Tag Archives: Miami University

This review has been reposted courtesy of the League of Cincinnati Theatres. For more LCT reviews click here to visit their reviews page.

Think “Sesame Street on Crack” and you will get a little insight into what AVENUE Q the musical is all about, now onstage at Miami University. AVENUE Q presents a whole unique set of challenges for any theatre, especially a college theatre. That being said, Miami University’s production handles the show well. The most characteristic challenge is creating puppets that are humanistic and interesting enough for us to look at the entire show. As with the PBS hit series that teaches young children their ABC’s, numbers and other life lessons, this adult version of the avenue, continues to teach us, but perhaps topics that are just a bit different and perhaps a might naughtier.  With a book written by Jeff Whitty and music and lyrics by Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez (the same guys who brought us The Book of Mormon) this is not a show that will have you humming the tunes, however it will have you laughing and will definitely put a smile on your face and a warm feeling in your heart.

A bunch of racist, horny and sexually confused puppets (magnificently designed by Grant Lemasters in an homage to the late Jim Henson) from AVENUE Q  are the “leading characters” in this musical that is very difficult to execute for a myriad of reasons.

The cast was led by a quad of four strong performers: Kelcey Steele and Taylor Hayes as Princeton and Kate Monster, and the loveable duo of Josh Stothfang and Sean Davis as Rod & Nicky (think Bert & Ernie meets Will & Grace). Princeton (Kelsey Steele), a recent college graduate with a useless BA in English, is trying to find his life purpose and through his foibles and follies, including some invasive Bad Idea Bears, the other furry and not so furry residents on the block are able to find new meaning in their lives. Of course this is all done through songs such as “Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist”; “The Internet Is For Porn; “If You Were Gay”; “You Can Be As Loud As The Hell You Want When Your Making Love” and “Schadenfreude”.

For their human neighbors, it gets no better than Cara Hihn as Christmas Eve who makes Hunter Dobereinder’s Brian all the more hilarious.   Then there is Sean Davis whose crisp, funny and vocally limber performance and puppetry with Nicky is better than the original Broadway creator of the role.

With a cast that innately understands the actor/puppet relationship and a technical team that lets the show seamlessly unfold, this is a production that could run for years.  The amazing part of this production is that the actors, who become puppeteers, do so to perfection, in no small thanks to the puppet coach Aretta Baumgartner. The vocals were spotty here and there, but never enough to get in the way of the story or characters. In fact, the puppets they handle become a true part of them and even though we see their actual faces as they operate the characters, we forget that it is the human we are watching or hearing as we are focused on the puppets in the play.  As stated, the technical side of this AVENUE Q is near perfect as the puppets come to life in the design by Lemasters, and coached by Aretta Barumgartner.  It’s clear these actors lived with and through their puppet counterparts as seen in their ability to bring these characters to life with their acting and singing.

Gion DeFrancesco’s scenic design is reminiscent of the original; and as usual, This production is hard to say anything in the least bit negative about (with the exception of erratic spotlights and some sound issues)– it is solid from the beginning to the end with no downtime in between. The actors are having as much fun telling us this story as we are having watching it unfold. They have heart and they become very real to us.  So if someone can’t tell you how to get to that other street, have your GPS point you to AVENUE Q at Miami University.

For more information on the production, click here.

This review has been reposted courtesy of the League of Cincinnati Theatres. For more LCT reviews click here to visit their reviews page.

Miami University’s Found a Peanut, by Donald Marguiles, is about eight children, ages 5-14, on the last day of summer vacation before the new school year begins.  This day, in a Brooklyn yard, they lose their childhood innocence and experience the difficulties of growing up.  While digging a grave to bury a dead bird, they discover a bag filled with money (“It looked like a lot more,” says Jeffery Smolowitz).  The quarrel resulting from their discovery results in greediness, violence and finally leads to the disruption of a friendship. The death of a neighbor coinciding with the death of the bird triggers a change in attitudes as the children start seeing death in relation to themselves.  This may be the death of their summer vacation, but it also the death of innocence and their childhood.

It takes a few minutes to get past the college actors playing children in this production. The program’s cast list stated their age but several of them, at least, through their physical appearances didn’t match the age described for the characters. Mike (11, played by Richard Dent) is drawing a game on the cement as is milquetoast buddy Jeffrey (also 11, played by Caleb Schemer) hangs around trying to learn to play catch with his Pensy Pinky ball.  Mike’s 8-year-old sister (Jordan Gravely) comes bouncing in troubled that she’s her house keys. for tomorrow she becomes a latch-key kid.  Her fat friend, Joanie (8, discerningly played by Kaela Smith) comes out to play followed by Little Earl (a superb and humorous Aidan McBreen playing a believable 5-year-old).   Nothing much happens.  The day, and the plot, gradually unfold and the summer-time world we all remember just moves along like a long summer day. Playwright Donald Margulies staged the setting behind an apartment building in Brooklyn, NY in 1962, however, this play could have been from any other time period. The only prominent issue to mark the time was mentioning of the movie “Psycho”  which was released in 1960. But the play quickly wears out its welcome as Marguiles plays to stereotypes.  Initially it is an adjustment believing the characters are children, but through the characters you see some of the old neighborhood kids on your block.  It wasn’t the overall script that kept me interested but the individual moments that caught me (and other audience members): the agonizing over picking up a dead bird with two sticks only to quickly push it toward the garden soil; or, Little Earl giving voice to his plastic T-Rex and the epic battle between the Rex and an old roller skate.   Director Joshua Horowitz did his job and it’s evident that he put a lot of thought into the direction. The often overlapping of action and dialogue, unless well-thought and well-rehearsed, could have turned into cacophony. Mr. Horowitz marvelously crafted and developed the young actors throughout the play, especially during those overlapping moments. The compositions, especially with six or seven actors in the play area at one time, were well-orchestrated; however, some of the characters lost their spontaneity when taking over their positions that came across as a taut and rehearsed movement rather than logical steps. The play works very well in the Studio 88 space. Set designer Todd Stuart’s staging is simple yet sublime in recreating the chalked concrete we all remember.  The subtle fencing around the studio space and the choice to play the production “in the round” really brings the joy of the childhood back to our memories. The young performers attempted their best and gave it all they had. Their genuine sincerity was easily sensed as they attempted to make the play a notable one. They must be applauded for that. It is truly commendable to take such initiative developing young actors who will hopefully embrace acting and become pros at it some day in near future.

For more information on the production, click here.