items tagged with Tristan Layne Tapscott

Speaking with producer Dennis Hitchcock prior to Friday's Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse performance, my partner thanked him for staging Legally Blonde: The Musical. And while I understand that many of Circa '21's patrons love their Church Basement Ladies, I share my partner's gratitude for the opportunity to see a bona-fide Broadway hit gracing Circa's stage. Having seen the production, I also appreciate how well director Jim Hesselman handled the material, playing up the bubbly, colorful fun of this stage version of the Reese Witherspoon movie.

Would it be possible to get a cast recording of the District Theatre’s Parade? Because the production is so well-sung by its cast members, I wouldn’t mind listening to them perform composer/lyricist Jason Robert Brown’s songs over and over again. The solos are stirring, as characters sing about their relationships and roles in a Georgia town gripped by the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl. But some of the ensemble numbers gave me goosebumps during Saturday’s performance – particularly the hauntingly sad “Funeral Sequence: There Is a Fountain / It Don’t Make Sense,” performed as the townsfolk remember the young lady whose body was found in the basement of a local pencil factory.

Read More About The Accused: "Parade," At The District Theatre Through May 5...

A sign in front of the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse includes a description of the theatre’s current show, Southern Crossroads, as “an inspiring and hilarious story about one musical group’s struggle against impossible odds, as they find new hope through music.” That line fits Circa '21's production to a T, as the tone of director Curt Wollan’s offering is clearly joyful, despite the sense of desperation in its setting. With the appropriate exceptions of those playing villains, Wollan’s cast does not play up any silliness written into their comedic lines. Instead, they choose to play them straight, and in doing so, add to the musical's air of Great Depression uncertainty.

I adore the movie version of Grease, and think it's one of the few musicals in which the film is an improvement on the original stage version. The theatrical musical is less cohesive in terms of the timelime's flow, forcing the audience to fill in the gaps between scenes, and I kind of hate that about it – unless a stage production transcends the script's weakness, in which case, like the movie, I love it. However, while I did not hate Friday's performance of Grease at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, I didn't exactly love it, either.

The Reader's chief theatre reviewer, Thom White, saw and wrote about 52 area stage productions in 2011. I saw 39 and reviewed 12. Obviously, during our second-annual breakfast chat on the Year in Theatre, there was a bit to talk about.