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May 23, 2012

'Xanadu' gets sparkling revival from Signature Theatre

First, there was an odd film in 1947 called "Down to Earth," watchable only for the divine Rita Hayworth as the Greek muse Terpsichore who falls in love with a mortal while helping him put on a show.

Then there was an odder, barely watchable film in 1980, "Xanadu," based on the Hayworth vehicle and featuring Olivia Newton-John as Terpsichore, this time descending from Olympus to lend inspiration to guy dreaming of a roller disco.

Finally, there came the 2007 Broadway musical "Xanadu," which spoofed all of that other stuff, and did so in awfully clever fashion.

That show, with a book by Douglas Carter Beane and music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar, has received a sparkling -- literally, given the plethora of disco balls -- revival by Signature Theatre.

It adds up to 90 minutes of ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 4:05 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

Everyman Theatre closes season with revival of 'You Can't Take It With You'

In the thick of the Great Depression, a new Broadway play took an energetic swing at everything that seemed wrong with the world -- government, big business, social conformity -- and left the audience in stitches.

In the wake of the Great Recession, "You Can't Take It With You" still hits home and still provokes a lot of good laughs, a point reiterated by Everyman Theatre's revival of the 1936 George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart comedy.

Come to think of it, the piece might be even more relevant, given how so many of today's one-percenters act like they truly believe they can take it with them.

There remains something deliciously radical about the characters who inhabit the New York home of the elderly Martin Vanderhof, he of the whatever-makes-you-happy school of philosophy. They all do what most of us can only fantasize about -- quit jobs, plunge into hobbies (even making fireworks in the basement), get all communal with friends and quickly friended strangers, talk back to the IRS, not give a hoot what other people think.

Of course, life can't really be like this, right? The subtly subversive power of the play comes from the way it keeps making you doubt that, keeps shifting the parameters of normality.

In the much-extended Vanderhof household, time doesn't matter as much as how you fill it. And the way they fill it is fundamentally, blissfully selfish, yet, somehow, within a caring environment. How cool is that?

The Everyman production, directed by Vincent Lancisi, comes in ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 3:00 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens, Everyman Theatre
        

Midweek Madness: An orchestra unleashed

My thanks to an adorable reader in Washington for alerting me to this perfect Midweek Madness candidate -- an orchestra that ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 7:35 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

May 16, 2012

'Fela!' shakes the roof at Morgan State University

“I’m going to change Africa,” Fela Kuti says in the ambitious, highly-charged musical about his life and work. “I’m going to change the world.”

It’s not an idle boast.

“Fela!” the multiple Tony Award-winning Broadway show that has settled into Morgan State University’s Murphy Center through the weekend, provides a visceral encounter with the spirit of the iconic Nigerian musician, activist, polygamist and hedonist.

More than just the spirit, actually. Given the startling performance by Sahr Ngaujah in the title role, it’s easy to forget that this is a theatrical vehicle at all.

Starting in the late 1960s, Fela fused from various influences a hypnotic genre that came to be called “Afrobeat.” It soon exerted a global reach, which would have been enough to earn Fela lasting fame. But after exposure to ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 1:36 PM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

Midweek Madness: Saluting the latest inauguration of Vladimir Putin

Back around Christmas time, I interviewed a cirque artist who told me he had performed for three Russian presidents. I had to bite my tongue so as not to ask if all of them were named Vladimir Putin.

Seeing Putin once being grandly inaugurated last week made me think that some sort of festive salute, Midweek Madness-style, was in order.

I know that I have featured a certain indelible Russian vocal artist before, singing his greatest hit (one of the greatest pieces of vocal music, ever, for sure), but how could I resist an encore now? Especially since this particular song ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:09 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

May 10, 2012

'God of Carnage' gets brilliant production at Signature Theatre

Long before the projectile vomiting, and long after, suppressed feelings and uneasy thoughts are spewed all over the set in Signature Theatre's searing production of Yasmina Reza's "God of Carnage."

The stains get harder and harder to remove.

This Tony-winning play (which gets its Baltimore premiere next season, thanks to Everyman Theatre) takes what seems like a routine sitcom setup and runs with it brilliantly.

The plot centers on two sets of parents -- the Novaks and the Raleighs -- brought together for the first time because their young sons had a bruising fight.

The financially well-off, terribly polite couples are determined to display their breeding, to find a politically correct way of dealing with the incident and moving on.

Of course, you know right away that ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 3:34 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

May 3, 2012

Rep Stage closes season with intriguing 'Las Meninas'

I'm not sure what is more intriguing about "Las Meninas," the 2002 Lynn Nottage play on the boards of Rep Stage -- the strange plot itself, or the fact that it might all be grounded in fact.

Seizing on some hard facts and tantalizing gossip from the time, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Nottage spins a tale of Louis XIV and his Spanish-born queen, Marie-Therese. When the neglected, frustrated queen receives an off-beat gift -- an African dwarf named Nabo -- things get curiouser and curiouser.

Adding to the fascination is the presence of a nun, Louise Marie-Therese, who serves as ..

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Posted by Tim Smith at 5:41 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens, Rep Stage
        

May 2, 2012

Midweek Madness: The Supremes meet 'Mary Poppins'

With the national tour of "Mary Poppins" providing more than a spoonful of entertainment at the Hippodrome this week, I could not resist devoting the latest Midweek Madness segment to one of the hit tunes from that show.

Yes, I'm talking about that ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:46 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

April 30, 2012

Stay tuned: Reviews to follow

Your humble correspondent had a whirlwind weekend -- two operas, two plays. I managed to get one review done in between my travels to College Park, D.C., Shirlington and Columbia, but I have a previously scheduled day off Monday, so you will just have to stay on pins and needles until I can file all the rest.

In due time, I will report on Washington National Opera's staging of "Nabucco" (you ought to go, if only for the roof-raising performance by soprano Csilla Boross as Abagaille and an intriguing theatrical concept by Thaddeus Strassberger that will give you plenty to argue about).

Also coming up will be reviews of "God of Carnage" at Signature Theatre (well worth the trip, even if you're planning to catch the play's Baltimore premiere from Everyman next season) and "Las Meninas" at Rep Stage (worthy presentation of an unusual work).

Stay tuned.

Posted by Tim Smith at 10:06 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

April 27, 2012

'Mary Poppins' makes a pleasant landing at the Hippodrome

It easy to wish for more from “Mary Poppins,” the hard-working musical that has landed at the Hippodrome — a more layered story, more fleshed-out characters, more sparkling dialogue, more imaginative songs.

Then again, it’s easy to see what has kept the show running on Broadway for six years and has kept a national touting production racking up the miles and the audiences for three (two million theater-goers served in more than 30 cities so far).

For one thing, “Mary Poppins,” created in the 1930s by Australian novelist P. L. Travers, continues to be a beloved character with kids, not to mention adults who retain fond memories of childhood.

There is a lot of appeal in ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 11:15 AM | | Comments (6)
Categories: Drama Queens, Hippodrome
        

April 23, 2012

On Streisand's 70th birthday, my list of her 10 most exquisite recordings

Barbra Streisand turns 70 on Tuesday. Her music-making still sounds as young and vital as ever.

Her exalted standing among pop vocalists is unchallenged, five decades after the "kooky" girl from Brooklyn first started generating a buzz in New York nightclubs.

I won't bore you with tales of how Streisand played a major role in my musical awakening, how she became one of the most important and consistent sources of inspiration to me. But I will mark the birthday milestone by offering a sampling of what I consider some of her greatest recordings.

I intentionally avoided the usual and uncontested choices, such as her brilliant deconstructionist "Happy Days Are Here Again," and all the spine-tingling, big-dramatic-finish songs or frenetic up-tempo numbers. There are so many fabulous examples to choose from in those categories.

I decided instead to concentrate here on some of her subtlest, most affecting interpretations, material that shows off the distinctively beautiful color of her tone, the extraordinary security of her technique, her exemplary articulation, and, above all, her ability to sculpt a phrase with poetic eloquence.

It wasn't easy choosing, but here is my list -- in chronological, not necessarily qualitative, order -- of THE 10 MOST EXQUISITE STREISAND RECORDINGS:

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:02 PM | | Comments (17)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

April 13, 2012

'The Whipping Man' gets taut, atmospheric production at Center Stage

There is always something new to learn about the Civil War and the struggle for this country’s soul.

A just-out book, for example, examines a little-known order in 1862 issued by Gen. Ulysses Grant, expelling Jews from territories in Tennessee and two other states. The fact that the edict was quickly rescinded by President Lincoln hardly lessens the chilling nature of the incident.

And consider “The Whipping Man,” a play by Matthew Lopez that had a well-received run Off Broadway last year. Lopez takes as his starting point another little-discussed aspect of the Civil War — the fact that some Southern Jews were slaveholders, and the likelihood that their slaves adopted the Jewish faith.

The play, which has received a taut, atmospheric production from Center Stage, seizes on this intriguing footnote to put an almost dizzying spin on the issues of bondage and freedom. There may be a question of how much historical weight is behind the idea, but the theatrical result is quite intriguing.

The scene is Richmond, April 1865, just after Lee’s surrender. Passover is about to begin, and ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 11:30 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

April 11, 2012

Iron Crow Theatre gives Baltimore premiere of Daniel MacIvor's 'The Soldier Dreams'

A young man lies inert on a bed, an IV drip his last tether to the world.

Periodically, a few curious words emerge from him, confusing his family members and his boyfriend, who have gathered for the long goodbye.

From this simple setup, Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor addresses familiar themes in “The Soldier Dreams,” a late-1990s work being given its Baltimore premiere in a mostly effective production by Iron Crow Theatre.

The play does its work in a span of only about 75 minutes. A little more time might actually have been a good thing, given the sketchiness of some details.

The central character of the dying David, for example, doesn’t emerge with much depth; repeatedly hearing that ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 2:23 PM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

Midweek Madness: Fiddling with Busby Berkeley

My mind works in mysterious ways.

Last week, the Baltimore Symphony got back from a West Coast tour, which included a stop in Berkeley, which reminded me of another Berkeley, Busby, which always makes me think of his insane musical numbers, which include a deliciously over-the-top item featuring fabulous fiddles, which ought to do the trick for this installment of Midweek Madness:

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Posted by Tim Smith at 5:58 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

April 8, 2012

Easter greetings from Judy and Fred

Before heading down to Virginia to be with the parental units for Sunday, I wanted to leave y'all with a song for the day: "Easter Parade," from the closing minutes of the charming film of that name, starring the ineffable Judy Garland and Fred Astaire:

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:15 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

April 4, 2012

'Memphis' heats up the Hippodrome

Maybe it’s the timing.

“Memphis,” the 2010 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, is not the deepest or most original of works. But this exuberant tale of race and music in the 1950s seems to take on added substance at the Hippodrome this week, given how freshly divided the country is right now over the Trayvon Martin case.

And maybe it’s the location.

Given Baltimore’s own history of strained race relations and gaps between “white” and “black” pop music back in the day, “Memphis” can’t help but provide extra resonance and relevance. The show is, in many ways, a pretty close cousin to the endearing “Hairspray,” right down to scenes of a TV dance program where taboos are shattered.

However it’s considered, this national touring production of “Memphis” sure does hit the spot. It provides a hefty serving of entertainment as it gives you a little extra to chew on.

With a book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro and music and lyrics by Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan, “Memphis” centers around a white, gangly high-school dropout named Huey Calhoun who manages, in record time, to break racial and musical barriers in his hometown.

Of course, Huey nearly ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 3:33 PM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Drama Queens, Hippodrome
        

Single Carrot Theatre checks into shadowy 'Hotel Cassiopeia' reclusive world of Joseph Cornell

You might say that Joseph Cornell lived in a box within a box.

From his early teens to his death in 1972 at the age of 69, the artist stayed firmly tied to a home in Queens he shared with his mother and invalid brother.

When Cornell ventured out, it was chiefly to rummage for any number of objects that he would use back home to create the assemblages that made him famous -- each contained in a little box with a glass front.

As art critic Robert Hughes writes, "that glass, the 'fourth wall' of his miniature theater, is also the diaphragm between two contrasting worlds. Outside, chaos, accident, and libido, the stuff of unprotected life; inside, sublimation, memory, and peace."

In his 2006 play "Hotel Cassiopeia," currently onstage at Single Carrot Theatre, Charles Mee opened an imaginative window into those boxes by ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:33 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens, Single Carrot Theatre
        

Midweek Madness: Bending over backwards for your entertainment

In my continual effort to brighten up your drab, dreary little lives (as Ethel Mertz would say), I chose for this Midweek Madness installment a rousing dose of music, dance and totally mad limberness.

