Author: VivantAdmin

By Michael Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant.

After all this time, Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist,” originally published in monthly installments in the Magazine Bentley’s Miscellany from February 1837 to April 1839, is still all the rage. Rage, indeed. The tale is dark, twisted and rife with rage. Lots and lots of rage.

When an orphan boy, Oliver (Will Sendera), begs for a second bowl of gruel from the parish beadle Mr. Bumble (David Cabot), he is cast out of the workhouse and has a series of misfortunate events that would make Lemony Snicket sigh in desperation.

Eventually he runs away to London and meets up with the Artful Dodger (Simon Colker), Charley Bates (Lance Wilhelm) and the band of misfit pickpockets under the care of Fagin (James FitzGerald). Fagin instructs Oliver in their devious ways, but on his first assignment watching Dodger and Bates pick pockets, Oliver gets nabbed by Mr. Brownlow (Martin Giles).

Brownlow realizes Oliver is innocent and decides to give him food and shelter, but Fagin fears Oliver will ‘peach’ him (snitch in modern vernacular). Fagin asks for help from Bill Sikes (a very scary Tony Bingham) and Nancy (Karen Baum) to aid him in recovering Oliver. Things go sideways pretty quickly, and not everyone gets a happy ending.

“Oliver Twist” is not to be confused with the musical “Oliver!” that recounts the same tale with song and dance, however, when Dodger makes his first appearance, it’s hard not to start humming “Consider Yourself” in your head.

Alan Stanford adapted this version for the stage and also directs. Dickens writes merciless satire on the Poor laws of the time. Orphans were cast adrift, unwanted and treated badly. They were treated as if their situation was their fault. The story remains relevant. Imagine Oliver as a Syrian refugee or the child of an illegal Mexican immigrant and there would be very few rewrites needed. There’s a disturbing parallel. The serialized story, the play and the musical are all about hope, though. Dickens knew that kindness and charity were some of man’s best qualities. He went to the darkest depths to shine the light bright.

PICT Classic Theatre’s usual suspects are in fine form here with excellent performances from FitzGerald, Giles, Cabot, Baum and Bingham. The surprise is that many of the younger actors are equally brilliant. Sendera deftly portrays the lost parish boy, Oliver. The kid has a star quality.

Fagin’s gang handed in some fine performances as well, especially Colker’s Dodger and Wilhelm’s Bates. Let’s doff our caps to PICT players Ken Bolden, Linda Froelich, Parag S. Gohel, Bridget Connors and Dylan Marquis Meyers for very good performances in smaller roles.

Scenic Designer Johnmichael Bohach makes a grand use of very few materials. In the words of Cosmo Kramer, “It’s all about the levels.” There are very credible looking costumes from Costume Designer Joan Markert.

“Oliver Twist” runs until December 19 at the Charity Randall Theatre, inside the Stephen Foster Memorial, 4301 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. For more information, click here.

– MB

By Michael “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant.

Bricolage Producing Artistic Director Tami Dixon takes Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” stuffs it with mashed potatoes and rolls it into a pierogi in her outrageous Midnight Radio production of “Yinz’r Scrooged,” a version of the classic Christmas tale in Pittsburghese.

Fans of the Midnight Radio series are sure to enjoy this skewered Scrooge. If you haven’t heard of Midnight Radio we need to get you up to speed: Midnight radio is not on the radio and it does not start at midnight. The shows are produced with an old-timey radio bluster, replete with Foley artist sound effects and campy commercials. Listen carefully to the Pittsburgh Directional Translation app. It’s hilarious.

The show sticks closely to the Scrooge story with a decidedly Pittsburgh twist. In this tale everyone pitches in and plays a variety of offbeat characters doing multiple voices and a series of vocal aerobics. Ebenezer Scrooge (with a slight name variation) is played by Howard Elson. Lissa Brennan is Cratchit (sort of) and her sweet, but sickly child is played by Connor McCanlus (McCanlus also plays Young Ebenezer). The ghosts of Christmas are local legends, expertly voiced by Michael McBurney and Sheila McKenna.

Spoilers ahead.

Fred Rogers is the ghost of Christmas Past, taking Ebenezer on a trolley ride (naturally) to his childhood. McBurney’s impression is delightful. If you close your eyes you could almost see the familiar red-sweater and tennis shoes on the popular Pittsburgh icon. The band, comprised of musical director James Rushin, guitarist George Elliot and clarinetist Kira Bokalders (the Bah Humbugs), literally chimes in with the familiar tune that used to take us back and forth from Make-Believe.

Mayor Sophie Masloff rears her Babushka wrapped head as the Ghost of Christmas Present. You could swear that the squeaky-voiced diminutive mayor was in the room with you, thanks to McKenna’s rendition. None of the impressions are subtle but they are sublime.

The cast is brilliant. With three Equity actors in the cast it’s almost expected, but McBurney and Brennan deftly keep up with their talented union brothers and sister.

