Encore Stage and Studio opened its 2012-2013 season with a classic book for children that adults will also enjoy. “The Hobbit or, There and Back Again” as it was first called in 1937, tells the story of a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins and a group of dwarves who set off on a great adventure to reclaim the dwarves’ kingdom which was stolen by Smaug the dragon. Along the journey Bilbo finds a ring that makes him invisible when worn. With the help of the wizard Gandalf, Bilbo and the dwarves manage to slay some trolls, the dragon, successfully manage a river escape and make friends with the elves.

The Encore kids gave a remarkable performance on Saturday morning. Bilbo Baggins (Sarah Fahrenkrug) was sincere and used all of the stage when delivering her lines. Looking pensive and uptight when all of the dwarves begin to arrive at his home, but was drawn into their story of how their homeland was attacked by Smaug. Bilbo grew throughout the adventures to eventually be confident enough to banter with Smaug.

The creature Gollum (Thomas Schinder) and Bilbo had a top-notch scene together. Gollum was quite wiry and moved around the stage with ease, all the while talking with a grating accent. He and Bilbo sparred well together during the riddles duel.

The thirteen dwarves showed a wide range of talent. Each one created their own character and carried it throughout the show. Fili and Kili (Jackson Coerr and Carly Greenfield) were notable as they reported back on their scouting expeditions, the similarity of their performances emphasized that the two dwarves were brothers. Gandalf (Maxwell Carpenter) also gave a strong performance. He had some trouble with his magic staff at the start of the show as it apparently broke, resulting in a distracting scattering of marbles or beads from the crown of the staff.

The costumes were character appropriate. The elves were glittery and the dwarves were simple, but effective. Note the elves’ ears! Gollum’s costume was near-perfect, while Smaug was a surprise, requiring three actors to fill out his costume.

The sets were quite detailed. Bilbo’s large, round front door greeted the audience, and looked perfect. The opening scene with Bilbo and Gandalf outside Bilbo’s home was then magically transformed into his comfortable home with bar, tables, benches, food, and drinks, all set up by a great tech crew. From Bag End to the goblin’s cave, the dungeon, to the red of Smaug’s lair, the lighting was believable and set all the right moods. Due to scheduling snafus with the Thomas Jefferson Theatre, a few technical problems existed, but were being worked on after the performance. Each scene through the lights and sound (and fog) created an atmosphere that helped you feel a part of the book.

Be aware that this adaptation by Patricia Gray, and approved by JRR Tolkien in 1968, did have to change a few scenes and remove some characters from the original novel. Beorn, the eagles, the giant spiders and Laketown aren’t present. It was also very nice to hear several fathers explain the show to their children and discuss how it fits in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

A fun look at a classic story that should make any Tolkien fan pleased.

Program Notes

First published in 1937, “The Hobbit, or There and Back Again” has long been recognized as a classic in children’s and fantasy literature. The story introduces us to Bilbo Baggins, wizard Gandalf, Dwarves, Elves, and other characters that populate JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth. The friends encounter challenges in search of a fantastic treasure guarded by the fearsome dragon Smaug. As a common Hobbit develops into a brave hero, Bilbo’s journey encourages us to see the potential in our own lives.

Photo Gallery

Sarah Fahrenkrug (‘Bilbo Baggins’) and Maxwell Carpenter (‘Gandalf’)	Sarah Fahrenkrug (‘Bilbo Baggins’)
Sarah Fahrenkrug (‘Bilbo Baggins’) and Reiss Gidner (‘Thorin’)

Photos by Larry McClemons

Disclaimer: Encore Stage provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

• The Hobbit, October – November 2012 Schedule
• Honk, Jr., January 2013 Schedule
• Big Bad, February – March 2013 Schedule
• Sleeping Beauty, June 2013 Schedule
• Legally Blonde, The Musical, July 2013 Schedule

Schedule is subject to change due to performance rights conflicts or other issues.

The Foreigner was written by Larry Shue and opened off-Broadway in 1984, running for 686 performances. The play is the story of Charlie Baker, a painfully shy traveler who pretends to be foreign to avoid having to talk to any of the other visitors at a Georgia guest house. But when Charlie’s disguise makes him privy to the most lurid secrets of the town, he has to speak up in order to save the kind-hearted people he has grown to love.

As the titular character, Kamau Mitchell proved himself to be a veritable comedic virtuoso. His mostly silent role demanded nothing short of impeccable physicality, and he delivered it every instant he was onstage, with superb facial reactions that conveyed sincere emotion without a sound. He had the audience in the palm of his hand for the entire evening, drawing hysterical laughter with just a flick of his eye or a twist of his mouth. However, when Mitchell combined his prodigious pantomime skills with his under-utilized vocal talents, he created the play’s most memorable scene. Faced with the monumental task of telling a story entirely in gibberish, Mitchell produced a side-splitting masterpiece which had the audience screaming with laughter.

The colorful cast of supporting characters enhanced the ridiculous situational comedy of The Foreigner. Shelby Smout was charmingly ignorant as Betty Meeks, the owner of the Georgia fishing lodge where Charlie is staying. Smout was not afraid of going over the top in her performance, and her absurd antics and misunderstandings set up Charlie for priceless reactions. Rhys Davis played Ellard, the slow neighborhood boy who becomes Charlie’s English tutor, with believable simplicity and innocence that was alternately heart-warming and ludicrous. Another standout was Charlie Mai, who brought boundless energy to the role of Froggy LeSeur, Charlie’s best friend. Mai’s exaggerated portrayal of the military man was perfectly appropriate for the farcical humor of the play. His scenes with Charlie were practically bursting with vivacity and comedic zeal.

The tech elements of the production were full of excellent ideas and effort. Student John Ponder White deserves congratulations for his directorial achievements, particularly in his attention to detail in staging the mannerisms of the actors. The lighting crew was also noteworthy for creating an admirably realistic thunderstorm during the opening scene, helping to establish the location decisively in the minds of the audience.

Words often fail to capture the simple truth of pure emotions. The barriers of language can divide people from each other, but HB Woodlawn Secondary Program proved that laughter is a universal tongue that needs no translation in their hilarious production of The Foreigner.

by Madelyn Paquette of McLean High School

Photo Gallery

Shelby Smout and Charlie Mai	Kamau Mitchell
Kamau Mitchell, Charlie Mai and Rhys Davis	Leora Lihach, Shelby Smout and Kamau Mitchell

Photos by Zoe Miller

What is the price of doing the right thing and when is that cost too high?

