“You are in for a treat, my friend,” I told my companion as we took our seats in the Calderwood Pavilion to see Speakeasy Stage Company’s last production of the season, The Great American Trailer Park Musical by David Nehls and Betsy Kelso.  I was admittedly unfamiliar with the show (so refreshing) but I did know something that filled me with delight, and I wanted to share it with my slightly less theatre-savy companion, “you are about to see some of Boston’s finest actors all together in the same room.”  I went on to expound my love of Kerry Dowling (my faithful readers have heard it before) and my excitement in seeing the ever-enchanting Leigh Barrett, and the bawdy, beautiful Mary Callanan all together on one stage.  In that moment I truly felt lucky to live in a place like Boston, a city bursting with talent that I personally feel rivals many of New York’s playhouses.

Speakeasy Stage Company never disappoints me.  This show was the perfect closing for a colorful, exciting season.  The Great American Trailer Park Musical takes place in the tropical heat of Florida’s Armadillo Acres, a trailer park in a town called Starke.  It was so stark, in fact, that the lively inhabitants of the trailer park only have gossip to keep them entertained.  With an agoraphobic and her husband with a wandering eye, a hysterically pregnant teen married to a gay Broadway dancer we never see,  and an exotic dancer as the new kid on the block, there is certainly plenty of gossip to go around, and the colorful characters paint a dazzling picture using broad and colorful strokes, leaving the audience breathless with laughter.

Dowling, who plays Betty, the Trailer Park owner, is joined by Lin (Callanan) whose husband is on death row, and Pickles, the young and not-so-knocked up teen (Santina Umbach).  The three play a Greek Chorus of unimaginable silliness as they introduce us to life and times in Armadillo Acres.  The three actresses have perfect chemistry and impeccable comic timing.  I was especially delighted to see Umbach hold her own beside two very decorated Boston performers.  She was hysterical, captivating, and a real scene stealer.  David Benoit, as Norbert, joined Barrett (playing Jeannie) as the sad couple whose son was kidnapped 20 years prior to the show, and were still dealing with the after-effects; Jeannie, by never leaving the house, and Norbert, by taking up with the lovely but vacant Pippi (Caitlin Crosbie Doonan).  Benoit was as charming as he was dogged, and his voice had a smooth country twang that would soothe even the fussiest baby to sleep.  Doonan’s bold and confident exotic dancing was matched only by her heart-rending delivery of the show’s finale number.  The cast was rounded out by the incomparable Grant MacDermott whose portrayal of Duke was spot on; he was both grimy and endearing.  His performance of “Roadkill” was one of the highlights of the production.  All the actors were highlighted by another ingenious set design from Jenna McFarland Lord (she is an amazing talent whose name you should continue to watch out for) and killer costumes by Seth Bodie.  Paul Daigneault and Nicholas Connell’s direction of the talented cast is apparent in their effortless vocals and easy stage presence, and they should both be proud of how brilliantly their cast shined under their discerning eyes.

Speakeasy Stage Company is one of Boston’s finest and I have been honored to attend their 2009-2010 season.  I have recently become aware of  a campaign currently going on for Speakeasy where all donations they receive are being matched by a generous donor.  Now is the time to get in and help them acquire funding to continue to deliver the best of Boston arts and entertainment.  You can find more information about donations on their website.  My money is on this company having a long life in the community, and I’m looking forward to what is on the horizon (namely a spectacular holiday production of Groovelily’s Striking 12- if you haven’t heard of it, you’re in for a real treat!) Rest up, Speakeasy, can’t wait to see you this fall!

Road Kill – (Clockwise From left):  Mary Callanan, Kerry A. Dowling, Santina Umbach  and Grant MacDermott  Photo:  Mark L. Saperstein.

The Zeitgeist Stage Company really hit one out of the park on their last production of the season, Beau Willimon’s Farragut North.  I have enjoyed each production that Zeitgeist has offered this season, but the impeccable acting, riveting story, and thoughtful use of staging put this show in a class all of it’s own.  I cannot begin to express how exciting and professional this production was.

Farragut North is a full speed chase.  Brilliant and young Stephen is on the fast track to political stardom; he is a gifted press secretary with panache and fortitude and he’ll stop at nothing to win the presidential race for his client.  When the opposing side approaches him the night before an extremely important caucus and offers him a job, it leads to a downward spiral he never could have anticipated.  The play runs like the best episode of the West Wing.  Full of huge characters and even bigger stakes, the audience is taken on a breathless journey into the cut-throat climate of Washington D.C. during an election.

This production can boast the best uses of the small BCA black-box theatre for the season.  The set was streamlined, tasteful, and inventive.  I especially liked the simple light changes used to wash the white glass wall units, they created a whole new feel for each scene without sloppily changing furniture or set pieces.  Daniel Jentzen should be proud of how effective his light design was.

