Vienna's new play soars!

Vienna Theater Company's cast in Decision Height/Photo by Claire Tse

I always feel fortunate to live in the DMV where regional theatres like Vienna Theatre Company give us stimulating productions with excellent acting like Decision Height.

For anyone with a liking of or a link to World War II through legacy, history, drama, or just wanting a great theatre experience, Vienna's new play, Decision Height about trainees in the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) program presents a brief look at a seldom told story of females at war.

And it's based on fact!

Which includes that the ladies received no military benefits for their service.

During the war, the women flew 60 million miles in the U.S. to relieve men of domestic flights so they could tackle combat duties. Eventually, the WASPs flew every type of military aircraft and taught male pilots, too.

Right off the bat, strong personalities emerge in Decision Height with Kim Paul taking the lead as "Virginia" in this camaraderie of women formed at the training field, Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, the locale of the show and the historic site.

No one is as dominant a trainee as Shannon McCarthy's "Eddie," who wants everyone to know just exactly where she stands which is not much when it comes to "I'm Carol!" (Shelby Kaplan), no shrimp she exclaims time and time again to the group, refusing to accept the demeaning comments thrown at her by most of the rest of the crew.

Jocelyn Steiner is "Ziggie," a serious instructor joined by another strictly business type, Melissa Dunlap who carries off her role realistically as "Mrs. Deaton," the no-nonsense "dorm mother."

Some of the women acknowledge the men in their lives and the importance of wartime letters and telegrams (whatever they are) but this is not an outright preachy women's rights play but one about a war group who formed a common bond with a common goal, to utilize their skills and talents and help the Allies win the war.

Director Jessie Roberts skillfully marches the women in unison with boots knocking the wooden floor for the familiar rhythmic sound, clickety clack, clickety clack.

A-ten-shun!

And with special "goggles," the pilots maneuver the skies.

Sound designer and projectionist Jon Roberts does an excellent job with planes in the air, taking off, idling and, what is WWII without music? It's all here.

Charlie and Katie Boone have designed a simple set with a few beds, embellished by Roberts's backdrop of a large screen of an historic barracks.

Introducing the show is WWII footage from the Smithsonian Channel, lending credence to the story and an audience pleaser.

Julie Whelihan has fashioned lovely and elegant 1940s apparel to set the tone, with the exception of drab Air Force uniforms which need no color anyway when up against lively dialogue.

Other airwomen in the show are Shannon McCarthy, Keenan Parker, Jen Ware, Caroline Kinney, and Vanessa Bliss.

Production team members include Claire Tse, producer; Katie Boone, stage manager; Tom Epps, lighting; and Sherry Kaiser, properties.

Decision Height by Meredith Dayna Levy won the new play award at the 2013 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, originating at Virginia's Hollins University Theatre.

More than 1,000 WASPs graduated and 38 died during service. In 2009, President Obama signed into law the Congressional Gold Medal for the WASPs who were honored at a ceremony March 10, 2010.

Come to the play and learn the meaning of "decision height," and when you're in Texas, visit the WASP WWII Museum in Sweetwater.

What: Decision Height

When: 8 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays now through May 3, 2025 and 2 p.m., Sundays April 27 and May 4, 2025.

Where: Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St. SE, Vienna, VA 22180

How much: Tickets are $16. Order online at Vienna, VA – WebTrac Ticket Search (myvscloud.com), at the box office at the community center or before the show starts.

Duration: About two hours plus an intermission.

For more information: vtcshows@yahoo.com.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Vienna's 'Rumors' is hilarious

Steve Rosenthal is Ernie Cusack, the husband of Cookie (Anne Hilleary), right, in Vienna Theatre Company's Rumors/By Eddie Page

 Football game?

What football game? Who's talking football?

There was an important football game in the DMV on Sunday but who was minding the television? There was a lot more action in the games on stage at the Vienna Theatre Company where players were flying high and fast! 

Who's talking? Who cares?

