musicals | Dangerous Common Sense

“Once on This Island” at OSF

Once on This Island

Book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens Music by Stephen Flaherty Based Upon the Novel My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy Directed by Lili-Anne Brown

Ashland, OR at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Once on This Island (2022): Chuckie Benson, Camille Robinson, Michael Wordly, and Phyre Hawkins. Photo by Jenny Graham.

Chuckie Benson, Camille Robinson, Michael Wordly, and Phyre Hawkins.
Photo by Jenny Graham, OSF.

It was good to be back in the Bowmer Theater to for a fun evening that is full of energy, good singing, lively movement, and entertaining and meaningful music.

The story is a Caribbean-set retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, and virtually all plot development in Once is delivered in song. The different moods, the different sounds, and the characters all work delightfully.

J. D. Webster, Sasha Jewel Weymouth, and Patricia Jewel. Photo by Jenny Graham, OSF

All the cast members were above competent with careful expressive motions and voice. I am seriously impressed by the young actress who played Little Ti Moune (either Sasha Jewel Weymouth or Ayvah Johnson, I didn’t see in the playbill which we were seeing that night). The young actor was a dynamo, controlled, and on pitch.

We also enjoyed seeing a larger group of actors fill up the stage. What fun!

The direction and lighting were flawless. The story’s message of racism was obvious and the director’s notes that she was glad to have been able to produce the show from a Black perspective puzzled me. Do some productions make it okay that Ti Moune gets dumped by her prince because of her skin color? Ick.

Some technical areas kept me from pure happiness. The major flaw for me was the costumes. They were overdone and cheap looking straight out of a high school production. I don’t know the budget, but it apparently wasn’t enough.

The sound was also iffy at times. Sometimes the words in songs disappeared in the music. The worst of this was at the end when there’s singing telling the future of Ti Moune and succeeding generations. I missed the future of her as a tree completely.

And, I agree with a friend’s criticism that in a musical there should be some magic that shows up sometime on the set. Once‘s scenic design was unchanging despite the different locations of the scenes. This again was perhaps a budget issue, but the effect was to damp down the specialness of the evening.

Overall the show was a lot of fun with meaning and emotion. I give it:

By Galen Workman|2022-05-07T16:34:31-07:00May 7, 2022|osf, plays|0 Comments

“Sister Act” at Theatre Rhinoceros

San Francisco, CA
at Theatre Rhinoceros

Theater Rhinoceros’ gender-bending production of Sister Act brings an updated excitement to this early 1990’s staged musical that really benefits from the quality, energy, and queer freshness that director AeJay Mitchell’s vision delivers in the intimate Gateway Theatre.

The Cast of SISTER ACT — The Cast of *Sister Act*
Photo by David Wilson

The show is simply a lot of fun. A supremely good 2 1/2 hours of entertainment.

The plot is simple and simplistic, and it comes from the hit 1992 Whoopi Goldberg movie of the same name. A gangster’s (Curtis played by Crystal Liu) moll (Deloris played by Branden Noel Thomas) runs afoul of the mob and has to hide in an unlikely place, a nunnery. The moll is helped by a good cop (Eddie played by Jarrett Holley). She makes friends with most of the sisters, especially a novice (Sister Mary Robert played by Abigail Campbell). The Mother Superior (played by Kim Larsen) is a sourpuss most of the play, but in the end Deloris, Mother Superior, and all of the nuns affirm their sisterhood. It’s a light, antic, feel-good structure designed to showcase the singing and dancing of the actors.

The musical focuses mainly on enjoyable scenes sugared with blatant moments of touching emotion that are so set up that I hate to admit I felt like tearing up during a couple of them. Of course I didn’t tear up for the schlocky heartstrings-tugging moments, but it’d be okay if you did.

This Sister Act owes its success to a massive amount of talent on stage and in the crafts. Theatre Rhino properly uses the fluffy story as backdrop for boisterous performances, and the actors and costumes deliver!

Branden Noel Thomas’ Deloris unleashes a force of nature. His/her voice could carry the show on its own, but it’s paired with a body filled with C2 that explodes in a barely controlled way in scene after scene. Thomas alternates and combines belting out songs with strong aerobic choreography (also designed by AeJay Mitchell). But, Thomas also slows down and exploits the tender moments of the show. He’s extremely impressive.

