If there is a trophy for getting the max out of the most minimal of resources (drum roll, please), the award goes to City Theatre Co.
The stage is shoehorned in a tiny black box theater in Opera Delaware's riverfront studios, seating cannot be more than 100 and whatever budget there is for tech, costumes, makeup and hair is as lean as Mick Jagger.
But creativity has no boundaries. Producer/Director Michael Gray has kept his committed troupe together for nearing two decades. Their stated mission is to “rid the planet of complacency, redundancy, indifference and fear.” The world is full of all that presently. I am unsure how the group reaches out to the nattering nabobs of negativism across the universe, but as for Wilmington, with each season they have remained true to their anthem.
“Nine” premiered on Broadway in 1982. It was the stage version of Federico Fellini's wildly erotic film fantasy “8 1/2,” focusing on film director Guido's trepidation at his 40th birthday.
Guido (Michael Gray) is a libertine, a philanderer and a womanizer – in other words, my role model. And...he's married.
Would such a man wear a white shirt (as does Gray) or shimmering black silk? Should such a man wear a daring Italianate string tie rather than the broad-striped one chosen by Gray? Lose the tie, you Lothario, you!
IF YOU GO
WHAT "Nine"
WHERE City Theater Co., Opera Delaware Studios,
4 S. Poplar St., Wilmington
WHEN Select nights through May 21
COST $25/general admission; $40/VIP
INFO www.city-theater.org
These criticisms seem petty in relation to the exhilarating performance of Gray and his committed cast.
The scene opens with the gaggle of women singing of their unrequited love for our main man. “Guido's Song” follows, an admixture of soul-searching serenades similar to “Soliloquy” in “Carousel” or “I Am What I Am” from “Les Cage Aux Folles.” Gray's facile delivery makes for great storytelling in song.
Carla (Ashley Harris), Guido's primary non-wife squeeze, achieves greatness in keeping her towel at just the right position while creating lascivious images in the minds of the men in the audience.
Liliane LeFleur (Karen Murdock) lived and breathed the role of Guido’s film producer. Murdock continues to be one of the finest singer/actors in the region. The finest detail does not escape her, even to the exquisite choice of her very European hairstyle. Visually reminiscent of both Judy Garland and Edith Piaf, her accent was the best of the cast. Le Fleur led the major production number “Follies Bergeres” with great energy and engagement.
Saraghina (Eleonore Thomas) delivered such a barefooted performance so Italian earthy I could visualize her stomping grapes on the hillside. The on stage experience she gave the young Guido (Nolan Moss) he will never forget!
The eight-member orchestra must have been sitting on each other's shoulders in the cramped space allotted. Conductor Chris Tolemeo created a beautiful sound with instruments not normally considered in community theatre; cello, woodwinds and violin. The cellist, Ezgi Yargici, was especially evocative in “Simple.”
The closer of Act I, “The Bells of St. Sebastian” is a searing exposé of the hypocrisy of Catholic school education.
Choreographer Dawn Morningstar was creative with the large numbers of people and their varying degrees of dance experience.
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Showing posts with label city theatre wilmington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label city theatre wilmington. Show all posts
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, August 19, 2010
UD REP, Media Theatre, News Journal critic
There is no more visible proof of UD President Harker's “Path to Prominence” than by the REP Ensemble trodding the boards at The Roselle Center for the Arts. Having witnessed every production but one in the past two years, it is difficult to believe that every show is not completely sold. The acting is magnificent, the attention to detail in each technical area – costuming, lighting, set, sound is microscopic.
The season begins in late September with Pinter's “The Homecoming”, a sexually provocative and quite distorted view of family life. Yes, it's a comedy of the laugh out loud variety.
Next up is “The Importance of Being Earnest”. Aisle Say has seen this many times, but did not realize an underlying theme until recently. We know that Oscar Wilde was a flamboyant homosexual in a very repressed England. The character of Bunbury serves as Wilde's taunt at society's hypocrisy. This is certainly one of the cleverest plays ever scribed.