Well, they were all were talking, some at the same time in Neil Simon's play Rumors presented to a packed house on Sunday afternoon.

From left, Kate Bierly is Cassie Cooper; Dave Wright is Lenny Ganz; Anne Brodnax is Claire Ganz, and Liz Owerbach is Chris Gorman in Vienna Theatre Company's Rumors/By Eddie Page

The play is a one-night stand on a summer evening in New York when words and actions go awry as Rumors’ characters try to sort out what's going on. 

Leave it to Neil Simon to make merry from stress.

Four couples meet at Myra and Charley’s house to help the happy couple celebrate their 10th anniversary, but, … where was Myra? 

And Charley?  He was missing, too.

A gun goes off, and soon another! (Prepare yourselves for really loud bang, bangs with bang!  bang! adult language.)

Ken (Ilan Komrad) and Chris (Liz Owerbach) are the first party goers to arrive and discover Charley is hurt, but is he still alive?

They try to hide the truth, if only they knew it. Ken soon loses his hearing due to another gunshot blast and repeats what he thinks he is hearing but he's not.  

(With the dynamism of a talking human volcano and under the directorship of Eddie Page, Komrad’s antics and expressionism while he weaves on the second floor from bedroom to bathroom and back again are wild comic scenes.)

Meanwhile, Chris patiently puts up with her husband’s sudden peculiarities to welcome Lenny (Dave Wright) and Claire (Kim Paul) who've been in a car accident in Lenny’s brand new BMW and into the fold of lies and super lies they fall at the party. (Or, is it a wake?)

Arriving next are the funniest couple, the oldest, the most doddering, Ernie (Steve Rosenthal) and Cookie (Anne Hilleary), who well display the mannerisms of old folks.

Cookie has an aching back and can’t find her grandmother's precious earrings. 

Wait!  What’s this? She's holding them in her hand.

And here comes the youngest but certainly not the lovingest couple, Glenn (Nick Koutris) and Cassie (Kate Bierly), who argue over ... what else? You got it! Crystals! Yes, crystals! (You have to be there.)

The couples bicker and lash out at themselves, trying to cover tracks and spill the beans to the...oh, no!

Here come the cops in the form of Officer Welch (Christian Aguilar) and more police to question the circumstances and for sure, Aguilar is so real as a cop, he’s gotta be a real cop with his long drawn and suspicious speech, holding his belt while he ambles in the parlor, walking around from side to side.

Whatever can the anniversary party tell the police?

It’s an entertaining show that gains momentum with each passing scene, as one couple after another enters, argues and becomes confused by the crime.  

What crime?

Michelle Harris dresses the actors to the nines for the festive occasion. Lighting director Ari McSherry has hands working fast to shine on those commanding the stage which are all of them.

Charles Dragonette composed a realistic parlor and upstairs setting, complete with bar and fluttering art of flowers on the walls to set the stage for flittering flirtations of flames, but who’s talking?

Affairs? Who?

Bob Hannan's skillfully designed sounds of cars, phones, and crashes complement the fun. 

Other production team members are Margaret Chapman, properties; Art Snow, special effects; Adrienne Kammer and George Farnsworth, set construction.

Vienna is fortunate to have one last weekend of this hilarity to leave you smiling when you exit the doors. 

What: Rumors by Neil Simon

When: 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2025 and 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025

Where: Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St., SE, Vienna, VA 22180 (703) 255-6360.


How much: $16.


For more information: vtcshows@yahoo.com or call the Community Center, ph. 703-255-6360 

Patricialesli@gmail.com

Vienna's charming 'Golden Pond'

 

Carolyn Corsano Wong is Ethel, Michael Mehaffey is Norman, and Matteo Hope (on floor) is Billy in Vienna Theatre Company's On Golden Pond/Shayne Gardner, photo

Norman is a grumpy old man. He’s nearing the end of his life, almost 80, and what’s it worth anyway? Life is no fun.

He’s fortunate to have a cheering, enthusiastic wife, Ethel, who’s always helping and encouraging him to look on the bright side of things, why doncha for a change?