Sam Turich directs this laugh-out-loud production. The show is a brisk, hilarious and… strangely heartfelt. After all, the original yarn is about giving back. In the spirit of the story, Bricolage is collecting donations, food and art supplies to various charities. When you go, bring stuff! You don’t want to have the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future haunting you. Of course, if it was the cast of Bricolage’s “Yinz’r Scrooged” you might. Bring stuff anyway.

The Bricolage is downtown at 937 Liberty Avenue (First Floor), Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information about the show, click here

– MB

By Mike “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant.

When Frank (Patrick Jordan) gathers his childhood friends Packie (Gabe King) and Swaino (Brendan Griffin) for a drink in his shop, he’s got more on his mind than emptying the bottle of Johnny Walker Blue in John Pollono’s dark comedy, “Small Engine Repair.”

Frank lures Packie and Swaino to his independent small engine repair shop in Manchester, New Hampshire under false pretenses.  Frank is clearly the alpha dog in his pack. It seems he’s brought the two friends together to repair an ancient rift between his two besties; a ridiculous kerfuffle over a pack of cough drops.

Packie is unemployed sad-sack who lives in his grandmother’s basement. Swaino works in a warehouse, but parties like a playboy. He contends that the secret to his youthful appearance is sleeping with younger women. He insists, “Don’t date ‘em over 26.”  He struts and preens all over the garage.

Frank, however, has issues of his own. He’s a divorced dad with a high school age daughter named Crystal. He also has some deep-seated anger management issues.

The old friends hilariously bicker, joke and cajole one another like old friends often do, but then the story takes an ominous turn when Chad (Casey Cott) walks in.  Chad believes he’s there to sell the older guys Ecstasy. Chad recants a story about his shenanigans at his fraternity and suddenly the plot twists and turns in a frightening way.

A wry wink at modern technology throws an unexpected wrench (pun intended) into the inner workings into “Small Engine.”

Director Richard Keitel does excellent work with very talented actors. He skillfully moves the actors around the grimy garage.

Griffin, straight from his run as a disturbed Kenneth in City Theatre’s “A Night Alive,” is the voice of reason in this psychodrama (emphasis on psycho).  He tosses around utterly vulgar dialogue as if each dirty word was a Wildean bon mot. There’s a great moment when Griffin transforms from cock of the walk to chicken and the transition is seamless and hilarious.

Meanwhile, King is endowed with all the attributes that make him perfect to play Packie (a you-had-to-be-there pun).

Cott’s Chad is a smaller but equally important role. He gives off the perfect preppie vibe, and it’s easy to feel the terror in his heart when his life is threatened later in the play.

Jordan’s rage-fueled Frank is terrific. The actor wore many additional hats. He is also the creative director, set and costume designer.  He exceeds in each endeavor. The cast is appropriately attired, especially Jordan in grease monkey overalls and Cott in Izod and chinos. The set is reminiscent of every small business repair shop.

Even though cyberbullying and misogyny are integral aspects of the plot, Pollono wrote a show for an all white, all male cast.  It would be nice to have some more diversity, especially in Braddock. But it’s a rare show that can make you laugh hysterically, terrify you, and bring you back to laughter two minutes later. “Small Engine Repair” is firing on all pistons.

“Small Engine Repair” runs through December 6 at the barebones black box theater at 1215 Braddock Avenue, Braddock, PA 15104. For more information, click here.

– MB

by Mike “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant.

There’s a lot going on in Carlo Goldoni’s “A Servant of Two Masters.” It’s a big, bold plot for a comedy. The 18^th century play was adapted in 1999 by Lee Hall and it has a few modern twists, but the plot remains the same.

Pantaloon (Bill Buell) has promised his daughter, Clarice (Erin Lindsey Krom), to wed Federigo, but when Federigo dies in a duel, she is free to marry her true love, Silvio (Patrick Cannon). Unfortunately, the dead Federigo shows up to make a claim for the money Pantaloon owes him, part of that agreed sum includes Clarice. However, Federigo is not really Federigo. He is Beatrice (Jessica Wortham) in the guise of her dead brother. She seeks the fortune and her lost love, Florindo (David Whalen).

Meanwhile, Truffaldino (Jimmy Kieffer) has a pretty simple plan: become the servant of two masters, double his pay and feed his face…twice as often. Things go wrong almost immediately since his two masters are Beatrice and Florindo. He’s working extra hard to keep them from meeting because he wants to keep both paychecks.  Both Beatrice and Florindo are staying at the same inn, owed by Brighella (Bob Walton). Obviously things go awry pretty quickly for Truffaldino because he can’t keep his masters straight. He mixes up his duties for one with chores for the other.

At Pantaloon’s house, Truffaldino falls for Pantaloon’s maid, Smeraldina (Daina Michelle Griffith). Of course, there are several additional complications. It’s a long, circuitous route to the happy ending, but you know they’re going to get there eventually, even though the play starts with Beatrice’s lover murdering her brother. Family reunions are going to be awkward. Imagine going to Thanksgiving at their house!