Following this is “Our Town”. (Big saving on the set budget with this show).
“Noel Coward” can be said in the same sentence as “Oscar Wilde” in regards to wordsmithing. Coward was a virtual umo universale of entertainment: actor, director, playwright and composer. “Private Lives” is witty and urbane. A divorced couple meets by chance in a resort hotel. They are both on honeymoons with their second spouses. Dying embers of sparks are re-ignited.
Shakespeare's greatest comedy “A Midsummer Night's Dream” opens in December. Knowing the REP actors as I do, I have put together the cast in my mind. However, Artistic Director Sandy Robbins will most probably surprise me.
Speaking of Robbins, I asked him why the REP was not part of the prestigious Barrymore Awards centered in Philadelphia. The Roselle Center lies 2 miles outside of the perimeter of the organization's footprint. Tickets on sale 23 August. Pttp.udel.edu 831.2204
Media Theatre
The Media Theatre landed a boffo comedienne for their fall production of “Annie”. Wanda Sykes, who ranks as one of Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Funniest People in America, will portray Miss Hannigan from November 23 through December 12. After a brief hiatus, she will return to the musical January 12-16.
Aisle Say was first introduced to her in “Curb Your Enthusiasm”. She was relentless in never giving Larry David a break.
Sykes is nominated for two 2010 Emmy Awards, both for her HBO comedy special “I’ma Be Me”. She portrayed the role of Barb in the hit CBS series “The New Adventures of Old Christine” for five seasons, receiving an Emmy nomination for that as well. She has won four Emmy Awards, in 1999 for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Special for “The Chris Rock Show” and three more (in 2002, 2004, and 2005) for her work on “Inside the NFL”.
She recently wrapped the first season of her late night talk show, “The Wanda Sykes Show”, on FOX. At the annual White House Correspondents Dinner in 2009, Wanda Sykes delivered major laughs while roasting President Barack Obama.
“Annie” should be a hoot. Tickets are on sale now. MediaTheatre.org 610.891.0100
City Theatre
Kudos to City Theatre for the decision to stage the musical “9”. It will be most fun for the male lead; one guy surrounded by 9 gorgeous women! Opening in May.
News Journal Reviewer
Veteran critic Tom Butler has not had a byline in the Journal since May. He is not an employee but an independent contractor. Arts organizations need the exposure that reviewers create. Perhaps Butler is taking a break. If not, though, it is incumbent upon the Journal to hire a good writer with a diverse arts background. A call to the Features editor was not returned.
The season begins in late September with Pinter's “The Homecoming”, a sexually provocative and quite distorted view of family life. Yes, it's a comedy of the laugh out loud variety.
Next up is “The Importance of Being Earnest”. Aisle Say has seen this many times, but did not realize an underlying theme until recently. We know that Oscar Wilde was a flamboyant homosexual in a very repressed England. The character of Bunbury serves as Wilde's taunt at society's hypocrisy. This is certainly one of the cleverest plays ever scribed.
Following this is “Our Town”. (Big saving on the set budget with this show).
“Noel Coward” can be said in the same sentence as “Oscar Wilde” in regards to wordsmithing. Coward was a virtual umo universale of entertainment: actor, director, playwright and composer. “Private Lives” is witty and urbane. A divorced couple meets by chance in a resort hotel. They are both on honeymoons with their second spouses. Dying embers of sparks are re-ignited.
Shakespeare's greatest comedy “A Midsummer Night's Dream” opens in December. Knowing the REP actors as I do, I have put together the cast in my mind. However, Artistic Director Sandy Robbins will most probably surprise me.
