Kristen Morale - Page 10

Ever since I attended my first production at the wonderful Harwich Junior Theater a few months ago, I have consistently been amazed by what has appeared on that stage then and thereafter. The shows never disappoint, and I never cease to be impressed by how talented the involved actors of all ages prove themselves to be. Stumbling upon this theater and its magnificent productions has really given that extra spark that not all theatergoers and reviewers alike may receive when attending live productions, and it is always an unequivocal pleasure to find this out for oneself. So saying, HJT's current children's production of Aladdin is yet another beauty of a show that will have audiences of all ages captivated by the tale of Aladdin and his quest to become someone great. Even though most of actors involved in the production are 'small,' there is nothing of that nature in this extremely well done and entertaining retelling of the Aladdin audiences may not know much about.

Directed by Francesca James, Lend Me a Tenor is beyond brought - it is more like jolted to life in Monomoy's current production of Ken Ludwig's Tony-winning comedy, and to say that it is anything but brilliant this time around is a severe understatement. It is one of the only productions I have seen in a long time where I was actually dreading the end of the first act, not knowing if it ended as it did or if it was to be continued after intermission; thankfully, Act Two did indeed happen and did anything but disappoint. It is also one of those shows which, after the curtain has closed, persuade people to drag their family and friends to see so that they, too, may understand how epic it truly is. It is a shame that there are only a few performances available to see, but if you are free this Friday or Saturday, Monomoy Theater is where you should be spending some time.

Now, to continue in the tradition of giving each of us the theatrical experience we truly relish and yearn for this time of year (if not always!), the Playhouse brings a stellar production of five-time Tony Award Winner The Drowsy Chaperone to a Cape Cod audience, and let me just put it out there now that this production does everything but cause any sort of drowsiness; that is reserved for the title character as she joins a cast of beyond talented performers who make this show the great experience we all so hope to have at the theater. As that lovable man in his chair states, audiences hope for a show that will whisk it away to another world for a couple of hours, sucking each of us into the plot of a new, interesting and at times slightly tumultuous show; hold on to your hats for this one.

So saying, the plot of John Patrick Shanley's Outside Mullingar shows just disheartening it is when four characters are discovered to have been strangers for so long due to those undisclosed feelings that have eaten away at their souls for so long; when the time for changes arises, the obstacles which arise and the way in which each character reacts makes this such an epic story. How disheartening it is for four people to have lived over the last few years with the "what is" as the unchanging doctrine of their reality, living in anticipation of something that may or may not come and meandering in this life until fate sticks her ugly hand in to change the bleak, unmoving world that such characters inhabit. Yet, how beautiful it is to see four wildly talented actors bring such inner turmoil to a head in Cape Rep's current production of Shanley's epic play.

Harwich Junior Theater, a group that boasts productions of ten plays and musicals each year, numerous community outreach and educational programs and a variety of other annual events, is sure to amaze audiences with its current production. Performing such a well-known musical work and presenting it in a new, exciting way that can appeal to children and adults alike (and children were having their share of fun in the audience, which is always a wonderful thing to see) is a daunting task for any creative team; this is especially true because of how vibrant and exhilarating a musical The Music Man is, and keeping that constant energy alive throughout a rather lengthy production is no easy thing to do. It is without doubt, though, that Director Ethan Paulini truly got it right with this production.

When I sit down to write a review of a show I've recently seen, I am more often than not tempted to write about the profound storyline of that show, or perhaps the added depth a playwright might add to his plot to make it rather abstract and therefore open to mass interpretation by audiences. I confess that I am drawn to dramatic stories that usually whose characters usually have a lesson to learn towards their respective ends. In saying this, watching The Academy of Performing Arts' production of Sweet Charity can be described as a rarity - not only in terms of its plot, but also how Director Peter Earle presented his vision of this musical to a Cape Cod audience. It is simple and innocent (a word used fairly often to describe the title character), and to keep that simplicity of heart in a character that is perpetually bursting with energy and spirit, who is profound in her own right and becomes her own inextinguishable falling star, is as difficult to put on stage as it is riveting for audiences to behold.

How does one go about explaining what playwright Eric Coble describes as "the speed of the end?" Assuming a person knows what the end looks like and how it will come about, the mere realization that each of our lives will someday end and that we must deal with the complete decay of who each of us once was as that life fades away is daunting; it's almost too finite yet still so simple an idea to understand completely. So, what would a woman faced with the elimination of all that she has ever been do when confronted with the prospect of change - a change that will destroy her foundation but improve her life to the extent of prolonging it in a personally undesirable way?The Cape Playhouse begins its 89th season with The Velocity of Autumn; directed by Skip Greer, this is a beauty of a story written by Eric Coble and now brought to the Playhouse following its recent Broadway run.

