John Stewart and Jeremy Pope; Photo: Greg Mooney
“Choir Boy,” now playing on the Hertz Stage at the Alliance Theatre, is a knockout original story with an outstanding script and cast.
Apparently, I’m not the only one who sees genius in the playwright, Tarell Alvin McCraney. Just last month he was awarded a MacArthur “genius” grant (prize of $625,000) for exploring new roles in drama.
In “Choir Boy,” McCraney charts new territory in telling the story of an exceptionally gifted misfit, Pharus (Jeremy Pope), who struggles to make it on his scholarship in a prestigious prep school. What I love about this script, aside from the crafty, unique and amusing lines that Pharus spouts, is that the play is so lifelike, so real. The script is superb with full-of-life and believable characters. The acting from everyone in the cast is A+ quality, and their singing is beautiful and compelling.
The play is an unveiling of the human condition, the struggle we all go through to do our best and to be accepted. While the story revolves around a gay misfit and some underprivileged kids who attend an all-black boys prep school, the play is not about the plight of minorities. It’s about the struggle each of us has been through and goes through as we claw our way through life. There’s no proselytizing here. These characters break my heart, and I love them all. For they are you and me, and everyone we’ve known at some stage in their lives.
McCraney won the 2008 Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, and premiered his play “In the Red and Brown Water” on the Hertz State that year. He later became the RSC/Warwick International Playwright in Residence at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the 43rd member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble, one of the most renowned theatre companies in the country (home to John Malkevich, Laurie Metcalf, John Mahoney and a slew of our country’s most talented performers).
Directed by Trip Cullman, “Choir Boy” runs on the Hertz Stage at the Alliance Theatre through Oct. 13.
* N icholas L. Ashe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Junior Davis
* Joshua Boone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bobby Marrow
* Caleb Eberhardt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David Heard
* Jeremy Pope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pharus Jonathan Young
* Scott Robertson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mr. Pendleton
* John Stewart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anthony Justin “AJ” James
* C harles E. Wallace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Headmaster Marrow
*Denotes a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the U.S.
Grammy-Winner Arturo Sandoval
Performs at Ferst Center Friday, Oct. 4
A protégé of the legendary jazz master Dizzy Gillespie, Arturo Sandoval and his band will perform Friday at the Ferst Center for the Arts at Georgia Tech. Sandoval plays jazz trumpet and flugelhorn, and is a renowned classical pianist and composer. Sandoval’s compositions have been awarded nine Grammy Awards, six Billboard Awards and an Emmy Award. Widely considered one of the greatest living jazz artists, Sandoval was recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation’s highest civilian honor presented to individuals who have made especially commendable contributions to the national and cultural interests of the U.S.
Sandoval has recorded with Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Woody Shaw, Michel Legrand, Bill Conti, Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka, Rod Stewart and Alicia Keys, and has performed with John Williams and the Boston Pops, and in the Super Bowl Halftime show with Tony Bennett and Patti LaBelle.
Featured on many film and television soundtracks, Sandoval composed the Emmy-winning score for HBO’s “For Love or Country,” a film based on his life starring Andy Garcia. Sandoval has been commissioned by the Kennedy Center to create original compositions for several ballets, including “Pepito’s Story,” “Oman O Men” and “The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker” choreographed by Debbie Allen. Sandoval also composed the original score of “Soul Possessed,” another Allen collaboration, which opened the 2000-2001 season at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre Company.
The band includes the following members:
Ed Calle – Saxophone
Kemuel Roig – Piano
Dennis Marks – Bass
Alexis Arce – Drums
Armando Arce – Percussion
Ticket and Performance Information: Tickets: $30, $40 and club seating section $55. Audience members are invited to “Jazz Connect,” a free pre-show jazz talk led by Jay Edwards, host of “Jazz Tones” on WCLK 91.9 FM at 7:00 p.m. For information and directions (349 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA, 30032-0468) contact the Ferst Center Box Office at 404-894-9600 or visit www.ferstcenter.org.
Douglas Williams, Tony Yazbeck, Will Taylor, Chris Dwan, Will Blum, and Shayne Kennon photo: Greg Mooney
Barry Manilow may be one of the most successful songwriters in the past 40 years, but I don’t think his new musical, “Harmony,” now playing at the Alliance Theatre, is going to be one of his hits. The book, written by his writing partner Bruce Sussman, who has helped him create hits such as “Copacabana,” “I Made it Through the Rain,” and “Hey Mambo,” is lacking in depth, comedy and originality.
“Harmony” is based on the Comedian Harmonist, an all-male sextet in Germany that performed from 1927-1938 throughout Europe and in New York. The group included a couple of Jewish members, so you know where this story is headed.
But it’s not all tragedy as there’s a splatter of comedy. At a lunch concert when the group has not yet received its pants, the harmonists perform behind a serving table while tossing around weiner-like long loaves of bread and sausages. It’s quite cute, as is the scene in which the group performs as marionettes, in a mock of Hitler that is reminiscent of Mel Brooks’s “Springtime for Hitler.”
