'Vera Stark' stars in Manassas

Olivia Royster is Vera Stark and Adrian Alleyne has dual roles in By the Way, Meet Vera Stark at Rooftop Productions in Manassas/Photo by Kimberly Kemp

Who is Vera Stark?  

She's the star of a play with her name, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, the character whom Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage based loosely on the life of Theresa Harris (1906-1985), a black actor and singer.

Olivia Royster, left, is Vera Stark and Deb Hansen is Gloria in By the Way, Meet Vera Stark at Rooftop Productions in Manassas/Photo by Kimberly Kemp

What I thought was going to be a drama at Rooftop Productions in Manassas turned out to be not so much a drama as a comedrama (with emphasis on the comedy), and a serious message more broadly understood in Act II.

The story revolves around a decades' long relationship between an aging movie star, Gloria (Deb Hansen), a white woman, and her maid, Vera (Olivia Royster), a black woman.

Olivia Royster is Vera Stark, left, and Terresita Edwards is Lottie in By the Way, Meet Vera Stark at Rooftop Productions in Manassas/Photo by Kimberly Kemp

In Act II Vera magically transforms from a maid (Act I) into a vibrant star, confident in her style and luxuriating in newfound public appeal and celebrity.  

Along the way, the usual Hollywood suspects enter and claim the spotlight.

Late in life Vera and Gloria meet up and exchange places in a surprise appearance on a television show, 

Who do you think gets her comeuppance? 

That Vera is the same person in both acts is hard to grasp since the characters are extremely opposite, but Ms. Royster's metamorphosis convinces us. 

For community theatre the acting is outrageously terrific, several standout performances which almost outshine the star's.

Elijah Moshe Begab's histrionics as "Maximilian Van Oster," the director of an upcoming movie, are hysterical as he prances and dances, the target of several wannabe actors.  

(Just wait until you see him in Act II as a sideshow where his eyes seem to diverge as he stares up at the ceiling and throws his head back for a big puff from a cigarette propped straight up in his mouth and perpendicular to the floor.)

And, there is Lottie (Terresita Edwards) who's got a whole lottie shakin' goin' on with a lotta voice to match.  This girl belongs on the big stage!  

Lottie is Vera's roommate who knows savvy, especially when it comes to unsavory acquaintances.

Ms. Hansen superbly displays her snobbery and condescension as Gloria, the movie star, unwilling to recognize the talents of others but anxious about her competitors.

Karina Kasara Jimenez as the "fake" Brazilian is a hoot. She lashes out in more ways than one. 

Costumer Laura Mills's swinging 1970s men's suit for Steve Glenn as TV show host, Brad Donovan, with its light blue color and wide lapels fits right in with the comedy. In Act I, Mr. Glenn is the movie's studio head, Frederick Slasvick (rhymes with slapstick), another great rendition of an exaggerated stereotype.

Kudos to the remainder of the cast:  Adrian Alleyn (Curtis Lewis, from Mar. 31 - Apr. 2),  Suzette Farnun, Tia Milton, and Jay Tilley.

Melissa Jo York-Tilley's set design is realistic, from the oak furniture to the paintings on the walls.  (She's also assistant director, hair and makeup designer, and more!)

With a few prop changes by Lauren Hatmaker, scene transitions go smoothly with almost no interruption in the flow of the story. 

Combine this Women's History Month with last month's Black History Month, and Vera Stark makes a great take on both. 

Rooftop's stacked seating makes enjoyment of the production more personable. The theatre is located in the city's historic district, in the Artfactory which reminds me of Alexandria's Torpedo Factory.

But this is the former home of the Hopkins Candy Factory which began operations in 1908. 

Around 1916, it became a feed and flour mill store and by the 1980s, it was a tire warehouse.  

Merchants Tire gave the building to the city of Manassas in 1998 where its conversion as an art center was spearheaded by Carol Merchant Kirby.

