Category: The Shaker

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

 

PITTSBURGH- Familiar fairy tale characters, and a few new ones, get the musical treatment in Stephen Sondheim’s Tony Award-winning 1986 musical, Into the Woods.

Point Park’s Conservatory Theatre Company presents Into the Woods in the Rockwell Theatre at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, 222 Craft Ave. A preview performance on Thursday, October 15 at 8 p.m. is $12 or Pay-What-You-Want at the door, beginning two hours before curtain, subject to availability. Into the Woods will run Friday, Oct. 16 through Sunday, Oct. 25. Performances start at 8 p.m., Thursdays- Saturdays with matinees at 2 p.m., on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are $12-24 and can be purchased by calling the Pittsburgh Playhouse box office at 412.392.8000, or at www.pittsburghplayhouse.com. Group, senior, and student discounts are available.

Once upon a time… The Baker and his Wife were struggling to put a bun in the oven, so to speak. When the Witch next door reveals the source of their problem, they set out on a journey to reverse the curse. Along the way, they encounter Little Red Ridinghood, Jack, Cinderella, some randy princes, a nefarious wolf, and plenty of other characters who teach them that anything really can happen in the woods. It’s a parable about what we really get when we get what we want, set to a dazzling score by Stephen Sondheim.

Into the Woods debuted at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986 and premiered on Broadway on November 5, 1987, winning several Tony Awards that season, including Best Score, Best Book, and Best Actress in a Musical for Joanna Gleason’s performance. Disney’s film version, directed by Rob Marshall and starring Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep, and Johnny Depp, was released in 2014 and nominated for several Academy Awards, among others. Music and lyrics are by Stephen Sondheim, book is by James Lapine.

Into the Woods is performed by the students of the Conservatory of Performing Arts at Point Park University. Zeva Barzell is director, Camille Villalpando Rolla is music director, scenic design by Britton Mauk, costume design by Cathleen Crocker-Perry, lighting design by Scott Nelson, sound design by Steve Shapiro, projection design by Jessi Sedon-Essad, and Jessica Kate Matthews is stage manager.

Zeva Barzell (Director) is a performer, director, and choreographer. Professional credits include Off-Broadway, regional theater, summer stock, dinner theater, daytime television, industrials and national voiceover work. She holds a B.F.A. from Ithaca College and an M.F.A. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has also trained in London, England and New York City where she resided for many years. She presently serves as musical theatre coordinator for the Point Park University musical theatre program. Proud member of Actor’s Equity Association and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Recognized actor/combatant by the SAFD with Examiners award for excellence in unarmed combat.

by Michael “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant.

Stranded on the roof as the flood waters rise, we find three men, bible-toting Malcolm (Jomo Ray), angry E-Z (Maurice Redwood) and the deceased Lowboy (Sam Lothard) in Beau Willimon’s “Lower Ninth.” The two living men are coming to terms with the death of the third in their own unique ways. Malcolm recites liturgy while E-Z broods impatiently. They are trapped and unable to do much else.

The dead man is the least of their concerns. They don’t know if anyone is coming for them, and they’re not sure they can work together to survive. When the levees broke, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina devastated the Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans. During the deluge, many people climbed onto the roofs of their houses and awaited their fate. Some survived. Some didn’t.

The brisk one-act play is an exploration of God, man and brotherhood set during the flood. P.S. It’s only a matter of time before Malcolm mentions Noah. Though it’s an expected analogy, Willimon steers the ark in a new direction with an interesting take on racism.

There are quite a few laughs in “Lower Ninth,” but it is by no means a comedy, other than in the strictest tradition of the word. For the most part, the playwright is trying to milk every bit of pathos from this unusual circumstance. Deep down, it’s a story of two men and how they perceive each other. Obviously, there is more to their relationship that meets the eye, but telling you that would venture far into spoiler territory.

These men on the roof seem diametrically opposed to one another, and you can’t help wonder how they became entwined, but it gets worked out in a satisfactory way. There’s a really clever bit utilizing Lothard’s talents, but again, redacted for your spoiler-free review.

Willimon’s “Farragut North,” his first major work is far superior to “Lower Ninth,” but the latter title still has its own charm. Also, “Lower Ninth” doles out some meaty roles to a mostly unserved group of actors – – African American men. Unfortunately, one of the characters is a drug dealer feeding a particularly nasty stereotype. Luckily, the other two roles defy stereotypical conventions. There’s a lot more to each of them than the color of their skin.

