Hinton Battle’s Love Lies, a musical “dramedy,” debuted Tuesday, April 2 at Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. The gospel-infused musical spotlights the death of Harrison Brown, a carouser during his lifetime who the audience and his three fiancées discover was engaged to multiple women before he died. What follows is a mixture of salacious storytelling by the betrayed women–Victoria Davis, Kim Anderson, and Pam Jackson–each initially believing they are Brown’s true lover, comedic interlude by an affable funeral director, and a posthumous turnaround in Brown’s character, brought about by Pastor Milkum.

Battle, a three-time Tony award winner, is best known for his performance roles, which began in 1975 with his appearance as the Scarecrow on Broadway’s The Wiz. His latest project, Love Lies is written, produced, and directed by Battle, who also stars in the role of Pastor Milkum. Battle spent several of his childhood years in Washington, D.C., making the tour stop at the Warner Theatre something of a homecoming for him. ShowBizRadio had the opportunity to talk with Hinton Battle in an interview earlier this week.

As I watched the show, it was clear from the start that the plot structure of Love Lies is built around the talents of a celebrated cast, led by R&B musician Brian McKnight (Harrison Brown), and three-time Grammy nominee Angie Stone (Victoria Davis). The rest of a the cast includes film and TV actress Elise Neal (Kim Anderson), vocal contest winner Crystal Aikin (Mother Harrison), comic Kier Spates (Funeral Director), performer Amber A. Harris (Pam Jackson), and of course Hinton Battle (Pastor Milkum). Collectively, the group brings high energy, soulful singing, and ample amounts of comedic relief to a show that seeks to blend sexually driven dialogue and dancing with its Gospel ballads and redemptive storyline. Audiences may debate whether these elements exist incongruently or are effectively synthesized throughout the performance, especially since almost every scene takes place in a funeral hall, but it’s clear the suggestive dancing and innuendo-laced dialogue are meant to mirror the production’s weighty subjects of love, sex, and betrayal. More perplexing to me was the appearance of a random dancer in a banana suit during one of the musical numbers, and a few song and dance compilations which seemed to divert too much from the tension of the scene.

Love Lies‘ emphasis on choreography and music should allow most audiences to see past the sometimes discordant plot. A largely female audience responded with swoons when Brian McKnight began singing his hit “Back At One” while recounting his first moments of romance with Victoria Davis. The powerful vocal talent of Crystal Aikin, who sang several ballads as the inconsolable mother of Harrison Brown, was also met with high praise throughout the evening.

Aikin’s performance was most notable to me with her impressive range and evident passion which allowed her to sing seemingly from her toes. Another high point of the performance came when current members of the Washington-based Jones-Haywood School of Ballet joined a local choir onstage with members of the cast to perform the gospel hymn “He Did It All For Me.” A local choir from each city on the Love Lies tour is invited to perform for the musical, but the appearance of ballet students from Jones-Haywood School of Ballet was unique since Battle began his own performance career with the school during his childhood years in Washington, D.C.

The April 2 début of Love Lies was my first visit to the Warner Theatre, a beautiful venue with the gilded detailing and brocade curtains you rarely see outside of 20th century vaudeville theaters. The floral detailing of the metalwork surrounding a series of crests lining the walls and ceilings of the theater reach a powerful focal point in the middle of the ceiling where a glistening chandelier illuminates the space. Sitting in the theater, you can’t help but feel whisked back in time to when the theater hosted mostly vaudeville performances and silent film screenings. The acoustics of the space were quite good as well, especially if you like a thumping bass you can feel in your chest. If you enjoy soulful gospel hymns and edgy romance drama, I’d recommend you make a performance of Love Lies this week an excuse to visit the Warner Theatre. As if you needed an excuse.

Disclaimer: ShowBizRadio was provided two complimentary media tickets for this review.

