“Miracle on 34th Street the musical” at Ocean State Theater Company

By Richard Pacheco

            The musical version of “Miracle on 34^th Street” currently at the Ocean State Theatre is sheer family fun and a nostalgic delight, sparked by solid performances an fun staging. Based on the ever popular 1947 film, the book music and lyrics are by Meredith Wilson who also wrote “The Music Man” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” This was his third Broadway musical production, directed by Stuart Ostrow and choreographed by Michael Kidd, opened on October 3, 1963 at the Shubert Theatre, and closed on July 25, 1964 after 334 performances and 2 previews. The cast included Laurence Naismith, Janis Paige, Craig Stevens, Lisa Kirk, Fred Gwynne, Michael Bennett, and Baayork Lee. The original director, Norman Jewison, was replaced by Ostrow, the producer, during rehearsals. Originally the musical was called “Here’s Love,” not “Miracle on 34^th Street.” It’s not as good as Wilson’s other musicals, but certainly is pleasant and fun festive entertainment that will prove to be fun for the entire family, full of holiday sentiments and nostalgia.

            Adapting the film for stage created several problems, but this charming cast makes them less noticeable.

Susan Walker and her mother, Doris, live alone in New York in the 1960s. Doris works in an   Her Santa Claus ends up drunk and she encounters Kris Kringle and convinces him to be the store’s Santa. He is an absolute delight charming everyone he meets and leaving an impact on store and its employees. Susan meets an ex-marine named Fred Gaily, who takes it upon himself to rid her of her "realistic" outlook on life by taking her to see Santa Claus at Macy's. Kris (Santa) manages to win Susan over while attraction blooms between Fred and Doris. When Kris takes a mental test, the tester despises him and files for a civil commitment, claiming to be assaulted. The first act ends with Kris being arrested and taken into custody. The second act sees Kris appearing in the New York Supreme Court, with Fred helping him defend his sanity. In the conclusion, Fred uses the Post Office to prove to the court (and the world) that Santa Claus does exist: Kris Kringle is he.

executive position at Macy's and, at the start of the musical, is busy organizing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Richard Koons is Kris Kringle, yes, Santa Claus. Santa has lost his faith in the modern world and struggles to regain it and his place in the world. Koons is sheer fun, robust and jolly in the role. He charms and enchants with flair and zest. He is pure delight, with a strong singing voice and terrific stage presence. The song he does with Fred and the ensemble, “Here’s Love” is delightful fun.

Brigid Fitzgerald is charming as young Susan, a devout non-believer in Santa Claus or anything she cannot see, touch, taste, etc. due to her mother’s disenchantment with her father, with love, life and everything. She is pert and perky, convincing as skeptic and just as convincing in her transformation into believer at the hands of Kris Kringle and Fred, who likewise enchants her. Her duet with her mother is a delight.  She also shines in her duet with Fred, “My Wish” and her duet with Kris, the reprise of “Pie Cones and Holly Berries.”

Megan Wheeler is Doris, Susan’s mother a woman disappointed in love and she feels life, making her a skeptic and somewhat cynical which she passes on to her daughter continually, only believe what you can see or touch, not in imagination or anything like it. Wheeler is excellent in the role, full of zest, a woman with power at work and afraid to be vulnerable in her personal life, to surrender that kind of control she maintains at work. She is deftly convincing conveying both aspects of her personality, both in control and vulnerable. She shows her voice off to good effect in songs like her duet with Susan and “You Don’t Know.” She shines again with the reprise of “Look Little Girl.”

Jeffery Funaro is recently retired marine, turned attorney Fred Gaily. He is a man who is sentimental and nostalgic in many ways.  Funaro is charming in the role, easy going and friendly, very appealing. He is excellent in his duet with Susan, “My Wish” and later in his solo, “Look Little Girl.”

Matt Dasilva is Doris’ assistant, Shellhammer,  a man quick to try and endear himself to his superiors no matter what it takes. He will alter course at the slightest provocation, providing that comes from one of his bosses, he will do it in a flash. Desilva is enjoyable in the role, full of energy and determination as Shellhammer.

Mark S. Cartier is R. H. Macy, a savvy and hard headed no nonsense businessman who owns Macy’s and is willing to do what it takes to put his store on top and keep it there—even if it means making friends with Gimble’s. He shines with Doris, Shellhammer, Tammany and Judge Group in “My State.”

Daniel Larson is Judge Group who is sitting on the controversial hearing about Kris Kringle, caught between a rock and a hard place, forced to not only judge on whether Kris is sane, but whether there is a Santa Claus. He is funny when he tries to squirm to get out of his tight spot and save himself and his future election as judge by deciding on whether there is a real Santa Claus.

It’s a large and energetic cast, filled with both children and adults having a merry ole time. There are many ensemble numbers that are loads of fun like “The Big Ca-lown Balloons” at the beginning and “That Man Over There” at the end in both the courtroom scene with Macy and its reprise.  The dancing was effective and fun, but nothing spectacular.

It is ironic that the most memorable song, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” is not even listed in the program considering it has become a holiday standard. It is sung in counterpoint to "Pinecones and Holly Berries." In the second act there is a song that is a direct steal from the “Music Man’ score “She Hadda Go Back” which sounds a lot like “Ya Got Trouble” from “Music Man.”

Director and choreographer Barbara Hartwig delivers a charming production, full of fun and finesse, loaded with nostalgia and seasonal cheer. Her choreography is vivid and effective, but not stunning.

Musical director Esther Zabinski is right on the mark with her orchestra and what she gets out of her singers, despite a mostly lack luster not memorable score like Wilson’s other musicals like “Music Man”.

Set designer Lisa Pegnato delivers a multifaceted set with some bold, effective touches that work transforming the stage from the parade route to a courtroom, and some apartments with nice touches.

While the musical is not as memorable as Wilson’s others, it is sheer holiday fun for the whole family, entertaining and pleasant, sure to evoke warm holiday thoughts and feelings all around, in generous abundance.

“Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” at Trinity Rep

by Richard Pacheco

            Trinity Rep’s New England Premiere of Christopher Durang’s “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” is hilarious fun, loaded with references to Chekhov and some raucous belly laughs, fun galore for all in an excellent production that sparkles with vivid acting a lavish set and keen direction.          

 “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” is a comedy by Christopher Durang. The play ran Off-Broadway in 2012 and then transferred to Broadway in 2013. The play won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play, 2013 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play, 2013 Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play, 2013 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play and Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best New Play. Several of the play's characters are named for the characters in plays by Anton Chekhov, and the play's setting in a cherry orchard and the possible loss of the family home are also from Chekhov works. It was commissioned by the McCarter Theatre, Princeton, New Jersey in association with the Lincoln Center Theater. 

