'Burgh Vivant

By Michael “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant

Home grown magician Lee Terbosic is performing down at Liberty Magic for an eight-week residency in his new show, “In Plain Sleight.”

Terbosic is a charming, funny Pittsburgher with several tricks up his sleeve. The magician has performed all over the world and just completed filming “Houdini’s Last Secrets” for the Discovery Science Channel.

He opens up his new show by dropping a bowling ball – seemingly out of nowhere – and, from there, performs astounding feats of magic with wit and humor. The show is titled, “In Plain Sleight” for a reason. There are a lot of card tricks, but the wily magician puts a humorous and unique spin on each. He’s manages to do some really neat tricks with a sharpie, a banana, a can of coke and a several deck of cards.

Terbosic incorporates a short video into his act. It is from his November, 2016 stunt where he was hoisted on to a crane high above the intersection of Liberty Avenue and Wood Street and wiggles his way out of a straightjacket (in the exact spot Harry Houdini performed the trick one hundred years earlier). The video has guest appearances by Rick Sebak, Sally Wiggin and a host of local celebrities.

In the lobby, you might even spot local actor Mark Tierno (from barebones production’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” the movie, “Day of the Dead” etc.).

The venue looks like a magic shop from a movie, thanks to scenic designer Tony Ferrieri and his lovely assistant, Hank Bullington. It is loaded with lovingly displayed tchotchkes and trinkets. You may almost expect to find a watch that can stop time or a cute, little creature you’re not to feed after midnight. You won’t. But you will find Zoltar there  – that’s probably why the venue is 21+. nNo children will be turned into adults, but “In Plain Sleight” might turn you into a kid again. There’s a awe-inspiring sense of wonder when you’re astounded by a good magician. It brings the child inside out to play.

Side note: There is some audience participation, and hiding in the back row won’t help, but Terbosic never forced or cajoled anyone on stage.

If you have the money and the time, splurge for the VIP tickets and you’ll get to hang out in the Green Room with Terbosic where he’ll answer questions and show you a few additional tricks.

-MB

“In Plain Slieght” is on the same block where the magician recreated Houdini’s straightjacket escape at Liberty Magic, 811 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.  The show runs until May 12. For more information, say the magic words and press here.

 

By Claire DeMarco, ‘Burgh Vivant

In 1900 Sweden Madame Armfeldt (Lynne Franks), confined to a wheelchair, reflects on her life, especially those memories of past relationships. Her granddaughter, Fredrika Armfeldt (Alyssa Greenaway) lives with her, because Fredrika’s mother, Desiree Armfeldt (Jill Jeffrey), an actor – now relegated to mediocre touring company productions, reneged the responsibility of caring for her. Desiree is involved with a married man, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm (Michael Kirk) and the Count’s wife Countess Charlotte Malcolm (Colleen Hammond) knows it.

Desiree’s old lover Fredrik Egerman (Jeff Way) brings his eighteen-year-old wife Anne Egerman (Carissa Warren) to see her perform. Anne is still a virgin after 11 months of marriage. Fredrik’s son, Henrik Egerman (Garrett Hoffman) wants to emulate Martin Luther while at the same time attempts to entice Petra (Emily Yuretich), Anne’s sexually experienced maid. Anne and Henrik are in love with each other but they don’t know it yet.

After Fredrik attends Desiree’s theatrical productions and they renew their relationship, all the characters are invited to Madame Armfeldt’s estate for a weekend.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

A Swedish soap opera unfolds. Some lose at love, others win!! Madame Armfeldt wins in a different way, through her memories of former loves.

Jeffrey is fantastic. She pulls off being both serious and humorous. Her facial expressions, hand gestures, and movement often tell the story without her saying a word. Jeffrey handles “Send in the Clowns” poignantly.

Franks transitions exquisitely between reflecting on the past and living in the present. She segues smoothly from dreamy and reserved to sharp and acerbic.

Hammond’s deadpan delivery is spot on!

Way excels as the frustrated husband.

Hoffman easily transitions from a young man intent on entering the seminary to an agitated male attempting suicide.

