Director Bryan Tank's production of Our Town fits the District Theatre's stage like a glove. Or rather, I should say Tank uses the stage so well - especially in his placement of actors and set pieces - that this play seems a perfect fit for the space. With its beautiful employment of backlighting (particularly when we first see the characters grouped together) and set designer/co-star Chris Causer's large, white pieces of fabric stretched over and draped across the back wall of the stage - and covering set pieces until they're being used - this production, aesthetically speaking, is breathtaking in its simplicity.
Costume designer Gregory Hiatt's creations for the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's family musical Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type were, for me, the highlights of Saturday morning's performance.
The strength of playwright Neil LaBute's writing skills was on full display in the District Theatre's equally stunning, Friday-night presentation of reasons to be pretty. LaBute's gritty drama about the demise of a couple after the guy is overheard describing his girl as having a "regular"-looking face is loaded with sharp banter and realistic relationships that are less than perfect, and the show's dark humor is not lost on director Bryan Tank's cast. The comicality is clear as the characters scream obscenities at each other, stab each other verbally, and behave in seriously ugly ways.
While I've loved every children's production I've reviewed at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, How I Became a Pirate marks the first in which I wish I had the soundtrack to enjoy with my partner's nine-year old daughter Madison on our way to and from school each day. With music and lyrics by Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman (both of whom also wrote the musical's book), the songs are worth revisiting for their singable melodies and enjoyable styles, particularly the calypso numbers and a speedy, staccato, complexly rhymed nod to Gilbert & Sullivan's "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General." After Saturday's performance of the show, in fact, Madison and I were singing lyrics from several of the songs on our car ride home, which I hope suggests how fun and memorable they are.Subscribe & Listen to Reader Podcasts
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