Cedar Lane Stage has staged a refreshing and delightful production of Tartuffe. Director Ed Starr has assembled a talented cast of newcomers and seasoned professionals to tackle the difficult but beautiful language of Moliere’s no holds barred comedic look at 17th century French society.

The story is timeless…Orgon, a wealthy landowner, is completely taken in by a seemingly pious man of the cloth, Tartuffe. Tartuffe has alienated most of Orgon’s family and friends with his posturing, but that is apparently one of his more endearing qualities. In reality, he is after Orgon’s wife, daughter, and worldly possessions. Through a series of trials and tribulations, his schemes are unveiled and all ends happily.

The theatre in the round staging was successful in some aspects, but levels were definitely needed. Utilizing the stage’s steps and adding a few pieces of furniture would have given a nice dimension to the lengthy scenes. Starr created some lovely tableaus, however. The period costumes (Sandy Eggleston) were well done (but hide the zippers, please!), and added a vibrant splash of color with each entrance.

Louis Pangaro was absolutely brilliant in his portrayal of Orgon, garnering laughs and sympathy as he’s taken in by Tartuffe. He is evenly matched by Malinda Smith as his wife, Elmire…Smith relishes the rhyming couplets with confidence and style. Molly Coyle and Dan Guy as the young lovers Marianne & Valere are absolutely charming and adorable, with terrific rapport. Aly Ettman as the long-suffering maid Dorine had a natural, down to earth delivery and good comedic timing, but could have explored the more mischievous side of her character. Leah Mazade hit her mark as family matriarch Mme Pernelle, and Jack Wassell‘s cameo as the Baliff was an unexpected joy.

The first scene between Tartuffe and Elmire lacked the cat and mouse element that makes it so wonderful, but they made up for it later during the intended seduction.

Unfortunately, due to a last minute replacement, a crucial performer was greatly struggling with lines. If it’s a cameo role, using a script isn’t a big deal. But when the struggle is palpable, and it interferes with the overall integrity of the production, other steps must be taken. Delaying the opening or cutting the run short are much better options than what was witnessed at the Sunday matinee. With rhyming couplets, ad libbing isn’t a viable option…the rest of the show is too good to have it compromised in this way.

That said, this issue will no doubt be resolved with the remaining six performances…and it’ll be well worth the ticket price. It’s a funny look at life that’s as relevant today as it was in past centuries.

Director’s Note

Tartuffe is a comedy about: an imposter, a consummate fraud, a brilliant con man.

The great literary tradition of imposters/frauds/confidence men and women includes Elmer Gantry, Starbuck (in The Rainmaker,) Henry Gondorf and Johnny Hooker (in The Sting,) and all of Shakespeare’s women who portray men; Tartuffe is in good company.

Tartuffe is a “pious fraud” who preys on the insecurities of the head of a well-established family. For some the road to heaven is paved with good intentions and deeds — others try to find a guide who knows a short cut.

Moliere first presented Tartuffe to King Louis XIV of France in 1664. Because of opposition from various church sects the King prohibited its public performance. Moliere revised the script three times before it was acceptable for production in 1669. It has been produced regularly for the past 340 years.

The play is set in the home of Orgon who is a wealthy merchant. Tartuffe the con man succeeds magnificently in conniving to win the respect and devotion of the head of the house. Tartuffe tries to marry Orgon’s daughter, seduce his wife, and steal all of Orgon’s property.

He nearly gets away with it until…

The play has all the elements of a modern situation comedy: a dysfunctional family, a rapacious scheming visitor, young lovers, the clear-eyed maid, a blustering mother-in-law, and the ultimate triumph of virtue embodied by the appearance of the King’s messenger.

The show is fast paced, the writing is brilliant, and Moliere’s comments on his seventeenth century French society resonate across to our twenty-first century American culture. After all who among us is immune from believing what we want to hear? How often have we have been shocked and disappointed by the failings of those we admired?

I hope you enjoy our production as much as we did in creating it for you. Also, really enjoy the rhymed couplets.

