Author: VivantAdmin

by Mike “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant.

 

When smarmy Reverend Parris (Jason Michael Swauger) discovers an unnatural celebration in the forest, all hell (figuratively and literally) breaks loose in Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.”

Island woman Tituba (Linda Haston) and a circle of female friends, including Abigail Williams (Adrianne Knapp), Betty Parris (Grace Vensel) and Mary Warren (Maighread Southard-Wray) are suspected of conjuring evil spirits, putting them in league with the devil. No one knows what really occurred in the woods on that fateful night, but town officials are determined to get to the bottom of it.

To save herself, Tituba concocts an elaborate story about colluding with the devil. She begs for mercy and comes to salvation. Reverend Parris and the visiting Reverend Hale (George Saulnier) are satisfied with her confession, but Abigail learns from her.  She decides to conspire against her enemies by also coming to God and accusing others of witchcraft. One lone voice of reason, John Proctor (Jason Spider Matthews), isn’t having any of her hogwash.

Accusations fly and the Salem Witch Trails begin. Thomas Putnam (Parag S. Gohel) learns how to profit from the proceedings, grabbing up land of from his hanged neighbors. Proctor and his wife, Elizabeth (Joanna Lowe), remain strong. Because they can see through the insidious plans of the other townspeople, it’s not long before they stand accused.

As the trials play out, a Pandora’s Box full of secrets spill out. Miraculously, some secrets are even pushed back in, denied as the truth or ignored.

“The Crucible” is Arthur Miller’s treatise on the McCarthy Communism trials which befell the nation as the play was first published. The story is about how unfettered accusations can bring down a people, a nation and, probably, a planet. With the NSA and a multitude of national political debates and a Pennsylvania state government that has been pointing fingers at one another, we don’t seem to have evolved very far. The allegory stands.

However, Miller’s play is more histrionic than historic.  There are several shouting matches that seem to go on for far too long. Prime Stage cut almost an hour out of the play and it still seems lengthy.

The play starts with shrieking. The volume starts high and has nowhere to go. Also, the ensemble of girls seems to be excessive. Three or four would do, but there are at least a dozen on the stage, crying, screaming, and shouting. Though in Pulitzer Prize winning author Stacy Schiff’s new book, “The Witches: Salem 1692,” mentions that the court reporters were unable to hear the actual proceedings due to shouting. One woman even threw an apple at the accused.

This performance is a bit muddled, but there are some stand out performances. Haston’s Tituba is only on stage for a short time, but she makes the most of her brief appearance.

Elizabeth Proctor is a difficult character to play. Her character is the moral center, but she also dishes out plenty of moral indignity. She can come off as a shrill and demanding, but Lowe’s turn as Elizabeth is silky smooth. Her performance is nuanced.

Knapp’s portrayal of Abigail is very well done.  You can see her devious, mischievous nature behind her eyes. Southard-Wray’s Mary Warren is another skillful performance that needs to be mentioned.

Sualnier does an admirable job as the Reverend Hale. It takes a while for his character to achieve his arc, but it’s easy to sympathize with him as the truth washes over him like a bitter baptism.

The set is a masterpiece by Jonmichael Bohach. Imagine Superman’s crystalline Fortress of Solitude transformed into wood, with jagged wooden pylons jutting upward toward the heavens. It’s a stark, rustic temple of lumber, with eerie mood lighting from J. R. Shaw.

Though the “The Crucible,” has some faults, it is an important allegory. Philosopher and poet George Santayana once said, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Every time we judge another, we are condemning our society. Luckily, Prime Stage is offering several high school matinees of the play. Maybe future generations will finally learn the lesson.

– MB

“The Crucible” runs till November 8, 2015 at the New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, Pittsburgh, PA 15212. For more information, click here. 

 

City Theatre continues its season with the Pittsburgh premiere of Sunset Baby in the Hamburg Studio, November 7 – December 13, 2015. The play is written by Dominique Morisseau and is directed by Jade King Carroll.

The New York Times called Sunset Baby “a smart and bracing new play about two generations of urban outlaws struggling to stay afloat.”

The play follows Nina, a smart and sexy hustler who has rejected everything her parents fought for in the black liberation movement.  When her estranged father wants to reconcile—but then tries to run a hustle of his own—negotiating her past and present becomes a revolutionary act.  From one of the most exciting young voices in the American theatre, this dynamic new play about fathers and daughters sears with wit and wisdom and the brutal politics of freedom.