Branden Noel Thomas* as Deloris in SISTER ACT. — Branden Noel Thomas as Deloris in SISTER ACT.
Photo by David Wilson.

Other actors deserve special applause.

Abigail Campbell’s Sister Mary Robert as the nunnery’s novice is a perfect counter to Deloris’ barely-under-wraps, worldly lounge singer. Thomas as Deloris is a hefty mountain of in-your-face flesh, and is armed with a supremely secure voice. Campbell counters with a small frame and a much lighter tone. While Campbell overcomes her insecure attitude and allows her timid voice to roar by the end of the show, the balance between the styles and characters is both appropriate and satisfying.

Kim Larsen as Mother Superior provides a different, but also complementary, show-enriching contrast to Deloris. Larsen sings with meaning and feeling (and class and quality), often slowing down the ambient madness. He avoids being a hammy prude caricature, and instead fulfills the necessary foil role. Well, he is hammy at times, but not an annoying spotlight-hogging ham. It’s a difficult balance, and Larsen carries it off.

Joyce Domanico-Huh as Joey, John Charles Quimpo as T. J., Crystal Liu as Curtis, and Abraham Baldonado as Pablo. Photo by David Wilson. — Joyce Domanico-Huh as Joey, John Charles Quimpo as T. J., Crystal Liu as Curtis, and Abraham Baldonado as Pablo.
Photo by David Wilson.

A third acting standout of the show is Jarrett Holley as the police officer. The richness and sweetness of his voice make his songs unreasonably pleasurable. I loved his fantasy role-switching scene, and whenever he was onstage he added to the depth of the characters and story.

Crystal Liu’s stereotypical villainous mobster Curtis also worked completely. Liu was sexist, crass, self-centered, and fun. She brought a strong, if not menacing, sound to Curtis’ songs. I even enjoyed her faked pencil mustache drawn to masculine-up, if not butch-up, the character.

By the way, the gender swapping of Deloris, Curtis, and Mother Superior, the male nuns, the female mobster boys, and the other gender non-conforming casting is never acknowledged. There’s not even a knowing wink or nod. Nor should it have been. Maybe the gender switching made the show more qualified for the Theatre Rhinoceros season — the 41st season of the world’s longest-running queer theater. But, this Sister Act never jumped the shark and pretended to be a over-the-top drag queen romp. The production aims for — and achieves — quality, not kitsch.

My final special appreciation is for David Draper’s costumes. I loved how Deloris went from wearing slutty tight lounge singer outfits with gaudy accessories to nun habits. And, the moments of patterns and color on all the actors were especially striking after several scenes of the black and white nuns. Very fun.

Theatre Rhinoceros also coped well with the stress of putting on a large-cast musical as a community theater company. Only Thomas/Deloris is an experienced Equity actor, yet the cast delivered a professional show. I heard a show craft member worry about the production glitches he noticed in the performance I saw… but I was not distracted as an audience member by what grabbed his attention.

In fact, we all left the theater feeling spectacularly entertained. We’d heard excellent singing. We’d experienced fun dance moves. We’d enjoyed a well acted, happy story.

Theatre Rhinoceros’ Sister Act is very, very good live entertainment — go see it!

Disclaimer: I do Internet work for Theatre Rhinoceros. My opinions here are really what I think. But, I admit, that if I hated the production, I would have simply not mentioned it!

By Galen|2019-05-21T17:17:40-07:00May 19, 2019|plays, Theatre Rhino|0 Comments

Oklahoma!

Ashland, Oregon
at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Oklahoma

Music by Richard Rodgers
Book & Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Based on the Play Green Grow the Lilacs by Lynn Riggs
Original Dances by Agnes de Mille
Directed by Bill Rauch

Oregon Shakespeare Festival has been workshopping and mulling over this production of Oklahoma for five years, according to cast member Barzin Akhavan (playing Ali Hakim) when he spoke at a coffee in April.

OSF’s dream was to create an Oklahoma! with non-standard gender roles throughout the territory. Will Parker (Jordan Barbour) is hot for Ado Andy (Jonathan Luke Stevens) and Curly (a definitely female Tatiana Wechsler) is aiming for Laurey (Royer Bockus). There are plenty of mixed-sex couples, yet gender non-conforming, cross-dressing farm hands round out the territory’s population. And, transgender actor Bobbi Charlton stands out as a compassionate and wise Aunt Eller.

Officially blessed by Rogers and Hammerstein, Inc. after a staged reading at the Daedalus show in August, 2016, the casting configuration clearly is making a Statement.

