Theater
Bunny Rabbit In A Box Of Chocolates
As 8 p.m. neared on the night of July 21st, people milled about the Broadway Theatre Center. Casual conversation drifted through the lazy summer evening as show time approached. Alamo Basement had been at it for nearly 24 hours – writing and rehearsing the show that was about to make its debut that night. The Play In A Day concept is deliciously simple – get a group of people together (playwrights, actors, etc… ) and give them 24 hours to develop an entire feature-length play that they will then perform. Alamo Basement did something much like this last year. It was successful enough that they decided to do it again. Not long after the scheduled start time, Alamo Basement co-founder Michael Q. Hanlon and the play’s director Chris Scholke introduced the show. Taking suggestions from the audience, the title Bunny Rabbit In A Box Of Chocolates was chosen. Then the script was auctioned off to the highest bidder. A gentleman in the front row ended up winning the script, paying some $30 for something about which he, like the rest of us, probably knew almost nothing. After these small bits of business, the play began for the 50 or so people in attendance. A comedy set in a hotel in Transylvania, Bunny Rabbit In A Box of Chocolates was exceedingly entertaining. The script had been passed through a series of local DIY playwrights over the course of the 24 hours leading up to the performance. Pink Banana Theatre guru John Manno (Golden Apollo) got the script first. He worked with the actors to get a general feel for what the actors were interested in and went to work. The ensemble played characters they had a hand in developing, which made for an interesting stage dynamic during the actual performance. Alamo Basement co-founder Mike Q. Hanlon (who also served as one of the playwrights) played the hotel concierge, a classic comic straight man with a bit of a feral twist toward the end. The cast of characters parading through the hotel included a pair of honeymooning Wisconsinites with a sexual fetish for the history of warfare, a socialist hotel worker and his wife (a sexy maid with an inexplicable New York accent), a pair of dim-witted traveling thieves, a world-famous scientist and her eager assistant, a deposed Eastern European princess and others. In addition to Hanlon and Manno, playwrights included Peter J. Woods (Made In The Mouth) and Rex Winsome (co-founder of Insurgent Theatre). The script was remarkably coherent for something that four people took turns writing with very little sleep. Light comedies and farces try to capture a certain kind of mindless guilty fun, but something invariably gets lost in endless rehearsals. Impov comedy emulates freshness by giving the illusion of spontaneity, but all too often it’s simply actors forming pre-existing, pre-formulated characters and skits around audience suggestions. With Play In A Day, Alamo Basement seems to have hit on a sense of vitality that’s so glaringly missing in contemporary […]
Aug 1st, 2007 by Russ Bickerstaff
The Lady in Question
Gender-bending roles are a trademark in the scripts written by Charles Busch – accomplished playwright, actor and drag artist. Awarded a Drama Desk Award for Career Achievement in 2003, Busch usually plays the leading ladies in his parodies of 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s film. Two of his best-known works are Psycho Beach Party and Die Mommy Die. And one of his recent plays, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, received a Tony nomination. This Milwaukee production of The Lady in Question is a spoof of 1940s film noir with a patriotic bent. The premise is that international piano virtuoso Gertrude Garnet is on tour through Germany as Hitler tightens his reign. A chance meeting with Nazi sympathizer Baron Von Elsner and the mysterious American hero, Professor Erik Maxwell, creates a crazed love triangle. In the end, an aging actress, Raina Aldric, must be saved and multiple questions and answers unfold as foreign intrigue unites unlikely comrades. A staged escape through the Alps in shreds of paper snow completes these comical scenarios in just over two hours. As one lady in question, Mark Hagen puts Garnet in great light and her attire is, indeed, glamorous. Dale Gutzman as Von Elsner, who also directs, is a fine foil to Garnet while their perversions to the German language present sharp edged lines and laughs. Jeremy C. Welter, who plays the part of Professor Maxwell, is a lightweight hero for Hagen, but the two combine for a little chemistry on stage. But Karl Miller as Lotte, the Baron’s oversexed 12-year-old niece, provides another opportunity for drag. Draped in frothy lavender tulle or traditional Lederhosen, Lotte is front and center. Miller, along with an amply talented supporting cast, supplies the remaining comedic timing to this performance. Although the sets may be a bit underdone, the costuming more than makes up for the scenery. And the aisle is used to good advantage as an underground tunnel – just beware of gunshots! VS Off The Wall Productions presents The Lady in Question at 127 East Wells Street until July 29. For tickets or more information, call 414-327-3552 or visit www.offthewalltheatre.com.