Your humble reviewer is obliged, from the outset, to disclose that she produced for TACT a year before this review and that her own daughter is appearing in a future TACT production. Does this make her biased? Probably, but not for the reasons one might think. Your reviewer’s affinity for TACT and its production of On the Waterfront grounded in the company’s mission and Artistic Director Jack Marshall’s belief that we must take our 20th century historical instruction in an agreeable way. What is more agreeable than an evening at the theatre? TACT’s sincerity and belief in its mission keep this company running and its audience loyal. On the Waterfront an Oscar-winning (1954) screenplay based on Mike Johnson’s undercover investigation of New York and New Jersey waterfront corruption for The New York Sun newspaper. Budd Schulberg, who won that Oscar, later adapted his screenplay for the stage; which is the play now being reviewed. It is quintessential American Century Theatre material.

The business of the American people is business, according to former President Herbert Hoover, a true believer in the American “laissez-faire” style of economy. But just because the government left business to its own devices did not mean that a substitute entity did not replace representative government; and the result was the organized crime mobs and families that dominated big city small business and infiltrated labor unions in the 20th century. The same laissez-faire model that made the rich richer left the poor and powerless subject to the brutality and injury of the criminal element that took over the docks. On the Waterfront just one illustration of the working class struggle for survival in an age when the cards were stacked against it and the threat of murder and mayhem kept honest people silent and in endless fear. The cost of doing the right thing was just too high.

Jack Powers (Terry Malloy) is burdened from the start by the immortal film portrayal of Terry Malloy by Marlon Brando. It would not be fair to review Powers’ performance against a silver screen immortality that can be run over and over again on 500 TV channels or streamed at convenience via the internet. Suffice it to say that Powers is a competent actor and good Fight Captain who gamely assumed the burden that any performer in this role would have to bear. He is pinky, pasty, sweet and baby-faced and this reviewer never felt his threat. No 30-year-old former fighter who has spent almost half his life as a stevedore and criminal enforcer looks so clean and wholesome. In fact, this is the immediate issue of the show. These men are all too clean and baby-faced and unravaged by a lifetime of offloading cargo from ships. These characters are wearing college campus threads and no one is smoking! The drinking is stage drinking for the temperate. These actors wouldn’t know how to throw whiskey back if Johnny Friendly (Bruce Alan Rauscher) called them “Shlagoom” every night. No cigarettes, no real looking booze, no rips, no patches and no sweat on a gang of stevedores. No coughing, no urinating against a wall and possibly only one hocked loogie. (Mr. Reviewer claims there was one loogie incident. Your reviewer didn’t see it but trusts her husband to know his spitting.) Try as they might, these very competent actors, were compromised by their Costumer and Props Designer. Your reviewer knew something was amiss when she found herself coveting Edie Doyle’s (Caitlin Shea) shoes and wanting to know where she bought them; and I promise my readers that I was not raised in a tenement near a dock. This was not Director Kathleen Akerley’s attempt at allegory; it was lack of due diligence in researching just who were the real inhabitants of the New York and New Jersey docks and how they lived and what they looked like. Not to mention that none of the characters spoke with any attempt at the dialect these people would have and still speak with today. Only Bruce Alan Rauscher as Johnny Friendly and Father Vince attempted that realism and it served to flesh out his characters. In the absence of dialect and era, the foul and vulgar language of the mid 20th century waterfront is no longer shocking to the ear as it can be heard any night on cable television.

However, all of the preceding having been said, this show is rescued by the actors. No, Jack Powers is no Marlon Brando, but he threw himself into his role as a bad man who finds his conscience and is redeemed by the love of a good woman (Caitlin Shea); the sister of the man he set up for murder. His fight choreography was very real and very well staged on such a compact set and your reviewer believed that these actors believed in their respective roles. Again, as is her habit, Akerley doubled up characters for these actors to play, usually simultaneously and left it to the audience to figure out why the murderer from two minutes ago is now another good guy. Cyle Durkee as Runty and Truck, simultaneously, was most adept at the job. Brandishing a switchblade Durkee could be Truck and without the knife he could be Runty all in one scene. Christopher C. Holbert, as both the good man Luke and the mob executioner Barney, had a more difficult time without a prop to brandish illustrating just which character he was. Nevertheless, Holbert was expressive and acquitted himself well in a role that had few lines. Graham Pilato, as the undercover reporter investigating the criminal element infesting the docks hides in plain sight and fears for his own life as tries to cover the lost lives of his subjects. His rubbery face reflects his different characters and his own ability to blend into the crowd as he makes his mental notes for publication. Tyler Herman so played so many parts, some simultaneously, that your reviewer is tuckered out from figuring out who he was at any given time in the play.

Bruce Alan Rauscher never fails to inhabit his roles. Your reviewer was his Producer in TACT’s Visit to a Small Planet, but he was cast before she assumed her duties and she had no input in his selection as Kreton. In this show Rauscher takes on the roles of the venal Johnny Friendly and the morally hesitant Father Vincent. In the former role he oozes malevolence as he asserts his dominion over the lives and misfortunes of the dockworkers and their families. He orders murder without conscience while at the same time assuring all he has only their best interests at heart. As Father Vince, Rauscher demonstrates both the substance and the gutlessness of a parish priest who got a bad break in assignments and just wants to be promoted when the priest above him moves on. Father Vince goes along to get along and he cannot convince the crusading Father Pete (Matt Dewberry) that Pete’s zeal for living in Christ will get his flock murdered before they can be redeemed through testimony at state hearings on organized crime. Father Pete’s fixation on the Crucifixion simile is both memorial and death sentence for Terry Malloy and his mob captain brother Charley (Christopher Herring). Terry martyrs himself by testifying before a state crime commission hearing. His incrimination of Johnny Friendly forces Friendly to leave the country but his departure does not relieve the inhabitants of the piers of their oppression. Ready replacements are lying in wait to take over Johnny’s operations in graft and corruption and shakedown. It will not be until 1968 when the United States enacts the RICO statutes that the real people who lived this story for undercover reporter Mike Johnson will find any relief from the threats controlling their lives. It is these actors who understand the cost for what they are portraying.