          The characters or the main ones at least are named after characters from Chekhov’s plays because the two parents were professors who “dabbled in community theater.” Even the theme of possibly losing the family home comes from the Russian playwright. They live in the family home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Vanya and Sonia have not had to grow up. They live in the house they were raised in and have inherited, after spending their adulthood looking after their now-dead parents. Masha the now fading actress has provided the money for them to live and keep up the house   , including giving them a monthly stipend to live. Vanya is gay, Sonia constantly reminders everyone that she is adopted and Masha refuses to accept her acting career is taking another direction from leading ladies to grandmother roles despite everything she can don including taking a younger lover after her five marriages have failed.

Vanya and Sonia sit around trapped in stasis particularly since their parents died and complain like the Chekhov characters, lamenting their place in life. Things get stirred up when Masha returns to the house for a costume party with her young actor lover. Masha is an endless litany of insecurities and often self created drama. Spike, her lover is as handsome as them come and as dumb. He is more of an aspiring actor than actor with his biggest near miss being missing a role, despite a call back for a new series, “Entourage II.” Masha insists that all those going with her to the costume party reflect aspects of her Disney versions of Snow White. Sonia rebels and decides to take her own path. It all goes to hell with repercussions the morning after the party.

Brian McEleney is Vanya, who has never lived as a adult and finds deep within himself stirring and yearnings for other, better things. McEleney is a comic treasure as the laid back Vanya, who can evoke laughter from the simplest comment or gesture. Some of the quiet moments between him and Duclos are downright riotous with impeccable comic timing and confident finesse.

Janice Duclos is Sonia, the woman who perpetually reminds everyone that she is an orphan and they she took care of their parents in their Alzheimer tinged ends. Duclos is hilarious and the wallflower with moping misery and insecurity at having never really lived beyond the house. Her shifts between the manic and the nearly catatonic are masterful and side-splitting.

Phyllis Kay is Masha a twisted concoction of insecurities if ever there was one and consummate drama queen. When there is a way to lament something occurring, Masha finds it and plays it for all it’s worth. Kay is sheer delight as the crunched insecurities erupt with at times random provocation and always to a heated boil that is always hilarious and amusing.

Mark Larson is Spike, a young, good looking, totally dumb and self-absorbed actor and Masha’s lover. Larson is excellent as the aspiring actor with more pectorals than brains. He struts about with wild abandon and outrageous exaggeration to great effect. Larson is a comic pleasure as the egomaniacal wannabe actor with more body than brains.

Tanela Large is the housekeeper, Cassandra, who, like the Cassandra of Greek mythology is blessed with the gift of prophecy and likewise the curse of having no on believe whatever she says no matter how accurate. Her prophetic rantings and dabbling with voodoo are riotous. Her gestures and gyrations when dealing with each new prophecy are uproarious.

Sylvia Kates is Nina, the young aspiring actress from next door, visiting her aunt and uncle whom Spike meets on the beach and invites to the costume party. She is sweet an innocent if somewhat dippy and a bit of a flower child type. Kates is delicious in the role, making the most of innocence and naiveté with style and conviction that is appealing and enticigin.

Director Curt Columbus delivers a solid, keenly directed set of performances from his cast. He shows real finesse with the often absurd humor and also with some touching moments, making them all fit seamlessly together. It is a wonderful production, full of spirit, style and flippant comedy that always hits the mark.

The set design by Michael McGarty is magnificent, rich in details and giving a sense of vastness and opulence, truly evoking a lavish country house.

It will be presented again at Trinity Rep until Dec. 22. For tickets, call the box office at 401-351-4242, or go to the website at http://www.trinityrep.com

“Henry Flamethrower” at Your Theatre

by Richard Pacheco

Your Theatre’s current production of “Henry Flamethrower” is smart, vivid, well acted. Inspired by real-life events, “Henry Flamethrower” tells the story of sixteen-year-old Henry, a confused and emotionally isolated young man who writes letters to the devil, unbeknownst to his deeply religious father, Peter. Henry's younger sister, Lilja, lies silent in a coma from a mysterious childhood accident in the family swimming pool. For a number of years, Lilja has been visited by miracles, and the sick have flocked to this silent child's bedside, claiming their prayers for healing have been answered in her presence. When Beth, a reporter, arrives to do a story about Lilja and her miracles, Henry confesses that he plans to disconnect Lilja's breathing ventilator and allow her to die. Beth must then decide whether she should expose Henry's plan and must confront her own assumptions about faith, spirituality and the intrinsic value of human life.

It was written by John Belluso (November 13, 1969 – February 10, 2006) was an American playwright best known for his works focusing on the lives of disabled people. He also directed a writing program for disabled people. Born in Warwick, Rhode Island, he began using a wheelchair at the age of 13 due to a bone disease, Camurati-Engelmann syndrome. He completed both Bachelors and Masters degrees at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Dramatic Writing program.

Nancy Leary is Beth Parker, a reporter for NPR. She is determined to write the truth about the miracles supposedly occurring because of the comatose Lilja. She is pleasant, but intense in her quest. She will not be turned back no matter what resistance she might encounter. But might there be more that simply meets the eye, perhaps another even darker motive that the simple quest for truth. Leary is top notch in the role, delivering a performance that is charming and shows an emotional resonance an depth to it that is engaging.

Robert Duquette is Peter Rhamelower, a man trying to deal not only with the death of his wife, but the tragic accident of his daughter which left the lovely child in a coma, yet somehow evoking miracles for those ill who come to see her. Rhamlower is a man beset by conflicts in his entire life. He struggles to deal with the tragic accident of his daughter and why his son said nothing, though he was with her by the pool for twenty minutes. He is both perplexed and at odds with his daughter’s ability to provoke miracles and having a tough time coming to terms with religion as he knew it and as he now knows it to be. Duquette is wonderful in the role, an excellent mix of pained and confident, frightened and self assured.

Benjamin Wilkie is Henry Rhamelower, that is Henry Flamethrower, the brother who watched silently as his sister floated in a pool for twenty minutes without calling out an alarm. He is a dark deeply troubled boy with all kinds of murky and sinister visions of the devil and evil. Is he evil or just confused and battling internal demons to come to terms with his life as he knows it and with the attention his sister draws to herself and her miracles? Wilkie is first-rate in the role, a deft mix of darkness and youthful arrogance and rebelliousness.  He is very believable in his conflicts between the aspects of his nature, light and darkness.

