"Win or Die": The Game Show from Heck

SHOW INFORMATION: Win or Die plays at Johns Hopkins University at the Swirnow Theatre through February 10; Fri – Sat at 8PM, Sun at 2PM.  Tickets are $5 General/$3 Students.  Go to www.jhu.edu for more information. 

◊◊◊ out of five.  60 minutes, no intermission.  Adult language, situations.

 

Witness Theatre is one of several theatre groups at Johns Hopkins, and it separates itself from the others by virtue of the fact that they do 100% student productions, from the script to the design to the acting to the front of the house management.  That, in and of itself, is to be commended, and I feel privileged that they asked me to come see their current offering, Win or Die, an original musical, which plays at the Swirnow Theatre on the Homewood Campus of Johns Hopkins University through next weekend.  I go to shows like this with an open mind, but experience has shown me that such endeavors are usually built on extremes.  Neither extremely bad, nor extremely excellent, Win or Die falls squarely in the middle – it is funny, clever and smart, but never really lives up to its potential.

Caity Stuhan, a JHU student has written this small musical (book music and lyrics) in the same vein as the modern musicals that have probably impacted her theatre-going experiences the most.  I'd guess she is under the influence of other such self-aware shows as Urinetown and Avenue Q, just as people of my generation are influenced by Stephen Sondheim.  Miss Stuhan has attempted here to do for the game/reality show what Urinetown did for the musical and Avenue Q does for children's television – to do a loving send up of a beloved genre with a definite point of view about today's society.  To a degree she is very successful.  The "show", Win or Die, is extremely popular, but faces an uncertain future with an aging host (and scary megalomaniac).  It is chock full of contestants that better fit P.C. demographics than quality contestants, and they are forced to do a variety of game show/reality show tricks to win or die.  And like reality shows, it lets us, the audience, participate ("Applause" sign) and see behind-the scenes.  Miss Stuhan clearly has the razors sharp for a full skewering of this TV standard, and she has infused it with modern, edgy wit, more on the political/social barb end than on trying to dazzle us with that I'm-in-college-and-I'm-smarter-than-anyone tone that is cute on paper and makes people in on it laugh, while the rest of us cringe.  No, she has steered clear (thankfully) from being over self-indulgent – her comedy is smart not snarky.

But she has also veered somewhat from the biting commentary I think she is going for by not really pushing the limits in some ways.  First, her willingness to address racism and immigration issues is commendable, and is well executed.  In the person of Pedro Santa Clara, she has a man who openly puts on the guise of thick accented Mexican – sombrero wearing, "th" for "s" lisping, "ole!"ing stereotype, but does so only because it is what the public expects.  In other words, Pedro from Wisconsin gives America exactly what it wants to see from a non-White contestant.  Less successful is the more obvious choices she has made with the other contestants – Donna, a neurosurgeon with almost militant views on animal rights has a VERY Jewish last name, is a nagging, mouthy know it all, and is wiping up the competition, and Peter, the whitest white boy ever, a geek, a schlep and a chronic nice-guy-finishes-last.  They are both lonely, and, of course, end up together by the end.  These choices are pretty obvious, and only occasionally bring something fresh to the table – namely the "physical challenge" segment, where the winner is actually the loser.  You can guess who thought they won…

More successful is the "reality" of watching the show be produced, full of material about not worrying about fair or right, but rather emphasizing style and expectation over all.  There is some delicious, though unspoken, irony in the fact that the host, Chip McBingo, is being played by an Asian appearing actor, who hurls racial insults at the Latinos on stage.  I wish this aspect were more utilized.  Then there are the "Tech Geeks" who fix a major glitch in the show, and sing a cute and funny song, "Our Time", about finally getting some recognition, while really being the ones to save the show (a nice parallel between the play and real life, and again, very low key).  And there is the camera man, also a Latino, who got where he is by being good at it, not by playing the race card, which offers a nice counterpoint to the other Latino character, and again shows the two divergent ways race plays out in this country.

Finally, Miss Stuhan makes, in my opinion, one huge error.  There is a significant meltdown midshow that has a crazed show host terrorizing the station when he is not permitted to do his favorite round of Win or Die.  The script has us see the cast in mayhem, hiding in terror in the green room (hilariously painted green…) and significant action plays out there.  But in a show about reality television, and a script that rightly calls this "the age of panic" and has a camera man running to find the story, I find it odd that very little panic insues and that the camera man doesn't come more into play to really hone in on the themes set up in this lampoon of "reality television."  I am willing to bet Miss Stuhan, given more time and a judicious editing pencil could find a better way to have this plot twist play out, without ever leaving the game show set, and recognizing that in this age of TMZ, Entertainment Tonight, heck, even the Nightly News, "reality" trumps reality every time.

