The How And The Why

New Century Theatre, Northampton, MA

www.newcenturytheatre.org

through July 12, 2014

By K.J. Rogowski

Sarah Treem's "The How And The Why" is an ambitious two-person show currently playing at New Century Theatre. This production is, in part, an extensive exploration and debate of a proposed scientific theory on the evolutionary reason for menstruation, part professional crossroads on how to get ahead in the scientific community while leaving your coworker/lover behind, and part exploration of the deeply conflicted relationship between a mother and the daughter. By a twist of fate, some 28 years later, the daughter who was abandoned at birth ends up being her own mother's scientific collaborator. As if this was not enough to absorb, the play also includes the introduced, but never followed though on, plot element of one of the characters having stage three cancer.

Act I moves fairly well, although the ongoing antagonism between the two characters is never explained, only vaguely hinted at, which leaves audience members wondering exactly what is happening and why. However, much credit especially goes to the two actors, Lisa Abend and Suzanne Ankrum. At the opening night performance, a stir-related power outage put their stage in sheer darkness. The two never lost composure, but assured the audience "this happens all the time," getting a good round of applause. In a few minutes the lights were back on, they came back, restarted a few lines back from when the lights went out, and moved ahead unflustered and seamlessly.

The scientific and career conflicts debated in the Act I are detailed and well punctuated with the push and pull of conflicted characters. They move towards and away from one another as the action and arguments play out. Act II, however, takes an odd turn, with the prime characters meeting once again in "a dive bar." At this point, the production looses its drive. The main factors at play are the script's repetition of the debates and arguments from Act I with scientific theories and counter theories explained, argued, and re-argued, as are the personal conflicts. Director Sheila Siragusa's choice is to just sit the two at a table, in a room all alone, and there they stay for the majority of the act. In spite of lots of room to move, to push, and pull, there was little movement. Useful props were not used, such as the dartboard that, oddly, had no darts.

It may be that the script tries to take on and resolve too many complex issues, or something missing in the action, but the production leaves its audience, at least at the play's first performance, wondering about the how and why.

June Moon

Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown, MA

www.wtf.org

through July 13, 2014

by Jennifer Curran

The production “June Moon” was the official start of the 2014 season on the Main Stage of Williamstown Theatre Festival. If the season didn’t open with fireworks, it did open with the legendary writers, Ring Lardner and George S. Kaufman. Directed by Broadway’s Jessica Stone, the production was charming, scathing, warm, and hysterically funny at moments.

“June Moon” takes its audience back to 1929 and the heyday of Tin Pan Alley as the protagonist, the clueless and simple-minded Fred Stevens (quite lovable though infuriatingly insipid at times as portrayed by Nate Corddry) makes his way from Schenectady to the Big Apple. His dreams of becoming a famous lyricist are waylaid by various forms of temptation. In the train car he meets the lovely, but oh so safe, Edna Baker (Rachel Napoleon).

Fred joins up with the almost has-been songwriter Paul Sears soon after his arrival in the city. At their first meeting, Fred also meets Paul’s bored, but not as gutsy as she wants you to believe, wife Lucille (Kate Maccluggage) and her gold digging, scandalous for 1929 sister Eileen (Holley Fain).

“June Moon” is both an homage and criticism of the era of churning out ditties and excess of the pre-Depression lifestyle. The female characters are little more than archetypes, but they are pieces to the puzzle -- each woman doing what she can within the constraints of a political and social structure that allows for few options. Edna, upon her introduction to Fred, changes who she is with each sentence, so unsure of who her suitor wants her to be and so very eager to become a wife and mother. These types of roles for women have been long obsolete and thank goodness for that.

There are no truly sympathetic characters in this world, except perhaps for that of Maxie the piano player. In fact, they are so flawed, so selfishly drawn, it's hard not to enjoy watching them fall. Maxie (a truly terrific David Turner) is at once the sardonic truth speaker, the hit ‘em in the kisser with one-two punch jokes, but also the dark heart of this story. And dark it is, though the brilliance of the incredible set (Tobin Ost) and glittering costumes (Gregg Barnes) might want you to believe otherwise.

