Theater Review: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum -- CT Repertory

Steven Hayes (Pseudolus, Center) with Bradford Scobie (Hysterium, laying down) and Colby Lewis (Miles Gloriosus). Photo: Gerry Goodstein.

A Funny Thing Happens: Good Performances Make a Tired Show Worth Watching
By Lauren Yarger
With its sexist plot, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is one of those shows that probably was a riot in 1962, but seems like something is lacking when presented a half century later – until the CT Repertory version running as part of the Nutmeg Summer Series. This one, thanks to some solid performances, is funny again.

Director Vincent J. Cardinal taps Steven Hayes (last year’s Modern Major General The Pirates of Penzance and the barber in Man of La Mancha at CRT) as Pseudolus, a Roman slave who tries to win his freedom by helping his young master, Hero (Adam Maggio), win the love of Philia (Amandina Altomare), a beautiful courtesan from the house of Lycus (Tim Murray), next door. That love is forbidden by Hero’s mother, Domina (Ariana Shore), and his father, Senex (Dirk Lumbard), when his domineering wife allows him to get a word in edgewise, that is.

Sounding like a mix of Zero Mostel (who originated the role of Pseudolus on Broadway) and the animated character Snagglepuss, Hayes leads the cast through mistaken identity, farcical slamming doors and the Stephen Sondheim score which gave us the classic “A Comedy Tonight,” which arguably, is the only memorable tune (lyrics and book are by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart). He enlists the aid of head slave Hysterium (an over-the-top, guffaw-inducing Bradford Scobie) in his scheme.

Hero promises to free Pseudolus if he can get Philia for him, so the slave tells Lycus that Philia has the plague. He offers to keep her next door so she doesn’t infect the other women in the house of ill repute: Vibrata (Briana Maia), Panacea (Annie Wallace), Tintinabua (Madelyn Shaffer), twins Geninae 1 and 2 (Claire and Alanna Saunders) and Gymnasia (played by male James Jelkin – are there no jacked women actresses?).

When Senex returns unexpectedly, however, Philia mistakes him for her new owner, Captain Miles Gloriosus (Colby Lewis), who paid Lycus good money for a virgin bride. She is willing to honor the contract and offers to give him her body, if not her heart, which belongs to Hero. Added to this is the story of another neighbor, Erronius (Brandon Beaver), who returns home after years of searching for his two babies stolen by pirates. Meanwhile, Domina also shows up unexpectedly, in disguise, to spy on her husband, whom she suspects of infidelity. The looks she gives are priceless.

The four Equity performers (Hayes, Lumbard, Shore and Scobie) anchor the performance and display good comic chops all around, adding a much needed boost to the show, which on its own, isn’t funny in 2013 when women’s rights and sex trafficking aren’t things to be laughed at (book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart).

A tip of the hate also goes to Costume Designer Lisa Loen who dresses the courtesans in appropriate, but not too revealing, get ups. Some productions add to the sexism by dressing the actresses in next to nothing in modern day selling of women’s bodies to increase ticket sales). Also shining here is third-year graduate actor Lewis, whose use of facial expression and intonation create a memorably pompous, egotistical and humorous Gloriosus.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum plays through June 30 in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, on the UConn Storrs Campus: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 pm; Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm; Saturday and Sunday at 2 pm. Tickets $10-$45: (860) 486-2113; www.crt.uconn.edu.

Get Hints for Household Problems from Heloise

Dog smell on the sofa? Dusty plasma screen on the smart phone? A strange growing blemish on the taffeta? (And what exactly is taffeta, anyway?)

Send in your questions, and Heloise, the maven of household hints, might be able to answer them when she appears at The Mark Twain House & Museum this Thursday, June 27.

Tickets are still available for "Hints from Heloise," presented by The Friends of The Mark Twain House & Museum. The event begins at 7 pm and will conclude with a dessert reception, book sale, and booksigning. Tickets are $40 for the general public and $35 for Mark Twain House & Museum members. Call 860-280-3130.

