Showing posts with label Ken Ludwig. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ken Ludwig. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Olney's 'Soprano' is a scream!


Carolann M. Sanita and Tom Patterson in Lend Me A Soprano at Olney Theatre Center/Teresa Castracane 

It's that good, that charming, that delightful! 

As my friend Sheila says:  "I don't want 'preachy' at the theater; just give me fun."  This, Sheila, is fun. 

From left, Rachel Felstein and Carolann M. Sanita in Lend Me A Soprano at Olney Theatre Center/Teresa Castracane 

Upon my arrival at the Olney Theatre Center and from the moment I spied the luxurious set, I was happy to have a few moments to sit and swoon a bit with no action on the stage, enthralled by the opulence, the exaggeration, to admire and take it all in, and catch my breath. 

A set which was fit for royalty with the chair rail, the arched doorways, chandeliers, the French provincial look of gay Paree, the view outside the windows, and the vases (pronounced vaaa-sis, darhling) overflowing with flowers, a heavenly contrast for my eyes fixated on the gray drabness of winter on my way to the Olney, awaiting spring and here it was!

"The rich are different from you and me." 

Say it again, Scott, but enough about Andrew Cohen's set, already!

From left, Tina Stafford, Rachel Felstein, Dylan Arredondo, and Carolann M. Sanita in Lend Me A Soprano at Olney Theatre Center/Teresa Castracane 

I loved, loved, loved Lend Me A Soprano! Hilarious and with the acting, the costumes, the plot, combined, it's absolutely smashing. 

Hometown playwright Ken Ludwig has done it again, written another fantastic play, this farce based on his successful Lend Me A Tenor, which won two of nine or ten Tony Award nominations (depending upon which Wikipedia site you read), and opening in London in 1986 three years before it reached Broadway. 

Tenor has been translated into 16 languages and has run in 25 countries, and it's not necessary to know a Tenor to enjoy a Soprano.

Soprano is a delightful escape with Shakespeare thrown in (both playwright and director are Shakespeare scholars, but don't let that keep you away), mistaken identities, doors opening, closing, mismatched persons, and the list goes on.  (Shakespeare knowledge is not required for pure enjoyment.)

Lucille Wylie (Tina Stafford), is a strong, domineering woman who's also the Cleveland Grand Opera's manager and absolutely beside herself with worry that the diva hired to sing the title role in Carmen for a "one night stand" will not show up. 

The time is 1934.  

Suddenly, there's commotion and ... boom!  

Enter, please, the diva Elena (Carolyann M. Sanita) and her perfectly stereotypical husband, Pasquale (Dylan Arrendondo), a big, robust fellow with a voice to match. 

Like the fiery Italians they are with passions inflamed, their ardor knows no bounds, and they continue their argument upon landing, surprise!

Elena becomes "incapacitated," unable to perform, and who's this?

Jo (Rachel Felstein) is Mrs. Wylie's assistant, an "understudy" who comes to the rescue and away we go.

Not only are we treated to hysterics, but beautiful singing, including duets by Ms. Felstein and Ms. Sanita (and how I wished for more! Musical direction is by Christopher Youstra).

In and out of bed(s) and couches they roll and one of the most hilarious characters is "Leo" (Tom Patterson), who struts his talents (in several ways), gathering more likes with every appearance as his apparel takes off (?). 

He is Jo's boyfriend, but wait, that is Jerry (skillfully acted by understudy Ben Topa when I saw Soprano), so maybe Leo belongs to Elena when her husband is "away"?

Sweet "Julia" (Donna Migliaccio) is the opera guild president, who makes a late arrival on set to temper things, dressed in a beautiful gown with a crown on top, reminiscent of New York's Chrysler Building.

Meanwhile, the impish, mischievous bellhop (Natalya Lynette Rathnam) pops in every so often, producing more audience laughter whenever she's on stage.

Soprano debuted worldwide in Houston in 2022 with the same Olney director, Eleanor Holdridge, and aren't we lucky to have her experience? ("Practice makes perfect"! She's also "local," chair of the Catholic University's drama department.)

Chandelier lights (by Alberto Segarra) dim and glow, depending upon who is where.  And the costumes!  Oh, la, la!  Sarah Cubbage has made them more than adequate for a Met gala, gowns, resplendent in exquisite designs. Larry Peterson was wig designer. 

Other members of the creative team are Ashara Crutchfield, assistant director; Matt Rowe, sound designer, and Ben Walsh, stage manager.  

Also, Robb Hunter, fight choreographer; Helen Aberger, intimacy choreographer; Melissa Flaim, dialect consultant; and Tori Niemiec, assistant costume designer.