Do not try this at home:

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:00 AM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

March 30, 2012

Center Stage announces 50th anniversary season, Kwame Kwei-Armah's first

When Kwame Kwei-Armah started on the job of artistic director at Center Stage last fall, he summed up his attitude with a simple message: Welcome to the conversation. That philosophy runs throughout the company’s 50th anniversary season, 2012-2013, the first to be totally planned under Kwei-Armah’s watch.

Plays, old and new, were chosen not just for the value of the lines spoken onstage, but also for their potential to generate a broader dialogue on various issues. By the end of next season, it may seem as if the plays themselves are conversing with each other.

“It’s a reflection of the kind of world I want Center Stage to be, a very significant civic partner in the community,” Kwei-Armah said. “If you leave my theater saying only, ‘That was a nice evening,’ I’ve failed. I want people to be talking about the work on the way home and, I hope, the next day as well.”

Here's a snapshot of the '12-'13 lineup: 

An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen, adapted by Arthur Miller; Sept. 19 to Oct. 21.

This revival is timed for the election season. The plot revolves around a form of whistle-blowing that puts brothers into conflict with each other, amid challenging issues of politics, finance and science.

“The play asks what the responsibility of the individual is, and what we owe society,” said Kwei-Armah, who will direct the production. “The brothers will be played by two actors who will alternate the roles, so that will change their conversation onstage. This work is also a conversation between the adapter of the play and the originator.”

The Completely Fictional — Utterly True — Final Strange Tale of Edgar Allan Poe, by Stephen Thorne; Oct. 17 to Nov. 25

This work, which originated last year at the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, examines the pathetic last days of Poe. “It’s kind of profound and deeply felt, but with zany hilarity, including some vaudeville and burlesque,” said Gavin Witt, associate artistic director and director of dramaturgy at Center Stage.

The play fits the conversation theme by giving Baltimore audiences a fresh opportunity to consider a local icon. It also adds to the dialogue about Baltimore’s theater companies. Kwei-Armah is breaking with Center Stage’s longtime tendency to overlook local talent in favor of New York performers by hiring ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:53 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

March 28, 2012

Midweek Madness: An itch for Rachmaninoff and Marilyn Monroe

I known it is fashionable in some corners to make a smelling-cauliflower face at the mere mention of the name Rachmaninoff, but I never tire of the guy.

And I think it is possible for the composer's non-admirers -- perhaps even a certain hot shot young Austrian pianist who says life is too short to drink bad wine or play Rachmaninoff -- to warm up to this music: Put Marilyn Monroe in the picture.

So, for my Midweek Madness junkies, whether Rachmaninoff-inclined or not, here's a memorable scene from "The Seven Year Itch," when the ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:03 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

March 27, 2012

Mike Daisey to discuss 'Steve Jobs' controversy at DC's Woolly Mammoth

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, which plans to go ahead with its summer presentation of Mike Daisey's "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs," offers a free public forum Tuesday night with the author/performer.

Daisey, joined by the company's artistic director Howard Shalwitz and managing director Jeffrey Herrmann, will discuss the controversy over the factual validity of work content, which led to the retraction episode on "This American Life"and Daisey's recent apology.

The forum is at 7 p.m. tonight at at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company., 641 D St., N.W. Admission is free. To reserve a seat, call 202-393-3939.

Posted by Tim Smith at 10:35 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

March 22, 2012

Audiences will listen: Stephen Sondheim turns 82

It's Stephen Sondheim's 82nd birthday, which is a good reason to remind you that Center Stage is offering a revival of "Into the Woods," the brilliant creator's multi-layered look at fairy tales and their consequences.

I wish some elements in the production were stronger, but, on balance this is is a vibrant reminder of the musical's beguiling power

Given the Sondheim birthday and the Center Stage show, it's also a good reason -- as if I needed any -- to trot out my idol, Barbra Streisand, who was born to interpret Sondheim's music. Here's her version of ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 10:15 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

March 21, 2012

'Diner' pre-Broadway tryout won't be in the city that inspired it

Well, it was fun to daydream about. The musical version of Barry Levinson's "Diner" will not have its pre-Broadway run in dear old Baltimore, birthplace of Levinson and the actual diner, as some of us had been hoping.

Instead, the musical, with a book by Levinson and music and lyrics by Sheryl Crow will open a four-week engagement Oct. 23 at San Francisco’s SHN Curran Theatre, directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshal (director of the current "Anything Goes" revival in New York).

A Broadway opening is anticipated in spring 2013.

Let's just hope we get the post-Broadway tour before Washington does.

Posted by Tim Smith at 9:32 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

Midweek Madness: Thoughts of Mad Men and Miss Marmelstein

Like "Mad Men" fans everywhere, I've been chomping at the bit for the start of Season 5 on Sunday.

I also happened to notice that Thursday marks the 50th anniversary of a Broadway musical that, except for the specific occupation involved, and except for the time period, and, oh, yes, except for the ethnicity, is really a lot like "Mad Men."

OK, a little bit, but enough to justify my using it to generate this installment of Midweek Madness.

The musical, of course, is "I Can Get It For You Wholesale," which opened on Broadway March 22, 1962.

The plot revolves around a moral-less, ruthless guy trying to claw his way to the top of New York's garment industry. Naturally, he uses people, undercuts his colleagues and takes advantage of women. Sounds like Don Draper with a measuring tape to me.

And you just know that female employees in the garment industry ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:07 AM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

March 20, 2012

'The Brothers Size' a great fit at Everyman Theatre

There’s no mistaking a strong new voice in theater, someone who surprises and challenges, who creates fresh ways to examine familiar issues.

Tarell Alvin McCraney emerged a few years ago as such a voice when, still in his 20s, he unveiled a trilogy of plays set in the Louisiana bayou and loosely based on Yoruban mythology of West Africa.

The second of these pieces, “The Brothers Size” from 2007, has been particularly well-received in stagings across the country and abroad. It is now at Everyman Theatre in a searing production that hits you with a double, equal force — the imagination of the writing, and the power of the performers.

At its heart, the play is about the bonds of family, how they can go much deeper than we will ever know until they are threatened. Sibling attachments are hardly unexplored in drama. What McCraney does so well is ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 8:27 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens, Everyman Theatre
        

March 14, 2012

Midweek Madness: A dissenting voice about Sondheim

There's nothing like a production of a Stephen Sondheim musical to get the adrenaline flowing, which means I am really looking forward to tonight's official opening of "Into the Woods" at Center Stage.

I have heard that some folks do not fall into the Sondheim-is-God camp. Hard to believe, I know. And I suppose it is even possible to empathize with the sentiments in this song by ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 5:39 AM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

March 13, 2012

Glass Mind Theatre explores fairy tale roots, resonances in 'Adapting Cinderella'

This, apparently, is the month to re-examine fairy tales in Baltimore.

A bunch of them are being dissected over at Center Stage in a production of the potent Stephen Sondheim musical "Into the Woods."

One story in particular, that of the abused young woman who loses a slipper and gains a nobleman, has caught the fancy of Glass Mind Theatre, one of the city's ambitious ensemble companies.

"Adapting Cinderella," created by members of the troupe over the past several months, seeks to figure out what all this "once upon a time" and "happily ever after" stuff came from, why we continue to hold onto such notions, why we still wait for a prince or princess.

Other questions include why we don't know enough about the sisters or the witches in these stories ("The Wiz," needless to say, springs from the same sort of questioning). More contemporary matters of bullying, sexuality and ethics also work their way into the play, however briefly.

The 90-minute production at Load of Fun, guided by Glass Mind's founding artistic director Andrew Peters, doesn't ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:10 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

March 9, 2012

'Addams Family' shows its kooky stuff at the Hippodrome

It has all the weight and nutritional value of cotton candy. But “The Addams Family,” the Broadway musical that has taken up temporary residence at the Hippodrome Theatre, adds up to a mildly entertaining package of song and shtick.

Revised since its New York premiere, which received a drubbing from the press, the show provides a workable vehicle for the characters first immortalized by the Charles Addams cartoons and memorably brought to life by the 1960s TV series.

Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, who wrote the book, borrowed a well-used device to frame the musical — the comic collision of opposites. On one side, the ever so odd, but loving, Addams clan. On the other, the Beinekes, a white-bread family from Ohio that comes for dinner.

Although that would have been enough to fuel a 30-minute episode of the TV show, it feels padded here.

The big new idea fashioned for the national touring production is a bit creaky, too. Gomez Addams reluctantly agrees to keep from his wife Morticia a secret, something neither ever does. It’s about daughter Wednesday, who, in addition to torturing her brother — and I do mean torturing — has found time to fall in love and make marriage plans.

It’s just a little too convenient that Morticia insists on playing a “truth game” even before she knows just how much has been kept from her, but this set-up does pay some theatrical dividends in the Act 1 finale.

Even though nearly every little turn in the plot is apparent before it arrives, just as nearly every rhyme in Andrew Lippa’s generic songs gives itself away before the next downbeat, the production manages to hold together.

For one thing, ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:34 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens, Hippodrome
        

March 7, 2012

Midweek Madness: A Bergman teaser for Kennedy Center's Nordic Cool 2013

The Kennedy Center's 2012-2013 season promises something called Nordic Cool, which sounds, well, cool, just on the face of it. The details get even cooler.

There is, for example, a stage version of Ingmar Bergman's sprawling, absorbing, sumptuously filmed "Fanny and Alexander." Learning about that made me think of something else related to Bergman, which is where Midweek Madness comes in.

For years, the mere mention of Bergman's name has made me think of only one thing: "Whispers of the Wolf," introduced to his equally unsuspecting television viewers by Count Floyd, the ever so slightly edgy host of "Monster, Chiller, Horror Theater" on SCTV, the channel to end all channels.

So here, then, as my latest effort to satisfy your understandably insatiable Midweek Madness craving, I offer this profoundly incisive Bergman-esque appetizer for next year's Nordic Cool festival at the Kennedy Center. You will never think of the number "1313" the same way again:

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Posted by Tim Smith at 5:50 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

March 6, 2012

'Book of Mormon,' 'War Horse' headed to Kennedy Center in 2012-13 season

You just know it's going to be major ca-ching time at the Kennedy Center box office for the 2012-2013 theater season.

For a start, the lineup has “The Book of Mormon,” the wildly popular musical that remains one of the hottest tickets in New York. It will cap the season with a run in the summer of 2013, preceded by such current Broadway hits as “War Horse” and “Anything Goes.”

”Million Dollar Quartet,” about the night Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins jammed together, is also in the mix, along with a musical version of “Jekyll and Hyde” featuring Constantine Maroulis, and "Irving Berlin's White Christmas."

The theatrical entries in the center's big festival next season, Nordic Cool 2013, include the U.S. premiere of ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 11:29 AM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

February 27, 2012

Twyal Tharp's 'Come Fly Away' breezes through Baltimore

Sometimes, I guess what happens in Vegas shouldn't stay there.

That seems to be the lesson from "Come Fly Away," Twyla Tharp's kinetic tribute to Frank Sinatra, which breezed through Baltimore over the weekend, with four performances at the Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric.

When it bowed on Broadway in 2010, this narrative ballet had two acts and a live singer interacting with the Chairman of the Board's recorded voice. It was met with mixed reviews.

Tharp subsequently revised the show during a Las Vegas run, trimming it to a single, 80-minute act and ditching the extra singer.

The lean result is in the midst of an extensive national tour that will reach the Kennedy Center in mid-April (Baltimoreans perennially miffed that most touring shows play DC first can take a little pleasure in this). Although I did not see the longer, original version, I can't help but feel the slimmer one is better.

The essence of the original concept -- multiple couples arrive at a night club and go through various problems before reaching some sort of understanding -- is still outlined. And because the action is compressed, there is no time for the energy to sag, even in the few moments of relative physical calm.

Tharp's alternately athletic, sexy and witty choreography for this show still divides people, understandably. There is ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 8:33 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

February 22, 2012

Midweek Madness: A musical romp through 'Downton Abbey'

If, like me, you are having severe withdrawal pains since the Season Two finale of "Downton Abbey," you could use a little of my global gift, Midweek Madness, more than ever.

So how about a brief musical tour through the show for this week's entry?

OK, so the video is a bit old and doesn't actually take into account the second season, but most of the characters haven't changed that much, so it still works.

Anyway, you will be singing along in no time and feeling frightfully better:

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

February 15, 2012

Midweek Madness: Judy and Liza go grocery shopping

And now for something completely different.