Speaking of Robbins, I asked him why the REP was not part of the prestigious Barrymore Awards centered in Philadelphia. The Roselle Center lies 2 miles outside of the perimeter of the organization's footprint. Tickets on sale 23 August. Pttp.udel.edu 831.2204
Media Theatre
The Media Theatre landed a boffo comedienne for their fall production of “Annie”. Wanda Sykes, who ranks as one of Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Funniest People in America, will portray Miss Hannigan from November 23 through December 12. After a brief hiatus, she will return to the musical January 12-16.
Aisle Say was first introduced to her in “Curb Your Enthusiasm”. She was relentless in never giving Larry David a break.
Sykes is nominated for two 2010 Emmy Awards, both for her HBO comedy special “I’ma Be Me”. She portrayed the role of Barb in the hit CBS series “The New Adventures of Old Christine” for five seasons, receiving an Emmy nomination for that as well. She has won four Emmy Awards, in 1999 for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Special for “The Chris Rock Show” and three more (in 2002, 2004, and 2005) for her work on “Inside the NFL”.
She recently wrapped the first season of her late night talk show, “The Wanda Sykes Show”, on FOX. At the annual White House Correspondents Dinner in 2009, Wanda Sykes delivered major laughs while roasting President Barack Obama.
“Annie” should be a hoot. Tickets are on sale now. MediaTheatre.org 610.891.0100
City Theatre
Kudos to City Theatre for the decision to stage the musical “9”. It will be most fun for the male lead; one guy surrounded by 9 gorgeous women! Opening in May.
News Journal Reviewer
Veteran critic Tom Butler has not had a byline in the Journal since May. He is not an employee but an independent contractor. Arts organizations need the exposure that reviewers create. Perhaps Butler is taking a break. If not, though, it is incumbent upon the Journal to hire a good writer with a diverse arts background. A call to the Features editor was not returned.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
City Theatre's "Sweeney" is razor sharp
When Director Michael Gray creates a vision for a production, his ratiocination, the way his mind thinks to interpret and stage, is different from you and me. His black box theatre at Opera Delaware Studios on Poplar Street has major limitations, square footage being the most pre-eminent.
But, excluding the UofD REP Company, that being heavily subsidized by the university, his City Theatre's brand is undoubtedly the most avant-garde production company in the state.
Sweeney Todd is both composer Stephen Sondheim's most outrageous and creative work. I saw it on Broadway three times during the '70's, starring Angela Lansbury as the entrepreneurial pie maker who saw opportunity to turn the barber Todd's anger and blood lust into a money making proposition. It's a tale of murder, retribution, cannibalism, swooning melodies and....humor of the blackest kind. “Sweeney” passes on the prospect of any redemption for its leading characters..
Producer Gray certainly cannot pay his actors much but their reputation now is such that his casts are talented stratospherically far above the norm for Delaware theater.
Sweeney (Dale Martin) is maniacally superb as the wronged barber. His darkened eyes are only the first clue of the malevolence in his heart. We feel Sweeney's torment in our own souls as he cries out for the justice that he demands will be his. His deep and rich baritone is superb during “My Friends” and “Pretty Women.”
Mrs. Lovett (TS Barnes) played a beguiling and light-hearted counter to the oppressive Sweeney.
Her costume by Kerry McElrone was derivative of Director Gray's vision. A few times Gray allowed Barnes to go for a cheap topical laugh for the audience's sake, but perhaps Gray felt the mayhem should be relieved somewhat. There were a few instances where she reacted a bit too cozy and conversational with Sweeney, inappropriate to the setting.
“Green Finch and Linnet Bird,” sung by Joanna (Lauren Cupples) is one of my top five least favorite Broadway songs. However, for the first time I actually enjoyed the number. Cupples has a beautiful soprano and is a fine actor as well.
Anthony (Brendan Sheehan) was wide-eyed and sincere and has a wonderful voice, most notably in “Joanna,” clearly one of Sondheim's greatest ballads.
The Beggar Woman (Aileen Goldberg) portrays the over-the-top, deranged character with emotion and energy. Due to the confined nature of the venue, she is directly in our faces. We look in her eyes and know something is wrong with her mental makeup.
