Adrienne Reynolds (City Her) and Bernardine Mitchell (Willy); Photo: Josh Lamkin
Although there’s a slow drawn-out start to Theatrical Outfit’s “The Gifts of the Magi,” a musical based on O. Henry’s Classic short story “The Gift of the Magi,” just wait. It gets good.
The musical lasts less than 90 minutes with no intermission, and if the playwright were to have cut the first 10 minutes, which takes a long, long, long, long, long time to establish this is New York City, it’s the early 1900s and finding work is tough, the beginning of the show would have been better. But alas, although Mark St. St. Germain writes what seems to be pages of a boring monologue for the narrator, Willy (Bernardine Mitchell), this show is worth seeing because there are some dynamite performances.
The story revolves around a young newlywed couple, Della (Caroline Freedlund) and Jim (Nick Arapoglou), who have been crazy in love with each other since they were kids. Although they moved to New York City so Jim could rise in a career, the economic depression has prevented him from finding a job. Near eviction and with less than $2 to their name, they both secretly do whatever they can to buy meaningful Christmas presents for each other. While they scurry about New York, so does a cast of disparate characters.
Soapy (skillfully played by Glenn Rainey) whose character appears to be a total portrait of Otis from “The Andy Griffith Show,” ostensibly adds a bit of comic relief. But in truth, Soapy seems to be a stereotypical shell of a character.
Two of the cast members, City Him (Jeff McKerley) and City Her (Adrienne Reynolds), play numerous characters that will have you cracking up. Reynolds is as quick, funny and truthful an actor as Jonathan Winters, and like him, she can deftly change characters within seconds: a rich Southern Belle, a working-class Londoner, a wanton woman. She alone is worth the price of admission.
But, wait, there’s more! Bernardine Mitchell, one of Atlanta’s best-known and most respected singers, is a standout and soars on the final tune, “Gifts of Christmas.” OK, most of the music—and the choreography—in this show is not what I’d call good, or even fair, but this song, or at least the way she sings it, is excellent. The song just before that, “The Same Girl” is also sung beautifully by Freedlund.
Unfortunately, the real heart, meat and feeling of the story does not show up until the last quarter. Bring a tissue. It’s there at the end: a heart-wrenching, bitter-sweet finale. Oh, yeah, that’s the part O. Henry wrote. Playwriting like this brings to mind the old adage: why mess with a good thing? Although St. Germain can’t improve upon the original story, these actors do a wonderful job of bringing this Christmas show to life.
Directed by Heidi Cline McKerley, music composed by Randy Courts, choreography by Jeff McKerly, and musical direction by S. Renee Clark, “The Gifts of the Magi,” runs through Dec. 23 at Theatrical Outfit.
Stephanie Friedman, Zachary W. Magan, Maia Knispel
“Titus Clown,” a takeoff on Shakespeare’s “Titus Andronicus,” is not all blood and gore, but it’s not for the queasy. And if you plan on sitting up close to the stage at The New American Shakespeare Tavern for this show, be advised: you may get stained with what appears to be blood oozing from a baby’s wrists once its hands have been excised.
The show plays on the theme of “Titus Andronicus” tinged with The Marx Brothers and The Three Stooges thrown in for good humor. What makes this show is its co-creator and star actor, Maia Knispel. No matter how cartoonish and outlandish her actions, she plays them with so much true-to-life sincerity, she’ll have you rolling with laugher while she is literally lying on the ground rolling with laughter.
But what breaks this show is the overacting of clown Bobbi, who consistently overemotes, appearing like a cartoon character of a cartoon character. The script is cartoonish enough. If you like those old cartoons from the 1960s where the characters consistently maim one another and play mean tricks on one another, you’ll likely find this show quite entertaining. No matter how much these clowns bludgeon one another, they’re like Wile E. Coyoe, who might appear to be lying dead in the road after being tossed from a high cliff falling splat onto concrete. Yet they all manage to pick themselves right back up.
If you’ve forgotten “Titus Andronicus,” you can read the shortened version of it here on Wikipedia. It would be good to review it before seeing the show.
“Titus Clown” runs through Nov. 17 at The New American Shakespeare Tavern where “Titus Andronicus” will be performed through Nov. 25.
