12
Mar
2012
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.
Apparently, director Gary Clark doesn't think Playcrafters Barn Theatre audiences will get author Pat Cook's jokes in the venue's current If It's Monday, This Must Be Murder, because almost every already-obvious punchline is accented with a combination of slow, careful enunciation and a physical action. For example, the main character, Michael Schmidt's Monday, is referenced in another character's line, "Rainy days and Monday always get me down." On Saturday, though, the actor saying this put vocal emphasis on the "Monday" and grandly gesticulated toward Schmidt, as though this rather lame attempt at humor needed to be clarified. It was one of many not-so-clever quips that were rendered even less funny through Clark's, and his cast's, efforts to make sure they weren't missed.
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.
At the start of the intermission to Friday night's District Theatre performance of Company, my partner turned to me and said, "I don't remember this show being that funny." He was right, because director David Turley accentuates the funny parts in this musical by composer Stephen Sondheim and writer George Furth. He does so, however, with subtle nudges and winks that almost cross over into silliness but don't, and that keep the production from sinking into sappy sentimentality.
Augustana College's How I Learned to Drive offers an interesting opportunity to compare the acting talents of performers at different points in their lives, as there's a marked contrast between Reader editor Mike Schulz's work and that of the students who compose the rest of the cast. Being beyond college-age (and hired here as a guest actor), Schulz is presumably more aware of the darkness in the world, the pain of real life, and the reality of what some would call sin. I imagine he's subsequently able to draw from what he knows and use it to shape his character, whereas it's apparent that the students are feigning their feelings. To be clear, that's not to say that the students are poor actors, and each one offered a notable performance during Friday's presentation. Compared to Schulz's effort, however, there are distinct differences in the sincerity of their portrayals.
New Ground Theatre's Bad Habits is one of those rare local productions where the focus is on the writers rather than the actors, directors, or technical aspects. While a cast and crew, of course, are involved, the work gathers short plays written by local playwrights. Running a touch more than an hour, Thursday's performance showcased the promise of these local wordsmiths, while also revealing areas on which they need to focus as they work on their next pieces - the most notable being writing as people would actually speak.
I adore the movie version of Grease, and think it's one of the few musicals in which the film is an improvement on the original stage version. The theatrical musical is less cohesive in terms of the timelime's flow, forcing the audience to fill in the gaps between scenes, and I kind of hate that about it - unless a stage production transcends the script's weakness, in which case, like the movie, I love it. However, while I did not hate Friday's performance of Grease at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, I didn't exactly love it, either.
Sydney Crumbleholme is maturing. Not only is she physically more mature than the impressive young acting prodigy I fondly recall from the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's Anne of Green Gables four years ago, she's also much more skilled as an actress - and that "much more" is particularly impressive considering that Crumbleholme's previous work was astounding, particularly for her age. In her return to the title role of Playcrafters' current production, Anne of Avonlea, Crumbleholme shows distinct growth as an actress, showcasing knacks for nuance and subtlety. She alone is worth the money and time spent seeing the show.
There are so many smart line deliveries in the Prenzie Players' Tartuffe that I could gush over each one here and still not have space for half of them. From Stephanie Moeller's forceful proclamation "I'm timid!" to Jessica Sheridan's delightfully wicked warning about being stuck with the unbearable title character "each day ... and night ... for life," Friday's performance had me cackling over and over again. I won't, however, point to any more specific line interpretations, for fear of ruining the element of surprise. A large part of the production's humor lies in hearing its words delivered in unexpected ways.