Wikipedia quote Ms. Harris:

 I never had the chance to rise above the role of maid in Hollywood movies. My color was against me anyway you looked at it. The fact that I was not "hot" stamped me either as uppity or relegated me to the eternal role of stooge or servant. [...] My ambition is to be an actress. Hollywood had no parts for me.

In Vera Stark, Ms. Harris blossoms, producing ample boasting opportunities for director AnuRa Harrison.

Other members of the production staff are Kimberly Kemp, producer; Erin Decaprio, assistant stage manager; Jimmy Conroy, technicals; Kurt Gustafson and Rebecca Nicoletti, lighting;  Matthew Scarborough, Adriane Harrison, and Pam Mahone, sound; Ivy Elizabeth, dialects;  and Emily Dunn, videographer.  

When:  7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights, Mar. 31 - April 1, 2023 with a matinee at 2 p.m., Sunday, April 2, 2023.

Tickets:  $28.19 which includes fees for students and seniors, and $33.52 with fees, adults

Duration:  About 2.5 hrs. with one intermission

Audience:  For mature teens on up

Language:  X 

Where: The Artfactory, 9419 Battle St., Manassas, VA 20110 

For more information:  703-330-2787

patricialesli@gmail.com

Dr. Fauci was at St. John's, Lafayette Square

The Rev. Robert W. Fisher, right, interviews Dr. Anthony Fauci at St. John's Church, Mar. 19, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

The Reverend Robert W. Fisher called it a “fireside chat,” and that’s what it was when Dr. Anthony Fauci visited the Adult Forum at St. John’s Church, Lafayette Square to talk about his life and answer a few questions.

Dr. Fauci grew up in a mixed Italian, Puerto Rican, Jewish, African-American, Catholic Brooklyn neighborhood where his family’s mantra was to give back to the community and perform public service, a mission which has influenced him throughout life. 

It was a sense of "service for others and not for financial gain," Dr. Fauci said.

Neighbors, friends, and family members took care of each other, amidst a great sense of community, Dr. Fauci said.

Church vestry member Wendy J. Fibison introduced him at St. John's as our "our national treasure," similar to "hero" which candidate George H.W. Bush called him during a 1988 presidential debate.  

Appearing very much at ease before a friendly crowd of about 150, Dr. Fauci displays a “great bedside manner,“ Rev. Fisher said.

Beginning with Ronald Reagan, Dr. Fauci has served seven U.S. presidents as medical advisor, all good relationships, "with the exception of one," he said to audience laughter. No names were mentioned.

Before he visited the White House in his official role the first time, a mentor cautioned Dr. Fauci that the White House was a seductive place where invitations to return were always desirable, and sharing bad news was not something you wanted to present to the leader, but it was a requirement of the job and he did it, offering "inconvenient truths" when necessary.

Dr. Fauci said the many unknowns about Covid-19 produced the evolving treatments to fight the virus. 

Denying there was any "flip-flop," and terming the pandemic as a "gaslight," Dr. Fauci said it was "a rapidly evolving situation" and "we didn’t know that Covid was spread by breathing by persons without symptoms!" 

He likened fighting over Covid treatment to "the Army fighting with the Navy in a war."

"We had a common enemy, but we fought each other," he said.

He guaranteed another pandemic will come, perhaps not in the lifetimes of many present, but "it is going to happen again. We must use the lessons we’ve learned." 

(Before Covid, the last pandemic was the 1918 flu which killed about 50 million persons worldwide.)

Dr. Fauci said there is undisputed truth that persons who are vaccinated and boostered are better protected against Covid. "It's a slam dunk."

Those who disagree about vaccines should not be made to feel "stupid and dumb," but "we are evolving into an anti-vaccine era“ and taking “a gigantic step backwards."

As for "gain of function, generally when someone talks about it, they don’t know what they’re talking about.“

Many envy Dr. Fauci's good health at age 82 which he attributed to a combination of physical, emotional and spiritual well-being, noting that being perfectly balanced in all areas is unlikely, but you can try.

