Whisner.)

The Ensemble includes Vince Accetturo, April Armstrong, Quinn R. Barney, Andrew Elliott, Rob Manges, John O’Brien, Benjamin Phillippe, Rory D. Shivers, and Mark Whetstone.

The orchestra in the pit is conducted by Gus Sterneman and managed by Al French.  On woodwinds:  Mary Bowman, Shawn Goodman, and Dave Paulson.  On trumpets:  Jeff Anderson and Steve Pfoser.  On trombones: Jim Hicks.  On bass: Al French.  On keyboards:  Kevin Kiser.  On guitar and banjo: Mark Gray.  On drums: Frank Niemiec.  On piano: Scott Kane.

The production crew includes Troy Trinkle as technical director, Vickie Klosky as dance captain, and Janice Hannon as costume assistant. 

Costume volunteers include Jenny Hilcz, Stephanie Kern, Karen Martin, Ren Seidel, Barbara Riordan, Robin Uhrig, and Gretchen VanWinkle.

The deck crew includes Tim Cummings, Chris Feltman, Joanne Johnson, Matt Keller, Larry Northcutt, Kristin Purcell, and Abby Scharbrough.  The light board operator is Aaron Huey.  The spot operators include John Ackman, Jessica Hopkins, Hank Klosky, Kevin Lee, Danna Sheridan, and Mike Wadleton.  The rehearsal accompanist was Scott Kane.

Audience and Appeal Factors

This show is ultimately not “just” about prejudice against Jews but about many, many kinds of blindness and fear.  Unfortunately, it is just as relevant today politically as it was in the 1960s when “Cabaret” was first produced or back in the 1920s and 1930s during the rise of the Nazi party.  However, I think it will always be relevant in a timeless, universal, apolitical way because everyone struggles internally at some point with a desire for safety and their fears related to the “other” or the unknown.  It is human nature.

I also think this piece will always be appealing because even though it is about serious topics, it is also purely entertaining.  Have I mentioned the lively singing and dancing?

I don’t think this show would offend anyone, but the sexual references, historical context, and other content make this definitely a show for adults and teens rather than for families with young children. 

Box Office

“Cabaret” runs Thursdays-Sundays through Saturday, March 26, 2011.  Tickets cost $32 each (just $25 each on Thursdays.)  For reservations and more information, please call the Civic Box Office at 317-923-4597 or visit their website at www.civictheatre.org.

Two Interesting Tidbits and the New Season Announced

When I went to pick up my ticket at the Civic box office last Sunday, someone (I’m sorry I forgot to ask her name!) handed me a nice, thick folder of interesting information related to the show and to the theatre, aka a press kit.  I don’t know if I should thank Margaret Henney, the PR person that emails me Civic news and photos on a regular basis, or Megan McKinney, Civic’s new Development Director.  Her card is tucked in a slot in the folder.  I appreciate whoever took the time to put the folder together for me.  

I read everything in the folder.  I am not going to share all of it with you, but the following two little items jumped out at me:

One of the pieces in the folder was a fundraising campaign brochure that gave a brief summary of Civic’s long history.  It has been around since 1914 but operated in a variety of locations. 

I knew that, but I did not know that “(I)n the 1920s, Civic constructed its own 240-seat theatre known as The Hedback Theatre at the corner of 19^th and Alabama Streets, where it operated until the 1970s.”  I have been to several shows by the Epilogue Players and Footlite Musicals at the Hedback Theatre in the past three or four years but I did not know the building had once housed Civic.  Did you?

Another pamphlet in my folder tells about the multitude of classes that Civic offers for all ages.  Again, I knew that a big part of Civic’s mission is education, but I did not know that Civic offers Girl Scout badge workshops.  How fun is that!

Also in my folder was a sheet announcing the 2011-2012 season.  Margaret Henney also emailed it to me in a press release.  (Thank you, Margaret!)  Michael J. Lasley announced the new season before the show last Sunday and everyone went “Ooh!” or “Yay!” or “Huh” depending on how they felt about each title.  I have not seen any of the shows so I am looking forward to all of them, but I am probably most looking forward to “Amadeus” because I loved the movie and “Guys and Dolls” because I loved the songs when the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra introduced me to them in 2008 and I would like to see a full production. 

Here the full info:

INDIANAPOLIS (March 16, 2011) – Dubbed “Brand New Stage, Brilliant New Season,” Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre’s inaugural season at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel promises to feature big stagings, colorful characters and fabulous show tunes.

This September, at the state-of-the-art Tarkington Theater, Civic will make its debut as the facility’s principal resident with its highly anticipated 97th season. The theatre’s 2011-12 season is scheduled to include:

The Drowsy Chaperone (Sept. 9-24), book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar, music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. 

The Drowsy Chaperone, an homage to the American Jazz Age musical and its restorative effects, begins when the narrator, a die-hard musical fan, seeks to cure his melancholy by listening to a recording of his favorite 1920s musical, which bursts to life in his living room. This whimsical and captivating romp won five Tony® Awards, including Best Book and Score.  

Amadeus (Oct. 28-Nov. 12), by Peter Shaffer.

Peter Shaffer’s award-winning Amadeus combines fiction and history to explore the dramatic rivalry between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, the late eighteenth century court composer for the Emperor of Austria, who escorts the audience through his recollection of the events leading to Mozart’s death. A Tony® Award winner for Best Play, the story is a dramatic and sometimes humorous look at the struggle between mediocrity and genius.

Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka (Dec. 16-Jan. 7), music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, adapted for the stage by Leslie Bricusse and Tim McDonald.

Willy Wonka and his band of singing Oompa Loompas lead Charlie Bucket and his quirky cohorts on a tantalizing tour of the mysterious candy-maker’s fantastical factory. This holiday treat features many memorable songs including “The Candy Man,” “I Want It Now!” and “Pure Imagination.” 

Lend Me A Tenor (Feb. 10-25), by Ken Ludwig.

In Ken Ludwig’s zany comedy, the Cleveland Grand Opera Company has secured the world-famous tenor “Il Stupendo” Tito Morelli, in his greatest role, Otello, for their 1934 gala season-opener. Unfortunately, due to well-intended but misguided meddling, “Il Stupendo” is given an overdose of tranquilizers, rendering him unable to perform. This zany farce is full of mistaken identities, romantic entanglements, and fast-paced hilarity.

Guys and Dolls (Apr. 27-May 12), book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser.

In a desperate attempt to garner support for his floating craps game, Nathan Detroit challenges Sky Masterson to lure a local Salvation Army girl, Sarah Brown, to Cuba for an award of one thousand dollars. Sky ends up falling in love with Sarah and tries to reform his risky ways, but must make one last wager to prove his love. Full of hilarious characters, thrilling dance numbers and timeless tunes including “Luck Be a Lady.”

Subscriptions for Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre’s 2011-12 season at the Center for the Performing Arts are on sale now and can be purchased by calling Civic’s Box Office at 317.923.4597 or visiting CivicTheatre.org.

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‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

P.S. – Follow me (@IndyTheatre) and/or the topic #indystage on Twitter.com.  I never tweet during a show (and I beg you not to take your phone out during a show either, for any reason!) but I often tweet first impressions during intermission or immediately after a show.

P.P.S. – I don’t have a photographer’s credit for the photos above, but I am using them with permission from the Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre. (Update 3-21-11 – Zach Rosing took the photos.)