08
Aug
2016
Dining alone in a restaurant before attending the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre's opening-night production, I couldn’t help but hear a mother-and-daughter conversation – or rather, confrontation – at the next table. The mother was insisting that her child (who I'm guessing was about eight) put her long, loose hair into a ponytail so it wouldn’t fall into her face while eating. The strong-willed girl refused. The mother kept insisting, and eventually tried pulling the girl's hair back with a hair tie, with her daughter squirming and shaking it loose. This battle of wills went on for five excruciating minutes, but I had to smile as I thought, “This little drama is a microcosm of the play I'm about to see.”
Thursday's performance of Next to Normal didn't appear as well-attended as the rest of the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre's opening nights this summer. Yet while this musical trip through a family's struggle with the mother's mental issues may not be as familiar as a Cats or Steel Magnolias, this isn't a piece to miss. The songs by Tom Kitt and book by Brian Yorkey are powerful testimonies to the reality of mental illness for those who suffer from it, and those who suffer through it alongside a loved one.
Not long into author Robert Harling's ensemble dramedy Steel Magnolias, the Louisiana beautician Truvy asks local socialite Clairee Belcher about the recipe for a delicacy called "cuppa cuppa cuppa," the ingredients for which are a cup of flour, a cup of sugar, and a cup of fruit cocktail. Truvy says it sounds awfully rich, and Clairee replies that it is, "so I serve it over ice cream to cut the sweetness."
It is with no hesitation that I admit adoring Stephen Flaherty's and Lynn Ahrens' musical Seussical, for which Flaherty wrote the music and Ahren the lyrics, with both collaborating on the book. Though it seems a children's play, the lyrics, melodies, and harmonies are sophisticated and memorable, and knowing how much I like this piece - and remembering the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre's excellent Cats from earlier this summer - I couldn't set aside my expectations prior to Thursday's Showboat performance, certain I was in for a theatrical treat. Director Matthew Teague Miller did not disappoint.
The Clinton Area Showboat Theatre's My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra is filled with beautiful vocals from beginning to end, as Christian Chambers, Livvy Marcus, Jonathan Young, and Bailey Jordan Reeves sing their way through 55 of Sinatra's songs. Backed by a three-piece band under the lead of musical director Matt Bean, who also plays piano, this production covering the singer's hits - along with a few facts about his life thrown in here and there - sounds sensational, and is a true delight for the ears.
I struggle with where to begin in praising director Matthew Teague Miller's Cats at the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre, simply because there's so much to praise.