The first act of “Harmony” is slow to build as very little is at stake. When the stakes rise in the second act as Hitler rises in power, and more and more problems are thrown at the members, the story becomes lively and puts the fear of life in you. Still, the play doesn’t make this story about Nazi Germany much different than the others out there. We get to know the surface of the characters, but that special something that tugs at the heart is missing.
For those of us who aren’t familiar with the documentary the book was based on, this particular story is unique and interesting. But an interesting story alone is not enough to make good theater. The book just scratches the surface of these characters. It pricks at our heart when it needs to be pierced.
“Harmony” is likely bound for Broadway. If the book stays the same between now and then, I don’t think it will be bound there long.
Music by Barry Manilow, book by Bruce Sussman, directed by Tony Speciale, “Harmony” runs through Oct. 6 at the Alliance Theatre.
Will Blum . . . . . . . . . . Ari “Lesh” Leshnikoff
Liberty Cogen . . . Ensemble/Woman on a Train
Hannah Corneau . . . . . . . . . . . . Ruth Stern
Chris Dwan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erich Collin
Bryan Thomas Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . Ensemble/
Club Cinderella Announcer
Greg Kamp . . . . . . . . . Ensemble/Sturmann
Shayne Kennon . “Rabbi” Josef Roman Cykowski
Leigh Ann Larkin . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary Hegel
Chad Lindsey . . . Ensemble/Standartenfuhrer/
Carnegie Hall Announcer
Lindsay Moore . . . Ensemble/Woman on a Train
Brandon O’Dell . . . Ensemble/Richard Strauss/
Albert Einstein/Frankenhauser
Patrick O’Neill . . . . . . Ensemble/Border Guard
Charles Osborne . . Ensemble/Obersturmfuhrer
Kim Sava . . . . . . Ensemble/Woman on a Train
Dave Schoonover . . . . . Ensemble/Ezra Kaplan
Lauren Elaine Taylor . Ensemble/Marlene Dietrich
Will Taylor . . . . . . . . . Erwin “Chopin” Bootz
Douglas Williams . . . . . . . . . . Bobby Biberti
Tony Yazbeck . . . . . . . . . Harry Frommerman
Jasmine Guy and Brian Kurlander
“The Guys,” playing at Theatrical Outfit, peers into the lives of some ordinary firemen who lost their lives performing extraordinary deeds just after the Twin Towers were hit on 9/11 .
In the aftermath of the killings, New York fire department captain Nick (Brian Kurlander) calls upon a professional writer, Joan (Jasmine Guy), to write eulogies he’ll be able to present to the friends and families of eight men who died trying to save victims.
Playwright Anne Nelson brings some life to the people who died—one victim was the food critic of the firehouse, and one made his own firefighting tools that were better than any he could get from a hardware store—but there is nothing that jumps out and rips at your heart. Yes, it’s sad that people died, but we just get a glimmer of the victims’ lives and miss that poignant punch to the gut.
Guy and Kurlander do a fine job in their roles. Most touching is when Kurlander transforms from a defensive, guarded captain who has difficulty expressing himself to presenting the eulogies of his victims at a ceremony for their friends and families. The day the Twin Towers toppled the city was paralyzed with fear for weeks . In just under 1.5 hours, “The Guys” just touches the surface.
Directed by Elisa Carlson, “The Guys” runs at Theatrical Outfit through Oct. 6.
Essential Theatre is premiering three plays by Georgia playwrights through Aug. 11 at Actor’s Express. Playing in rep are “Mysterious Connections” by Peter Hardy, “Swimming With Jellyfish” by Katie Grant Shalin, and winner of the 2013 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award, “Stray Dogs,” by Matthew Myers.
Saturday I saw the ethereal “Mysterious Connections,” a non-chronological story with mythological references that left me baffled through much of the play. Pamela (Celia Gunn-Zaboli) chases her dreams and her soul, while playing games with her admirer, Travis (Ben Silver) and courting Isobel (Daryl Lisa Fazio). The ghost and dream scenes were difficult to understand, but it makes sense at the end as the story is all pulled together.
The standout of this show is the refreshing and delightful character Jonesy (Nancy Powell), who blathers endlessly but is the life of the play. Believable and charming throughout the show, Powell is a consummate actor, whom I look forward to seeing on the stage again. The other actors weren’t believable, and Pamela often could not be heard.
The three new plays be Georgia writers run through Aug. 11 at Actor’s Express. Tickets are available at Essential Theatre.
“The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream,” the show that ran on Broadway featuring the original band members, plays at the Cobb Energy Centre this weekend. A hybrid of a Broadway show and a concert by the original band members, Felix Cavaliere (keyboard & vocals), Eddie Brigati (vocals), Dino Danelli (drums) and Gene Cornish (guitar), the show is mainly a concert featuring the band’s greatest hits, such as “Groovin’,” “Good Lovin’ ” and “People Got To Be Free.”