Ed Starr

Cast

• Mme Pernell: Leah Mazade
• Dorine: Aly Ettman
• Damis: Alex Diehl
• Marianne: Molly Coyle
• Elmire: Malinda Smith
• Valere: Dan Guy
• Cleante: Ted Culler
• Orgon: Louis Pangaro
• Tartuffe: Jim Lathan
• Loyal, Baliff: Jack Wassell

Sitting in a sun drenched chapel on a Sunday afternoon, watching Cedar Lane Stage‘s production, The Vertical Hour, I couldn’t help but wish that there were more people in the audience. There should have been more people in the audience…the show is stellar. It’s a gripping play about a former Iraq war correspondent turned Yale professor. On an overseas visit to her boyfriend’s estranged British father, she must defend her actions and opinions to a man with his own staunch viewpoint. The journey helps her learn more about herself, her relationship with her boyfriend, and where her place in the world will be.

The space here is unusual; there is a stage, but this production, like many done at CLS, chose to utilize a theatre in the round feel by using the floor space in between three sections of seats. The effect is gratifying; one feels that they have happened upon an intimate scene. The actors are right on top of the audience, but instead of feeling uncomfortable, you’re permitted a fully dimensional view of the performers, with uninhibited access to their facial expressions, the quiet breaks of emotion in their voices, and their interactions with each other.

Director David Dieudonne has done a phenomenal job with two major elements: casting and pacing. The casting is of obvious import; but in a show that runs 2.5 hours, pacing is also crucial. Dieudonne has established a brisk pacing that flows and yet never seems rushed. The conversation in this wordy piece is refreshingly natural. He never allows the movement to become static, nor is it ever forced. Everything is unaffected, fluid, and finely tuned.

Special attention must be given to the excellent lighting and sound design. Even without many of the resources of other community theaters, CLS makes every detail of a good show important. The set changes have the cast pitching in to ensure that they’re quick and seamless.

Lisa Hawkins as Nadia was a formidable figure. It’s a difficult role simply in the amount of lines and stage time; add striking the perfect balance between world-weary war correspondent and sensitive woman and an actor has quite a challenge. Hawkins is attractive without being frilly, opinionated without being obnoxious, and completely believable as a former reporter and Yale academic. In her opening scene, I wasn’t quite convinced that she was an ideal Nadia. She seemed a little focused on the facade of a professor without the zeal or conviction. As it turned out, she was just warming to her topic. She is an extremely layered character, first calmly discussing her experiences and views and then building to her frustrations, passions, foibles. Hawkins’ background in film showed clearly in the nuance and subtlety she gave to this role. There was a raw edginess to her performance the suited Nadia beautifully.

Brett Estey was exceptional as Nadia’s boyfriend, Philip. As a successful physical therapist, he still lives in his physician father’s shadow and as a result of their turbulent past holds a lot of unresolved anger. Estey embodied a proper Brit in his bearing and accent, but also allows his character’s ten years in America to influence his movement and expression. He brought a great deal of sensitivity to the role. He also had an innate ability to be an integral part of the scene even when not directly involved in the conversations between Nadia & Oliver. He seemed as on the edge of his seat as the rest of the audience, eager to hear the outcome of the meeting of the minds.

The strongest performance of the afternoon comes from Mark O’Brien. He portrayed Philip’s estranged father Oliver, a general practitioner who has left the city lights of London to enjoy the quiet country scene of Wales. Every move that O’Brien makes further establishes his character. He is charming while articulate, reserved yet blithe, and always remarkably self aware. He makes no apologies for who he is and why he does the things he does. He postures, and has a way of getting under the skin with irritating accuracy, and yet he creates a sympathetic figure where one might not easily exist. The dynamic between the three characters is extraordinary. True relationships have been created here, never satisfied to skim the surface but always delving deep within their own heart and psyches.

Sophia Medley makes her cameo as Terri at the end of the show memorable as well as touching.

Bravo to Cedar Lane Stage for choosing a difficult piece of theatre. It’s easy to do a Tennessee Williams or an Arthur Miller. Not easy to do well, but less complicated to cast and definitely easier to find an audience. This drama is painfully honest about the war, politics, and the human relationship, but manages to present two very different points of view. It’s something that should be seen, especially in this highly political time, regardless of your beliefs. There are four performances remaining, including a talk back with the cast & crew after Thursday night’s (10/23) performance. Please don’t miss out on an opportunity to see a masterfully crafted show. Please go to www.cedarlanestage.org for more information.

