Along with The Nutcracker, Messiah, and It’s a Wonderful Life, one version or another of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is an inevitable chestnut roasting in the open fire of Christmas season performing arts. Let us stipulate that it is possible to mount a serious production of the story, looking at the considerable psychological complexity of its protagonist, drawing parallels to literature that considers the dire consequences of living an inauthentic life (e.g., Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Illyich). It is likewise possible to infuse a production with contemporary social and political relevance, in a day when Scrooge’s manifesto on the utility of prisons and workhouses has all but become the platform of a major U.S. political party.

Put these thoughts aside. The current Little Theater of Alexandria (LTA) production has no such ambitions. The mercifully brief one-act, adapted from the Dickens story by Donna Ferrugut, seeks only to entertain, a task at which it intermittently succeeds. Elliot Bales, for example, has great fun as an over-the-top, Zombie-style Jacob Marley and an equally outsize jolly green giant of a Ghost of Christmas Present. Valerie Chamness is a cheery Ghost of Christmas Past, complete with an LED tiara and wand; one can imagine her spreading fairy dust wherever she goes. A trio of post-mortem scavengers cackle their way through Scrooge’s belongings in the Ghost of Christmas Future sequence. The many children in the cast generally hit their marks and are cute, which is all they are asked to do.

Nobody is really asked to act very much, though Gary Kramer as Bob Cratchit and Charles Lourens as Fred create nice characterizations in supporting roles. Fred C. Lash competently follows nuance-free Scrooge performance traditions. Many others appear to be reciting lines. Actors troop on and off-stage in routine fashion, and at times the pace of the piece stalls for an overlong sequence (e.g., Scrooge undressing, the “Roger DeCoverly” dance). The opening narration involves seemingly aimless shuffling about the stage by the ensemble. Accents are all over the map, from cockney to semi-RP to standard American to Pepe Le Pew French.

Costume designers Ashley Amidon and Kristin O’Malley provide period-appropriate costumes for the large cast, which look good but in some cases are remain far too clean for downtrodden Victorian London. The specialty costumes for the ghosts and Marley are highlights. Director Rebecca Patton’s set design is functional, with a fold-out section for Scrooge’s room that includes a red bedchamber with draw curtains into which Scrooge withdraws while awaiting his next spectral guest. Smaller units for Scrooge’s office and the Cratchit house roll out from stage left. There are a couple nice special lighting effects, a projection of Marley’s face on Scrooge’s door and an illuminated nameplate on Scrooge’s grave.

Dickens’ Christmas is not that of Christian religious tradition. Rather, it is the Christmas of trees and turkeys and parties and gifts and dances and warm family gatherings, a fact that has probably helped to ensure its continued popularity in our increasingly secular society. The underlying themes of A Christmas Carol — that caring for others is important and that it is essential to live fully in one’s in the past, present, and future — continue to resonate, and they have survived uncounted thousands of adaptations and productions over the years. Whatever the merits of a given version, audiences will continue to enjoy the story and come back for more each December.

Photo Gallery

Elliot Bales (Marley)	Fred Lash (Scrooge)
Gary Cramer (Bob Cratchit) and Fred Lash (Scrooge)	Robert Ford (Gentleman)
Caroline Schreiber (Mary), David Ruppe (Topper), and Rachel Watson (Ruth)	Cratchit Family
Hannah Runner (Martha) and Isabella Lovain (Hope)	Valerie Chamness (Ghost of Christmas Past)

