Tag: Theatre

By Nick Mitchell, ‘Burgh Vivant

In the Roaring ‘20s and early 1930s conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton toured the US and UK. They took their song and dance routine from seedy novelty shows, through vaudeville, all the way to the silver screen. If that story doesn’t scream Broadway, nothing does! “Side Show the Musical” was born.

Split Stage Productions tackles “Side Show” with a bold perspective. Now in their fourth season, the Westmoreland County based company has made it their mission to produce important shows that other troupes in the region have found reasons to avoid.

The key to “Side Show” is the casting of the twins.  Daisy (Rori Aiello Mull) and Violet (Victoria Buchtan) bring charm, sass, and vulnerability the second they make their entrance. In fact, our first look at the twins is the single biggest risk/reward of this production. Traditionally, two actresses similar in size and type are cast, then costumes and make-up take over to make the twins as identical as possible. The audience journey then becomes one of seeing the conjoined twins emerge as unique individuals. Director Jim Scriven has chosen to turn this concept on its head. Ms. Mull and Ms. Buchtan are not identical. More than the obvious height disparity, they play Daisy and Violet from the onset as sisters with different goals, styles, and feelings. The journey then becomes one of seeing each sister come to embrace their very tangible unity. Fortunately for the audience, one thing the actresses do have in common is a wealth of talent.

The linked ladies are supported by their romantic interests, Terry (Tyler Brignone) and Jake (Brady D. Patsy). Brignone plays talent agent Terry Connor with the look and air of a smarmy game-show host. Brignone has a powerful tenor voice perfectly showcased in the song “Private Conversation.” Patsy’s haunting rendition of “You Should Be Loved” melted even this cold-hearted reviewer. Rounding out the love triangle (square… pentagon…dodecahedron?) is Zakk Mannella as Buddy who adds the much-needed vaudevillian facet to the show.

The rest of the cast of Freaks and Roustabouts are led by Joe York as the exploitative side show owner, Sir. From Fortune Teller, to Bearded Lady, to Dog Boy, all seem to enjoy their roles and create memorable characters. As the fused femme’s story unfolds, these cast members fill the roles in the sister’s life. Because these performers created such singular “Freaks,” some of their later appearances as different characters can be a bit distracting.

The show is mounted at the Apple Hill Playhouse. The location lends itself to a carnival feel, complete with fire-juggling (the fire-juggler is part of an unannounced pre-show display). The utilitarian set, while adequate, lacked the polish displayed in much of the rest of the show, however Bill Jacka’s colorful period projections pulled focus in all the right ways.

This is the first local production of the recent revival of the Krieger/Russell musical which rewrote much of the show. The goal was to bring the real-life history of the Hilton’s into focus. It mostly works. An early flashback runs a little long, and aficionados of the original will miss “Tunnel of Love.” Ultimately though, the story wins.

Near the end of Act two, the twins beautifully and un-ironically sing “I Will Never Leave You” to each other. It’s simple, honest, and true. Such moments, images, and melodies are frequent in this production and, true to form, they really will never leave you.

You can see Split Stage’s Side Show through October 15^th. For ticket info visit here.

By Michael “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant

In the summer of 1955, a colorful cast of characters comes out to drink some homemade hooch, feed the jukebox and play cards at a woodsy Jim Crow era “colored-only” bar in Eugene Lee’s “East Texas Hot Links.”

Charlesetta (Cheryl El-Walker) runs the Top O’ the Hill Café with verve, even while fending off advances from Roy (Monteze Freeland), and breaking up battling brothers-in-law, Columbus (Kevin Brown) and XL Dancer (Jonathan Berry).

The other Top O’ the Hill patrons include a loquacious blind poet, Adolph (Leslie Howard), a hot-tempered former inmate, Buckshot (Sam Lothard), a happy-go-lucky young buck, Delmus (Taylor Martin Moss) and an eerie prognosticator, Boochie (Charles Timbers).

The bar is abuzz with information about a horrific incident involving the Klan. A local boy turns up dead. His body is partially buried in the cement of a highway project cutting its way through town.