Two musical icons -- Judy and Liza -- provide this Midweek Madness infusion as they discover the thrill of shopping for groceries, adding an occasional musical flourish along the way:

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:15 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

February 8, 2012

Midweek Madness: Perry Como and the art of laid-back singing

It's Midweek Madness time again, and, for no reason whatsoever, I thought of Perry Como. And that made me think of this promo for his last great tour:

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Posted by Tim Smith at 10:28 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

February 3, 2012

'A Skull in Connemara' gets smashing production at Center Stage

If you are perfectly at peace with the dust-to-dust concept — you know, the reality that all of us, except maybe Lenin and Kim Jong Il, are going to disintegrate anyway after we die, so who cares how? — then the sight of a few old bones being pulverized by mallets won’t bother you.

Otherwise, you may feel just a wee bit twitchy during the second half of Martin McDonagh’s “A Skull in Connemara,” a dark-as-night comedy enjoying a decidedly vivid production at Center Stage. You may want to avoid a front row seat, too.

Bone particles (or a realistic semblance thereof) fly as forcefully as insults and insinuations in this play. It’s set in an Irish town where space in the church yard cemetery is at such a premium that those who have rested in peace for seven years are disinterred to make way for fresh customers.

OK, so. That sure sounds extreme, but not in Connemara.

No one even gives this practice much thought until Mick Dowd, the man in charge of the skeletal business, faces the prospect of uncovering his own wife. You see, her death never was satisfactorily explained for some people in town, so reopening her grave takes on a whole new level of interest.

Things get pretty messy, in physical and emotional terms, before the digging (also in physical and emotional terms) is done. Oddly enough, things get awfully funny, too.

“A Skull in Connemara” springs from ...

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Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

February 2, 2012

'Wishful Drinking' makes rough landing at the Hippodrome, but still flies

As she is the first to tell you, Carrie Fisher has had an eventful life. Since a lot of those events involved drugs, alcohol, rehab, and battles with bipolar issues, you might not think that it could be such a funny life, too. But funny it is. Pretty endearing, too.

Fisher happily shares her experiences in “Wishful Drinking,” a solo theatrical vehicle the actress/writer introduced in 2006 with considerable success. The show, which arrived at the Hippodrome this week, still has legs. The level of sturdiness, though, can vary from performance to performance. (Video from an earlier production -- pre-weight loss -- is posted below.)

There’s no use pretending that opening night on Tuesday went smoothly. Fisher, who could not have been more unflatteringly attired (surely her weight loss since becoming a spokesperson for Jenny Craig deserves a better outfit), often sounded halting, even with a teleprompter.

The uneven pacing made the show’s length more problematic, underlining the fact that ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:00 AM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Drama Queens, Hippodrome
        

January 31, 2012

D. W. Griffith classic will be screened with live soundtrack

Sorry for the late notice on this -- my fault, I fear.

There's a great opportunity to experience an important silent film, D.W. Griffith’s "Intolerance" from 1916, with live musical accompaniment from the Baltimore band Boister at 7 p.m. Thursday at Stevenson University. It's a free event -- with advance reservations (call 443-334-2163).

Here's more from the press release:

The concert will be held in the ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 3:36 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

Seeing 'Red' at Arena Stage: A compelling experience

The "Aria" that launches Bach's Goldberg Variations is one of the most perfectly constructed and expressively sublime works of music. For many listeners, it represents something profoundly spiritual as well.

After Bach spins 30 ingenious variations on that material, he reprises the Aria, which cannot help but sound all the more fulfilling, having generated so many powerful intellectual and emotional responses.

It is no accident that this Aria provides the opening and closing sounds in the Arena Stage presentation of John Logan's "Red," a portrait of the brilliant, path-breaking painter Mark Rothko -- for many people, his work represents something profoundly spiritual, too. (The production originated at Chicago's Goodman Theatre.)

The intermission-less play is, essentially, a series of variations on complex, challenging themes of art and philosophy. It ends where it started, pondering an answer to the most difficult question of all: What do you see?

Talking about art can turn pretentious and tedious in no time. A play about talking about art could be even worse. Logan's remarkably feat here is to address a whole bunch of difficult issues in such a way that they become not just interesting and illuminating, but also downright entertaining.

The drama in the play is largely ignited by the commission Rothko received to paint murals for the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York, an unlikely -- and, as it turned out, impossible -- place for his art. "Red" lets the artist to rant marvelously at the rich and oblivious who would be dining in front of his work.

Other great material involves Rothko discussing ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 1:25 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

January 27, 2012

Baltimore Playwrights Festival seeks directors for stage readings

This just in from the Baltimore Playwrights Festival, which is "urgently seeking volunteers to direct staged readings of new scripts by local playwrights."

Here's more from the release:

Readings will take place on Saturdays in February and March, at various theaters in the Baltimore area. Directors will be assigned a script, and are responsible for casting actors to fill the required roles, holding at least one read-through rehearsal, and being present to direct the staged reading on the date scheduled. Prior theater experience is preferred, but not necessary.

For more information, contact Miriam Bazensky: vchair@baltplayfest.org, 410-756-2762.

Posted by Tim Smith at 12:04 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

January 25, 2012

Everyman Theatre explores marital crisis in (more than) 'Fifty Words'

The daily dust-ups between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich pale in comparison to the battle scenes being played out with considerable force on the stage of Everyman Theatre.

Michael Weller’s recent drama “Fifty Words” focuses unflinchingly on a married couple, Jan and Adam, who have to face something formidable in their Brooklyn brownstone — a night entirely alone.

It’s the first such night since their son was born nine years earlier; the boy, having finally made a friend, is away on a sleep-over. This leaves the parents with a lot of time, if not each other, to kill.

Adam, a moderately successful architect, decides an amorous romp with his wife is in order, before he has to leave for another business trip in the morning. But Jan seems terribly preoccupied, both with left-over work related to her start-up business and with her absent child, who has developed a distinctive way of hiding under his own troubles.

Before long, the spring-loaded spouses uncover any number of suspicions, resentments and long-avoided truths.

“It’ll sting; I can’t help that,” Adam says to Jan at one point, treating a fresh cut on her foot after one of their rounds.

That’s nothing compared to the emotional wounds inflicted on both people before the night is over, more wounds than could ever properly heal. Recalling earlier conflicts, Adam tells his wife: “We were just learning how to hurt each other back then. We were amateurs.”

They are professionals now.

Everyone knows some seemingly incompatible mates who are nonetheless bound together. Marriages can be complex, as theater-goers already know well from Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” In that drama, George and Martha reveal an uncanny ability to goad and ensnare each other. Their weapon — or refuge — of choice is booze, so much easier than sex.

For Adam and Jan, physical intimacy is the trap, and has been from the day they met. They have developed ...

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Categories: Drama Queens, Everyman Theatre
        

January 22, 2012

In today's Sun, yes, more about the cell phone plague

I always worry about my blog-only readers missing some of my inestimable prose elsewhere -- that's the kind of caring person I am -- so I just wanted to let you know that I have a follow-up to the New York Philharmonic cell phone disaster in today's Sun.

This one looks at how some of our local arts organizations are trying to cope with the menace from those smart (or evil) phones.

And speaking of that menace, please take a moment to check out a great refresher course on cell phone etiquette from the Washington Post's Maura Judkis. Not that you need the reminder, of course, but you may know some less enlightened souls would would benefit from the suggestions. And, one day, we may all once again enjoy the fullness and richness of uninterrupted live performance.

Posted by Tim Smith at 12:35 PM | | Comments (3)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

January 19, 2012

Center Stage offers free readings of Martin McDonagh plays at ale house

You knew things were going to be different with Kwame Kwei-Armah heading Center Stage, and you were right.

The latest proof: Center Stage will present free public readings of two Martin McDonagh plays featuring members of Everyman Theatre and Single Carrot Theatre and other local actors.

How's that for collaboration within the arts community? Pretty cool.

The project provides a neat way for Center Stage to promote its production of one of McDonagh's "A Skull in Connemara," which opens next week.

The readings will focus on ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 12:05 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens, Everyman Theatre, Single Carrot Theatre
        

January 18, 2012

Midweek Madness: Operatic outing with Placido Domingo, Carol Burnett (some purple, too)

For your Midweek Madness pleasure or pain (or both), how about a night at the opera with Carol Burnett and Placido Domingo?

To give this a little extra relevance, do notice that Miss Burnett is wearing purple. We in Baltimore know how important purple is right now.

Oh yeah, this little gem even raises that ever-timely issue of ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:06 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens, Opera
        

January 14, 2012

'Gleam' production has put a venerable spiritual in my head

The experience of attending "Gleam" at Center Stage has stayed with me, despite some reservations about the play and one of the performances. As I said in my review, the work made me think of the great spiritual "This Little Light of Mine," which has been ringing through my head.

I should the say the melody that I know and love is ringing through my head. There are two musical treatments of the words. Maybe someone can fill me in on the true history of each -- they're similar, but distinct.

The best known -- judging by frequency of YouTube entries, for one thing -- is embraced by black gospel singers and white folk (and rock) singers alike.

The one that I learned is part of the Negro spiritual tradition. The first time I realized that it wasn't so widely known was when I played it on the piano at a memorial service for ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:50 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Center Stage, Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

January 13, 2012

Center Stage offers rare revival of 'Gleam,' adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston novel

There’s a vintage spiritual with a gentle, folksy tune and a message of optimism, self-worth and defiance: “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”

It could be the theme song of Zora Neale Hurston’s 1937 novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” a sprawling story about an African American woman named Janie, who struggles to lift male-imposed bushels off of her light and manages, against considerable odds and with inspiring honesty, to shine. Or gleam.

Although not entirely fulfilling, “Gleam,” Bonnie Lee Moss Rattner’s earnest adaptation of the Hurston book, conveys the heart of the matter. And although the Center Stage revival of the play could use a more persuasive anchor in the cast, the production provides an engaging theatrical experience.

First performed under a different title in 1983 at Rattner’s alma mater, Wayne State University (the playwright wrote it as her master’s degree thesis there), a revised version of “Gleam” had its professional premiere five years later at New Jersey’s Crossroads Theater. It has been out of sight since then.

There’s a nice reason to revive the piece in Baltimore — Hurston ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 2:10 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

January 12, 2012

Single Carrot Theater stirs up 'MilkMilkLemonade'

It’s not easy being a kid, especially a gay kid stuck on a chicken farm, yearning for the big shopping malls just a few miles away. It’s not easy being a chicken, either, especially when processing day is never far off.

Out of those truths comes “MilkMilkLemonade,” a dark, uneven comedy about sexual and philosophical awakening.

This recent work by Joshua Conkel is being served up in energetic, if not entirely satisfying, fashion by Single Carrot Theatre.

In a fairly compact span of 75 minutes, Conkel sprinkles all sorts of issues, along with the chicken feed, on a slender tale surrounding 11-year-old Emory.

The boy is perfectly comfortable with his doll, a budding libido, and a passion for show biz. He takes particular pleasure in his best friend, Linda, who happens to be a giant, talking chicken.

Then there’s Nana, Emory’s chicken-raising grandmother. She appears to be hanging onto life just long enough to make sure that, somehow, Emory can go sexually straight before he gets any older.

Praying away the gay isn’t going to get her far, so Nana enlists an ally in this quest, a neighborhood kid, Elliot, to bully some sense into Emory.

But Elliot slides between butch nastiness and an urge to play house with Emory — not in a naïve way. And Elliot’s got some other problems, namely an evil twin, who, parasitically, lives in the boy’s thigh.

Helping guide the audience through all of this is a narrator who also gets to portray the parasite and one big, hungry spider.

Emory is too young, too innocent (well, sort of), to fear anything about life beyond the farm. He just knows he wants to ...

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Categories: Drama Queens, Single Carrot Theatre
        

January 11, 2012

Midweek Madness: For my fellow 'Are You Being Served?" fans

As an unabashed Anglophile, I am fond of quite a few Britcoms, even ones that some Brits consider to be terribly déclassé. One of my faves is "Are You Being Served?"

I happened upon this musical salute to the show and just had to share it for this dash of Midweek Madness -- a song sung by the late, inimitable John Inman, a.k.a. Mr. ("I'm free!") Humphries.

I didn't know this song existed (and I'm not surprised). It's the sort of ditty you'd expect to turn up on ...

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

January 9, 2012

On the Record: New Broadway cast recording of 'Follies"

Under Old Business from 2011, I've got a whole bunch of recordings that I never managed to hear.

I figured I would try to get through a few of them before we get too much deeper into 2012, and a music theater gem seemed like a good place to start.