At the end, Mr. Topa received special recognition from the cast while the rest of us wildly applauded the entire cast and team for a  marvelous show.    

What: Lend Me A Soprano

When: Now through Mar.10, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday matinees at 1:30 p.m.

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

Tickets: Start at $40 with discounts for seniors, students, military, and groups.

Ages: PG-13 

Refreshments available.

Parking: Free, lighted and plentiful on-site

Duration: About two hours with one 15-minute intermission

For more information: 301-924-3400 for the box office or 301-924-4485


patricialesli@gmail.com




Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Fore! Alexandria has 'A Fox on the Fairway'


 Raeanna Larson is Louise Heindbedder and Cameron McBride is Justin Hicks in Little Theatre of Alexandria's A Fox on the Fairway/Photo by Matt Liptak

Just in time for summer comes a golfing show with hilarious hi jinks and laughs which is better than a good round, but knowledge or practice of the sport is not required to have a good time in the tap room of the Quail Valley Golf and Country Club. 

It's the place for A Fox on the Fairway at the Little Theatre of Alexandria.
From left are Patricia Nicklin as Pamela Peabody, Ken Kemp as Henry Bingham and Cameron McBride as Justin Hicks in Little Theatre of Alexandria's A Fox on the Fairway/Photo by Matt Liptak

The show takes off as fast as a ball hit by Brooks Koepka, which means there is nothing slow about these players who do more than choke, fade, or hook competitors. They dice 'em and feed 'em to each other (?).

The action happens in a nicely designed setting (by Marian Holmes) of a formerly elegant golf club whose owner, Bingham (Ken Kemp) has bet $200,000 and his angry wife's antique shop that his golfers are better than those golfers from the Crouching Squirrel Country Club.

With a name like Crouching Squirrel, you might expect its owner, Dickie (Brendan Chaney) to be anything but suave and you would be right.

Costumers Ceci Albert and Lisa Brownsword have dressed Dickie in uglier sweaters than any to be found at the ugliest Christmas Ugly Sweater Contest. Dickie's ensembles fit his ugly personality of tricks and smooth operations. He's a hulk of a man, and Chaney carries the role splendidly.

On the other side of the ring putters poor Bingham with troubles aplenty, stuck in the rough, caught between his wife, a new love life, the club's deterioration, and the golf contest.

You were expecting anything less?

Three couples are off balance in Fox.

One is the energetic young couple, Louise (Raeanna Nicole Larson) and Justin (Cameron McBride), who just happen to get engaged on set (and who in life are an energetic young couple who just happen to be their own team).

The other two couples are mostly splitsville: Bingham and his screechy wife, Muriel (Lorraine Bouchard); and Dickie and his ex-wife, Pamela (Patricia Nicklin).

While the older ones tolerate rough patches, Louise works in the tap room and Justin comes to work and they make par.

Can Justin save Bingham's bogeys?

Adding to the merry-go-round are Louise's occasional drifts into soliloquy under a single spotlight to discharge classic lines while the cast stands in freeze mode.

Dickie's approach to winning is complicated by Pamela whose presence always increases the rhythm and temperature.

Although it is gauche to laugh at drunkenness, I could not help but admire Ms. Nicklin's portrayal of progressive inebriation as the night wears on.

Meanwhile, Bingham grows increasingly anxious as his greens wear thin, Muriel is barking, and his top golfer has jumped club, but wait, where is that new hire?

As the central figure, Kemp is spot-on.
 

His grouchy, screechy spouse is dressed as dull as a monk, but a monk, she's not, performing a shrewd mad wife who, like the rest of us, is vulnerable to seduction by attention.

The Fox in Alexandria has its minor deficiencies, namely, the ending on the golf course with a handsome greens backdrop encumbered by a confusing mix from other scenes which could be covered or removed, and (am I the only one who cares?) the "bad words" which are gratuitous and offensive. Ain't life realistic enough to escape ear hurts for a while? They add nothing and diminish the enjoyment.

Still, this Fox is lots of fun on Alexandria's fairway where it scores a birdie and an eagle.

Applause to Scott J. Strasbaugh, making his directorial debut at LTA, and to sound designers Krista White and Alan Wray who will certainly be nominated for a WATCH award since they effectively contribute to almost every scene with a splash, thud, or crash.

Fore!

A Fox on the Fairway made its debut at Signature Theatre in Washington on October 9, 2010. The playwright is DC's own, Ken Lend Me a Tenor Ludwig.

Other creative team members are Luana Bossolo & Russ Wyland, producers; Stacey Becker, properties; Susan Boyd, hair and makeup; Sherry Clarke and Brittany Huffman, stage managers; April Bridgeman and Brendan Quinn, assistant stage managers; Michael Page, fight choreographer; Ken Brown, set construction; Jeffrey Auerbach and Kimberly Crago lighting designers.