Wonderful performances from Warren, Yuretich, Kirk and Greenaway.

Director and Set Designer John E. Lane, Jr.’s vision of “A Little Night Music” is that “it is an elegant show trying to maintain elegance but still remain funny. Underlying that is a deep truth about love and loss.”

Note: The Liebeslieder (Love Songs in German) Singers are an integral part of this production. First introduced at the beginning of the play they waltz in and sing at various times, specifically to provide commentary on what the audience sees and hears.

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler.

– CDM

“A Little Night Music” is a production of Duquesne University. It runs from April 4 – 14, 2019 at the Genesius Theater, 1225 Seitz Street, Pittsburgh PA. For more information, click here.

By Michael “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant

The gap between a father (James FitzGerald) and daughter (Erika Cuenca) widens when a young man (Alec Silberblatt) inserts himself into their lives in “The Heiress.”

The father, Dr. Austin Sloper, is a rigid man with a low opinion of his daughter, Catherine. He has an even lower opinion of her suitor, Morris Townsend.

In a brief tête-à-tête, he confides in his sister, Lavinia (Karen Baum), that he fears Catherine will never be of much value to society. The doctor continually compares his plain, awkward daughter to his fascinating and vivacious wife – who died in labor delivering Catherine.

To quote Harvey Fierstein, “It’s easier to love someone who’s dead. They make so few mistakes.”

Dr. Sloper is able to disguise his contempt until his other sister Elizabeth (Cary Anne Spear) pays a visit. She is accompanied by her daughter; Marian (Anne Rematt); Arthur Townsend, her daughter’s fiancé (Max Pavel); and, most unexpectedly, Morris Townsend, Arthur’s cousin.

Morris is smitten with Catherine, but Dr. Sloper is convinced that Arthur’s penniless cousin is after his daughter for her money. Upon the doctor’s demise, Catherine is to inherit $30,000 a year, which is a gargantuan sum of money in 1850 (when the play takes place).

Two weeks after meeting her, Morris proposes to Catherine. The announcement further infuriates Dr. Sloper. He sends his maid, Maria (Samantha A. Camp), on an errand to summon Mrs. Montgomery (Gayle Pazerski), Morris’s sister.

The doctor tries to ascertain Morris’s motives by interrogating Mrs. Montgomery. Her answers do not provide any conclusive evidence, but the doctor makes his decision nonetheless.

While he is cruel and harsh, he might not be wrong. The hardest thing any parent can do is watch his children make their own mistakes.

Director Alan Stanford is working with a superbly talented cast.  Stanford peppered the play with a lot of familiar favorites and added some bright new faces to this production.

Cuenca successfully plays a multifaceted role. Catherine has a very distinct arc. Catherine goes from naïve young woman to discerning adult. Cuenca makes a smooth transition between the two separate personalities.

FitzGerald is commanding. His Dr. Sloper is tough, guarded and difficult, but not completely unlikable. Oddly, the unaffectionate father is not the villain. He also gets some very witty lines.

Silberblatt does a beautiful job as Morris Townsend. It takes a while before you know if you’re supposed to root for him or against him, but Silberblatt makes him sympathetic even when he’s at his most treacherous.

Baum’s Lavinia is delightful. She livens up the stage with every appearance.

Camp accomplishes a lot with a wink, a nod and a sigh. She adds a lot of depth to the character. Camp’s Maria is devoted to the doctor (but has very little patience for anyone else).

Pavel’s personality enlarges his small part. He delivers sardonic bon mots with charm.

Pazerski also does a lot with a little. She only has one big scene, but she goes toe-to-toe with FitzGerald’s Sloper.

Scenic artist Domenico LaGamba welcomes us into the stately manor of the Sloper home in the tony Washington Square neighborhood (the furniture is ornate and sturdy).

Joan Markert’s costumes are lush and elegant, befitting the extravagant lifestyle of an heiress.

Ruth and Augustus Goetz adapted the tragicomedy, “Washington Square,” from American novelist Henry James. The story began as a serial running through Harper’s New Monthly Magazine in 1880. The play is a bit long, but it’s not overwritten. Every line has a purpose, propelling plot and character toward an irrevocable climax.

