Follow Your Nose to 'Calvin Berger' at Gloucester Stage

 

Calvin Berger  

Book, Music, and Lyrics by Barry Wyner

Directed by Stephen Terrell

Musical Direction by Jose Delgado

Featuring:

Nick Blaemire, Austin Lesch, Briana Carlson-Goodman, Gillian Goldberg

Production Stage Manager Jennifer A. Cleary

Set Design by Patrick Tennant

Costume Design by Miranda Kau

Lighting Design by Russ Swift

 

Performances through September 17  

Box Office 978-281-4433 or www.gloucesterstage.org

 

If you have any sense of direction at all, follow your nose to Gloucester Stage for the world premiere of Barry Wyner's Calvin Berger, the Cyrano de Bergerac story reset in a modern day American high school.  This smart, fun, and funny musical is a delight from start to finish as it takes us all back to reflect on adolescence and its accompanying insecurities.  Calvin is a hero who commands our sympathy and our respect and we want to see him get the girl, any girl.

 

At Rostand High School (a nod to the author of Cyrano), Calvin is known as the smart guy who is not a nerd, yet he sees himself only as the nose in the mirror.  Nick Blaemire lets us feel Calvin's torment from the get-go when he ignores the fourth wall to address the audience about the burden of his proboscis.  Lest we think he is the only one with a problem, he is joined on stage by the rest of the ensemble as they each sing to us about their (perceived) physical or emotional flaws ("Security Meltdown").

 

Calvin is in love with Rosanna (Briana Carlson-Goodman), the beautiful girl next door.  Despite encouragement from his best friend Bret (Gillian Goldberg), he is loath to let her know his feelings.  Along comes Matt (Austin Lesch), the hunky new kid in school who is immediately drawn to Rosanna as well.  However, all outward appearances aside, he is terribly insecure when it comes to talking to girls and finds himself wheezing and gasping for breath when he tries.  Although Rosanna is attracted to Matt, she is puzzled and disturbed by this manifestation of his nervousness.  Calvin sees an opportunity and seizes it ("We're The Man!") as he explains to Matt that with his great looks and Calvin's poetic prose, they can woo the lovely Rosanna together.

 

This scheme presents many comedic moments as Calvin tries to create and direct Matt's communication with Rosanna.  While not conceited about his intelligence and talent, Calvin knows he's smart and witty, while Matt comes across as more intellectually challenged.  When he can't quite get Matt to follow his instructions, he says, "he's a dumb ass and a smart ass!"  However, they eventually get the hang of their arrangement and Calvin has a conduit for conveying his feelings to Rosanna, even if other lips speak his words.  Blaemire and Lesch exhibit great chemistry as the boys struggle to overcome the discomfort that is inherent in this mentor/student relationship between peers, ultimately establishing an uneasy friendship connecting these opposites and rivals.

 

Wyner does an excellent job of showing the relationships among his four characters, often in the words of his songs.  It is noteworthy that he wrote the music, lyrics, and book for Calvin Berger, and, to his credit, he moves the story forward and deepens the characterizations in all of the musical numbers.  I found the lyrics to be stronger than the tunes, but all of the actors are terrific singers and certainly do justice to their songs.  Special kudos go to Goldberg for the pathos in her rendition of "Saturday Alone" early in Act Two.

 

If there is one thing that Wyner "gets" (and he "gets" lots of things), it is the angst of teenage relationships.  We suffer right along with these four as they sort out who wants whom, who is right for whom, and why.  So, see if you can follow this:  Calvin wants Rosanna who wants Matt but wants Calvin's friendship; Matt wants Rosanna but doesn't want to step on Calvin's toes; Bret wants Calvin but doesn't want to lose their friendship and wants him to be happy even if it means helping him win Rosanna; and Rosanna wants to raise money through a charity bachelor auction for Students Helping Infants and Toddlers Off the Streets (SHITOTS).

 

The auction serves as a marvelous device to highlight both the insecurities and the growth of all of the characters.  Calvin regrets agreeing to participate, fearing that no girl will bid on him, but Matt is able to pay him back by giving him a makeover.  The usually confident Rosanna must face her dread of public speaking and is helped over the hump by Bret who envies her so.  In return, Rosanna convinces Bret that she had better bid on Calvin or live to regret it.  We hold our collective breath to wait for the outcome of the bidding and the pairings and Wyner does not disappoint. 

 

Calvin Berger is blessed with an outstanding and energetic young cast.  While they are all college age or older, they have no problem convincing us that they are high school kids on the stage.  There isn't much dancing per se, but there is a great deal of choreographed running around and jumping up on stairs and platforms which serve as brick walls.  The actors also spin the centerpiece of the set which starts out as Calvin's mirror, then becomes a row of lockers in Rostand H.S.  This is a low-budget unit set, but Patrick Tennant and Stephen Terrell make the most of it and keep things moving.  The lights dim or brighten to allow one character to state an aside, and then revert to let the action flow again. The costumes are not fancy, but reflect high school fashion and the sensibility of each character, from backpacks and backward baseball caps, to baggy shorts, leggings, and trendy narrow eyeglasses.  And don't forget the ubiquitous cell phones!

 

Part of the mission of the Gloucester Stage Company is to bring young people into the theatre and Calvin Berger is a wonderful vehicle for that.  It not only features young actors, three with local ties, but the playwright is also a young man and a Peabody, MA, native.  An added incentive might be the $20 ticket price for students and children.  However, I think this musical appeals to playgoers of all ages, especially anyone who was ever a teenager or ever felt insecure.  As Calvin says at the end, "Everything I wanted was right in front of my - nose."  In Calvin Berger, the nose knows!