He's always been active physically, “running marathons, and half marathons." Plus, it's important to have a close association with someone to help you decompress, he said, acknowledging his wife sitting nearby. 

“If I had to do it alone, that would be very difficult," he said.

When a church member asked him about his book, Dr. Fauci said he has not written one, and although he's officially "retired," he's not retired because he forgot about retirement and scheduled events for three months out from retirement.

He advises his medical students to “expect the unexpected,“ the way his life has gone.

A valuable lesson he's learned in Washington, D.C., he said to laughter, is to be "very nice to everybody in Washington, D.C."

patricialesli@gmail.com

Wildest expectations soar at the Washington Cathedral

Sergei Rachmaninoff, age 10 or 12, St. Petersburg/Wikimedia Commons

The title of the program was To the Wild Sky and my favorites were all there:  Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at the Washington National Cathedral with Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) and the Cathedral Choral Society. 

Who knew about their links? 

Conductor Steven Fox leads the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Cathedral Choral Society at the Washington National Cathedral, Mar. 19, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

In the Cathedral's crossing, the musicians, soloists, and chorus hypnotized the audience throughout the afternoon with Rachmaninoff's unsettling response to a painting and his intrepretation of Poe's  "bells! bells!  bells!" ringing everywhere.  

The Isle of the Dead, 1880 - 1886, Arnold Bocklin (1827-1901)

Also on the program was Tennyson's text of his poem, In Memoriam: A.H.H., sung by soprano Andriana Chuchman, who later joined the Symphony, other soloists, and Chorus in Poe's The Bells.

Soprano Andriana Chuchman at the Washington National Cathedral, Mar. 19, 2023

After all, it is the 150th anniversary of Rachmaninoff's birth (April 1 or [O.S.] Mar. 20, 1873) and the DMV has gone plumb Rachy with three performances in a week and I am going to them all.    

Lucky me!*

To combine the literary immortals with music is an astonishing feat and one which most assuredly exceeded expectations at the Cathedral from the first note to the last.  

The audience was as captivated as I who had anticipated the sounds would echo in the Cathedral's great hall, diminishing the aural effects but that was not to be.

 

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's percussionists at the Washington National Cathedral, Mar. 19, 2023

 

Guest artists, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Cathedral Choral Society at the conclusion of the performance, To the Wild Sky, Mar. 19, 2023

The Washington National Cathedral, Mar. 19, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

First on the program was The Isle of the Dead, Rachmaninoff's response to a popular painting by Arnold Bocklin (1827-1901).  

The music filled one with a sense of dread. In the boat as we neared the island, foreboding and heavy anxiety filled my emotions as waves and strings deepened, cymbals crashed and threw me around the vessel as it neared shore. The landscape echoed with the coming climax. 

Upon landing, a single violin greeted us with a rainbow  and not such an unpleasant ending.

Death be not proud.

The next selection, Ring Out, Wild Bells, to the Wild Sky was composed by Augusta Read Thomas (b. 1964 and a Pulitzer Prize finalist) in 2000 on commission to welcome the new millennium. 

For her base, the composer chose Tennyson's poem with its message of the "universal" drive for peace.  It begins with multiple voices singing like bells in tandem with Ms. Chuchman, chorus, and orchestra. 

Dare I write the best was saved for last?

"The bells!  The bells!  The bells!" so reads Poe's title he wrote in 1848-1849 and spoken confidently a cappella before the musical presentation by an unidentified man on video.

"Hear the sledges with bells" is Poe's first line, a sledge, coincidentally or not, was the vehicle used by Rachmaninoff and his family to escape Russia forever in 1917 as the nation's revolution took hold. 

Program notes said an adaptation of Poe's Bells by the Russian Konstanin Balmont (1867-1942) led a student at the Moscow Conservatory in 1912 to recommend to Rachmaninoff that he put the poem to music. 