Michael Clark, for ShowBizRadio: Hinton Battle began his career on Broadway at the age of 15, appearing as the Scarecrow in The Wiz. He’s won the Tony Award as Featured Actor in a Musical three times. He’s appeared in Dreamgirls, Sophisticated Ladies, Chicago (Billy Flynn), Ragtime (Coalhouse Walker Jr.), Miss Saigon and The Tap Dance Kid. On TV, he was the dancing demon “Sweet” in the musical episode of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and appeared on “Touched by an Angel” and “Quantum Leap.” As a choreographer, Hinton’s credits include the 65th and 66th Academy Awards and the stage production of Evil Dead: The Musical. He also appeared in and choreographed the ABC movie “Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story.” He has now written and is directing a musical going out on a national tour Live Lies, opening at the Warner Theatre in Washington DC April 2nd. Thank you for talking with me today. 

Hinton: Thank you for having me. How are you?

SBR: I am doing good. Looking forward to talking with you about your great career and the show Love Lies.

Hinton: Love to talk to you about it.

SBR: Yesterday my wife and I watched “Quantum Leap,” saw you on that.

Hinton: Oh, you’re kidding me! Where did you see that?

SBR: I read your bio and I was like, “Oh I think ‘Quantum Leap’ is on Netflix.” I pulled it up and we found which episode it was. So we watched that and then we watched the musical episode of “Buffy.”

Hinton: That’s cool. I’ll have to watch that sometime. I haven’t seen it. I didn’t know it was on. I’ll have to go check it out.

SBR: Yeah, it was cool. I looked on YouTube and I saw a bunch of old clips and I saw a bunch of award shows and different numbers that you were in. Incredible dancing going on.

Hinton: Incredible dancers. Absolutely. I remember we did “Night of 100 Stars” when they used to do those. It had Gregory Hines. They had everybody. Dancing and singing was pretty great.

SBR: I looked for The Wiz, but I could not find it anywhere.

Hinton: The Wiz, back then they did not record shows. They didn’t record. You would have to go to the Lincoln Center library and you could see them there. Now everything is recorded.

SBR: You’ve started writing your own show. What is it like to be the playwright? To be on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Hinton: It is kind of lonely. You do spend a lot of time in a room by yourself. And a computer. And you hope nobody walks by because they’ll hear you playing all the character roles out. Being the girls, the guys, the this, the that. You don’t want anybody to walk by because the next thing you know they may come back with the little jacket for you to put on with the strap around it. But I’m enjoying it; I’m really enjoying it.

The great thing about being a writer, this is my first writing venture, is being able to create different characters. And then I have this incredible cast during the show: Brian McKnight, Angie Stone, Elise Neal, Kier Spates (Junior from the Steve Harvey Show) Crystal Aikin (one of BET “Sunday Gospel’s Best”) and a newcomer Amber Harris. To see them take the work and the characters and bring them to life and have so much fun with it is just unbelievable for me to have put it to paper and just imagine what it could be and then seeing it actually happen. I call it my dream cast. Coming in and making it fantastic is just great.

SBR: Tell us about the show. What is Love Lies?

Hinton: Love Lies is about three women who go to the funeral of their fiancé.

SBR: Ok. That seems straightforward.

Hinton: They find out at the funeral that there are two other women.

SBR: Oooohhhhh, they are all engaged to the same guy.

Hinton: They are all engaged to the same man. And they are supposed to be getting married the next week. And he just happened to die. It was his lucky day. We go through the whole cycle of when men cheat on the women. The women accuse the other woman and they go after each other and that whole cycle that kind of happens.

A lot of the play’s set in flashback. So we see how they met him and how much he’s meant to ech one of these women. And they are comparing notes and finding out all these things. It’s pretty hilarious. I call it a dramedy because you have all this high energy drama and this high energy comedy. Because it’s funerals and people’s reactions to funerals can be pretty funny.

We get a chance to kind of laugh at ourselves. And we get a chance to see what kind of life that cycle is. How we see it. And the men get a chance to see what that does to people. That sort of ‘I love ’em all’ thing. What that ‘I love ’em all’ can do. So I mean it’s great. It’s got a lot of heart in this show. It’s got a lot of funny. And some great singing. Some great songs.

SBR: Did you write the music and the songs as well?