Following in the footsteps of her mother, the original "Hints" provider, Heloise has dished out sage advice ranging from how to remove stains to how to jump out of planes.  Her books include "Household Hints for Singles," "Heloise from A to Z" and "In the Kitchen with Heloise." Her new book, "Handy Household Hints from Heloise," will be released in trade paperback on Aug. 31.

 

Heloise will be introduced by Brini Maxwell, whose show on the Style Network makes kitsch feel classy through her personal flair for home design and entertaining.

Theater Review: Stuck Elevator -- New Haven Festival of Arts & Ideas

Photo: Kevin Berne

The American Dream, Immigration Woes, Super Heroes Converge in a Stuck Elevator
By Lauren Yarger
How many people can you fit comfortably in one elevator? If you have great musical and storytelling ability, like composer Byron Au Yong and librettist Aaron Jafferis, creators of Stuck Elevator, playing at Long Wharf Theatre as part of the New Haven Festival of Arts and Ideas, the answer is quite a few.

They tell the story (based on a true one) of Guang (Julius Ahn), an illegal immigrant who gets stuck in a Bronx elevator for 81 hours while making deliveries for the Happy Dragon Chinese Restaurant. 

Something goes wrong after Guang pushes the button in the elevator (designed by Daniel Ostling in open-frame fashion) on Friday at 6:55 pm. A series of noises and flashing lights leave the elevator disabled and Guang, too afraid to use the emergency call button which will summon police who might question his documentation, waits patiently for a repairman to come and let him go (sound and design by Mikhail Fiksel; Ted Boyce-Smith is credited as associate lighting designer). No one realizes he’s in the elevator, however, and he remains trapped until early Tuesday morning.

As minutes turn to hours, Guang finds ways to occupy the time and divert his thoughts from the fact that he only has a few packets of soy, duck and sweet-and-sour sauce and a fortune cookie to eat and that there is nowhere to relieve himself. The fortune’s cookie’s message comes true: “You will soon be aware of your growing awareness.”

He thinks about his wife, Ming (Marie-France Arcilla), and son (Raymond Lee) back home in China. It has been two years since he left them in search of a better life in America with his nephew (also Lee), hidden in a container aboard a ship. He still owes $80,000 to the criminal who smuggled them in, and every hour away from his takeout deliveries means money lost in tips. It also means lost revenue for the restaurant, and the Boss’s wife (played by male Francis Jue) can be less than sympathetic. She once required him to pay back $200 taken when he was mugged at knifepoint.

As hours turn to days, Guang keeps telling himself things could be worse. He remembers his loved ones and incidents from his life. He is “visited” by these folks, along with co-worker and fellow illegal immigrant Marco (Joel Perez), to whom Guang now regrets selling the cell phone which might have allowed him to call for help. His thoughts sustain him, but also reveal how he is consumed by the need for money to pay off his debts and an overwhelming sense that he is letting everyone down and losing face.

The story is compelling and richly directed by Chay Yew. Yong’s hybrid score is entertaining and melodic, sung by exceptional voices. Korean-American tenor Ahn reprises this role from Stuck Elevator’s world premiere at American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco (a workshop version was performed at Festival 2010 as part of the Yale Institute for Music Theatre). Music described as “comic-rap-scrap metal” might cause doubt, but opera and rap seem as natural here as soy sauce with fried rice.

New Haven native Jafferis’ book is seasoned with humor. At one point, as Guang begins to hallucinate, he imagines a contest between super-hero “Takeout Man” and “Otis, the Elevator,” a robotic, elevator monster (creatively costumed by designer Myung Hew Cho). There are some moments of confusion, however – why did Guang get into the elevator to make a takeout delivery without any food, for example, and at one point, from the action, I thought he already had been freed from the elevator only to discover that he was still in there.