One of the great events of the Mid-Atlantic theater season in 2011 was the Kennedy Center’s revival of Stephen Sondheim’s innovative, transporting “Follies,” with a cast headed by Bernadette Peters, Jan Maxwell, Elaine Paige, Ron Raines and Danny Burstein.

The show, with some change of personnel, went on to Broadway, where it earned another round of critical acclaim. The new cast recording (PS Classics, two discs) explains what the fuss is all about.

This may not be definitive in every detail -- will any version of “Follies” ever be that? -- but it is filled with involving performances. And, in a bonus of Sondheim addicts, a good deal of dialogue is included on the two-disc set (a handsomely illustrated booklet adds to the appeal). The result is quite a vivid representation of the actual theatrical experience.

Peters is ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:27 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

January 5, 2012

Looking ahead at the music, theater scenes with a grain of optimism

On Wednesday afternoon, I took part in a conversation on WYPR's Midday with Dan Rodricks about the state of the arts in Baltimore (if, understandably, you feel just awful that you missed it, there's a podcast available).

Today, I am still thinking about the topic, especially as it applies to my primary beats, classical music and theater. On the whole, I feel optimistic about both, which is unusual for me. There seems to be a positive vibe in the air, despite all the woes and uncertainties.

Yes, we recently lost some valuable organizations (Opera Vivente, Chesapeake Chamber Opera), but we gained a big one (Lyric Opera Baltimore).

Yes, it's still hard to raise money for performing arts groups, but that doesn't seem to stop them from multiplying. Just start counting the theater companies around town, for example.

Yes, Baltimore Symphony musicians are still ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:25 AM | | Comments (0)
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January 4, 2012

Former Center Stage exec to head Carmel Bach Festival

Debbie Chinn, former managing director of Center Stage, has been named executive director of the Carmel Bach Festival, effective this spring.

The festival, held in July, has been a significant part of California's cultural life for 75 years and has developed a fine reputation far beyond the West Coast.

In August 2010, a few months after Irene Lewis announced she was being forced out as artistic director of Center Stage after nearly two decades, Chinn resigned from the company.

She said at the time that she wanted Center Stage to "be free to chart its own course without being confined by past practices -- even if that meant reconsidering my own position."

She had been managing day-to-day operations at the company for two years.

Chinn, who plans to move from her current home in Towson to the Carmel area in the spring, brings a wide range of experiences to her new post.

Her resume includes administrative stints with the San Francisco Symphony, California Shakespeare Theater, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and Center Theatre Group of the Music Center of Los Angeles.

She has also served on the boards of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance, Theatre Communications Group, and the Association of California Symphony Orchestras. 

In a statement released Wednesday, Chinn said she ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:25 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

Hippodrome breaks box office record with 'The Lion King'

The national touring production of "The Lion King" that winds up its five-week run at the Hippodrome Theatre on Sunday, has already broken a box office record.

For the week ending Jan. 1, which included nine performances, the theater grossed $1,531,590, the highest for a Broadway show there.

The final tallies for the engagement will show over $6 million in gross ticket sales and more than 62,000 people attending.

"'The Lion King' truly reigns in Baltimore, and we look forward to our next return engagement," said Jeff T. Daniel, president of the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, in a statement.

The Hippodrome estimates a ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:16 AM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Drama Queens, Hippodrome
        

Midweek Madness: A distinctive duo notes that it's cold outside

It's a new year, and a new excuse to continue inflicting Midweek Madness on you.

As all but my warm weather friends know, temperatures have aken a decidedly wintry turn of late. Some of us got awfully spoiled by the nearly balmy conditions over the holidays (my other half, my sister and I went down-y-oshun, as we say in Baltimore, on New Year's Day, enjoying the very tolerable conditions Lewes and Rehoboth Beach in Delaware), but we knew it couldn't last forever.

So, for all of those you currently thinking, baby, it's cold outside, here's a duet by two icons who, somehow, seem ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 5:33 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

December 23, 2011

An engaging visit with Dorothy Fields at Everyman Theatre

Each year at this time, Everyman Theatre takes a nostalgic walk through the Great American Songbook, departing from the company's usual focus to offer a cabaret-type show with a few singers and a single pianist.

Irving Berlin and Johnny Mercer have provided fertile ground for these presentations in recent seasons. Now it's the turn of Dorothy Fields, a name with less recognition, but a great deal of weight in the business.

Because Fields is a bit more obscure, and because she's just such an interesting figure in the history of popular music, Everyman took an extra step this time, creating much more than a song revue.

"On the Sunny Side of the Street: A Tribute to Dorothy Fields," which runs through Jan. 1, has a book written by James Gardiner, a Signature Theatre regular who starred in Everyman's Berlin salute a couple years back. Gardiner has fashioned a very effective vehicle that manages to impart lots of information about a somewhat elusive figure, without turning wordy or gimmicky.

There is much to savor about the life Fields led. She broke into what was very much a man's world in the 1920s and held her ground.

She fashioned clever and colorful words for some of the most successful songs of the past century, including the one that provides the title for this show, not to mention such standards as “I Can't Give You Anything But Love” and “I'm in the Mood for Love.”

What gives the Fields story an extra degree of interest is her longevity. That she wrote lyrics for Jerome Kern and Quincy Jones says a great deal. Few people in this business lasted as long as she did, or produced memorable work in nearly ever decade of her career. To go from "I Feel a Song Coming On" to "Big Spender," with a stop along the way as book-writer for "Annie Get Your Gun," is a pretty cool stretch.

The Everyman production, with musical direction by Howard Breitbart (pictured), wisely ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 11:53 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

December 22, 2011

A typically quirky, raunchy John Waters Christmas

I'd love to know what the two dear little old ladies, clutching their canes, expected when they entered the Lyric Opera House Wednesday night for "A John Waters Christmas."

Were they in the wrong place? Did they get the dates mixed up, and thought it was Thursday, when the Irish Tenors will perform there? Were they expecting Johnny Mathis?

(During the show, Waters, a longtime fan of the singer's, said he thought it would be funny if he and Johnny booked concerts on the same night, one at the Lyric, one at the Meyerhoff, and then switched places without warning their respective audiences. Sounds cool to me.)

If those sweet looking elderly souls actually knew what they were in for, they have my great admiration. Even I was embarrassed hearing some of the raunchier stuff our Baltimore icon said in his roughly 80-minute monologue.

Waters has been doing an extensive tour -- more than two dozen performances all over the place, including Down Under -- and the Baltimore gig served, appropriately, as the last stop.

Decked out in a spirited, Isaac Mizrahi-designed red suit, Waters kept more or less to the Christmas theme, mostly by ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:19 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

December 21, 2011

Midweek Madness (II): A 'divine' song in advance of 'A John Waters Christmas'

Here in dear old Baltimore, there's much anticipation filling the surprisingly mild air about tonight's performance that will light up the Modell Center at the Lyric: A John Waters Christmas.

Nothing like a dollop of X-rated ruminations on the season. I can't wait.

Meanwhile, to help everyone get even more in the mood, how about a Christmas song from none other than Divine, the ultimate John Waters-launched star? All right, maybe not Divine, exactly, but in the spirit of, thanks to the incomparable SCTV:

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:40 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

Midweek Madness: A great motel for Christmas, as seen on SCTV

People everywhere are taking to the roads in that grand effort to be with family and friends for the holidays. Those who have to make an overnight stay on the way to and fro will be glad to know about this terrific motel in the south Mellonville area.

At the Driftwood Inn, the food and accommodations are terrific, and the staff will serve you "in a courteous and obedient manner" (boy, that sure makes a change from the usual lodging experience in all those hoity-toity name-brand lodgings, doesn't it?).

The inn offers such an enticing Christmas package deal that it would be worth taking advantage of even if you didn't need to stay over.

Here are all the inviting details from this classy SCTV commercial:

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Posted by Tim Smith at 8:58 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

December 20, 2011

A sneak preview of Paul McCartney's next album

So, OK, this is a blog primarily for classical music and theater types, but who doesn't have a soft spot for Paul McCartney?

Seems like the Cute Beatle is making an album devoted primarily to the "standards he grew up listening to in his childhood," according to the press release.

"When I kind of got into songwriting, I realized how well structured these songs were and I think I took a lot of my lessons from them," McCartney says in the release. "I always thought artists like Fred Astaire were very cool. Writers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, all of those guys -- I just thought the songs were magical."

It's great to find yet another rocker digging into that magic. The album, which does not yet have a title, but does have a release date (Feb. 7), also contains ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 3:31 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

Everyman Theatre to salute remarkable legacy of lyricist Dorothy Fields

If the name Dorothy Fields doesn’t ring immediate and appreciative bells, you are not alone. But, chances are, you know this lyricist’s work a lot better than you think.

Everyman Theatre provides an opportunity to get better acquainted with the lyricist in its winter concert presentation, “Keep on the Sunny Side of the Street: A Tribute to Dorothy Fields,” which opens this week.

The cast includes Nancy Dolliver, James Gardiner, Katie Nigsch-Fairfax and Delores King Williams. Howard Breitbart is musical director.

Gardiner, the engaging singer and actor who has appeared in Everyman’s Irving Berlin celebration a few seasons ago, wrote the book for this year’s salute.

“When I tell people I’m doing a show about Dorothy Fields, they go ‘Dorothy who?’ But mention ‘On the Sunny Side of the Street,’ and they go, ‘Oh, yeah,’” Gardiner said. “She doesn’t have the name recognition of Ira Gershwin or Irving Berlin, but she definitely was one of the best lyricists in the 20th century.”

Born in 1904 in New Jersey, Fields enjoyed a long career that produced more than 400 songs, from such standards as “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” in 1928 to “Big Spender” from the hit musical “Sweet Charity” in 1966. She collaborated with a who’s-who of composers, from Harold Arlen and Jerome Kern to Cy Coleman and Quincy Jones.

That Fields could start in the business when she did says a lot.

“She was a female in what was kind of an all-boys club,” Gardiner said. “Her father even said to her, ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:47 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens, Everyman Theatre
        

December 19, 2011

'Billy Elliot the Musical' bounds into the Kennedy Center

The boy just needs to dance.

When Billy Elliot, a pre-teen from a poor mining town, sets his feet in motion, he says it feels “a bit like being angry, a bit like being scared.” And a lot like flying.

If he had to describe the sensation in a single word, it would be “electricity.”

The current running through the national touring production of “Billy Elliot the Musical” now at the Kennedy Center may not be of the highest possible voltage, but it still generates a warming dose of feel-good entertainment.

And when Billy jumps into a dance at full-throttle, or, in a particularly memorable sequence, adds some aerial work for good measure, the show exudes an infectious exhilaration, pumped up in key spots by Elton John’s more or less effective score.

You cannot help but root for Billy, whose dancing gives him the best shot of getting away from a suffocatingly small town.

The kid deals with one setback — and well-traveled plot path — after another, including a gruff father who doesn’t want his boy doing something so girly (Billy to his Dad: “You’re supposed to encourage me.”)

But there’s never any doubt that things will turn out OK, that hope and gritty effort will be rewarded.

If the ending ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 2:37 PM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

December 14, 2011

Midweek Madness: A preview of Liberace's Christmas Special on SCTV

There have been a gazillion TV specials providing entertainment for the holidays, but none could ever measure up to this one from SCTV, which makes an ideal candidate for Midweek Madness.

Alas, only the promo remains, but that's more than enough to generate shivers:

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Posted by Tim Smith at 7:15 AM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

December 13, 2011

'Hairspray' gets kinetic revival at Signature Theatre

Those crazy kids with their triple-lacquered coifs and radical ideas about interracial dancing are back, ripping up the stage at Signature Theatre in an infectiously animated revival of "Hairspray."

Even allowing for a shortcoming or two, the production provides a striking reaffirmation of just what a cleverly crafted, thoroughly engaging musical this is.

It may follow well-worn paths in terms of plot trajectory, but so many fresh curves get thrown along the way that "Hairspray" never lets up and never lets you down.

It helps that the source material is so strong -- the film written and directed by John Waters, whose love affair with Baltimore, in all of its quirkiness, found particularly broad-based appeal here.

Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan did a remarkable job preserving the essence of the movie. And Marc Shaiman really nailed the early-'60s sound-world, including rock and  Motown; it's an uncannily evocative score.

The show revolves around the character of Tracy Turnblad, the ever-so-slightly overfed teen who just wants to dance on the local "Corny Collins Show" on TV. Oh yeah, and try to integrate said show while she's at it. And somehow catch the eye of its dreamboat participant, Link Larkin, too.

