BWW Reviews: Desert Theatreworks' THE MIRACLE WORKER is Worthy of High Praise

An amateur theater company rolls the dice in staging William Gibson's THE MIRACLE WORKER, the story of how Anne Sullivan taught Helen Keller to understand language. Not only are the roles difficult to cast, but the play and movie are familiar to many, making comparisons inevitable.

Desert Theatreworks (DTW), a 501(c)(3) community theatre company located in Palm Desert, has gambled and hit the jackpot. Daniela Ryan directs DTW's splendid production, with 11-year-old Violet Feath (Ms. Ryan's daughter) portraying Helen Keller with the brilliance of the much older Patty Duke, whose performance won an Oscar. Ms. Feath is a natural who told Broadway World that she practiced for the role by walking around the house wearing a blindfold and earplugs. She successfully adopts a dull stare, and mimics the walk, sounds, and facial expressions of a deaf and blind child who cannot communicate. When Ms. Feath, as Helen, makes the connection between finger-spelling and the water flowing over her hand, the moment is electrifying.

Not that the other actors are slouches either. DTW's artistic director, Lance Phillips-Martinez, stepped into the role of Captain Keller with only four rehearsals remaining, after a personal emergency forced his predecessor to step down. Mr. Phillips-Martinez brilliantly portrays the ineffectual Captain Keller, who is frustrated at being reduced to helplessness by two punches to the gut - his daughter's disabilities and the South's recent Civil War defeat. Other than an occasional stutter while he sought to recover a newly memorized line and his second act peeks at the script (concealed within a book with a proper cover of the period), there was no hint that Mr. Phillips-Martinez was a last-minute replacement.

Patricia Cromwell, who recently played the comic role of Marvel Anne in DTW's PSYCHO BEACH PARTY, demonstrates her versatility by playing Marvel Anne's polar opposite role, Anne Sullivan. During the scene where Anne stands up to the overbearing Captain Keller, I forgot that she was acting. Instead, I felt as if I were watching a steel-spined woman trying to overcome her own demons to passionately argue a case that she knows she MUST win.

The rest of the cast also turns in performances befitting a professional production. The sweet Kate Keller (Mari Kerber) usually knows how to handle her husband, but is stuck between him and Helen. James Keller (Tanner Lieser) desperately craves his preoccupied father's affection but settles for his fury by baiting him to put Helen in an institution. They, Aunt Ev (Shirley LeMaster), and Viney the housekeeper (Emily Ramirez) are all part of a wheel-spinning, dysfunctional family whose members can't decide whether to give up on Helen or to keep searching for a miracle. The performances successfully convey the depth of the family members' despair. As an added bonus, the cast members prove adept at regional and foreign accents.

Ron Phillips-Martinez, Lance's husband, who serves as DTW's executive director, designed the clever sets for the production. Though simple enough to be moved easily between scenes, the set successfully evokes the period. The design allows action to occur simultaneously in different areas of the stage, as well as in front of it, combining the benefits of thrust and proscenium configurations. The walls contain painted child's handprints, which Ron Phillips-Martinez explained serve as visual cues to the audience that Helen could get around, even in her own home, only by groping with her palms out. The piece de resistance is the iconic well, which actually pumps water - quite an achievement for a multi-purpose auditorium.

The only production decision with which I disagree is Ron Phillips-Martinez's choice to costume the actors in rough approximations of what people wore in 1887, when the story takes place. The cast wears generic outfits that look "old-fashioned" but lack period details. I would have preferred the actors portraying middle-class women to wear the corsets that were de rigeur even for slim ladies. Also, Kate Keller probably would have worn a hat rather than a cloth bonnet; Kate's bonnet resembles something a Civil War era woman would have donned when working outdoors in the sun, instead of the carefully constructed headpiece that a fashionable woman would have purchased. However, as a former Civil War civilian reenactor familiar with fashion evolution from the late 1850's through the 1890's, I may be excessively picky - audience members could well disagree with my rigid views about period costume choices.

DTW, as an amateur theatre organization, deserves respect for deciding to take on the monumental task of presenting THE MIRACLE WORKER in the first place. That the production succeeds so spectacularly is a testament to the depth of onstage and backstage talent that DTW enjoys.

The other cast members are Scarlett Goodlander, Amelie Nail, and Shoshana Batchelor, who do a wonderful job as three blind children at Annie's school; Jordan Goodlander; and Don Cilluffo. The rest of the crew consists of DeLane Marianowitz (stage manager); Priscilla Lawson (props); Alex Updike (sound design); Terry LeMaster (sound technician); and Angus Feath and Liza Nekrasova (stage crew). Lance Phillips-Martinez designed the lighting.

THE MIRACLE WORKER is the first production in DTW's 2015-16 season. The other shows scheduled are FUNNY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE (June 19-27, 2015), DEAD MAN'S CELL PHONE (September 18-26, 2015), STEEL MAGNOLIAS (October 30-November 8, 2015), A CHRISTMAS CAROL (December 11-20, 2015), LAUGHTER ON THE 23rd FLOOR (January 29-February 7, 2016), CLUE: THE MUSICAL (March 11-20, 2016), and OTHER DESERT CITIES (April 8-17, 2016).

THE MIRACLE WORKER will run through May 16th, with remaining performances on Friday, May 15th, at 7:00 PM and Saturday, May 16th, at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM. Tickets are $26 for general admission, $24 for seniors, and $16 for students. Tickets are available through the Web site, www.dtworks.org; through the Thundertix Web site, https://dtworks.thundertix.com/; by telephone at 760-980-1455; and at the box office in the Joslyn Center Lobby, 73-750 Catalina Way, in Palm Desert, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Three-show, five-show, and eight-show ticket packages are also available. Performances take place in the Joslyn Center's Arthur Newman Theatre. Although the center's address is 73-750 Catalina Way, park in the Joslyn Senior Center parking lot facing San Pasqual Ave.

For a related article and additional pictures, click the following link:

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Photo Credit (Portraits) Audrey Liebross

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