Jul 23rd, 2007 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
A Midsummer Night McGivern
One of the most popular people in local theatre, John McGivern has a huge following. Just to see the guy standing there onstage, the uninitiated could be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about. On the surface, McGivern seems like anyone else you might see walking around the East Side. Seeing him perform adds to the mystery of his success a bit at first. He’s a very talented storyteller, yes, but the autobiographical work he performs in his one man shows isn’t the kind of genius one would expect from a man who has reached McGivern’s level of success. It feels much more like the type of thing that might go over well at a comedy club somewhere. Why is it that he’s playing rooms as big as Vogel Hall? Somewhere in the rhythm of McGivern’s delivery, one begins to understand what makes him so popular: he’s a nice guy. His overall presence makes people feel at ease. He’s made this his profession. He’s made a career out of being professionally nice. McGivern isn’t professionally friendly in some synthetic customer service way. His amiability isn’t the kind you’d get out of a politician, a waitress or even that guy who tried to sell you insurance. McGivern has gotten to be as popular as he has because he has a genuine passion for being a nice person. And that friendliness translates extremely well to the stage in the parade of comedy and nostalgia that is his summer show: A Midsummer Night McGivern. The show features a number of stories and a couple of readings from McGivern’s childhood experiences growing up on Milwaukee’s East Side. Laid out generally in chronological order, the stories begin with McGivern’s memories of Memorial Days as a child and gradually work their way through to the end of the season. McGivern delivers these stories with a heartfelt enthusiasm that is so strong one gets the impression that he’d be telling these same stories to friends and family at some placid park somewhere if he weren’t onstage. McGivern’s stories run nostalgically through a greater Milwaukee County of several decades ago. Various bits of Americana are seen through the very specific eyes of a man who remembers his father taking him and his brothers to visit the graves of soldiers as fresh ones were being dug for those still returning from Viet Nam. There’s a bittersweet quality to some of McGivern’s stories, but the overall feeling here is one of comedy. McGivern’s specific kind of enthusiasm pairs exceedingly well with stories told from a childhood perspective. One of his more poignant bits involves him relating what it was like to be interviewed for the Weather Channel about life in Milwaukee as the seasons change. The set McGivern performs on was put together by longtime Milwaukee Rep fixture Edward Morgan. It’s a summery collection of items tastefully lounging around the stage to help set the mood. But McGivern could easily do this on a more or less empty […]
Jul 1st, 2007 by Russ Bickerstaff
Starting Here, Starting Now
By Tracy Doyle If you’re looking for some light, summertime musical fare, check out In Tandem Theatre’s production of Starting Here, Starting Now, which captures the many phases of romantic involvement, everything from waiting for the love of your life to come along to the wretched throes of the breakup. A musical revue written by long time collaborators Richard Maltby Jr. and David Shire, Starting Here, Starting Now is a collection of songs about love written by the duo and compiled in 1977. Maltby and Shire’s collected body of work include the Broadway musical Baby, the Fats Waller revue Ain’t Misbehavin’, and the score to cinematic success Saturday Night Fever. This is the first time this show has been staged in its entirety in Milwaukee, and director Jane Flieller did an amazing job rearranging the order of the songs to give it a semblance of a dramatic arc. The songs were grouped into categories such as dating, proposing, parting and starting, which let the audience identify with the storyline and take us on an emotional roller coaster of love. The night opened with surprising David Lynchian flair. The stage has been beautifully transformed by set designer/ stage manager Chris Flieller into a giant piano, with a trio of musicians set in the upper right corner. The lights were dim and the show hadn’t started yet but Mr. Flieller, probably after performing some of his stage managerial duties, sauntered across the room in his dashing tuxedo, snapping his fingers to the beat of the band and brought to life a two minute scene straight out of Twin Peaks. Mr. Flieller was a staple throughout the production, moving set pieces and also functioning as bartender, drunken confidant and purse snatching comic relief. An ensemble of only three singers, these performers filled the room with their light and cheery voices and smiles. Taking turns with the songs, Mary C. DeBattista, Marty McNamee and Kathleen A. Miller brought to life a wide variety of music with consistent performances. The section titled “Parting” was the most impassioned, with stellar performances of “Autumn” and “Crossword Puzzle.” A night sprinkled with polite applause from audience members after each rendition, I let out a grand “whoo-hoo!” after McNamee’s bitter, heartfelt “I Don’t Remember Christmas.” The ensemble harmonized well and the choreography was simple but appropriate for the space and breadth of songs. Overall the show was enjoyable although it ended with a whimper compared to the bang of the mid-section. For a night of good music and light-hearted fun, go check it out. And congrats to In Tandem’s recent acquisition of their own performance space, look for them next year at Tenth and Wisconsin. VS In Tandem Theatre’s production of Starting Here, Starting Now runs thru June 10 in Broadway Theatre Center’s intimate studio theatre. Tickets and information can be found at www.intandemtheatre.com or by calling 414-444-2316.