Photos by Eddy Roger Parker

The Cast

• Dick Wilkins: Benjamin Ashton
• Belinda: Clare Baker
• Jacob Marley/Ghost of Christmas Present and Future: Elliot Bales
• Older Belle: Ashton Barnes
• Mrs. Cratchit: Amy Bevilacqua
• Ghost of Christmas Past: Valerie Chamness
• Bob Cratchit: Gary Cramer
• Young Scrooge: John Dewhurst
• Pawnbroker Joe: Robert Ford
• Young Belle: Stephanie Frazier
• Mrs. Dilber/Ensemble: Erin Gallalee
• Belle Girl 1: Kathryne Gould
• Mother Cratchit: Pamela Johnson
• Ebenezer Scrooge: Fred Lash
• Caroline’s Husband/Businessman 1: Daniel Lavanga
• Fred/Businessman 2: Charles Lourens
• Hope: Isabella Lovain
• Caroline: Christina Lyster
• Ignorance/Belle Girl: Isabel Lyster
• Want/Belle Girl: Seneca Lyster
• Mrs. Pipchin: Suzanne Martin
• Fezziwig: Bob McGrath
• Tiny Tim: Griffin Melley
• Mrs. Gezziwig: Michelle Newman
• Boy Scrooge: Anders Ogelman
• Girl Cratchit: Nicole Owens
• Turkey Boy: Erik Peyton
• Martha: Hannah Runner
• Boy Cratchit: Charlie Ruppe
• Topper: David Ruppe
• Belle Girl 2: Natalie Ruppe
• Mary: Caroline Schreiber
• Ruth: Rachel Watson
• Fan/Urchin: Madeline Zuppert

The Crew

• Producers: Heather Norcross, Eddy Roger Parker
• Director: Rebecca Patton
• Stage Managers: Sherry Clarke, Benjamin Norcross
• Assistant Stage Managers: Allisha Edwards, Richard Isaacs, Donna Reynolds, Adrian Steel
• Set Designer: Rebecca Patton
• Set Construction: Jimmy Hutzler
• Assisted by: David Doll, Chris Feldmann, Jeff Gathers, Robert Kraus, Art Snow
• Lighting Design: Nancy Owens
• Costume Designers: Ashley Amidon, Kristin O’Malley
• Sound Designer: Jack Seaver
• Assisted by: Alan Wray
• Set Painting: Mary Hutzler
• Assisted by: Luana Bossolo, Bobbie Herbst, Patty Lord, Jayn Rife, Erin Sullivan
• Set Decoration: Jim Howard, Susie Poole
• Master Electrician: Liz Owens
• Assisted by: Kimberly Crago, Jim Hartz, Robert Kraus, Pam Leonowich, Michael O’Conner
• Property Designer: Benjamin Norcross
• Assisted by: Tricia O’Neill-Politte, Elaina Phalen, Sam Poole, Susie Poole
• Wardrobe: Margaret Snow
• Hair and Makeup: Rachel Cecelski
• Dialect Coach: Heather Sanderson
• Special Effects: Ben Norcross, Art Snow
• Rigging: Russell Wyland
• Photographer: Luke Pinneo
• Young Actor Coordinator: Heather Sanderson
• Audition Table: Maria Ciarrocchi
• Assisted by: Mary Lou Bruno, Jay Cohen, Phyliss Gruber, Barbara Helsing, Joanna Henry
• Opening Night Party: Susan Barrett

Disclaimer: Little Theater of Alexandria provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

Combine excellent acting, a crisp pace, precise timing, and a detailed and flexible set and you can make a highly entertaining evening of the thinnest of material. Such is the case with Little Theater of Alexandria’s production of Ray Cooney’s farce Caught in the Net. A sequel to the playwright’s 1983 hit Run for Your Wife, Caught in the Net follows the twists and turns of a career bigamist’s increasingly complicated and desperate attempts to avoid being found out by his two families.

Bigamist John Smith (Mike Baker) has two wives: Barbara (Annie Ermlick) and Mary (Tricia O’Neill-Politte). He has a teenage child with each wife: Gavin (Luke Markham) and Vicki (Eliza Lore), respectively. He is able to support both households in middle-class comfort in contemporary London on a taxi driver’s income, a minor miracle that Cooney, probably fortunately, does not explore. The spark that ignites the plot is an internet connection between Vicki and Luke; the kids want to go out together. How can John prevent their meeting, which will surely expose his couple of decades of duplicity?