What: A Fox on the Fairway by Ken Ludwig

When: Now through June 29, 2019. Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and a Sunday matinee, June 23 at 3 p.m.

Where: Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

Tickets: $21 to $24

Rating: PG-13

Duration: Two hours with one 15-minute intermission

Public transportation: Check the Metro website which supplies information to LTA during Metro station improvements.

Parking:
On the streets and in many garages nearby. If Capital One Bank at Wilkes and Washington streets is closed, the bank's lot is open to LTA patrons at no charge.
 


For more information: 703-683-0496

patricialesli@gmail.com



















Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Olney's terrific 'Tenors'


From left are Matthew Schleigh as Max, John Treacy Egan as Beppo, and Alan Wade as Saunders in Ken Ludwig's A Comedy of Tenors /Photo by Stan Barouh

What is opera without sex?  Not opera!

The year is 1936 in Paris where a zany group of stars beset by egos and threatened manhood (imagine) jeopardize the staging of the sold-out "concert of the century."

The show may not go on, after all.

The hand-wringing producer (Alan Wade is Saunders) has become a madman with only three hours left to get the team ready for the really big show.
From left, exiting over the balcony is Allyson Boate as Mimi, Alan Naylor as Carlo (hidden behind the door), Emily Townley as Maria, and John Treacy Egan as Tito in Ken Ludwig's A Comedy of Tenors /Photo by Stan Barouh


A Comedy of Tenors by Tony winner (Lend Me a Tenor ) Ken Ludwig, with some Shakespeare on steroids and Verdi and Puccini thrown in, is the featured performance at Olney Theatre Center, but you don't have to like opera to laugh a lot.  

Just come for the enjoyment.

We did and got our just rewards, all right.

Temperaments, mixed-up identities, and escapades fill the show.
John Treacy Egan is Beppo and Patricia Hurley is RacĆ³n in Ken Ludwig's A Comedy of Tenors /Photo by Stan Barouh


In an elegant hotel suite (designed by Charlie Calvert) the opera star, Tito (John Treacy Egan) arrives after a flight (a fight?) with his wife, the animated and dynamic Maria (Emily Townley) whom Tito shortly "discovers" is having an affair with their daughter's fiancĆ© (Carlo is Alan Naylor)! A man, 20 years younger! (Imagine)

Heartbroken, the inconsolable Tito forfeits his stage appearance, unable to sing one possible note.


Producer Saunders is beside himself.  Now, two hours and counting. Whatever shall he do?


To the rescue from out in the hallway comes a super bellman bearing a striking resemblance to Tito with a voice to match (and a lover of Tito's "fruits," too).


Also arriving in town is a Russian diva and "other woman"(!),  RacĆ³n (Patricia Hurley), a former Tito paramour, who wants to partake of Tito's "talents," too. 

From door-to-(four)-doors and woman-to-woman, the men doth move, and over the balcony railing, to the gasps of the audience, daughter Mimi (Allyson Boate) throws herself, dress billowing, and arms flailing as she makes one giant leap for womankind (which was sur real). 

The outstanding, sonorous voices of the three tenors singing together (Egan, Naylor, and Matthew Schleigh as Max) soon gave me pause to wonder if it was a tape, but my seatmate, Olney apprentice, Meghan McVann, set me straight, that the voices were real, belonged to the artists, and were on stage. (Kudos to McCorkle Casting.)


All the performers excel at their assignments but it is Maria, Mrs.Tito, who especially shines among the stars, a standout whose exaggerated mannerisms, dramatic gestures, and histrionics more than effectively convey her character.

Director Jason King Jones deserves much applause for getting the performers to their places on time.    

Seth M. Gilbert's costumes are perfect for the period (and now), upper-class smaltzy, elegant, and operatic.


Mr. Ludwig attended the opening night show and afterwards, cast, crew, and audience celebrated another big hit in Olney.


Other crew members are Sonya Dowhaluk, lighting; Casey Kaleba, fight director; LaShawn Melton, wigs; Justin Schmitz, sound; Brianne Taylor, dialects; Cat Wallis and Ben Walsh, stage managers; and Dennis A. Blackledge, director of production.

What: A Comedy of Tenors by Ken Ludwig


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

When: Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Wednesday matinee May 1 at 2 p.m. An audio-described performance for the blind and visually impaired Wednesday, April 24, at 8 p.m. and a sign-interpreted performance Thursday, May 2 at 8 p.m. 


Tickets: Begin at $42 with discounts for groups, seniors, military, and students

Ages: Olney rates Tenors as "PG-13."  


"Afterwords": After Saturday matinees on April 20, 27 and May 4 and 11.
  
