Arianna Rose's play: The Ripple Effect -- about a NY couple dealing with infertility issues gets the Readers Theater treatment in next Saturday's version of the Spirit Arts Festival in Milwaukee.
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If you want a fun, glam jukebox musical, then "Heart of Rock and Roll" is for you. The musical is based on music by Huey Lewis; the plot, or book by Johnathan A. Abrams as well as story (also Tyler Mitchell) is a fun one filled with 80's references, IKEA jokes, aerobics and leggings!
The direction by Gordon Greenberg is sharp, the actors flow nicely at The James Earl Jones Theatre. The choreography too is very tight, very eighties (Lorin Latarro) and the lighting is pure glam; bright blues, greens, reds and purples make this show pop. Mr. Lewis's songs blend tremendously with all the things that make a great show,,, deft costumes (Jen Caprio), opulent sets (Derek McLane) and big voices. It all comes together for two hours and thirty minutes. Audience members settle in to relive the past with the its expressions, the fashion, the high hair and bask in its nostalgia. In this mid west box company, the simplicity of the everyday life keeps the actors upbeat; this warm play permeates the joy of being alive in this era. As Bobby (Corey Cott) navigates his life, a one time lead singer and guitarist who has put that behind him for a 9 to 5 job at Stone Box Company, he sets his sights higher to become one in the executive offices. After a slip up he must further navigate his life. John Dossett as Mr. Stone who is replete with mid west charm but is a no nonsense man, his daughter, Cassandra (McKenzie Kurtz) is a numbers gal. Graduating from Princeton University she is a stickler for the bottom line. As things twist and turn, the company needs ideas and this is when the musical gets interesting. Most of Mr. Lewis's songs are in the show (except "She's Heart and Soul"). The musical direction clearly helps the show along with how the actors sing them; not to gitch, not to heavy on the percussion, it is a right blend of orchestration. In fact nothing in this musical is heavy in the way of over powering, just a smooth feel to it. The vibe throughout is that the show more flutters than anything else. The only thing that vacillates is whether Bobby will stick to his game plan of being a corporate guy or a rocker. It is not always clear as to what his decision will be and that's part of the great fun. As the 2024 spring season concludes, (only a few sporadic ones left), it Was "Sign of The Times" and "The Heart of Rock and Roll" that I will most look back on as fun shows! Both had a wonderful book and really fun music to them. This season was one of the deepest show lineup in quite some time; most of the shows were quality, what separates a show like "Heart of R&R is that it never takes itself too seriously, rather it pokes fun at itself. From the Richard Simmons spoof to Fjord (Orville Mendoza) the Swedish furniture magnet, we all laugh at the memories that was 1987 when this musical takes place. Like "Back to The Future", this musical has something for everybody and it will attract audiences of all ages. You don't have to be a "boomer" to enjoy it! Between the laughter, the glorious songs and the wonderful dancing, "Heart of Rock and Roll" is a keeper! Readers' Theater -- the first phase of SWM/Windsong's Spirit Arts Festival, continues this Saturday with a reading of Ron Schaefer's THE DEVIL THAT PLAGUES HER, about a girl murdered by church members for being possessed by the Devil. The play will be recorded for radio broadcast.
Movie Review! No Bull With Raging Robert.“Miller’s Girl” which runs a tad over an hour and a half is never boring; it is also not great, either. The premise of the story is a good one… a “Lolita” type of writing which never hits the fever nor the depth of the famous book.
The synopsis of the screen play is a young, precocious student, Cairo Sweet (Jenna Ortega) is a want-to-be Yale bound student who has a deep thirst for reading and writing. Cairo is labelled “the one” by her teacher Johnathan Miller (Martin Freeman). Miller is a one and done writer, his book was panned by the critics and he has never written since. He has been down sized from the theater department to the literature department in this small, Tennessee town. Cairo wants for nothing, her absentee parents are both international lawyers and are infrequently home. She wants nothing more than to get out of her small town even though her home is massive and she has everything she needs right there. Her side kick Winnie Black (Gideon Aldon) is also a precocious young thing who has a penitent for girls as well as men. Her crush on Cairo goes nowhere, however. She is in lust with Mr.Miller and Winnie has a thing for physics teacher Boris Fillmore. This Netflix movie does its usual racial casting which particularly weakens the movie. Bashir Salahuddin is not believable as a physics teacher, more believable as a gym teacher. He is a due-fess as a human and not passable as an intellect. Christine Adams as Joyce Manor the vice principal too is not that strong in this role. She falls short as an authoritarian figure when Miller is called on the carpet in regards to his relationship with Cairo. The most talented of the cast is Dagmara Dominczyk as Miller’s wife. She is a successful writer in her own right and the clear bread winner. Up until a very good ending scene, we believe that the Miller’s are a happy couple. She knows all the right things to say and like Ortega, she is sexy and smart. Written and directed by Jade Halley Bartlett (that is usually a mistake to take