After all, here they are again at their lovely summer home in Maine with outdoor scenery to match what surely must be heaven with tall, sweeping pines to reach the clouds, trees which edge the shoreline of the lake whose water movements do seem to wave every now and then (in a set design by Vincent Worthington).

The scene offers beauty and serenity as peaceful as anyone can imagine (to contrast with friction between dad and child soon to screen).

This environment is all part of On Golden Pond presented by the Vienna Theatre Company at the Vienna Community Center, the play certain to remind those of a certain age of the 1981 movie by the same name which followed the play and starred Jane Fonda with her father, Henry Fonda, and Katherine Hepburn, the daughter and father experiencing their own interpersonal struggles in real life.

At the show, nothing seems to be working right now for Norman (Michael Mehaffey), not even that confounded screened door, constantly falling off its hinges, much like Norman himself.

"We're not getting any younger, Ethel!"

Hold it!

Well here comes their daughter, Chelsea (Deena Walter) stopping by to wish her old man a happy birthday, accompanied by her fiancé, Bill (Will Jarred) who's towing his teenaged son, Billy (Matteo Hope).

"Oh, say! Mom and Dad, would you mind watching Billy for a few days while we take off for Europe?"

Gulp, sure daughter, not exactly what we had in mind for our stay here, but whatever makes you happy! Don't mind us.

Turns out, Billy is the gift that keeps on giving, who turns Norman's key to more spring in his step. While the lovebirds are off galavanting across the pond, Billy and Norman are developing their own repartee which becomes the subject of envy when Chelsea returns to Maine and tries to improve her relationship with her dad who's a tad lost.

Director Terri Ritchey has no trouble convincing the audience that Mehaffey's droll and gait make him certifiably "old," while his mate, the energetic and sunny Carolyn Corsano Wong, shines as the opposite.

Zell Murphy is the longtime friend and postman, Charlie, who drops in every so often to reminisce about old times and lighten the mood which, like life, has its ups and downs.
Shayne Gardner is the dynamic telephone operator.

Whatever your age and your spirits, they will be brightened by the message found at this summer home: To count your blessings, hug your loved ones, and celebrate each day as if it were the last which Norman realizes before it is.

Other production team members are Reece Smyth and Pete Storck, producers; Erika Horton and Bob Jordan, co-directors; Sprite Briner, make up and hair; Linda Comer,
properties; Jason Crosby,master carpenter;
Peter Ponzini, lighting; David Ritchey, stage manager; Sue Ellen Smoot, set dressing; Lelah Sullivan, costumes; Wil Taft, sound; Steven Wong, back stage manager; and the playwright, Ernest Thompson.


On Golden Pond  is presented Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. through November 5, 2023 at the Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St., Vienna, VA 22180 (703) 255-6360. Tickets, $15. For more information: vtcshows@yahoo.com


patricialesli@gmail.com

Vienna's hilarious open and shut show

From left, Bob Cohen, Janice Zucker, Bruce Alan Rauscher and Dave Wright in Vienna Theatre Company's Unnecessary Farce at the Vienna Community Center/By Matthew Randall

It’s a bedroom romp-o-rama!

For a laugh-a-minute good time, head for the motel rooms, see the action, and watch the jamboree unfold in a dive of a place where the crazies jump and hide and keep you in suspended animation wondering who's gone where.

And, what's next?

It's delightful, it's delirious, and very funny by the name of Unnecessary Farce now onstage at Vienna Theatre Company where the cops, the lovers, an accountant and, of course! the politicians and a sneaky criminal chase one another from room to hall to room and back again, in and out of beds hoping to catch the criminal(s) in the act. (Which act?)

They run and hide behind eight doors, reminding me of a commercial break at a Capitals' hockey game to "find the puck." (Huh?)  It's easy to get lost in this swingathon.