The show also could use some trimming (it seemed a little long even at just 80 minutes with no intermission), but when we realize that for every minute on stage, the real takeout delivery man spent an hour trapped in that elevator, this is a minor complaint. This unique and absorbing presentation stays with you after you leave the theater. It will remind you to be grateful for the freedoms we have in this country the next time you call for Chinese takeout.

Stuck Elevator runs at Long Wharf Theatre Stage II, 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven through June 29. Performances: 8 pm on June 25, 27, 28; 2pm and 8 pm on June 26, 29.. Tickets $35-$55: (203) 787-4282; http://artidea.org/.

Workshop:

Un-Stuck Theater
with Aaron Jafferis
Thursday, June 27

10 am
Southern Connecticut State University
Lyman Center Mainstage Auditorium
501 Crescent St.

Theatre of the Oppressed is an interactive, physical and playful tool developed by Brazilian theatre maker Augusto Boal to un-stick ourselves from situations in which we are stuck. Inspired by themes from the musical Stuck Elevator, participants will use Boal-inspired games and exercises to chew on immigration, labor, Orange Beef, and other pressing issues.

Casting Set for O'Neill's Playwrights Conference

The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center has announced full casting for the 2013 National Playwrights Conference July 3 -27.

Featured actors include Tony Award winner and television star Frank Wood; Johanna Day, who earned a Tony Award nomination in David Auburn's Proof; and American Theatre Hall of Fame member and multiple Tony Award nominee Brian Murray.

Conference selections include:

The Solid Sand Below by Martín Zimmerman, public staged readings July 3 and 4, will feature Scott Drummond, Ryan King, Brian Quijada, Terrell Donnell Sledge, and Felix Solis.

Samsara by Lauren Yee, public staged readings July 5 and 6, will feature Mike Doyle, Daiva Deupree, Bhavesh Patel, Lipica Shah, and Phillip Taratula.

A Great Wilderness by Samuel D. Hunter, public staged readings July 10 and 11, will feature Johanna Day, Jon DeVries, Christine Estabrook, Aaron Simon Gross, Tasha Lawrence, and Brian Murray.

Little Children Dream of God by Jeff Augustin, public staged readings July 12 and 13, will feature Damien Bailey, Tina Benko, Jeremy Bobb, Duane Boutté, Ashley Bryant, Mateo Gomez, Jordan Mahome, and Angela Robinson.

The Oregon Trail by Bekah Brunstetter, public staged readings July 17 and 18, will feature Ronete Levenson, Emily Louise Perkins, Laura Ramadei, James Lloyd Reynolds, Alec Shaw, and Shayna Small.

All the Roads Home by Jen Silverman, public staged readings July 19 and 20, will feature Hannah Cabell, Christy Pusz, Makela Spielman, and Joe Tippett.

Evanston: A Rare Comedy by Michael Yates Crowley, public staged readings July 24 and 25, will feature Anna Margaret Hollyman, Eva Kaminsky, Ronete Levenson, Crystal Lucas-Perry, Kate McCluggage, James Lloyd Reynolds, and Will Rogers.

Lost Lake by David Auburn, public staged readings July 26 and 27, will feature Eisa Davis and Frank Wood.

Cast full biographies are available online.

All performances take place at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, 305 Great Neck Road, Waterford, CT 06385. Schedule is subject to change. Tickets for the National Playwrights Conference performances may be purchased online at www.theoneill.org or through the box office at (860) 443-1238.

Connecticut Arts Connections

ArtZfest-all arts festival throughout various venues in Thomaston continues today and includes: music, dance, theatre, art, children's activities, an opening parade and Scratch Mold Workshops with an Iron Pour. Info and schedule: http://www.artzfest.org/.


Pantochino Productions Inc has announced its 2013-2104 season.

• Porkenstein, based on the popular children’s book by author Kathryn Lasky. Oct. 19-27.
• The Great Cinnamon Bear Christmas Radio Show, based on a 1937 radio broadcast. Dec. 6 –29
• Pirate Schmirate March 21-30
• The Divine Sister by Charles Busch May 16-24 

Performances are at the Milford Center for the Arts. More info: www.pantochino.com.

