Oh, Those Summer Nights

Summer: Traditionally when theatres go dark as people play outdoors. And yes, for two weeks Salem theatre hit a lull, where you could only see improv comedy and stand-up without leaving town. I hope you enjoyed your break—the Summer Theatre Season in Salem begins now:

Albany Civic Theatre: Footlight Frenzy, by Ron House. A raucous back-stage farce (think Noises Off) directed by Albany’s Bob Olin. Check out the cast interview on the Theatre Talk podcast at kmuz.org. July 10 to July 25.

Pentacle Theatre: Chicago, the Tony-award winning musical by Kander & Ebb and Bob Fosse, directed by Ken Hermens and James Steele. You may remember it from the 2002 film with Renée Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Set in the roaring 20s, it tells a tale of crime, jealousy, and unquenched desire for fame. Pentacle packs in the razzle dazzle—and all that jazz—into its intimate space. July 10 to August 1st.

Children’s Educational Theatre: An extravaganza of theatre for and by young audiences. Performances start at the Salem Art Fair (July 17–19) with an adaptation of “The Jabberwocky” and continue through the following week at assorted venues. Check out the full calendar at cetsalem.org and take your kids to see some great plays.

Keizer Homegrown Theatre: Our own annual Shakespeare in the park production at the Keizer Rapids Amphitheater, this year featuring A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Linda Baker. The twist: these lovers escape from their retirement home and the overbearing eye of their children. Bring a camp chair and enjoy some of Gilgamesh brewery’s finest at this lively outdoor event. July 22 to 25 only.

Theatre 33: The Willamette University offshoot company presents another series of staged readings by Oregon playwrights. Next up is The Snowmaker by Aleks Merilo, a thriller directed by the immensely talented Raissa Fleming. If you are looking for new plays, find them here. Sunday, July 26th only.

Enlightened Theatrics: Taking Broadway to Salem with Hair, directed by Vincenzo Meduri. Yes, that Hair, one of the most culturally-significant plays to come out of the 1960s (it’s a political satire, really). And yes, with nudity—but come on, people, it’s only one scene, and the music is fabulous. Let the sun shine in. July 29 to August 16.

WOU Theatre: Shakespeare’s other cross-dressing comedy, As You Like It. “All the world’s a stage,” “No news but the old news,” and a few other good lines. Directed by David Janoviak with a mixed cast of student- and community actors, including the brilliant Gregory Jolivette. July 30 to August 1 only.

Brush Creek Playhouse: Unfortunately, the Silverton company had to cut its traditional summer melodrama, but they will be back in September with their teen/youth show, You Know I Don’t Love You, another original piece by father-daughter team Michael and Emily Wood.

Look for more shows in August from Albany, Pentacle, and Theatre 33, and a downtown block party from Enlightened Theatrics on August 1st. Also look for a stronger presence from the Salem Theatre Network. These are exciting times for theatre in Salem. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.

A Long Walk for a Short Drink

Much Ado About Nothing at Albany Civic Theatre, directed by Johanna Spencer, is a production that desperately wants to be a farce, but the play keeps getting in the way.

Much Ado is one of Shakespeare’s most frequently produced comedies, and with good reason: the wit of Benedict and Beatrice, the sighs of Claudio and Hiro, the buffoonery of Dogberry and the Watch. The language is mostly in prose, and there is plenty of opportunity for physical comedy. In short, it is a crowd-pleasing play that is relatively easy to produce. I have seen productions from bad to excellent, but for my money, nothing is superior to the 1993 film starring Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson.  

Albany Civic Theatre (for those who have never been) is an easy thirty minute drive south of Salem. The company was founded in 1950, four years before Pentacle and twenty-five years before Brush Creek. The theatre itself is converted from an old cinema (formerly the Rialto). As such, the house is long and narrow, and the stage is a narrow proscenium. Sightlines are decent, although as the house fills, spectators move rapidly away from the stage.

Albany’s Much Ado makes some interesting choices. It opens with Beatrice winning a real fencing match—a nice foreshadow to the verbal sparring that is to follow. Several roles are casually gender-switched, notably the patriarch Leonato (now Leonata), a refreshing update on Shakespeare’s boys’ club. The production is set in the American 1920s, so much fun is had with flapper skirts, the Charleston, and Teddy Roosevelt hats. Original musical arrangements for “Hey Nonny Nonny” and the funeral dirge are a pleasant addition.

Unfortunately, the acting never rises to the passion of the play itself. Benedict, played by newcomer Rory McDaniel, is cartoonish and self-indulgent. Not every line of Shakespearean imagery needs to be pantomimed, nor does every innuendo deserve a pelvic thrust. He brings ample energy, but he comes across as a horny adolescent. Beatrice, on the other hand, played by Catherine Polan Orzech, is bright, powerful, and self-assured, and if she takes some of her beats from Emma Thompson, it does not hurt her performance. Except that the styles are in such a contrast, it is as if the pair are acting in different plays.

For the rest of the cast, they are at sea whenever the play takes a real emotional turn. The wedding scene is bloodless, as if the stakes are too low for anyone but Claudio to get excited about. The audience was likewise subdued. It was actually Benedict’s slapstick that the audience enjoyed the most, along with Dogberry and Verges’, and the endless excursions of the Keystone Cops (playing the Watch). The production wants to live here, in the land of farce, but Shakespeare keeps pulling them out of it by demanding an emotional sincerity that is never attained. At three hours long, it was far too tedious for this neighbor. Much Ado runs through April 4.