Director Kathleen Akerley does not care for realism in her productions, but picks and chooses her allegory without regard to the dissonance of the audience or the moral questions at hand. There is a well done and real waterfront (Scenic Designer Elizabeth Jenkins McFadden) placed in the black box theatre at Gunston Arts Center. But the pier is clean and not weathered, just like its denizens; yet the audience is assumed to believe in the grittiness of the dockworker life and accept real fear and conscience battering in the age of organized crime when the only actor to break a sweat is the priest (Matt Dewberry). The ensemble cast of pigeons was played by origami birds with pigeon cooing well-played by Sound Designer Neil McFadden. McFadden’s aural and acoustic murder of Runty is frightening and devastating. Akerley eschewed the popular music of the early 1950’s for modern-day tribal sounding percussion pieces to generate atmosphere and it worked in concert with Marianne Meadows’ moody lighting design to integrate the cast of characters into a tribe of dockworkers and their families surviving in the wilds of the piers. This is a very small world. The music design served to keep the focus on the actors and the story and expedited the scene changes which were efficient. As the body count increased Akerley’s clever method of disposal mimicked the efficiency of a real life mob hit or what would be described as such in pop culture.

Director Akerley was quoted in the Washington Post saying she did not see the iconic movie upon which this play is based. The film’s legend is grounded in the reality and grittiness of 1950’s film realism and her failure to see this film compromised her understanding of history. This presents a problem when the audience for the play lived through and remembers these same times. TACT’s audience is loyal to the company precisely because it remembers the times TACT’s program choices portray. In this case, Akerley’s result is a history rewritten for the very people who were there the first time around. In fact some of the audience may have been wearing the same garments they were wearing in 1954. This is not a criticism of Akerley. It is just a reminder that people live for a long time and they might like their good old days remembered without revision.

On the Waterfront is a play well worth catching at TACT, despite my quibbles here. The eternal story of conscience, loyalty and martyrdom still resonates in our contemporary times of moral ambivalence. This is The American Century Theatre mission.

Director’s Notes

If the person in the next seat suddenly had limited access to food, or got a text message (he is texting, right?) telling him he’d lost his job, who would he become? If, in the middle of the play, he were told he had to pay an additional fee for Act II but that any attempt to leave in protest would result in violence and, possibly, death, would be sure the impression you’d formed of him in the parking lot pre-show was still true?

Who are they when they’re comfortable? Whao are they when they’re threatened? Who would they be if they lived in a world with no real control over finding a path that includes both financial security and personal autonomy and self-actualization? And what if that’s where they live already?

On the Waterfront is famous for one man’s battle with his sense of self in a world that gave him lose-lose choices. He coulda been a contenda, after all, but what the whole story tells you is that maybe he would have been a contender and maybe he would have been fish food for refusing to throw the fight. The play, to me, is much more about all men: Everyone on stage is tasked with building a life in lose-lose circumstances. Even Johnny Friendly came from a huge, impoverished family. And living in a lose-lose world makes their identities tenuous: If it’s expedient, even apparently necessary, to be a killer, then the guy next to you could change who he is faster than the time it takes to turn his way.

— Kathleen Akerley, Director

Photo Gallery

Jack Powers, Christopher Herring, Cyle Durkee, Christopher C. Holbert. On floor: Tyler Herman	William Hayes, Christopher Herring, Bruce Rauscher, Daniel Corey, Joe Cronin, Cyle Durkee, Jack Powers
Matt Dewberry, Caitlin Shea	Caitlin Shea, Jack Powers
Bruce Rauscher, Christpher Herring, William Hayes	Matt Dewberry, Daniel Corey, Christopher C. Holbert, Jack Powers, Graham Pilato
Bruce Rauscher, Cyle Durkee, Jack Powers

Photos by Dennis Deloria

Cast

• Joey Doyle, Jimmie Conroy, Glover, Interrogator: Tyler Herman
• Moose, “J.P.” Morgan: Daniel Corey
• Truck, Runty: Cyle Durkee
• Tommy, Big Mac: William Hayes
• Luke, Barney: Christopher C. Holbert
• Reporter, Mutt, Bartender: Graham Pilato
• Terry Malloy: Jack Powers
• Charley “The Gent” Malloy: Christopher Herring
• Father Barry: Matt Dewberry
• Johnny Friendly, Father Vincent: Bruce Alan Rauscher
• Skins, Pop Doyle: Joe Cronin
• Edie Doyle: Caitlin Shea

Production Staff

• Director: Kathleen Akerley
• Assistant Director: Kristen Pilgrim
• Stage Manager: Sarah Conte
• Technical Director: Jonathan Hudspeth
• Scenic Design: Elizabeth Jenkins McFadden (USA)
• Costume Design: Alison Samantha Johnson
• Lighting Design: Marianne Meadows (USA)
• Sound Design: Neil McFadden
• Properties Design: Becca Dieffenbach
• Assistant Stage Manager/Board Operator: Todd Manley
• Master Carpenter: Jake Lunsford
• Fight Captain: Jack Powers
• House Manager: Joli Provost
• Marketing Manager: Emily Morrison
• Production Photography: Dennis Deloria, Johannes Markus
• Program and Graphic Design: Michael Sherman

Disclaimer: The American Century Theatre provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review. The reviewer also worked for TACT in the past.

Genesis Reboot, Synetic Theater’s take on the creation story, is a dense ninety minutes of theatre by brothers Ben Cunis and Peter Cunis. This genesis begins with an Angel asking the question that always sparks imagination: “What if?” This question, however, soon devolves into a Pandora’s Box of the same-as-usual. Genesis Reboot takes the Biblical creation story and turns it on its head–kind of. An Angel attempts to set things straight and do what God could not: Get rid of that pesky serpent in the apple tree, thus foregoing all the uncomfortable stuff that has since plagued mankind. Satan, however, is not down with that. He likes things just the way they are, and takes over what the Angel started (again). Even Satan has a little bit of heart, and so he doesn’t want everything to go the same way. It turns out he has a soft spot for those endearingly opposite brothers, Cain and Abel. From there, it’s a matter of time before this re-creation fails before it could really even get going. This brief synopsis is, of course, a very watered-down version of what actually takes place on stage. That’s because much of it cannot be put into words, though what text there is has been smartly written by the playwrights.