Stephen R. Kay directs this three person cast with a discrete touch, at once brooding and crystal clear, a mixture of the wonder of miracles, real or not and conforming those kinds of events in ordinary life.

The set by Mark P. Fuller is right on target with its multiple levels, a living room, a foyer and an entrance to upstairs all of which work very well.

The play moves forward with energy and verve, driven by an excellent cast that makes the most of the complexities they are dealt.

It will be presented at Your Theatre, 136 Rivet Street, New Bedford, MA until Nov. 24. Tickets $15 all performances.

“Good People” at the Gamm Theatre

by Richard Pacheco

“Good People,” currently at the Gamm Theatre, is a 2011 play by David Lindsay-Abaire. The world premiere was staged by the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York City. The production was nominated for two 2011 Tony Awards – Best Play and Best Leading Actress in a Play (Frances McDormand), with the latter winning. Abaire received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2007 for his play “Rabbit Hole”, which also earned several Tony Award nominations. The production at the Gamm shines with an excellent cast, with solid direction and a simply fascinating play.

The show began previews on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on February 8, 2011, and opened on March 3. “Good People” was directed by Daniel J. Sullivan and starred Frances McDormand as Margie and Tate Donovan as Mike. Other cast members were Becky Ann Baker as Jean, Patrick Carroll as Stevie, Estelle Parsons as Dottie, and Renée Elise Goldsberry as Kate The creative team included sets by John Lee Beatty, costumes by David Zinn, and lighting by Pat Collins.The limited engagement run concluded on May 29, 2011, after 101 regular performances and 27 previews.^[

It is Southie, where playwright Abaire grew up and the class battle is about to begin between a still trapped in Southie single mom and ”Dr. Mike” the lace curtain Irish man who worked his way out to a bigger and brighter lifestyle and greater success. Margie Walsh is a single mom with a severely disabled daughter and she loses her job at a South Boston Dollar store. At the prompting of her lifelong friend, she seeks out her high school boyfriend, now highly successful for a new job. He is light years away from Southie now in the carefully manicured lawns of Chestnut Hill. It all takes on a darker twist when she realizes that a secret from their past might prove a powerful weapon in her quest for success.

Jeanine Kane is Margaret, a woman devoted to her severely disabled daughter, Joyce, supposedly born prematurely, and whose life is fraught with one disaster after another, the most recent, losing her job at the Dollar Store and the worst possible time. She is very much working class, stuck in her roots and never able to transcend them in any way, yet still determined to make a better life for herself and her daughter. They "are only a single paycheck away from desperate straits.” Kane is wonderful in the role, with a terrific accent and that is totally convincing and she exudes a sincerity that is inviting and appealing.

Margaret Melozzi is Margaret’s landlady, Dottie. Dottie is definitely working class and spends her time not just babysitting Margaret’s disabled daughter Joyce, but in making kitsch bunnies at night at home. Melozzi is very funny as Dottie, full of flair and energy, making a convincing performance.

Casey Seymour Kim is Margaret’s long time friend and bosom buddy, Jean, who has a harsh mouth and is totally blunt and outspoken about everything and everyone. Kim is marvelous as the gruff, no nonsense Jean, who gets to the heart of the matter without mincing words or worrying about hurting feelings. Yet she has a heart to her and is genuinely caring. Kim shows this off effectively, balancing the hard edge with the caring attentiveness with skill and style.

Bill Mootos is Dr. Mike, a man who worked himself out of his humble beginnings and now is finically very successful and relegates that earlier portion of his life to a dark dim corner of memory. Mootos is excellent in the role as a sincere man who has put his past behind him, but is in fact, a “good person” despite the difficulties it brings up in his current life. Mootos is sincere and effecting in the role. He has some great scenes with Margaret when they are verbally fencing. They are robust and riveting, full of sass and wit.

Mia Ellis is Kim, Dr. Mike’s younger African American wife, well educated and sophisticated she is very much aware of where she and her husband are in terms of social status and yet does not believe his tales of the hood and his beginnings. Ellis is poised and convincing in the role as someone aware of her status yet full of compassion for those less fortunate like Margaret.

Then there is Marc Dante Mancini as Stevie, Margaret’s former boss at the Dollar store who feels badly about having to fire her and the repercussions it reverberates in her life. He is kind hearted, but caught between a rock and a hard place with Margaret’s continual showing up late for work, with the bosses coming down on him for not coming down on her hard enough and now forcing him to fire her. Mancini is bright and earnest, truly heartfelt in the role, evoking convincingly his tribulation between his duty to his job to fire Margaret and his personal compassion to help her.

Rachel Walsh directs with a deft touch, balancing the comedy and touching moments with equal flair. She keeps it all on an even keel, bringing out the honest and sincerity of her performers.

Jessica Hill’s set design is imaginative and lovely. She makes it very versatile and flexible and it all works very well, from the Bingo parlor setting to the Dollar Store to the Chestnut Hill elegant home.

It is a compelling and intriguing production with a fascinating play lying underneath it all, propelled by solid and sensitive acting and strong direction.

At the Gamm Theatre through Dec.8. Tickets are $36 and $45, depending on the day and time. For tickets, call the box office at 401-723-4266 or gammtheatre.org

“Sons of the Prophet” at 2nd Story Theatre

by Richard Pacheco

            “Sons of the Prophet” is a play by Stephen Karam which is the second play in the downstairs theater at 2^nd Story and their second production this year. It is a comedy-drama about a Lebanese-American family and was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This production shines with solid acting, loads of humor and some touching moments all from pain and suffering. It is sheer delight.

“Sons of the Prophet” premiered in a production by Huntington Theatre Company in Boston in April and May 2011. Sons of the Prophet opened Off-Broadway at the Laura Pels Theatre on October 20, 2011 (after previews from September 28) and closed on January 1, 2012. This play was commissioned by the Roundabout Theatre Company. The play was directed by Peter DuBois and starred Yusef Bulos (Bill), Jonathan Louis Dent (Vin), Santino Fontana (Joseph), Chris Perfetti (Charles) and Joanna Gleason (Gloria). The play was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. and won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play, 2011-12.