Quick Hit Theater Review: The Show-Off -- Westport Playhouse

Jayne Houdyshell and Karl Baker Olson. Photo: Carol Rosegg

The Show-Off
By George Kelly
Directed by Nicholas Martin
Westport Country Playhouse

What's It All About?
A comedy/drama, one of the first in that genre by George Kelly, Princess Grace Kelly's brother. In three acts, it follows the Fisher family of North Philadelphia and its dynamics when one of the daughters, Amy (Clea Alsip) gets involves with a boorish show-off, Aubrey Piper (Will Rogers) whose obnoxious laugh and tall tales are an annoyance to the other family members: plain-speaking mom (Jayne Houdyshell), sensible, reliable sister Clara (Mia Brown)  and inventor brother Joe (Karl Baker Olson). Piper's lack of a work ethic and schemes keep landing him in trouble and Clara's husband, Frank (Robert Eli). keeps bailing him out. Nat DeWolf rounds out the ensemble as a co-worker of the family's father (not seen)

What are the Highlights?
Jayne Houdyshell in anything on stage is a highlight. This gifted actress is a director's dream, totally imbuing her character with depth and richness while showing off terrific comedic chops. She's one of theater's gems.

What are the Lowlights?
This sleepy 1924 play is kind of slow-going without much really happening. There's what one might call a twist at the end, but  hardly anything gripping.

Rogers is miscast as the brass know-it-all with an annoying laugh. All of it appears contrived, like he's working too hard to convince us that this character is natural. The take is not funny, just annoying for two hours and 40 minutes (with two intermissions).

The set designed by Alexander Dodge is lovely, but confusing. There is supposed to be a parlor on what looks like the other side of the front entrance to the house. Dialogue says one of the characters is going to the dining room when she exits through an unstage right door, but the dining room table and chairs are set downstage right....

More Information:
The Show-Off runs through June 29 at Westport Countyr Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, Westport. Performances are Tuesday at 8pm, Wednesday at 2 and 8 pm, Thursday and Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 3 and 8 pm and Sunday at 3 pm. Tickets start at $30: 203-227-4177; 1-888-927-7529; www.westportplayhouse.org.

O'Neill Theater Center Will Receive $3 Million for Construction

The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center has officially been granted $3 Million in bonding funds from the State of Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, allowing it to move forward with construction of housing and rehearsal facilities required to launch a new program in fall of 2014.

The National Music Theater Institute (NMTI) will serve as a new program of the existing National Theater Institute, which has been training undergraduates in a credit-bearing semester in dramatic theater since 1970. NMTI will offer a semester-away program in all areas of musical theater training for college undergraduates from the U.S. and abroad.

The expansion, the largest in the Center’s history, includes seven new dormitory cottages creating living spaces for 65 artists and faculty, a laundry building, a new rehearsal hall and the renovation of existing buildings into additional production and rehearsal space. The town of Waterford recently renewed the O’Neill’s lease for 60-years on its 305 Great Neck Road property, and has approved all construction permits clearing the way for a late summer ground breaking.

The National Music Theater Institute will be a unique program internationally, with comprehensive seven-day-a week-training in all areas of musical theater, including composition and playwriting, acting, voice, directing, choreography, music composition, and design.

For information about the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center or the National Music Theater Institute, please visit www.theoneill.org or call (860) 443.5378.

TheaterReview: Billy Elliot -- The Bushnell

Noah Parets (Billy) and Rich Hebert (Dad) Photo by Amy Boyle

Dreaming Big with Some Literal Leaps of Faith
By Lauren Yarger
A little boy has big dreams and takes some literal leaps of faith to achieve them in Billy Elliot, stopping on tour this week at the Bushnell in Hartford.

With music by Elton John and a book and lyrics by Lee Hall (who wrote the screenplay for the film on which this musical is based), the show won 10 Tony Awards, including best musical in 2009.