Considering that it was written in the 1880’s, there is an underlying theme of female empowerment.  James seems to be asking, “When should a woman stand up to a man and when should she not?”

“The Heiress” is billed as a “timeless tale,” because greed, sadly, never goes out of style.

-MB

“The Heiress” runs until April 27 at WQED’s Fred Rogers Studio, 4802 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15213. For more information, contact PICT Classic Theatre here.

 

 

By Claire DeMarco, ‘Burgh Vivant

Origins of the phrase “Be careful what you wish you” are fuzzy at best but that phrase highlights the central theme of the musical comedy “Into the Woods”.

The characters are a mixed group garnered from various fairy tales (the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault). All wish for something.

The baker (David Steffes) and the Baker’s Wife (Julia Kreutzer) are childless and want a child. The Witch (Emily Cooper) who put a curse on the couple that made them childless is willing to remove that curse if they help her procure certain items that will turn her from a craggy, miserable, misshapen being into a svelte, youthful dynamo. Jack (Malcolm Buisch) is an immature adult who wants his cow to give milk, while Jack’s Mother (Josie O’Connell) prays that her son will finally grow up. Cinderella (Lucy Pratt) hopes that she can attend a festival with the royals. The Wolf (Dan Mayhak) is continually seeking a young thing to seduce. Little Red Riding Hood (Megan Knorr) hopes to visit her grandmother.

What really happened in the woods? Our characters ultimately got what they wished for but…

SPOLER ALERT!!!

They weren’t able to come to terms with their lives after their wishes were granted.

Were they able to work together and solve a problem that affected them all? Sometimes you have to be able to see the forest through the trees.

The executed movements between the ensemble of actors and the orchestra were seamless, smooth and synchronized. The production of this dark comedy was fluid.

Cooper was superb as the Witch transitioning from a wizened hag to an alluring woman. Her comedic expressions and nuances were captivating as was her delivery of “Last Midnight”.

Mayhak played the narcissistic, silly Prince as the royal jerk with brilliant mannerisms, facial expressions and perfect timing.

There are wonderful performances by Steffes, O’Connell, Knorr, Kreutzer, Buisch and Pratt.

Costume Designer Kyle Huber provided excellent costumes.

Kudos to Director Niffer Clarke.

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine.

“Into the Woods” is a production of the University of Pittsburgh Stages. It runs from April 4 – 14, 2019 at the Charity Randall Theatre, 4301 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.

For more information, click here.

 

 

 

By Michael “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant

When Dorothy Gale (Julianne Avolio) pines for a more colorful existence away from her drab Kansas farm life, a cyclone hits and the girl (and her little dog) are carried off to “The Wonderful World of Oz.”

But first, let’s pause for station identification…

Bricolage brings back “Midnight Radio,” a radio teleplay that is not on the radio (or at midnight). The actors perform as if they’re in an old-timey broadcast, standing at microphones, making all the sounds.

Side note: The actors  do their own sound effects; a large tin sheet for making the sounds of thunder, shoes crunching in a sandbox to sound like footsteps…etc. In a radio play, every footfall is heard and every door creaks (there is no WD40 to be found).

Dorothy’s story might sound familiar. TCM writer Rick Polito once summarized the movie with an infamous TV Guide type description: “Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she meets and then teams up with three strangers to kill again.”

While true, there’s a gentler, kinder description here:

The cyclone transports Dorothy to Oz. The girl’s house lands in Munchkin territory smack dab on top of a notorious villain. The house crushes the Wicked Witch of the East instantly. The Munchkins cheer as their enemy has been defeated. Dorothy meets Glinda the Good Witch (Lisa Ann Goldsmith) who tells Dorothy she gets the magic shoes – the only remnant of the flattened witch. The spoils of war.