Hinton: No, I was lucky and I’m using all the songs that we know and love. There is one song that I wrote in the show called “Holy Holy.” But the songs are like… I was able to take Angie’s hit “Wish I Didn’t Miss You” and Brian McKnight’s “Back at One.” And incorporate it in the story that pushes the narrative forward of the show. You get to see Brian McKnight sing his hit song and in context, you know, you’re going to have your own personal experience with the song anyway, but now you are seeing it used in a new way, pushing the story forward. So it’s great. So the performances are great. I sit there in awe every time one of them opens their mouth or they do a scene, I just sit there going “wow, oh right I gotta go do so and so.” I forget what I’m supposed to be doing. It is a pleasure. It’s really a pleasure.

SBR: Is the title Love Lies a pun because every time I type it into the computer it auto corrects to Lovelies?

Hinton: Lovelies? Maybe, I don’t know. I only know Love Lies.

SBR: I was reading there is a gospel choir in the show, but it’s a different choir at each place the show goes to. How does that work?

Hinton: Well, we go out and o what’s called “The Love Lies Choir Search.” Every market, every city we go into we reach out to the community and have them come in and we look for that choir or those choirs to be a part of th show. And what it is is three moments in the show that the choir would appear in in the show as part of the show. So they get to actually sing with Crystal Aikin and with Brian McKnight. So I wanted to be able to have the community involved with the show as well as bringing a great show to every city. The response has been ridiculously incredible. So some nights we’ll have three and four choirs in the show at the same time singing a song, which is kind of neat.

SBR: How does rehearsal work for that? Do they get to do a run through?

Hinton: Oh yeah. We do a run through. They get to work with our musical director one night. The songs they’ll know, because they sing them in their churches already. So they just have to learn how we’re doing them and we block them in the show. And they’re on. They’re up and on. I do a special thing where I introduce them in the show as part of the funeral procession. I don’t want to give away too much, but they are definitely a big part of the show. They are in the show. They are not just coming out and singing a number before or after the show. They are a part of the show.

SBR: Part of the show. And then you’re directing as well. Was it hard to take what you’ve written and then to direct to performers to do what you want to pull out of them?

Hinton: When you have talent like that to work with, talented people to work with, it’s like a breeze. It’s so easy. It’s so much fun. We laugh so much doing it putting it together. We’re having a ball. Just having a ball. It’s really been a big joy. It’s just been great.

SBR: Where can people get tickets?

Hinton: You can go to www.hintonbattle.com and it has every city we’ll be visiting and you just click on that and it takes you right to where you can purchase tickets.

SBR: Anything else we need to touch base on that I don’t know about the show that you can share?

Hinton: Um.. you’ve hit everything there.

SBR: Ok great. I appreciate you talking with me.

Hinton: Michael, I appreciate you having me on. I really do.

SBR: Thanks very much. Love Lies plays at the Warner Theatre in downtown Washington DC, Tuesday April 2nd through Sunday the 7th.

Lights! Camera! Action! Wiggles!

There is something surreal about seeing someone that you have faithfully watched on television for years and years and have fallen in love with. All of a sudden, you are sitting in a theatre watching them 20 feet in front of your face. The Wiggles have been a huge part of entertaining and educating children and families for over twenty years. They have contributed a wealth of enjoyment and positive morality that makes our world a little bit better.

After all this time, the original four Wiggles: Anthony Field (the Blue Wiggle), Murray Cook (the Red Wiggle), Greg Page (the Yellow Wiggle), and Jeff Fatt (the Purple Wiggle) are bringing their union to an end. This very special and emotional goodbye is made by their Celebration! tour, which is traveling around the country till the end of the year.

Celebration! is a fun, exciting, colorful, interactive, singing, dancing extravaganza filled with all of your favorite songs and characters from the last two decades. There is an amazing arrival by the “Fab Four” in their iconic big red car: Murray playing his guitar, Greg driving, Anthony waving to the audience, and Jeff (of course!) falling asleep. There is a great big welcome and hello from all and on with the show. More songs, more magical adventure, and then…………………? Yes! It’s Captain Feathersword! He is singing, dancing, doing acrobatics on a steel, 20-foot cube frame. Without missing a beat, Wags the Dog appears, the kids go nuts, and then Henry the Octopus! The kids are yelling, screaming, and laughing,

You have not seen anything yet. As soon as Anthony poses the question of “Who likes roses?,” the kids go crazy! Not only did more than half of the audience bring bouquets of roses, but because they know here comes Dorothy the Dinosaur! As Dorothy brings her song to an end and the show comes to a close, The Wiggles do a fast-paced medley of their songs and invite Moms, Dads, and the kids to stand up and sing and dance. Then, after a standing ovation during the curtain call, we are showered by an exploding cannon of confetti and streamers.