Jun 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
Patience
For as long as there has been art, there have been those who have taken the love of aesthetics and beauty to nauseating extremes. In 1881, Gilbert and Sullivan took a satirical jab at artistic pretentiousness with Patience. Today, 126 years later, The Skylight Opera Theatre revisits this classic musical in a production that carries into June. It’s a pleasant, fast-paced staging that the Skylight has polished quite nicely. The radiant Niffer Clarke stars as the simple milkmaid after which the show is named. Patience knows little of and cares little for romantic love yet is nonetheless pursued by two different men. The effeminate Reginald Bunthorne (Gary Briggle) is a poet of extreme pretentiousness who quite readily captures the attentions of all the wealthy girls in the tiny village, but he longs for the one who has no interest in him. Briggle is memorable as the ostentatious poet who cares more for the attentions of his audience than his art. Unable to feel anything but confusion for the deliberately obtuse Bunthorne, Patience talks of love with a friend. She seems to be the only single woman in town who doesn’t know what it is firsthand. In the course of the conversation, Patience remembers a time when she had feelings for a slightly older boy she used to play with as a child. As luck would have it, he shows up and she is smitten with romantic feelings for the first time in her life. His name is Archibald Grosvenor (Norman Moses) and he has loved her since he was a child. However, all who lay eyes on him have an inflated sense of his beauty. Like Bunthorne, Grosvenor is a poet of the highest imaginable aesthetics who is, of course, a cripplingly beautiful person. It is with great disappointment that Patience begins to question her love for Grosvenor. True love, she believes, must be truly selfless and one could never be selfless when loving someone of such overwhelming beauty. His beauty must belong . . . to the world. It would be an act of selfishness to demand his exclusive attentions and so Patience’s first love is a tragic one. Grosvenor is crestfallen, but the stress of the plot works in his favor, as his beauty is, of course, at odds with Bunthorne’s. The two are thus embroiled in a conflict that carries much of the rest of the story. It’s all a great deal of fun. The Chamber Theatre delivers deftly on the wit and speed of Gilbert and Sullivan in song and dialogue. Costuming by Karin Kopischke is impressive here and there is an elaborate simplicity in the design, which compliments the ornate, yet functional set by Peter Dean Beck. As entertaining as it is, the production as a whole feels a bit held back. This is really written to be a Gilbert and Sullivan with teeth and there are moments that are designed to really skewer the lofty insincerity of those who use art as a status-inducing […]
Jun 1st, 2007 by Russ Bickerstaff
Long Day’s Journey into Night
Humor can draw anyone into a theatre, but it’s the darkness that really excites the imagination. Eugene O’Neil’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night is one of the great classics of dark American theatre. Under the direction of Heidi Mueller Smith, Cornerstone Theatre Company presents the classic in the basement of the Brumder Mansion. As everyone settles into their seats for the evening, Ruth Williams and Sandy Stehling animate the space with a traditional Irish tune. Gradually, the play settles over the stage. There’s no mistaking that this is going to be a long, dark journey into the inner social dynamics of a particularly dark, iconic American family. Thankfully, with Cornerstone Theatre it’s a trip to the theatre featuring some of the best acting in one of the smallest performances spaces in greater Milwaukee. Cotter Smith stars as family patriarch James Tyrone – an aging actor past his prime who has made a small fortune for himself, but nonetheless tours during the theatre season. It’s August of 1912 and it would appear to have been a very long summer. Smartly dressed with sharp features and meticulously manicured facial hair, Smith cuts a darkly charismatic figure in the role. There’s a mixture of weariness and restlessness in the way Smith carries himself here. Smith’s apparent darkness as James is offset by Michelle Waide’s performance as his wife Mary. O’Neil places Mary as something of a central enigma in the script. Waide’s performance here is particularly clever. She seems to hold a great deal of casual poise, but we can tell that somewhere in the background of her apparent stability lies the hazy static of unhealthy disorder. She’s swept it all into the background of her personality, but it gradually comes to prominence as the play progresses. Waide deftly rides the emotional contours of O’Neil’s script, only letting enough emotional distress slip out to make it to the next scene. Ken T. Williams and Steven Strobel play James and Mary’s sons, Jamie and Edmund. Williams is pleasantly cynical as the older son who has returned home to help