On the surface, the dresses were fabulous and the clubs were hopping, but there is a desperation running through every line; a longing to be seen, to be heard, and to be loved under a June Moon, even if it is October.

Boston Symphony Chamber Players

Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

www.bso.org

July 1, 2014

by Michael J. Moran

The Boston Symphony Chamber Players ensemble is made up of BSO principal players, often supplemented by other members of the orchestra. They perform several times a year in Boston, and they recently made a welcome return to Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood.

To celebrate their 50th anniversary season in 2013-2014, the group commissioned new pieces from four composers. One was Yehudi Wyner’s wind quintet, “Into the evening air,” which opened the concert. While its title derives from an elegiac late poem by Wallace Stevens, most of its eight-minute length is quite lively before it reaches a quiet ending.

Elizabeth Rowe, John Ferrillo

The bracing textures of this colorful music were beautifully rendered by flutist Elizabeth Rowe, oboist John Ferrillo, clarinetist William R. Hudgins, bassoonist Richard Svoboda, and horn player James Sommerville.

Claude Debussy lived to finish only three of six chamber pieces he started composing during the First World War. One of them was the next piece on the program, his lovely “Sonata for Flute, Harp, and Viola,” completed in 1915, which was ravishingly performed by flutist Rowe, violist Steven Ansell, and harpist Jessica Zhou.

The program closed with a vibrant account of Franz Schubert’s massive “Octet in F” for winds and strings. In 1824 a clarinetist friend asked Schubert to write a piece modeled on Beethoven’s then popular “Septet” for the same combination of instruments. Though he added a second violin, Schubert even followed the same sequence of movements. The BSO ensemble played the three slow movements with loving warmth and the three faster ones with rousing vigor, except for the closing Allegro, whose relaxed tempo emphasized its Austrian folk dance character.

The first violin and the clarinet had the most solo passages, which BSO concertmaster Malcolm Lowe and clarinetist Hudgins dispatched with flair and affection. Oboist Ferrillo, bassoonist Svoboda, and horn player Sommerville also contributed distinctive playing, as did violinist Haldan Martinson, cellist Sato Knudsen, and double bass player Edwin Barker.

While the wind instruments made their usual cooling impact on this sultry evening, the playing by these seasoned musicians was as red hot as the appreciative audience could have wanted.

Festival of New Yiddish Music

Yiddish Book Center, Amherst, MA

www.yiddishbookcenter.org

 July 17-20, 2014

Now in its third year, Yidstock 2014 will once again bring a stellar lineup of klezmer legends and international stars to the stage at the Yiddish Book Center with concerts and music-related talks, workshops, and more.

Yidstock 2014 offers a rare opportunity for festival goers to take in performances by several generations of the most accomplished and influential klezmer musicians, including those who revived the music in the 1980s, those who made it blossom in the klezmer renaissance of the 1990s, and those who are blazing new trails well into the 21st century.

On the bill are The Klezmatics and the Klezmer Conservatory Band, widely considered to be the two greatest modern klezmer bands in the U.S. Other headliners include Berlin’s Daniel Kahn & the Painted Bird, one of the most creative and cutting-edge Yiddish ensembles; Basya Schechter: Songs of Wonder featuring poetry by the great Yiddish poet and theologian, Abraham Joshua Heschel, put to new music by Basya Schechter, founder and leader of the Jewish world-beat group Pharaoh’s Daughter; and the Nigunim Trio, featuring Lorin Sklamberg and Frank London (both of the Klezmatics) and pianist Rob Schwimmer, performing original and traditional nigunim and zmiros. The curtain will come down on Yidstock 2014 when Frank London’s Klezmer Brass Allstars, featuring acclaimed Yiddish vocalist Eleanor Reissa, take to the stage for the closing concert Sunday evening.

 

A series of workshops is also on the schedule, including those in dance, instrumental klezmer, Yiddish song, and a multimedia journey through the history of klezmer music.

 

Yidstock draws festival goers from around the country. Concerts usually sell out in advance. For more information, the complete schedule, and to purchase tickets visit www.yiddishbookcenter.org or call 413.256.4900. All events take place rain or shine.