The news seems to have little effect on Delmus, who is bouncing around, buoyant with enthusiasm. He’s got a new girl and a new job lined up. Unfortunately, the denizens of the bar fear the events are connected, and that his new job is not the good news he believes it is.

“East Texas Hot Links” is a deceptive little play. It appears to be a humorous little concoction; a character study with men ruminating over the troubles of the day. Men seeking to fulfill simple desires on various points on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs; money, shelter, food and love. Then, Lee blows the roof off – literally and figuratively. It’s a pot-boiler that explodes on the stove in the final few minutes.

Note: There will be blood.

The play is also about man’s inhumanity to man (regardless of skin color). While it’s set in 1955, it is sadly still relevant.

There is a large cast in Lee’s play. At first, some of the roles seem superfluous. The show, however, comes together like a large jigsaw. Each part becomes integral to the whole.

Mark Clayton Southers’ set is a masterpiece. While it’s packed with trinkets and gewgaws of a bygone era, it’s never cramped.  Clayton Southers is aided by set painter, Diane Melchitzky.

Director Montae Russell blocks the show in such a way that the sizable cast never feels crowded on the small stage (not until the actors line up for their final bow).

Russell also wrangles some fine performances out of his cast. Freeland, Berry and Brown have always been strong actors, but they are so perfectly cast. They excel in this show. It must be noted, though, that there are no weak links in “Hot Links.”

Timbers oozes with gravitas. His presence is palpable the moment he steps onto the stage. He is also impeccably dressed by costume designer Anthony James Sirk.

In the last few years, Lothard has grown as an actor. He is at his best in this show, as if the role were written for him.

El-Walker’s Charlesetta is a joy. She is the lone distaff member, and she brings a brightness to the dingy bar. Her character rides a rollercoaster of emotions and El-Walker handles it with aplomb.

“East Texas Hot Links” is performed without an intermission. It’s a wise move not to break up the mounting tension in the ninety minute play. It’s a powerful play that packs a punch.

“East Texas Hot Links” runs till November 5, 2017. For more information, click here.

The Silver Theater Project is proud to announce their second in a monthly series of Salon Style play readings by local performers, 40 and over, of plays written by local playwrights, also 40 and over.The next play on the roster will be ‘Be Still My Beating Heart’ by Michael McGovern.

Cross Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tell-Tale Heart” with “Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?” and you’ve got a dark comedy that takes place in 1940’s New York.  Broadway diva Veronica Price is in need of a new assistant; her servant, Alexa brings her estranged sister Helen to work for the great actress.  One problem: Helen is a certified psychopath.  The plot twists and turns all the up to the surprising heart-pounding ending! The cast reading are Lucia Metrailler, Colette Freiwald, Mary Randolph and Bruce Story-Camp.

Michael McGovern received his BFA in Theatre from Point Park College and his MFA in Playwriting from Carnegie-Mellon University. While at Carnegie-Mellon his play IRELAND’S SHAKESPEARE won the Bud Yorkin Award.

His work has been performed at such diverse theaters as the 13th Street Theatre and The Nat Horne Theatre in New York, the Pittsburgh Playhouse Jr., Bricolage, Prime Stage, and Rage of the Stage in Pittsburgh. His short play PREPARING BANQUO was a favorite in his Beat Cabaret series.

The Silver Theater Project is the brainchild of Michael McGovern, who felt that there is a need in Pittsburgh to create opportunities for older writers and performers to have their voices heard, both literally, and by the pen (or in this age, the computer word processing program). There is a lack of material that engages the older generations, as well as a lack of opportunities for the mature performer to show that they still have the chops, and The Silver Theater Project’s aim is to fill that void. The project has been accepted for fiscal sponsorship by New Sun Rising.

The reading will be held on October 22 at The Glitter Box Theater located at 460 Melwood Avenue, in Oakland. Doors will open at 7 pm, and the readings will begin at 7:30.  As admission, the Salon readings have a suggested donation of $10.

For more information, connect with The Silver Theater Project here.

