Upcoming Plays - December

At the Hartford Stage, Hartford, Connecticut: “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, adapted and directed by Michael Wilson. Runs through December 31st, 2010

At the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Center for the Arts, Old Saybrook, Connecticut: The National Theatre of London presents “Hamlet” December 9th.

“Nicholas Hytner, the National's artistic director, crafts a Hamlet for our time with Rory Kinnear, son of the late comic actor Roy, as an everyman melancholy Dane. A Hamlet for the Whatever generation, Kinnear's ‘performance is superb in its resonance and intelligence’- Libby Purves, The Times He's a ‘thrilling Hamlet in a hoodie’ - Charles Spencer, The Daily Telegraph. Come see what the British critics are raving about. Simulcast from the National Theatre of London.”

At the Merrimack Repertory Theater, Lowell, Massachusetts, “Beasley's Christmas Party”, adapted by C.W. Munger, from the story by Booth Tarkington. Runs through December 19th.

“From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Magnificent Ambersons comes this story of a curious journalist and his extremely eccentric next door neighbor who is planning a most unusual Christmas party. Magically and imaginatively delivered, it is a distinctly American and spiritually uplifting holiday story for the whole family filled with humor, heart and hope.”

The Portland Stage, Portland, Maine is also performing Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” December 3rd through 24th.

“Travel back in time to Victorian England where ghosts, time travel, and memories help a cold and lonely old miser regain his heart. Our adaptation remains remarkably true to Dickens' original book. Dickens' story seems best told in his words, allowing audiences to hear the richness of his language, and to experience the story of Scrooge's encounters with the spirits of past, present, and yet-to-come in the way that the author intended.”

The Shubert Theater of New Haven, Connecticut presents “Sister’s Christmas Catechism” December 3rd through 5th.

“The Mystery of the Magi's Gold…

“It's "Forensic Files goes to Bethlehem" in this holiday mystery extravaganza, from the author of Late Nite Catechism, as Sister takes on the mystery that has intrigued historians throughout the ages - whatever happened to the Magi's gold? ("We know that Mary used the frankincense and myrrh as a sort of potpourri - they were in a barn after all.")

Retelling the story of the nativity, as only Sister can, this hilarious holiday production is bound to become a yearly classic. Employing her own scientific tools, assisted by a local choir as well as a gaggle of audience members, Sister creates a living nativity unlike any you've ever seen. With gifts galore and bundles of laughs, Sister's Christmas Catechism is sure to become the newest addition to your holiday traditions.”

"Finian's Rainbow" at the Ivoryton Playhouse

Go see a play or musical at the Ivoryton Playhouse in Ivoryton, Connecticut.

What follows is a review of their recent production of the musical “Finian’s Rainbow”, but the upshot is: go to the Ivoryton Playhouse. You will be delighted. You will likely even be amazed.

To be sure, New England summer theatre has its own particular charm, as I’ve stated often enough, I suppose, in this blog. Upon entering the Ivoryton Playhouse with its worn wooden floors, its simple seating chairs, and the rustic quality that is genuine, borne of decades, and not manufactured to be retro and decorative, one might lower one’s expectations for a performance that is, like the theater, serviceable, and good enough.

On the contrary. The show was as good as any I’ve ever seen in any theater, including Broadway, and better than most of them. It may be that the simple and whimsical nature of this show, “Finian’s Rainbow”, about a rascally Irish immigrant and his daughter, and a buffoonish leprechaun, and a flock of good-hearted villagers seeking redress from the local villain lends itself beautifully to this small-town theater.

Certainly, the minimalist and somewhat cartoonish set designed by Tony Andrea implies that we are required from the outset to suspend disbelief. However, the creative scrim effect and the lighting brings a poignant “reality” to the fairy tale, the way an impressionistic painting makes us recognize what we already know and wonder about what we had missed.

Another terrific illusion is created by the effect of the dual pianos in the pit, which give a richness that makes a larger combo or orchestra surprisingly unnecessary. The fabulous voices fill in the rest.

R. Bruce Connelly (whom your children will probably not recognize out of his costume as Barkley the dog on Sesame Street), is delightful as the rogue Finian, who steals a leprechaun’s pot of gold to put into action his own unique theory of economics.

Kathleen Mulready plays his feisty daughter, Sharon. She has a beautiful singing voice, with comedic timing that makes her at times appear as roguish as her troublesome father. She is well-matched with John Rochette, who plays Woody, the villager’s hero and best hope for defeating their oppressors. With his masterful baritone and striking good looks, Rochette’s scenes with Ms. Mulready, particularly during the number “Old Devil Moon” are sensual and moving.

Michael Nathanson is hysterical as Og the leprechaun, and Patryce Williams as one of the townsfolk steals the show in her featured number “Necessity.” Both these actors give strong, likable performances that fairly leap off the stage. The rest of the leaping is left to dancer Tessa Grunwald as Susan the Silent, who expresses herself wistfully in ballet.

Larry Lewis likewise plays a memorable Senator Billboard Rawkins, the villain of the piece who, after a little magic, has a change of heart. One note about Jamison Daniels, who plays the Sheriff when he’s not doubling as one of the townspeople: that high-pitched whine he uses as the sheriff that sounds like a teenaged boy’s voice changing is a hoot.

Costumes by Pam Puente, are evocative of the lazy summertime small town South, though Sharon’s dress stands out from the garden of small print dresses and aprons on the other ladies by its colorful stripes suggesting a rainbow.

The entire cast, including a good-sized ensemble, sings together with terrifically tight harmony and vocal precision. And the voices are beautiful. Director Julia Kiley and musical director John S. DeNicola are to be commended, as well as choreographer Schuyler Beeman for the cohesion in this production. It is fine-tuned and glorious to behold.