Joseph is a 29 year old gay Lebanese man who ends up caretaker to his family after his father ends up in a hospital through a freak auto accident where he collides with  a stuff ed dear in the road, a prank by a high school student. The father later dies from a heart attack while in the hospital which leaves Joseph in charge of his younger (18 year old), also gay brother and increasingly ill uncle. Joseph, a former marathon runner is ever afflicted by increasingly strange ailments which continue to debilitate him. He is a distant relative to Kahlil Gibran, the world’s third largest selling poet after Shakespeare and Lao Tzu. The play is about how people endure the unendurable, manage to survive, in fact even thrive when faced with unfair and often cruel fate which brings them down. Joseph works for a crazy wealthy woman for the health insurance, who keeps trying to fix him into some kind of book project—she is a publisher—that ties in with Kahlil Gibran with his family of an undeniable realm of profit.

Jed Hancock-Brainerd is Joseph, a man beset by continual disasters in his life with no rhyme or reason. He is a man who every time he turn around some new disaster shows its face and takes it toll on him and his family. From the stuffed decoy deer his father hits on the road as the high school prank to his every increasing ever more strange illness taking their toll on his body to the complexities of his affair with a reporter, it all drags him down even further. Hancock-Brainerd delivers a wonderful performance, one with taut, dark humor and touching moments which move and effect. He is superb in the role. He is the emotional heart of this play.

Paul Faber is Joseph’s crazed boss, Gloria. Gloria, a publisher and book packager was run out of the publishing business in Manhattan when the Holocaust survivor memoir turned out to be fiction. She is frenetic and overly anxious, at times an out right nut case. Faber is a delight as the frenetic publisher, ready to fall apart at the seams whenever necessary, ready to intrude at all times and at all costs.

Andrew Iacovelli is the younger brother, Charles an extrovert who berates for dressing like a lesbian and he is very sardonic. Iacovelli is excellent as the wise cracking, extrovert.

Vince Petronio is Uncle Bill, who finds himself angry at what happened to his brother—the deer with the car incident—and his ever increasing illnesses which leave him more and more debilitated and weakened. Petronio is a pleasure as the every cranky, blunt and irascible uncle.

Charles Lafond is Timothy a reporter covering the freaky deer accident for local televisions news. He also turns out to be gay and ends up attracted to Joseph which adds a whole subplot to the play. He delivers a fine performance, sincere and convincing.

Nathan Goncalves is Vin the high school football star who is worried his prank might bring to an abrupt end his budding football career. He is adopted and this prank could throw his world into a shambles all around. Goncalves is fine in the role, believable and honest in the brief role.

Finally we come to Tray Gearing and Susan Bowen Powers who create the rest of the roles from Dr. Manor to tickets agents and board members for the meeting. They handle the small multiple roles with great versatility and conviction, fleshing it all out.

Wendy Overly directs it all with a keen eye to the humor often found in Gloria, Joseph and Bill. It all moves along with energy and zest, full of not only humor but touching moments as needed.

Set Designers Trevor Elliot and Moe Assaud are clever and resourceful in their set, making the most out of the least, having furniture do most of the work and smartly adding some fine touches like sayings from Gibran to emphasize it where needed.

Costume designer Jessie Darrelbadm does a fine and effective job with costumes.

It continues at 2^nd Story Theatre, downstairs until Nov. 24. 28 Market Street, Warren, RI in repertory. Tickets are $25 and under 21 for $20. 401-247-4200 or http://www.2ndstorytheatre.com/tixfaq.htm

Lombardi at Ocean State Theatre Company

By Richard Pacheco

The Ocean State Theatre Company’s production of “Lombardi” offers a lot of potential. “Lombardi” is a play by Eric Simonson, based on the book “When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi” by Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Maraniss. Simonson is an Academy Award winning writer. Vince Lombardi is a folklore sports hero, larger than life. This is the New England Premiere of the play. But the production ultimately falters and fails for a variety of reasons.

Simonson created an earlier version of the play entitled “Lombardi: The Only Thing”, which was produced in 2007 by the Madison Repertory Theatre at the Overture Center in Madison, Wisconsin. The play then had a successful run at the Next Act Theatre in Milwaukee in 2008. After some interest surfaced in a Lombardi play for Broadway, Simonson developed an entirely new play leaving only one five-minute scene from the original script. “Lombardi” officially premiered on Broadway at the Circle in the Square Theatre on October 21, 2010, after previews beginning on September 23.The creative team included direction by Thomas Kail, sets by David Korins, costumes by Paul Tazewell, and lighting by Howell Binkley. This production was produced by Tony Ponturo and Fran Kirmser. “Lombardi” closed on May 22, 2011, after 30 previews and 244 performances.

Lombardi as  pictured in the play, is a brash, self-absorbed, ill tempered, controlling and overbearing man obsessed with football at the loss of his humanity towards others whether wife, who is always drinking, or his players or the reporter who comes to do a story on him. Robert Jeradi is Lombardi, a man with focus on football and not much else. He is obsessed with the game almost to the exclusion of everything else in his life. Jeradi is on the mark as a loud, brash, bullying coach, typical of the era. He struts around with Lombardi’s energy and zest. Ultimately the character is unlikable, not the performance.

Joel Kipper is Michael a young reporter who shows up in Green Bay to do his dream story on one of his idols, Lombardi. He is energetic, full of youthful enthusiasm and conviction. He is determined to get the story of a lifetime for a sports writer of the era. Kipper is likeable and charming, full of youthful zest and focus. He is very sympathetic.

Jennifer Byrne is Marie, Lombardi’s wife. She is long suffering and drinks too much, usually has a martini in her hand and drains it swiftly before getting another. Yet she loves her husband even though he constantly yells at her and berates her, often telling her to “shut up Marie.” Byrne is winning as Marie, a woman of great patience, loyalty and stick-to-itiveness.  She is poised and restrained in the role, a woman who survives and loves with all her heart. It is very convincing.

Barthelemy Atsin is Dave Robinson pro football hall of famer and football player extrodinaire. Robinson is the player representative. Atsin is pleasant and amiable in the role, but ultimately not totally convincing as a football player.

Todd Berkich is Paul Hornung the pro football hall of fame running back. He is down to earth and no nonsense. He is hard drinking and plays off the field as hard as he plays on the field. Berkich is gruff and friendly in the role, making the most out of his party character and yet making him down to earth and a serious as well. Yet he too doesn’t quite carry off the football player thing convincingly.

Thomas Schario is Jim Taylor, the pro football hall of fame running back, who as a player is unhappy with the circumstances under which they play, including pay and free exhibition games, but doesn’t let it dampen his love for the game or his efforts. Schario is energetic and determined in the role, but not totally convincing as a football player.