Celebrating sixty four years since Betty Bobp founded a group which would come to welcome theater aficionados of all ages to join and take part in the beauty of the dramatic arts, followed by Producing Artistic Director Nina Schuessler's dedication to creating a year-round educational venue on the Cape, the Harwich Junior Theater returns with a triumph with the start of a new, exciting summer season. Audiences have no doubt been telling wondrous tales about The Great American Trailer Park Musical which, simply put, treats audiences to one doozy of a show.

Judging by the immense talent that graced the stage at the Wareham theater Saturday night, it is without doubt that Buzzards Play Productions founder Janice Rogers is beyond thrilled with her choice to treat this one audience to an eclectic and exciting selection of wonderful music from some very talented folks - an array of talent which, when put together, made all experience the wonders of A Night in Havana.

The idea of love and what is meant to come of it usually implies a happy ending for the woman who falls in love with her soul-mate, or for the man who couldn't imagine a life without the daily practice of bestowing affection upon his beloved. Love is meant to bring out the best in people and allow them to flourish, implying that a greater and more joyous future is to come because fate has somehow brought them together for just such a reason: to be happy. What happens, though, when the concept of fate seems to be a bit more of an interference than it is a means of bringing people together towards the happiness they so desire? What is to be expected when every effort of moving forward and bringing love back into one's life becomes such an onerous task, such a fruitless endeavor that the concept of love becomes a personally unreachable goal? In what is both a fairly comical yet rather somber telling of a man who falls in love with three sisters and is perpetually left alone once each meets her untimely end, Failure: A Love Story triumphantly kicks off Cape Rep's 2015 season and will no doubt leave its audiences thinking that the only failure to be found in this show is solely found in its name.

Is it possible that the fundamental essence of who we are as people is the same, regardless of how moral or immoral our lives - how we are supposed to live and feel and how we actually do? Do all people truly want to feel loved and as though they are living instead of waiting for their lives to start - to love and be loved and not feeling like life is one gigantic waste? It is safe to say that all human beings desire these basic things that make us not only able to survive, but bring joy to our means of living each day. So what truly makes us bad people if we all seek to find life within our at times confounding need to feel our existence worthwhile? These are only some of the questions which beckon to be answer within Steven Carl McCasland's Neat and Tidy: a wonderfully heartbreaking and intriguing show of emotion which almost renders the audience a compliant child who must uncomfortably experience all that is happening before him; it is almost too powerful to explain in words, which is why I would deem this play the best, most dramatic and most beautiful that I have had the pleasure of seeing thus far.

There rarely comes a musical that everyone truly can have nothing bad to say about - one that is saturated with a myriad of different emotions conveyed one minute through upbeat, somewhat goofy songs and the next in a somber ballad between two characters in the midst of falling in love. Especially when it is as beautifully performed by Brooklyn's own Narrows Community Theater, The Wedding Singer is truly so intricate and beautiful in its design, but is so simply a feel-good phenomenon that all should experience.

Written by David A. Gill and directed by Tom Wallace, Providence is essentially a deep study of humanity - of how difficult it is to be human and live without existentially getting lost at least at least a thousand times. Originally produced at Transient Theater in Chicago and marking the completion and production of Gill's first full length play, this show is a triumph. It is about the consequences of living with a hole in the center of one's being, and the pain associated with trying to bandage it up while life unrelentingly continues in the meantime.

As a result of one man's interest and dedication to the proper telling of actress Laurette Taylor's magnificent story, New York is now fortunate enough to own a piece of the treasure that is Steven Carl MccCasland's What Was Lost. Written and directed by McCasland and hereby added to the list of successful and praise-worthy Beautiful Soup Theater productions, which include a recent production of Liliom and the critically acclaimed Little Wars, What Was Lost is a complete surprise to both those familiar with the story of stage actress Laurette Taylor, and to those who have yet to understand the fortitude one woman can possess in the depths of her nearly shattered heart. It is truly one of my best experiences at the Dorothy Strelsin Theater.