This is why I say this production is as good or better than others I’ve seen. There is always something overdone or underdone, even if in a small way, that happens in many theatre productions. Not this time. There’s nothing slipshod, uneven or out of place about this show.

There is a façade of simplicity, even nostalgia that remains and beguiles. Perhaps it is because there is not a lot of technical trickery, bells and whistles or eye candy to distract, thereby letting the pure and undiluted talent stand on its own merit. This is after all, summer theatre in a small town.

Perhaps it is because this show innocently harkens back to a time when tobacco was a time-honored crop and the dangers of its use in smoking were if not unknown, were at least not discussed. This production slings a modern-day joke into the dialogue, and thereby a connection to modern sensibilities, by having the townsfolk hack in a hearty community cough when discussing their treasured tobacco crop, on which they pin their hopes for economic independence.

Perhaps it is because this show reflects a time when we innocently thought racism could be vanquished merely by standing up to it. There were also chuckles from the audience when the bigoted Senator moans, “Ever since my family came to this country, we’ve had trouble with immigrants.”

In today’s political climate when racial, ethnic, and religious bigotry can so strongly surface over an argument, particularity when that bigotry is being manipulated and exploited, we might wonder if an innocent show like “Finian’s Rainbow” is out of date.

Somehow, here at the Ivoryton Playhouse, it is not out of date. It is surprisingly relevant and provides a bond not only to our cultural past, but our theatrical heritage. A painted wooden stage. A little puff of smoke from dry ice. Lights up. Lights down.

On the walls, a gallery of 8 x 10 photographs of some of the famous actors who played here. There are a number of them; after all, plays were first produced here in 1930 (the building dates back to 1911). Some of these actors were already famous when they played here, summers ago. Some were newcomers, like young Katharine Hepburn, who appeared in several shows in the summer of 1931.

Go see a play or musical at the Ivoryton Playhouse. It’s not just theatre in the summer anymore, but a produces a year-round schedule of professional theatre. For more on the rest of the 2010 schedule, have a look at this website. “Finian’s Rainbow” runs until this Sunday, September 5th.

Upcoming Plays

Upcoming plays for September and October:

At the Barrington Stage in western Massachusetts:
“Freud's Last Session” is being extended September 23rd through October 4th. The play by Mark St. Germain is suggested by "The Question of God" by Dr. Armand M. Nicholi, Jr., directed by Tyler Marchant. After escaping the Nazis in Vienna, psychiatrist Dr. Sigmund Freud invites a young, little known professor, C.S. Lewis, to his home in London. Lewis expects to be called on the carpet for satirizing Freud in a recent book but the dying Freud has a more significant agenda. On the day England entered WW II, Freud and Lewis clash on the existence of God, love, sex and the meaning of life – only two weeks before Freud chose to take his own.

At Connecticut’s Goodspeed Opera House: “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” runs from September 25th through November 29th.

In Ivoryton, Connecticut, the Ivoryton Playhouse presents William Gibson’s classic “The Miracle Worker” September 23rd through October 11th.

At “The Kate”, the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook, Connecticut we have Shakespeare’s “All's Well That Ends Well” on October 1st.

The Legacy Theater Company of Saco, Maine presents “Run for Your Lives” October 9th through October 18th, a series of funny and poignant short works by David Ives, author of "All In The Timing"

The Portland Stage Company of Portland, Maine presents “Third” by Wendy Wasserstein, September 29th through October 18th. From their website: "A liberal university professor finds her seemingly well-ordered life as mother, friend, and daughter thrown into disarray when she accuses a conservative student of plagiarism. Full of the smart dialogue and easy wit that made her famous, Wasserstein's last play is a thoughtful examination of politics, family and the unconscious misconceptions that still divide America."

Hartford, Connecticut’s Bushnell presents Tony winners Roger Bart and Shuler Hensley reprising their roles in the first national tour of the musical “Young Frankenstein” October 6th through 11th, book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan, music & lyrics by Mel Brooks. Direction and Choreography by Susan Stroman.

Boston’s The Huntington is currently running August Wilson’s “Fences”, directed by Kenny Leon through October 11th.

The Ridgefield Theater Barn of Ridgefield, Connecticut is currently running “Beyond Therapy” by Christopher Durang, directed by Lester Colodny through October 3rd.

"This comedy/farce involves the unstable lives of two New Yorkers searching for a stable romantic relationship and the 'advice' they receive from their equally unstable psychiatrists. The line between neurosis and insanity blurs as complications....and comedy....inevitably follows."

Connecticut’s Westport Playhouse presents Jane Alexander and Stockard Channing in “The Breath of Life” by David Hare, directed by Mark Lamos September 29th through October 17th. On a small island off the coast of England, two women with a shared history meet for the first time. For twenty-five years, though strangers to one another, Frances and Madeleine were intimately connected in ways they’re only now beginning to understand. Over the course of a single night, as they confront the past, they finally come to terms with the choices they’ve made and the lives they’ve lived.

Opening of "The Kate"

A couple of days ago, a new theater opened, or re-opened we should say, in New England. We welcome the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center.

Located in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, the theater was once the town hall that opened in 1911, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

For many years the building was the home of the Musical and Dramatic Club, showed movies, and the Ivoryton Players moved here for a time during WWII. Ethel Barrymore trod the boards in 1935. By the 1950s, the town offices required more room and theatre was abandoned.

When the town offices moved to a new Town Hall, the historic building underwent, and is still undergoing, a most delightful transformation as the Town of Old Saybrook set upon creating a 250-seat theater, as well as a museum honoring Katharine Hepburn, their most famous resident.

Have a look at the link above and welcome the inaugural season of “The Kate.”