Category: The Shaker

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

 

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.