 “I am always drawn to the words and worlds that Dominique Morisseau creates,” says director Jade King Carroll. “I was particularly drawn to Sunset Baby because this play deals with legacy, love, and self-realization in such an unexpected way. The scope of these characters is so boundless—Dominique allows us to experience all of their many facets: their pain, their danger, their love, their brutality, and their joy. I’m also delighted to be back in Pittsburgh, a city that I love, and it is an honor to be working at City Theatre. I have admired City for many years and now that I’m finally working here it feels like home.”

Jade King Carroll recently served as Associate Director of The Gin Game on Broadway, directed by Leonard Foglia and starring Cicely Tyson and James Earl Jones. She will direct August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson at the McCarter Theatre in January 2016.  Playwright Dominique Morisseau is an alumnus of the Public Theater Emerging Writer’s Group and two-time recipient of the NAACP Image Award. Her 3-play cycle, entitled “The Detroit Projects” include Detroit ’67, Paradise Blue, and Skeleton Crew. Paradise Blue premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in July 2015, starring Blair Underwood and directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson.

Sunset Baby marks the City Theatre debuts of actors Joniece Abbott-Pratt, J. Alphonse Nicholson, and Keith Randolph Smith. The creative team includes Tony Ferrieri (scenic design), Andrew David Ostrowski (lighting design), Angela M. Vesco (costume design), Joe Pino (sound design), and Calleri Casting (casting).

New community partnerships for Sunset Baby include Kente Arts Alliance and Vibrant Pittsburgh. Partner 1Hood Media will host a post-show discussion, “What We Do for Love: Black Mothers & Their Daughters,” following the Wednesday, December 2 performance. In partnership with Pittsburgh Filmmakers, the documentary The Amazing Nina Simone will be screening as part of the Three Rivers Film Festival on Saturday, November 7 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 8 at 2:00 p.m. City Theatre is also partnering with The Alumni Theatre Company and other youth groups to provide subsidized student tickets to select performances.

 

PREVIEWS: November 7-12

Starting with Sunset Baby, City Theatre’s Director of New Play Development, Clare Drobot, and the artistic staff will host a pre-show discussion at every preview performance. Audiences can ask questions about Sunset Baby, play development, and City Theatre’s history in an informal setting.

OPENING NIGHT:

Friday, November 13 at 8:00 p.m.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: November 7-December 13

Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m.

Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m. (November 18 and December 2 only)

Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00 p.m.

Saturdays at 5:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.

Sundays at 2:00 p.m.

Note: There will be no performances on Wednesday, November 25 or Thursday, November 26.

SPECIAL EVENTS:

Sipping Sunday – November 8 at 7:00 p.m.

Sunday Talkbacks – November 15 and 22, following the 2:00 p.m. performance.

Greenroom Young Professionals Night – December 4. Includes a post-show performance by Pittsburgh-based spoken word artist Leslie “Ezra” Smith.

Pay What You Want  and City Salons – November 21 and December 5 at 9:00 p.m. Bar will remain open after the performance for a late-night salon with City’s artistic staff.

ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCE DATES:
ASL Interpretation – December 1, 7:00 p.m.

Open Captioning and Audio Description – December 13, 2:00 p.m.

 

WHERE:

City Theatre, 1300 Bingham Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203 (South Side)

BOX OFFICE:

412.431.CITY (2489) or citytheatrecompany.org

TICKETS:

$36 to $56

All shows are general admission.

 

DISCOUNTS:

Audiences under 30 may reserve $15 tickets in advance for all performances except Fridays 8:00 p.m. and Saturdays 5:30 p.m. On Fridays and Saturdays, rush tickets are available two hours prior to show time and based on availability. A limited number of Pay-What-You-Want tickets will be available two hours before the Saturday, November 21st and December 5th performances. Please call the box office in advance to check on availability. Mention “Pay-What-You-Want” pricing when purchasing. Seniors age 62 and older may purchase $22 rush tickets at the Box Office beginning two hours before show time. Based on availability. Groups of 10 or more are eligible for discounts – contact Joel Ambrose at 412.431.4400 x286.

City Theatre is now in its 41st season. Located on Pittsburgh’s historic South Side, City Theatre specializes in new plays, commissioning and producing work by playwrights including Daniel Beaty, Jessica Dickey, Christopher Durang, Michael Hollinger, Willy Holtzman, Tarell McCraney, and Madeleine George. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Tracy Brigden, Managing Director James McNeel, and a 37-member Board of Directors, City Theatre’s mission is to provide an artistic home for the development and production of contemporary plays of substance and ideas that engage and challenge a diverse audience.  CityTheatreCompany.org

Quantum Theatre, known for its groundbreaking, peripatetic approach, presents the second in a season celebrating 25 years of making work in Pittsburgh: Chickens in the Yard.