This was probably one of the best children’s theatrical events I have ever witnessed and something that my entire family and I will hold very close to our hearts and never forget.

Though the tour usually only plays one night in each city, I hope by reading this you will spread the word from town to town, city to city, coast to coast, and tell everyone you know to catch this legendary event!

Disclaimer: ShowBizRadio was provided four complimentary media tickets for this review.

The Wiggles are coming! The Wiggles are coming!

That’s right, folks, the legendary children’s music group from down under is coming to our nation’s capital. This Tuesday, The Wiggles, who formed in Sydney, Australia more than 20 years ago, are bringing their farewell “Celebration” Tour to the Warner Theatre in Washington DC.

If you are a parent of younger children, or even older children for that matter, then one way or another, The Wiggles have probably crossed your path. Whether a diehard fan or parent of a diehard fan, you know how big a deal this is.

For those who unfortunately have not had the pleasure of being entertained by The Wiggles, here is a short history. The Wiggles are Anthony Field (the blue Wiggle), Murray Cook (the red Wiggle), Greg Page (the Yellow Wiggle), and Jeff Fatt (the Purple Wiggle). Page retired in 2006 due to ill-health and was replaced by Sam Moran, but returned in 2012, replacing Moran. In May 2012, The Wiggles announced that they will be doing a farewell tour, and, after the tour, Cook, Page, and Fatt will be leaving the group. Three new members will be joining Field, as The Wiggles continue to entertain and educate children all around the world. The Wiggles have left us with memorable and beloved characters, such as Captain Feathersword, Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus, and, of course, Dorothy the Dinosaur and a cornucopia of songs. We will never forget “Big Red Car,” “Rock-a-bye a Bear,” “Hot Potato,” and the ever iconic “Fruit Salad (Yummy, Yummy).”

ShowBizRadio was very fortunate to be able to get a quick interview with Jeff Fatt. Here is what the purple Wiggle had to say:

SBR: You were originally a member of The Cockroaches. In what ways has being a Wiggle been different and similar to being part of an adult rock band?

JF: Well, (Jeff responds with a reminiscing chuckle), The Cockroaches was a rock band, and our audience was a bit different, but the similarity is that I was playing music and entertaining audiences.

SBR: How has this last tour been? Is it great to have Greg back? How is he doing?

JF: It has been a blast! And very busy. It is great having Greg back; we have all missed him greatly. He is doing absolutely great.

SB: Are you excited or sad about leaving the group? Why did you all make that decision at this time? What are the future plans for Anthony and the three new Wiggles?

JF: Well, a bit of both obviously. It has been long time, and it’s sad to leave. But we all agreed that this was the right time. Anthony will be joined by three brand new Wiggles: Emma, Simon, and Lachlan. And the journey will continue.

SBR: I hear that you really do fall asleep all the time. Is that art imitating life, life imitating art, or just a rumor?

JF: A bit of both actually. It actually started as a joke a long time ago with the guys. Sometimes I nap; I’m naturally a very laid back person (he adds with another chuckle).

SBR: When you were a teenager, who were some of your early musical influences?

JF: Well it was the sixties. But mostly The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin.

SBR: Is there anyone current on the music scene that you are really into?

JF: No not really, I tend to stick with what I like, and for me that’s still the same.

SBR: Jeff, what is your plan after you leave The Wiggles?

JF: Not quite sure really. But I am excited to see where life takes me.

SBR: Jeff, one last question: Is there anything in particular that audience members should know before coming, like to bring flowers for Dorothy?

JF: They should know that they are in for a great show and a ton of fun. And Yes, Yes, Yes, Of Course, Bring flowers for Dorothy!

I got a very genuine feeling from Jeff, and it is crystal clear that Jeff is a Wiggle for life and will miss the joy and honor of performing for children from around the globe. He will be greatly missed. The Wiggles perform at The Warner Theatre in Washington, DC on Tuesday October 9th. Show times are 2pm and 6:30pm.