Carolyn Cole gives a ...

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Categories: Drama Queens
        

December 7, 2011

Midweek Madness: It's a Wonderful Remix

Not sure about you, but I am in total denial about the whole Christmas/New Year's thing, the gift shopping (is that even necessary in a recession?), the card-sending.

The forecast of some snow tonight -- even though the morning has started out at over 60 degrees -- sort of jolted me a little. (All those years I lived in Florida made it much easier to think 'Holidays? What holidays?')

So for Midweek Madness, that feature many of you look forward to with what can only be described as a pathological fixation, I thought a jolt of something Christmas-y -- with a twist -- would be in order.

I think this is a very clever remix of ...

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

December 1, 2011

John Hurt shines in Beckett play presented by Shakespeare Theatre Co.

When the light slowly, oh so slowly, comes up on John Hurt, sitting at a desk on an otherwise bare stage and staring into space, the effect is riveting enough.

What happens next in the production of the Samuel Beckett classic "Krapp's Last Tape" in Washington is even more so -- nothing.

Like a variation on John Cage's infamous "4:33," Hurt barely moves a muscle for several long minutes, an eternity in theater time. The only sound is ambient -- people rustling in their seats, an occasional cough, maybe a stomach rumbling (mine did that on Wednesday's opening night; sorry, I hadn't had dinner).

The slightest change in Hurt's expression or position of his head takes on enormous significance in this tense stillness.

It is an extraordinary way of drawing an audience in, while also making them just a little uncomfortable. Ours is not an age of quiet, after all.

From that electric opening, Hurt continues to  mesmerize throughout this incisive Gate Theatre Dublin production of Beckett's 1958 play, astutely directed by Michael Colgan and expertly lit by James McConnell.

It is being presented at the ...

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Categories: Drama Queens
        

For World AIDS Day: 'Walt Whitman in 1989'

To mark World AIDS Day 2011, I wanted to share a remarkably affecting song that I heard for the first time recently, thanks to the New York Festival of Song: "Walt Whitman in 1989."

This performance comes form a new film, "All the Way Through the Evening" by Rohan Spong, a documentary centering on the annual concerts arranged in New York City by Mimi Stern-Wolfe as a tribute to composers lost to HIV/AIDS (she is the pianist in the clip).

The song, with words by Perry Brass and music by Chris DeBlasio, imagines Whitman returning to ...

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

November 30, 2011

Fells Point Corner Theatre bites into 'The Little Dog Laughed'

There is plenty of theatrical material to be derived from stories of closeted gay actors worried about discovery.

In his play "The Little Dog Laughed," which had a well-received run on Broadway in 2006, Douglas Carter Beane mines some of that fertile ground.

The playwright has created a spicy, wickedly funny scenario about a movie star named Mitchell, prone to a "slight recurring case of homosexuality."

That description comes from Mitchell's uber-agent, Diane, which has to be one of the juiciest roles to come around in years.

Holly Pasciullo dives into it with a vengeance to deliver a production-anchoring performance of "Little Dog" at the Fells Point Corner Theatre.

Although the rest of the cast doesn't quite match her assurance and flair, there is ...

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Categories: Drama Queens
        

November 23, 2011

Midweek Madness: Healthy, hearty tip for your Thanksgiving meal

For the benefit of all my health-conscious readers, I thought this TV ad would make the ideal offering for my Midweek Madness featurette, which is all about giving and sharing.

It will be especially helpful for those feeling extra waves of madness at the thought of preparing tomorrow's Thanksgiving Day meal. This one simple approach will help relieve the holiday pressure, save lots of time and ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:31 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

November 18, 2011

Latest NEA grants include Center Stage, BSO, Baltimore Choral Arts

A fresh round of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts includes music and theater organizations in the Baltimore area. Given periodic political threats to the NEA, threats that tend to get louder with each election cycle, any grant must seem doubly valuable these days.

Center Stage received $55,000 "to support the production of 'Gleam,' an adaptation by Bonnie Lee Moss Rattner of Zora Neale Hurston’s novel 'Their Eyes Were Watching God' ... considered one of the jewels of the Harlem Renaissance."

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra was awarded ...

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Categories: BSO, Center Stage, Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

November 15, 2011

Center Stage production serves up raw slice of life in 'American Buffalo'

Felling like one of the forgotten 99 percent lately?

Step into the seedy re-sell-it shop that has been painstakingly and brilliantly constructed in the Head Theater at Center Stage and you can be connected to enough distrust, frustration and contempt to fuel a thousand Occupy Wall Street movements.

David Mamet's "American Buffalo" may be set in mid-1970s Chicago and may be concerned with one attempt at one absurd little crime, but it could be set anywhere, any time.

And it could be the story of any scheme to strike out at a cold, unfair world that seems to have stacked everything against the little guy, a world where even a card game among friends might be rigged.

Mamet electrified the theater world with "American Buffalo" more than three decades ago. Something about the language -- not just the unfettered vulgarity of it, but the cadence and even poetry of it -- struck a nerve. And although society's losers have been the subject of many a work of literature, theater and cinema, Mamet's particular trio of misfits still stands out.

This is certainly ...

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Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

November 9, 2011

A 'Glee' episode to cherish for lots of reasons

OK, get your sniggering out of the way now. Yes, I am a Gleek who looks forward to every episode of "Glee," even after sitting through the so-so and repetitive ones.

And what I saw last night reconfirmed my belief that this is an inspired and inspiring show.

I know that some folks think just the opposite. I read one devastating put down in a UK paper last season that made me almost hate "Glee" too -- until I came to my senses. Come on, this is not just another TV show.

It manages to cram in so many issues of teen angst, so many points of view about politics, sociology, sexuality and community -- all to a soundtrack of great songs (all right, mostly great). And for those of us who still carry around baggage from our younger years, especially concerning our orientation, "Glee" provides an amazing uplift.

We see the same old bullying, the same old stupidity, from kids and adults alike, in this show, but we also see ...

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

Everyman Theatre pries delightfully into 'Private Lives'

If love were all, relationships might be terribly boring. That couples are apt to encounter, with some frequency, various frictions of a non-amorous nature may well be what keeps them stuck together. It sure can make them fun to watch.

So Noel Coward reminds us in “Private Lives.” An antic revival of this 1930 comedy of bad manners is currently ripping up the boards at Everyman Theatre.

In a fast-paced three acts, Coward generates a clever, witty whirl from a simple set-up. At a seaside French hotel, Amanda and Elyot, now divorced, collide on their honeymoons with fresh spouses. It turns out that the old emotional bonds between the two were not as neatly severed as the legal ones.

The playwright, who often seems to be channeling Oscar Wilde in the quip department, skewers notions of romance, fidelity, compromise, sensitivity — you name it.

“Let’s be superficial and … enjoy the party as much as we can.” Elyot tells Amanda. Forget being sensible or serious. That’s “just what they want,” all those “futile moralists who try to make life unbearable.”

The more Elyot and Amanda thwart conventionality, ...

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Categories: Drama Queens, Everyman Theatre
        

November 3, 2011

Nigel Reed triumphs as doomed actor in 'Barrymore' at Rep Stage

So he drank a little too much. And fooled around a little too much. And recited some wonderfully off-color stories or limericks a little too often. Oh yes, and forgot his lines a lot.

But John Barrymore sure was fun, as audiences can rediscover in a welcome production from Rep Stage that brings the storied actor to life for a couple of hours.

"Barrymore," a play by William Luce that became a notable vehicle for Christopher Plummer on Broadway in 1996, in this case provides a terrific showcase for a regional favorite, Nigel Reed. He enjoys quite a triumph.

The play effectively provides a biographical sketch within a plausible framework. The set-up is that Barrymore, starved for cash and a comeback ("I have enough money to last the rest of my life," he says, "provided I die right now"), arrives ...

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Categories: Drama Queens, Rep Stage
        

November 2, 2011

Midweek Madness: Noel Coward in full flower

Everyman Theatre's revival of Noel Coward's "Private Lives" opens this week, an event that made me think of the playwright himself as a perfect source for the latest Midweek Madness installment.

So here's dear Noel and one of his ever so witty songs as only he could deliver it, complete with impeccable diction and some divine gestures:

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Categories: Drama Queens, Everyman Theatre
        

Outtakes from George Hamilton's promo for 'La Cage'

For those enjoying "La Cage aux Folles" at the Hippodrome this week -- and you should catch this production if you can (my review:http://http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bs-ae-arts-story-1104-20111103,0,3319263.story) -- I thought you might enjoy these outtakes from a promo George Hamilton shot recently for the tour.

Hamilton is a hoot offstage, as I can attest from a nearly hour-long phone interview the other day, and this short video clip ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:26 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens, Hippodrome
        

November 1, 2011

Performance Workshop Theatre stages Miller's 'A View From the Bridge'

There's a cancerous, unspeakable force driving Eddie Carbone, the anti-hero longshoreman in "A View From the Bridge," Arthur Miller's classic play enjoying an accomplished revival from Performance Workshop Theatre.

Having created a cocoon to raise Catherine, his terribly enticing niece, Eddie simply can't bear the thought that she might break free someday. His ordinary world -- loyal wife, dependable job, close-knit community -- just wouldn't have enough going for it without Catherine in it.

The physically pure, but morally contaminated, arrangement that Eddie enjoys at home could not possible last, of course.

By the time an exotically handsome young man and his brother -- cousins of Eddie's wife -- arrive illegally from Italy, the Carbone household is already heading toward a crisis point. The presence of guests merely speeds it up a little.

Watching Eddie self-destruct is never pleasant, but ...

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Categories: Drama Queens
        

October 19, 2011

Signature Theatre's 3rd annual Stephen Sondheim Award goes to Patti LuPone

The Signature Theatre, known for revelatory productions of Stephen Sondheim works, established an annual award in his name two years ago. The first recipients were Angela Lansbery and Bernadette Peters.

The third is equally deserving: Patti LuPone.

She will receive the honor at a gala in April at the Embassy of Italy in Washington.

"With her wonderful performances in 'Gypsy,' 'Sweeney Todd,' 'Company,' 'Passion,' and more," said Signature Theatre artistic director Eric Schaeffer in a statement released Wednesday, "she has had an amazing connection to Steve's words and music."

Sondheim added his own praise:

"There are few performers who can play both Mrs. Lovett and Fosca, Evita and Reno Sweeney, Nancy in 'Oliver!' and Cora Hoover Hooper in 'Anyone Can Whistle,' and still create roles for David Mamet. In fact, there’s only one.

"Versatility of such a high caliber is rare indeed, and therefore it couldn't be more appropriate that the recipient of this year's Signature Theatre Sondheim Award is going to the best tuba player on Broadway: Patti LuPone."

 

SUN FILE PHOTO

Posted by Tim Smith at 12:55 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

Midweek Madness: Petula Clark, great cars, indescribable choreography

For your midweek diversion I must thank my other half, a longtime fan of Petula Clark and old cars.

He spotted this irresistible, smile-inducing clip that shows Petula delivering one of her classics while flanked by some cool British vehicles and a vibrantly attired herd of dancers. Somehow, she is not the least bit distracted by some of the cah-RAY-zee-est '60s moves you'll ever see.

I have to wonder if those responsible knew at the time just how divinely campy this choreography would look, starting with that guy gyrating underneath one of the autos. You may have to watch this video twice to catch all of the fabulousity that punctuates a great song of the times:

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

October 18, 2011

An 'Our Town' that moves, from Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Those straightforward, honest folks of Grover’s Corners are back, waiting for the milkman, smelling the heliotrope, attending choir practice, falling in love. And, of course, making their way to the local cemetery.

In this case, the characters who populate Thornton Wilder’s enduring play “Our Town” are reliving their experiences not in a traditional theater, but on the grounds of the Patapsco Female Institute Historic Park atop an Ellicott City hillside. It’s a mostly effective example of a cool concept practiced by Chesapeake Shakespeare Company called a “movable production.”

During its summer season, the company uses the park for outdoor performances set up in the expected manner — a fixed stage area, audience in front. During the fall season, everything is in motion. The action progresses from spot to spot in and around the ruins that fill the site, and the audience moves accordingly, often ending up mere inches away from the actors.

The atmosphere at the venue, visually speaking, provides an understandable draw. The atmosphere, meteorologically speaking, can provide unwelcome drawbacks. But if you’re suitably outfitted for any nocturnal chill and prepared to clamber through the ruins (the “movable” element actually starts with the hike up the hill from the parking lot), it’s a breeze.

Speaking of breeze, on the night I attended “Our Town,” ...