Like many a character in farce, John is not intended to be played with subtlety, and it is hard to imagine a better casting choice than Baker to take the role well over the top. With his bluster, panicked facial expressions, high-speed improvisations of wildly improbable stories, and capacity for packing himself into unlikely physical positions (e.g., rolled up in a rug; burying his face, ostrich-like, in a chair), Baker is a non-stop generator of hilarious situations, who adds the occasional faux-Chinese or German accent to the mix.

The two Mrs. Smiths are nicely drawn. As Mary, O’Neill-Politte begins as a seemingly practical housewife who becomes progressively unhinged as the effects of being locked into various rooms and a belief that her longtime lodger Stanley (Paul Tamney) is a closet pervert ultimately lead her to rush about the house brandishing a large knife, like a Mrs. Lovett on a really bad day. Ermlick’s Barbara is a sexier, sweeter woman, benignly oblivious to most of the chaos around her, though frequently exasperated by her inability to reach her wandering husband on the phone (John and Stanley repeatedly hang up on her, respond only with heavy breathing, etc.). Both master an essential skill of acting in a farce: ensuring that characters living through absurd events never betray awareness of the absurdity. The characters take their situation fully seriously, never knowing that something funny is going on.

As the two nice, clean-cut kids, Markham and Lore don’t have the opportunity to participate in the craziness nearly as much as the older characters, though their very normality provides a humorous contrast to the their elders’ shenanigans. The final character in the play, Stanley’s dotty father (Richard Fiske), is written as a running dementia joke, complete with multiple pratfalls. For some reason, Fiske attempts to portray his elderly character’s physicality with an exaggeratedly bow-legged stance worthy of Yosemite Sam.

The real center of the play, however, is Stanley. As John’s longtime co-conspirator, Tamney’s Stanley is a rather dim fellow called upon – especially during John’s frequent absences from the stage – to continually devise new and creative ways to keep John’s secret. With his still, quiet, often deadpan mien (a nice contrast to the frenetic carryings-on by other characters), Tamney’s Stanley waits just long enough for just enough neurons to fire before coming up with the latest in his series of ever-more incredible lies, piled one on top of the other. It’s a fine example of the Buster Keaton-like comic power of a character trying to keep up with the very strange things happening to him, without losing a degree of dignity.

As necessary in farce, Michael deBlois set design provides plenty of entrances, seven doors plus a staircase. A number of the doors lock from the outside, convenient for the plot if peculiar as a matter of house design. Given the slamming of and banging upon doors that occupy a good deal of some characters’ time, especially in the second act, the doors are constructed strongly enough not to sound like flimsy stage doors. The single set serves as both Smith residences, distinguished by white doors on stage right and tan doors on stage left, as well as by different wall colors. Notwithstanding these visual distinctions, the playing space is used interchangeably as both homes, sometimes simultaneously. Whatever confusion may ensue is not out-of-place in a show that glories in confusion.

Director Eleanore Tapscott keeps the pace fast and the timing of entrances and exits exact, both essential to the success of a play of this type and especially commendable for an opening night performance. Cooney’s plays are well-constructed Rube Goldberg machines, and Tapscott keeps the gears, wheels, and levers operating smoothly. Given a cast of seven actors, Tapscott makes lovely use of the seven doors for the curtain call. Janice Rivera’s sounds design is spot-on with respect to the timing of the show’s frequent phone rings. Somewhat oddly for a show set in the current century that includes contemporary, computer-savvy teenagers, the songs chosen for the incidental music are mostly of 60s and 70s vintage.

Perhaps Rivera was onto something: notwithstanding references to the internet, Cooney’s sensibility remains squarely fixed some decades in the past, in a day when housewives being horrified about being under the same roof with a homosexual or old men being mentally confused and falling down might have been thought of as on the cutting edge of comedy. And then there is the final plot twist, which on an incredulity scale challenges the baby switch revelation at the end of HMS Pinafore. In any case, the capacity audience loved every moment, and the intervals between laughs were very short indeed.