The company has welcomed the Hatch Arts Collective (director Adil Mansoor, writer Paul Kruse, and producer Nicole Shero) into the Quantum laboratory to create this innovative play, and is pleased to introduce them to its audience.

Chickens in the Yard tells the story of a family through the eyes of their four chickens. Set in Pittsburgh, it offers a Rubik’s Cube of struggling individuals and fragile couples, whose relationships gel into surprising strength. The play explores what a gay identity means for two people journeying from the families that raised them to the family they choose to create together.

Javo Studios in Lawrenceville provides the coop, with designers Britton Mauk (scenic), Patrick Hayes (lighting), Jenn Gooch (costume), and David Bielewicz (sound). Starring: Laurie Klatscher, Siovhan Christensen, Joseph McGranaghan, and Alec Silberblatt, with original music performed live by Morgan Erina and Ginger Brooks Takahashi.

Founded in 2012, Hatch Arts Collective is a multidisciplinary theater organization based in Pittsburgh, PA. Hatch gathers artist communities to create performance and media-based work. Chickens in the Yard premiered in June 2013. Hatch also produced two collaborative theater–making intensives, and Walldogs, an evening-length play which premiered in August 2014.

 

PITTSBURGH, PA – Future Ten is an annual play festival featuring the world premiere of six 10-minute plays. In its twelfth year, the production is directed by Brett Sullivan Santry and stars a troupe of seven established and emerging actors – Adrienne Lotto, Stephanie Ramos, Nick Benninger, Dan Bisbee, Andy Coleman, Ethan Crystal and John Teresi, all from the Pittsburgh area.

The six selected plays for Future Ten 10 are:

Getting The Job

Seven Minutes in Heaven

Kicking

No One Wants to Admit They’re a Hipster

Be That As It May

Don’t You Forget About Me

All six 10-minute plays will be performed at Future Tenant from November 6th to November 15th. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at F1012.brownpapertickets.com, or at the door on the night of the show. Free drinks will be provided.

Future Tenant’s mission is to provide a laboratory setting for artists, arts managers, and audiences to explore the limits of the creative expression, presentation, and interpretation of various art forms. Future Tenant was founded in 2002 as an initiative of Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Fine Arts and Carnegie Mellon’s Master of Arts Management program, with the collaboration of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

 

 

By Mike “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant.

A sad-faced orphan sings for his supper in the classic Charles Dickens tale, “Oliver!”  in Lionel Bart’s musical version presented by the students of the Richard E. Rauh Conservatory, backed by the talented CAPA Orchestra (with additional roles filled out by the professional artists of Pittsburgh Musical Theater).

When a workhouse boy, Oliver (Benjamin Godley Fisher), dares to ask for a second helping of gruel, his caretaker Mr. Bumble (Sky Bennett) decides the troublemaker must be removed from the premises. He doesn’t just kick him to the curb, but, instead, sells him to a local undertaker, Mr. Sowerberry (Brady David Patsy).  The situation at the funeral parlor is bleak. Soon, Oliver is on the street. The young boy is starving for sustenance and affection.

While moping on the corner, Oliver has a chance encounter with a masterful young pickpocket, the Artful Dodger (Brecken Farrell). Dodger invites Oliver to to meet Fagin (Nathan Sudie) and the other boys (a legion of distressed-dressed moppets, both male and female in PMT’s version). Fagin teaches Oliver the local trade, telling him “You’ve got to pick a pocket or two.”

Oliver is out with the Dodger working the streets, freeing gentlemen of their burdensome wallets, but he gets nabbed on his first job, trying to steal from Mr. Brownlow (Nick Cortazzo).

Spoilers: The twist in Oliver Twist’s life, unbeknownst to both perp and victim, is that Brownlow is Oliver’s grandfather.

Meanwhile, Fagin schemes with the murderous Bill Sykes (Rush Hodgin) to get the boy back. Sykes bullies his girlfriend Nancy (Sabrina Picciani) into grabbing Oliver from Brownlow’s posh neighborhood.

But when Nancy decides she wants to return Oliver to Brownlow, all hell breaks loose. Not everyone gets a happy ending. Actually, Nancy’s storyline might be tough for some of the younger audience members. Her occupation and her fate might leave the kids with lots of questions.