Mitch Frank's direction is sharp, and clearly modeled after years of ingrained game show and reality TV watching.  He manages to have his cast be both recognizable types and real people, and all with an edge of satire.  Under Nick Werner's musical direction, the clever, if somewhat thin songs are nicely done, with a clear eye toward not being too good (American Idol is not a target here), though one wishes he had instilled more confidence in his singers, who know the words but lack the presence to really sell the songs.  They come across as under practiced, though I doubt that is actually the case.  Jennifer Petsche's sets, props and costumes are dead on, the set being particularly well done as a send up of game shows through the ages (the "big wheel" is a comic delight on its own).

On the whole, an overall criticism of the cast is that they talk way too fast to let the jokes takes, and when they sing they lack confidence, which brings the numbers down considerably.  Dave Haldane and Suzanna Gold, as the janitor and stage manager respectively, make little impression and that is mainly because both of them have volume and pacing issues, particularly Miss Gold, who says most of her lines as she is running away from us.  And the fact that Mr. Haldane's character, the janitor is somehow also the station manager is completely lost in his lack of portrayal.

Tony Chiarito as the camera man fares much better, blending in easily when "working" but also bringing some charisma and oomph to the show when his character expands.  His delivery of the lines which call out Pedro are particularly well done, and, I think, are a perfect example of what the writer was really going for.  The "Tech Geek" Chorus (Rob Keleher, Christen Cromwell and Vanna Dela Cruz) are charming and look like a Benneton commercial – another excellent example of the racial issues of the play without hitting us over the head with it.  They are best when they do their song "Our Time," but are also pretty funny in the "commercials" they do.  (This device works here primarily because of the actors doing it, but might be re-examined in future drafts.)

Alex Neville as Chip McBingo has the ego down pat when "off camera", though he huffs and puffs with less nuance and variety than he could have.  He does ok with his "on air" personality, though he rarely scratches beyond the surface – he's going for Game Show Everyman, but isn't 100% successful at any take he tries.  Still, when things get ugly, Mr. Neville does quite well as the bad guy.

Of the three contestants, Paxson Trautman as Pedro Santa Clara, has the most to work with, but does the least with it.  When his line delivery is correct, he is awesome, such as when he admits that the whole Mexican routine is fake.  And he does the "that guy has no business being on a game show" take very well.  But he really needs to work on pacing, speed and clarity of speech – oddly enough, when he affects the Hispanic accent, he is most easily understood.  Rebecca McGivney, as Donna, makes the most of her role, despite the stereotypes inherent in the role.  Her timing is impeccable, particularly during a rapid-fire trivia round, and when she finally (and literally) lets her hair down, she is pretty funny.  Her "Smart Girl Stepping Out" number worked well, but could have stolen the show with a little more bombast and confidence in her singing.  I wanted to yell, "Sing Out, Rebecca!"  Finally, Jack Berger, as Peter Saint Clair (another joke that is great but lands flat – see Pedro's name) is everything this play could have been.  Mr. Berger clearly understands his character, and plays him for real, but always within the satirical send up of the genre.  That's why his work is the best of the lot – he understands the play, its message and how its message is being conveyed.  Plus, you can tell he's having fun, and that goes a long way in a 60 minute musical.

Win or Die wisely keeps itself to a short period of time.  Its points are valid ones, even more today with the Writer's Strike forcing all of us in TV Land to watch more crap game shows and reality series.  And much of its writing is good.  I hope that all involved take this piece and really work on it, hard.  It has Fringe Festival written all over it.  But it needs a tighter focus, some more boundary pushing and a somewhat stronger cast.  As it stands, Win or Die has done neither – what could be one Hell of a show is just one Heck of a show now.  Here's to its future!

PHOTOS courtesy of Witness Theatre, by Emily Wisnioski.  TOP to BOTTOM: "Win or Die": Alex Neville, Paxson Trautman, Jack Berger, and Rebecca McGivney; "Our Time": Rob Keleher, Christen Cromwell and Vanna Dela Cruz; "Smart Girl, Stepping Out": Jack Berger, Tony Chiarito, Paxson Trautman and Rebecca McGivney.

 

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