Outside of not finding Lombardi a very sympathetic character despite a strong performance, other things bothered me about the production. For example, the football players did not move like football players. There is a certain carriage and gait football players have which was absent here and dented credibility. While there were strong performances by the three main roles, the play ultimately proved unsatisfying. While Lombardi’s accomplishments as a coach are undeniable he was not per this play a very likeable man.

Director Aimee Turner seems out of her league with this one, not really able to get what she needs out of her cast. While the performances from the three main characters are fairly solid, there seems to be something missing to evoke more empathy for Lombardi, which might indeed be firmly embedded in the play itself as well as the character.  After all the play didn’t even run a year on Broadway. There has to be some reason for that.

Kenneth Martin’s scenic design was simple and usually effective as he evoked the Lombardi living room with a few pieces of furniture. He used the same minimalist approach to the behind the football scenes as well. The only thing I found disturbing was in between scenes there was a very abstract pattern resembling stones cast high up which seemed to make no sense, had no rhyme or reason.

For me it was all ultimately unsatisfying despite some strong performances. I did not feel much for Lombardi, did not like him very much all the while respecting what he accomplished as a coach, but he seemed too much like a bully to me.

The production continues at Ocean State Theatre Company.

"Lombardi" (6 - 24 November)

OCEAN STATE THEATRE COMPANY

@ 1245 Jefferson Boulevard, WARWICK RI

1(401)921-6800

And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little at Theatre One

And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little at Theatre One

By Richard Pacheco

            Theatre One opens its 2013-2014 season with Paul Zindel’s “And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little” a dark comedy and sparked by a sassy cast with keen comic sensibilities and a robust energy that makes it all dark, often ferocious fun with moments which are touching as well. Paul Zindel wrote this play in the late 1960s. The show was first produced in 1967 in Los Angeles, but was not published until 1971 when the Dramatists Play Service in New York picked it up. On February 2, 1971, And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little made its Broadway debut. It ran for a total of 108 performances and was directed by Melvin Bernhardt. The original Broadway Cast included Julie Harris as Anna Reardon, Estelle Parsons as Catherine Reardon, Rae Allen as Fleur Stein, Bill Macy as Bob Stein, Nancy Marchand as Ceil Adams, Paul Lieber (in his Broadway debut)as Delivery Boy and Virginia Payne as Mrs. Petrano. Estelle Parsons was nominated for a Tony Award for her role as Catherine Reardon and Rae Allen won for her portrayal of Fleur Stein.

In 1964, he wrote The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, his first and most successful play. The play ran off-Broadway in 1970, and on Broadway in 1971, and he received the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work. It was also made into a 1972 movie by 20th Century Fox. This play is less well know except to theater aficionados.

This production, directed by Peg Saurman Holzemer, Theatre One’s artistic director moves along with some hilarious moments and a couple of small dead moments, but overall a sheer joy. The play explores the relationship between three very different sisters after the death of their mother in the early 1960s. Abandoned by their father in early childhood, Catherine, Ceil and Anna Reardon were raised in a small apartment by their mother. The three ladies become members of their local school community. Anna Reardon becomes a chemistry teacher, Catherine Reardon the assistant principal and Ceil (Reardon) Adams is the superintendent of schools.

The scene of the play is in the Reardon family apartment and the story begins after sisters Catherine and Anna Reardon are living following the death of their mother. Anna is suffering a severe nervous breakdown after several months of caring for her sick mother only to see her die. She has become a complete hypochondriac, obsessed with animals and rabies. She fervently believes she has had rabies, She is also on an extended break from school for allegedly molesting a male student. Catherine's reaction to both her mother's death and her sister's ailment has been to drink "a little". She is consistently drinking a variety of alcohol throughout the show. Ceil was absent from her family while her mother was suffering. Instead she ran off to marry her sister Catherine's boyfriend, Edward Adams.

Ceil has come to the Reardon home to coax Catherine into having Anna committed. Neither Anna nor Catherine is interested in anything their Ceil has to say.  In the midst of her craziness, Anna has become a militant vegetarian. They eat a vegetarian dinner and halfway through dinner, Fleur Stein invades the family conversation. Fleur works in guidance at Anna and Catherine's school, and brown nose Mrs. Adams in attempt to gain a better salary by getting her certificate to be a guidance counselor. She is very colorful and somewhat obnoxious, which her husband, Bob makes perfectly clear once he arrives. In fact Bob is very blunt and speaks his mind.

After a humorous, but often bitter evening, Ceil demands that Anna be locked up. Catherine refuses this demand, and Ceil essentially abandons the two women to take care of each other.

Kathy Bourne is delightful as Catherine, the sister who “drinks a little.” She is poised and energetic with a solid sense of comic timing and she delivers her lines with an offhand ease that makes it often hilarious. The way she whirls around with pithy remarks and martini glass firmly in hand are hilarious.

Director Peg Saurman Holzemer shows up as the kind of Avon lady, Mrs. Petrano, selling health and beauty products. She has a penchant for mispronouncing words and generally making a mess of the English language. This brief role ends up very funny as she wriggles in between her passionate desire to sell products while killing the language with tons of mispronunciations.

Susan Wing Markson is the very proper, well starched superintendent, Ceil, who is trying to take charge and run her sisters like she runs the schools she oversees. Markson is right on target as the somewhat haughty, a bit distant and overly confident Ceil. Markson is refined and astute in the role, keeping an air of distance between herself and her sisters. They might be the same blood, but not of the same mindset.

Sheila Kelleher is Anna, the somewhat crazed, vegetarian sister with the nervous breakdown and some scandalous behavior with a young boy. Kelleher delivers a fine performance, deftly balancing the more manic moments with a sometimes nearly catatonic glazed stare that is compelling.

Linda Merritt is Fleur, the wannabe guidance counselor who is more than a little bit eccentric and annoying to the endth degree.  Merritt delivers a very funny performance, managing to be truly funny while being obnoxious. One of the funniest scenes in the play is when she is seated at the table with Anna discussing why Anna doesn’t wear a crucifix anymore.

Rounding out the cast is the only male, Bruce Kaiser as Fleur’s husband, the down to earth tell it like I see it all, Bob Stein. Kaiser has a keen sense of comic timing that is sheer fun to watch. When he gets flustered with his wife and tells all  it is truly funny. Kaiser is energetic and determined as Bob, and he can’t wait to leave this asylum behind him no matter how much he wife wants to score points with the superintendent.

The set by Kevin Weston is excellent and deftly overcomes the space restrictions of the stage which is far wider than it is deep.  He makes shrewd use of space and is also the technical director as well.

