Faithfully: The Music of Journey

Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Springfield, MA

www.springfieldsymphony.org

October 18, 2015

by Eric Sutter

The Springfield Symphony Orchestra Pops concert series touched off with a unifying force in the sound of the Journey tribute band “Faithfully.” Power ballads mixed with rockers to create a hypnotic effect of heightened appreciation of the glorifying freedom in the spirit of connection to the music and to each band member. As the audience's instinctual attraction to the music grew, it seemed as if the collective unconscious manifested in the music. Somehow, the sounds became ever more commanding to a point of spiritual awareness and clarity.

The Springfield Symphony Orchestra joined the six-member band in celebration, which multiplied the positive vibe. Guest conductor James Fellenbaum was marvelous at keeping the Orchestra in the Rock 'n' Roll mix. Premier rock songs "Anyway You Want It" and "Wheel In The Sky" expanded the good atmosphere outward until it seemed every note of music cried out for freedom.

Notable guitar solos galore included one especially upbeat extended single jam to "Stone In Love" by the amazing Dan Kalisher. Good balance to sound was added by the Symphony strings that enhanced the emotions. Intense vocal harmonies complemented superb lead singers Jesse Bradman and Alisha Zalkin's performances. The delicate "Open Arms" was well done with keyboards, woodwinds, and strings elevating the musical experience.

The band started the second half in a similar clear melodic formula with the dramatic "Lights" sung by Zalkin. Bradman's suppliant take on "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" surged with youthful love. The prominence of keyboardist Will Herrington added to the creative force measurably as did his lead vocal on "Foolish Heart." The exhilarated musical moments of "Faithfully" gave a completely positive mood to all in the audience. Steve Perry would be proud. The rhythm section kicked in once again to "Don't Stop Believin'" which reinforced the mutual connection between the music and the masses in an awestruck ending of excitement.

This was one of the best Pops concerts and made one wish the house rocked full.

A Wonderful Life

Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddem, CT 
www.goodspeed.org 
through November 29, 2015

by R.E. Smith

Like many film to stage translations, “A Wonderful Life” must decide whether it is going to compete with or complement its celluloid predecessor or forge a path entirely of its own. In this case, the addition of songs to a faithful narrative serves as compliment but leaves the audience wondering if that was enough to justify the endeavor.

In small town Bedford Falls, NY, George Bailey is a decent, kind man with dreams that have been thwarted by the very goodness that defines him. In a desperate hour, when he regrets the course his life has taken, heavenly intervention will allow him to see what the world would have been like without him. Though the film is inextricably linked to Christmas, the story really has very little to do with that specific season and this interpretation downplays the association even more: no need to fear seeing a yuletide show in October.

First produced in 1986, the music is by Joe Raposo, an Emmy & Grammy winner, who wrote over 1000 songs for Sesame Street. The book and lyrics are by Sheldon Harnick, of “Fiddler on the Roof” fame. “In a State,” a jaunty Charleston number, brightens the stage with peppy choreography and youthful energy, though it does little to drive the story. In the same scene, “A Wonderful Life,” nicely incorporates the underlying theme. Both are winningly performed by Josh Franklin as Sam Wainwright, George’s dashing friend (and reminder of life outside the town).

Photo by Diane Sobolewski

”I Couldn’t Be With Anyone But You” is a lovely ode to the comfort and foibles of marriage, sung by Mary to George. That song, as well as ”Not What I Expected” allows the talented Kirsten Scott the opportunity to add much-needed dimension to her character. Duke Lafoon plays George, with a subtle nod to Jimmy Stewart, but in no way an imitation. George is not a perfect man; he is good-hearted but frustrated at every turn and Lafoon plays all facets masterfully.

As always with Goodspeed, the staging, musicianship, and performances are all top notch. The sentiment is certainly sincere and the show’s message is a positive one. Movie fans will not have their memories tarnished and theatre fans will appreciate Goodspeed’s continued mission to reviving forgotten American works.

Newsies

The Bushnell, Hartford, CT

www.bushnell.org

through October 18, 2015

by Shera Cohen

Photo by Dean van Meere

“Extra, extra, read all about it.” Read this review and, undoubtedly, many others that appear this week, and don’t hesitate to buy tickets to “Newsies.” The immature sounding title and a large cast of young actors who, perhaps, haven’t yet earned their wings might connote that this musical is kids’ stuff. Hardly. “Newsies,” based on the newsboy strike of 1899 in NYC, is gritty, dramatic, and serious in telling its story of David and Goliath (a line in the play).