Googie Uterhardt and Catherine Porter, Photo: Greg Mooney
Here it is folks, an outstanding production of the Tony Award-winning musical “Next to Normal.” All the actors in this Alliance Theatre cast are excellent, as are the directing, lighting and set design.
Catherine Porter, who plays the lead, Diana, was the understudy on Broadway. And there are other Broadway veterans in this show too. But here’s what’s so strange: I LOVED Googie Uterhardt, a local actor who plays Dr. Fine and Dr. Madden. I can’t say he stole the show, but what a performance of a wild yet sedated psychoanalyst!
See show details and interview with the director here.
Music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, directed by Scott Schwartz, featuring Jordan Craig, Bob Gaynor, Catherine Porter, Lyndsay Ricketson, Cary Tedder and Googie Uterhardt, “Next to Normal” runs through Nov. 11 at the Alliance Theatre.
Patricia Richardson and Tony Carlin; Photo: Greg Mooney
Whether it was opening night jitters or the actors were just presenting a formal rehearsal, I couldn’t say. But I can predict this: the production of “Apples & Oranges” premiering at the Alliance Theatre should put a lot more work into it if it plans on running in New York.
Adapted from Vanity Fair writer Marie Brenner’s memoir “Apples & Oranges” about her estranged relationship with her brother and sole sibling, Carl Brenner (Tony Carlin), this two-person play becomes a series of short scenes between the two. Marie, a successful writer for Vanity Fair, and Carl, a prolific and successful apple farmer, have been estranged their whole lives. After being diagnosed with cancer and having no living parents, he tries to reconnect with Marie, who lives on the other side of the country. They meet and bicker everywhere: on the phone, at restaurants, in apple orchards, in China, and in automobiles as they forever try to connect but rarely do.
The play moves along swiftly but leaves out some of the important history in the book: namely, that this sibling estrangement goes back two generations when their grandparents came to the United States, when her father’s siblings became estranged from one another, and when his sister was disinherited by their parents. It also leaves out that Marie and Carl mark the third generation of Brenner trail blazers who left their heritage and moved far away from their families. That information, which includes a great grandfather who was a farmer, and an aunt, a writer in the early 1900s who moved to Mexico and New York, brings insight into the family history. These details (and lots more juicy tales) bring Brenner’s page-turner memoir full circle. The lack of them makes this a series of short scenes (under 1 ½ hours with no intermission) of sibling rivalry.
The staging is just right as Carl and Marie (Patricia Richardson of “Home Improvement”) perform on an empty stage with only two stools that come together and move apart as they speak on the phone, drive in an orchard or have breakfast at a counter in a diner. This play doesn’t need any scenery as all that really matters is the heart-felt connection between the two. Whether it’s love, hate or indifference, this play is about the raw emotion these two feel for each other. But sadly, that was lacking opening night.
While Carl’s anger seemed to be real at times, Marie’s did not. Richardson rarely showed true raw emotions, neither anger nor sadness. Watching her on stage was like watching a TV sitcom character who gets “mad” or “sad” but never displays true heartfelt feelings. Richardson brings loud words, but nothing seems to happen to her deep internally. Even when Carl shares the latest bad news of his illness and Marie buries her face in her hands as if she is crying, the sadness shown on her face and voice is shallow. The audience needed to see it. We needed to feel it.
While Carlin did show true emotion, he had his weaknesses too. He stumbled over words. But what was most bothersome was the continual twitching and flinching of his fingers. When his left arm hung down by his side, the fingers would continually curl and relax, they’d rub together like some nervous twitch, and they’d open and close like they were a talking puppet that silently cried, “I’m nervous, I’m nervous.” To be fair to him, he had a week’s less time to rehearse as originally someone else had been cast in his role.
The play “Apples & Oranges” by Alfred Uhry was disappointing even to those in the audience who had not read the book. Uhry wrote “Driving Miss Daisy” and “The Last Night of Ballyhoo,” and co-wrote “Mystic Pizza,” and I liked them all. He’s won an Academy Award, a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize for his writing. But I don’t think he’s going to win anything for this unless changes are made. Luckily, the play is previewing here and the script and acting could be repaired before it attempts to open elsewhere.
Directed by Lynne Meadow, “Apples & Oranges” runs through Oct. 28 on the Hertz Stage at the Alliance Theatre.
