Category Archives: Reviews

November 8, 2011 · 12:04 pm

WICKED Review

Links to all reviews can be found on the BTC REVIEWS page. Blog postings, links and more are available on my FaceBook fan page. You can receive updates on Twitter from @BTCincyRob.

Mamie Parris as Elpahba. Photo by Joan Marcus.

WICKED presented by Broadway in Cincinnati through Nov. 26. You can read the show description here.

A quick confession. I enjoy WICKED very much. This is my fourth time seeing the national touring production and I’ll be back whenever it comes through Cincinnati. This visit I was fortunate enough to catch the opening Thursday matinee.

Heading into Cincinnati, a bug of some kind was wrecking havoc with the health of the cast. This was at least partially responsible for several understudy performers getting a chance to move into leads. The role of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz was played by Christopher Russo, Fiyero was portrayed by Timothy A. Fitz-Gerald (nice handling of the costume malfunction, btw :)) and stepping into the shoes of Glinda was Megan Campanile. Cincinnati audiences may recognize Campanile’s name. She attended CCM, leaving her junior year to serve as the understudy for Ariel in the Broadway production of The Little Mermaid, followed by the national tour of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE THE MUSICAL as Laura Ingalls.

Justin Brill as Boq and Stephanie Brown as Nessarose. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Personally, it was very fun to see Megan Campanile as Glinda, appropriately perky and sounding wonderful. Mamie Parris’ voice is beautiful, rich and strong, inducing chills and tears as Elphaba. Each time I have seen the show, I’ve been impressed by the depth of talent that tours. This time was no exception and allowed me to relax and enjoy the show.

An added bonus to this experience was the row of grade school children, sitting in front of me, in rapt attention. The quality and theatricality of this production works as a great introduction to the magic of musical theater for any age.

Paul Slade Smith as Doctor Dillamond. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Ticket availability is limited for the remainder of the run. If you are feeling lucky, a limited number of $25 Orchestra seats will be made available by lottery daily at the Aronoff Center 2 1/2 hours prior to the performance. Names will be placed in a lottery drum and the drawing will take place 2 hours prior to show for a limited number of Orchestra tickets at $25 cash only. This lottery is available only in-person at the box office with a limit of two tickets per person.

Bring an old cell phone to be recycled and help save a gorilla! Recycling cell phones reducing mining for coltan, an ore used in cell phones, in gorilla habitats and raises money for the Zoo’s Project Saving Species. Check the link and bring your phones with you to the theatre.

Click here for a complete list of show times, articles and other reviews for WICKED.

I would love to hear what you think about the show or my review. All I ask is that you express your opinion without attacking someone else’s opinion.You can post your comments below.

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November 1, 2011 · 1:30 pm

CORAM BOY Review

Links to all reviews can be found on the BTC REVIEWS page. Blog postings, links and more are available on my FaceBook fan page. You can receive updates on Twitter from @BTCincyRob.

CORAM BOY was presented by UC College Oct. 26-30. You can read the show description here.

CCM Drama opens the Main Stage season with a well-done, visually-imaginative, Grimm-esque fairy tale.

Director Richard Hess handles the large ensemble extremely well. The inventive staging creates striking stage pictures but still maintains the focus on the characters.

Will Kiley, Hanna Halvorson as The Angel & Joe Markesbery. Photo by Richard Hess.

It did feel like the pacing dragged a bit in the first half of the first act, due in part to the amount of exposition. However once things “hit the fan,” the act raced downhill to one of the most shocking, in-your-face act finales I have seen. I also enjoyed that I was at a loss as to how the story would continue after intermission. I found the second act to be tight throughout and very involving. And nothing adds tension to a climatic scene like a gun on stage with too many potential victims.

Claron Hayden as Otis Gardiner. Photo by Richard Hess.

