02
Feb
2015
[For Thom White's review of part one of the District Theatre's Angels in America, visit "Darkness and Plight."]
Something clicked for the cast and crew of the District Theatre's Angels in America: Millennium Approaches since November, and now Angels' second half, Perestroika, is notably better for it. Director Deb Shippy and her cast have embraced the humor of playwright Tony Kushner's magnum opus, and the result is an emotionally layered staging that's superior to last fall's production.
With its emotional language and poetic imagery, Tony Kushner's Angels in America - the playwright's "gay fantasia on national themes" composed of two parts subtitled Millennium Approaches and Perestroika - is among my favorite scripts. And there are times at which the District Theatre's production of Millennium Approaches nails the nuances of Kushner's writing, allowing the beauty of his intent to be on full display.
Reading through the program for the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's Marrying Terry filled me with eager anticipation for Friday's performance, as the cast is mostly composed of newcomers to either the Playcrafters stage or any stage. While it's fun to see familiar actors in different roles, it can be even more exciting to see fresh faces take to the theatre, and with this production, the new talents are a blend of fine actors and those who, with time, could become fine ones, too.
The District Theatre's Monty Python's Spamalot seems like an amateur talent show, particularly due to the limitations of the company's new performance space in Rock Island's former Grape Life venue. (The new locale is so small, it redefines "intimate theatre" in the Quad Cities.) Yet while the limited movement due to the lack of stage space creates an amateurish feel, I'm happy to say that much of the rest of Friday's production emphasized talent. If it was an intentional decision to present the material as a novice attempt to recreate Monty Python's (arguably) best-loved film, Monty Python & the Holy Grail, it was a smart one on director Tristan Tapscott's part. Space doesn't allow for a big production, so Tapscott embraces the limitations of the new stage area, and it works.
The requisite imagination present in Quad City Music Guild's production of Willy Wonka is provided in great part by Bill Marsoun's scenic design. He's come up with some clever visuals to tell the tale of Charlie Bucket - portrayed as female here by Laila Haley - finding a golden ticket and joining four lucky, and bratty, children on a tour of Wonka's Chocolate Factory.