Reviewed: October 19, 2008

• Fat Pig, Dominion Stage, Arlington, Virginia
• The Producers, American Music Stage, Fairfax, Virginia
• The Missiles of October, The Heritage Theatre Company, Silver Spring, Maryland
• The Vertical Hour, Cedar Lane Stage, Bethesda, Maryland
• Dearly Departed, Aldersgate Church Community Theater, Alexandria, Virginia

If you’re interested in writing for ShowBizRadio, please contact us. There are many local productions that won’t be reviewed here simply because we can’t be everywhere.

(We’ve had a couple people ask why we weren’t listing which shows we’d be covering in the coming weekend. The list is easy enough to publish, so we’ll continue doing that the middle of each week.)

Laura: This is the ShowBizRadio review of King Lear, performed by Cedar Lane Stage in Bethesda, Maryland. We saw on performance on opening night, Friday, April 25, 2008.

Mike: King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. King Lear decides to abdicate his throne and makes other decisions that have repercussions throughout the country.

Laura: The show’s production notes talk about how Shakespeare’s England was a verbal culture whereas ours is a visual one. Therefore the decision was made not to have a big elaborate set so that you could really focus on the words of the various characters. They had a few props, such as their swords, but not a big fancy castle set, which was fine. It forced you to focus on the words which I had a hard time doing because for most of the play I did not have a clue what was going on

Mike: This was a complex show and because there were little visual cues to help you figure out what was going on, you had to pay very close attention. I had a lot of trouble with the old English Shakespeare.

Laura: I found myself sitting and trying to translate the speeches into modern day language. This was difficult because some of the words just did not connect.

Mike: By the time I would figure out what they were talking about, they had moved on. A huge problem with this show was, if you are not familiar with Shakespeare or you have not studied it or read the play before, you will probably be confused and a little bored with this production.

Laura: King Lear was played by Louis Pangaro. I do think he had a lot of emotion. However his emotions came across as yelling for most of the show. His character was pretty intense.

Mike: I did not feel that Pangaro’s King Lear had enough nuance to him. It seemed like it was a fairly constant emotion throughout the entire show.

Laura: Another person that I thought did have a lot of emotion and nuance in his speech was Edgar, played by Christopher Tully. He had some intense scenes and soliloquies. For example when he came out disguised as a crazy person.

Mike: I can see why actors want to do Shakespeare. The roles really are juicy. Christopher Tully had the juiciest role as Edgar/Tom the madman. I really liked those scenes.

Laura: In this production of King Lear you did have lighting and sound effects of a storm that happened. The lights were done by Rita Scheeler and the sound was done by Rick Sampson.

Mike: One nit picky thing I noticed was that during the storm, the lightning followed the thunder and not the other way around, which is how it should go. I like how they used the lights behind the back drop of the hall that the audience was in as well as some lights in front of the backdrop. You had a lot of very nice lightning effects of flashes of light, but the sound did not follow correctly. The thunder appeared before the lightning.

Laura: This production took place in a large room with high ceilings so that the sound was bouncing around all over the place. Therefore I had a hard time understanding people. The sisters for instance, when they were facing away from me, their words were all muffled.

Mike: Because the production takes place on a stage that is in the round, often people would be facing away from you and I could not hear them at all. A couple times the performers are right in front of you and blocking parts of the stage due to the fact that you are right on the stage. There were a few times when I could not take in the action on the stage. for example, the closing scene, when Cordelia and King Lear came in. I could not see them for about half of that scene.

Laura: King Lear is playing through Sunday May 11, at the Cedar Lane Unitarian Church in Bethesda, Maryland. Friday and Saturdays at 8pm. A Sunday matinee on the 4th and the 11th at 3 pm. Also a Thursday pay-what-you-can performance on the 8th at at 8 pm. The show lasted three hours and twenty minutes with one intermission.

Mike: We’d definitely like to hear your thoughts on this show once you’ve seen it. Simply leave a comment on our website. We’d also like to invite you to join our free mailing list so you can stay informed with what’s happening in community theater in the DC region.

Laura: And now, on with the show.

