Herndon sings Rodgers & Hammerstein

The set for A Grand Night for Singing at NextStop Theatre, Herndon/Photo by Lock and Company

When was the last time you sang Oh What a Beautiful Morning while you sat in traffic on 66 or stood on a packed Metro when there were no seats?

Yeah, me neither, but now that I've seen A Grand Night for Singing at the NextStop Theatre in Herndon, I am ready to adjust my attitude and let it all out.

Sarah Ann Sillers in A Grand Night for Singing at NextStop Theatre, Herndon/Photo, NextStop

It's a lovely night of medleys by five charming actors (Matthew Hirsh, Katherine Riddle, Sarah Anne Sillers, Karen Vincent, and Marquise White) delighted to welcome you with Some Enchanted Evening and Rodgers and Hammerstein's big hits like Hello Young Lovers, If I Loved You, It Might As Well Be Spring, Honey Bun, and I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair.


The songs are about love, the fashion of the 1940s, 1950s, and post World War II when the composers were composing, long before all things Russian, pipelines and climate change. (I can't wait to hear those. Have the composers started making Trump music yet, like the playwrights are writing Trump scripts?) 

Marquise White's solo in This Nearly Was Mine stood out in a night of standouts, like the dancing by White, Hirsh and Vincent singing It's Me.  Ms. Vincent's small stature belies her strong voice.

Michael J. Bobbitt directs and doubles amazingly as choreographer in coaching the actors to reach the high notes and maintain their happy demeanors, all while courting the audience with synchronized high kicks and dreamy harmonization.

 Sexy lighting by Jason Arnold deepens the mood at the vaudeville show, a musical without plot that the audience comes to watch in a jazz club which has two nice bars, one open and serving drinks before the show and at intermission, and the other, stretching almost the length of the set behind the musicians who get a workout the whole night. (Evan Hoffman, set designer.)

Karen Young played cello while pianist Elisa Rosman conducted, accompanied by percussionists Hayden Busby or Glenn Scimonelli and on reeds, Mitch Bassman or Lindsay Williams. 

By choosing their seats on the floor and in the first row, members of the audience become part of a silent cast, sitting at round tables and drinking their brews while the actors whirl about them, sit at their elbows and occasionally extend a hand and arm: Shall We Dance?

It's something wonderful for fans of the King and I, South Pacific, Carousel, Oklahoma!, State Fair, Cinderella, Flower Drum Song, and the Sound of Music and more.

Grand Night won two Tony awards and ran for 52 performances when it opened on Broadway in 1993.

Enthusiasm and fun are catching. Smiles are contagious.  Try it on Metro.  I hope I am on your car.

Other production team members are Bobby Libby, assistant director; Robert Croghan, costumes; Reid May, sound designer; Laura Moody, stage manager; Jessica Dubish, assistant stage manager; Scott Rodger, sound mixer, and Brittney Mongold, scenics

What: Rodgers & Hammerstein's A Grand Night for Singing

When: Wednesday through Saturday nights at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. and a wait list for the Sunday 7 p.m. August 12 show. Now through August 20, 2017. 

Where: NextStop Theatre, 269 Sunset Park Drive, Herndon, VA 20170 in the back right corner of Sunset Business Park, near the intersection of Spring Street/Sunset Hills Road. Right off the Fairfax County Parkway. A wee big hard to find and I would allow an extra 15 minutes if this is your first visit.

Free parking: Available near the door.

*How much: Tickets are $40 with group discounts and student rush seats (if available).  Call 866-811-4111.

Duration:  A little under two hours with one 15-minute intermission.

Rating: G. Appropriate for all age levels.
 
For more information: 703-481-5930 or info@nextstoptheatre.org 

patricialesli@gmail.com

On a 'Carousel' ride at the Olney

Carey Rebecca Brown (left) is Julie Jordan and Dorea Schmidt is Carrie Pipperidge in Olney Theatre Center's Carousel/Photo by Stan Barouh

Ladies and Gentlemen, round and round we go on the merry-go-round of life, hopping off every now and then to ponder, maybe make a change or two, and jump back on board to join the circus of life. 