The production will also feature the history of the iconic group told through archival footage, narration, and dramatic film segments viewed on the latest LED screen technology. “The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream” made its debut at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY. Originally scheduled to play three performances in December 2012, an additional three shows had to be added to accommodate the demand
The show sold-out on Broadway, where it had a two-week run, and a snippet of it ran last week on the Tony Awards. Don’t go expecting to see a Broadway show in the vein of “Jersey Boys” because it’s mainly a concert. Go to see one of the greatest bands from the sixties.
Written by Steven Van Zandt and directed by him and Marc Brickman, “The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream” will be playing at Cobb Energy Centre June 21-22. Ticket prices start at $29.50 plus applicable fees and can be purchased by visiting Ticketmaster.com, at the Cobb Energy Centre Box Office, or by calling 800-745-300.
Barret Doyle and Andrew Benator
If “Seminar” is not the best show ever at Actor’s Express, it’s the best I’ve ever seen.
A knockout script and a great cast moves each scene along at a clip and the premise and characters are a fresh slice of life. Playwright Theresa Rebeck, the creator of the one -time hit TV series “Smash” (yuck!), creates Mamet-style tough New York characters who call it as they see it. Leonard (Andrew Benator), the tough-ass, hard-as-nails writing instructor spits out the truth with biting cuts that nearly chase his “pussy” students out of the class.
Held in a student’s Upper West Side apartment, each student has paid $5,000 to hear critiques from this renowned journalist who tears into their writing like a piranha. But as in writing, less is more, and Leonard is swift and to the point with his criticisms.
Everything about this show is so lifelike, even the class trollop, Izzy (Bryn Striepe), who bares her breasts and has no qualms about sleeping her way to a writing contract. But neither the sex nor the F-bombs seem gratuitous or over the top. It’s typical New York struggling artists studying with a tough-as-a-truck teacher who accepts no BS in writing.
If you ever took private classes in New York, this will bring back memories. And if you ever wondered what it would be like to study with a hot-shot, big-wig teacher in New York, you’ll see. Take a bite out of this big apple.
Directed by Freddie Ashley with terrific performances by Andrew Benator and Cara Mintella, who plays Kate, “Seminar” runs through June 16 at Actors Express.
Cast: David Plunkett, Barrett Doyle.
One of my favorite local playwrights– and probably one of the best, Hank Kimmel–authored the opening piece of “Way Outside the Fringe,” a night of surreal and odd ball theatre written by local playwrights.
“Looking For Our Town” an autobiographical piece about the time Hank went to the theater in New York to see Spalding Gray in “Our Town” and gets caught up in the action of the city. The show’s producer, Nick Boretz, has direct ties to both Lucille Ball and Groucho Marx, so Hank says you can at least be imbued with their spirit peripherally. I’m betting we’ll be imbued the work of the multi-talented Hank, a former professional tennis player, former journalist and a successful attorney and playwright.
‘Way Outside the Fringe’ gives noted Atlanta playwrights a show where they can let their nightmares loose on an audience.
A house divided… and falling! Talking Heads! Mayan Predictions! Spalding Gray! The Apocalypse!! Way Outside the Fringe: An Absurdist Play Festival, aptly honors Academy’s avant-garde roots and moves the art form forward April 26-28.
“We’re all going to have to deal with death and the absurdity of loss someday,” says Academy Theatre Artistic Director Robert Drake. “This is exactly what theater is supposed to do: give us a dry run to prepare and let us laugh at the same time.”
The Academy Theatre and Nick Boretz’ Adequately Normal Productions present this evening of surreal and odd ball theatre featuring pieces by Nick Boretz, David Fisher, Annie Harrison, Daniel Guyton, Hank Kimmel, and Hilary King. The show runs Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, April 28 at 6 p.m. The Academy Theatre is located at 119 Center Street, Avondale Estates, GA. 30002
Free Parking available. For more information please visit www.academytheatre.org.
WHERE: The Academy Theatre, 119 Center Street, Avondale Estates, 30002
TICKETS: $15 at the door or $10 on line at www.brownpapertickets.com/364506
Surprisingly, “Zorro” the musical at the Alliance Theatre is absolutely fantastic and is far better than any “Zorro” movie I’ve seen.
Neither Mom nor I had great expectations of this show, but we both found it thrilling. From the flamenco dancing to the music and the authentic acting, you just might think you are in Spain for a moment.
While the cast is great, there are a few who are absolutely outstanding –Diego de la Vega, aka Zorro (Adam Jacobs) Inez (Natascia Diaz), Ramon (Nicholas Carrière) and Sergeant Garcia (Eliseo N. Roman) a Falstaff type character who nearly steals the show with buffoonery reminiscent of Bill Dana’s “Jose Jimmenez” character.
The ensemble actors in “Zorro” are wonderful flamenco dancers and include Dance Captain Sara Erde (The Metropolitan Opera – Carmen; La Traviata); flamenco dancer Glenda Sol Koeraus (The Metropolitan Opera –La Traviata); flamenco dancer Peter Suarez; and flamenco guitarist Cristian Puig.
The musical production of “Zorro” incorporates flamenco dancing, sword fighting, stage magic, and elaborate stunts. I know it’s trite, but it really is a swashbuckling show.
This is a definite show to see.
“Zorro” runs through May 5 at the Alliance Theatre.