“And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little” is a darkly funny play with a strong cast and good direction. And, yes, there are some touching moments there as well as wild and madcap antics. There are a couple of rough spots but it is mostly a wonderful comic treat.

It continues at Alley Theatre 133 Center Street Middleboro. Nov 8, 9, 15, 16 at 7:30pm Sunday Nov 17 at 2pm.  Tickets at the Door “Cash Only” Students & Seniors $15 Gen $18 Food Donations for the COA Senior Food Pantry accepted at all Performances. Info 1-617-840-1490

“Les Miserables” at Ocean State Theatre

by Richard Pacheco

            Ocean State Theatre’s first full season opener, “Les Miserables” is full of verve, passion and sheer talent in all the roles, well worth watching.  The musical, one of the world’s most popular, has won 8 Tony Awards and last year was made into a highly acclaimed movie nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning three. “Les Miserables", often known as “Les Miz” is a sung-through musical based on the novel of the same name by French poet and novelist Victor Hugo. It has music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, original French lyrics by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, with an English-language libretto by Herbert Kretzmer. Set in early 19th-century France, it is the story of Jean Valjean, a burly French peasant of abnormal strength and potentially violent nature, and his quest for redemption after serving nineteen years in jail for having stolen a loaf of bread for his starving sister's child. Valjean decides to break his parole and start his life anew after a kindly bishop inspires him to, but he is relentlessly tracked down by a police inspector named Javert. Along the way, Valjean and a slew of characters are swept into a revolutionary period in France, where a group of young idealists make their last stand at a street barricade.

            Originally released as a French-language concept album, the first musical-stage adaptation of “Les Misérables” was presented at a Paris sports arena, the Palais des Sports, in 1980. However, the first production closed after three months when the booking contract expired.

In 1983, about six months after producer Cameron Mackintosh had opened “Cats” on Broadway, he received a copy of the French concept album from director Peter Farago. Farago had been impressed by the work and asked Mackintosh to produce an English-language version of the show. Initially reluctant, Mackintosh eventually agreed. Mackintosh in conjunction with the Royal Shakespeare Company, assembled a production team to adapt the French musical for a British audience. After two years in development, the English-language version opened in London on 8 October 1985, by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican Centre, then the London home of the RSC. The success of the West End musical led to a Broadway production.

This production directed by Ocean State Artistic Director Amiee Turner is rich, vivid and memorable. At the end they received a well deserved standing ovation.

            Frederic S. Scheff is wonderful as Jean Valjean.  He is a solid presence, full of energy, passion and sincerity.  His dramatic tenor voice is superb, full of richness and subtlety. He delivers and deep performance full of nuance as he brings to life the character with the checkered past who must leave it all behind to achieve his salvation. Musically he shines in songs like “Soliloquy” and “Who am I?”

            Kevin B. McGlynn is his match as the relentless Javert, the police inspector who will not surrender his quarry no matter how many years or miles pass. His baritone bass voice is wonderful, rich and full of nuance, vivid and passionate. He shows it off to good  purpose in songs like “Stars” and Soliloquy”.

            Lindsie VanWinkle is Fantine, is the single mother of Cosette and fired from work in Valjean’s factory forced to become a prostitute to support her daughter who is left in the care of the conniving couple the Thenardiers. She is a delight with a lyric mezzo soprano voice that is superb. She evokes sympathy and compassion in her performance with skill and finesse.

            Meagan McNulty is the charming Cosette, grown and the ward of Valjean. She is a wonderful ingénue who plays the role with passion and style, full of grace. She has a wonderful soprano voice. Her duets with Marius are breathtaking and satisfying.

            Tommy Labanaris is Marius, the young student rebel who loves Cosette  He has a strong tenor voice, full of verve and energy. He shines in “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” and in his duet with Eponine,  “A Little Fall of Rain.” He is also excellent in his trio with Eponine and Cosette, “A Heart Full of Love.”

            Alyssa Gorgone, whom I last saw in “Legally Blonde” shines again in this role as the Thenardier’s daughter who grew up with Cosette for a while. She evokes an image of great strength and tenderness in the character, sweetly endearing but strong and passionate. Her mezzo-soprano voice is superb in songs like "On My Own" where she decides to stand by Marius even though he is in love with Cosette. Then there is the superb, “A Little Fall of Rain” when she is shot and dies.

Real life husband and wife JP Sarro and Nicole Paloma Sarro are delightful as the devious, conniving couple, Thenardier and Madame Thenardier. They show a real comic sensibility and assurance is their robust songs like “Master of the House” and later on in “Beggars at the Feast.” JP Sarro is deliciously nefarious in the scene where he robs the dead bodies and sings "Dog Eat Dog."

Laurel McMahon and Grace Truslow alternate as Young Cosette and Young Eponine. Laurel sings wonderfully in the haunting "Castle on a Cloud" where she dreams of escaping her miserable life.

Scott Guthrie as Enjolras, the leader of the students is winning in his performance. His tenor voice is wonderful in songs like “Red and Black” and “Do You Hear the People Sing,” is rich and sonorous sheer pleasure and robust singing. "Drink to Me of Days Gone By" is particularly telling and touching as he sings it just before the students die at the barricades.

Iain Yarbrough as Gavroche a young street urchin is pure delight, charming and full of energy. His solo "Little People" comes when he reveals Javert as a spy and it is excellent. He dies in a heart wrenching moment when he climbs beyond the barricades to retrieve ammunition for the rebels and is shot by an unseen sniper. Bobby Miller III plays Gavroche at alternating performances.

Director Amiee Tuner makes it all a wonderful experience with splashy direction particularly in the large musical numbers like the comic “Master of the House.” She handles the direction of the large scenes with finesse and skill.

Musical director John Jay Espino, who also conducts the fine six person orchestra, shines throughout with masterful musicians and getting strong vocal performances.

Costume Designer Brian Horton has delivered some superb costumes from elegant to raggedy and everything in between.

The set by Clifton Chadwick is clever and works well in its various transformations. The lighting design by Bob Siler works well and the sound design by Ryan P. McGinty is excellent.

The scope and breadth of the production are enchanting and richly emotional. Everything comes together in this production to make it thoroughly enjoyable on all levels.