out around the house. Being fully aware and at least marginally open about all of the negativity floating around in the family’s closets, Jamie comes across as being one of the darker people in the play. Williams lends a considerable amount of depth and compassion to that darkness, which holds up his end of the play quite well. Edmund, the younger brother, is suffering from a potentially life-threatening ailment. Strobel plays Edmund with the overwhelming presence of a turn of the century slacker. His polite, unassuming presence makes it easy to sympathize with him. Rachel Williams rounds out the cast as Cathleen, the young, Irish housekeeper with a serviceable Irish accent. She plays off the rest of the family dynamic quite well as a disinterested third party. O’Neil has Cathleen surfacing from the rest of the family on brief occasions. On the whole, the ensemble plays out the emotional landscape of the play with more […]
Jun 1st, 2007 by Russ Bickerstaff
Five Women Wearing the Same Dress
Writer/Director Alan Ball has met with considerable success in film and TV. His film American Beauty won an Academy Award while his TV series Six Feet Under garnered him two Golden Globes and no less than six Emmys. Before any of that, however, Ball earned a degree in theatre. In 1993 he wrote a comedy for the stage about a group of bridesmaids in Tennessee and Sunset Playhouse presents its production of that very play as the penultimate show of its season. Bialystock and Bloom co-founder Jonathan West directs the Sunset production of Ball’s Five Women Wearing the Same Dress. It’s the story of five bridesmaids who seek refuge from a wedding reception in an upstairs bedroom. There’s very little plot here beyond the personalities of each of the women as they become better acquainted. While the character development feels a bit forced and an amateurish attempt to tie everything together with some of moral about the nature of love stains the ending, for the most part Ball lets the conversation between the five women become the play. Ball has a particularly shrewd sense of humor in language that is the real center of the comedy. Everything beyond the dialogue is just there to give it a place to be. A clever writer in his own right, West’s direction here has an interesting attention to detail and a particularly deft sense of how dialogue-centered comedy works on stage. The cast consists almost entirely of the five young bridesmaids. Actresses reflect the relative ages of their characters pretty well, but there is a bit of confusion as to how old everyone is, as they all appear to be pretty much the same age: quite young, but not in high school. Southern accents also mar things a bit, as no one here manages an authentic accent for the entire length of the play. Other than that, the performances here are all noteworthy with a few instances of real comedic inspiration. The bedroom belongs to Meredith Marlow: sister of the bride played by Victoria Hudziak. Hudziak is bitter and annoyed with the whole wedding and has escaped to her room in an effort to get at least mildly stoned so that the whole affair can be a bit more bearable. Hudziak holds the comedy of bitterness quite well, but very little can be done when Ball tries to fuse too much darkness into the character. Before Meredith enters, Frances, the innocent, religious cousin of the bride, sneaks into the room to engage in a bit of physical comedy. Ball doesn’t provide very convincing depth for what is essentially a generic religious stereotype. Actress Nikki Hoch finds a sweet humanity in the character, nonetheless. Hoch’s comedic presence is subtle but powerfully effective whenever she’s onstage. Not long after we meet Frances and Meredith, Trisha enters. Trisha is an old friend of the bride who is fiercely independent. Elizabeth M. Keefe plays Meredith in a magnetic performance. She’s had many men, but has never felt […]
Jun 1st, 2007 by Russ Bickerstaff
Rooming House
With Milwaukee being host to so many productions of plays written by people in other parts of the country, it’s always nice to see something new written by a local playwright. Early this summer, Olsen Arts Theatre Group opened Rooming House, written and directed by local playwright Christel Olsen. The play is a comedy about a group of people living in…well…a rooming house. Kim Ballou stars as Geraldine Rennelli – a woman who runs…wait for it…a rooming house. Geraldine, who is known to her psychologically diverse boarders as “Ms. Geri,” is a tough, charismatic woman who seems to be quite respected by all who meet her. There’s a lot of comic potential in the many strange personalities inhabiting a domestic space like this. Brilliant comedy can come when the weird is juxtaposed against the equally weird but, unfortunately, Olsen and company deliver on so little of it that it hardly seems worth the effort. Sadly, Rooming House isn’t that good. Ballou performs quite well as uber-mom to a strange collection of characters, many of whom have a great deal of comedic depth. Occasionally we even see the