For a musical “Oliver!” has a dark, dense plot. To make matters even more confusing some of the roles are double cast or switched out. For example, Sky Bennett and Rush Hodgin swap roles. One night Bennett is Bumble, while Hodgin is Sykes. The following night they pull the old switcheroo (this review will align with the opening night performance). The good news is that both performers were superb in their roles.

Be prepared, Lionel Bart’s lyrics will earworm their way into your brain (“Who will buy this Beautiful Morning” is rattling around in this critic’s brain right now).

The show rests squarely on the shoulders of the actor playing the titular Oliver. It’s an enormous burden for an actor so young, but Godley Fisher is up to the task.

Picciani is luminescent as Nancy. The musical is at its best when she is on stage. Her mellifluous singing voice was one of the show’s highlights. Farrell’s charismatic Dodger was another. Brady Patsy played a the undertaker, Sowerberry. While the role is small (Sowerberry is in two short scenes), his performance is big.

Additionally, Sudie’s Fagin is a lot of fun, chewing up the scenery with a whimsical song and a devious smile.

“Oliver!” is brimming over with scores of characters. There may be a few too many members of the ensemble, overcrowding even the ample Byham stage. However, the show is written with scores of characters, some of them important to the plot and other superfluous. Each of them have a few moments in the spotlight, luckily, under Lisa Elliott’s direction, most of them shine.

– MB

“Oliver!” runs through October 25^th at the Byham Theater, 101 Sixth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information, please click here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Mike “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant.

 

In some undefined, otherworldly labyrinth, two women converge; the rich, rigid Olexzandra (Elizabeth Ruelas) and the peculiar and masculine Jill (Lisa Ann Goldsmith) in Andrea Lepcio’s “Tunnel Vision.” They are deposited in a cavernous room strewn with junk.

Olexzandra begins to build something with a scrap heap of metal, yarn, bits and bobs while Jill scratches at her skin.  As luck would have it, Olexzandra happens to be a dermatologist and Jill happens to have dermatitis.  The two form an uneasy alliance as they attempt to ascertain their whereabouts. The quickly discover that all roads of the labyrinth lead back to the junkyard they now occupy.

They don’t know how it is they came to be where they are. Olexzandra wants to retrace her steps, but then realizes the events leading up to her arrival in the junkyard are too intimate and frightening to recount. Jill is also reluctant to tell her story.

“Tunnel Vision” has a lot of half-spoken conversations. Some of those conversations are directed at the audience. There is an uneasy conceit of the play in which the audience is an active but mute participant in the drama. The characters are aware they are being watched and indirectly try to engage us. It’s a difficult trick to pull off. At one point, Jill poses a question to the audience and they are supposed to respond in a certain way. One couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if someone responded differently.

There is a poetry to the language of the play, but, like poetry, it’s sometimes difficult to understand.  Like poetry, some of the questions of the story remain unanswered.  Though there are a few witty moments, there are also long pauses of silence that are intentionally unbearable. One silent moment worked well. When Olexzandra soothes Jill with her ointment. It is a gentle, loving moment with hints of eroticism. However, when Olexzandra uses surgical tape to repair Jill’s ripped jeans, the moment plays out at an uncomfortably slow pace.

It’s a premiere work and it still has some kinks that need to be worked out. However, Goldsmith and Ruelas are engaging. Jill has some rough edges and could have made the character unlikable, but Goldsmith finds depth in the lost girl. Olexzandra is also a difficult character (her name is Olexzandra, for Heaven’s sake!), but Ruelas finds a sweet vulnerability in the dermatologist.

Director Melissa Maxwell does a fine job peeling back the onion-like layers of “Tunnel Vision.”  Though, Maxwell spends a bit too much time in the aforementioned spaces between the words.

It’s hard to describe what “Tunnel Vision” is. It’s easier to describe what it isn’t. It’s not a ghost story, though there is a ghost story in it. It’s not really a romance, though there are romantic moments. It’s not a horror, even though it places its characters in a horrifying situation (trapped in a labyrinth with no exit). It’s a dichotomous tale wherein the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts. Much like the junkyard setting, there are bits and pieces scattered about, partial ideas, unused concepts, and conversations that linger in the corner.

“Tunnel Vision” takes us on a circuitous route through and around the two characters, but there is hope, a gleaming beacon of hope. Two damaged creatures escape their wretched unfulfilled lives by finding salvation in the other; the light at the end of the tunnel.

“Tunnel Vision” is at the Carnegie Stage, 25 W. Main Street, Carnegie, PA 15106. For more information, click here.

– MB