There is very little to the set and the play hinges on the actors. Director Edwin Lee Gibson keeps everything moving. Ray and Redwood have terrific chemistry together. There is a scene near the end that is shocking, but it brings the two men together in an unexpected way. It’s a deliberate culmination of all that has gone before, and the payoff is more than worth it.

Caravan Theatre of Pittsburgh brought a terrific director and a talented cast together in the beautiful refurbished Elsie Hillman Auditorium in the Hill House.

Ultimately, “Lower Ninth” is about hope, and couldn’t we all use a little more of that in the world?

“Lower Ninth” is at the Elsie Hillman Auditorium, Kaufmann Center, Hill House, 1825 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

 

-MB.

 

 

 

by Mike “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant.

It’s a familiar conceit, a large group of disparate characters converge on a country home for a weekend and soon everything is out of control. It’s become a theatrical trope as old as country homes themselves, such goes the tale of “Dulcy” at the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre. Though it’s a worn device, director Cory Rieger breathes life into it with a terrific cast.

The action swirls around the titular heroine, Dulcy Smith (Melessie Clark) who just loves having company in her upstate abode. Her husband Gordon (LaMar Darnell Fields) is in the throes of a financial dilemma, he must sell off is pearl-making jewelry business to rich entrepreneur C. Roger Forbes (David Crawford). Dulcy decides to invite Forbes, his wife (Gayle Pazerski) and daughter, Angela (Sara Fisher) up to Westchester for the weekend. Then, she invites the Angela’s paramour, film writer Vincent Leach (Corey Rieger), much to the chagrin of Mr. Sterrett (Luke Chamberlain). Also in the house for the weekend are Dulcy’s brother William (Trevor Butler), the charming Schuyler Van Dyck (Matthew Robinson) and the Smith’s butler, Henry (Wali Jamal). Every one of them has their own agenda; the business deal, a pearl necklace and Angela’s attentions are the biggest storylines.

Meanwhile, the charming hostess Dulcy blunders from one scenario to another. If you look closely enough you’ll see the name Lucy hidden inside our heroine’s moniker, and there are a lot of similarities between Dulcy and the zany sitcom character, but, just like every episode of “I Love Lucy,” it all works out in the end. However, the journey to the happy ending is a difficult one, fraught with twists and turns. No spoilers, sweetie.

The main reason to go to this show is the cast, led by Clark. She’s is effervescent, a joy to watch. Actually, scenes without her drag a bit. Granted, the scenes without her are generally expository. She strolls into several set ups and provides the punchlines.

The play is not without flaws. There was a weird anachronism: the modern day cell phone reared its digital head. The story seemed to take place in the 30s or 40s, but with iPhones. They were irrelevant and unnecessary. It seemed odd to mention the Saturday Evening Post in a world with cell phones. Luckily, the Smith’s, the Forbes’s or any of the other houseguests refrained from taking selfies.

On the other hand, Dulcy and her houseguests lived in a colorblind version of the past, and it was a joyous paradise (albeit one laden with oddball situations and screwball hostesses).

There was also a weird moment when newlywed Dulcy was pushing the very-married Mrs. Forbes on her admirer, Mr. Van Dyck, but playwright’s Geroge S. Kaufman (a native Pittsburgher) and Marc Connelly (originally from McKeesport, PA) are no longer around to chastise for this choice (by the way, if you were wondering why a company named the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre were dusting off a George S. Kaufman play, I am assuming the previous sentence provided the answer).

The play has some great performances. Jamal’s disgruntled butler gets a good laugh with every brief appearance. The very-talented Pazerski is underused here, but makes the best of her wispy plot threads. Chamberlain makes the most of the oft-ignored, easily forgotten Mr. Sterrett. Crawford is brilliantly comical as the much-maligned and easily-annoyed Forbes. Rieger chews on the well-appointed scenery as a buffoonish screenwriter with delusions of grandeur.

P.S. Speaking of scenery, Tony Ferreiri is one of the best scenic designers in Pittsburgh. His work on the Playwright’s stage is exceptional. The right color and tone, making grand use of a small space.

Side note: The most emotional moment of the Saturday, September 26^th opening night show was Mark Clayton Southers triumphant return to the theater he founded in 2003. The artistic director, who was sidelined in May after a debilitating car accident, swelled with pride for his cast and crew. His speech even moistened the eyes of the stalwarts of cynicism.

The superb cast and the gorgeous set are great reasons to see “Dulcy.” But go for the man that began it. Go support diversity, home-grown talent and a champion of theater. Go for Mr. Mark Clayton Southers. He’ll be glad you did.

“Dulcy” runs from September 26 to October 11 at the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre, 937 Liberty Avenue, Downtown Pittsburgh, PA 15222

-MB.