Taking The Addams Family as a sign, I'm excited about the District Theatre's future in downtown Rock Island's former Argus building, and while there are still a few growing pains to overcome, the company is clearly off to a good start.
Though I've watched the film version several times and viewed a staging of its musical earlier this summer, the Timber Lake Playhouse's production of Big Fish still had me choking back tears despite my (over-)familiarity with the material. That's in no small part due to the magic in director James Beaudry's staging, the cast's endearing rendering of the supporting characters, and Karl Hamilton's captivating charm as Edward Bloom, the father at the center of this tale of tall tales.
Adam Nardini deserves credit for making Countryside Community Theatre's Big Fish so endearing. Playing the father at the center of composer Andrew Lippa's and playwright John August's story - one based on the novel and Tim Burton film of the same name, the latter of which found Albert Finney playing Nardini's Edward Bloom - the performer is in excellent voice and remarkably engaging as this teller of tall tales. While he doesn't adjust his performance to accommodate age differences while traveling from high school to early fatherhood to late-life, Nardini is still one of the best things that Countryside's piece has going for it.
Into the Woods (August 10 - 12, 2007): The Green Room's debut production was Stephen Sondheim's and James Lapine's fairy-tale musical, and many of its cast members had previously worked with director Derek Bertelsen (also the venue's Executive Director) and music director Tyson Danner (the Artistic Director) in the pair's previous, fund-raising performances for the Children's Therapy Center of the Quad Cities: 2005's Ragtime and 2006's The Secret Garden. Both vividly remember opening night.Subscribe & Listen to Reader Podcasts
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