Even though the set was predominately black, there was ample texture within the set [designed by Tom Umfrid and Tamara L. Honesty] and excellent lighting [designed by CCM student Tim Schmall] to give the set character. The use of the turn table to change settings and angles added to the nightmarish quality of the show. One complaint, perhaps a little fog would have helped hide the holes for the too-clean, groping hands.

John Garrett Walters as Aaron and William Brown as Meshak Gardiner. Photo by Richard Hess.

For the most part, a strong ensemble. Performances that stood out for me were William Brown as Meshak Gardiner, Claron Hayden as both aspects of Otis Gardiner, Bennett Bradley as Mrs. Lynch, Hope Shangle as Lady Ashbrook, Molly Massa as Mrs. Milcote, John Garrett Walters as Aaron and Shaun S. Sutton as Toby.

Bottom line, a well-staged, well-acted dark, drama perfect for the weekend before Halloween. Definitely on my list of favorite shows for the season.

Click here for information on for CORAM BOY.

I would love to hear what you think about the show or my review. All I ask is that you express your opinion without attacking someone else’s opinion. You can post your comments below.

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October 26, 2011 · 1:24 pm

MAKE ME A SONG Review

Swings Julian Decker & Cassie Levine, Blaine Krauss, Victoria Cook, Max Chernin, Alysha Deslorieux and Collin Kessler as William Finn.

Links to all reviews can be found on the BTC REVIEWS page. Blog postings, links and more are available on my FaceBook fan page. You can receive updates on Twitter from @BTCincyRob.

MAKE ME A SONG was presented by UC College Oct. 20-22. You can read the show description here.

When it comes to composers, many theater fans have those they like and those they are not particularly fond of. Say the name William Finn to me and you’ll have to remind which shows are his. For whatever reason, his music never sticks in my memory. The revue MAKE ME A SONG only reinforces my ambivalence for Finn.

The show seems to be put together for fans of the composer. Eighty-five intermission-less minutes with a total of thirty-three songs with no book to speak of. Eleven of them are organized into The Falsettoland Suite which contains songs from The Marvin Trilogy. If you are unfamiliar with those shows, you are on your own for context. The final songs are subtitled, Finn’s ‘Cycle of Life,’ and “comprises four songs encompassing all of human experience.” To me, these seem like a desperate attempt to force the audience into some kind of emotional response to Finn’s music before they walk out the door.

At the 2pm matinee there did appear to be some issues with sound. The piano, expertly played by Steve Goers, overpowered the volume of the singers during several of the songs. Also, the balance of the mics seemed off in several of the group numbers.

Director Aubrey Berg has stacked the show with some big voices. Favorite moments include the Max Chernin/Alysha Desloriex duet “Id Rather Be Sailing/Set Those Sails.” Victoria Cook’s “Only One” and Blaine Krauss’ “Hitchhiking Across America.” But it is Collin Kessler who steals the spotlight in several solos as William Finn.

Bottom line, as musical revues go, this one is in desperate need of structure, and an update to include songs from Finn’s most recent works. The songs, no matter how well sung, does not work as theater.

Click here for information on for MAKE ME A SONG.

I would love to hear what you think about the show or my review. All I ask is that you express your opinion without attacking someone else’s opinion. You can post your comments below.

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October 25, 2011 · 7:45 pm

RED Review

Brian Dykstra as Mark Rothko & Matthew Carlson as Ken. Photo by Sandy Underwood.

Links to all reviews can be found on the BTC REVIEWS page. Blog postings, links and more are available on my FaceBook fan page. You can receive updates on Twitter from @BTCincyRob.

RED presented by Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park through Nov. 12. You can read the show description here.

In the program for RED, Tina Tammaro’s article “The World of Mark Rothko” describes his artistic style in this way: “Rothko pulls us into a space pulsating with pure emotion. His paintings contain shapes created from multiple layers of rich color.”

Brian Dykstra as Mark Rothko. Photo by Sandy Underwood.

RED is an intimate, two-actor, pulsating with emotion, 90-minute multiple-layered work. Which like Rothko’s artwork, becomes flat and loses impact from a distance.