The play is first in this season’s New Movements series. The series is meant to nurture new work and new artists. The Cunis brothers’ writing works well within scenes–particularly those between Cain and Abel, which are tinged with sibling rivalry. It even works well in simultaneously breaking up and flowing into the trademark Synetic movement. There is a lot of emphasis placed on the couples: Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Angel and Demon. Each is the other’s antithesis: Reason and Passion, Rebel and Brown-noser, Good and Evil. There is something here that is not yet quite palpable, but it all makes for some entertaining thoughtfulness. This is a promising “new movement” of old hat.

The cast is, simply, a good ensemble. Matthew Ward and Jefferson Farber as Cain and Abel deliver well-played scenes that border on realism. Ward’s deep-rooted angst and need for escape are a perfect opposite for Farber’s fear of the unknown and comfort in the familiar. Joseph Carlson’s Demon and Mary Werntz’s Angel make for a fun comedic duo, though he outshines her at times. Adam (Austin Johnson) and Eve (Brynn Tucker) have adorably innocent chemistry. Both are delightful to watch as the world’s first couple. All are more than adept at Irina Tsikurishvili’s complex movement sequences. Ben Cunis’s direction is quietly seamless. I didn’t even notice it–in a good way.

Irina Tsikurishvili’s choreography is full of spectacular body isolations as well as a wonderful sense of slight off-balance. All of it contributes to the gut understanding of the story. It is apparent why Tsikurishvili is a seven-time Helen Hayes award-winner. Clint Herring’s sound design and original music scoring complement this movement quite well. In addition, Herring creates an industrial, otherworldly sonic palette that strengthens the overall feel. The set (Daniel Pinha) is both haunting and beautiful. The machine-like Tree that is central to the action against the more organic, billowy sheets of plastic that are used repeatedly throughout offer a subconscious suggestion of something that “goes” with everything else. The actors’ costumes (Kristy Hall) suggest the primordial in hues of brown and adapt well to the extensive movement. Andrew F. Griffin’s lighting design appropriately directs attention and highlights this movement.

Synetic Theater’s Genesis Reboot is a substantially intricate piece; yet, it still manages to maintain accessibility. As this review nears its end, I am not sure I have given a complete picture of what to expect. Perhaps Synetic Theater, above others, most literally illustrates that fact about the theatre: I can’t possibly give you a complete picture of what to expect, and that is precisely why you ought to consider seeing it yourself.

Director’s Note

Growing up at the turn of the 21st century, my generation has seen itself inundated with the reimaginings of the stories and characters of our childhood. For the past couple of decades, it has seemed that you can’t go a week without hearing about another classic film, book, cartoon or comic book being “rebooted” for a new era. Despite some remarkable exceptions, more often than not the new version pales in comparison to the old: the movie is never as good as you remember the book.

Retelling is not a new phenomenon. Shakespeare, after all, borrowed most of his characters and stories from a stock of classics; it was in the way he brought them to life that made them indelibly his. History, too, repeats itself. 9/11, war and recession have all served as sobering reminders that the apparent tranquility of a ’90s childhood was not a sign that we had left hardship behind, or that it just existed “somewhere else.” We, too, can repeat the ways of the past, for better or worse.

In this story we do not seek to retell the story of Genesis–we wish to confront the very idea of retelling. What does it mean to revisit the past? What does it mean to re-create? What is the role of the creator once the creation exists? And what if that creation is alive?

I owe a debt of thanks to all the artists who worked on this project. Synetic’s greatest strengths lie in three things: inspired leaders, a passionate, talented community of artists and an unshakeable ethos which demands that work never be declared “finished”–it is only “better.” We set out to discover this show together, and everything from text to movement to music to costumes has evolved as the story has evolved throughout the long rehearsal process. It is not an easy process by any means, and I am grateful especially to my actors for their hard work, their dedication, and most of all their inspiration.

I must especially thank Paata and Irina Tsikurishvili, the inspired leaders, for this opportunity. They have challenged me and driven me so much over the past six years and have inspired so many others that it is hard to comprehend their accomplishments. Lastly, I will say that without the love and support of my family, none of this would be possible–especially the work of my brother, Peter, whose words you will hear on stage tonight.

Ben Cunis, Director

Photo Gallery

Brynn Tucker as Eve, and Mary Werntz as the Angel	Mary Werntz as Angel, and Joseph Carlson as Demon
Joseph Carlson as the Demon, Austin Johnson as Adam, Brynn Tucker as Eve, and Mary Werntz as the Angel	Mary Werntz as the Angel, Joseph Carlson as the Demon
Brynn Tucker as Eve, and Austin Johnson as Adam	Mary Werntz as the Angel, and Brynn Tucker as Eve
Matthew Ward as Cain	Brynn Tucker as Eve, and Austin Johnson as Adam

Photos by Johnny Shryock

Cast

• Adam: Austin Johnson
• Eve: Brynn Tucker
• Angel: Mary Werntz
• Demon: Joseph Carlson
• Abel: Jefferson Farber
• Cain: Matthew Ward
• Understudy: Ryan Tumulty

Artistic Team

• Director: Ben Cunis
• Choreographer: Irina Tsikurishvili
• Lighting Design: Andrew F. Griffin
• Costume Design: Kristy Hall
• Set Design: Daniel Pinha
• Original Music/Sound Design: Clint Herring
• Stage Manager: Betsy Summers
• Assistant Director: Ryan Tumulty
• Associate Costume Designer: Brittany Diliberto
• Technical Director: Phil Charlwood
• Production Supervisor: Erin Baxter
• Costume Construction: Colin Jones
• Master Electrician: Aaron Waxman
• Production Intern: Thomas Carter
• Scenic Painter: Daina Cramer
• Carpenter: Jonathan Weinberg

Disclaimer: Synetic Theater provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

Really Really is a really really unique revenge play. The revenge genre has been with for, say, 2500 years. Greek and Roman tragedies were generally about X killing Y because Y had killed someone who was important to X. Hamlet — said to be “the world’s most famous play” — is four hours of the title character revving up to kill the man who killed his father.

