The more performances I see as a reviewer, the more I ponder and study stagecraft. With many productions, I take away a concept or idea as to what makes a performance good, whether at the individual level or for an entire production.  With The Curtainbox Theatre’s Fool for Love, it’s a word: abandon.

Directed here by David Bonde, Fool for Love takes place in a desert motel.  A cowboy named Eddie (Eddie Staver III) returns to the motel to resume his romance with May (Kimberly Furness), a waitress.  The play takes us through the course of one night — a night filled with talking, arguing and the revelation of a tragedy at the heart of Eddie and May’s relationship.

Sam Shepard’s script is the weakest I’ve yet seen produced at The Curtainbox.  That’s not to say that it’s bad, but it is not as strong nor as compelling as Danny and the Deep Blue Sea or Glengarry Glen Ross.  It kind of plods along for a while, not really advancing the story to a strong enough degree to grasp my full interest.  Shepard takes twenty minutes or so to let us know little more than that Eddie wants to rekindle things with May, who is adverse to it. When it does pick up, when Eddie’s latest sex partner shows up with a vengeance, it really picks up and I understand why it was chosen by the theatre company.  There are surprising themes and situations that are memorable, even jarring.

Fortunately, the journey to the meat of the play is lead by competent, seasoned actors.  It is they who embody this evening’s definitive concept: abandon — mainly physical abandon.  Staver and Furness exert extreme energy on stage, holding nothing back as if their physical interactions are organic rather than planned.  That, too, describes Staver’s performance.  His lines flow as if he’s thinking and then speaking them for the first time, rather than reciting lines from a script.  Furness’s lines and the emotion behind them at times seems forced, but never when it really counted.  When she delivers the second half of Eddie’s story about their relationship, it is riveting, emotional and sincere.

It is Michael Kennedy as the Old Man, however, who I found to be the most, as my companion for the opening night performance put it, unrehearsed of the cast.  His physical choices, his laughter and his verbal delivery never seemed artificial nor pre-meditated.  This is an actor who knows how to create a character, abandoning his own personality’s limitations to become another person.

The Curtainbox’s production marks a return to the stage for Mike Schulz after almost five years away from acting, much of it spent reviewing others’ performances as the Reader’s Arts Editor.  His re-entry onto the local stage with some of the area’s strongest actors is a risky choice for Schulz, as he’s diving into the deep end, rather than wading back into the theatre waters.  Schulz portrays Martin, a simpleton with an interest in May.  Physically, Schulz has the simple man down.  The pacing of some of his lines, however, raises his character a bit above that of a man of lesser intelligence.  That makes him no less interesting to watch.  In fact, I found it best to watch him closely, observing his physical choices, which were sometimes stunning.

Also stunning is the set, designed by Joe Goodall.  He’s created a realistic scenic design mixed with elements of fantasy to match those written into the script (the character of the Old Man).   The motel room at the center of the action is meshed with desert stone columns (or tall trees.  I’m actually uncertain.) which partially fall at specific points during the play.  The rear of the stage is an almost surreal desert setting, with burlap and white, twisted limbs creating the illusion of a dry desolated landscape.

While Fool for Love may not be The Curtainbox’s strongest show, that’s only relative to its other performances and stronger scripts.  Still, once you get past the rather weak exposition to the point where the script finally gets going, you’re already enamored with the actors’ portrayals despite the slow pace.

For more information, call (563) 322-8504 or visit TheCurtainbox.com

Posted: January 26th, 2010 under Theater.
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 If ever there is a show that’s commonly staged, it is Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  I’ve been part of two productions myself and can’t recall how many I’ve sat through others while in the audience.  Every time I hear of yet another production, I cringe.  And yet, much like my experience seeing Circa 21’s production, I sit through the entire show with a smile on my face and leave singing the songs.  That’s the sign of a good show.

Thankfully, director/choreographer Ann Nieman chose to change things up a bit for Circa’s production.  There’s the usual children’s choir, Pharoah as Elvis and the other commonly included elements of Joseph.  Circa’s show doesn’t feel like all of the other productions, though, which is refreshing.  It’s nice to see an all too familiar show in a different way, keeping it interesting and enjoyable.  This doesn’t feel like seeing Joseph yet again.  It feels like renewing a liking for a show that only gets tired because it’s so often produced.

One of those changes includes the way in which the children’s choir is used.  Circa’s is the first production I’ve seen in which the children don’t simply sit and sing their parts.  These kids are incorporated into scenes, becoming waving wheat in one scene (or was it stalks of corn?) and surrounding the jailed Joseph in another.  It’s not merely the inclusion of children to have them, but makes good use of their presence on stage.  This children’s choir makes sense!

There are a few minor sight gag choices of which I absolutely did not like.  For instance, there’s a sight gag on the line “threw him in a pit.”  The female ensemble enters at that point dressed as a Nascar pit crew and pretend to change Joseph’s tires.  It’s quite a stretch and a lot of effort put into well made costumes for such a lame joke.