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Categories: Drama Queens
        

October 10, 2011

Head Theater at Center Stage to get makeover

Good news for those of us who just never could warm up to the configuration of the Head Theater at Center Stage.

That upstairs space, where "The Second City: Charmed and Dangerous" soon finishes its run, has had a cabaret-style look, with little tables filling most of the floor space and bleacher-style seating on the sides. It's about to get a makeover.

In a statement released Monday, new Center Stage artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah said: ...

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Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

October 9, 2011

'Spamalot' makes quick, rousing visit to renovated Modell Center at the Lyric

The newly renovated Lyric Opera House -- now officially the Patricia and Arthur Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric -- is open for business.

The inaugural season has an assortment of opera (Lyric Opera Baltimore takes its first bow next month); pop stars; the occasional icon (Tony Bennett next week, John Waters in December); and, this weekend, a bunch of crazy knights seeking the Holy Grail in the 2005 Tony-winning musical "Spamalot."

This is one of several bus-and-struck shows breezing in and out of the Lyric this season. Only one of three performances remains -- 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon -- and if you are looking for a quick lift, get over there.

I was ...

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October 7, 2011

One more 'South Pacific' item: The absolute ultimate version of a great song

OK, I know I should stop with the 'South Pacific' stuff, but I just couldn't resist one more post.

As I said previously, the songs from this show have been stuck in my head since Tuesday night's opening performance of the production at the Hippodrome -- just as those songs were stuck for ages after I saw the original Broadway revival.

To tell the truth, my tastes were always a little more Rodgers and Hart than Rodgers and Hammerstein, but I have found, over the years, a greater and greater appreciation for the musical scores by the latter duo.

The song from "South Pacific" that really, really moves me is "This Nearly Was Mine." The melody, with its elegant harmony, is top-drawer; the words are exceptionally effective. The structure is terrific, too.

I have admired how this song was delivered by Paulo Szot in the 2008 New York staging; in Washington last year by David Pittsinger in the first national tour of the wonderful Bartlett Sher revival; and this week in Baltimore by Marcelo Guzzo in the second national tour. And, of course, I love the classic performances by Ezio Pinza and others who starred as Emil de Becque.

But there's a version of this song, removed from its theatrical context (and from the original bass/baritone realm), that's in a class by itself. The first time I heard ...

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens, Hippodrome
        

October 6, 2011

Some favorite interpretations of the 'South Pacific' hit parade

The arrival of "South Pacific" at the Hippodrome has had my head filled again with the great songs from that Rodgers and Hammerstein classic.

The score is packed with superbly crafted words and music, always in service to the plot. Hearing in them in context is wonderful, of course, especially in the revival brilliantly conceived by Bartlett Sher (the production now in Baltimore is the second national tour).

But the songs from this show have long enjoyed a life outside the theater, and I thought I'd share a few of the many interpretations that have left an impression on me.

I'll begin with a remarkable pop singer who ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 10:24 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

October 5, 2011

Midweek Madness: 'There are Fairies at the Bottom of Our Garden'

The clamor for more of my Midweek Madness feature-ettes has been so astonishingly non-existent that I have put aside all my more pressing duties to oblige with another.

On the way to work this morning, I took a wistful little look at our garden, slowly fading with the seasons, and that gave me the idea for sharing a gem from the old, old days.

This terribly quaint song, composed by Liza Lehmann, is performed here by the one and only Beatrice Lillie. (I suspect some of you may, for varying reasons and with varying artistic results, rush to add it to your own repertoires.):

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

September 29, 2011

Unfinished business: Glass Mind Theatre, Baltimore Concert Opera

I know I am late sharing my incredibly important views on some events I attended last weekend, but I kept getting swept up in the eddies of life. Stuff happened. Stuff is happening still.

All the while, the guilt kept piling up (I wasn't raised Catholic for nothing), so that just made each day all the more torturous (feeling pity for me yet?).

But I am determined, even at this late date, to impart a few words about two worthy organizations in Baltimore that work hard at pumping up the local culture.

Glass Mind Theatre is one of city's cool ensemble-based companies, the kind with a tight-knit group of founding members who pitch in to do everything that needs doing, from acting and directing to box office and PR.

To open its second season, Glass Mind turned a work by Stephen Adly Guirgis, the playwright who made things so difficult last season for family newspapers and non-premium cable TV because his Broadway hit had a title unprintable and unspeakable ("The Mother----- With the Hat").

A decidedly dark (and slightly padded) comedy from 2002 called "Den of Thieves" proved to be a smooth fit for the Glass Mind players Saturday night in the tucked-away Load of Fun Theater. I'm sorry to say the run is over, so you'll have to take my word for it.

In brief, the crazy plot involves petty and serious crime, addiction of one kind or another, and a lot of colorful characters, from a pretend-Latino named Flaco to a mobster named Big Tuna. Beneath and around the more well-worn elements (like low-end thieves convinced they can pull off the perfect robbery of drug money), there's substance, too, not to mention a lot of wicked humor, in "Den of Thieves."

The Glass Mind cast, directed by Britt Olsen-Ecker, effectively communicated a lot of that substance, thanks especially to ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:22 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

September 27, 2011

Irene Lewis directs potent revival of 'Trouble in Mind' at Arena Stage

There’s an unexpected case of theatrical synergy going on in the region, with two productions that look squarely at issues of race, identity and self-esteem.

At Everyman Theatre, you’ll find a potent staging of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun,” which became in 1959 the first work by an African-American woman to reach Broadway.

At Arena Stage, there’s an absorbing revival of “Trouble in Mind,” a play by Alice Childress that almost became the first work by an African-American woman to reach Broadway. It enjoyed an acclaimed run off-Broadway in 1955, but efforts to move it to the Great White Way proved fruitless.

Adding an extra twist: “Trouble in Mind” uses a play-within-a-play format to reveal conflicts within a biracial company rehearsing for a Broadway show about racism.

And giving extra interest to the Arena State revival, which runs through Oct. 23, is the fact that is directed by Irene Lewis, former artistic director of Center Stage, making her debut with the D.C. company. Lewis has tackled the play before.

This is largely a reprise of the Center Stage presentation of “Trouble in Mind” that she guided in 2007, with several of the same cast members, including the treasured E. Faye Butler. The original design team remains, too — David Korins (the impeccably atmospheric set) and Catherine Zuber (the equally evocative costumes).

Childress, who had more than her share of disappointments as a budding actress confronting rigid color barriers, captured the backstage milieu with keen detail when she penned “Trouble in Mind.” Characters, black and white, are richly drawn. The differences, spoken and unspoken, between those characters emerge with similar clarity.

The play is often ...

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Categories: Drama Queens
        

September 14, 2011

Midweek Madness: An operetta number from Ethel Mertz

And now, to relieve the midweek strain, a little number from the immortal operetta "The Pleasant Peasant," composed by that remarkable duo of Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz.

Here's Ethel singing the indelible Act 1 aria, "I Am Lily of the Valley," in a gala production by the Tuesday Afternoon Fine Arts League in New York. She not only offers uncommon vocal polish and intensely expressive phrasing, but also superb acting -- note, especially, how, with the subtlest of gestures, she indicates "the valley over there."

This is clearly the work of a true artist of the stage:

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens, Midweek Madness
        

September 12, 2011

Everyman Theatre's searing production of 'A Raisin in the Sun'

It turns out that lightning can strike in the same place twice, after all.

Less than a year ago, Everyman Theatre presented a revival of a great American play, Arthur Miller's "All My Sons," with a tightly cohesive, exceptionally affecting cast and a note-perfect physical production to match.

Over the weekend, the company unveiled another revival of a great American play, Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun," with a tightly cohesive, exceptionally affecting cast and a note-perfect physical production to match.

Drawing upon all-too-real experiences in her own life, Hansberry fashioned a compelling drama of a family trying to fulfill personal dreams, as well as that elusive panacea known as the American dream.

The difference, an acute difference when "A Raisin in the Sun" premiered on Broadway in 1959, is that this family is black.

There is nothing remotely dated about the play. There is nothing manipulative about it, either. Half a century later, it feels fresh and real, still asks questions that sting, still refuses to provide pat answers.

Hansberry opens a window into the African American world with one hand, holds up a mirror to all of us with the other.

The plot of "A Raisin in the Sun" unfolds from a deceptively simple incident, with members of the Younger family, in their well-worn apartment on Chicago's South Side, awaiting the arrival in the mail of an inheritance check and the possibilities it offers.

There are inevitable conflicts among family members over how the money should be spent. Things turn deeper and more unsettling when Lena, the recently widowed matriarch, introduces the prospect of a move into a home in a white neighborhood called Clybourne Park. (That's also the name of the recent, Pulitzer Prize-winning Bruce Norris play, a kind of sequel to the Hansberry classic. Perhaps that work will turn up before too long at Everyman.)

Why Lena makes her choice, and the way the family is affected by the turn of events, is the stuff of arresting drama, heightened by ...

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Categories: Drama Queens, Everyman Theatre
        

September 10, 2011

Relief from cares and woes, thanks to a kitten, two apples and a great soundtrack

In case, like me, you could use a quick lift and a little distraction from the assorted cares and woes of the world, just spend a couple minutes with this kitten, a pair of apples (sorry for the misidentified fruit when I first posted this -- I was in some strange daze at the time) and a fabulous soundtrack from the "Alien" flicks:

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

September 7, 2011

Yo-Yo-Ma, Barbara Cook among those receiving 2011 Kennedy Center Honors

The recipients of the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors include two giants of classical music and the musical theater: Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and vocal artist Barbara Cook. Excellent choices by any measure.

Yo-Yo Ma has not just maintained a compelling level of artistry, but also has helped spread the gospel of classical music and reached out across many a cultural boundary with his extraordinary Silk Road Project.

Barbara Cook not only left a brilliant imprint on the musical theater, and also remains one of the most insightful and moving interpreters of that repertoire and the rest of the Great American Songbook.

Not that the rest of the Honors list isn't also top-drawer:

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Posted by Tim Smith at 11:32 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

Rep Stage opens season with a romp through the Restoration

It seems unlikely that many Americans are well up on the Restoration period in England.

We know something of the Puritans who had their heyday before that period, primarily because of their legacy on these shores (a legacy that seems to rise up again with every few election cycles).

But we know little, I suspect, of Charles II, let alone Aphra Behn, the first woman in England to make a living from poetry and plays.

Those historical figures (or, at least, approximations) and some heated issues from the Restoration get a work out in "Or," a recent play by Liz Duffy Adams that serves as the 19th season-opener for Rep Stage.

Part of the fun comes from the way Adams weaves the 1960s into that 1660s milieu, with assorted political, economic and, especially, sexual references that have a way of connecting the two eras. There are some obvious connections to the early 2000s as well.

In an intermission-less stretch of 90 minutes, the play largely succeeds in providing context and fleshing out characters, although it would be nice to get more of a sense of Behn's theatrical career (the plot concerns her steps toward that career). The story is deliverered in between bursts of farce -- lots of doors opening and closing, confused identities, sudden plot twists.

Whether all the details packed into the work have a ring of truth is beside the point. For all of the comedy in the piece, it is, at heart ...

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Categories: Drama Queens, Rep Stage
        

September 6, 2011

Center Stage offers low-cost season pass for the 21-34 age set

Performing arts groups are always trying to think up ways to attract customers whose hair has yet to turn gray (or fall out), and whose minds are still flexible. Center Stage announced Tuesday an unusually attractive offer geared to the younger set, specifically ages 21 to 34.

The company has introduced a $38 membership plan for these folks. It includes a season-long "GO Pass."

That pass is not valid for "special engagements" -- sorry, but "Second City: Charmed & Dangerous," the follow-up to last season's smash production by the Chicago comedy troupe, is not included in the deal.

Still, that leaves all the other presentations of the 2011-2012 season, including mainstage productions, cabaret shows and theater labs.

But, wait, there's more!

Go Pass-holders not only ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 10:05 AM | | Comments (7)
Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

September 2, 2011

Arena Stage offers ticket deal to remaining month of 'Oklahoma' revival

The box office figure at Arena Stage "looks like it's climbin' clear up to the sky," thanks to the company's revelatory revival of "Oklahoma."

On every level, this production, directed by Molly Smith, represents a remarkable achievement, enabling the original qualities of the iconic American musical to emerge with disarming freshness and often arresting insight.  

More than 100,000 people have attended the show, counting last year's original run and the encore that started this summer. That reprise runs through Oct. 2.