Due to the small cast and Sweeney's obsession with skewering as many London citizens as he can get his razors next to neck, many of the cast are murdered several times. Pirelli (Tyler Hoffman) felt Sweeney's wrath I think three times.
The smarmy Judge Turpin (Steven Weatherman) played his character with unctuous glee and was particular effective with Sweeney in “Pretty Women.”
The nine piece orchestra under the direction of Conductor JA Kawarsky, professor of musical theatre at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, was as tight a group as an ensemble from Delaware Symphony. To understate, Sondheim's music is not only difficult to sing but also to play.
As Mrs. Lovett sings to Sweeney, “times is tight Mr. Todd, times is tight,” this could be a metaphor for the arts in Delaware. With quality theater such as the audience enjoyed opening night, City Theater is on the cutting edge.
Til December 19. City-Theater.org
But, excluding the UofD REP Company, that being heavily subsidized by the university, his City Theatre's brand is undoubtedly the most avant-garde production company in the state.
Sweeney Todd is both composer Stephen Sondheim's most outrageous and creative work. I saw it on Broadway three times during the '70's, starring Angela Lansbury as the entrepreneurial pie maker who saw opportunity to turn the barber Todd's anger and blood lust into a money making proposition. It's a tale of murder, retribution, cannibalism, swooning melodies and....humor of the blackest kind. “Sweeney” passes on the prospect of any redemption for its leading characters..
Producer Gray certainly cannot pay his actors much but their reputation now is such that his casts are talented stratospherically far above the norm for Delaware theater.
Sweeney (Dale Martin) is maniacally superb as the wronged barber. His darkened eyes are only the first clue of the malevolence in his heart. We feel Sweeney's torment in our own souls as he cries out for the justice that he demands will be his. His deep and rich baritone is superb during “My Friends” and “Pretty Women.”
Mrs. Lovett (TS Barnes) played a beguiling and light-hearted counter to the oppressive Sweeney.
Her costume by Kerry McElrone was derivative of Director Gray's vision. A few times Gray allowed Barnes to go for a cheap topical laugh for the audience's sake, but perhaps Gray felt the mayhem should be relieved somewhat. There were a few instances where she reacted a bit too cozy and conversational with Sweeney, inappropriate to the setting.
“Green Finch and Linnet Bird,” sung by Joanna (Lauren Cupples) is one of my top five least favorite Broadway songs. However, for the first time I actually enjoyed the number. Cupples has a beautiful soprano and is a fine actor as well.
Anthony (Brendan Sheehan) was wide-eyed and sincere and has a wonderful voice, most notably in “Joanna,” clearly one of Sondheim's greatest ballads.
The Beggar Woman (Aileen Goldberg) portrays the over-the-top, deranged character with emotion and energy. Due to the confined nature of the venue, she is directly in our faces. We look in her eyes and know something is wrong with her mental makeup.
Due to the small cast and Sweeney's obsession with skewering as many London citizens as he can get his razors next to neck, many of the cast are murdered several times. Pirelli (Tyler Hoffman) felt Sweeney's wrath I think three times.
The smarmy Judge Turpin (Steven Weatherman) played his character with unctuous glee and was particular effective with Sweeney in “Pretty Women.”
The nine piece orchestra under the direction of Conductor JA Kawarsky, professor of musical theatre at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, was as tight a group as an ensemble from Delaware Symphony. To understate, Sondheim's music is not only difficult to sing but also to play.
As Mrs. Lovett sings to Sweeney, “times is tight Mr. Todd, times is tight,” this could be a metaphor for the arts in Delaware. With quality theater such as the audience enjoyed opening night, City Theater is on the cutting edge.
Til December 19. City-Theater.org
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
City Theatre does Matt Casarino's shorts
City Theater, residing at Opera Delaware Studios on S. Poplar, can always be counted on to invent ways to re-invent itself.