cast of actors grasp fleeting moments of this depth. For the most part, however, the cast seems all too conscious of the fact that it is on stage and not conscious enough of what’s supposed to be going on in the play. The space at Bucketworks doesn’t help, either. The acoustics in the performance space are offensively bad. This makes it particularly difficult to hear actors who lack enough stage experience to know how to properly project their voices. If Rooming House was a straight drama, the acoustic problem would probably end there. The fact that it’s a comedy makes things all the worse. In order for comedy to work there needs to be something like a coherent punch line. If the punch line isn’t delivered with the kind of strength it needs AND the space is muffling what’s being said, there may be too many obstacles for laughter to actually occur. The lack of clarity in the dialogue is an ongoing problem throughout that affects every aspect of the story. Comedic and dramatic elements that aren’t always particularly well defined in the script are further confused by self-conscious performances that fail to deliver the right emphasis at the right times. Rooming House isn’t a play so much as the dream of one. People sleep walk through performances culled from a script that isn’t quite polished enough to develop the kind of glossy pop comedy for which Olsen seems to be aiming. All this would seem like wasted effort were it not for the fact that the dream is so clearly visible. The final significant scene between Ballou and Brenda Riley (as her next door neighbor Leslie Bufano) is the one of the best. The two characters finally connect and there’s a real feeling of genuine emotion. It should be pointed out that Rooming House is not an aggressively bad play. It’s a […]
Jun 1st, 2007 by Russ Bickerstaff
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse
“I am Lilly. I am Queen. I like everything,” says Lilly as she roller skates on stage to the surprise of her two mouse friends, Chester and Wilson. In Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, which opened May 4 at First Stage Children’s Theater, Lilly is indeed queen of this enchanting, eye-catching production. Kevin Kling, who adapted the play from award-winning author Kevin Henke’s popular book of the same name, has blended timeless pre-school tales into one 90-minute play of Lilly’s mishaps and adventures. In this retelling, a carousel of cotton candy colors and a spectrum of patterns, shapes and textures surround Lilly and the large children’s cast of mice. Stars, checks, polka dots and ribbons fall from the ceiling and saturate the stage. Sarah Hunt Frank and Kristina L. Van Slyke, scene designer and costume designer, respectively, breathe life into Henke’s mice. The children in the audience were mesmerized by the visual array, attentively keeping eyes and ears on the show. Kurt Schnabel, lighting designer of Suessical fame, again delights with technical details and special effects. When Henke’s illustrations are added to some of the sequences, the results affectionately remind the audience of Lilly’s artistic beginnings. But the queen of the performance is Lilly herself, Clarise White, an 11-year-old from the Colby Cast that performed opening night. White bursts on to the stage, making believable this Lilly who likes everything, with charm and chutzpah. Thaddeus Bruno as Chester and Henry Ballesteros as Wilson are credit worthy as Lilly’s friends, forming the central three-some. The entire ensemble creates an animated world that plays like a merry-go-round as Lilly lives through all the missteps and fears of a child, yet continually inspires the viewer with her bravery. Such tribulations include surviving a new baby brother, bullies and a mishap at school with her infamous purple plastic purse. Mr. Slinger, her favorite teacher, helps Lilly overcome her misguided feelings and saves the day, even though Lilly saves Mr. Slinger in her imagination. The script is sprinkled with lovely lines and situations from a child’s point of view, dealing with their often unspoken feelings, that Lilly gives voice to and helps them identify. Children repeated these special phrases very softly, showing that the characters truly connected with them. First Stage Theater’s Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse continues through June 17 and is recommended for those over 3, although anyone who is a fan of Henke’s books will appreciate this entertaining real life version of their favorite stories. Adults will also enjoy some of the layered references used throughout the performance. But the true star is Henke’s little mouse Lilly, undoubtedly Queen of the production, bringing a bit of childlike magic to the stage. And to quote Lilly’s favorite teacher, Mr. Slinger, “All I can say is WOW.” VS Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse continues at the Todd Wehr Theater in the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts through June 17. For tickets and information call 414-273-7206 or visit www.firststage.org.