Attention, theatre lovers:  If you haven't seen Carousel, this is a "must," and if you have seen it, you'll enjoy the music and story all over again at the Olney Theatre Center  with its largest ever orchestra (12 pieces, under the direction of Christopher Youstra) and a large cast, too.  (The big ones seem to be the most enjoyable.)

Cast members kick up their heels in Olney Theatre Center's Carousel while a newly departed resident watches from above/Photo by Stan Barouh

Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics) are on stage again, with another grand musical, not following the happy-go-lucky concept of most big-scale shows, but telling a story with a serious message.

Of those he wrote, Rodgers called Carousel his favorite musical, and Jason Loewith, Olney's artistic director and director for this production, says, in program notes, it's the "best musical yet written," a opinion similar to Time magazine's which called it the best musical of the 20th century.  (The Olney show is a celebration of the 70th anniversary of Carousel on Broadway.)

We welcome the enduring songs, "If I Loved You" and "When You Walk Through A Storm" which frame the drama of a carnival worker, Billy Bigelow, in the late 19th century who walks too far on the wild side while pursuing his love who becomes his wife, Julie Jordan, now expecting their first child.  Temptation and necessity lead Billy astray once more. 

Where does he land?

Domestic abuse, likely an unspoken issue when the play was brought to Broadway in 1945, is an underlying subject, skillfully woven throughout the presentation and one we hear plenty about now, with good reason.

With his rich, deep voice and strong presence, 
Tally Sessions was a booming Billy Bigelow when I saw Olney's Carousel, but he has since moved on to New York for School of Rock, replaced by Cooper Grodin, newly off the road as Phantom in, of the Opera). Carey Rebecca Brown is Julie whose delicate voice in many scenes does  not overcome the orchestra.  

Tally Sessions (left) as Billy Bigelow and Chris Genebach as Jigger in Olney Theatre Center's Carousel/Photo by Stan Barouh

 

A couple who play second-fiddle to Billy and Julie are the humorists and marvelous vocalists, Dorea Schmidt as Carrie Pipperidge and Eugenio Vargas as Enoch Snow, who court, marry and reproduce in grand fashion, delivering beautiful melodies and funny lines, which are welcome content.

A bad boy is as bad as his name sounds, Jigger (Chris Genebach), superbly convincing as the conniving scoundrel who tries to thwart one romance by stealing the girl, and enticing Billy to join him on the wrong side of the tracks. Does he succeed?

Tommy Rapley, the choreographer, created exquisite dances, especially the one for Billy and Julie's daughter, Louise (Maya Brettell), whose grace and style at the closing bring hope.

Costumes in beige and muted colors, designed in Victorian/Edwardian styles by Seth Gilbert, are faithful renditions of the time period.

Small lights which change colors outline large, almost complete circles, one inside the other, to carry the theme of the whirling carousel on which the orchestra, on a level above, plays. For most of the production a darkened stage sets the tone.

Other cast members are David Bascombe as Russell Sunday, Eileen Ward who is Mrs. Mullin, and Delores King Williams, Nettie Fowler.

The ensemble features MaryLee Adams, Ian Berlin, Gracie Jones, Christopher Mueller, Henry Niepoetter, Taylor Elise Rector, Leo Christopher Sheridan, Suzanne Stanley, Russell Sunday, Henry Barartz, Carlos Castillo, Joshua Dick, Simon Diesenhaus, Kevin Grieco, Griffin McCahill, and Nicholas Schaap.
The design team includes Milagros Ponce De Leon, scenics; Jen Schriever, lighting; Tony Angelini, sound; Zachary Borovay, projections; Ben Cunis, fight choreographer; and J. Morgan White, ensemble member and dance captain.

What: Carousel which is based on the play, Liliom, by Ferenc Molnar and adapted by Benjamin F. Glazer

When: Now through May 24, 2015 at 8 p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays, with weekend matinees at 2 p.m., and a 2 p.m. matinee, Wednesday, May 6.   (Extended. Again.)

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

How much: Tickets start at $38, with discounts for military, groups, seniors, and students. Recommended for ages 12 and up.

Duration: 2 hours and 40 minutes with one intermission.

Refreshments: Available for purchase and may be taken to seats.

Parking: Abundant, free, and on-site

For more information: 301-924-3400

For more reviews of Carousel and other plays, go to DC Metro Theater Arts.

patricialesli@gmail.com