Billy (the role is shared by three actors, Drew Minard, Mitchell Tobin and 14-year-old Massachusetts native Noah Parets, whom I saw I on press night) tries to cope with his lonely existence in County Duram, England, just before the 1984 strike of the British National Union of Mineworkers. His beloved Mum (Molly Gardner), with whom he has imagined conversations, has died and his father (Rich Hebert) is distant. His elder brother, Tony (Cullen R. Titmas), is preoccupied with the union’s fight against the government and Prime Minister “Maggie” Thatcher and his senile Grandma (a funny Patti Perkins) keeps losing her pasties…

Billy and his best friend, Michael (Cameron Clifford and Jake Kitchin share the role), just don’t fit in where rough-and-tough, working-class miners expect certain behavior from men: Billy discovers a love for the ballet and Michael, who has feelings for Billy, likes to dress in girl’s clothing.

Ballet teacher Mrs, Wilkerson (Janet Dickinson) recognizes that Billy has a genuine gift and starts coaching him when he’s supposed to be taking the boxing lessons his father arranged. And where he has failed so miserably, the coach tells him “You’re a disgrace to your father.” She offers him support and tells Billy he can get in to the Royal Ballet Academy with the right audition.

When Dad finds out, he’s furious and forbids Billy from continuing with his dancing. But at the strike goes on (for almost a year), he starts to reconsider some of positions like taking work as a scab and what his wife might have wanted for Billy. As Billy imagines himself as an adult dancer (in a beautiful duet number with adult ballet dancer Maximilien A, Baud, choreographed by Peter Darling), the boy soars and his father, seeing him, decides to give his son a chance at fulfilling his dream. The mining community rallies around Billy as he goes off for his audition.

The choreography is the draw for this show. From ballet to tap, Billy and a huge ensemble of coal miners and ballet student girls dance up a storm. Most satisfying is “Angry Dance” where Billy’s frustrations are expressed. He literally hits a wall (depicted by crowd shields held by policemen battling the striking workers) and finds himself in a box. This is rock star John at his best. The rest of the score doesn’t really sound like him if you’re thinking Aida.

Directed by Stephen Daltry, Dickenson (displaying a ribald belt), Perkins (a hoot), Garner and Hebert all give strong performances. Parets dances well with steps performed with precision and technical skill if not all the heart we expect. The same could be said of the special effects: fog and fly rigging are used precisely, but they fail to make our spirits soar the way they did on the Broadway stage. It’s also hard to understand several of the kids who are trying very hard to do northern English accents. Entire lines of dialogue are lost.

Be warned: there is a lot of swearing and dialogue involving sexual terms and the theater suggests that this show might be unsuitable for children under the age of 8.

Billy Elliot plays through June 23 at the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. Performances: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays: 7:30 pm; Fridays and Saturdays: 8 pm; Saturdays at 2:30 pm; Sundays 1 and 6 pm Tickets $20-$95: (860) 987-5900; www.bushnell.org.

Theater Review: A Midsummer Night's Dream -- New Haven Festival of Arts & Ideas

Midsummer Night's Dream. Photo: Simon Annand

This Midsummer Night’s Dream Has Some Nightmarish Elements
By Lauren Yarger
You know that dream where you find yourself naked on a stage with everyone laughing at you? It’s an unfortunate reality for Miltos Yerolemou, the actor who plays Bottom in Bristol Old Vic’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream as part of New Haven’s International Festival of Ideas.

Director Tom Morris and the Handspring Puppet Company (the creative team which brought Joey, the War Horse to life on stage) have partnered for this new interpretation of William Shakespeare’s tale of fairy magic which includes puppetry and a literal transformation of Bottom into a talking ass.