Since Dorothy just wants to go home, Glinda sets Dorothy down an amber-colored footpath that leads to Oz. Glinda, for some unknown reason, believes the Wizard can help Dorothy get home (when she secretly knows that the newly-acquired silver slippers can get her there). Dorothy meets Scarecrow (Nancy McNulty), the Tin Woodman (Jason McCune) and the Cowardly Lion (Sam Lothard) on her way to Oz. Dorothy convinces each of them that the Wizard can help them fix their problems. The Scarecrow wants a brain, the Tin Woodman wants a heart…yada yada yada.

Spoiler alert: Are you kidding me? It’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” Yeah. You know how it goes…but the lesson of the show is that it’s all about the journey not the destination.

Avolio is a plucky Dorothy. She’s a bit wiser and funnier than the Judy Garland version.

McNulty’s Scarecrow is a joy. She plays him as the most likable member of Dorothy’s motley crew, giving him some homespun wisdom and oodles of charm.

McCune does a terrific job as the Tin Woodman (Woodsman with an S in the movie).

The southern accents in Oz are strong. Both McCune and McNulty play their characters with deep Southern drawls.

Goldsmith plays both good and wicked witches, a pack of crows and a mouse queen, all while doing her own sound effects. She’s marvelous.

Lothard does an outstanding job as the Lion and the Oz Gatekeeper. Each voice is distinct, and, at one point, they’re talking to each other! He really stretches his vocal muscles here and it’s made him a stronger character actor because of it.

Playwright Lissa Brennan goes back to the source material to tell the iconic children’s tale. There are some intriguing differences from the book and the movie. For instance, the slippers are silver and not ruby red. The most notable change is the gruesome origin of the Tin Woodman.

While Glinda is mostly a good witch under L. Frank Baum’s pen, Brennan sneaks in a little bit of Winnie Holzman’s “Wicked” version, creating a more three dimensional character – somewhere between Billie Burke and Kristin Chenoweth. There is no version of this story that doesn’t make Glinda a manipulative bitch when she says, “You had the power to go home all along!” Luckily, Dorothy calls her out here.

It’s all a bit of silly fun.

It’s important to note that sometimes fear often holds actors back, but director Jeffrey Carpenter has a fearless troupe of actors. None of them are afraid to be silly or sound ridiculous and that makes “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” something…well… wonderful.

“The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” is lighter fare than the last couple Midnight Radio shows (now classic interpretations of “War of the Worlds, “1984,” and “Frankenstein,”), but it’s a rollicking good time with lots of laugh out loud moments.

-MB

Ease on down the road to “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” It runs until April 14 at the Bricolage, 937 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information, click here.

 

 

By Michael “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant

Nora (Lisa Velten Smith) knocks on the very same door she slammed fifteen years earlier when she walked out on her husband, Torvald Helmer (Daniel Krell), and her children (in Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House”). Playwright Lucas Hnath grabs those characters from Ibsen’s play and launches them into new and unfamiliar territory in “A Doll’s House Part 2.”

Side note: You do not need to have seen the Norwegian playwright’s work to figure out the plot of the uncharacteristically funny sequel. All will be revealed.

Anna Marie (Helena Ruoti), the Helmer family nanny, opens the aforementioned door to see Nora before her. Anna Marie welcomes her with sickeningly sweet passive aggressive charm. The two catch up – filling in some of the much-needed exposition (and revealing the events from the original).

Due to some dire extenuating circumstances, Nora has returned to ask Torval for a divorce. When Torvald refuses her, Nora must find another option. Anna Marie suggests that she speak with Emmy (Marielle Young), Nora’s youngest daughter. Because Emmy was a baby when Nora left, she barely remembers her mother, and denies her mother her request – additional extenuating circumstances are revealed. For one reason or another, Torvald, Nora and Emmy are all at cross purposes.

It’s an intricately woven dance of deceptions that lead to more shocking and hilarious revelations – like a game of Mahjong – each player slowly revealing their tiles.

Pittsburgh’s own Ted Pappas returns to direct “A Doll’s House Part 2,” and it’s one of his finest productions. The script is sharp, pointed and very witty. It’s also very controversial.