Other than the pit crew gag, there’s not much else to dislike about Circa 21’s Joseph.  The actors playing the brothers are so individually talented, I’m certain I missed some hilarious physical movement choices watching one while not seeing another.  While Tom Walljasper plays Pharaoh too subdued for my taste (I mean, he’s Elvis!  He should be the grandest character of the show and Walljasper, at least on the Saturday performance I attended, chooses to play it at a more realistic level than at a showstopping one.), the cast seems to be having fun with the show, infecting the audience with a similar feeling.  This is a production that isn’t as much about the biblical story as it is about the smile-inducing, toe-tapping, humor of the songs and performance.

That said, Gregory Hiatt’s costume, particularly for the brothers, are too good for the material.  He’s outfitted the brothers in very colorful, Middle Eastern with a touch of Asian styled garments.  While Joseph’s coat may be technicolor, the brother’s clothes are psychedelic.  They’re gorgeous and fun to see, but they take away from the point of the technicolor dreamcoat.  Joseph’s coat represents Jacob’s favoritism of him over his brothers.  With the brothers equally colorfully dressed, the coat’s significance is diminished.  In fact, there were a few of the brothers’ costumes I would’ve chosen over Joseph’s coat, even though Joseph’s coat is an impressive styling of colors and patterns.  I can’t quite call this a fault, though.  It may be wrong for the material, but it’s oh so good aesthetically.  (Hiatt’s ensembles for Potiphar and his wife are also perhaps the most stunning I’ve seen in a production of Joseph.)

It’s really hard to go wrong with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  I think you could have the cast stand still and simply sing the songs and the audience would still be delighted.  Circa’s cast, however, does not stand still.  They’re colorfully dressed and seemingly having a blast playing up the fun of the show, which makes for a night of theater that’ll have you singing all the way home.

For more information, go to Circa21.com

Posted: January 26th, 2010 under Theater.
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Attending the theatre is typically a form of escapism, a chance to get lost in the magic of the staging and performances. And then there’s Moon Over Buffalo, one of those shows that doesn’t just let you escape into it, but lets you in on the antics of what’s going on off stage.  It’s a show about actors and their messed up, dramatic lives.

Central to Moon Over Buffalo are George and Charlotte Hay, two actors who have yet to enjoy the fame which they believe they so richly deserve.  Relegated to repertory theater in Buffalo, New York, they’re left performing either Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac or Noel Coward’s Private Lives.  While many an actor would consider it an honor to be part of either play, the problem here is that the productions are in Buffalo.  As one character puts it, if it didn’t have an animal for a name it would have nothing going for it.  It is not, however, these plays which we are privy to enjoying.  Instead, the focus is on the actors’ off stage lives, which are filled with slapstick, mistaken identity and a chance to star in Frank Capra’s The Twilight of the Scarlet Pimpernel, the ultimate goal of the Hays.

With it’s so-so script populated by writer Ken Ludwig’s obvious punchlines and barely chuckle-worthy gags, Moon Over Buffalo could easily be a mediocre production, garnering more groans than laughs.  In this case, however, director Jeff Shields pulled together a cast capable of strengthening the humor with a mixture of overly grand and nicely subtle performances.  James Bleecker and Cari Downing (Harrison Hilltop Theatre’s Brad and Janet in The Rocky Horror Show) combine sincere portrayals with moments of over the top physical humor that remains within the realm of believability.  Pat Flaherty and Maggie Woolley, though cast in the smallest roles, are arguably the strongest actors in this production; Flaherty brings a subdued, awkwardness in his creation of a simple, intentionally boring character.  Woolley holds nothing back as she wails and screams across the stage.  Diane Greenwood and Patti Flaherty play it appropriately big, setting off waves of laughter through the audience. On opening night, Flaherty drew laughs so loud, I missed several lines of dialogue.

And then there’s Paul Workman.  Every role I’ve seen him bring to life offers a peek at his acting strengths, but leaves me anxious to see him in a meatier, more substantial part, knowing he is a big actor in all too often small roles.  The same can be said of Workman’s Howard in Moon Over Buffalo.  It’s a part he handles quite well, but there’s something seemingly greater underneath his performance that I can’t wait to see unleashed in a much more interesting character.

It’s Stephen Baldridge, however, who pushes Playcrafters’ production into must see territory.  With a solid cast of actors behind him, Baldridge is still able to stand out with his perfectly overscaled performance.  (He is, after all, playing a mediocre actor who over estimates his own talent.)  From his loud voice, to his enunciation, to his physical demeanor and movement, Baldridge’s performance is perfectly suited to the role of George Hay and a true crowd pleaser.

Playcrafters’ set, designed by Rich Riggelman, is simpler than the bombastic performances of the actors, but no less interesting.  The thrust stage is split in two, with upstage being back stage and downstage being the stage of the theater in which the characters perform.  Add lighting by Donna Weeks and sound by the director and Moon Over Buffalo has its full complement of elements contributing nicely to the overall production.

Moon Over Buffalo could’ve been a passable production.  Fortunately, it’s so well cast, this is a Playcrafters’ production that’s not to miss, specially for Stephen Baldridge’s performance.  That’s not to say he’s the only the only actor worth watching.  This is a solid cast, capable of rising about the weaknesses of the script to deliver a night filled with laughter.

For more information, call (309)762-0330 or visit Playcrafters.com.

Posted: January 18th, 2010 under Theater.
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