But Really Really gives the old form a new twist. The playwright himself is the revenger. He mercilessly savages his seven characters. The author (Paul Downs Colaizzo) also savages countless other obnoxious persons. His hapless seven symbolize a whole bunch of people, maybe even a whole generation — known collectively as the “me generation.” What these dreadful and appalling 20-to-30s have ever done to Colaizzo to deserve this trashing is not clear. Maybe just being dreadful and appalling is motive enough.

Myself, I think that every generation has me generation characteristics; yes, mostly when its members are in their 20s. But some people can remain selfish, self obsessed, self-centered, self involved and self-referential for a whole lifetime. If there’s a tsunami in New Guinea, it’s all about them — you know the type.

Getting back to Really Really, which is receiving its premiere production at Arlington’s Signature Theater: It is about Leigh, an impoverished scholarship student at some unnamed but infinitely swanky college. Leigh claims that Davis, one of the big men on campus, raped her at a drunken party. There’s a certain Roshomon quality to the play. In the 1950 Japanese movie different people have different reports about a crime. The audience is never sure what really happened. Also John Patrick Shanley’s much-celebrated 2004 play Doubt comes to mind. In Shanley’s drama a priest is accused of sexually molesting one of his altar boys. Really? We’re never quite sure.

Like Doubt, Really Really has echoes of sundry sensational news items.

Really Really, however, is less ambiguous than Roshomon and Doubt, which are virtuoso exercises in fascinating uncertainty. The balance of questionable and contradictory allegations in Really Really is lopsided. And Colaizzo’s writing lacks assurance — from time to time, for example, he throws in a lines about genitals. Though often out of character, such talk is usually good for a laugh at least.

At times, Signature director Matthew Gardiner and his cast of seven also lack assurance. It’s as if everyone involved feels an (understandable) distaste for characters, themes and action. The performers give the impression that they are handling Colaizzo’s material while wearing vinyl gloves. Colaizzo himself distances himself from his creations with limitless irony. Everything his characters say and do is vaguely or blatantly repugnant. As Leigh’s apartment mate Grace, Lauren Culpepper has two set pieces in which she addresses a Christian greed-is-good organization called Future Leaders of America. Grace is the group’s president. Her pathetic praises of crafty opportunism give Colaizzo a chance to satirize both Ayn Rand’s theory of noble narcissism and also certain Christian conservatives’ gospel of worldly success. Grace’s closety lesbianism functions partly as an opportunity for us to smirk at her. Also it provides an illustration of Leigh’s wiles as a manipulator. She exploits Grace’s latent lust.

As Leigh, Bethany Anne Lind comes off as a veritable collage of manipulative wiles. Underneath? Who knows? Lind gives hints of high-spirited ferocity and languid depression. As for coherence and consistency — no, forget about that.

As the accused rapist, Evan Casey expresses a combination of cloddish obtusity and boorish cynicism. But when this supposedly well-bred rugby star calls Leigh “trash,” the insult sounds like a playwright grasping for a sensational moment. It is pleasant, however, to see Casey smash a wine bottle with a frying pan. The lively violence breaks through a prevailing two-hour murk of snarky sneering.

Playwrights and actors almost invariably confess to liking some of the theater’s most awful characters. Oedipus, Lady Macbeth, Richard III, the conniving nun in Doubt — you name it. Playwrights and actors ruefully confess that they find something admirable in deeply flawed characters. And they add, “you couldn’t write the those parts or act them if you didn’t somehow like the characters.”

That doesn’t seem to be the case with Really Really. The actors give the impression that they are keeping their distance from their characters, as if to avoid contamination. And the playwright simply seems to be bent on revenge upon the lot of them.

Cast

• Cooper: Evan Casey
• Grace: Lauren Culpepper
• Jimmy: Danny Gavigan
• Johnson: Paul James
• Leigh: Bethany Anne Lind
• Davis: Jake Odmark
• Haley: Kim Rosen

Creative Team

• Playwright: Paul Downs Colaizzo
• Director: Matthew Gardiner
• Scenic Design: Misha Kachman
• Costume Design: Kathleen Geldard
• Lighting Design: Collin K. Bills
• Sound Design: Matt Rowe
• Fight Director: Kasey Kaleba
• Production Stage Manager: Julie Meyer
• New York Casting: Stuart Howard and Paul Hardt
• Director of Production: Michael D. Curry

Disclaimer: Signature Theatre provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

According to lots of veteran playwrights, “Everyone writes one-acts but nobody produces them.” The current exception to the “nobody produces them” gripe is Encore Stage & Studio, a “family friendly” company whose current production is a one-act double bill — by two veteran playwrights.

First there’s Eleanor Harder’s Darius the Dragon, a flight of fantasy that touches down on a couple of real-life issues: environmental degradation and homelessness. And then comes a jolly Rap-Punzel, by Whitney Ryan Garrity. Like Darius, it is fanciful — but it too is seasoned with a pinch of seriousness; namely, the issues of hunger and exploitation.

Encore is a performance training program focusing tweens and teens. Its productions are an essential part of the theatrical learning experience. Classroom and studio instructions and exercises aren’t enough to give a kid a real sense of performance. That necessary element requires theater’s all-important sine qua non: an audience. The opening night audience for Encore’s current show was vigorously encouraging. It seemed to be made up largely of cast members friends and families plus a good number of Encore alumni.

There is something special about kids in an audience watching kids on stage. The identification is automatic. The Darius/Rap-Punzel double bill is geared to audiences “4 and up.”

As for the stories, they both have a fairytale quality. Darius is about a dragon who awakes from a centuries-long siesta. His sleep is disturbed by a bulldozer that is tearing up the once-bucolic countryside that used to surround Darius’ cave. Indeed, what used to be countryside is now the last remaining park in a big, gritty city. Set and props manager Marji Jepperson has generously accessorized the stage with fast food and snack packaging litter.

The indignant Darius rallies local kids to stand up for open space. At first the town authorities resist. But the mayor is up for reelection. And the police chief doesn’t want to jeopardize his imminent retirement. The eventual amicable resolution is in everyone’s interest.