From an evolutionary standpoint, the change of life might be seen as Nature’s gift to females who manage to survive. Famine, disease, childbirth, war, natural disaster, hard labor…you get the idea….left the odds of anyone’s survival relatively slim. Females who overcame those odds got rewarded with a certain measure of young girlhood freedom before they left this veil of tears for the next life. Getting there is no picnic, but getting to the other side is worth the tsuris after seeing Gfour’s production of Menopause The Musical at the Warner Theatre.

The ever large living and self-important Baby Boomers have removed distaff biology from the closet and made what used to be secret and not discussed outside of a doctor’s office into a tour (literally) de force of humor via song, dance and Bloomingdale’s on Lexington Avenue. There is no self-abnegation here; pop anthems of our youth reconfigured as humorous tributes to the joys (not) of aging recreate a PBS pledge drive revival tour mashed up with feminist cheerleading and demands for sexual satisfaction on our own terms. It is a girl’s night out bachelor party celebrating the total unnecessaryness of men anymore. I made that word up because my brain has turned off and I can’t think of the proper one and, btw, it is very hot in here.

Four woman fight over the underwear sale table at Bloomie’s and bond over their inability to regulate body temperature. The show advances over numerous departments, counters and trips to the ladies room for the emergency tinkle that never abates. Patti Gardner is a menopausal soap opera star engaging in the futile attempt to continue playing an ingénue; Sandy Rosenberg is a leftover love child earth mother vegan in Birkenstocks and striped socks trying to order organic produce in her salad; Annette Houlihan Verdolino is a Mary Kay lady type from Iowa in pink suit and pearls trying to liberate herself forty years after the revolution; and Kimberly Ann Harris is the corporate executive trying not to let her subordinates know that her brain has walked away. Each woman presents soaring vocals and a dynamite personality as the show demands we claim our biology and celebrate it because we have no other choice.

Harris has a smile as glorious as her vocals and stops the show with a Tina Turner parody about vibrators called “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” Verdolino breaks out of her pearls discovering her new battery operated best friend in a hilarious parody of “Only You.” Gardner becomes a sexy chorus girl trilling about her hot flashes and Rosenberg drags about in fitness gear singing “Puff The Magic Dragon” a song not about a dragon or pot.

The ancillary charm of this show lies in its ability to draw in the poor men dragged to this sassy, saucy hen party and to affectionately smack the snarky younger women who post nasty troll comments about ditzy, fat old women on Jezebel.com. We may not be spring chickens but we are all the more wonderful for it and this show restores the lost self-esteem of anyone who hasn’t attempted a mirror fast yet. The post industrial world in the 21st century has gifted us with 25 to 40 years of biological liberation that translates into freedom to travel, explore and gad about in groups taking over wine bars, cruises and the media. We’ve raised our children and shed our men through any one of several means to be able to fully enjoy our lives on our own terms. The supposed joys of youth attain mythical status after watching packs of older women out on the town having fun and ignoring the artificial social constraints telling us we should keep our voices down. We shouldn’t and this show doesn’t.

The secret is out: we love our children, we sort of still like our men; but we don’t need any of them to fulfill ourselves or our human potential. Fortunately for us we can defy culture and media and act on these truths. Menopause The Musical does. Go see it; you’ll like yourself better for it. Oooh…..gotta run…boy is it hot in here…or what?

Photo Gallery

Photos provided by GFour Productions

Cast

• Soap Star: Patti Gardner
• Earth Mother: Sandy Rosenberg
• Professional Woman: Kimberly Ann Harris
• Iowa Housewife: Annette Houlihan Verdolino

Production Staff

• Director: Seth Greenleaf
• Creator: Jeanie Linders
• Stage Manager: Darren Brannon
• Technical Director/Lighting: Ryan A. Partidge
• Sound: Steve Shapiro
• Choreographer: Daria Lynne Melendez
• Costume Design: Sue Hill

Disclaimer: GFour Productions provided a complimentary media ticket to ShowBizRadio for this review.

Tiistai-illan suorituskykyä Spamalot on Warner teatteri oli hilpeä. Vaikka et familar kanssa 1975 elokuvan “Monty Python ja Graalin malja”, sinun pitäisi löytää Spamalot nautittavaa.

Alright! Enough with the Finnish already! Time for a review that everyone can read!!