After the composer read the verses, he "decided at once to use them for a choral symphony," an incredible performance at the Cathedral for the audience to hear that which became "the one I like best of all my works."

The movements included solos by John Ramseyer, tenor, Ms. Chuchman, and Aleksey Bogdanov, baritone, all exceeding quality demanded by Washington's attending classical perfectionists. 

With a 20 minute intermission, the concert lasted almost two hours, an unforgettable production which will be hard to outperform by this week's remaining Rachmaninoff concerts.

More about Rachmaninoff: 

Is it Rachmaninoff or Rachmaninov? Music for Everyone says the Rachmaninoffs changed their name from Rachmaninov when they fled Russia, likely because the family was pre-revolution Russian bourgeoisie.

Boosey & Hawkes, "the" classical music publisher, says about Rachmaninoff: "The years up to the Russian Revolution were spent in an exhausting whirl of playing and conducting, with the family’s country estate at Ivanovka, in the countryside south-east of Moscow, offering a haven of peace where he could concentrate on composition. The works that emerged during this period include the Third Piano Concerto, the symphonic poem The Isle of the Dead, the choral symphony The Bells, and two a cappella choral works, the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom and the Vespers."

Rachmaninoff was born into a musical family and began piano lessons at age 4. After fleeing Russia with his family and settling in the U.S. about four decades later, he made a living by giving many performances but, like many artists, finding little time to compose.  

On Feb. 17, 1943, already "gravely ill" and almost 70 years old, Rachmaninoff played his last recital at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where a statue to the composer was dedicated in 2003, the 130th anniversary of his birth, at the site of the 1982 World's Fair.

He became an American citizen shortly before he died of melanoma that year.

Conducting Sunday was Steven Fox, assisted by Joy Schreier, pianist.

*More Rachmaninoff:

The National Symphony Orchestra, 7 p.m., Mar. 23, 2023 at the Kennedy Center.

BSO, 8 p.m., Mar. 25, 2023, Music Center at Strathmore, Angel Blue and Rachmaninoff II; tickets starting at $35.

BSO, 8 p.m., Apr. 13, 2023, Music Center at Strathmore, Marin Conducts Rach 3; tickets starting at $35. 

In Baltimore BSO Rachmaninoff performances, Mar. 24, Mar. 26, and Apr. 15, 2023.

Of note, Poe and Tennyson were born in the same year, 1809, as was President Abraham Lincoln.

Why are most of the great composers Russian?  I am guessing many Ph.D. students have written their dissertations on this topic, at least one I would like to read!  Does their nation's turbulent past play a role?

patricialesli@gmail.com

'Kinky Boots" strikes and lights up Olney

Kinky Boots at Olney Theatre Center/DJ Corey Photography

Broadway comes to Olney...again.  

Ladies and Gentlemen of the theatre, I present to you another fabulous show at the Olney Theatre Center, based on a true tale, but this one, a "kinky" story, an unlikely story, one filled with entertainment, dancing and costumes to make your eyes pop and yearn for sunglasses.

Plus, the show's got a message. (Not that it needs one.)

Solomon Parker III is "Lola" in Kinky Boots at Olney Theatre Center/DJ Corey Photography

The glam, the dancing, and the costumes!  (Repeat) The costumes!  

Who needs a plot when you've got costumes like these?  Kendra Rai must have worked vigorously to complete them, aided by a "few" helping hands.

Harvey Fierstein has written a great book accompanied by singer/songwriter Cyndi Lauper's score.  The show won six Tonys (including the most coveted, "Best Musical") in 2013, three Laurence Olivier's (London) and the Grammy in 2017, and more.

Can all these judges be wrong?

The Angels and Solomon Parker III (center) as "Lola" in Kinky Boots 

at Olney Theatre Center/DJ  Corey Photography

I dare say, Olney must have spent more than a shoestring of its budget outfitting these "ladies" (and gentlemen) in this energetic production which, sadly, is missing from the repertoire of theatres in some states (according to director Jason Loewith in his introductory remarks on opening night) because...well, fear of the unknown, the different, those who are not like you and me, the future, and the small world goes on.