Both Brian Dykstra as Mark Rothko and Matthew Carlson as Ken turn in some nice work. I especially enjoyed the final two scenes of the play. From Dykstra though, I never quite bought him as an artist. I also thought that Carlson appeared to be a tad too old for the role of Ken.

The set design by Michael Ganio creates intimacy by pushing the performance space to the downstage half of the stage. The staging by director Steven Woolf seems to overly-favor those seated directly in front of the performance area. Also, at times, the scenes did slip into two guys yelling at each other about painting and art.

Matthew Carlson as Ken. Photo by Sandy Underwood.

Two things I found lacking from this production was the sense of the [circa 1958-1959] time-period and the sense of time passing in the character’s relationship.

Bottom line, an intimate play works best in an intimate theater. Perhaps better suited to the Shelterhouse, RED seems to lose its focus and intensity in the bigger space.

Click here for a complete list of show times, articles and other reviews for RED.

I would love to hear what you think about the show or my review. All I ask is that you express your opinion without attacking someone else’s opinion. You can post your comments below.

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October 18, 2011 · 2:18 pm

GHOST-WRITER Review

Links to all reviews can be found on the BTC REVIEWS page. Blog postings, links and more are available on my FaceBook fan page. You can receive updates on Twitter from @BTCincyRob.

Dennis Parlato as Franklin Woolsey & Annie Fitzpatrick as Myra Babbage. Photo by Ryan Kurtz.

GHOST-WRITER presented by Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati through Oct 30. You can read the show description here.

If I had to give you one reason to go see GHOST-WRITER, the choice would be easy: Annie Fitzpatrick as Myra Babbage. But it’s the strength of the show as a whole that places GHOST-WRITER on my list of favorite productions of the 2011-2012 season.

Regarding Fitzpatrick as Babbage, it is my favorite performance by the actress to date. She makes it very easy to like and admire Myra Babbage, the devoted secretary to novelist, Franklin Woolsey. Her performance is finely-nuanced and I really enjoyed the society-restrained energy of the character. Since this is Babbage’s story, Fitzpatrick never leaves stage for the entire 90 minutes. Also impressive is the sheer volume of dialogue. And as a friend and I half-joked, it would have been much easier for Annie to highlight the lines that aren’t hers in her script.

Annie Fitzpatrick as Myra Babbage & Lourelene Snedeker as Vivian Woolsey. Photo by Ryan Kurtz.

Under the direction of D. Lynn Myers, Fitzpatrick also receives strong support from Dennis Parlato as novelist Franklin Woolsey and Lourelene Snedeker as his wife, Vivian. Parlato’s stoic performance works well for the character and allows him to easily be a presence, even if he is not present. Snedeker is outstanding as the wife threatened by a relationship that is, in ways, more intimate than her marriage.

I enjoyed the language of the script. How it evoked the time-period and the attitudes of that time. The structure of the play works well, allowing the audience to see the story…funny, the structure is similar to several biography television shows. A present day (in this case, Nov. 1919) interview inter-cut with flashback scenes of pivotal moments of the story. It adds a contemporary-influence to a show that begins over a century ago.

Annie Fitzpatrick as Myra Babbage, Lourelene Snedeker as Vivian Woolsey & Dennis Parlato as Franklin Woolsey. Photo by Ryan Kurtz.

Even though the set demands for the show are minimal, I really enjoyed the choices Brian c. Mehring made in his design. My favorite element was the “visible to the audience” room door. It opened up the space and gave some nice options for staging and lighting. Also on the technical side, excellent sound design work from Matthew Callahan.

The period setting of the play would not be complete without properties by Shannon Rae Lutz and costumes by Erin Amico.

Bottom line, don’t let the show title fool you. This wonderfully-done production of GHOST-WRITER is more love story than ghost story. One that I enjoyed hearing, and seeing.

Click here for a complete list of show times, articles and other reviews for GHOST-WRITER.

I would love to hear what you think about the show or my review. You can post your comments below.

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