Spamalot is a musical with Book and Lyrics by Eric Idle and music by John du Prez and Eric Idle. The musical is a loving takeoff of the 1975 movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” and won the 2005 Tony Award® for Best Musical. King Arthur travels around Britain finding knights to join him in his court at Camelot, and eventually on their quest to find the Holy Grail. Through song, high-stepping choreography, colorful costumes, and even audience participation, the performers had the audience rolling.

Arthur Rowan as King Arthur performed solidly with a command of the stage. He was able to show through his emotions that he was the true leader of the knights even when they confused him. King Arthur’s loyal servant Patsy (and Guard 2) was played by Michael J. Berry. He was a true friend towards king Arthur and his affection for his master was real, despite the fact that King Arthur never figured it out and spent the show being depressed and feeling sorry for himself. That is until the arrival of the Lady of the Lake, performed magnificently by Brittany Woodrow. With powerful vocals, and enough overacting (but in a good way) to lift your spirits. She came out and really sold her part.

All of the knights seemed to have fun in their roles. Sir Lancelot (Adam Grabau), Sir Robin (Kasidy Devlin), and Sir Belvedere (Marcus DeMarcus) all took their characters seriously in a non-serious way. All had strong voices that could be heard over the live orchestra which also gave a stellar performance. Costume Designer Tim Hatley used bright colors mainly for the women’s costumes. Brittany Woodrow’s final outfit was pretty as she expertly went from blue to white for her final number with King Arthur. All of the scene changes went smoothly. We were sitting in a section kind of stage left so we occasionally caught a glimpse of hands or a body waiting to go on, but not enough to destroy the mood of the hilarity of Spamalot.

Probably the only downer was the cramped feeling on the stage. Since the Warner Theatre was built in 1924, before huge sets and large casts, at times the playing area appeared quite cramped and full. When you have 22 performers on stage at one time, choreography can get interesting. Togetherness takes on a whole new meaning! Everyone made the best of it however with the result being a great show, not necessarily appropriate for younger audiences, but still well done and fun. And you do not need to have seen “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” to have a good time.

Photo Gallery

Kasidy Devlin (Sir Robin), Adam Grabau (Sir Lancelot), Jacob L. Smith (Sir Dennis Galahad), Thomas DeMarcus (Sir Bedevere), Arthur Rowan (King Arthur), and Michael J. Berry (Patsy)	The Cast of Monty Python’s Spamalot
Arthur Rowan (King Arthur – sitting) and Michael J. Berry (Patsy)	The Frenchmen: Ryan Cowles, Joe Beuerlein, Adam Grabau, Jason Elliott Brown
Arthur Rowan (King Arthur) and Brittany Woodrow (The Lady of the Lake)

Photos by Scott Suchman

Cast

• Historian, French Guard, Minstrel, Brother Maynard: Joe Beuerlein
• Mayor, Dennis’ Mother, Sir Belvedere, Concorde: Thomas DeMarcus
• Patsy, Guard 2: Michael J. Berry
• King Arthur: Arthur Rowan
• Sir Robin, Guard 1: Kasidy Devlin
• Sir Lancelot, The French Taunter, Kinh Ni, Tim the Enchanter: Adam Grabau
• Not Dead Fred, Nun, Prince Herbert: James David Larson
• Sir Dennis Galahad, Black knight, Prince Herbert’s Father: Jacob L. Smith
• The Lady of the Lake: Brittany Woodrow
• God: Eric Idle
• Ensemble: Kimber Benedict, Jason Elliott Brown, Ryan Cowles, Carl DeForrest Hendin, Amanda Johns, Andrew Leggieri, Melissa Denise Lopez, McKayla Marso, Jesse Palmer, Tiffani Robbins, Jared Titus, Bradley Allan Zarr

Understudies

• For King Arthur: Thomas DeMarcus
• For Lady of the Lake: Melissa Denise Lopez, McKayla Marso
• For Sir Lancelot et. al: Joe Beuerlein
• For Sir Robin et. al: Jared Titus
• For Sir Deniss Galahad et. al/Sir Belvedere et. al: Bradley Allan Zarr
• For Patsy: Carl DeForrest Hendin
• For Historian/Minstrel/Brother Maynard: Andrew Leggieri
• For Not Dead Fred/Prince Herbert: Jason Elliott Brown

