Review: THE BURNT PART BOYS at RAISE Repertory Theatre/Acting Studio in Lutz

I love shows that become literal family affairs--where actors in the cast are actually family members playing family members onstage. You occasionally see this in the movies. For instance, the real-life tumultuous couple, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, played the onscreen tumultuous couple, George and Martha, in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf in 1966. (The divorced couple also appeared as the divorced Elyot and Amanda in Private Lives on Broadway fifteen years later.) Or On Golden Pond, where Henry Fonda as the lovably cantankerous Norman berates his onscreen daughter, Jane Fonda as the never-quite-good-enough Chelsea. You see in her a need that seems to escape the screen and land in reality (it's not Norman and Chelsea we think of as we watch it; it's Henry and Jane Fonda seemingly re-enacting their father-daughter relationship). Possibly the best example is 1980's The Long Riders, where seemingly half of Hollywood's most famous siblings star as actual outlaw siblings.

Something unspoken happens when family members act together onstage. And to my delight, this phenomenon happened recently in the RAISE Rep Theatre/The Acting Studios' production of THE BURNT PART BOYS. Playing the brothers, Pete and Jake, are two very talented young men, Eli and Jonah Watson. Watching them you get a sense of their brotherhood, both physically and that unseen force where we know it may border on reality. It's so natural. We never doubt their camaraderie; we root for them the entire show. I wrote in my notebook that they come across as real siblings before I realized that they actually were real siblings (it would have been bad if I had written "no one would believe they are brothers"). And to top it off, playing their father (among other parts, including Sam Houston) is the music director, Daniel Watson. Hmmm, same last name, which means...yes, the two real-life brothers get to share the stage with their real-life dad. And they are all wonderful.

THE BURNT PART BOYS is a little-known musical with music by Chris Miller, lyrics by Nathan Tysen and a book by Marianna Elder. It has rightfully gained cult status in recent years. But it's no Hairspray or Grease; you won't find your local middle school performing it (unless it's an exceptionally cool middle school). Because THE BURNT PART BOYS is seldomly performed (outside of some songs for thespian competitions), it's a relief that the fine folks at the RAISE Rep Theatre/Acting Studio in Lutz have given audiences a chance to get acquainted with this hidden gem.

The plot is quite simple: It's 1962, the year The Alamo opened in movie houses (which plays an important part of the musical). Set in a West Virginia coal mining town, the show revolves around Pete, a teenager whose father perished in a coal mining disaster 10 years earlier. When Pete hears that the "burnt part" area of the mine is about to reopen, he decides to go to his father's final resting place with his best friend Dusty in order to stop this ("No man will disturb his deep, deep sleep," he says). I've often compared THE BURNT PART BOYS to the movie Stand By Me... a journey for one thing that actually becomes a coming of age search for self.

The cast feature some of the finest young talent in the Tampa area. I saw Eric Newman a year ago in MAD Theatre's Next to Normal and just this past summer in their Cabaret. He was too young for Cliff in Cabaret, but amazingly vivid and alive as Gabe in Next to Normal. Here, as Jake's buddy, Chet, he's extremely likable, although he doesn't seem as burly as the role requires. But Newman makes up for it with his glorious, soaring vocals.

As Dusty, Cameron Schrader is perfectly cast. His performance of "Dusty Plays the Saw" is one of the show's many highlights. Brielle Downing plays a feisty Francis (the only female in the cast) and her character runs the emotional encyclopedia--funny, intense, and really crazy with a gun aimed at your head, etc.

The adults sing marvelously but are sometimes hit-and-miss when it comes to the acting portion. The aforementioned Daniel Watson is highly entertaining as Pete and Jake's Dad; a strong Michael J. Vokoun as Chet's Dad; the amazingly talented Marty Angialli as Francis' Dad (as well as Jim Bowie); and the versatile James Wyatt as Roy. I saw Mr. Wyatt as a Kit Kat Club Boy in Cabaret last summer, and you would never in a million years realize that it was the same person without reading the program.

The band is splendid with very tight arrangements: Phil McReynolds as the pit director and pianist; Charlotte Lynn on the violin; Bryan Dowling on the viola; Paul Lewis on the bass; and Paul Cazares and Steve Matthews on guitar. All of the songs sounded wonderful, but "Disappear" must be singled-out as a standout. (I was thankful that a song list was included in the program!)

The set is a wooden dreamscape, with boarded up walls and ladders ingeniously used for various mine traps. It's not a perfect show, with some messy staging and music that has a sameness to it. (I love the songs, but after awhile, they sound like carbon copies of each other.) But the whole atmosphere is what made it work. There was a full house, almost standing room only, which is exciting (THE BURNT PART BOYS is mostly a show for those musical theatre lovers who are "in the know").

Director VicToria Watson gets it. She understands that theatre saves the lives of so many young people, and she produces plays that they can connect with (they will be performing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Rent and Noises Off in the near future). She has been teaching and directing in the Tampa area for the past 26 years, and we see her passion in each moment of THE BURNT PART BOYS, each song. It's a labor of love...for her own kids as well as for the other cast members (her "other" kids as she calls them) and the community.

The RAISE Reperatory Theatre/Acting Studio in the Lutz area is still under construction, with lawn chairs where the audience sits and a general unfinished look. But those in attendance didn't mind the no frills affair. They appreciated it because you really could feel the excitement in the air. This is a place where dreams can soar. It was my honor to see that dream in action.