Jun 1st, 2007 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
The Baker’s Wife
By Tracy Doyle Opening night of Windfall Theatre’s staging of The Baker’s Wife, I was warmly ushered into the intimate and awkward venue and the best of the remaining seating was pointed out to me. The space, which must double as a meeting room of some sort for the Village Church Arts, was perfectly suited for this cluttered musical fable, music and lyrics by Steven Schwartz and book by Joseph Stein. The play is set in a very small town, where everybody knows everybody and no one can stand anyone but themselves. The everyday grind is thrown off when the town’s sole baker dies and a replacement shows up along with his beautiful and much younger wife. A typical Schwartz musical, the songs are long and boring, never striving for anything other than ordinary and the plot follows suit. The show opened with the sound of a man shooting himself in the foot. The first lines of “Chanson” are in French and I really wish a dialect doctor had been called because I was in pain. (Ba dum ching) But seriously, since this show started at such a low point the only way it had to go was up and it did. The lead roles of the baker and the baker’s wife, played by Larry Birkett and Linda Steiber, were beautifully constructed and developed. Both possess outstanding singing and acting abilities, which in local musical productions is a rare treat. The baker, Aimable, who struggles with the knowledge that his wife will eventually leave him, captures a real innocence and love of life that is all the more poignant she finally does leave him. Genevieve leaves Aimable for the young and charismatic Dominique, charmingly played by Thomas Rosenthal, whose lack of musical genius is made up in energy and comic timing. Highlights of the show include a hysterical Freudian orgy of bread and song, in which long loaves of fresh bread baked by Milwaukee’s own Wild Flour Bakery are acrobatically tossed and gnawed and shared between townspeople. Musically, Genevieve’s touching “Meadowlark” stood out as an honest rendition of a woman’s struggle to figure out just what to do with her life, and reminded me of many a night singing to myself in the privacy of my own home. My favorite part of the whole night coincided with the appearance of Albus Rosenthal as Pompom, who is (SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!) the very first real live cat I’ve ever seen on stage, something I’ve been waiting for my entire life. I make an open suggestion for a new byline, Windfall Theatre: Making dreams come true. Props to Windfall for a show full of energy and performances worthy of a much better script. VS Windfall Theatre’s Production of The Baker’s Wife runs now through May 19th at Village Church Arts. For more info, call 414-332-3963 or visit Windfall online at www.windfalltheatre.com.