Director’s Note

A true farce, Caught in the Net contains all the key elements of farce: slamming doors, mistaken identities, concocted stories, incredible timing as characters run from room to room just missing each other, and characters locked in and out of rooms for the skimpiest of explanations. Mr. Cooney has said, “People understand the predicaments that arise from certain situations and settings, and that’s what they find all the funnier.” According to Mr. Cooney, there is absolutely no difference between a man discovering his wife in bed with his best friend in a farce and a man discovering his wife in bed with his best friend in a tragedy. The reaction of the husband in each play should be exactly the same. The difference is in the audience’s reaction.

I like to think that I could be quick enough on my feet to come up with some of the outlandish explanations offered by some of the characters in this play. Alas, I cannot, but I can sit back and enjoy the brilliant construction of this script and its numerous LOL moments.

I hope the audience finds itself LOLing and ROTFLTAO!

Photo Gallery

Mike Baker (John Smith) and Luke Markham (Gavin Smith)	Annie Ermlick (Barbara Smith), Luke Markham (Gavin Smith) and Mike Baker (John Smith)
Mike Baker (John Smith) and Paul Tamney (Stanley Gardner)	Luke Markham (Gavin Smith) and Eliza Lore (Vicki Smith)
Luke Markham (Gavin Smith), Annie Ermlick (Barbara Smith), Tricia O’Neill-Politte (Mary Smith)	Mike Baker (John Smith), Annie Ermlick (Barbara Smith), Tricia O’Neill-Politte (Mary Smith)

Photos by Tabitha Rymal – Vaughn

The Cast

• Gavin Smith: Luke Markham
• Vicki Smith: Eliza Lore
• Barbara Smith: Annie Ermlick
• Mary Smith: Tricia O’Neill-Politte
• John Smith: Mike Baker
• Stanley Gardner: Paul Tamney
• Stanley’s Dad; Richard Fiske

The Crew

• Producers: Richard Schwab, Alan Wray
• Director: Eleanore Tapscott
• Stage Manages: Sherry Clarke, Margaret Evans-Joyce
• Set Construction: Dan Remmers
• Assisted by: Sarah Boyd, Ed Broyles, Jim Carmalt, Jeff Gathers, Robert Kraus, Thomas McLaughlin, Jeff Nesmeyer, Art Snow, Cal Whitehurst, Rance Willis
• Lighting Designer: Nancy Owens
• Costume Designer: Susan Boyd
• Sound Design: Janice Rivera
• Assisted by: Anna Hawkins, Kira Simon, Gene Warner
• Set Painting: Nancy Ramsey, Toni Sanford
• Assisted by: Marian Holmes, Susie Poole, Bruce Schmid
• Set Decoration: Russell Wyland
• Assisted by: Marian Holmes
• Master Electrician: Liz Owens
• Assisted by: Kimberly Crago, Robert Kraus, Pam Leonowich, Michael O’Connor
• Property Designers: Alisa Beyninson, Eddy Roger Parker,
• Assisted by: Nancy Cefalo, Megan Mattheny, Joe Rodriquez, Toni Sanford, Sherry Singer, Margaret Snow, Adrian Steel
• Wardrobe: Margaret Snow
• Assisted by: Alisa Beyninson, Nancy Cefalo, Barbara Helsing, Rebecca Sheehy
• Hair and Makeup Designer: Susan Boyd
• Accent Coach: Heather Sanderson
• Stunt Coordinator: Nyla Rose
• Rigging: Russell Wyland
• Photographer: Tabitha Rymal-Vaughn
• Audition Coordinator: Maria Ciarrocchi
• Assisted by: Mary Lou Bruno, Eileen Doherty, Bobbie Herbst, Shelagh Roberts
• Double-Tech Dinner: Katie Gilman
• Assisted by: Laura Fox
• Opening Night Party Host: Russell Wyland
• Assisted by: Robert Kraus, Meghan Lau, Eddy Roger Parker, Sherry Singer, Wendy Sneff

Disclaimer: Little Theater of Alexandria provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

Raucous, rowdy, raunchy, and a total blast, Avenue Q is now at a theater near you! Run, don’t walk, to get your tickets to see Little Theater of Alexandria put on this smashing success of a show. The musical itself won a triple Tony in 2004, and this production lives up to the legacy.