The company has been sending out frequent updates about the suitability of the show with its gender-bending casting decisions. Company members and in-town cognizanti have kept up a steady stream of comments about the progress, the readiness, the freshness of the show. When we walked in for the first performance after Sunday’s opening, I realized that I was expecting to attend an “historic” theater event.

There were not just great expectations for the show, there were extreme expectations.

Surprisingly, at the end of the performance, I felt underestimated the importance and impact of the evening. This Oklahoma! isn’t simply meaningful because of the way it demonstrates that “Love is Love is Love”. It’s good fun.

It entertains with an unbelievably talented seven-person “orchestra” that fills the theater with memorable sound. Thanks to music director Gary Busby! There’s show-stopping choreography, truly emotion-grabbing excellent singing. And, thought-out and flawlessly acted performances by the cast.

The play is unquestionably deepened by the display of same-sex love and its unremarked-upon acceptance by all of the town. I found myself listening to the lyrics of “I Cain’t Say No”, initially to see how few words had to be changed to let it come out of Ado Andy’s mouth. Because I was listening I found myself reflecting how sexually open the 1931 play and 1943 musical was for what I thought were eras of Victorian prudness. If Ado Annie had been singing, I probably would have hummed along without really paying attention.

That hyper vigilance to the story, relationships, and character veracity stayed with me throughout the evening. I spent energy contemplating exactly what Laurey could do about the unwanted attentions of her psycho ranch hand, Jud (Michael Sharon). I also wondered if Jud’s behavior was more menacing because Laurey was a lesbian. I decided that he was plenty scary regardless of Laurey’s orientation.

The decision to make the population around Claremore diverse in their sexual interest is both brilliant and risky. Any hint of stereotyping or mucking with the basic character traits of the people in the play would have made Oklahoma! crash and burn.

Sean Jones, Michael McDonald, Al Espinosa, Jordan Barbour, Nemuna Ceesay and Robert Vincent Frank in OSF’s Daedalus Play Reading of Oklahoma! in August 2016. Photo by Jenny Graham.

This Oklahoma has fire, but the good kind! Romance, passion, and community keep the stage hot.

The variety of sexual expressions was never spotlighted or the focus. Instead we had brilliant performances of the traditional all-American musical. Truly brilliant performance, and the decision to let the actors be non-standard sexes without pointing it out was itself genius.

So many scenes stay with me. The dream “ballet” reportedly reprises the original Agnes de Mille choreography, and you understand why it’s a classic. The elaborate sung descriptions of the surrey with the fringe on top fit right into the scenes. And, Jud! Eeeek! So many different scenes of creepy Eeeek!

Then there are also the moments where the forthright, gentle horniness of the peddler Hakim smack you in the face with their honesty, surprising openness about sex, and success in providing comic relief. And, how about the the happy, helpless sluttiness of Ado Andy bursting forth with hormone-fueled enthusiasm?

This is a performance where each actor deserves to be pointed to and praised. Sorry K.T. Vogt (Ma Carnes), Rodney Gardier (Cord Elam), Cedric Lamar (Ike Skidmore), and … and and… You deserve paragraphs of your own. Even actors with smaller parts like Will Wilhelm (Leslie) should get at least dedicated sentences of cheers.

All of the actors not only nailed their character, sang strongly, and moved flawlessly, but they were nuanced. The boisterous, show-stopping songs were made to serve the story and weren’t ends in themselves.

Director Bill Rauch has to be honored for creating this showcase of meaning and talent. In-your-face, rich subtitly is a neat trick. I’ve already applauded Music Director Daniel Gary Busby, but you really cannot cheer too much for what he’s done. Scenic Director Sibyl Wickersheimer created a set that gave us everything from a cramped bunk room to a wide-open territorial fairgrounds… all right in front of us. Ann Yee, choreographer, made the movements lively, showy, but natural. The costumes by Linda Roethke ranged from beautiful to appropriately scruffy, and they well reflected the gender expression of each character. In short, the crafts were excellent.

OSF’s Oklahoma is an artistic masterpiece. The creative team envisioned a very ambitious concept and devised a structure that honored the traditional show while living in the 2018 social landscape. Then they delivered the whole package excruciating well.

Play rating:

By Galen|2018-07-15T09:56:21-07:00July 15, 2018|osf, plays|1 Comment