From left, Liz Owerbach, Dave Wright, Bruce Alan Rauscher and Kate Bierly in Vienna Theatre Company's Unnecessary Farce at the Vienna Community Center/By Matthew Randall

Eddie Page makes his directorial debut at the Vienna theatre, drawing on these actors' strengths and passions (!) to flatten the possibility of any weak-willed characters in the adult comedy.  (There are none.) 

Take the Scotsman (Bob Cohen) who speaks gibberish. Was it just me who couldn't understand him?  

But, no, those on stage couldn't interpret his remarks either except for Vienna debut actor, Kate Bierly, as a policewoman who repeats in rapidfire order the Scotsman's words, winning applause in the middle of a scene for her incredible memory and performance. 

Theatre favorite Bruce Alan Rauscher is another cop, quite effective at stuttering and repeating words as he tries to find his pants.  (His pants?)

Liz Owerbach is the "hot, very hot" (!) animated accountant, Karen, who almost manages to snag a two-for-one deal, caught by video in suspicious circumstances with another officer (Dave Wright) who rolls in and out like the rest of 'em.

Not to overlook the mild and bumbling, appropriately named mayor of the unnamed town near D.C., Mayor Meekly (Steve Rosenthal) and his lovely wife (Janice Zucker), the mayor enjoying some of the benefits of the romps he observes and interrupts.

Producer Laura Fargotstein helps to ensure the show rocks all night long.  

At the end, you may think you are bouncing on a bed, but for sure, you'll be chuckling, happy you spent a good time in the old town tonight.

Other members of the production team are:

Larry Grey, stage manager; Susie Poole, assistant stage manager; Ari McSherry, lighting; Adam Parker, sound; Helen Bard-Sobola and Charles Dragonette, properties and Dragonette, set decoration; Michelle Harris, costumes; John Downing, set; Robin Maline, hair and makeup; Mark Adams, dialects; Michael Page, fight and intimacy choreographer; Art Snow, special effects; De Nicholson Lam and Beverly Benda; set painting.

What: Unnecessary Farce by Paul Slade Smith

When: Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. through May 6, 2023 with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m., April 30 and May 7, 2023. The May 7 show will be sign-interpreted with reserve seating in the front row. Email lily.widman@viennava.gov or call 703-255-5738 for reserved seats.

Where: Vienna Theatre Company, Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St., SE, Vienna, VA 22180

Tickets: Buy in advance at www.viennava.gov/webtrac, or in person at the Vienna Community Center or at the door, if available, $15.  

Language: "X" 

Audience: For mature teens and adults

Duration:  About two fast hours with one 15-minute intermission.   

For more information, please call: (703) 255-6360

patricialesli@gmail.com

 

A 'Full Monty' comedy in Vienna

Appearing in Vienna Theatre Company's Monty Python's Edukational Show are, from left: Charlie Boone, Bruce Alan Rauscher, Peter Storck, Kevin Lukacs, and Bill Evans/Photo by Claire Tse 

I laughed and laughed.  After all these years, it was my first venture with "Monty" and his crowd.  

It won't be my last.

The Vienna Theatre Company   presents a lampoon of Monty Python's (Famous) Flying Circus, complete with sketches, songs and animation in an abbreviated  collection of some of the British troupe's crazy scenes.

Hilarious skits involving a parrot (PETA won't like) to a fine dining experience fill the stage in quick successions of all things ridiculous.   

"Election Night Special" is special indeed!  A "silly party"?  Aren't they all?

 

From left, the actors in this scene at Vienna Theatre Company's Monty Python's Edukational Show are Peter Storck, Charlie Boone, Benjamin Zimmerman, Bruce Alan Rauscher, Rachel Heffron, and Patrick Hogan/Photo by Claire Tse 

My favorite skits were the restaurant scene with its overworked staff and "who's got the cheese?"

Spam, spam, spam! That's all you fill me with! 

What better break from the depressing news of the day than to spend time with Monty and his gang of troubadours who take you on a twisted escape trip through a world of absurdity?  

We need it!

