Category: The Shaker

By Mike “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant

There’s a classic trope of a girl being harassed by the villain only to be saved by the plucky can-do do-gooder. Here in Eric Rockwell and Joanne Bogart’s “The Musical of Musicals – the Musical” we are served the same plot five different ways, each through a stylings of five different famous Broadway songwriters, composers or teams such as Rodgers & Hammerstein (“Oklahoma!,” “Sound of Music” and “The King and I”), Sondheim (“Into the Woods,” “Sweeney Todd” and “Company”), Jerry Herman (“Mame,” “Hello Dolly” and “La Cage aux Folles”), Andrew Lloyd Webber (“Cats,” “Phantom of the Opera” and “Evita”)and Kander & Ebb (“Chicago” and “Cabaret”).

The plot doesn’t really matter. It’s more a musical revue than straight story. It doesn’t even seem to matter to Rockwell or Bogart as long as they get to tell their corny jokes. Don’t worry if you miss one or two, they will be glad to point at the jokes and pound them home. With a sledgehammer.  They’ll even tell you when it’s time to applaud.

Greg Coffin pulled off a similar schtick with a brilliant, little cabaret show called “Five Course Love.” Only fewer cast members. It was also far superior to “The Musical of Musicals – the Musical.”

If anyone could make this schlocky show work it would be Robyne Parrish. The director is also part of the ensemble. She may be the best reason to go to Carnegie. She shines every time she’s on stage. Parrish is charismatic and engaging, and the only one to effectively land some leaden jokes. She’s the Sully Sullenberger of musical comedy. She has the je ne sai quoi of Lucille Ball, Eve Arden and Rosalind Russell, elegant and hilarious. She’s a joy to watch.

Let’s also doff our over-sized prop cap to Elizabeth Boyke and Brittany Graham, who do some excellent work here. It’s a shame there wasn’t more for them to do.

Some songs work much better than others. There’s a hilarious send up of “He had it coming” from “Chicago,” and a laugh out loud “Phantom of the Opera” number. However, the opening number took “Oh what a beautiful morning,” and turned it into “Corn!”  Gordon MacRae is still spinning around in his grave after the opening night performance.

While most of the lyrics are painfully punny, the music itself is beautiful. The songs are magnificently rendered by Musical Director Nancy Gordon Galluzzo on the piano. She masters each musical style with panache.

Discerning audiences have come to expect a lot of the Off the Wall Productions at the Carnegie Stage. “The Musical of Musicals – the Musical” is the kind of pablum you’d get from a lesser theater company. Off the Wall is known for edgier, envelope-pushing material, but “The Musical of Musicals – the Musical” panders to the lowest common denominator. It wasn’t off the wall…it was in your face, and, worse, it was right smack in the middle of the road. It was never offensive, challenging or, for that matter, interesting.

To be fair, I was one of a handful of people in the audience staring back at the actors like an Easter Island Idol on a sold-out opening night; the rest of the crowd was roaring with laughter. “The Musical of Musicals – the Musical” will likely become a huge box office success, and the Off the Wall gang can laugh all the way to the bank. It is my fondest wish that the company won’t redirect their mission to accommodate a low brow audience who needs to have a joke handed to them. Give me “Stop/Kiss,” “Tunnel Vision,” “Or,” or “Well” any day. I’d also take the locally produced sketch comedy troupe, the Harvey Wallbangers, over “M of M – the M” any day.

Luckily, Off the Wall Productions recently announced 2016-2017 season, and it looks like it will put them back on track with thought-provoking material with playwrights such as the Sarah Kane (“4.48 Psychosis”), Lydia Stryk (“An Accident”) and Duncan MacMillan (“Lungs”).

 (Off the Wall Productions of “The Musical of Musicals – the Musical” runs till May 21^st at the Carnegie Stage, 25 W. Main Street, Carnegie, PA 15106)  

STAGE 62 presents: Assassins

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim ; Book by John Weidman

Assassins lays bare the lives of nine individuals who assassinated or tried to assassinate the President of the United States, in a one-act historical “revusical” that explores the dark side of the American experience. From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, writers Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman bend the rules of time and space, taking us on a nightmarish roller coaster ride in which assassins and would-be assassins from different historical periods meet, interact and inspire each other to harrowing acts in the name of the American Dream.

Dates:

Thu. to Sat. May 12-14 and 19-21 at 8 pm
Sun. Matinees May 15 and 22 at 2 pm

Tickets:

Adults: $20
Students/Seniors: $15 Order by calling 412 429-6262 or online at www.stage62.com

Location:

Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall
Music Hall
300 Beechwood Avenue
Carnegie, PA 15106

By Mike “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant

It’s mayhem in the mind of Truman Capote (Eddie Korbich) in Jay Presson Allen’s one man show, “Tru.” Capote was shorter than average but larger than life, and the play captures a particular era; Christmas eve 1975 shortly after a chapter of his promised masterpiece “Answered Prayers” was released in an issue of Esquire. It was a moment in mid-November which turned the social butterfly into a social pariah.

The infamous chapter drops a dime on his harem of swans; his ladies who lunch with kings and queens including Lady Slim Keith, Babe Paley (wife of CBS mogul William S. Paley) and Gloria Vanderbilt. The glossy magazine pages of Esquire went nuclear, exploding throughout New York society.  It was Capote’s social suicide, committed in print. Death by Underwood.