By Michael “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant

Welcome to Will Eno’s “Middletown.” A small but unusual hamlet in the middle of America. Apparently, everyone is invited. A local Public Speaker (Ned Salopek) hammers home this point at the start of the play by articulating a seemingly endless litany of various professions; stock brokers, dock workers, celebrities, nobodies, all comers, newcomers, the newly departed, the poorly depicted, et al. Everyone. It’s a lengthy preamble that stutters the opening like an old lawnmower on thick, wet grass.

Things do get moving when Mary Swanson (Mary Meyer) decides to make the bucolic community her new home. In the local library, she has a chance encounter with John Dodge (Eric Leslie). They bond over common traits; they are both profoundly lonely and socially awkward. Mary is a newlywed, but her husband is traveling. John, however, is divorced, between jobs (lots of jobs) and has plenty of time on his hands.

Along the way, Mary also meets a librarian (Charlotte Sonne), a cop (Jonathan Wilson), a mechanic (Bill Lyon) and scores of other denizens of this odd, little burg (the cast is a baker’s dozen clocking in with thirteen local performers).

Non-sequitur of the week: There’s an astronaut.

Middletown, it seems, is situated in a dark cranny between Emily Webb’s Grover’s Corners and Homer Simpsons’ Springfield (just like Springfield, the state is never named).

The mechanic is also the town drunk. Since Middletown isn’t Mayberry, the encounter between the town drunk and the cop is much more violent than any of Otis and Andy’s encounters.

It seems the citizens of Middletown are a little bit off. They are gloomy philosophers. Even the cop on patrol says, “People come. People go. Crying in both directions.” It’s a profound statement from such a ruffian. The play can be pretentious, but if you stick with it – especially to watch Mary and John’s unusual friendship unfold – it’s worth it.

“Middletown” is a surreal little play, but the humor comes when the character’s tilt at societal conventions, like Don Quixote at windmills. There are a lot of awkward conversations, lengthy pauses and inappropriate behavior, but that’s most of the fun. It is filled with very clever lines, dark humor and pithy wit. Unfortunately, “Middletown” gets bogged down by its loquacious characters. The townspeople wax philosophical a bit too much, and they all sound the same. Are all of these folks idiot savants?

The librarian is the spiritual centerpiece (you know she’s spiritual because she has a dream-catcher on her desk), but she’s also a bit daft. When Mary approaches the library desk and asks for a library card, the smiling librarian replies, “Good for you, dear. I think a lot of people figure, ‘Why bother? I’m just going to die, anyway.’ Let me just find the form.”

Later in the play, she encourages the mechanic to keep on living remembering verbatim an essay he wrote as a child.

There’s also a weird concept in the dead center of the play. It’s like a long-form improvisational bit that doesn’t work, a meta-commentary from an alleged audience, like Statler and Waldorf picking apart “The Muppet Show.”

The play has some terrific turns by the aforementioned local actors. Meyer has a luminescent smile. She lights up the entire stage. She uses the smile sparingly here, but to great effect. She handles the material adroitly.

Leslie is sardonic and funny, perfectly cast as the downtrodden Dodge.

Lyon shines here. He gets laughs from simple lines. His delivery is flawless. There is a pain in the playwright’s humor and you can see it etched on Lyon’s face. It’s a nuanced performance.

Fatu Sheriff is a newcomer to the Little Lake stage. She portrays a doctor in a scene with Lyon’s mechanic and it’s one of the best scenes in the play; one of the few that has a beginning, middle and end. There’s a nice twist.

Sonne’s librarian and Wilson’s cop should get honorable mentions, but – the fault is with the playwright here – the characters are so inconsistent. When the seemingly sadistic cop loses his mother we’re supposed to feel sympathy for him, even though he nearly strangled a pedestrian out for a stroll earlier in the show.

“Middletown” isn’t the worst show, but it isn’t the best. It lives up to its moniker by being squarely in the middle. A contingent of very fine actors saved the evening.

“Middletown” runs till October 7 at the Little Lake Theatre, 500 Lakeside Drive South, Canonsburg, PA 15317. For more information, click here.