Additional side note: Hnath likes to stir the pot. His play, “The Christians,” raises uncomfortable questions on faith. In “A Doll’s House Part 2,” he uses humor to get away with some controversial material that may anger some traditionally-minded audience members.

Nora and Torvald grow in fascinating ways during their brief reunion. The two actors have amazing chemistry.

It’s also a star turn for Velten Smith. She shines here – brighter than ever. She is a commanding and demanding presence on the stage.

Krell’s Torvald is incredibly complex. Torvald is weakened by her surprise appearance, but grows into a strong, gentle man. Krell gives a multi-layered performance.

Emmy is young, enthusiastic, bright and strong. Young does a marvelous job.

Even in the presence of three other top notch actors playing at the top of their game – Ruoti steals every moment she’s on stage. Her comic turn as Anna Marie is brilliant – even when uttering a curse word – the audience burst into laughter.

There is very little action in the play. Everything hinges on the power of the script and the performers on a nearly barren stage (James Noone beautifully replicates the round, unadorned room from the Broadway production). If you do get bored, you can examine Gabriel Berry’s intricate and exquisite costumes.

“A Doll’s House Part 2” is a treatise on feminism and independence, but more importantly, it’s about the vast gulf between love and marriage.

-MB

“A Doll’s House Part 2” is at the O’Reilly Theater 621 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information, click here. Please note that The Pittsburgh Public Theater has increased its security measure, and you may need extra time to get to the show. For more information, click here. 

By Micheal “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant

“White, a blank page or canvas. The challenge: bring order to the whole, through design, composition, tension, balance, light and harmony.”

The power of one particular painting spans a century in Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Sunday in the Park with George.”

Georges Seurat (Alex Fetzko), best known for his iconic painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” toils away at the eponymous work while discovering techniques with color and light utilizing pointillism (The technique relies on the ability of the eye and mind of the viewer to blend the color spots into a fuller range of tones). His obsession with his work, however, causes his girlfriend, Dot (Rachel Cahoon), to question their relationship.

Side note: Obviously Dot’s name is a pun, but why belabor the point?

Denizens of the park on the Island of La Grande Jatte notice the artist sketching every Sunday as they cool themselves by the Seine – unaware that he is sketching them for his masterpiece.

He sketches an Old Lady (Lielle Kaidar) and her Nurse (Courteney McClutchy), a Boatman (Jeremy Spoljarick), two women both named Celeste (Sophie Aknin and Mei Lu Barnum), soldiers (Kurt Kemper and Jackson Walker) and more. George can capture their likenesses but he can’t seem to connect with anyone, especially Dot.

The artist is particularly unlikable. Dot finally leaves him and moves to America with her husband, Louis (Jaquel Spivey) and her child Marie.

When the second act opens, one hundred years have passed.

It’s 1984, and another George (also Alex Fetzko) is planning his own more modern exhibit using sound, light and lasers in a homage to “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” with the help of his grandmother Marie (Kayla Nicosia).

Marie is of course Dot’s baby, and, therefore Seurat’s illegitimate daughter. Bit by bit – the play comes together.

The musical has a large cast and a lot of moving pieces. Nonetheless, director Michael Rupert does a magnificent job keeping the play running smoothly.

Fetzko is marvelous as the two Georges. He’s a tremendous singer.

Cohoon’s Dot is terrific. The character has to carry much of the first act, and she does it with aplomb. Her vocal range is fantastic.

There are some great performances by Spoljarick, Kemper, Pierre Mballa and Yael Karoly.

“Sunday in the Park with George” is visually stunning thanks to scenic designer Johnmichael Bohach and costume designer Michael Montgomery. At the top of the second act, the actors become a living tableau – posing exactly like the characters in the painting. It’s a glorious moment.

The show bursts with light and color thanks to lighting designer Andrew David Ostrowski, sound designer Steve Shapiro with video design by William “Buzz” Miller (nice nickname Mr. Miller).

These aren’t the most memorable songs in the Sondheim collection, but they are sung perfectly by the cast – aided by a Camille Rolla’s orchestra.