Mix a little bit “Oliver” with “Billy Elliott,” then blend the two in a big Disneyesque bowl of reality and dreams, hardship and hope, charmingly flawed handsome young guy and plucky intelligent beautiful young lady and the result is delicious.

Act I kicks off with an all-boy song and dance. From there the story, character connections, pace, and purpose revv up. Act II finds a balance of poignant solos and full-chorus action, romance, dance, and laughter.

Joey Barreiro plays Jack (our lead) with charisma and street smarts. Not until Act II is his character challenged to sing his heart out. He does, and nails it. Morgan Keene (girl reporter aka Jack’s sweetheart) could very well play any Disney heroine. Yet this gingham gal separates herself from the pack in “Watch What Happens” – a Sondheim-like fast talking song. Ah, she’s no Ariel.

This musical has so many elements that make it a success, notably the sets and staging. It is difficult to believe that this touring company [say what you will about bus & truck shows, but Bushnell brings in Broadway-quality] mounts such a big musical on the day of opening night. Giant scaffolding, swinging up, down, sideways, create every one of the often-changing sets. The multi-fold arrangements of apparatus of metal and man (male dance ensemble of 25+ ) should be given credit of as one of the “leads.”          

Choreographer Christopher Gattelli is a magician. Of course, large dance numbers are expected – why else are there some 30 or so characters on the stage at one time? Yet, the footwork goes above and beyond the predictable. The tap is sleek, the gymnastics are Olympian, the fighting is fresh, and the show stopping “Seize the Day” is breath-taking.

Don’t be surprised if, before orchestra plays its final notes, the audience bolts out of their seats for a standing ovation.

2nd Western Mass Film and Media Exchange

October 23, 2015

Holyoke, MA

www.berkshirefilm.org

The Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative (BFMC) is pleased to announce that the 2nd Annual Western Massachusetts Film and Media Exchange will feature a diverse series of panels and workshops of interest to the film and video community and the business community who want to utilize film and video in their marketing and social media efforts. The Exchange will take place on Friday, October 23rd from 9:30am – 5:30pm at the Baystate Health’s Conference Center, Holyoke, MA.

Cynthia Wade, the Academy Award-winning Berkshires-based filmmaker will be the Keynote Speaker. Wade won the Oscar for her short documentary “Freeheld,” the story of a New Jersey police officer who was diagnosed with cancer and wanted to give her benefits to her same-sex partner. The acclaimed documentary has been turned into a motion picture of the same name.

Other panels during The Exchange will be geared to filmmakers and their interests. Entertainment lawyer, Fred Fierst, who led a standing room only seminar last year, will bring a panel of lawyers and filmmakers to discuss every legal aspect of getting a project done – from concept to script, to raising the funding, to attaching cast and crew and dealing with the unions, to negotiating and closing the distribution deal, tax credits, and gap financing.

Another panel, “Funding Your Film” will include with leaders in crowdfunding and how to source local production grants.

Several panels will be geared to all of the attendees.

Third

TheaterWorks, Hartford, CT

www.theaterworkshartford.org

through November 8, 2015

by Jarice Hanson

Wendy Wasserstein

TheaterWorks is celebrating their thirtieth anniversary season and the tenth anniversary of Wendy Wasserstein’s final play, “Third.” Director Rob Ruggiero impeccably blends the talents of his lighting, set design, sound design, and costuming team in this thoughtful, evenly paced production. He honors the timelessness of Wasserstein’s play by focusing on the personal story she wanted to tell shortly before she died of cancer in 2006.

Actress Kate Levy keenly projects the multiple dimensions of Laurie Jameson, a professor who questions hegemonic masculinity and political power while struggling with her father’s dementia, her two daughters’ life choices, a friend with cancer, and her own entry into the third stage of life opens the show with a monolog in which she lectures her students to “challenge the norms.” While the character hopes to open the others’ eyes to what she sees as “truth” in literature, she is really speaking about Wasserstein’s own challenge to the norms of theatre, patriarchy, and politics. Levy, who portrays enigmatic characters beautifully, is flawless.