Thirteen actors spread the goods through 20 or so  scenes which meant about 80 different costumes charged to designer Lauren Brooks who pulled the huge number off with seemingly seamless effort.  

The experienced actors and their stage skills quickly become evident as one scene transitions nicely into another. And their love of theatre permeates the show which seems far shorter than 90 minutes (plus intermission).

Sets are minimal (by Adrienne Kammer, John Vasko, and Bill Evans with props by Kristy Dautant), and who needs 'em when your brain is flying fast to keep up with the rapid-fire dialogue?  

The backdrop "art work" must be by one of those new and upcoming AI artists, excepting the scenery from Vienna, of course, which brings it all home.

I think it takes a special kind of humor to "get" the full works by Monty. It sure helps to always look on the bright side, Monty or not.

Hold tight for a wacky night in Vienna! 

Cast members are Charlie Boone, Thomas Breen, Bill Evans, Shayne Gardner, Rachel Heffron, Patrick Hogan, Kevin Lukacs, Joe Neff, Steven Palkovitz, Bruce Alan Rauscher, Reece Smyth, Peter Storck and Benjamin Zimmerman

Writers: Monty Python, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam (also, animation), Eric Idle (also, music and lyrics), Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.

Other production team members are Eric Storck, director; Ann Storck, producer; Allison Shelby, music director; Emily Steindl, choreographer; Katie Boone and Nicholas Boone, stage managers.

Also, Ann McSherry, lighting; Rhett Russell, sound;  David Shelby, projections; Mason Shelby, animations;  Mary Ann Hall, program; Turner Bridgforth, graphics, and Jeff Storck, photographer.  

What: Monty Python's Edukational Show

When: Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. through Feb. 4, 2023 with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m., Jan. 29 and Feb. 5, 2023.

Where: Vienna Theatre Company, Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St., SE, Vienna, VA 22180

Tickets: Online at Vienna, VA – WebTrac Ticket Search (myvscloud.com) or in person at the Vienna Community Center during open hours or before each performance, if available. $15.  

Language: "G" with a sprinkling of a few adult words 

Audience: For teens and adults

Duration:  About 90 minutes plus one intermission  

For more information, please call: (703) 255-6360

patricialesli@gmail.com

 

Excellent 'doubts' are sown in Vienna

 

From left, Gayle Nichols-Grimes as Sister Aloysius and Danielle Comer as Sister James in Vienna Theatre Company's Doubt: A Parable/Photo by Matthew Randall

From left, Danielle Comer as Sister James, Jacquel R. Tomlin as Mrs. Muller, Bruce Alan Rauscher as Father Flynn and  Gayle Nichols-Grimes as Sister Aloysius in Vienna Theatre Company's Doubt: A Parable/Photo by Matthew Randall

This is about a nasty nun on a tirade to get rid of a priest, all because of her suspicions.

With prescient timing, the Vienna Theatre Company presents Doubt: A Parable about the spoils of innuendo and rumor.  It doesn't take much to apply the message to the inhospitable environment in today's world.

One must ask: What role does doubt play in today's society?

"They look smug like they have a secret," says a nun, castigating even poor old Frosty the Snowman who can't escape the malicious net. 

From the beginning, Father Flynn (Bruce Alan Rauscher) delivers a convincing message from the pulpit, an introduction to serious matter.  

With her strong performance and from her first appearance on the stage, Gayle Nichols-Grimes as Sister Aloysius is immediately able to stir audience wrath.  We can only guess at her background and insecurities to want to take down a priest and create more madness in her world. 

Enter Sister Aloysius's weak sister, Sister James (Danielle Comer) who offers her doubts about actions of the father towards a student, the only black pupil at the parochial school where Sister Aloysius is principal. 

And here comes the student's mother,  Mrs. Muller (Jacquel R. Tomlin), another weakling, at least, at first.

Momentum builds as the story advances; battle lines are drawn. The roles call for each actor to gain force and they succeed, amidst powerful silences which increase the tension.