Musicians

• Conductor/Piano: Nolan Bonvouloir
• Associate Conductor/Keyboard II: Patrick Burns
• Trumpet I: Tony Speranza
• Trumpet II: Emma Stanley
• Trombone: Alex Jeun
• French Horn: Bonnie Shappell

Designers/Crew

• Original Scenic and Costume Design: Tim Hatley
• Scenic Design Modifications: James Kronzer
• Lighting Design: Mike Baldassarai
• Sound Design: Craig Cassidy
• Projection Design: Elaine McCarthy
• Casting: Mark Minnick
• Musical Supervisor: Steven M. Bishop
• Musical Director/Conductor: Nolan Bonvouloir
• Tour Marketing/Press Representative: Aleman PR/Phillip Aleman
• Director of Operations: Lisa Mattia
• Technical Supervisor: Scott Orlesky
• Company Manager: Jose Solivan
• Production Stage Manager: Lara Tenenbaum
• Choreography Recreated by: Scott Taylor
• Choreographed by Casey Nicholaw
• Direction Recreated by: BT McNicholl
• Direction by: Mike Nichols
• Assistant to the Director: Michael O’Donnell
• Assistant to the Choreographer: Tera-Lee Pollin
• Dance Captain: Kimber Benedict
• Rehearsal Pianist: Sarah Brett England
• Production Assistant: Erin Person
• Asst. Lighting Design: Karen Spahn
• Lighting programmer: Paul Turner
• Production Electrician: Jeremy Wrable
• Production Wardrobe: Joseph Geary
• Production Wardrobe Assistant: Brandon VanStee
• Production Wigs & Hair: David Bova
• Dialect Coach: Ben Furey
• Head Carpenter: Jon Wildeson
• Asst. Carpenter: Chris Weber
• Head Electrician: Michael Bert
• Asst. Electrician: Jeffrey Chandler
• Head Audio: Rhys Dawson
• Props: Darcy Engel
• Asst. Props: Virgil D. Myers
• Wardrobe Supervisor: Marianne VanStee
• Asst. Wardrobe: Catherine Lovejoy
• Hair/Wig Supervisor: Terri D. Moore
• Insurance: DeWitt Stern Group. Inc.
• Legal: Brooks & Distler

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

An amazing evening of entertainment was had on Wednesday night as part of the Blue Man Group’s touring version of their theatrical production. The Blue Man touring company rocked, rolled, drummed, ate, pounded, and communicated, all without a single spoken word save an off-stage voice to offer instruction and lay the ground rules. The energy they transferred to the audience was so incredibly uplifting that the time flew by. Using colored lights and a live band the three men used strange yet ordinary items to create a unique sound and experience.

Audience members also shared in the exciting escapades directly, with a few being brought on stage to participate. Only brave people should sit along the aisle! Upon entering the stately Warner Theatre, one noticed right away that the first four rows were equipped with rain ponchos. Wear the rain ponchos if you are given the option. You have been warned!

The precision of the technical staff to get the lights and sound effects to be perfect must have taken hours of rehearsals. And it’s one of those situations where you can’t do the technical side without the actors to provide the timing and talent. The show was loud, but this is a big show that just can’t be done quietly. Everything was big and loud, from the paint flying off of oversized drums to the colored lights and video displays to a 20 foot puppet that managed to shake it, the Blue Man Group shared a love of life with an eager audience.

If you are apprehensive about attending this show, check out some YouTube videos. But you’ll have more fun if you let yourself be surprised. Some visualizations may not be suitable for very young audience members.

This is a show for the whole family to laugh, clap and enjoy all the way to the car, bus, or Metro station.

Photo Gallery

Photos by Paul Kolnik.

Blue Men

• Kalen Allmandinger
• Josh Elrod
• Mark Frankel
• General Fermon Judd

Musicians

• Music Director/Zither/Guitar: David Traver
• Chapman Stick/Strings: Jerry Kops
• Percussion/Kit: Clement J. Waldmann, III
• Percussion/Kit: Jeff Wright

Disclaimer: ShowBizRadio was provided two complimentary media tickets for this review.