At one point, Marie says “There are only two worthwhile things to leave behind when you depart this world of ours – children and art.” Point Park’s “Sunday in the Park with George” is an excellent piece of art.

-MB

“Sunday in the Park with George” runs until March 24, at the PNC Theatre in the Pittsburgh Playhouse, 350 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information, click here.

 

 

 

By Michael “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant

The four Mirabal sisters wrestle with life in the midst of the Rafael Trujillo dictatorship in a fictionalized account of true events in Caridad Svich’s adaptation of Julia Alvarez’s book, “In the Time of the Butterflies.”

An American writer (Lydia Gibson) goes to the Dominican Republic to learn more about the tragedy of the Mirabel girls from the only surviving sister, Dede (an older incarnation is played by Susana Garcia-Barragan). There she is told the tragic tale of the four sisters, Patria (Krystal Rivera), Maria Teresa (Frances Tirado), Dede (Vanessa Vivas) and Minerva (Evelyn Hernández) who spend many sun-drenched afternoons in their family garden – until, on one fateful night, they encounter the tyrannical Trujillo (Enrique Bazán).

Minerva stands up to the martinet while he tries to cop a feel while dancing with her at a party.

Side note: History records the story that she slapped him while he made his play for her. Minerva’s daughter tells the tale differently. She insulted him, humiliated him. Whether the slap was physical or psychic, it changed her destiny forever.

Minerva accidentally leaves her purse at the party. While most of the contents of said handbag were innocuous, it also contained a love letter from Lio (Victor Aponte), the head of the opposition.

From there, the women try to maintain joyous, colorful lives while secretly fighting to free their country from El Jefe (the dictator’s nickname).

The American writer desperately tries to capture the weight and emotion of their powerful story. She feels it must be told. She’s right.

Spoiler alert: She does manage to write the book, “In the Time of Butterflies.” A fictionalized account that details the lives of these four strong, amazing women.

The cast of “In the Time of Butterflies” is marvelous. Director Ricardo Vila-Roger manages to get great performances out of each of them.

Additional side note: The entire cast identifies as Latin American origin or descent (Latinx), including the director (all are also Pittsburgh-based). In 2019, that shouldn’t be a big deal, but it’s a big deal. It’s a shame it took so long.

Hernández is a powerful and beautiful leading young lady. She is captivating as Minerva.

Rivera’s Patria was the most different from her sisters. She was prim, proper and spiritual, but Patria undergoes the strongest arc, from religious to rebellious. Rivera handled it expertly.

Tirado is effervescent. She’s brimming with energy and enthusiasm. She’s a joy to watch. Of course, it makes her eventual demise even more difficult to watch.

Garcia-Barragan and Vivas each make a distinct mark on the character of Dede. It’s easy to imagine they are playing the same person at different ages.

While Bazán doesn’t have much stage time, he makes his presence felt. He comes in strong, forceful, commanding. He is superb.

Aponte fills in all the other male roles and he manages to make each of them distinct. He’s a boisterous DJ, a robust rebel and a gentle and simple man who grants the women a favor – the ultimate example of the aphorism “no good deed goes unpunished.”

Svich’s script is brisk, but it felt like some big chunks were left out. Minerva married and had two children. Her husband is an important plot point but he’s sort of drops out of nowhere late in the second act. On opening night, Minerva’s real-life daughter even joked, “She had children. I know this because I am here.”

If you want a more detailed account, you would have to read Alvarez’s book. This Reader’s Digest version still packs an emotional wallop. You don’t need all the details to get wrapped up in their story.

Vila-Roger doesn’t pull his punches. The final scenes are gut-wrenching without being morbid. He handles the shocking subject matter deftly.

Most of the action takes place in front of the Mirabal family home, a stunning backdrop by Britton Mauk with prismatic projections provided by Joe Spinogatti. The women are beautifully adorned in technicolor dresses by Kim Brown at Spotlight Costumes.

The adaptation of “In the Time of The Butterflies” has a few flaws, but it’s an important piece of theater.

-MB

Set your clocks for “In the Time of the Butterflies” at the New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, Pittsburgh, PA 15212. For more information, click here. 