Ahem, ahim, aher, aaahhhit.   

Kinky Boots' roots stem from a family shoe factory going out of business in Northampton, England.

Market conditions and changing fashions have sent the once successful family plant into near closure until circumstances bring family member "Charlie" (Vincent Kempski) together with a drag queen, "Lola" (Solomon Parker III), whose apparel for all her "lady" friends could stand a boost with better, supportive heels, and ones that are elevated, if you please.  

Talk about serendipity!

Coaxed by an employee (Alex De Bard as "Lauren") and ding! ding! ding! circuits in Charlie's brain flash and spark the realization of the opportunity to make fancy boots, kinky boots, big boots, shiny ones, jeweled boots to showcase in an Italian shoe show.

(For those needing a definition, the Urban Dictionary defines "drag" as "someone [who] dresses in an exaggerated style, typically that of a woman." A man is called a drag queen and a woman who takes part is called a bio queen. It's a lot of fun.  Anyway...)

Yellow boots, red boots, green boots, sparklies which go up beyond the knee!  Thigh highs! Yowee!  But, back to the fine story with songs to boot.

The star is, of course, Mr. Parker who leads them all, supported by Charlie who manages ongoing side story romances with two predictable personalities, the uppity "Nicola" (Candice Shedd-Thompson) and the more down-to-earth "Lauren,"  both roles the actors capture well, vying for Charlie's attention. 

"Could it be? Could it be?" Lauren asks herself. "Is he the one?"

Mr. Loewith, the always smiling Olney artistic director, celebrates ten years at the theatre by directing this show, and I doubt he ever had so much fun. (On opening night, the show gave him specially handmade "jeweled" tennis shoes, the tennies for which Loewith is known far and wide, and what a perfect combination with the title.)

Kinky's outstanding choreographer is Tara Jeanne Vallee, assisted  by Christopher Youstra who leads the excellent orchestra of eight musicians.

Other cast members are Chris Genebach, Stephen F. Schmidt, Grayden Goldman, Dustin Sardella, Zach Cook, Karl Kippola, Kaiyla Gross, Sarah Anne Sillers, Henry Harleston, Ricardo Blagrove (also fight captain), and Calvin McCullough.

Also, Stephen Russell Murray, Catrina Brenae, Alexis Krey, and Tyrell Stanley.

And not to forget, of course, the "angels," a heavenly crew who never stop kicking up storms: Malachi Alexander, Quadry Brown, Robbie Duncan, Shane Hall (also, dance captain), Daniel Powers, Connor James Reilly, and David Singleton.

Others on the creative team are Larry Peterson who must have used a ladder to pile the wigs so high (and how did they stay in place amidst all those dance numbers?) and Leigh Wilson Smiley whose dialects convinced me everyone is British. 

Milagros Ponce de Leon is scenic designer; Max Doolittle, lighting; Matt Rowe, sound; Casey Kaleba, fight director; and Devon Vaow, drag consultant.

Also, Ben Walsh, production stage manager, and Allison Ann Bailey and Cat Moreschi, assistant stage managers.

The original Broadway production was directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell. Kinky Boots is based on the Miramax motion picture of the same name by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth.

We can change the world when we change our minds.

What: Kinky Boots 

When: Through Mar. 26, 2023 (held over!), Wednesday through Saturday nights at 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.

Where: Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD 20832.

Tickets: Start at $42 

Ages: For ages 10 and up. 

Rating:  PG-13

Masks: Optional at Thursday - Saturday performances and required on Wednesday and Sunday shows

Refreshments available which may not be taken to seats.

Parking: Free, lighted and plentiful on-site

Duration:  About 2.5 hours with one intermission

For more information: 301-924-3400 for the box office, Wed. - Sat., 12 - 6 p.m. or 301-924-4485  

patricialesli@gmail.com