The organization's favorite son, playwright Matt Casarino, recently unveiled “Casarino Royale” staging seven (get it, 007) of his short plays, each fronted by an extemporaneous take-off of a Bond movie. Some of these opener skits fell flat, nevertheless, all were enjoyed by the raucous City Theater in-crowd.
“Yes Mamet” satirized playwright David Mamet's fascination with the “F word.” Casarino even coined a new term, “mametized,” signifying its continued use as noun, verb, adjective and adverb to describe pain, pleasure, hate and love. With such an emphatic and flexible word, really, I ask, how can anyone be offended?
In “Midnight Train To George,” T.S. Barnes (Kim) and Valerie Hutchinson (Raye) play women in a chance encounter on a train who had engaged in a menage a trois with the unseen (but happily contented) George. Their various stages of denial, recognition, embarrassment and resolution were superbly woven in a playlet of only 10 minutes.
While Barnes is a very good actress, I was especially impressed with Hutchinson. It is rare that an actor makes the audience feel so completely at home, comfortable in her skin and confident in her character. This is a gift.
On the writing side, the specific sexual encounter need not have been mentioned: prurience reaches greater heights in the imagination. Hints were dropped all along. We got the picture.
“Green Eggs and Mamet” saw a return to the aforementioned author and was the highlight of the evening. Jim Burns (Sam) played a smarmy con man the likes we haven't encountered since James Woods' slimy character in DeNiro and Sharon Stone's movie “Casino.”
Gordon Holmes (Man) was not to be deceived and parried Sam's grifter banter with aplomb. The dialogue was masterful and wildly inventive. “Green Eggs” refers to the author's conceit of lifting some of the rhythmic and rhyming beat from the Dr. Seuss classic. Pairing “desk” to “grotesque” was hysterical. The dialogue also reminded me of the ribald nature of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
A few of Casarino's plays have been picked up by licensing bureaus and have been presented internationally. Huzzahs to him.
The show runs through March 14. For more information, visit City-Theater.org.
The organization's favorite son, playwright Matt Casarino, recently unveiled “Casarino Royale” staging seven (get it, 007) of his short plays, each fronted by an extemporaneous take-off of a Bond movie. Some of these opener skits fell flat, nevertheless, all were enjoyed by the raucous City Theater in-crowd.
“Yes Mamet” satirized playwright David Mamet's fascination with the “F word.” Casarino even coined a new term, “mametized,” signifying its continued use as noun, verb, adjective and adverb to describe pain, pleasure, hate and love. With such an emphatic and flexible word, really, I ask, how can anyone be offended?
In “Midnight Train To George,” T.S. Barnes (Kim) and Valerie Hutchinson (Raye) play women in a chance encounter on a train who had engaged in a menage a trois with the unseen (but happily contented) George. Their various stages of denial, recognition, embarrassment and resolution were superbly woven in a playlet of only 10 minutes.
While Barnes is a very good actress, I was especially impressed with Hutchinson. It is rare that an actor makes the audience feel so completely at home, comfortable in her skin and confident in her character. This is a gift.
On the writing side, the specific sexual encounter need not have been mentioned: prurience reaches greater heights in the imagination. Hints were dropped all along. We got the picture.
“Green Eggs and Mamet” saw a return to the aforementioned author and was the highlight of the evening. Jim Burns (Sam) played a smarmy con man the likes we haven't encountered since James Woods' slimy character in DeNiro and Sharon Stone's movie “Casino.”
Gordon Holmes (Man) was not to be deceived and parried Sam's grifter banter with aplomb. The dialogue was masterful and wildly inventive. “Green Eggs” refers to the author's conceit of lifting some of the rhythmic and rhyming beat from the Dr. Seuss classic. Pairing “desk” to “grotesque” was hysterical. The dialogue also reminded me of the ribald nature of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
A few of Casarino's plays have been picked up by licensing bureaus and have been presented internationally. Huzzahs to him.
The show runs through March 14. For more information, visit City-Theater.org.
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