May 8th, 2007 by Vital Archives
Lady Day
By Jill Gilmer It’s hard not to have a great evening at the Stackner Cabaret. The nightclub-style setting creates a relaxed and festive atmosphere and the well-heeled crowd doesn’t seem to mind sharing tables with strangers and chit-chatting over cocktails or coffee and dessert. Add to this backdrop the wonderful music of Billie Holiday performed by Grammy award-winning singer Regina Marie Williams and you have the recipe for a string of sell-out performances, which Lady Day has enjoyed since it opened on March 16. But theatre-goers hoping to learn more about the life and legacy of this jazz icon may leave the Cabaret disappointed. Like many theatrical productions that examine a celebrity figure, Lady Day focuses less on Ms. Holiday’s life and career and more on her personality. While this in itself is a worthy endeavor, director David Hunter Koch’s obsession with her surprising dark side nearly overshadows both her story and her talent. The story takes place at the Emerson Bar & Grill, a hole-in-the-wall jazz club in Philadelphia and the actual site of one of Holiday’s last performances before her death in 1959, at age 44. Emerson was, apparently, one of the few clubs in the U.S. where she was still welcomed. A series of temperamental incidents – most likely exacerbated by alcohol and heroin abuse – had tarnished her reputation and limited her performance venues. Regina Marie Williams delivers a riveting enactment of Ms. Holiday’s descent into a drunken trance over the course of her 1-hour and 15 minute performance. At least, we can only hope it was alcohol that fueled the seemingly-endless string of expletives that dotted her performance and the insults she hurled at her unsuspecting audience. This drunken rant was a stark contrast from the image of graciousness suggested by her strapless white satin gown, elbow-length gloves and trademark gardenia in her hair. Leaving the show, audience members who are unfamiliar with her contributions to jazz might even question whether the accolades history has bestowed on her are justified. These thoughts were sufficiently disturbing to send this writer surfing the in search of “the real Billie Holiday.” The artist I read about online seemed to bear little resemblance to the obnoxious faded starlet portrayed in Lady Day. The lack of balance in this portrayal of Ms. Holiday leaves an unwarranted black eye on this great artist. Despite her unbalanced portrait of Ms. Holiday, Regina Marie Williams does a superb job capturing the emotional intensity and famed uniqueness of Ms. Holiday’s voice, if not its exact tone quality. A highlight is a soul-stirring rendition of “Strange Fruit,” her classic song about Jim Crow-era lynchings. The song is a fitting conclusion to Ms. Holiday’s account of a racist incident she experienced while touring with Artie Shaw. That story reminds us of the difficult era (the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s) during which she succeeded in establishing herself as an African-American singer with a ground-breaking sound. The enormous obstacles she had to overcome are proof that this lady […]
May 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
A Shot in the Dark
The Boulevard Ensemble closes its 21st anniversary season with a murder-mystery comedy by Harry Kurnitz, adapted from an original French work by Marecl Archard. It’s a fun, well-balanced comedy adeptly directed by the Boulevard’s Mark Bucher. Bucher has assembled a surprisingly good cast for the final show of a memorable 21st season of theatre in Bay View. I believe it was Alistair Cooke who said that a shot in the dark doesn’t take much time. Well, the Boulevard has certainly taken its time in getting to this one, ending its latest season with a production that feels deftly aimed. The talented Joe Fransee holds together the center of the play as Magistrate Paul Sevigne, who is investigating the death of a Spaniard (Cesar Gamino). The action of the play takes place in Sevigne’s office as he interviews people who might’ve been involved in the murder and is aided in this work by Morestan – his chief clerk played by the ample Al Dobyns. Fransee’s charisma goes a long way here, but it’s the timing between Fransee and Dobyns that really pulls together the center of the play. All of the usual mucking about with exposition that goes on in a mystery is made all the more palatable by the interaction of Fransee and Dobyns. In places, they almost seem to be fencing with the dialogue, which isn’t done enough in local theatre. Fransee has a tight, crisp precision to the delivery of his lines that woks well with Dobyns overall affability. The chief suspect in the murder of the Spaniard is his lover: parlor maid Yvette Lantenay, played by Anne Miller. Lantenay was found at the scene of the crime holding the gun that killed the victim just moments after his death. The Spaniard’s last words even implicated her as the murderer. In spite of all the evidence against her, it is clear that Lantenay did not commit the crime and a good portion of the play rests on the audience’s acceptance of this. We must not think for a second that Lantenay is the murderer; otherwise all of Sevigne’s work to find the true murderer would seem remarkably tedious. Here, the casting of Anne Miller is crucial. To her credit, Miller has a sweet, innocent stage presence; it would be very difficult to imagine Miller as a killer. This is staggeringly important, as the same could not be said of every actress in town. Bucher’s choice in casting Miller does wonders for the production. Other notable performances here include Liz Mistelle as Sevigne’s beautiful wife and Jennifer LaPorte as a wealthy lady of high society. The decision to split the play’s three acts with two intermissions would seem a bit indulgent, but so much of the play relies on plot points revealed solely in the dialogue that two intermissions are welcome. Each intermission allows the audience some distance from the plot to turn it around and possibly figure out who the actual killer is. Bucher and company keep the […]
May 1st, 2007 by Russ Bickerstaff