Laurie accuses a student of plagiarizing his paper on “King Lear” at an elite New England school (a thinly disguised Amherst College), reasoning that young Woodson Bull III is a white male who is used to a life of privilege. Preferring to be called “Third,” the young man challenges his accuser in an academic honest hearing, and Laurie is forced to reevaluate her search for what might be her ultimate truth.  In a debut performance, Conor M. Hamill is believable as Third. Olivia Hoffman as Laurie’s daughter and Andrea Gallo as a professor friend with cancer who embraces life are original characters who defy convention. Laurie’s father, heartbreakingly played by Edmond Genest, reminds the audience of the tenuousness of the mind and the many roles we play in our worldly lives.

“Third” is the type of play that gives the audience member much to ponder and much to appreciate. The play requires some serious thinking, reminding its patrons that theatre often tells the universal story of life, the quest for meaning, and coming to terms with what is learned along the way.

The Mousetrap

Suffield Players, Suffield, CT

www.suffieldplayers.org

through October 24, 2015

by Stuart W. Gamble

A mild autumn evening, friends enjoying snacks sitting in cabaret-style seats, a warm family-like atmosphere prevails, hardly the stuff that murder mysteries are made of, but not so at the Suffield Player’s season opening show, “The Mousetrap.”

Christie’s chestnut is given a fresh transfusion in SP’s production. The play opens as Mollie Ralston (Rachel Berezin) and her husband Giles (Steve Wandzy)  prepare to open their home, Monkswell Manor (a former monastery), to paying guests as a sort of rooming house. The Ralstons are a decidedly normal couple in their first year of marriage. Their guests, however, prove to be an eccentric, and in some cases, a downright bizarre bunch: there’s the foppish and fey Christopher Wren (Shaun O’Keefe); the blowsy, domineering Mrs. Boyle (Kelly Seip); the stiff-upper-lipped Major Metcalf (Mark Proulx); the dour, androgynous Miss Casewell (Brianna Stronk); and the truly strange Senor Paravicini (Roger Ochs).

If this sounds like a somewhat altered game of Clue, that’s because Christie was one of the earliest practitioners of the disparate group of people trapped together in an isolated setting. Into this seemingly unrelated group of strangers, comes Detective Sergeant Trotter (Reid Sinclair), who despite his youth and inexperience, tries to unravel the mystery before another homicide occurs.

“The Mousetrap” is truly an ensemble piece and all eight actors work well together. O’Keefe steals the show with his joyful performance as the superficially funny, but ultimately deeply troubled Christopher Wren who spouts off such lines as “I like murder” with gleeful abandon. Seip is also a standout as the ill-fated Mrs. Boyle. Her no-nonsense dismissal of the strange goings-on as “melodramatic rubbish” adds much humor to the more melodramatic moments. Sinclair offers perhaps the most complex performance in a truly difficult role. His detective keeps the audience engrossed in the Act II. Sinclair’s accent is very authentic as well, revealing his lower-class origin.

The stately yet cozy drawing room setting has been meticulously designed by Art Christian and assisted by Konrad Rogowski and Kelly Seip right down to the circa 1950’s radio and telephone. Boutin’s costumes range from “veddy British” tweeds to brightly colored argyles.

Suffield Player’s respectable production is obviously a labor of love for the group. With over 40 people in the program credited for their contributions, SP exemplifies the meaning of a theatre community.

Veils

Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield MA 

www.barringtonstageco.org 

through October 18, 2015 

by Barbara Stroup

Freshman year of college - in Cairo -  for a devout American Muslim girl begins with airport chaos until her “all-American” Egyptian roommate plucks her from the crowd. Offers of punk rock and MacDonald’s from her new friend, Samar (light-skinned in tight jeans and baseball cap and chatting amiably on her cell) surprise “Inty” (dark-skinned, head covered). These distinguishing features help fuel the confusion (and attempts at resolution) of the identity theme that is the basis of this striking new play by Tom Coash.

Photo by Kevin Sprague

Impeccably acted by Donnetta Lavinia Grays and Hend Ayoub, their instant bond seems believably sincere. They address their differences carefully at first, but as Samar puts Inty into her “educational” video on head coverings and veils, they discover the depths of difference and the unaddressed attitudes that their backgrounds have carved into them. Their friendship develops with wonderful energy, even as it is challenged by their faith, their nationalities, their religious practices, and their cultural imbalances.

Video displayed behind the actors moves the narrative and unfailingly creates mood and place. It is so well done that it seems essential to the script. There is only one rough spot there: the use of soliloquy for Samar to describe a rally gone very wrong requires sustained shock and terror of the actress over too many lines.

The writing - a skilled combination of passion, positioning, territoriality, and humor - makes these characters into people one wants to know better, and makes them people in whom one can place hope for the future of the planet.