If you’re into Halloween or Haunted Houses, you have to go to NetherWorld! It’s as scary as any haunted house you’ve seen in any Hollywood movie.
NetherWorld Haunted House
NetherWorld Haunted House runs through Nov. 3. in Norcross.
The Broadway touring company of “War Horse,” playing at the Fox Theatre, is simply spellbinding.
The show, which won five Tony Awards including one for Best Play, is a must see for the sheer theatrics of the lifelike horse and geese puppets and the rolling background screen that portrays the countryside, cannons, and tanks from war-torn Europe.
The star of the show is Joey, a horse that stands about 15 hands high, flares its ears back, jerks and twists its neck, and moves in the exact gait of a real horse. The co-star, Albert (Andrew Veenstra), a teenage boy who wins Joey from his father, loses Joey to the army, and later enlists in search of his one true love, Joey.
Based on the book “War Horse” by Michael Morpurgo, it’s a good premise for a story–who doesn’t love a good pet story–but the script drags, and scenes linger as the story takes its time in moving forward.
The opening night cast was fantastic, especially Emile (Lavita Shaurice), who was a standout as the young French girl who shies away from a German soldier, but allows her fondness for Joey to unite the three of them.
In association with Handspring Puppet Company, script adapted by Nick Stafford, directed by Bijan Sheibani, “War Horse” runs through Sept. 30 at the Fox Theatre.
Chris Kayser, Carolyn Cook, Robin Bloodworth
Nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play, “Time Stands Still,” now playing at Horizon Theatre, is one of the best plays I have ever seen in Atlanta. Ever. It is the one local production you’ve got to see.
The story and characters are multidimensional. Even the airhead young event planner, Mandy (Ann Marie Gideon), has depth. No stereotypical, vapid characters here. It’s an impeccable script with not one moment of boredom. The situations and characters are so real you become ensconced in their lives.
On top of this perfect script and scenic design–everything takes place in a loft that I’d swear is a loft right out of New York–there’s a wonderful cast. Every actor is thoroughly believable, and that in itself is such a rare treat.
You might think a show about a couple who are journalists and have returned from war torn Iraq might be a downer, but it’s not at all. It’s superb.
Written by the Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies, directed by Lisa Adler, and scenic design by Moriah Curley-Clay and Isabel Curley-Clay, “Time Stands Still” runs at Horizon Theatre through Oct. 14.
Cast:
Robin Bloodworth as James
Carolyn Cook as Sarah
Chris Kayser as Richard
Danny Johnson and Crystal Fox
“What I Learned in Paris” takes you on a light-hearted ride back to 1973 when Maynard Jackson has just become Atlanta’s first black mayor and women are striving for independence.
Playwright Pearl Cleage, who actually served as Jackson’s press secretary, twirls a story around Jackson’s mayoral campaign that focuses on romance and self growth.
Cleage depicts a time of political and social change as a divorced, wealthy black woman contemplates moving to a swanky white Buckhead neighborhood, and a young secretary contemplates marrying J.P. (Danny Johnson), an attorney she doesn’t love simply because it will bring good social change.
In comedic form, Evie (Crystal Fox), J.P.’s ex-wife, traipses around in long flowing kaftans, and spars with him in an ever so mindful Buddhist way as she lectures him on how to behave and breathe. Milk-toast character John (Eugene H. Russell IV), J.P.’s right-hand man, finally stands up for himself, puffing out his cheeks like a blowfish and inflating his chest like a blustering George Jefferson.
“What I Learned in Paris” is a farcical romantic comedy with twists that neatly wraps up in a tidy bow. A cute play with a terrific cast.
Brian Sidney Bembridge presents a beautiful Brady Bunch ’70s-style two-story modern home with clean lines. Crystal Fox keeps us laughing with an over-the-top “Maude”-like passion for life.
Directed by Susan V. Booth, “What I Learned in Paris” runs at the Alliance Theatre through Oct. 6.
Cast:
Kelsey Scott plays Ann Madison
January LaVoy plays Lena Jefferson
Meet playwright Pearl Cleage and the cast from What I Learned in Paris at Emory University’s Center for Ethics. This free event will feature a dramatic reading of select scenes from the play and an engaging ethical discussion.
“What I Learned in Paris” runs from Sept. 5-30 at the Alliance Theatre.