on both roles), the movie never goes deep enough; Bartlett only scratches the surface. This movie could have been so much more than it was. Instead, she never makes her move, and a “Wild Things” of a movie never develops. Just when we think Miller will make his move, he doesn’t! But why doesn’t he make his move? Is it fear that he can’t make it without his wife? Does he love his wife too much? Nope. We never are shown neither-nor. Why is Cairo so smitten with Miller? Why does Winnie like Mr. Fillmore so much? (especially when he looks like Fat Albert from the Cosby cartoon series). “Miller’s Girl” is way to tame; the movie should have had some nudity/sex in it to be of any interest to a viewer who likes this genre. In the aforementioned book, “Lolita” and the movie, “Wild Things”, the sex brought the film together with the suspense that ensued. The ending there was eye popping; here it was a disappointing thud! Even the conversations between Miller and Fillmore, Cairo and Winnie are never titillating nor do they lend any insight as to where the movie is going or may go… more like idol chatter. The best part, the most surprising part of the movie is when the Miller’s have it out. Here we find out his thoughts, but, the wife’s thoughts and feelings are a complete 180 degrees from how she was during the entire movie. “Miller’s Girl” is worth watching for dialogue. It has some strong points, but unfortunately it has many weak ones as well. "The Great Gatsby" at the Broadway Theatre is a grandiose musical replete with fantastic sets and glittering costumes. Steadfast to both the book by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the movie, the songs complement its plot in this two hour and fifteen minute whirlwind of a show.This Broadway version had its book by Kait Kerrigan, music by Jason Howland and lyrics by Nathan Tysen
The show kicks into high gear whenever Jay Gatsby (Jeremy Jordan) is on stage. Jordan is both a phenomenal singer and actor; his "Past Is Catching Up to Me" brought the show to a halt, in fact, most of his songs had the audience in awe. His effort is one of the best, if not the best I have seen all season. Directed by Marc Bruni and choreographed by Dominique Kelley, "Gatsby" never has a lull in it, the pace is wonderful and Paul Tate Depoo lll sets and projection design are incompatible to anything this season. From the fireworks on the sound to the palatial homes and the automobiles, Depoo brings us back to a by-gone era, an era of wealth,opulence and privilege.The lighting too by Cory Pattak adds to the the shows spender. Little is known about Jay Gatsby, he went to war, he studied at Oxford, but little else is known about him other than he dated Daisy Buchanan (Eva Noblezada when he was stateside ready to be shipped off to war. Her cousin, Nick Carraway is reluctant to reunite them but has second thoughts after meeting her husband, Tom (John Zdrojeski). Unlike the book, it is intimated that Gatsby is a bootlegger and his extravagant parties, his home and Rolls Royce are ill gotten. The musical also shows the criminal element that both he and a gas station owner, George Wilson are involved with. The plot never really develops this very well, however. The cast are all effective, but a few stand out... Samantha Pauly as Jordan Baker and John Zdrojeski as Tom Buchanan as well as Jeremy Jordon are staples throughout the show. Continually turning in dynamic acting, all three command the stage. The long awaited "The Great Gatsby" never disappoints and is a must see! Let Them Eat SPAM -- Gail Blohowiak's play about two widows tryng to regain lost funds, opens at the Capitol Library, Milwaukee, Saturday, May 4th, at 1:00pm. No tickets. Donations accepted.
While in the past, and generally what most such festivals do, is hold their events over the course of a single weekend or even two; we thought we’d try something different to reach out to more people and find new participants and new
audiences. So we’ve spread the festival out over many weeks, and in two phases, starting in spring and carrying on well into summer. In the past, it was down into several segments often competing against each other on a weekend — this way they are consecutive so that more attention can be given to a single aspect — and placed around the county so that audiences not usually drawn to something across town might be able to take in a program they would normally miss. So we started with the Readers Theater — a format in which staged readings of new plays by local and selected regional authors can be heard, and where local performing talent can be given a place to shine. To expand, we would also record as many of these performances as possible so that exposure on radio and the internet would help broadcast the results (further info added to our site). This year, the playwrights picked were: Gail Buntin Blohowiak Arianna Rose Michael Lucchesi Allison Fradkin Dan Morra Regina Cooper Germaine Shames Jordan Noble Francis Higgins (and Nimbus’s own) Ron Schaefer The Plays Offered This Year Are: Let Them Eat SPAM; The Ripple Effect The Perilous Game; Heard Mentality C12-H22-O11 An Acquired Taste; Denial Better Tenants; Girl X Two And a recycling of last years plays for another go around: Myrva The Devil That Plagues Her White Man’s Justice Job The Refugees; Gun Play; The Rapists For the modern theater lover "Uncle Vanya" at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater may very well be for you. This "Vanya" is not the typical play by Chekhov; in its new rendition by Heidi Schreck, we get more modern language, modern costumes (Kaye Voyce) and modern direction by Lila Neugebauer.
