02
Jul
2012
Prior to seeing Saturday's performance of The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, my partner's daughter Madison was most interested in seeing how the production would show Stanley getting flattened. I'll admit: I was most curious about that part, too.
Thank the theatre gods for Denise Yoder, as her presence livens up New Ground Theatre's production of Anton in Show Business every moment she's on stage. Portraying a handful of characters, Yoder really gets to showcase her range; whether she's playing a somewhat ditzy stage manager, or a race-conscious black woman directing a play-within-a-play, or a self-assured, bad-joke-telling, male underwriter, Yoder's sense of pace and comic timing are flawless. (Her director is a particular hoot, and her aggressively annoyed attitude as the stage manager T-Anne - who grows more and more impatient throughout the piece - is hysterical from beginning to end.)
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.
For what it is, the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's Nana's Naughty Knickers is rather amusing and somewhat unexpected. The title, for me, conjures up images of scantily clad grannies telling off-color, elderly-themed jokes in a wild farce. Instead, playwright Katherine DiSavino's piece is a mild farce, with a unique plot and interesting, likable characters (and only a handful of age-based jokes). I didn't laugh quite as much as I expected to during Friday's opening-night performance, but I was more engaged than I anticipated I would be, and interested in where DiSavino would take her characters.
I will admit that I had serious reservations prior to Wednesday night's performance of the Harrison Hilltop Theatre's The Last Five Years. As much as I enjoy Cari Downing's comedic stage work - I described how sensational she was in the Hilltop's I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change earlier this year, and it's worth repeating - I wasn't so sure she was up to composer Jason Robert Brown's romantic musical. And the same went for Tristan Layne Tapscott, who I think is fantastically funny in comedy roles, but hit-or-miss in his more serious efforts. Under the direction of David Turley, though, they present a unique take on this criss-crossed storyline that has its own sweetness.
Odd as it may seem now, there actually was a period in the Harrison Hilltop Theatre's history - a run of 12 shows, to be precise - in which the company didn't produce any musicals whatsoever. Yet after staging a dozen plays between June 2008 and May 2009, co-founders Tristan Tapscott and Chris Walljasper chose to open the theatre's second season with a production of Jonathan Larson's rock musical tick ... tick ... BOOM!
My enjoyment of the Harrison Hilltop Theatre company's Same Time, Next Year was inhibited by the moral issues at the core of the play.
Sitting down for Thursday's performance of Frost/Nixon, the set for the Harrison Hilltop Theatre's production heightened my concerns that I would likely be bored during the show. Even before arriving at the theatre, I anticipated struggling to concentrate, knowing I'm not much interested in history. But adding the minimalist approach to the set, with three platforms embellished by a strip of black rising up their centers, my hopes that the visuals, at least, would offer some interest dwindled. (While the look of the set is creative, I'm just not into minimalism.) It didn't take long, though, for director Tristan Layne Tapscott's efforts to prove my worries unwarranted, and by the end of the play, I was actually thankful for the simple set, as it didn't at all distract from the players' performances.
I fall for Adam Overberg's onstage charm with every new performance. He has a demeanor, a presence, that captivates me, and he proves his diversity as an actor over and over again. With the Harrison Hilltop Theatre's I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, though, he adds singing to the long list of talents he possesses, and while his voice may lack polish, Overberg's vocals remain enthralling through his interpretations and comedic delivery.