Elsewhere in the Valley

·         Theatre Talk, Friday, April 3 at 8:30 am on KMUZ Radio.

·         S.K.I.T. Theatre Showcase, Tuesday, April 7, at Bethany Baptist Church.

·         A Bench in the Sun, at Brush Creek Playhouse. Opens Friday, April 10.

·         Auditions: For Accidentally Yours, at Brush Creek, April 11.

·         Auditions: For Chicago, at Pentacle, April 11. 

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change

Keizer Homegrown Theatre                 

March 20, 2014 (Opening Night)

Keizer Homegrown Theatre launches its third season with a romp through the absurdity of modern dating.

The play, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Book & Lyrics by Joe DePietro, Music by Jimmy Roberts) is a modern crowd pleaser. It played an amazing 5000 performances in its initial off-Broadway run starting in 1996, and most recently appeared locally at the Broadway Rose Theatre in Tigard in Jan–Feb 2013. As such, every scene and musical number is tested and solid.

There is no plot, per se, just a series of vignettes on the theme of relationships and courtship, progressing from young couples through marriage, parenthood, and divorce. There is no deep philosophy here, or politics. It is a vive la difference! comedy in which men and women (all decidedly hetero) take and give their licks equally. The play provides a few moments of real tenderness, but their scarcity leaves one wanting more. It is a good night out, a fun play for a date (or a married couple’s date night). 

Keizer Homegrown makes use of its familiar home in the Keizer Civic Center, again converting a conference room into a found-space stage. The set is functional, with simple masking flats, parquet floor, light trees, and risers. What the space lacks in technical sophistication is more than made up for by its intimacy. There are no chin microphones here. The performance is real and immediate, with performers close enough to touch you or look you in the eye (and they do, from time to time).

The cast of four women and four men is a true ensemble, with some familiar faces, although most are new to Keizer. No one in the cast is an Adele, but each singer has his or her moment. Stand out vocal performances come from Carol Adams and Taylor Pawley, and kudos are also deserved for the rendition of “Always a Bridesmaid.” The most touching spoken exchange takes place between Carol Adams and Michael Swanson in a scene called “Funerals are for Dating.”

Director Laura Reid makes good use of the space and keeps the action moving smoothly. Reid adds a bit of local color to the dialog, which is a nice touch.

What this production wants is a full house. Opening night garnered a modest audience of 28 on a Thursday night, but a production like this needs the energy of ears and bodies to truly come alive. This show is fun and funny, and the performances are solid. See it if you can. 

Spring Awakening

Spring Awakening

Western Oregon University Theatre

April 8, 2014

Western Oregon University’s production of Spring Awakening brings to life a fable of adolescent turmoil both timeless and explicitly modern.

Based on the 1891 play by German playwright Frank Wedekind, this modern musical adaption by Duncan Sheik (Music) and Steven Sater (Books & Lyrics) garnered eight Tony Awards when it premiered in 2006. The play depicts a collage of stories focused around a boys’ secondary school, but primarily follows Melchior Gabor and his romance with Wendla, teen rebels determined to follow their burgeoning desires in a repressive culture. Unfortunately, their puritanical parents and teachers have denied them the slightest knowledge of the consequences of their sexual awakening, leading to tragedy for the young lovers.

The setting is historic, but each scene of dialog alternates with a rock number that is entirely contemporary, an anachronism that insists that the problems these young people face are essentially modern, or perhaps universal. Indeed, the issues of school pressure, domestic violence, sexual shaming and misinformation, early and experimental sex—and all that such sex results in—are familiar. The real menace, as the program note highlights, is the mortal danger of denying sexual education at even the most basic level.

The play’s content was enough to ban the work when first written. Today, masturbation and homosexuality no longer shock, but don’t bring the kids. As the warning label states, the language (and on stage action) is explicit.

Overall, the production is excellent, and closing night earned an enthusiastic and well-deserved standing ovation.

Director Michael Phillips seats several audience members on stage, flanking the action, reinforcing the idea that these young people are constantly watched—and judged—by the adults around them. The scenic design by Scott Grim consists of a back drop of brick walls painted from bottom to top with admonitions against “MORAL CORRUPTION” and “CREEPING SENSUALITY.” But amidst the painted messages are the outlines of trees: Spring (and sexuality) cannot be stopped.

The lighting design, while quietly unobtrusive in most productions, stands out. The playing space is saturated with a mist that allows every cone of light to be seen. In dialogue scenes, the mist becomes a hazy film over the past. During musical numbers, the youth belt out their lyrics beneath dynamic shafts of blue and red and white. What first appear to be towers of speakers turn out to be scoop lights used to striking effect in the play’s strongest number, “Totally F****d,” a youth anthem superior to any in Rent.

Of course, in this Rock Musical, the singing is the highlight. The entire cast sings impassionedly, even if all the lyrics are not crystal clear. Lead actors Luke Armstrong (Melchior) and Amanda Norman (Wendla) carry the show, with standout performances from the tortured Mortiz (Feliciano Tencos-Garcia) and progressive Ilse (Lisa Rogers). WOU faculty Ruth Mandsager and David Janoviak play all of the adult characters, a nice bit of age appropriate casting.

The only disappointment in this production were the number of empty seats in the auditorium. At only twenty minutes from Salem, a production of this quality should have been sold out.