Vanya (Steve Carell) has spent most of his life farming the land so that Alexander (Alfred Molina) can carry on with his art studies as a celebrated professor and teacher. Both Molina and Carell as well as Alison Pill as Sonya are standouts in this production, laying waste to all the other actors in the cast. Where the sound resonates in this well appointed theater (Mikhail Fiksel and Beth Lake), the sets by Mimi Lien are unimpressive. Lap Chi Chu gives us the support on lighting and her moods vary well amongst this two hours and fifteen minutes. "Uncle Vanya" is slow at times, very slow due to Neugebauer's direction. Actors don't always blend well causing pockets of weakness in the dialogue. Both William Jackson Harper as Astrov and Anika Noni Rose as Elena cannot hold the stage nor the attention of the audience. Since the show is put in modern language, these two actors appear more like people in the inner city rather than stage professionals; even their body language goes anathema to this great classic. In a slow-go of this play, the show does pick up almost half way through the first act. The dialogue and the melding of characters never fully catches its stride however. We get a mesh-mosh of thoughts, feelings and adversity, but the true feelings are never brought to the forefront emotionally. At the end of the play we get to hear Vanya rant about his feelings, how he gave up his life for the farm which is weakly portrayed at the back of the theater. The audience never feels his pain as Carell holds back and we never feel the strong emotions. More comedic than serious, he is at his best when the show has him bantering about. In Voyce's costumes we get both the elegant and the mundane. Never overwhelmed by the garb, it fades away like much of this play does. For the modern theater lover, however, there are a lot of things in this show that you will like. The sets which never really blend with the show are intricate and give meaning to the modern. The deft sound keeps the play eery at times especially with the reverbs at different times during the performance. The backdrop in the second act is clever even though it is difficult to sift through the conventional writings of Chekhov... it goes against the grain of what we have seen in the past. "Uncle Vayna" is a mixed bag and is not for everyone, it takes the conventional completely out of the picture and puts us in the new world of modern. Spirit Arts Festival 2024 A Celebration in the various art forms Prsented by SWMedia/Windsong READERS THEATER A Series of Scripted Performances of New Plays by local, regional, and extended area playwrights in a non-production setting read by the worthy talents of resident actors, starting with… MYRVA by RON SCHAEFER A committee of intra-galactic beings meets to decide the fate of the Earth which was designated for desttruction by the Asteroid Myrva, sent if the population proved to be too self-destructive. Saturday, April 27th, 1:00pm Bay View Library — Llewellyn Community Room 2566 S. Kinnickinnic Avenue, Milwaukee 53207 Open to the Public "Suffs" at The Music Box Theatre is a history piece set to music. Based on the suffragettes in the early 1900's, the musical first opened at The Public and it is written and starred by Shaina Taub as Alice Paul. In first seeing Taub on stage she remained me of Lila Taylor as Valerie Solanas in "I Shot Andy Warhol" Gruff, and ruff around the edges, she spares no prisoners in trying to get woman to vote. Going against the grain of the older, more genteel ladies, Paul is bare knuckles to the point where she ends up in jail.
The musical for the most part is enjoyable with a few exceptions... the show is a bit preachy, condescending at times. The staging is a whole lot better than when it played at The Public; cheap steps are replaced by mahogany paneling. Riccardo Hernandez did a brilliant job staging this big musical. Paul Tazewell's costumes are first rate and Lap Chi Chu supported the show with some deft glam lighting. Director Leigh Silverman has some good moments and some that are not so good. The plot goes from sensational to slow all throughout the two hours and fifteen minutes. The all woman cast goes at a sprinters pace from start to finish, leaving the audience wondering when it will level off. Taub never has us happy for the woman, rather she has them off starting the ERA right after they have been granted the right to vote. This part of the show is confusing because why not end the performance after the 19th Amendment has been passed? It weakens the plot by having the woman not satisfied with this huge victory, it comes off as thankless. As some songs are really resonant... "Let Mother Vote", "The March" (really strong), "Show Them Who You Are", "The Young Are At The Gates", and "Finish The Fight", others are weak and fall flat. The choreography (Mayte Natalio) is never that noticeable; more bland than anything, we never are awed by the dancing here. As an all woman cast both Grace McLean as Woodrow Wilson and Tsilala Brock as Dudley Malone are never believable as men. As a period piece (Hamilton comes to mind), Shaina Taub cannot handle the lead. Unlike Manuel who wrote and starred in Hamilton, Taub never overwhelms us with her acting, singing nor dancing. The book, music and lyrics were all written by her but she should have yielded the lead to someone who could have carried this musical to the finish line. Like "Funny Girl", this show will be much stronger when she exits the show as the lead. Whereas Feldstein was awful, Lea Michele brought the show to new heights. "Suffs" for the most part is enjoyable, it does have some holes in it and they are very noticeable. It is much improved from its days at The Public, yet it is not as of yet completely tight as a Broadway show. |
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