Beautiful Soup Theater's Shades of Blue: The Decline and Fall of Lady Day is an unconventional, almost chilling ode to Holiday that is careful not to emphasize and dwell upon the singer's musical accolades and success; in fact, it does little to promote her career and the person as seen through the eyes of her adoring public. This production, written and directed by the incredibly talented Steven Carl McCasland (who also founded Beautiful Soup and serves as the group's Artistic Director), wades in the realm of storytelling without the fantastical twist that people always enjoy adding to make their lives seem more interesting - to add drama where drama may sometimes be due.

The Phantom of the Opera, from its literary origins to the numerous film renditions made, all leading up to its fantastic run as a staged musical, is one of the most beautiful, heart-wrenching stories of its day. The Majestic Theater has ushered people through its doors to see Andrew Lloyd Webber's phenomenon of a show, and due to its popularity gives locals and tourists alike little reason to anticipate it going anywhere anytime soon. Including its recent North American production and the show's general worldwide reputation, Phantom has proven itself to be essentially untouchable.

As taken from the song "I Bring Light," one of the first achieved moments of individual triumph and beauty for the story's protagonist is captured through the powerful words of a character who has always understand the potential greatness of being "free." A young rebel by the name of Prometheus takes his ardent desire to liberate himself from the darkness which has descended upon his people by means of an oppressive and soul crushing State, and becomes the hero of this fantastic new musical that tackles an old yet thought provoking concept. Can it be possible for one person to change the world - to have it "born anew" - by showing how important the individual is in the midst of complete tyranny? Ayn Rand's Anthem is hereby taken and transformed into a production that emphasizes the influence of one young soul and his ambition to show that there really isn't any "I" in team after all; this, my friends, is The Anthem.

It would be wise to call this as a great piece of theater, yet there is so much more to say about Bill Holland's Hounds of War, it would be a shame to simply refer to this wonderful play as just another show to go and see on a Saturday night. Upon seeing a show, being part of an audience that has witnessed a given story from beginning to end, there are certain ones that a person knows are special - ones that, when actor and script meet, you know will be something special. Holland has created something more than a simple plot with a beginning, middle and end, relinquished from the minds of those who saw within a few days of their attendance. His genius in writing this play has created something much more lasting - a theatrical experience, really, that not only captures the attention of the audience, but is also able to delve deep inside the minds of each character and so intricately and carefully dissect each part of his or her mind so that no idea, no feeling or emotion goes unnoticed. The characters seen upon the stage at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre turn into actual people, and combined with the psychological complexity of the plot, form a production that is incredibly unique and admirable to all playwrights ever hoping to write the next great story.

Is there something in this world that holds us back from our potential, from our lives, without ever allowing us to grow and move forward? Can there exist a secret that not only becomes one's responsibility to hide from the world, but actually becomes the person, shaping the existence of those forced to conceal from the world a vicious act not of their own doing? Through no fault of their own do brother and sister become marred by the unhappiness of their parents before them, unfortunate souls who bore witness to a tragedy whose consequences remained long after such a vicious deed was done. In the present day (whenever that may happen to be), brother and sister must "live" within the contour constructed around their lives, inhibiting them from experiencing anything more than a sub-human existence - all created as a result of their parents' lack of will to live in the world unhappy. From the past does the audience bear witness to this continuous, never-ending cycle that has already transformed the unfortunate Felice and Claire into things no greater than the "people," as Felice takes great risk in calling them, for whom they perform on this given night. Tennessee Williams' 'The Two-Character Play' is nothing short of an experience, and really gives an audience quite a bit to think about.

Sartre's No Exit is exactly about that: people who were once masters of their own universe now being forced to see the lives they once lived through the eyes of other people - strangers to boot - and discover that those same lives they led while alive have accompanied them into the depth of Hell. It really isn't so bad in this place that, as Cradeau Garcin makes clear towards the play's start, is meant to have devices of torture around every turn and the torturer ready and relentless in his quest to make the dead suffer. What is so ironic here, though, is that the ability to see themselves for what they really are - essentially now being on the outside looking in - makes each character less human than how he or she was when first walking through the doors of the room eternity will be spent in. Introducing humanity into the lives of people who were without it for their entire existence actually makes Cradeau, Inez and Estelle worse because of the chunk of confidence reflecting on their own lives that disappears as they do so. In a way, having eternity to ponder why each will forever be in Hell is absolutely great as juxtaposed to a lifetime of fire, torture and pain. Why is it, then, that having nothing but their own lives to think about their lives that have ended in one sense and were never really disrupted in another makes for such an exciting and thought provoking play? Honestly, people are forced to face their own humanity, and it applies to every person who goes to see this production of No Exit by the Pearl Theatre Company.