Who would you suppose is the victor at the end?  It's left to the audience to ponder its own doubts and insecurities.

More than once during the performance I was reminded of the Salem Witch Trials and suspicion in the late 17th century which killed 19 persons.

That a large attendance surrendered a beautiful Sunday afternoon for a darkened hall of serious theatre in Vienna was surprising and worth it.

Applause to Tom Epps (co-producer with Laura Fargotstein) and his lighting, always right on target to the second.

Beverley Benda's costumes are appropriate, mostly all in black (surprise!) save Mrs. Muller's lovely hat and lavender outfit which contrast like springtime flowers on this stage of unhappy people.

The nuns' caps brought to mind the Salem Witch Trials' costumery which may match contemporary Catholic costumery for the little I know.

Director Joanna Henry has the performers use their hands to wring, wither, grasp and point to emphasize their words, and they work!

Steve Ross and Helen Bard-Sobola have designed Sister Aloysius's office in harsh design and properties, a stark reminder of her unforgiving character. Her domicile counterbalances the pleasant garden which lies nearby and serves as a place of reflection.

The experience of live performance becomes more enjoyable with Alan Wray's sounds of an approaching storm, bells, and children laughing, in hallways, and in the gymnasium.

I look forward to a reversal of the play when the priest is the antagonist and the nun, the moral superior. Is it always the woman's fault? Beginning with the Garden of Evel (sic), the scripts are written that way. By men.

Other production staff members: Anna-Kathleen Camper, Lauren Markovich, Nick Friedlander, and Heather Plank, stage managers; hair and make-up, Kendel Taylor.

Doubt: A Parable is a 2004 play by John Patrick Shanley which won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play.  It won all five Drama Desk awards for which it was nominated. The play was adapted as a movie in 2008 and starred Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. It was nominated for several Academy Awards.

According to the program: "The Vienna Theatre Company has been inspired by recent events to intensify our efforts to be a vibrant diverse company dedicated to fine entertainment."

Special free Post-Show Talk Back this Saturday following the Nov. 5 show!  9:30 - 10:15 p.m. with the director and actors.

Language: All "G" at the church!

Audience: For mature children and adults

What: Doubt: A Parable

When: Friday and Saturday nights, at 8 p.m., Nov. 4 and 5, 2022; Sunday matinee, 2 p.m., Nov. 6, 2022,

Where: Vienna Theatre Company, Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St., SE, Vienna, VA 22180

Tickets: Online at Vienna, VA – WebTrac Ticket Search (myvscloud.com) or in person at the Vienna Community Center during open hours or before each performance, if available. $15.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Pulitzer finalist 'Other Desert Cities' on stage in Vienna

Susan d. Garvey (on left), Kathy Ohlhaber, and Patrick David star in Other Desert Cities at Vienna Theatre Company/Photo by Matthew Randall

That Other Desert Cities was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2012 and won five Tony nominations is not surprising.  It's a critic's play.

Which demonstrates in living color that things are not what they seem, folks, even though you may think you know-it-all.

Sometimes a minor character can steal a show. 

Like Jessie Roberts who is Silda, the mother's half-crazed, alcoholic sister, with a personality amplified by her flyaway hair, apparel, and funny lines which bring much needed humor and balance to the somber tone and message heard all night.

What darkness lurks beyond? 

Other Desert Cities is a family affair with father (Patrick David) and mother (Susan d. Garvey) pitted (or so she thinks) against grown daughter, Brooke (Kathy Ohlhaber) whose brother Trip (Jeff McDermott) is along for the ride, to tell his sister just how self righteous she really is.

Their older brother, Henry, is dead, and the negative aftermath of his passing are borne by the survivors who blame each other.  They lash out with mean and heartless words, similar to what audience members may think about saying to their own family members from time to time (well, maybe, not quite so extreme), but refrain from uttering to preserve family peace, or what remains of it.  (That would not happen here, of course, since there would be no show!)