Duration: Almost two hours with one 15 minute intermission

Refreshments: Available and may be taken to seats

Parking: Free, lighted and plentiful on-site

For more information: 301-924-3400 for the box office or 301-924-4485.

patricialesli@gmail.com



 
 

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

'Be My Baby,' a winter winner in Vienna

Danny Issa and Casey Bauer star in Vienna Theatre Company's Be My Baby, a romantic comedy by Ken Ludwig/Photo by David Segal

I loved this play.  There's so much to love about it:  the humor and style, the story, the fun, the "important message." 

Consider it an early Valentine present from the Vienna Theatre Company, written by D.C.'s own Ken Ludwig, a lawyer by training, a playwright by passion.

The story is totally implausible, but it works.  In Scotland (why Scotland?) a young couple (Casey Bauer and Danny Issa) marry (a play with a wedding!  A surefire winner) but are unable to have children, so the bride's aunt (Allison Shelby) agrees to travel abroad, to California no less, with the groom's caretaker, a grumpy old man, a geezer (John Barclay Burns (related to Robert?)), to fetch a newborn for the childless couple, the baby of a relative who doesn't want the baby (?).  The mutual love the older couple shares is not.  (Did you get all that? Where do playwrights come up with these ideas?  Anyway, it's much simpler to follow than the way it appears here, and...)

The young couple (Gloria and Christy) are a real life young couple, girlfriend and boyfriend, so their "sizzle" is not pretense.  
From left, actors Allison Shelby, Erick Storck, and Danny Issa face Casey Bauer (the bride) and John Barclay Burns (in kilt) in Ken Ludwig's romantic comedy, Be My Baby, at the Vienna Theatre Company/Photo by David Segal

In Be My Baby, everyone does an admirable job of speaking with a Scottish accent (with no voice coach listed in the program) and Burns' accent is actually real (according to program notes), however, in the beginning, Ms. Bauer speaks a little too fast, and is sometimes hard to follow. (I found myself wishing she had a microphone, but perhaps her rapidfire delivery was first scene jitters.)

Ms. Shelby is beautiful and perfectly suited as a grandmother and caring relative, and Mr. Burns is dynamic, delivering zingers, but the two "ensembles," Eric Storck and Meg Hoover, come very close to stealing the show.  They portray several characters and vary their voice inflections and gaits to suit the fancy of a nurse, a flight attendant, bellman, preacher, judge, to name a few of their roles. (Kudos to the costume designer, Susan Devine.)

And for more content, how about some lines from "Scotland's favorite son," its national poet, Robert Burns (1759-1796), spoken in Be My Baby by the living Mr. Burns, such as "For whither thou goest I will go; and where thou lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall be my people...."?

The sets are simple and adequate.  Strollers and a baby carriage hang from the black ceiling to foretell the future (nicely designed by Suzanne Maloney, also the play's director). Everything is all black, save the mostly wooden structures:  a door frame, a bench, a table, a desk, a railing. In the second act, for some reason, props from earlier scenes remain and clutter up the stage, distracting from later scenes until they are removed. 

And who counted the scene changes?  They zoom by quickly, in and out, and no one will doze.

Particularly effective are Aunt Maud's first plane ride, and the opening car scene when Maud and Gloria ride together and move their bodies perfectly in time with each other and the car's rhythm.

The sound designer/composer Jonathan Powers does an outstanding job with constant baby cries, the noises from different vehicles (a car, a jet engine, a cruise ship's horn) and lots of 60s music brought back to life for those of a certain age.  (Mr. Ludwig celebrates his 65th birthday in March.)  I hereby nominate Mr. Powers for a "watchie" (Washington Area Theatre Community Honors).

At the end, the bride cries real tears, and I did, too, swept away by the moment.  Will Be My Baby have that effect on you?

On opening weekend, almost a sell-out.

Other key crew members: Laura Fargotstein, producer; Mary Ann Hall, stage manager; Micheal J. O'Connor, assistant stage manager; Tom Epps, lighting designer; Kimberly Crago, master electrician; John Vasko, master carpenter; Leta Fitzhugh, scenic artist; and Rachel Comer and Meghann Mirabile, prop masters. 

What:  Be My Baby by Ken Ludwig

When:  Jan. 30, 31 and February 6, 7 at 8 p.m., and February 1 and 8, at 2 p.m. 

Where: Vienna Theatre Company,120 Cherry Street, Vienna, VA 22180 (Vienna Community Center)

Tickets: $14

Parking: Lots of free parking on-site

For more information: 703-255-6360 or visit the website

Duration: Two hours with intermission

To read other local reviews of shows still playing, go to Other Reviews on DCMetroTheaterArts.
 
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