To accomplish the effect, the designers (led by Vicki Mortimer) have created a mechanical devise on which Yerolemou can lie on his stomach on an incline while propelling himself around with hand pedals. His naked bottom, up in the air, becomes the head of the donkey. He bends his knees and costuming transforms his extended ankles and feet into the creature’s eyes and ears (Katerina Hicken, design). It gives new and unpleasant meaning to this portion of dialogue, spoken by Titania (Saskia Portway), tricked by the gods into loving Bottom:

Come, sit thee down upon this flowery bed,
While I thy amiable cheeks do coy,
And stick musk-roses in thy sleek smooth head,
And kiss thy fair large ears, my gentle joy.

 It’s too bad, because before realizing they were going for a literal interpretation of the talking ass, I was thinking this might be a great production to which kids could be introduced to Shakespeare (and there were a lot of youngsters in attendance.) Previously, small puppets had been used to depict the love triangle between Hermia (Akiya Henry), her betrothed, Demetrius (Kyle Lima) and her true love, Lysander (Alex Felton). When Hermia’s father, Egeus (also played by Yerolemou) insists that his daughter wed a man she doesn’t love, the imagery of his pulling their strings is clear, even if the puppets themselves don’t have any. 

The actors, dressed in casual attire similar to their puppets, manipulate them by hand and voice their lines, but also interact with each other. In scenes that show Morris’ directing ability, fairies flutter (some of them demonic in nature), a number of wooden planks are used to depict various settings, puppets and humans become one and Puck is created by three actors manipulating an oil can, a saw and a basket. It’s sheer magic, when we can see -- the haze effect is used to overkill and Philip Gladwell’s lighting design leaves us in the dark sometimes. The first part is quite enchanting, however, until everything “bottoms” out.

The tale, often upstaged by the craft going on, seems to go downhill after that and even the puppets aren’t used to advantage when they could be. The scene where Hermia thinks Lysander’s affections have been transferred to Helena (Naomi Cranston) because she is taller would be so much funnier if his line, “Get you gone, you dwarf,” were delivered to the diminutive puppet instead of to the actress, for example.

The pace seems to slow way down in the second act as well and the final play within the play lacks humor and purpose. The final two, very large puppets, seem awkward and unfinished. I kept wishing I could wake up from this dream which runs two hours and 45 minutes.

A highlight, however, is music by David Price. One song has accompaniment by the actors tapping on those versatile wooden planks. Just the sort of thing one might expect to hear if one stumbled upon a bunch of fairies having prankish fun on a midsummer’s night.

A Midsummer Night's Fream runs through June 23 at University Theater, 222 York St., New Haven: Performances 8pm, June 18-22; 2 pm June 33 and 23. Tickets www.artidea.org.

Augesen, Manganiello Hop Aboard Yale's Streetcar

René Augesen will play Blanche DuBois and Joe Manganiello will play Stanley Kowalski in Yale Rep's first-ever production of Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer-Prize-winning A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Mark Rucker.

The production opens Yale Rep’s 2013-14 season Sept. 20-Oct. 12 at the University Theatre, 222 York St., New Haven.

Augesen previously appeared at Yale Rep in The Beaux’ Stratagem and A Woman of No Importance. She was a core acting company member at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco for 12 seasons. As a 2011 Ten Chimneys Foundation Lunt-Fontanne Fellow, she was recognized for her extraordinary contributions to her community and to the overall quality of the American theatre. She is a graduate of Yale School of Drama.

Manganiello plays Alcide Herveaux on HBO’s "True Blood" and will appear alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sam Worthington in David Ayer’s film "Sabotage" in January. His other film and television credits: "Magic Mike," Peter Parker’s nemesis Flash Thompson in the "Spider-Man" trilogy "How I Met Your Mother," "One Tree Hill," "Two and a Half Men," "White Collar"  and "ER."

Yale Repertory Theatre offers a variety of subscription packages, starting at $30 per ticket for the general public and $10 for students: www.yalerep.org; (203) 432-1234; Box Office (1120 Chapel St.).Individual and group tickets for the entire season will go on sale on Sept. 3.