One mandate of student productions is “more is better.” The more performers a director can get on stage, the better for maximizing that all-important get-them-up-on-stage-in-front-of-an-audience experience. Encore artistic director Susan Alison Keady is a maximizer. She has 19 kids up there on stage for both of the current shows. There is a lot of milling around for crowd scenes and running around for helter-skelter moments. To represent urban traffic congestion, the roles include kids costumed as a Volkswagen, a Smart Car, a motorcycle, a police cruiser, a convertible and a school bus. In the second part of the bill — Rap-Punzel — the cast includes arugula, asparagus, broccoli, parsley, cabbage and collard greens, plus a chorus of four snappy rappers and two apprentice witches. All this in addition to the essential central roles. Imagine if all these performers had to be paid (rather than having the actors pay to perform)! The production costs would be right up there with a staging of Shakespeare’s Henry V, complete with French and English armies. 

In the main roles, Encore’s young actors show promise. Once she gets started, Katy Scruggs as Darius the dragon speaks clearly and conveys the bewilderment and indignation of a time-warped “overgrown lizard.” Isabel Tate as the mayor and Laura Wade as the police chief somehow capture the jokey opportunism and cynicism of professional high-level bureaucrats — so young and yet so savvy; oh dear . . . .

Rap-Punzel is your familiar Brothers Grimm tale of greed, meanness and, eventually, auspicious happenstance. Playwright Whitney Ryan Garrity’s refreshing take on this material includes dialogue written in rhymed couplets. The effect is something like the 17th Century comedies of Molière, in which dire situations turn funny under the influence of goofy characters and bouncy talk. It all starts with a husband who avers, “I can’t say no,” to which the wife answers, “Yes, I know.” Then we’re headed for an encounter with talking green vegetables ruled over by in evil witch. The pregnant wife has vegan cravings. She sends her husband off to steal some of the witch’s greens. The witch catches the thief. She demands custody of the as yet unborn baby, it’s either that or annihilation. And so . . . .

The six actors playing various vegetables and the four girls playing catty commentators are peppy and funny as they spout their perky rap-like rhymes. The essence of droll evil — the witch — played by Rosie Coolidge, is serious and authoritative if not really scary. Nicky Bean is amusingly befuddled as the hen-pecked husband and Sarah Malks is no-nonsense aggressive as the wife — the hen that does the pecking. 

When the show was over on opening night the big cast got a big hand from the big audience. Everyone — those on stage and those on seats — looked happy.

Note: Normally Encore performs at the Thomas Jefferson middle school community theater in Arlington. But that facility was damaged by last year’s earthquake. So the company has been nomadic of late. After finishing its run at the Rosslyn Spectrum Theatre, the group will move on to the Arlington’s Kenmore Middle School auditorium for its next production. The hope is that the Thomas Jefferson performance space will be again up and running by June.

Program Notes

Blending the Familiar with the Innovative

Welcome to Encore Stage & Studio’s production of Darius the Dragon & Rap-Punzel! The first is, in its Encore debut, concerns a medieval dragon who, shaken from his underground lair by a bulldozer, emerges into the noise and unfamiliar sights of the 21st century. Darius tries to put the degraded environment to rights, with the help of local children. The second is a modern, rhythmic re-telling of the popular tale of a princess trapped in a tower.

We at Encore are grateful to the Arlington County Cultural Affairs Division for locating new performing space for us this year while the Thomas Jefferson Community Theatre’s earthquake damage is repaired. We hope you enjoy the spectrum as much as we do! Note that the curtain rises on Encore’s next play, The Magical Lamp of Aladdin in the beautiful auditorium at Kenmore Middle School. By June we should be back on the familiar stage at Thomas Jefferson.

Photo Gallery

Darius the Dragon shows Katy Scruggs (“Darius”) and Nicky Beane (“Louis”)	Rap-Punzel shows Ashley Britton (“Rapunzel”) and Alex Flood (“The Prince”)

Photos by Larry McClemons

Cast

• Sgt. Finley/Spinach & Collard Greens: Jenna Alcorn
• Louis/Husband: Nicky Beane
• Volkswagen/Rapunzel: Ashley Britton
• Young Person/Witch: Rosie Coolidge
• Smart Car/Prince: Alex Flood
• Dozer Bull/Cabbage: Maggie Keane
• Young Person/Wife: Sarah Malks
• Young Person/Rapper: Charlotte Martin
• Police/Squires: Colin Meek
• Motorcycle/Squire: Benjamin Overby
• Police/Turnip & Parsley Greens: Ra’Drea Rayborn
• Jennifer/Rapper: Nicole Redifer
• Convertible/Lettuce & Broccoli: G.G. Richmond
• Young Person/Rapper: Rachel Sedehi
• Darius/Rapper: Katy Scruggs
• School Bus/Apprentice Witch: Juliet Smith
• Young Person/Apprentice Witch: Maddy Smith
• Mayor/Asparagus: Isabel Tate
• Chief of Police/Arugula: Laura Wade

Production Staff

• Executive Director: Sara Strehle Duke
• Artistic Director: Susan Alison Keady
• Marketing & Education Services Coordinator, Program: Aileen Pangan
• Executive Producer: Celeste Groves
• Producer: Joanna Van Sickle
• Director, Props, Set Dressing: Marji Jepperson
• Technical Director: Frank Pasqualino
• Assistant Technical Director: Walid Chaya
• Costume Design & Build, Makeup Design: Debra Leonard
• Set Design & Build, Lighting Designer: Michael C. Null
• Stage Manager: Olivia Tate

Disclaimer: Encore Stage & Studio provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible won “Best Play” at the 1953 Tony Awards, and served to be a hallmark of American Drama. Miller wrote the play as an allegory for the trials of McCarthyism, since Miller’s friends had been blacklisted and unable to work. The story unfolds many twisted layers, but primarily follows John Proctor, an upright farmer of Salem. When Abigail Williams and the other girls in Salem fall mysteriously ill with fits of screeching and writhing, the Puritans of Salem can find no natural cause and blame witchcraft. This elaborately concocted web snags every inhabitant of Salem, since everyone accused of being a witch turns and accuses someone else.

Even from the very beginning of the show, the girls of Salem dancing around the stage to a pulsing beat like a devil’s heartbeat captivated the audience. The cast permeated the auditorium, using the aisles and the boxes above the audience. A wild, cacophonous shrieking filled the auditorium at the very mention of witchcraft, although at times it was jarring and distracted from the main performers.