To usher in the last month of the show, which is the best-selling mainstage production in the company's 61 years, Arena Stage is offering a deal: 

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Posted by Tim Smith at 12:00 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

In today's Sun: Rep Stage goes back to the future with 'Or'

You know how I worry about my faithful band of readers not being able to find my non-blog writing. So, in case any of you theater-inclined types missed it, I thought I should mention a preview in Friday's paper of Rep Stage's season-opening production -- Liz Duffy Adams' "Or."

The play, with one foot in Restoration England and the other closer to our time, sounds fun, especially given the cast. Performers include Jason Odell Williams and Christine Demuth, who were featured last season in the company's presentation of works by J. M. Barrie. Completing the "Or" cast is Charlotte Cohn, Williams' wife.

Posted by Tim Smith at 9:28 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens, Rep Stage
        

August 31, 2011

Kennedy Center celebrates 40th year with free ticket giveaway

The Kennedy Center turns 40 in September (I'm always happy to bore anyone with my memories of attending the very first public performance there -- at an impossibly young age, needless to say).

To mark the birthday, two free tickets will be offered to every Kennedy Center– presented performance during the 2011–2012 season.

This generous gesture coincides with the launch of something called MyTix, a project aimed at helping more of the 18-to-30-year-old set, active duty armed services personnel and other under-served members of the community gain access to Kennedy Center events.

MyTix is part of the broader Rubenstein Arts Access Program, funded by Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein and his wife Alice Rubenstein.

The good news for those who don't meet the target demographics of MyTix is that the birthday blast ticket giveaway is "open to all," according to the press release out today. So go for it.

(If they threw in the $20 parking garage fee, it would be an even better prize, but freebie recipients can't be greedy.)

Here's what you have to do for a chance at winning some tickets:

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:31 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens, NSO
        

August 29, 2011

As 2011-12 approaches, some music and theater events that have my attention

While lending a hand with the compilation of the Sun's annual Fall Arts Guide, which will be out Sept. 9 (that's still officially summer, but who bothers with such picky details?), I kept making mental notes of music and theater offerings that I particularly want to catch. Here are five of them:

 

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:30 AM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

August 23, 2011

Fast earthquake marketing: $5.90 rush tickets at Signature Theatre

That didn't take long.

The Signature Theatre in Arlington quickly seized on the wild earthquake that tipped the scale at 5.9 on Tuesday with a limited offer of $5.90 tickets. (Maybe that will be $5.80 now that we got downgraded.)

These are rush rickets available two hours prior to showtime for preview performances of two musicals being given their world premieres by the company: "The Hollow" on Tuesday and Wednesday nights; "The Boy Detective Fails" on Thursday night.

 

Posted by Tim Smith at 4:07 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

Call for entries in Baltimore Playwrights Festival

The Baltimore Playwrights Festival, which is currently wrapping up its 30th anniversary season, is in the preliminary stages of the next one. A call for entries has gone out to budding playwrights to submit works for consideration in the 2012 festival. The deadline is Sept. 30. 

The only requirements: The plays cannot have been previously produced; the playwrights "must be domiciled (or at one time have lived) in Maryland or Washington D.C."

You can get more details, guidelines and instructions on how to submit plays (it's an online-only process) at the festival's Web site.

Posted by Tim Smith at 11:04 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

August 18, 2011

Zora Neale Hurston adaptation replaces Toni Morrison-based work at Center Stage

The final piece in Center Stage's 2011-2012 season has been put in place.

Artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah chose Bonnie Lee Moss Rattner's "Gleam," an adaptation done in the 1980s of the 1937 Zora Neale Hurston novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God," to replace the previously postponed production of another adaptation.

Marion McClinton’s version of Toni Morrison’s "Jazz," originally slated for a Center Stage run Jan. 4 to Feb. 5, was deemed ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:43 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

August 11, 2011

London-born Center Stage director Kwame Kwei-Armah on the turmoils back home

Kwame Kwei-Armah has only just settled into Baltimore and his tenure as artistic director of Center Stage. "It's head down and running to whichever meeting is next," he said Thursday.

But this week, he has understandably been distracted by the intense rioting back in his hometown of London. "I have been following events assiduously," he said.

Three of his four children are still in the U.K., due to arrive her later this month (a fourth child and his wife are already in the States.)

"My youngest went with his mother [Kwei-Armah's first wife] to pick up his grandmother at midnight Saturday in Tottenham, a street away from where the first big fire was," Kwei-Armah said. "You can understand how frightening that was. His last view of London was of flames and riot police.  And my brother was ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 11:22 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

August 10, 2011

Midweek Madness: In these volatile days, Marlene Dietrich's musical saw may soothe

Such a roller-coaster week so far, full of terribly unsettling news -- the stock market, the London riots, the prospect of a Rick Perry candidacy.

I figured this installment of Midweek Madness had to be doubly distracting, something to take your mind far away from the troubles around us (and, boy howdy, nobody knows the troubles I've seen just since Monday, so I may need this particular relief more than you).

Here then, for something completely different, the immortal Marlene Dietrich performing a lovely little Hawaiian song on her saw.

As you will hear in this radio show from the 1940s, interviewed by Milton Cross (voice of the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts back in the day), Miss Dietrich had ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:19 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

August 8, 2011

'Uncle Vanya' a welcome Kennedy Center guest with Cate Blanchett, Sydney Theatre Co.

It seemed fitting that the air was so hot and heavy, with dark clouds passing low in the sky, as the audience arrived for a performance of Anton Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" at the Kennedy Center Saturday night.

The opening scene in this visually grim, but dramatically vibrant, Sydney Theater Company production exuded the lethargy of a hot, aimless day and came complete with the sound of buzzing flies.

Later, the rumble of thunder and splashes of rain didn't just enhance the ambiance of Zsolt Khell's strikingly weathered set, but provided some nicely shaded presaging to the human outbursts that would have to occur before life could settle back into listless routine on the fading Serebryakov country estate.

The residents and visitors on that estate are not the cheeriest of sorts -- all of those resentments, unrequited loves; all of that vodka. You would probably hate spending a weekend with this lot in real life.

But these are fascinating creatures just the same, perhaps more so than usual, thanks to ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 10:04 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

August 5, 2011

Lucille Ball's centennial reminds me why I love 'I Love Lucy'

Last year, I wrote a little something about how Gustav Mahler saved my life. A tiny bit of hyperbole aside (never miss an opportunity to theatricalize), he did.

But long before Mahler entered my consciousness and helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my life, there was Lucy and Ricky and Fred and Ethel.

They were my favorite childhood companions and they stayed with me right on through adulthood, giving me lift after lift along the way. They are with me still.

Cringe or chortle if you must, but it's the truth. I am a life-long "I Love Lucy" fanatic. And on the occasion of the centennial of Lucille Ball's birth -- Aug. 6, 1911 -- I couldn't resist a few words about how much she and that brilliant sitcom mean to me.

Watching "I Love Lucy" in re-runs remains one of the clearest memories I have of my youth. Actually, just hearing it is an even stronger memory. I became so fond of the show that, ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 4:15 PM | | Comments (9)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

Wondering what to make of Lauren Ambrose as the next 'Funny Girl'

It took a couple of days for the news to sink in that Lauren Ambrose has been chosen to head the cast in the Bartlett Sher-directed revival of "Funny Girl" due for a Broadway run next year. Talk about outside-the-box casting.

Of course, I'm not rushing to judgment. Ambrose is a talented actress, as "Six Feet Under" fans can attest with particular enthusiasm. And it does make a certain sort of sense that Sher should want to avoid picking someone to portray Fanny Brice who suggests the peerless originator of the role, Barbra Streisand.

Such a person is out there, of course -- Lea Michelle from "Glee," who practically gave a national audition during the 2010 Tony Awards, when she bounded in belting "Don't Rain On My Parade." Michelle would certainly have given the assignment her all, but there's no guarantee the result wouldn't have ended up seeming like an intense, yet ultimately pale, imitation of the deified Streisand.

Ambrose will step onstage without that issue in the picture, but she will still have to create a credible characterization. Perhaps she will end up closer than Streisand did to re-creating Brice's character in authentic detail; maybe Ambrose will take the role in directions none of us can imagine .

While we await the outcome, here's a little comparison test of Ambrose and Michelle singing the Fanny Brice classic that isn't in the Broadway "Funny Girl" score, but was added to the movie version, having become a stunning Streisand anthem. I think you'll notice a few little differences of approach from these two young, gifted performers:

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Posted by Tim Smith at 10:04 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

August 3, 2011

Midweek Madness: Benny, Carmen and a wild ride through 'Paducah'

A little blast of perpetually tropical Carmen Miranda seems appropriate for Midweek Madness during this ever so hot summer, even if, in this case, she's singing and wriggling to a tune about Paducha, Kentucky.

This is a great, only-in-Hollywood moment from the 1943 musical "The Gang's All Here." It starts off with a bit of a Chopin Nocturne, of all things, before segueing into the smoothly swinging Benny Goodman, and then the divine Carmen. (I always marvel at how Carmen ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:13 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens, Midweek Madness
        

August 2, 2011

Center Stage cancels production of Toni Morrison's 'Jazz'

A musical adaptation of Toni Morrison’s "Jazz," one of the high-profile items on the 2011-2012 season at Center Stage, has been pulled from the line-up.

The company's new artistic director, Kwame Kwei-Armah, made the decision after the show, adapted by Center Stage associate artist Marion McClinton, was work-shopped last week in Minneapolis.

According to a statement released by Center Stage, "It was decided ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 12:20 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

July 27, 2011

Cast change coming to Arena Stage's 'Oklahoma' as E. Faye Butler prepares next role

E. Faye Butler, one of the region's most popular and respected actresses, will soon hand over the role of Aunt Eller in the Arena Stage revival of "Oklahoma," which is back at the venue for a summer-into-fall run after its much-praised premiere last season.

Terry Burrell, whose credits "Show Boat" at Signature Theatre and "The Women of Brewster Place" at Arena Stage, steps into Aunt Eller's shoes on Aug. 9.

Butler will then head into rehearsals for "Trouble in Mind," a 1950s play-within-a-play by Alice Childress about a cast preparing to perform an anti-lynching drama on Broadway.

This production, which will ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:49 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

July 19, 2011

An unappetizing sample of the Baltimore Playwrights Festival

You don’t approach at the Baltimore Playwrights Festival expecting to discover pieces that will soon be drawing crowds off-Broadway, let alone on. The festival, now celebrating its 30th season, is primarily about giving local writers a chance to see their plays reach the stage.

Such nurturing is a worthy goal, and the idea of area community theaters taking part by staging fresh work every year is just as laudable. That said, it’s not unreasonable to hope for plays that reveal more quality of writing and structure than those I sampled over the weekend. A more advanced level of acting would have been welcome, too.

Theatrical Mining Company offers J-F Bibeau’s "Self, Inc.," a mix of sci-fi and satire, in a spirited, bare-bones production directed by Da’Monique Williams.

Set in 2061 at the headquarters of a trash-processing company, the plot involves ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:36 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

July 14, 2011

Run of the Mill Theater to close at end of the month

Run of the Mill Theater, an innovative company that has helped to enliven the Baltimore scene since 2003, will close at the end of the month. (The phone number has already been disconnected.) 

The final productions, scheduled for this weekend, are typically adventurous.

First, a followup to "The North Avenue Plays," a concept introduced last year -- six playwrights and six directors will ride the North Avenue bus on Thursday, writing new plays as they go. (The picture here was taken during the 2010 bus ride.)

Overnight and throughout the day Friday, the plays will be rehearsed. The new works will be premiered at 8 p.m. Friday at Load of Fun Theater, 120 W. North Ave. $15.

Run of the Mill Theater will also present, as part of Artscape, a free performance of ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 3:38 PM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

Young Vic puts dark spin on 'Yeomen of the Guard'

You probably know Puccini lovers who still only have time for "Boheme," "Butterfly" and "Tosca," and keep their distance from such wonderful pieces as "La Rondine" and "La Fanciulla del West."

Likwise, there are self-proclaimed Verdi champions who skip "Falstaff," even "Otello" (outside of a few major opera houses, those masterworks always seem to be hard sells, at least without super-starry casts).

And so it is that some people who say they love Gilbert and Sullivan actually mean only "Pinafore," "Pirates" and "Mikado," considering the rest of the operettas not quite up to par. Pity.

True-blue devotees know that there is valuable stuff in all of the works, and that "The Yeomen of the Guard," despite its comparative lack of popularity, represents the very pinnacle of the brilliant duo's art. The score, in particular, is consistently delicious. Sullivan never exceeded the level of melodic inventiveness and sophistication achieved in "Yeomen." Gilbert’s libretto, too, has much going for it.