The play grapples with the loss of Capote’s famous friendships, but hits the major tenants of his life; he lived on books, gossip and alcohol. He loved to disco. He loved to party. He talks openly about his homosexuality, and his peccadillos (though it’s not dirty or smutty, leave the kids at home). The play posits the question was he the bully or the victim or both?

One man shows are hard. You have to keep the audience engaged for the entire time with few interruptions. Korbich managed aptly. There are visceral moments when the play packs a deep, emotional gut punch. The wallop hits hard at some universal fears for single audience members, “Will anyone love me,” and “Will I die alone?”

Capote had a slow, sly way of talking. While Korbich mimics his unusually shrill voice, it’s a clocking in at too many RPMs. In the actor and director’s defense, had he been speaking at Capote speed it would have added thirty extra minutes to the show. Director Ted Pappas lets the bon mots fly with precision.

James Noone’s set is impeccable, replete with tasteful furnishings, a stunning view of New York, and a bright, beautiful Christmas tree. There is a table filled with paperweights and snow globes, provided by the Pittsburgh Glass Center and a plethora of donors. It cries out to be examined. You’ll want to pick up each one and marvel in its artistry (try, at the very least, to sit in the first few rows to see them as closely as you can).

Allen’s script wanders a bit, but, as with all biographies,  some parts are just less interesting than others. There are, however, some genuinely funny moments, and some genuinely sad ones. The problem is that Capote is not the most likeable man, but it’s easy to pity him. It’s just not easy to love a play about a pitiable man. However the story is thought-provoking and emotionally gripping. “Tru” is like a raw garlic, it’s powerful, biting, and it stays with you long afterward. Some may find it a little off-putting, but it can really spice up your evening. If you’re looking for an evening of insight into one of the world’s most famous celebrity authors, see “Tru.” If you’re looking for a few laughs, this is also the play for you. It’s funny because it’s Tru.

“Tru” runs till May 22 at the O’Reilly Theatre, 621 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information, click here.

– MB

By Mike “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant.

“Wire blier, limber lock, three geese in a flock, one flew east, one flew west, one flew over the cuckoo’s nest…O-U-T- spells out…goose swoops down and plucks you out!”

When McMurphy (Patrick Jordan), a felon with a wild streak, decides he’d rather finish out the rest of his sentence at a mental institution instead of a prison farm (read: labor camp), he pretends to be the bull goose looney of looney town, feigning mental illness to avoid the grueling work down on the farm in Dale Wasserman’s adaptation of the Ken Kesey’s novel “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

Unfortunately the career criminal hadn’t counted on battling against Nurse Ratched (Kim Parker Green), who hides an iron fist underneath her surgical glove. Ratched rules with intimidation, humiliation, and reverse psychology, and McMurphy’s obvious charms and colorful language have no effect against the militant martinet.

WATCH/LISTEN: ‘Burgh Vivant’s interview with actress Kimberly Parker Green.

McMurphy quickly tests Ratched’s patience and assumes leadership of her patients. This island misfit toys includes the stuttering Bibbit (Nick Lehane), the fey Harding (Randy Kovitz), the irascible Cheswick (Mark Tierno), the psychotic Scanlon (Dave Mansueto), the hallucinatory Martini (Michael Lane Sullivan) and the monstrous Ruckly (John Gresh). Off in the corner, seemingly oblivious to the insanity around him stands a mountain of a man, Chief Bromden (Leandro Cano).

Bromden is said to be deaf and dumb, but he sees and hears things more acutely than the other inmates of the asylum. He waxes philosophical with poetic soliloquies about the “Black Machine,” or rather the institution itself. They are brutal orations filled with truth, or the truth as he sees it. According to Bromden,“There’s a lot of things that are true, even if they didn’t happen.”

Side note: The towering Native American has a quirky attribute; a penchant for Juicy Fruit gum.

The uncivil war between McMurphy and Ratched escalates when McMurphy wins Bromden to his side. The play hurtles ever forward to the inevitable and destructive climax. Foreknowledge of the movie or earlier productions notwithstanding, you will find no spoilers here. Let’s just say, one goose is plucked O-U-T and the other goose is… cooked.

McMurphy is frenzied, bold and brash, but he’s tempered by Bromden, who is thoughtful, powerful and quiet. The juxtaposition is very effective with leads Cano and Jordan. They are riveting on stage, together  or alone. Both are charismatic in shockingly different ways (no pun intended).

Parker Green plays Ratched with a subtle undercurrent of roiling rage. It’s a softer, friendlier performance than the one that won Louise Fletcher an Academy Award in 1975, but make no mistake, this Ratched is just as merciless, just as malevolent.

The rest of the ensemble hands in some stellar performances, especially Lehane’s Bibbit. The stammering Bibbit is a Babbitt, who conforms to the nurse’s megalomaniacal rule, until McMurphy brings the boy out of his stuttering shell. Shout out to Gresh, who plays Ruckly with a Frankensteinian ferocity. Special mention to Wali Jamal, Erika Strasberg  and Magan Yantko who loom large in small roles, in the play’s vernacular, “they are as big as damn mountains.”

Director Melissa Martin keeps the action kinetic and frenetic on the grim, glum ward floor, masterfully rendered by Scenic Designer Tony Ferrieri, complemented by Andrew Ostrowski’s moody lighting and David Bjornson’s creepy sound design.

Though it’s from the barebones productions crew, there’s nothing bare bones about it. It’s an all-star cast, with an exquisite set, immaculate lighting, lugubrious music and iridescent pyrotechnics, but don’t hold that against barebones productions. “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is crazy good.

“One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is at the New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15212. For more information, click here.

– MB