The husband and wife team of John and Elizabeth Proctor (played by Jeffrey Warren and Audrey Bowler) had a wonderful stage presence and chemistry. It was a nice respite to hear the two talking in soft, loving tones, in contrast to the frenzied shouting of other characters. Warren did an excellent job with projection, and his emotions were clear in his voice. Bowler’s performance of Elizabeth and the emotional storm that raged under the surface was enchanting, both composed and fighting at the same time.

Abigail Williams, played by Amy Sheahan, was a dynamic force onstage as the seductress of Salem. Sheahan portrayed her character with such snaps of emotion, not only changing her voice, but also hunching over like a beggar the more desperate she got. Another driving force was the bullfrog voiced Giles Corey, played by Sean Gilley. Acting as an old man, Gilley adapted his voice to make it raspier and taking slight pauses between words.

The set for the show excelled beyond its simple design. Three crosses slowly transformed into three gallows, complete with nooses. The different colored lights showed daytime, dusk, and even the sun rising as the white backdrop turned from red to yellow. However, the most dramatic lighting was turning the snow-white curtain into a dazzling, blinding white during the final scene, to show only the black silhouetted gallows.

Washington-Lee proved what The Crucible was meant to, that anything can be used as a warrant for violence, and that the mob does not care for evidence, they are out for blood. Against the black of witchcraft, the red fear of McCarthyism, or the spots that may not be the purest white in our own lives, the lessons of The Crucible will always stay as an anecdote; stay rational, and stay true.

by Hayley Wenk of Langley High School

Photo Gallery

Amy Sheahan (Abigail Williams) and the afflicted girls	Rachel Wimmer (Mary Warren) and the afflicted girls
Jeffrey Warren (John Proctor) and Audrey Bowler (Elizabeth Proctor)	Jeffrey Warren (John Proctor) and Audrey Bowler (Elizabeth Proctor)

Photos by Noah Pilchen

The 1960’s in America is one of the most popular places to look for nostalgia. People love remembering the crazy hair and fashions. They love the pop music that made the decade shine. But the 60s were also a time of struggle. The Cold War was still going strong and racial injustice was prevalent in society. Hairspray, based on the film of the same name by John Waters, tells the story of Tracy Turnblad, an overweight Baltimore teen who dreams of dancing on television. In Tracy’s journey to be accepted for being herself she discovers that there are others who also long for the freedom to be themselves. If this all sounds too serious, rest assured that it isn’t. It’s a story told with lovely compassion, but it’s still a big, fun musical. The infectious music by March Shaiman with its humorous lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman, paint a happy portrait of being a marginalized Baltimore teen in the decade of change. Signature Theatre’s production is not without flaws but does deliver a musical that is lively and very enjoyable.

Hairspray has a solid cast with several standouts and a few problems. Carolyn Cole plays the show’s protagonist Tracy Turnblad. Cole is a great dancer and handles her performance with a lovely mix of befuddled earnestness and vivacity that helps the audience instantly bond with Tracy. However, some of her vocals slide into modern pop star territory with some over-riffing and vibrato that is distracting. Patrick Thomas Cragin as Link Larkin gives a fine performance and he especially shines when paired with Cole for “It Takes Two.” Erin Driscoll was a delightfully self-involved Amber von Tussle, Tracy’s rival. Sherri L. Edelen was a perfect stage mother and manipulator as Amber’s mother Velma. Noya Y. Payton is a feisty Motormouth Maybelle and literally brings the crowd to their feet with her stunning rendition of “I Know Where I’ve Been.” Lauren Williams turns in a great performance as Tracy’s best friend Penny. Williams plays Penny’s budding personality with an adorable blend of gawkiness and hope. Stephen Gregory Smith’s turn as Corny Collins, host of one of Baltimore’s teen dance shows is very entertaining. The show’s biggest struggle from an acting perspective was that of Tracy’s parents. Harry A. Winter is competent as father Wilbur, but lacks the chemistry with Edna that makes their relationship so charming. Robert Aubry Davis’s performance as Edna is disappointing. Davis seemed to not commit strongly to a dialect as it faded in and out in the production. His portrayal also seemed to be muddy and lethargic in both his physical choices and emotional range.

The set was truly stunning with its city touches of fire escapes, signs and brickwork. It was a versatile set that was well used to suggest the many locations needed for the script. The lighting was very effectively used helping the audience to find the focus.

Costumes and hair are a big part of this show. The costumes ranged from lovely and period to very unattractive. Tracy and Penny were darling and dorky in their signature outfits. Edna’s early costumes were very well done and showed her character’s attempts at hiding out at home in loungewear, but the costumes that she wore after her transformation still seemed very dowdy. Amber and Velma had some wonderful outfits that were chic and fabulous, however Amber’s dress for the finale was really unflattering. It also didn’t seem to fit the importance of the occasion. Some of the female council member costumes also seemed to be a bit matronly at times, not what you would expect for teenage dancers on a rock n’ roll show. The men’s costumes were fine. Corny had some exceptionally well-done outfits that could have made Wink Martindale jealous, especially the gold jacket. In a show like Hairspray, it’s expected that the show would have big fabulous hair. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. Amber, Velma, Motormouth Maybelle and the Dynamites all had great hair. The Corny Collins dancers again seemed somewhat matronly and while Velma wouldn’t let them outshine Amber shouldn’t they be trendy? Tracy’s hairstyles were fine but somewhat subdued, especially for a girl who gets in trouble for her hair. Edna suffers the most in the hair department. Her early styles seem very appropriate while her style after the makeover is very sloppy and uneven.

The choreography of the show is truly exuberant and a joy to watch. “Good Morning Baltimore,” “Run and Tell That” and “You Can’t Stop the Beat” are especially strong in their choreography and execution. The music is wonderfully played and engaging. It’s always a treat to hear a show with great live music.

Eric Schaeffer’s direction of the piece with feels greatly focused. Too often, shows with a lot of technical and musical elements feel scattered and cluttered. Even though this show deals with a lot of set pieces moving people, it’s always easy to follow where the cast is taking the audience next. Because everything is so neatly focused, it allows the audience to fully absorb the fun that the cast has with this show. The story of Hairspray resonates with a contemporary audience because of the hopeful message of acceptance. This production, while not perfect, is certainly a celebration of talent and love.