It's Christmastime at Polly and Lyman's, the parents, which adds even more stress to conditions, especially with the holiday arrival of their "me-me-me-me-me, it's all about me!" daughter. 

Would you be surprised to learn it doesn't take long for conflict to erupt? And that Polly and Lyman share conservative leanings which happen to be the opposite of Brooke's?  It's 2004 and the Iraq War is raging.  But, not too much is said about it.

From beginning to end, it's all about Brooke, and how she feels and is affected by the family's tragedy. Never mind offending anyone else.  Never mind considering that she's not the only one. What does that matter as long as her new book gets published that lays out the horrors of her brother's death and how her family deals with it?  "I'm as sorry I'm a writer as you are," she says.  Amen, sister.  She got no sympathy from me.

On this Christmas trip home, you'll observe no pauses, inactivity, or boredom. Just heartbreak and enlightenment about those you love.

The outstanding set (by Skip Gresko) is what's to be expected of wealthy landowners living in Palm Springs, California.  In their large Western-style house, the living room has a curving beige stone wall with fireplace (into which is tossed a marijuana cigarette that Silda covets) and big windows which look out on a splashy, orangy sunset which changes with the time of day, I suppose, but being hooked on the dialogue, I didn't notice.  (What does that say about the script?)

That the Washington, D.C. area is blessed with great actors is well known, and, under the direction of Rosemary Hartman, the Desert quintet is more proof.  Especially the performances by Ohlhaber, David, and Roberts who seem so natural in their roles, it's hard to imagine them off stage as anyone but Brooke, Lyman, and Silda. 

Vienna audiences always turn out for good shows. I've never attended a production here which did not appear to be a sellout.

With contemporary street talk, Other Desert Cities is not a production recommended for children. 

This will be the last of Vienna Theatre Company's productions for a while at the Community Center since the center's renovation will soon begin, but the theatre troupe will find other places to stage.  You can't keep a good company down. 

Other key Desert Cities crew members are:  Richard Durkin, producer; Gerald Kadonoff, assistant producer; Mary Ann Hall, stage manager; Tigan Hughes, assistant stage manager; Chris Hardy, lighting designer; Benjamin Allen, sound designer and composer; Susan Boyd, costume, hair, and makeup designer; Jocelyn Steiner and Mary Frances Dini, set dressers and props.

What:  Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz

When:  8 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays on April 24 and 25 and May 1 and 2, with 2 p.m. Sunday matinees, April 26 and May 3.

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

Tickets:  May be purchased online (vtcshows@yahoo.com) or at the box office.

Admission:  $14

Parking: Lots of free parking on-site

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

To read other local reviews of shows still on the stage, click Other Reviews on DCMetroTheaterArts.

patricialesli@gmail.com
 

'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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Vienna Theatre's 'Willy Wonka' wows the town

From left, Melissa Handel, Faith Skeen, and Mia Parnaby are Oompa-Loompas who follow the orders of Sedrick Moody as Willy Wonka, in Vienna Theatre Company's Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka The Musical which runs through May 4, 2014/ photo by Jessica Sperlongano

The family that plays together stays together, and laugh and enjoy they will at Vienna Theatre Company's Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka: The Musical now on stage at the Vienna Community Center.

It's the story of a poor boy, Charlie Bucket (excellently played by Adam LeKang) who lives with his impoverished family, so destitute that Charlie's four grandparents have to sleep together in one bed. (Why their bedroom remains on stage throughout the first act is perplexing.)

How would you like to sleep every night with your four grandparents in a single bed?  They do in Vienna Theatre Company's Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka The Musical which runs through May 4, 2014 at the Vienna Community Theatre. From left are Bob Maurer (Grandpa Joe), Toby Nelson (Mrs. Bucket), Nora Zanger (Grandma Josephine), Emily Franks (Grandma Georgina), Adam LeKang (Charlie Bucket), and Joseph LeBlanc (Grandpa George)/Photo by Jessica Sperlongano

Near their falling-down house is a chocolate factory which Charlie's Grandpa Joe (Bob Maurer is quite funny and believable) often describes in stories he tells his grandson.  (But it is Joseph leBlanc as Charlie's hard-of-hearing Grandpa George who has the best lines.)  The chocolate factory is owned by the mysterious and magical Willy Wonka (performed with sophistication by Sedrick Moody).