Victor Shopov played the lead with poise and natural instincts; his portrayal of Stephen was absolutely spot on.  He had impeccable chemistry, whether it was with the tenacious and willful Molly (played with sophistication by Caitlyn Conley), the quirky and confident Ida (Dakota Shepard) or Stephen’s no-nonsense boss, Paul (Peter Brown).  I was not disappointed as I watched him go from top dog to in the dog house because he played each moment with the utmost realism.  Joining Shopov, Conley held her own as the young intern whose romantic exploits fanned the political fire of the piece.  She had a very natural stage presence and was hard to look away from, even when she was in pantomime.  Shepard played Ida, the hard-hitting reporter whose pleasant demeanor hides a real nose for rooting out a story.  She was great.  Her pacing really helped to pull the cast through some difficult and cerebral dialog sections and she didn’t trip over a single word.  I also enjoyed the stand out performance of Brown as Paul Zara.  The confrontation between Brown and Shopov was so electric that the whole audience was on the edge of its seat waiting for the next verbal blow. “Loyalty,” he spat, as if the very word was a bullet, “without it you’re nothing. In politics it’s the only currency that matters.”  That line echoed perfectly in the efforts of Zach Winton in his role as Ben Fowles.  The only character that exhibited true loyalty throughout the show, you see him rise through the ranks, ultimately taking Stephen’s place.  Winton was completely believable as the passionate and assured young speechwriter.  The cast as a whole (Bill Salem and Andres Rey Solorzano rounded them out, each nailing their characters) worked together seamlessly and had a united energy that was infectious.  They were able, as a unit, to move the story as effortlessly as if we were watching a well-cut feature film.   I was really delighted.

The Zeitgeist Stage Company has really left their mark on the Boston Theatre scene.   As their 10^th anniversary season approaches, I can say with confidence that they have carved out a very special niche in the south end, and their presence cannot be ignored.  The caliber of actors and their thoughtful and progressive eye on play selection leaves them in a very good place to take on a new decade of sharing their works with the community.  I commend them on a job well done this season and look forward to what 2010-11 has to offer.

Farragut_North_10 (L to R):  Victor Shopov, Dakota Shepard, Peter Brown, & Zach Winston in Zeitgeist Stage’s production of Farragut North.

Photo:  Richard Hall/Silverline Images

If someone told me that a play that included a man doing a techno dance in a full body panda suit would be my favorite show of 2009, I would never have believed them, and yet sitting here looking over the program for Boston Playwrights Theatre’s The Salt Girl, I cannot help but relive the flood of emotions I felt when I saw this show on Saturday night.  Was it the handfuls of Fruity Pebbles being thrown into the audience?  Perhaps the hunks of celery that Actor and Playwright John Kuntz hacked apart with a meat cleaver and threw at audience members crunching all around me in the otherwise silent theatre?  It could have been the breathtaking set, a wall of televisions glowing ominously and flickering with film clips and pictures, as if we were seeing directly into the mind of the character, or it could have been delightful sound-scape which seamlessly led the audience through time periods and state of mind (Adam Stone should be commended).  I’m not sure I could pinpoint one detail of this thrilling play that could define its perfection, but as my companion and I agreed, we would be forever changed for having seen it.

Staring out into the open theatre space (a miraculous transformation from Little Black Dress) I cannot help but see the set of one of my favorite one-man shows of all time, I Am My Own Wife.  The wall of televisions and lamps is artfully arranged with various items that define the character’s journey- salt canisters, cereal boxes, toy cars, a geranium, a lone cup of pudding, a fish bowl, a garbage can- there are so many small details that they blend together, and the audience delights in seeing them appear again throughout the show as each item takes on their symbolic significance in the character’s journey.  Lighting by Jeff Adelberg highlights these moments subtly and perfectly.

Throughout The Salt Girl, Kuntz, as sullen, hollow-eyed, Quint, takes us on a dark journey through the life of his character.  Part monologue, part narrative, we see him through a variety of ages and we watch him embody several different characters.  Young Quint is rebellious and angry, working through the death of his sister and mother through reckless behavior and packages of self-narrated audiotapes.  Older Quint is solitary and particular as he faces the impossible task of ending life support for a father he has been estranged from for 18 years.  In between those two different manifestations of “Quint” is a lifetime of pain and discovery, each moment compellingly and sensitively illustrated for the audience.  Kuntz is harrowing- at times so funny that it’s hard to catch your breath (as in the genius drive-thru window scene) and in the next moment, so darkly heartbreaking that the tears in your eyes take you by surprise.  Despite the roller coaster of emotions, the show is never too dark or too heavy, and every serious moment is earned by his strong stage presence.  He deserves an award for the stamina required of him just to work through the character of Quint on stage, let alone the fact that he embodied this character throughout the writing and rehearsal process of this piece.  I was a little harsh on Kuntz in my review of The Superheroine Monologues, but not here.  The Salt Girl is masterful.