It bills itself as a “Sesame Street for Grownups,” wherein we follow our main characters through the exciting life of a grown up, with adventures like “getting a place to live,” “finding a job,” “hiding from bill collections,” and “deciding whether to spend money on food or booze.” The characters are a mix of both human and a variety of different puppets, who are all here to teach the audience lessons about what purpose life has to offer for each of them.

Princeton is a recent college grad, who finds Avenue Q while searching for affordable living and a purpose in life. Kate Monster knows what purpose she has in life, but every obstacle she faces seems to push her farther and farther away from her goal of owning a school to teach monsters. Trekkie Monster is a furry pervert who lives upstairs, who has no particular goals, but lots of time to teach the audience about his addiction to porn. Rod and Nicky are roommates who have to navigate the waters of same-sex attraction, and Christmas Eve and Brian are the human couple who coexist with the puppets.

The beautifully crafted puppets are voiced by enthusiastic and eager actors dressed in black clothes. Their faces are expressive as they voice the characters, and half the show is watching these talented performers add to the story with their bodies as well as their puppeteering. The set is full of windows and doors, and portrays a run down New York City street wonderfully, allowing all the action to take place on the cracked doorsteps and rusty fire escapes of a poor alleyway neighborhood. Every once in a while, a Sesame Street like video sequence will run on a faded electronic billboard placed at the top of the set.

Sean Garcia as Princeton and Rod was funny and displayed a Broadway quality voice. He switched craftily between the two characters, often voicing both on stage in turns, and only occasionally muddling the two different ranges. The bright and talented Kristina Hopkins was a very refreshing and entertaining Kate Monster, taking just enough cues from the original Broadway soundtrack to sound memorable, and yet keeping the character sweet and enjoyable to listen to (in a part that can quickly turn harsh and shrill if the right voice isn’t found for the character). The best of the bunch, however, was Matt Liptak in two main roles and one minor one, as the puppets Trekkie Monster, Nicky and the Bad Idea Bear. Liptak was an absolute joy to watch, as he inhabited the characters so entirely. His face seemed to radiate enjoyment of his parts, and he kept all three characters very cleanly separated by voice and body movement.

The orchestration was fantastic, and kept up the energy of the show well. There was a small problem of microphone levels being different for sound effects and human actors, versus the loud and clear mikes put on the puppeteers, but everything was still audible. Also some of the human actors could have amped up their enthusiasm level a bit more to match the energy radiating from their puppeteered counterparts. Chief of this vein was Aerika Saxe, whose stunning and powerful voice needed a stronger, more assertive personality to sell the character of has-been Gary Coleman.

Overall, this production had very few flaws. It won much of the audience over to its views on adulthood and growing up, despite or maybe because of its bawdy and crude style, which both mocked and venerated the source material of children’s educational programming.

Oh, and this review was brought to you by the letter “M” as in “for Mature audiences” and the numbers “6” and “9” for puppet nudity hijinks.

Director’s Notes

I started kindergarten during the first season of “Sesame Street.” I clearly remember Ms. Perry pulling the AV cart before the class at Quander Road Elementary and announcing that we would be watching an hour of television. Of course, I didn’t realize it at the time, but that hour was preparing me for the lessons (both scholastically and socially) that were coming my way. I was learning to read, to count, to make new friends and to open my mind. I was told I was special and could do anything I dreamed of doing. Everything after that, more or less, fell into place. Lessons learned became building blocks for lessons to be learned. I had all the tools I needed for the next 16 years of my life. THEN IT HAPPENED…

Suddenly I was a young adult, and, like the characters in our show, I was facing lessons hitherto unknown and for which I was completely unprepared. Where were the grown up Bert and Ernie, the 20-something Kermit and Cookie Monster to show me the way? Who would teach me about finding a job, a mate, a purpose?