There’s a lot of satire and silliness in the play, and the slapstick is played out with a cartoonish flair. The violence is punctuated with sound effects straight from the Looney Tunes vault.

It’s clear to see the actors are having the time of their lives up on stage. Who could blame them? They get prance, preen, scream, shout, punch, gouge and make a plethora of silly faces. It’s more than a little over the top. They took over the top to Pluto.

When it works it’s brilliant. Wortham is terrific as a woman pretending to be a man.

One of the best moments of the play comes from Griffith’s Smeraldina. To call it a feminist rant would only belittle it. It was a moment of female empowerment and it was joyous, marvelously preformed by the recent winner of The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Carol R. Brown Award for Creative Achievement.

Ted Pappas directs it big and broad, giving everyone a moment to chew the scenery. The audience was eating it up.

Buell’s voice has the right amount of rasp to be humorous and not annoying.

When Clarice believes her marriage to Silvio is doomed, she wails to comic effect. Krom pours it on like she was in a Carol Burnett sketch. Similarly, Cannon pouts and moans to equal measure, and Whalen contorted his face in odd shapes and patterns.

Even though it’s a show about a group of Italians, Keiffer has a Cockney accent. It’s an odd and distracting choice, but it takes the show from sitcom to Britcom.

James Noone’s scenic design accentuated the cartoonish feel of the production. Costume designer Amy Clark adorns the cast in amazing apparel.

It’s a very stylized play and that will appeal to slapstick lovers.

“A Servant of Two Masters” runs to December 6 at the O’Reilly Theater, 621 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information, click here. 

– MB

by Mike “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant.

Huzzah! A rare theatrical event has taken place. There is an August Wilson play at the August Wilson Center, and its breathing new life into the iconic building.  Ironically, “ The Piano Lesson” is about the value of something long-unused, an item of importance that lay fallow.

When Willie Boy (Wali Jamal) heads north to visit his sister Berniece (Karla C. Payne) in her Hill District home, all hell (figuratively and literally) breaks loose. He and his friend Lymon (Monteze Freeland) cause a ruckus, the first of many, when they enter the house at five in the morning.

Willie Boy’s uncle Doaker (Kevin Brown) receives him warmly, but his sister Berniece does not. She knows he’s scheming something, and she can’t wait to be rid of him. It doesn’t take too long to reveal that Willie Boy wants to sell the family piano so he can buy a piece of land in the South.

The piano has historical significance to their family, and Berniece has a love/hate relationship with the wooden heirloom. Each ivory key resonates with the pain of past suffering. Doaker doesn’t take sides in the family disagreement, but he explains the macabre history of the device. He simply says, “Ain’t nobody said nothing about who’s right and who’s wrong. I was just telling the man about the piano. I was telling him why we say Berniece ain’t gonna sell it.”

Meanwhile, Doaker gets a visit from his brother Wining Boy (Garbie Dukes), a musician and gambler. Berniece is courted by a novice preacher, Avery (Edwin Lee Gibson), while mourning the death of her husband and tending to her daughter Maretha (alternately played by Trysta Miri Lei Fields and Nia Woodson). In an additional subplot, Willie Boy and Lyman vie for the affections of Grace (Brenda Marks). There’s an unseen presence in the story as well.

Wilson’s play won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1990. It also won the New York Drama Critic’s Circle Award, Drama Desk and a Tony for Best play that same year. “Piano Lesson” packs quite a punch. It’s a humorous drama with some metaphysical overtones. It’s a lyrical, beautiful play. Though, it is a bit long and there are a few moments of repetitive dialogue, particularly the roundabout over the upright.

Mark Clayton Southers returns to the director’s chair, after an extended stay in the hospital from complications from a car crash. He picked some of the best actors on the Pittsburgh stage to join him in this new collaboration between the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre. Everyone hands in stellar performances, and the air in the August Wilson Center was electric, palpable.

Jamal shines as the desperate and devious sharecropper. Though he had some opening night jitters, Jamal handed in a terrific performance. It’s no small feat. The role has been performed by heavyweights Samuel L. Jackson and Charles S. Dutton.

Payne does a marvelous job. Being a widowed, black woman in 1930s Pittsburgh isn’t an easy task, but her character carries the weight of it without making it a burden. When she’s delivering a speech, it’s easy to forget where Berniece ends and Payne begins.

The final scene thrusts the play forward like a freight train (actually, just like a freight train), and the family learns to love and respect one another, if only for a little while longer. It’s a surreal moment in a very real play, but it works here.

Scenic Designer Tony Ferrieri does another splendid job. This time he’s recreating the feel and texture of a 1930s Hill District home, which was perfectly complemented by Cheryl Walker’s costumes.

“The Piano Lesson” asks, “What do you do with your legacy, and how do you best put it to use?” Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust know the answer that question. The August Wilson Center is back, and Pittsburgh is richer for it.

“The Piano Lesson” runs November 13-15 and 19-21 at the August Wilson Center. For more information, click here.

– MB