 

 

 

By Michael “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant

Sharon (Tamara Tunie) invites Robyn (Laurie Klatscher) to move into her rambling, renovated farm house in Iowa City, Iowa. The two total strangers have to navigate life together on faith – armed with very little information about each other’s lives in Jen Silverman’s “The Roommate.”

Sharon is a straight-laced Midwestern mom with empty nest syndrome. She is living vicariously through her son’s adventures in far off New York City. Outside of her book club and a part-time job, her life seems emptier than her nest.

Robyn is a vegan, lesbian slam poet. She seems innocuous, harmless, living a carefree life, but the self-proclaimed slam poet has a pitch-black shadowy past.

“The Roommates” opens with a familiar premise. Neil Simon once put two distinctively different people in an apartment together and watch them drive each other crazy. While Sharon and Robyn are the oddest of odd couples, the play swiftly diverges from Simon in modern and absurd ways.

Its closer to “Grace and Frankie,” if you replaced Grace Hanson and Frankie Bergstein with Walter White and Jesse Pinkman.

There is a valley of loneliness between Sharon and Robyn. They both struggle with familial relationships. Sharon finds Robyn’s life thrilling and Robyn tries to image the peace of living like Sharon. Robyn gives Sharon the confidence she spin her life in another direction.

Speaking of confidence, the two roommates develop a fun little game. Let’s say this particular confidence game gets out of hand quickly. To tell too much would spoil some of the best jokes. Luckily, there are a lot of good jokes.

Silverman’s script starts like a sit-com, but slowly, methodically, it becomes something else entirely. The play – like a tea kettle – simmers along until it alarms everyone that it’s ready.

Tunie is hilarious as Sharon. Her character’s naiveté is the butt of several good laughs. Tunie disappears into the role.  Tunie is on fire in the ‘Burgh these days. She’s ripping this town up and making it hers, playing vastly different people. Sharon is very different from Prospero – her starring turn in the Pittsburgh Public’s “The Tempest.” She goes  from Gandalf to Betty Crocker.

Robyn is a conflicted soul, and Klatscher plays her with conviction and nuance. She is neither hero, nor villain, but a flawed character with hidden depth and a bigger heart than she’d ever reveal.

Reginald L. Douglas’s direction is tight. The transitions between scenes are whimsical and fun, speeding the play along in all the right ways.

All the action takes place in Sharon’s well-appointed home, expertly crafted with style and grace by Tony Ferrieri. The house looks like it popped up, fully formed, out of an issue of “Better Home and Gardens.”

“The Roommate” is a game of three card monte. Robyn sort of flips Sharon around and around. Where she stops – nobody knows. Just like the card game, it’s fun to be surprised at where everything ends up.

-MB

“The Roommate” takes up residence in the City Theatre, 1300 Bingham Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203 until March 24. For more information, click here.

 

 

By Michael “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant

They’re back. The musical improv duo babyGRAND, comprised of Connor McCanlus and Missy Moreno, will be hitting the stage Friday, March 8 at the Arcade Comedy Theater for a special show.

McCanlus and Moreno make up a mini musical as the improvisational duo, babyGRAND.  Once, based on an audience suggestion, the duo sang an ode to the traffic in the Fort Pitt Tunnel. The lyrics included a bit about the near impossible merging at the city end of the tunnel. They are a hilarious and wildly imaginative duo who spoof popular Broadway musicals from “Annie” to “Hamilton.”

At a show at the City Theatre, McCanlus and Moreno did twenty minute bit singing brand new made up musical playing Charlie Brown and Lucy Van Pelt respectively.

They will be accompanied by Nick Stamatakis on piano.

Friday’s show is a special time slot which will also feature Pittsburgh-based comedian Helen Wildy. In 2018, Wildy toured with Cameron Esposito on her Person of Consequence Tour and has been featured locally in the Pittsburgh Comedy Festival and the Burning Bridges Comedy Festival.

-MB

Baby GRAND performs March 8 at 8 at the Arcade Comedy Theater, 943 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information, click here.