I think this is the void that Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx and Jeff Whitty had in mind when they wrote Avenue Q. Why isn’t there a “Sesame Street” for adults? Something to spoon-feed reality to us: to teach us that we aren’t as special as we were told; that there are limits to what we can do. Well, here it is! Avenue Q burst onto the scene and became a 2004 Tony Award triple-crown show (Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score). Instantly, every 20-something was drawn to it, and those of us past that age were wishing we could have a do-over! This performance is your chance to reflect on those post-college years, no matter how far removed you are from them, when the world was yours to conquer.

One final note: Give yourself and those around you permission to enjoy this show’s humor. Let political correctness and sexual and societal propriety take a back seat for two hours as we share and laugh at our forbidden thoughts and secret deeds. Why keep the human experience, in its entirety, from each other?

Frank D Shutts II, Director.

Photo Gallery

Princeton (puppet) and Sean Garcia	Bad Idea Bears (puppets), Matt Liptak and Charlene Sloan
Lucy the Slut (puppet) and Claire O’Brien	James Hotsko Jr., Kate Monster (puppet), and Kristina Hopkins

Photos by Keith Waters

Cast

• Sean Garcia: Princeton/Rod
• Kristina Hopkins: Kate Monster
• Stephanie Gaia Chu: Christmas Eve
• James Hotsko Jr.: Brian
• Matt Liptak: Nicky/Trekkie Monster/Bad Idea Bear
• Claire O’Brien: Lucy the Slut
• Aerika Saxe: Gary Coleman
• Charlene Sloan: Mrs. Thistletwat/Bad Idea Bear/Right Hand

Band

• Christopher A. Tomasino: Conductor
• Matt Jeffrey: Keyboard I
• Julio Diaz: Keyboard II
• Dana Gardner: Reed
• Ben Young: Guitar
• Randy Dahlbert: Bass
• Manny Arciniega: Percussion

Crew

• Producers: Margaret Evans-Joyce, Carolyn Winters
• Music Director: Christopher A. Tomasino
• Director: Frank D Shutts II
• Choreographer: Frank D Shutts II
• Stage Managers: Joan Lada, Cristina McConnell
• Set Design: MYKE
• Lighting Design: Ken and Patti Crowley
• Costume Design: Jean Schlichting, Kit Sibley
• Puppet Wrangler: Katherine Dillaber
• Puppet Master: Kristopher Kauff
• Hair and Makeup: Robin Havins Parker, Erin Sullivan
• Media Consultant: Jon Schendinger
• Video Coordinator: Alan Wray

Disclaimer: Little Theater of Alexandria provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

This 1938 script by Harry Segall had enough legs to be the source of two movies: “Here Comes Mr. Jordan” in 1941, starring Robert Montgomery, and 1978’s “Heaven Can Wait,” starring Warren Beatty. Both were nominated for several Oscars and won some. Judging by the current production of the original play at Little Theater of Alexandria (LTA), HCW‘s legs have become tired and creaky. In this presentation, the play shows all of its 74 years.

This is not the fault of the designers and technical staff. The costumes are varied and appropriate to the characters and period (e.g., a femme fatale red dress for Julia Farnsworth, a natty blue blazer for Mr. Jordan, though bellhop outfits for Mr. Jordan’s assistants seemed a bit odd). The trio of sets is the production’s high point. The play begins with a shiny metallic conveyance for transporting the recently deceased to their eternal reward, to which is added some sci-fi sound and shimmering red and silver light effects. This gives way to a realistic mansion living room, decorated with furniture that fits the period and wall art that, for the most part, is believable in the house of a wealthy 1930s banker. The best is saved for last, as the house set swings around to create a dark and gritty boxing dressing room. The moves between different settings go smoothly and quickly.