Cast

• King Lear: Louis Pangaro
• The Duke of Cornwall: Jeffrey Wendel
• The Duke of Albany: Bret Estey
• Goneril: Jaki Demerest
• Regan: Kelli Biggs
• Cordelia: Sherry Berg
• The Earl of Kent: Dan Guy
• The Earl of Gloucester: Tom Witherspoon
• The King of France: David Gorsline
• The Duke of Burgundy: Michael Platt
• Edmund: Nello DeBlasto
• Edgar: Christopher Tully
• Oswald: Erik Henry
• The Fool: David Dieudonne

Crew

• Producers: Leah Mazade, Ken Cohen
• Director: Ed Starr
• Assistant Director: Dick Messalle
• Stage Manager: Emily Hauff
• Set: Anna Britton
• Lights: Rita Scheller
• Sound: Nick Sampson
• Costumes: Sandy Eggleston
• Props: Jaki Demerest, Leah Mazade, Dick Messalle
• Publicity: Leah Mazade, Dick Messalle, Andrew Huff

• April 23, Enchanted April, Little Theatre of Alexandria, Alexandria, Virginia
• April 25, King Lear, Cedar Lane Stage, Bethesda, Maryland
• April 26, The Octette Bridge Club, Greenbelt Arts Center, Greenbelt, Maryland

If you’d like us to review your show, please invite us. Obviously we can’t go to every show, so on those weekends with more performances than dates, we give preference to theaters that (1) advertise with us, (2) have invited us, (3) are performing a show we haven’t seen before, or (4) are at a theater we haven’t been to recently. Just send us an email or call us. If your show is opening later this year, it can’t hurt to invite us now!

Mike: This is the ShowBizRadio.net review of Cedar Lane Stage‘s production of Mr. Pim Passes By in Bethesda, Maryland. I saw the show on Thursday night, October 11, 2007.

This wasn’t a laugh out loud comedy, but it was pretty amusing. I definitely had a grin on my face. Some of the situations that these characters got themselves into were pretty amusing. I liked that it seemed pretty believable that this could actually happen. I also did feel like at times that this was an I Love Lucy episode. This show preceded that by several decades.

Mr. Pim Passes By is a play by A. A. Milne, who is best known as the author of the Winnie the Pooh series of stories. Set in the drawing room of an English country home. Mr. Pim Passes By focuses on the Marden household. Mr. Pim, a businessman from Australia, drops in to get a reference. In so doing he mentions that he accidentally met someone who turns out to be Ms. Marden’s first husband who was thought to be dead. The question arises is he dead or is he not? If he is not dead, then she is a bigamist. From there the family gets more and more concerned about what they should do and how this will effect their standing in the community.

I did enjoy the show. George Marden was played by Stephen Cox. He was the head of the household. It was his job and his duty to keep everything prim and proper and to avoid all kinds of controversy. Including the fact that his wife may be married to someone else. That does not sit well with him.

His wife, Olivia, was played by Carol Brown. She had a very nice air about her. She wasn’t prim, but she was very proper and I liked the affections that she showed towards her niece, Dinah, played by Bridget Garwood. Dinah announced her engagement early on to Brian Strange, played by David Dieudonne. That relationship seemed very realistic. I liked their arguments that they were making that love can conquer all and he can support them. Then George didn’t think he could since he was only an artist. Olivia was endorsing the engagement and trying to work her wiles on George.

Then Mr. Pim, played by Stuart Fischer, comes by and drops this bombshell on them that Olivia’s first husband is still alive and visiting Europe. That really threw them all off into a tizzy. I liked how they handled all the scenes. There was not a lot of histrionics. It was simply talking it through. It seemed very realistic how they talked with each other and said things about how they talked with the servant and sent him out to find Mr. Pim and get more information. Owen, the servant, was played by Cory Atwood.

Lady Marden, George’s Aunt was played by Sheilah Crossley-Cox. She was a little more upright with keeping things on the level, keeping things steady. She was no nonsense that was for sure. You put them all together and it was a very believable family. You could see the affection and the love they had for each other. The show was not a laugh out loud show, but it was amusing and you will enjoy it.

The show runs about two hours long with one intermission. It plays Friday and Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 2 pm at the Cedar Lane Unitarian Church in Bethesda, Maryland.

And now, on with the show.