"Les Miserables" (2 - 27 October)

OCEAN STATE THEATRE COMPANY

@ 1245 Jefferson Boulevard, WARWICK RI

1(401)921-6800

“Dancing at Lughnasa” at 2nd Story Theatre

by Richard Pacheco

“Dancing at Lughnasa”, currently at 2^nd Story Theatre upstairs, is a 1990 play by dramatist Brian Friel set in Ireland's County Donegal in August 1936 in the fictional town of Ballybeg. It is a memory play told from the point of view of the adult Michael Evans, the narrator, Chrissie Mundy's young, illegitimate son. He recounts the summer in his aunts' cottage when he was seven years old. The play depicts the late summer days when love briefly seems possible for three of the Mundy sisters (Chris, Rose, and Kate) and the family welcomes home the frail elder brother, who has returned from a life as a missionary in Africa. However, as the summer ends, the family foresees the sadness and economic privations under which they will suffer as all hopes fade. The play takes place in early August, around the festival of Lughnasadh, the Celtic harvest festival. The play describes a bitter harvest for the Mundy sisters, a time of reaping what has been sown. All the drama takes place within the sisters' cottage, with events outside being reported, either as they happen or as reminiscence.

The play was originally presented at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1990. It transferred to London's National Theatre in 1991, winning the Olivier Award for Best Play, and subsequently to Broadway where it won the Tony Award for Best Play as well as a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Play.

Kate is the eldest of the Mundy sisters and behaves as a Mother figure as a result. As a schoolteacher, she is the only wage-earner in the house, but her reputation as 'The Gander' in the schoolroom is seen to extend into the household. She is a fiercely devout Catholic, indicated by her distaste for the pagan practices at Lughnasa and Jack's loss of faith.  Rachel Morris delivers a telling and impressive performance as Kate, full of nuance and depth.

Maggie acts as the chief family homemaker. Throughout the play she is revealed as serving a deeper purpose as the "joker" of the family, defusing tensions as they arise. She cheekily challenges Kate's authority by calling her "Kitty", whilst being her confidant at the same time. Christina Wolfskehl handles the role with sass and spunk, full of energy and skill.

At 26 years old, Chris is the youngest of the Mundy sisters, and, like Maggie, has no paid job. Gerry Evans fathered her son, Michael, seven years ago and is seen as walking in and out of their lives as he chooses. As a result, Chris fluctuates between falling into a deep depression when he leaves, yet being renewed with optimism that his next visit will be a permanent stay. Her lack of income can lead Chris to be defensive on the upbringing of her son, shown when Kate buys Michael a new spinning top at the beginning of the play. Betsy Rinaldi plays Christina with great compassion and proficiency.  She offers a sympathetic character with depth of emotion and confusing feelings.

Rose is 32, but behaves much younger than her years, due to a developmental disability. This condition makes her particularly vulnerable to an unseen character, Danny Bradley, who Rose believes is in love with her. However, her sisters believe that Danny Bradley is exploiting Rose's simple nature for his own gain. She is particularly close to her older sister, Agnes, with whom she knits gloves to sell in the town. Erin Olson is wonderful as Rose a role which she handles with dexterity and assurance.

Agnes is quiet and contemplative, knitting gloves with Rose whilst also helping to keep a house. She appears to be silently infatuated with Gerry and is quick to leap to his defense. However, Michael's narratives reveal Agnes' future to be bleak. Her knitting fails to support her when the knitware factory opens. Tanya Anderson as Agnes is wonderful as Agnes, full of quiet intensity and depth. She last played Nurse Ratchid in “one Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” here at 2^nd Story.

Michael does not appear onstage as a child, but his presence is alluded to by the other characters, while the adult Michael speaks his lines from the side of the stage. As a child, Michael is seen as being surrounded by love, since all five of the sisters dote on him. Michael also acts as a narrator, not only dictating the action as it goes on, but revealing the futures of the other characters in the play. David DeAlmo is superb as Michael, full of finesse and with an excellent Irish accent. He has a profound emotional impact at times with his lines, touching and heartrending.

Gerry Evans is initially portrayed as an intensely negative character, particularly by Kate, for having left Chris after fathering her illegitimate son, Michael. However, upon his first appearance in the play is shown to be charming and genuinely affectionate towards Chris. His current job as a gramophone salesman (and his former job as a ballroom dancing instructor) represent his freedom in sharp contrast to the stagnant lives of the Mundy sisters. This is made all the more obvious by the fact that he is leaving Ireland to join the International Brigade and fight in the Spanish Civil War, something that is further disapproved of by Kate. James Lucey plays Gerry with charm and energy. He makes his nefarious and sneaky behavior—the man is sleazy and a perpetual flirt—highly appealing.

Jack is in his late fifties. He had left home as a young man to work as a missionary in a leper colony in Uganda. Beyond this, he had been a Catholic chaplain in the British Army in East Africa during World War I. He is well respected in Donegal for his missionary work in a leper colony. However, his sudden return to Ballybeg for undisclosed reasons has paved the way for great changes. He has difficulty with his memory, often forgetting the names of his sisters or confusing them with his former house boy Okawa, with whom we are told he was very close. Jack professes a broad admiration for the pagan beliefs of the native people of Africa, and appears to have lost his Catholic faith, which may be the true reason his superiors have sent him back. Bill Oakes plays Father Jack, who starts the play with his memory deteriorating and his faith flagging and does a wonderful job, handling the role with adroitness and zest.

Director Mark Peckham evokes the most from his fine cast.

Set designer, Trevor Eliott transforms the stage into an Irish cottage stage right and the rest of the stage into an outside area, complete with grass and a tree. It is an excellent set.

It is a winning production, full of many touching and funny moments, robust and endearing.

"Dancing at Lughnasa" (27 September - 27 October)

2ND STORY THEATRE

@ 28 Market Street, WARREN RI

1(401)247-4200

           

“Love, Loss and What I Wore” at Your Theatre

by Richard Pacheco

            Your Theatre’s current production of “Love, Loss and What I wore” adapted for the stage by Delia and Nora Ephron is a series of monologues which includes women's relationships and wardrobes and at times the interaction of the two, using the female wardrobe as a time capsule of a woman's life and is based on the 1995 book by Ilene Beckerman. It is a fun time, full of funny and some touching moments, brought vividly to life by a series of five actresses.

            The show, which has a running time of about 1 hour and 30 minutes, is composed of 28 different stories that seek to illuminate the female identity. Generally composed of comic stories, the show often addresses sad, bitter or sentimental issues A character called Gingy acts as the narrator. The show opens with her sketching various parts of her wardrobe that stir the most poignant memories. She weaves her life story among the other tales, describing her three marriages, "motherhood and the death of a child, each turning point marked by a particular item of clothing”. Her life is represented beginning with experiences in a Brownies uniform and extending through her full life.