The difficulty comes with what happens on the sets. A 2-hour 45-minute three-act period piece using many of the conventions of the well-made drawing room comedy/mystery, HCW‘s pace feels labored. Stock characters of the genre, like gossipy servants and a blustery detective, add to the impression of an over-the-hill script. Even the use of a boxer as the male lead helps to age the piece, since boxing has long since stopped being the first-tier sport it was in pre-World War II days. (Beatty made a smart choice in changing the leading character’s sport to football for the 1978 movie.)

The show’s premise – promising boxer finds his way to the championship and, incidentally, true love through being transplanted into a series of bodies – is thin. Readers of C.S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters” may recall his insight that hell is a bureaucracy. In the world of HCW, heaven too is a bureaucracy, in which, as in all bureaucracies, mistakes are made with great inconvenience to those affected. But this is a comedy, so the effects of celestial bungling have to be made funny. It’s not easy.

Making the body-switching plot, with all its contrivances and coincidences, credible and amusing is all the more difficult when, in many scenes, lines are delivered in a presentational fashion straight out to the audience. Mr. Jordan (Cal Whitehurst) delivers his lines clearly in a fine voice, but his focus is directly downstage, as though to an invisible radio microphone. Leading man Joe Pendleton (Brandon DeGroat), villains Julia Farnsworth (Hanna Wolf) and Tony Abbot (Steve Lada), and Pendleton’s girlfriend Bette Logan (Melissa Berkowitz) periodically suffer from the same affliction. I don’t know whether this approach to acting may have seemed normal to theater goers when the play first appeared; today it feels tedious, and it certainly inhibits reactions among characters that are key to successful comedy.

Because he does allow himself to interact with and react to other characters, and shows a good sense of timing besides, John Shackleford as Max Levene, Pendleton’s trainer, provides the day’s best comedy. He is particularly funny as he attempts to communicate with the invisible Mr. Jordan in various scenes.

DeGroat’s Pendleton is physically energetic, as befits a young boxer, but the extreme naiveté he projects is hard to credit even allowing for the period in which the show is set. He does a nice, rather subtle character shift in the final scene as he becomes a different boxer. His romance with Berkowitz’s too-petulant and frequently unresponsive Bette Logan is not believable, in part because their physical interaction is limited to a peck on the cheek and an A-frame hug. There is similarly little heat between the two villains, who are supposed to be passionately enough connected to commit murder. Special credit should go to co-producer Mary Alaya-Bush, who stepped into the role of Messenger 7013 on very short notice when veteran character actor Will Monahan took ill opening weekend.

Theater conventions have changed a great deal in the past three-quarters of a century. A show so fixed in its own time and style of play construction as HCW may not be able to play successfully in 2012 at all. It certainly cannot succeed without a considerably higher level of performance than in the current LTA production.

Director’s Notes

I remember many years ago, when I was in graduate school, seeing the marquee at the Circle Theater on Pennsylvania Avenue–showing as usual a double feature–and one of the films was “Here Comes Mr. Jordan” with Robert Montgomery (Elizabeth’s dad) and Claude Rains. It went on to win two Academy Awards, one for Best Original Story and the other for Best Screenplay. I thoroughly enjoyed it and noticed that it was based on a play called Heaven Can Wait. I remember at the time feeling, “I’d really love to direct this play someday.”

And now the Little Theatre of Alexandria-my wonderful theater home since 1968-has given me that opportunity. I also feel blessed to have two wonderful producers, who have put together an amazing team that has assisted in making this production possible.

I am so thankful to have such a fabulous production team: Mary Ayala-Bush, who is also a fantastic performer, and Leighann Behrens executing the production of this play. My favorite designer, John Downing, creating the set; my great duo, Jean and Kit, designing the outstanding costumes; my most wonderful and capable stage manager, Rebecca Patton; Nancy and Liz Owens designing my lights again; the talented David Correia designing our sound again; and our lovely Bobbie Herbst, who is always there to troubleshoot no matter what the problem is, running our props department. I feel so blessed to have my favorite set dressing team on board, Jean and Allen Stuhl and Nancyanne Burton; and all the rest of this fabulous crew. They are a delight to work with. I specially want to thank Jimmy and Mary Hutzler-they have been there for me on so many of my shows. They are also adopted family in my life! Others not to be forgotten are Emma Baskir, Russell Wyland, Doug Olmstead and Maureen Rohn for their assistance in helping us mount this wonderful production.