Madagascar

Chester Theatre Company, Chester, MA

www.chestertheatre.org

through July 6 2014

by Walt Haggerty

“Madagascar,” the opening production of this, the Chester Theatre Company’s 25th Anniversary Season, is an ideal choice for this adventurous group, always ready to tackle the unique demands of a challenging work. In J. T. Rogers “Madagascar” they have met their challenge head on with an enormously talented cast of three under the astute direction of James Warwick.

The story opens in a hotel room overlooking the Spanish steps, one of Rome’s most romantic settings. The bedroom seen is devoid of romance. Almost barren, illuminated by a single light bulb, stripped of whatever beauty or charm it may once have had, it is a perfect backdrop for memories, and that is what the audience is given.

Photo By Rick Teller

A young man, Paul, sometimes called Gideon, has mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind his devoted twin sister, his adoring mother, and a man who had once been his deceased father’s best friend, as well as his mother’s lover. It is through a series of overlapping monologues, each delivered from a different time frame by these three, that the audience learns of the powerful hold that this missing character has on the remaining figures.

The role of the mother, Lillian, brilliantly played by Debra Jo Rupp, is charming, elegant, and sophisticated. Kim Stauffer, as the daughter June, is at times vivacious and melancholy. Nathan, portrayed by Paul O’Brien, completes the trio as the former friend and lover, now a frustrated economist living with guilt and regrets.

“Madagascar” is a skillfully written and intriguing memory play, at moments reminiscent of some of the early work of the late Tennessee Williams, as each character recalls their associations with Paul, the missing son/brother, who had such a profound influence on the lives of those he left behind.

As produced by the Chester Theatre group, “Madagascar” is a most unusual, yet engrossing work, which leaves its audience with much to digest and rethink long after the actors have left the stage and they have left the theatre.

My Bountiful Berkshires

by Shera Cohen

Up until 1995, the Berkshires meant two places to me: Tanglewood and Berkshire Theatre Festival (BTF). While not a frequent visitor, I had thoroughly enjoyed concerts and theatre, respectively, at each venue. Shortly after mid-decade I realized that these two sites were “musts” for, what I later determined to be, my Top 20 Go-to Places in the Berkshires.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Laughter On The 23rd Floor

New Century Theatre, Northampton, MA

www.newcenturytheatre.org

through June 28, 2014

by K.J. Rogowski

New Century Theatre's production of Neil Simon's "Laughter On The 23rd Floor" is living, laughing tableau of the quick witted and frenetic lives of seven joker writers and their manic and unstable TV star boss, Max Prince, during the golden age of live television. The daily trials and tribulations of churning out yet another stellar script for live programming each week are only topped by their own personal frustrations and foibles.

Their world is confined to the 23rd floor, a classic 50's office, designed by Emily Singer, complete with water cooler, typewriters, and lots of danish. Lucas is the new kid who has to prove himself both as a comedy writer, and as a match for the razor-like wit of his six coworkers, who see every issue as pure comic fodder for their verbal barrages. Then there's Milt, whose daily wardrobe challenges rule his day; and Val the Russian, who takes speech lessons to learn to perfect his English "F-bombs." Ira is dying every day from something exotic, and Brian is certain that today is the day that some movie studio will discover his yet un-written script. Helen is just trying to get pregnant, and Kenny is the somewhat stable glue that holds them together.

Their story, is a bitter sweet one, because while having to deal with a neurotic comic genius boss, and their own personal problems, there looms the real life threat of the television network bosses who see the changing future of what the American viewing public wants.

The play rolls out like an actual variety show, with Lucas as host, addressing the audience like a TV M.C. Each character gets their own entrance and time to feature their unique brand of comedy. The troupe comes together in take-offs and skits, playing off each other like a pack of cartoon pinballs, cracking wise and working the laughs to top each other. Director Sam Rush takes full advantage of this good old, almost vaudeville like, machine gun humor, with characters jockeying to top one another. The laughs on both the 23rd floor, and in the audience, come fast and furious, making for and evening of pure fun.