C O N N E C T I C U T
--- A R T S ---
C O N N E C T I O N

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Theater Review: Bell, Book & Candle -- Long Wharf

Michael Keyloun, Ruth Williamson and Kate MacCluggage. Photo: T. Charles Erickson
Bewitching Tale of Romance, Magic in 1950s Manhattan
By Lauren Yarger
Snap your fingers and you'll see Samantha, a witch married to mortal Darrin Stevens and trying to live life without witchcraft in the popular 1960s television sitcom "Betwitched." Twitch your nose, and travel back in time, and you'll see the inspiration for that: "Bell, Book and Candle," the 1958 motion picture starring Kim Novak, James Stewart and Jack Lemmon.

But before all that was the original 1950 stage play by John Van Druten that inspired it all. Directed by Hartford Stage's new Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak, the comedy gets a modern-day run at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, then moves on to co-producer Hartford Stage.

A bewitchingly beautiful Kate MacCluggage plays Gillian Holroyd, a witch who sets her sights on mortal Shepherd Henderson (Robert Eli) who lives upstairs from her red-swathed, moonlit New York apartment (Alexander Dodge's set evokes a modern look for 1950, complete with a rotating circle won the floor onderfully lighted by Matthew Richards). Shep hardly notices Gillian, though, and after she discovers that he is engaged to her former college rival, she uses some magic to make him hers.

With the help of her cat (a statue with some sound effects), her warlock brother, Nicky (Michael Keyloun), and her witchy aunt Queenie (Ruth Williamson), Gillian casts a romantic spell that brings the two together romantically. How can he resist? MacCluggage exudes a sexy, cat-like charm and Fabio Toblini's classic period costumes (and an evening wrap that is to die for) create a breathtaking vision and Shep is bewitched.

In a further effort to please her editor lover, Gillian uses her powers to summon Sidney Redlitch (Gregor Paslawsky), an author who writes about closeted witches who live right under everyone's noses in New York City. Shep might just publlish his work, until Nicky's interference starts an otherwordly clash affecting everyone.

The dark comedy delves into subtle questions of family, loyalty and even homosexuality, a taboo topic for 1950, as Gillian decides whether she wants to be with Shep even if that isn't what he really wants.

Tresnjak does a good job of keeping the action interesting despite a fairly week three-act play that runs way too long at two and a half hours.

Catch this engaging production at Long Wharf's Stage I through April 1. Tickets at Long Wharf Theatre are $40-$70 and can be purchased by visiting http://www.longwharf.org.

The show moves to Hartford Stage April 5-29. Info at www.hartfordstage.org.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Lauren Yarger with playwright Alfred Uhry at the Mark Twain House. Photo: Jacques Lamarre)

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced
numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the 2000 Vermont
Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.”

Yarger trained for three years in the Broadway
League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Three-Day Training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway
run.

She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill
Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She writes reviews of Broadway and off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/. She
is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), CT Press Club's award winner of first place for web editing and second place in feature writing for the web in 2012.

She is a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com and is a theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer. She previously served as Connecticut theater editor
for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web. Yarger is a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly and freelances for other sites. She is a member of the National Book Critics Circle.

She is a freelance writer and playwright and member of The Drama Desk, The Outer Critics Circle, The American Theater Critics Association and The League of Professional Theatre Women. She served as a judge for the SDX Awards presented
by the Society of Professional Journalists. She also is a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle (awards committee).

A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts,
the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Blog Archive

Copyright Notice

All contents are copyrighted © Lauren Yarger 2009, 2010, 2011.,2012, 2013 All rights reserved.