Photo Gallery

John Shackelford (Max Levene), Brandon DeGroat (Joe Pendleton), and Cal Whitehurst (Mr. Jordan)	John Shackelford (Max Levene)and Brandon DeGroat (Joe Pendleton)
Colin Davies (Doctor), Brandon DeGroat (Joe Pendleton), Geoffrey Baskir (Passenger), Michael Gerwin (Williams), Geoffrey Brand (Lefty), and John Shackelford (Max Levene)

Photos by Doug Olmsted

The Cast

• Joe Pendleton: Brandon DeGroat
• Mr. Jordan: Cal Whitehurst
• Messenger 7013: Will Monahan or Mary Ayala-Bush
• Julia Farnsworth: Hanna Wolf
• Tony Abbott: Steve Lada
• Bette Logan: Melissa Berkowitz
• Max Levene: John Shackelford
• Mrs. Ames: Lori Bonnette
• Susie, Maid: Shahina Zahir Ismail
• Ann, Maid: Chanukah Jane Lilburne
• Williams: Michael Gerwin
• First Escort: Shahina Zahir Ismail
• Second Escort: Chanukah Jane Lilburne
• Workman/Plainsclothes: P. Spencer Tamney
• Lefty: Geoffrey Brand
• Doctor: Colin Davies
• Passenger/Plainsclothesman: Geoffrey Baskir
• Ming Toy: Bela Baskir

Production Staff

• Producers: Leighann Behrens, Mary Ayala-Bush
• Director: Roland Branford Gomez
• Assistant Director: Mary Ayala-Bush
• Stage Manager: Becky Patton
• Assistant Stage Managers: Kendall Hermsdorf, Jim Hutzler, Eddy Roger Parker, Adrian Steele
• Set Design and Construction: John Downing
• Assisted by: Bryce Brockelman, David Doll, Jeff Gathers, Peter Alden Hyde, Chris Mortenson, Ben Norcross, Eddy Roger Parker, Dan Remmers, P. Spencer Tamney, Dave Wolf
• Lighting Design: Liz Owens, Nancy Owens
• Costume Design/ Construction: Jean Schlichting, Kit Sibley
• Sound Design: David Correia
• Assisted by: Keith Bell, Sean Doyle, Margaret Evans-Joyce, Emily Jonas, Janice Rivera
• Set Painting: Mary Hutzler
• Assisted by: Leighann Behrens, Bobbie Herbst, Rebecca Johnson
• Set Decoration: Nancyanne Burton, Jean and Allen Stuhl
• Master Electrictian: Ellen Doherty
• Assisted by: Jim Hartz, Pam Leonowich, Michael J. O’Connor, Doug Olmsted, Nancy Owens, Matthew Rabkin, Kick Schwab, Marg Soroos
• Property Designer: Bobbie Herbst
• Assisted by: Rachel Alberts, Kirstin Apker, Maya Brettell, Eileen Casamo,Sherry Clarke, Margaret Snow, Nicole Zuchetto
• Wardrobe: Heather Norcross
• Assisted by: Rachel Brown-Glazner, Amanda
• Jagusiak, Mary Beth Smith-Toomey, Margaret Snow, Annie Vroom
• Hair & Makeup Design: Chanukah Jane Lilburne
• Rigging: Russell Wyland
• Photographer: Doug Olmsted
• Audition Table: Eileen Casamo, Maria Ciarrocci, Bobbie Herbst, Maureen Rohn, Margaret Snow
• Audition Photographer: Doug Olmsted
• Double Tech Dinner: Genie Baskir
• Opening Night Party: Larry Grey, Robin Parker
• Assisted by:: The Cast of A Christmas Carol

Disclaimer: Little Theater of Alexandria provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.