Playwright J.C. Luxton's writing has a beautiful eloquence about it, with poetic word choices and graceful rhythms in his verse. And while I did not understand all of the finer details in the Prenzie Players' Friday-night production of Luxton's Bear Girl - due solely to my own shortcomings when it comes to dialogue delivered in verse - the themes and main plot points were clearly told, and also, thanks to director Cait Bodenbender's treatment of the material, interesting, entertaining, and educational.
While I have no doubt that women who've experienced "the change" - and the men who've experienced it with them - will better appreciate the humor in the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's latest, Menopause: The Musical offers a lot of entertainment that transcends that particular life experience. Filled with comically altered lyrics of popular, mostly 1960s songs, the familiar melodies, energetic rhythms, and notable performances from the cast of four had Friday's audience on its feet at the end of the production.
The District Theatre's Doubt may be the most exceptionally performed, strongly directed production I've yet seen in the Quad Cities. Saturday night's flawless performance left me in awe, particularly for the production's perfect casting, and for how well director James Fairchild highlights playwright John Patrick Shanley's humor.
I wouldn't necessarily associate the titular "gourmet," which implies "high-quality" or "fancy," with the script for the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's 100 Lunches: A Gourmet Comedy. But the production is entertaining beyond its thin plot, the two-dimensional characters and situations are at least interesting enough to warrant continued attention, and although this is yet another play that could end at intermission and still leave audiences satisfied, the second act - despite boasting a wholly dissimilar tone - proves just as appealing as the first.
The trouble with the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's The Trouble with Cats is that Patti Flaherty is not featured enough during its two-and-a-half-hour length. Playing a dry, crass, flirtatious lowbrow named Joy Bombay, Flaherty proves it's possible to present bad material in a way that's enjoyable to watch, and when I laughed during Friday's performance, it was usually due to Flaherty's comedically nuanced deliveries or comically condescending or cruel facial expressions and body language. The actor is clearly gifted when it comes to comedy.
While playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's boom is slyly hilarious, and the QC Theatre Workshop's production of it laudable for so many reasons, there is one aspect of the performance that stands out in particular: Angela Elliott's laugh.
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.
The Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's Death of a Salesman marks one of James Driscoll's most powerful, effective, fully realized performances to date, which is saying a lot given the actor's résumé, which includes roles such as Long John Silver in the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's Treasure Island and his multiple characters in last year's Anton in Show Business for New Ground Theatre. During Friday's presentation, I was awed by Driscoll's ability to shift from sanity to a mental confusion bordering on insanity as his Willy Loman transitioned from his vision of his past to a moment in the present. Driscoll accomplishes this both through physical gestures, such as rubbing his head as if sweating, and vocal inflection, as his voice becomes more frantic and emotional during his state of confusion.Subscribe & Listen to Reader Podcasts
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