One day Willy Wonka announces a big contest with global ramifications since five winners will be chosen from around the world to compete and take a tour of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory with the grand prize to be...a lifetime supply of chocolate.

(How delish! If you could wish for anything, would it be a lifetime supply of chocolate? Me, too.)

The winners are to be determined by finding Golden Tickets inside candy bars.  Imagine!  What better reason to gorge your way out of house and home than by eating chocolate bars to find a ticket? (Has General Mills tried this with Cheerios?)

If Charlie did not find one of the Golden Tickets, this story would stop too soon. 

For the grand prize he has to compete with the other winners who are horrid children who treat their parents like children: a gum chewer (Violet, adoringly performed by Kaia Griggs), a spoiled brat (Amelia Lindsey is Veruca Salt), a boy named Augustus Gloop (Erik Peyton) and another one by the name of Mike Teavee (Tashi Poe).  Can you guess what their specialities are?

Then there is "plain ole" Charlie, and guess who wins. You have to see the play to find out, but I will tell you that Willy Wonka gives glorious tours of his factory and strange things happen to the "tourists."  Funny things. Well-deserved things. Like meeting Willy Wonka's workers, the Oompa Lompas who are dressed like giant M and Ms in various colors. 

Costume designers Judy Whelihan and Kati Andresen assisted by Francoise Davis created the smashing outfits with wiiiide waistlines for the Oompa Loompas. Their faces are heavily endowed with globs of makeup which must take hours to apply (by Erica Longshore), and their hair styles (by Jocelyn Steiner, also the show's producer) will throw you for oompa loompas.
 
In the show Willy Wonka frequently waves his magic hand with spread out fingers like the spokes on a bicycle, and the solo sounds of what sounded like the strings of a harp matched his movements, except there was no harpist among members of "Music Village" who provided welcome music:  Larry Zimmerman, Francine Krasowska and Beth Atkins on keyboards, Kristina Westernik, violinist, and Abel Ruiz, percussionist.

Choreography by Rossyln Fernandez for many different ages, some of whom may never have had a dance lesson, was striking and happily made a part of almost every scene.

Nobody stole the show (except for, maybe, Grandpa George's lines) but Mr. Moody's voice stood out with its breadth and strength followed by the singing of Daniel Marin as the Candy Man. 

Other members of the cast are Emily Franks, Nora Zanger, Alex Graur, Toby Nelson, Kimberly Baker, Melissa Handel, Hannah Hess, Mia Parnaby, Kyla Poe, Faith Skeen, Kathryn Skeen, and Wayne Jacques.

Jessie Roberts, the director, with assistance from Ms. Krasowska, Ms. Atkins, Mr. Zimmerman, Ms. Steiner, Scott Richards, and Colleen Stock, the stage manager, was able to pull off a musical...without a music director.  Applause!

Other key Wonka crew members are Tom Epps, lighting designer, Jon Roberts, sound, Janice Zucker, vocal coach, Leta Fitzhugh, sets, and Suzanne Maloney, properties.

Willy Wonka's got so much action and dance even the fidgetiest child (or adult) will not cry for chocolate at intermission (which happens to be available for purchase). On Saturday night the show was (or close to) a sell-out with children younger than 14 filling about half the seats.

There are few community events more enjoyable than a production with many local children starring in it, and Willy Wonka fits that playbill. 
 
For a listing and reviews of other area performances, click DC Metro Theater Arts.

What:  Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka: The Musical

When:  May 2 and 3 at 8 p.m., and  May 4 at 2 p.m.

Where: Vienna Theatre Company,120 Cherry Street, Vienna, VA 22180

Tickets: $14

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

Duration: About two hours with intermission
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