A word about nudity.  I hate it.  I almost always end up disliking shows where actors take their clothes off on stage.  I cannot rationalize the need to pull the audience out of the flow of the story by allowing an actor to get naked.  I just cannot be convinced that what might be a very poignant moment just cannot happen while the audience members are screaming “penis!”, “boobies!” in their heads.  It just can’t happen.  When I read the sign in the lobby of the theatre warning us that this show contained nudity, I was extremely skeptical.  When Kuntz took off his clothes near the end of the second act though, I was breathless- I didn’t even notice what was happening.  It marked the only successful interaction I have ever had with a nude actor where I didn’t feel uncomfortable and slightly grossed out.  He was confident and calm- not a single muscle in his body held nervous tension, even in a somewhat awkward masturbation scene.  Again the lighting was superb here, giving us neither too much or too little exposure.  When the show was over we couldn’t help but comment on the nude scene- and not in the usual way with giggles and jabs.  It was impeccably done.

If you see anything at all in what remains of 2009, see this show.  Run, do not walk to get tickets before it is too late.  It was perfect. The show runs through Sunday, November 22^nd at normal show-time intervals (their website has all the exacts).

Kuntz as Quint

I caught the final night of the touring cast of Spring Awakening on Sunday evening, with a mixture of apprehension and mock excitement.  Besides the obvious 2007 Tony Winning New Musical Hype Machine that has been following this show across the country, it is also pimping the soon to be “Original Cast Tour” of Rent starring a geriatric Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal hoping to ride the Rent train down to Hades one more time before they die.  I hate hype and musical has-beens, so I was reluctant to see this show, and in fact, was going to avoid it all together, until my friend and fellow musical theatre enthusiast tipped me off that Moritz (the unfortunate anti-hero) was being played by none other than Blake Bashoff (Karl of Lost fame).  There is no question that I want to be as close as possible to anything related to my favorite television program, and Bashoff played a key part in one of Lost’s creepiest episode to date (Not In Portland), so I was anxious to see him perform live, even in a less-than-ideal show scenario.

Seated only five rows back from the stage, my companion and I could not have asked for a better position to take in this “groundbreaking new musical” (unless your preference is to sit on the stage, which mine is NOT).  The house was absolutely packed with slathering teeny boppers desperate to see this show for the 6th or 7th time, their blank eyes like saucers of nothingness, hoping to suck the marrow of knowledge and meaning out of this show.  That may sound melodramatic, but it is exactly what the creator and producers of Spring Awakening were hoping for when they conceived the piece, so there is no question that they achieved their goal.  The stage was bare but the walls were adorned with an abundance of strange odds and ends, classic paintings with words scribbled on them, half butterflies, randomly placed mirrors and odd metallic orbs. It didn’t exactly scream “provincial German town in the 1890’s” as it is described.  Three rows of stage-bound seats on each side held a smattering of audience members and ensemble performers (some of whom arrived with the audience “under cover”- sorry folks, your jean jackets didn’t fool me- even the kids in the audience didn’t look THAT gaunt and awkward).

Set-up aside, I was pleased with some of the performance once the actual show began.  Understudy, Perry Sherman was filling in for Melchior in this performance, which initially bummed me out, as seeing an understudy for the lead is often a show killer, but he did a fairly good job filling in.  His voice was absolutely beautiful, but his acting skills were definitely not on par with the other actors.  After beating Wendla near the close of the first act, I barely believed he was having a real emotional response and not an emo panic attack.  He was nice to look at, and again, sang very well, so I forgave him for the acting slights since he’s probably only played the part a few times in reality.  The voices of all of the actors were fantastic.  There was not a single weak link in the vocal chain.  I was delighted to read that there were a few local heros in the cast, Chase Davidson (swing, u/s Moritz) is a Boston Conservatory graduate, as well as Kimiko Glenn (Thea), and Gabrielle Garza (Anna) is an Emerson Alumnae, just like me!  I was also happy to see a Canadian Idol in our graces, Steffi D (Ilse) stole the show, in my opinion.  There were, in fact, several standout performances besides Steffi D’s, Andy Mientus (Hanschen) and Ben Moss (Ernst) were so wonderfully funny in “The Word of Your Body” reprise in the second act, and Mientus in general was fabulous (and brave! He took on quite the emotional faux pas of masturbating on stage!) throughout the performance- he was absolutely the ensemble member I could not stop watching.  Matt Shingledecker (Georg) impressed me by taking the piano for several of the songs, which gave me a chance to watch the fantastic conducting by Jared Stein.  Generally I wouldn’t think to comment on the conducting but I really appreciated the command he had on the band and the very hip and cool look about him.  Bashoff didn’t let me down in his portrayal of Moritz.  I would argue that he is vocally stronger than John Gallagher Jr. who originated the role.

I am really disappointed that a cast which I considered to be very strong, had to work with a script that I thought was severely lacking in cohesion.  I just don’t think that this piece deserved to win best musical simply because it did a better job at being hip and avant-garde than that tired old one trick pony, Rent.   It’s more than ironic that the two shows would be billed together, trying to lean upon each other’s fan bases as a crutch.

Perhaps the billowing smoke of the cemetery scene or the swinging platform or the nudity-with-simulated-sex was supposed to distract me from a rather dull and under-developed plot line, but it didn’t.  It just made me annoyed that they couldn’t get by on the merits of a good production without the smoke and mirrors and salaciousness (all literal in this particular case).   I didn’t like the show.  I didn’t like the production team’s vision. I did like the performers.  One out of three ain’t bad.

Touring Cast