Avenue Q is one of a few musicals that I thought should maybe only be staged by Broadway professionals. However, it didn't take long during Friday's performance at the District Theatre for director Marc Ciemiewicz and his cast to prove they can handle Avenue Q, and handle it well.
The District Theatre's production of Next to Normal may feature the best performance I've ever seen from Sara King, one that even tops her notably angst-ridden, humorous Van's Sister in the former Harrison Hilltop Theatre's Dog Sees God two years ago, and her subtle, hurt, hopeful Lucille in the District Theatre's Parade earlier this year.
Based on the reputation of the Tuna plays and remembering how heartily I laughed during a recent production of A Tuna Christmas, I expected the original piece in the series, Greater Tuna, to be, well, funnier. That's not to say that the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's production of this comedy isn't without laughs - they're just not side-splitting ones. Still, thanks to the two actors who impressively handle 20 roles between them, director James Fairchild's staging of authors' Jaston Williams', Joe Sears', and Ed Howard's play is adequately diverting, and good for an evening's entertainment.
On Thursday, the District Theatre debuted a most admirable, impressive production of Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman, a play boasting numerous surprises both major and minor. Yet if the reactions of a few of the evening's audience members are to be trusted, it might be necessary to spoil a few right off the bat.
The District Theatre's production of Scenery boasts the most range I've yet seen from actor Ed Villarreal, who is obviously growing as an artist after notable performances in the (then-) Harrison Hilltop Theatre's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Jesus Christ Superstar last year, and New Ground Theatre's Bad Habits last month. During Thursday night's show, he incorporated an accent, plus shifts in vocal inflection and projection, to punctuate either the humor or emotion of his lines, and in so doing, successfully shaped his Richard as an aging actor resigned to his status.
While I like David Turley's work as a director - with this year's Chicago at the District Theatre and Gypsy with Countryside Community Theatre among his most notable efforts - I'd like to see more of him on-stage. I was wowed by his John Hinckley Jr. in 2008's Assassins at the Green Room Theatre, tickled pink by his William Barfee in 2010's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Harrison Hilltop Theatre, and amusingly intrigued by his Vladimir in that venue's 2010 Waiting for Godot.
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.
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