Cast

• George Marden, J.P: Stephen Cox
• Olivia (his wife): Carol Brown
• Lady Marden (his Aunt): Sheilah Crossley-Cox
• Brian Strange (Dinah’s suitor): David Dieudonne
• Owen (servant): Cory Atwood
• Dinah (his Niece): Bridget Garwood
• Carraway Pim: Stuart Fisher

Crew

• Producer: Dick Messalle
• Director: Steve LaRocque
• Assistant Director: Kathie Mack
• Lights, Set: Rita Scheeler
• Props: Anna Britton
• Technical: Frank Adler
• Costumes: Sandy Eggleston
• Photography: Jayme Morrison
• House: Sharon Adler
• Publicity: Kathie Mack, Dick Messalle
• Opening Night Party: Leah Mazade
• Construction/Painting/Load-in: Rita Scheeler, Anna Britton, Frank Adler, Sharon Adler, Lou Pangaro

Laura: We saw the Thursday evening performance of Mary Stuart performed by the Cedar Lane Stage in Bethesda, Maryland.

Mike: Mary Stuart was written by Friedrich Schiller in 1800. The version we saw was translated by Robert David MacDonald in 1987. It is the story of Mary, Queen of Scotland and her imprisonment by the Queen of England and the confrontation that happens between the two of them.

Laura: I thought it was a powerful show and really well done.

Mike: The acting was top notch on this performance.

Laura: Everyone did a great job. It was very intense.

Mike: The main character was Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland. She was played by Malinda K. Smith. She did a phenomenal job with her expressions, her excitement, and then her longing for freedom and wanting to talk to the queen; her dealing with the men in her life and her nurse.

Laura: The Queen of England was played by Leah Mazade. She also did a great job. She was very powerful in her presence and her mannerisms. However I could also see a kind of longing that life didn’t quite work out the way she had wanted it to.

Mike: I saw lots of doubts in the Queen. “Am I doing the right thing.” Second guessing herself at different points in the show.

Laura: Sir Paulet’s nephew Mortimer was played by David Dieudonne. He did a terrific job also. He was so expressive and almost bouncing around the stage. He had so much expression and really gave an extraordinary performance.

Mike: He had controlled excitement during a lot of his scenes. He was playing the two women against themselves so that he could get what he really wanted. Yet he stayed focused on what was the right thing to do. I’m not going to give it away, but he was a man of action and took the action that needed to be done at certain points in the play. All of the acting was really well done. We just focused on three of the actors, but every single person did a great job.

Laura: The performance was done in a theater in the round style. I think this is the first time we have been to something like this so it so it was neat. It brought people together and was a more intimate setting than a stage with chairs.

Mike: The audience was right in there with the action. The performers were two feet away from you at certain points. Their stage area was maybe 15 feet square. It was a nice touch to see their emotions and see and feel them reacting to the other action going on.

Laura: The set was also simple. They brought on their props and left a lot to your imagination. They brought on a chair for the queen to rule from. Another time they brought in a little table with an ink well. I thought it was really well done, that it allowed your imagination to fill in the rest.

Mike: That was also enhanced by the lighting. There were several lights that came on the stage in different points. They also raised and lowered the lighting to focus on different characters. That was very effective. They also showed jail cell bars and a nice expanse through a view through a window. Later when there were some outdoor scenes, the lighting was broad everywhere.

Laura: Matching the simplicity of the set was the simplicity of the costumes.

Mike: The costumes were not 1500’s. They were contemporary. The women’s outfits were very simple. Mary Stuart wore a simple solid color dress. The Queen of England wore lots of different colored veils and scarves and nice patterned dresses. This showed her station in life. The men pretty much all wore suits. The guards and some of the other helpers wore suit variations, but it was all very effective. One thing I did not like was a scene where one of the guards pulls a gun to do an arrest. The gun they used was like a WWII Nazi handgun. That was too out of place. There is another scene where the character pulls out a knife, and what he pulls out is a small little pen knife. That was a little funny. Otherwise all of the props were really well done to match the simplicity of the stage and the costumes.

Laura: This was a really good show. It was long. It was 3 hours and 20 minutes. It was a complicated script. It took me a few scenes to get into it, but I really enjoyed it.

Mike: Mary Stuart closes tomorrow, but if you have the opportunity go see it tonight or tomorrow afternoon.

Laura: And now, on with the show.