Photo Gallery

Carolyn Cole (as Tracy Turnblad) adds just a touch of hairspray to her ‘do	Robert Aubry Davis (as Edna Turnblad) and Harry A. Winter (as Wilbur Turnblad) sing ‘You’re Timeless to Me.’
Motormouth Maybelle (Nova Y. Payton) feeling the groove and leading the ensemble with ‘I Know Where I’ve Been’	The cast

Photos by Christopher Mueller

Cast

• Tracy Turnblad: Carolyn Cole
• Corny Collins: Stephen Gregory Smith
• Penny Lou Pingleton: Lauren Williams
• Prudy Pingleton: Lynn Audrey Neal
• Edna Turnblad: Robert Aubry Davis
• Velma von Tussle: Sherri L. Edelen
• Amber Von Tussle: Erin Driscoll
• Link Larkin: Patrick Thomas Cragin
• Harriman F. Spritzer: Matt Conner
• Wilbur Turnblad: Harry A. Winter
• Lil’ Inez Stubbs: Adhana Reid
• Seaweed J. Stubbs: James Hayden Rodriguez
• Dynamites: Ashleigh King
• Brandi Knox
• Kara-Tameika Watkins
• Mr. Pinky: Matt Conner
• Gym Teacher: Lynn Audrey Neal
• Ensemble: Jennifer Cameron
• Matt Conner
• Parker Drown
• Jamie Eacker
• Nick Hovsepian
• Sean-Maurice Lynch
• Kristin Riegler
• Nicholas Vaughan
• Matthew Wojtal
• Stephen Scott Wormley
• Dance Captain: Stephen Gregory Smith

Understudies

• Tracy Turnblad: Kristin Riegler
• Corny Collins: Matthew Wojtal
• Penny Lou Pingleton: Jennifer Cameron
• Prudy Pingleton/Edna Turnblad/ Matron/ Gym Teacher: Kathryn Fuller
• Link Larkin: Parker Drown
• Wilbur Turnblad: Matt Conner
• Seaweed J. Stubbs: Sean-Maurice Lynch
• Motormouth Maybelle: Ashleigh King
• Swings: Briana Marcantoni, Jobari Parker Namdar, Gannon O’Brien, Shante Corrina Tabb

Musicians

• Conductor/Piano: Jenny Cartney
• Reed 1: Scott Van Domelen
• Reed 1: Ed Walters
• Keyboard 2: Jonathan Tuzman
• Keyboard 3: Gabriel Mangiante
• Guitar: Gerry Kunkel
• Bass: Chris Chlumsky
• Drums: Gary Tillman
• Percussion: Dave Murray

Crew

• Scenic Design: Daniel Conway
• Costume Design: Kathleen Geldard
• Lighting Design: Colin K. Bills
• Sound Design: Matt Rowe
• Production Stage Manager: Kerry Epstein
• Assistant Stage Manager: Taryn Friend
• Director of Production: Michael D. Curry
• Orchestrations: Gabriel Mangiate
• Music Direction: Jon Kalbfleisch
• Choreography by: Karma Camp & Brianne Camp
• Directed by: Eric Schaeffer

Disclaimer: Signature Theatre provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

Synetic Theater has built a solid reputation with their voiceless productions of Shakespeare’s plays. Now the Synetic Family Theater is bringing the silence to kids with their production of The Rough-Faced Girl.

The Rough-Faced Girl is a retelling of the Cinderella story, directed and adapted by Elena Velasco. Oochigeaskw (the names really aren’t important, as they are never said) is given the job of tending the fire, which leaves her with scars on her face and arms. She, and the other girls in the village, try to get Achak, a handsome young hunter, to marry them. Inside the show’s playbill is a synopsis of the show which helps you understand what is happening, but isn’t required reading.

The cast (Joshua Rosenblum, Jessica Thorne, Jade Wheeler, Tori Bertocci, Randy Snight, Michaela Rothschild) dance, leap, perform acrobatics, and act throughout the performance space, including the seating area. The characterizations were consistent, altough a few times early in the show it was a bit confusing who each character was.

The focus of Phil Charlwood’s ingenious set is four large sheets hanging from the ceiling which are moved into different configurations for each scene. Sometimes they are branches of a tree, a swing, ropes and vines, or walls of tents or houses. Other aspects of the set include a narrow ledge on the upstage wall and hidden entrances through the walls. Konstantine Lortkipanidze’s beautiful, and at times haunting, music set the mood of each scene. Lawson Earl’s lights were at times a bit dark, making the theatre too cozy, but some of the effects were delightful.

The children at the performance weren’t quite sure what to expect, and there were a few scenes that generated many more whispered questions than others (“Who is she?” or “What’s that?” were often heard). But the kids were also quick to share their laughter as the girls chased Achak around the room, and quick to share their joy as Oochigeaskw and Achak were united.

While this may not be the best show to use as an introduction to theatre, the story of The Rough-Faced Girl and the antics of the actors should keep the attention of most children.

Photo Gallery

Jade Wheeler as Rough Faced Girl	Tori Bertocci as Nadie & Joshua Rosenblum as Achak
Joshua Rosenblum as Achak & Jessica Thorne as Tahki	Michaela Rothschild as Mother, Joshua Rosenblum as Achak, & Jade Wheeler as Rough Faced Girl
Jade Wheeler as Rough Faced Girl	Tori Bertocci as Nadie & Jade Wheeler as Rough Faced Girl

Photos by Michael Rothschild

Cast

• Achak: Joshua Rosenblum
• Takhi: Jessica Thorne
• Rough-Faced Girl: Jade Wheeler
• Nadie: Tori Bertocci
• Elements: Randy Snight
• Mother: Michaela Rothschild

Artistic Staff

• Director/Adapter/Co-Sound Designer: Elena Velasco
• Stage Manager: Kathryn Dooley
• Set Designer: Phil Charlwood
• Co-Costume Designer: Anna Hazen Blanchard
• Costume Designer: Azura Hassan
• Composer: Konstantine Lortkipanidze
• Lighting Designer: Lawson Earl

Disclaimer: Synetic Family Theater provided a complimentary media ticket to ShowBizRadio for this review.