In addition to Gingy, one character serves as the vixen, another plays a vulnerable gang member from Chicago, a third portrays a brave cancer patient, and the last serves as a mature woman pierced by vivid memories. One of these characters, named Heather, chooses conservative "think" shoes over high heels in her youth, but at a later stage in life shows a preference for high heels. The gang member likes insignias that are prominent on sweaters and their creator. Among the 28 stories, other notable tales include one about the influence of Madonna (with discourse including "Any American woman under 40 who says she's never dressed as Madonna is either lying or Amish."); one about dressing room anxiety (a story revolving around the concept that "I’m an 8. I’ve always been an 8"); and one about your mother's tastes in clothes ("I don’t understand, you could look so good if you tried"). Other stories include recollections about the dress purchased for the date with a guy who subsequently married someone else; the foibles of spandex bras that result in a look known as the monoboob; issues involving toe cleavage; the Juicy Couture tracksuit that is a prominent staple of California wardrobes; wardrobe choice on the wrong day of the month; and the story about an incarcerated lover and the strategic hole in a certain pair of pants. Three of the characters sometimes work as a trio and all characters have monologues.

There are two separate casts for this play. I witnessed Cast 1.  This cast featured Pamela Morgan as Gingy, with Chris Bailey, Anne Hart Cool, Sheila Furtado and Caroline Paradis are the rest of the cast ensemble. They are splendid, full of verve, energy and sincerity in their performances. They work well together an created an atmosphere of old friends chatting, full of familiarity and warmth shared.

Director Robin Richards takes what could have been a somewhat dry staged reading and gives it life with the cast interactions.

The set design by Mark Fuller and Lawrence R. Houbre Jr. is simple and direct as the performances.

Your Theatre until Oct.23 All tickets $15
136 Rivet Street, New Bedford, MA
508-993-0772 http://yourtheatre.org/yti/index.php

“A Number” and “Far Away” at the Gamm Theatre

by Richard Pacheco

            The Gamm Theatre opens its 29^th season with two one act plays by acclaimed English playwright, Caryl Churchill and the results are mixed. While “A Number’ is by far the most successful of the two, “Far Away,” devolves into silliness and self indulgence losing any impact it might have had.

Churchill wrote her first play in 1972, she wrote “Owners”, a two-act, 14-scene play about obsession with power. It was her first stage play and "her first major theatrical endeavor"; it was produced in London the same year. Churchill's socialist views are expressed in the play, a critique of the values that most capitalists take for granted: being aggressive, getting ahead, doing well.

Her first play to receive wide notice was “Cloud Nine“ (1979), "a farce about sexual politics", set partly in a British overseas colony during the Victorian era. It explores the effects of the colonialist/imperialist mindset on intimate personal relationships, and uses cross-gender casting for comic and instructive effect. The play became successful in Britain and in the United States, winning an Obie Award in 1982 for best play of the year in New York. She is also well known for her play “Top Girls” which deals with women’s losing their humanity in order to attain power in a male-dominated environment.

         

   “A Number” was written when cloning was often in the news. Dolly the sheep, creation of human embryos at Advanced Cell Technology in the US, and the cloning of a kitten gave rise to controversy concerning possible human cloning.

The play begins with a father, Salter, and his son Bernard discussing the fact that the son has found out that he has been cloned. The father claims not to have known this and claims that a hospital must have stolen his cells at some point and made illegal copies of him. He talks about suing the hospital for money, a lot of money. The son then mentions that there were others and the father admits that the son is a clone. He says that the original son and his mother died in a car crash and that he wanted his son back so he had him cloned. After all Bernard’ uniqueness has been damaged by the unauthorized cloning. Eventually Salter reveals how so many Bernards came into the world after lying.

Artistic director Tony Estrella is deft and acute as Bernard, managing a variety of different gestures and character traits as well as costume changes for each of the different Bernards. It is a skilled performance that is very impressive.

Jim O’Brien is his father, Salter. O’Brien does a wonderful job as the man caught up in guilt over his past decisions and troubled over the current results.

It is directed by Judith Swift with dexterity and flair.

However the play falls a bit flat with the climax faltering, almost cast aside.

“Far Away,” directed by Estrella starts off very promising and falls apart at the end into silliness and self indulgence. It opens with a sense of menace and fear at the Harper house where a young Joan awakens to a nightmare which turns out to be real and true of beatings, blood and pain galore.  It is grim and darkly disturbing. Then we proceed to a scene years later where Joan is grown and

she creates hats for parades of prisoners who are executed. The winning hats go into a museum while the others are buried with the prisoners. Joan develops a relationship with a man who works there, Todd, who is concerned about the corruption in the factory and low wages. This too is disturbing. In this world plants, animals and humans battle each other with shifting allegiances and loyalties.

But it all falls apart in the final scene back at the Harper house where it takes a turn for the silly and the self indulgent. It loses all impact there and becomes ridiculous when there are comments like “The mallards are on the side of the elephants and the Koreans" or “The elephants end up going over to the Dutch, and the Latvians are sending pigs to Sweden.” Get over it already. Enough.

The acting however is excellent which only makes the ridiculousness of the play more obvious. Lauren Durkin is fetching as young Joan, innocent, wide eyed, caught up in a nightmare that turns out to be real. It is a delightful performance, full of verve and nuance.

Casey Seymour Kim is her aunt Harper, who deftly manages to invent new stories every time young Joan comes up with some new twist to her disturbing nightmare.. She is fast and furious in her denials of wrongdoing on the part of Joan’s uncle. Kim is terrific, ably jumping between explanations with skill and finesse, full of sincerity. When the play turns silly at the end however it makes her acting seem false, but it is the material.

Marianna Bassham is the adult Joan. She is a talented hat maker full of dedication and passion for her work. She is a bit naïve about the business she is in and finds herself attracted to her more experienced co worker, Todd. It is a smooth and polished performance, full of nuances.

Alexander Platt is Todd, a man who is disenchanted with the working conditions of his industry and the corruption he sees and wants to speak out against it, take a stand. He is determined and attracted to Joan, does what he can to get closer to her. Platt is solid in the role, full of polish and conviction, sincere all the way through.

Director Estrella does the best he can with the play, which is the main obstacle here. His actors work well together when the play gives them something to work with.

The set by Michael McGarty is clever and sparse, but very effective, able to shift to the plays demand with relative ease. The millinery design by David T. Howard is stunning and highly effective.  The Amanda Dowling Carney costumes are effective.

It continues until October 13^th. Tickets are $36 and $45, depending on the day and time. For tickets, call the box office at 401-723-4266 or gammtheatre.org