You can get a good sense of "Yeomen’s" worth in a new production from the Young Victorian Theatre Company, Baltimore’s indomitable keeper of the G&S flame. Performances continue through Sunday at the Bryn Mawr School.

The music is especially well-served in this staging, which features traditional costumes and a pleasant, economical set. But there is a little matter of the directorial concept, which might as well be addressed first.

Jim Harp takes the serious side of "Yeomen" very, well, seriously. The director has ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 7:01 AM | | Comments (8)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

July 13, 2011

NEA grant to support MICA project in Station North

The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) has received a $150,000 grant from the National Endowment for the arts.

The NEA reportts that the money will be used for a MICA "initiative that will expand art and design programming, public art, and improvements to underutilized indoor and outdoor spaces in Baltimore's Station North Arts and Entertainment District."

A national symposium on "the policy, economic development, and cultural impacts of arts and entertainment districts" will also be a part of the project.

Posted by Tim Smith at 6:47 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

Midweek Madness: Dusty Springfield sings refrain from Wagner's 'Tannhauser'

I've always had a soft spot for Dusty Springfield. She had such a distinctive voice, with a tinge of melancholy to it, and she could phrase a ballad with the best of them.

Not that you asked -- heck, you never need to ask; I just give and give, because I am naturally so giving -- my favorite Dusty recording was "Windmills of Your Mind," a version that I still hold in high esteem, even though I have now heard Barbra's superb interpretation from her soon-to-be-released album.

Truth be told, I never became a big Dusty fan, to the point of collecting her records. I just enjoyed hearing her when the opportunity arose. But I live with a major Dusty devotee, and Robert routinely breaks out her recordings, enabling me to appreciate much more of her oeuvre over the years.

I still recall the shock when, on one of Robert's Dusty days, he slipped into the player a little-known record of a song called "Don't Speak of Love." The first bars sounded like generic vintage pop, and I almost tuned it out when, holy cow, the refrain hit -- and I heard nothing less than the big tune of the Pilgrim's Chorus from Wagner's "Tannhauser," complete with ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:53 AM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens, Midweek Madness
        

July 6, 2011

'Next to Normal': Exploring love, loss and the boundaries of the Broadway musical

Diana, the troubled wife and mother at the heart of the Pulitzer and Tony-winning musical "Next to Normal," sees things a little, well, on the dark side. "Most people who are happy," she says, "just haven't thought about it enough."

You can't help but laugh when Alice Ripley delivers that line -- she originated the role of Diana and is reprising her brilliant portrayal in the national touring production that is at the Kennedy Center through July 10.

But you're likely to feel an uncomfortable, too-close-to-home twinge at those words, too. After all, most of us aren't lucky enough to avoid loss and longing of one kind or another, some disappointment and disillusionment, and it really doesn't take much to remind us.

Ripley has an extraordinary ability not only to convey Diana's cynicism and pain, but to make some sense of it (or at least next to sense), to communicate the tangible and intangible causes for the inner turmoil with such nuance that you will know and care deeply for this well-medicated character ("Pfizer woman of the year") by the end.

That connectivity factor helps to explain the success of this path-breaking work. "Next to Normal," which had a pre-Broadway run at Arena Stage in 2009, ventures into ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:18 AM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

July 5, 2011

More Shakespearean opportunities this summer

One inevitable result of writing a story about music or theater groups is that I will quickly hear from those who weren't mentioned.

That's what happened after last Sunday's article about outdoor Shakespeare productions in the Baltimore metro area.

So let me hasten to tell you about  opportunities for more Bard yard and indoor experiences on the horizon.

Turns out that the Maryland Shakespeare Festival is not the only ensemble focusing on "As You Like It" this summer. The ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:40 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

July 1, 2011

A captivating night with Shakespeare, Mirren, Irons, Maazel

For lovers of Shakespeare, great actors and exceptional music-makers, the Castleton Festival offered an ideal package Thursday night at Strathmore.

You could call it an early-summer night's dream.

No less than Helen Mirren and Jeremy Irons were on hand to recite excerpts from "A Midsummer Night's Dream," as Lorin Maazel conducted the Castleton Festival Orchestra in brilliantly atmospheric incidental music Mendelssohn wrote for a 19th century production of that play.

Rounding out the program, Maazel and the orchestra offered "Romeo and Juliet"-inspired music by Russian composers.

We hear Mendelssohn's music quite often in concert and on recordings (innumerable couples get an earful of the Wedding March every year, of course), but a taste of the text in conjunction with the sonic embellishment is much rarer. Rarer still is the chance to hear Shakespeare's poetic words delivered by such luminaries of the stage and screen.

A new narration written for this presentation by J. D. McClatchy (he collaborated on the libretto for Maazel's opera "1984") proved quite entertaining as well and gave the actors extra opportunities to shine. The net result was that, in about 90 minutes or so, the performance conveyed so much of the play's magic that it was easy to picture a full-fledgedproduction.

Located stage left on a small platform and looking quite chic, Mirren and Irons ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:01 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

June 29, 2011

More details on the move of Kennedy Center's 'Follies' to Broadway

More details have emerged about the hot production of "Follies" that packed 'em into the Kennedy Center recently and is heading to the Marquis Theatre on Broadway.

Four of the stars from the Washington cast will reprise their roles: Bernadette Peters, Jan Maxwell, Danny Burstein and Ron Raines. Additional casting is to be announced.

The show starts previews Aug. 7 and opens Sept. 12. Tickets go on sale July 5.

Posted by Tim Smith at 2:35 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

A fantasy ride toward death in 'Linus and Alora' at Single Carrot Theatre

Mortality is such a downer.

No wonder many of us live in a perpetual state of denial about death, which is the approach of a young woman given nine months to live at the start of "Linus and Alora," the recent Andrew Irons play running through July 10 at Single Carrot Theatre.

Alora takes it one step farther than denial, actually, all the way into fantasy land. Not a bad way to go.

Gradually and sometimes painfully, husband Linus agrees to join her there. In the process, he doesn't just humor Alora, but also finds a way to confront his own, long-suppressed issues about death.

Irons has approached a topic all too familiar from disease-movies-of-the-week and given it enough freshness, enough surprise to create quite an absorbing experience. "Linus and Alora" -- am I the only one who thinks that's an ineffectual title? -- makes a snug fit for the avant-garde-friendly Single Carrot troupe, which brings vibrant acting and stagecraft to the material.

The production, directed by Genevieve de Mahy, has ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 12:50 PM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Drama Queens, Single Carrot Theatre
        

June 27, 2011

Theatre Project's 40th season to feature local companies, pass-the-hat performances

Founded in 1971 as a free-admission venue, Theatre Project will give a nod to that practice during a typically diverse 40th anniversary season that features several local companies and new or new-to-Baltimore works.

A totally free policy wouldn't fly economically, of course, but "to celebrate our beginnings as a free theater, all of our productions this year will feature at least a rehearsal or performance where there is no admission and we’ll 'pass the hat' after the show," says producing director Anne Cantler Fulwiler.

Another element of the 2011-2012 season involves residencies by local companies, which will spend several weeks at Theatre Project. The Generous Company, for example, which made quite an impression there last year with "I Am The Machine Gunner," will be on hand most of January with a festival of new works.

In the fall, Iron Crow Theatre Company will offer "Parallel Lives" by Kathy Najimy and Mo Gaffney (who performed the work at Theatre Project in 1986); in the spring, "The Soldier Dreams" by Daniel MacIvor.

In time for Halloween, Factory Edge Theatre Works will presents its version of ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:56 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens, Opera, Peabody Institute
        

June 22, 2011

Cabaret duo at An die Musik salutes 'The Women of Rodgers and Hammerstein'

The dames, I mean women, immortalized in classic show tunes by Rodgers and Hammerstein are the focus of a program that will be performed Wednesday and Thursday at An die Musik.

Soprano Amy Alvarez and pianist Jefferson Turner will work their way through 30 songs in this cabaret act.

The duo comes highly recommended by Baltimore's own cabaret gem, Jennifer Blades, and that's good enough for me.

Directed by Ricky Graham, "Nothing Like a Dame: The Women of Rodgers and Hammerstein" was a hit at Le Chat Noir in New Orleans in 2007 and is also being performed this month at New York's Metropolitan Room.

Alvarez and Turner, who were mentored by cabaret icon Andrea Marcovicci, have been building an impressive list of credits. I am particularly fascinated by something they did last year -- they were in the cast of a staged version of "Auntie Mame" in New Orleans with the fabulous drag performer Varla Jean Merman ("the love child of Ethel Merman and Ernest Borgnine"). Nothing like a dame, indeed.

PHOTO COURTESY OF AN DIE MUSIK

 

Posted by Tim Smith at 9:45 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

June 21, 2011

'Wicked' is back at the Kennedy Center with dynamic cast

Sometimes it’s better not to look behind the curtain.

"Wicked," the smash Broadway musical from 2003 that has returned to the Kennedy Center for a long summer run, doesn’t exactly have a whole lot of depth underneath the very diverting surface.

Inspired by the popular 1995 Gregory Maguire novel, "Wicked" provides a back story to what may be the best known, best loved of all fantasies, the one that found a Kansan girl whooshed off to Oz, where she was threatened by the Wicked Witch of the West.

Turns out that the witch, the one Margaret Hamilton played so deliciously in the 1939 film classic "The Wizard of Oz," was named Elphaba and had some severe childhood issues, along with that off-putting green complexion. Glinda, the good witch, once had another ‘a’ in her name, along with way too much self-esteem.

The two witches developed a yen for the same cute, straw-for-brains guy, a conflict that has something to do with their respective fates. Oh yes, and the Wizard was a prototypical fascist. (Perhaps the musical set out to prove Oscar Wilde’s dictum that "wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others." )

Those with firm allegiance to the movie may have the toughest time adjusting to "Wicked"; some things are so ingrained into our beings that any little change is terribly unsettling. But there is undeniable imagination in the musical’s plot (Winnie Holzman wrote the often witty book), and the whole thing is dusted with a layer of camp that has its distinct rewards.

Stephen Schwartz’s score aims to please, but many of the songs are ...

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Categories: Drama Queens
        

June 17, 2011

Wordbridge Playwrights Lab explores new works during Towson University residency

Presented by the Generous Company, the Wordbridge Playwrights Laboratory marks its 15th anniversary with a residence at Towson University, where all sorts of new and developing works will be explored.

A lot of activity at the workshop is open to the public, including a reading of new Russian play, Pavel Pryazhko’s "Panties," on Sunday; a storytelling performance on Tuesday by Crosby Hunt; and a the reading of new play by George Brant on Wednesday.

The Lab also offers a benefit concert by Bill Harley, the Grammy-winning storyteller and NPR commentator. The event is at 8 p.m. Friday at TU's Center for the Arts. Tickets are $15.

Posted by Tim Smith at 2:19 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

Music and theater stories for your reading pleasure

For the benefit of those who do not automatically find every breathless bit of my prose, I just wanted you to mention two stories that appear elsewhere on the Sun site. Both happen to have string quartets in common.

Adventurous music lovers can read about the cool group called Rhymes with Opera, which performs an intriguing program titled "Criminal Intent" at 6 p.m. Saturday at Windup Space.

In addition to the regular members of the ensemble (two composers, three singers), the West Wend String Quartet will participate, backing some of the operas on the program and also playing a set of works by Kyle Gann, Alfred Schnittke and Rhymes with Opera founding member Ruby Fulton.

Theater and music fans would find it well worth a trip to ...

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

June 15, 2011

Kennedy Center's 'Follies' heading to Broadway for limited run

The Kennedy Center's terrific revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" is heading to Broadway. What is being called a "limited engagement" will open this summer at the Marquis Theatre (dates and casting TBA).

There was quite abuzz about this $7.3 million production before it opened, plenty more afterward. It wraps up a sold-out run in the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater on Sunday.

I've got to assume that most of the stars will at least be asked to do the Broadway engagement. This team, which includes Bernadette Peters, Elaine Page, Jan Maxwell, Danny Burstein, Ron Raines and Linda Lavin, does some very stylish work. UPDATE: It looks like Linda Lavin is out; she has accepted another tehter gig -- a bigger part. She sure makes the most of "Broadway Baby," her moment in the "Follies" sun.

Posted by Tim Smith at 4:01 PM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

June 13, 2011

Having a gay old time at the Tony Awards show

A colleague of mine at the Sun walked into the office the morning after last year’s Tony Awards saying, “Was that the gayest show ever?” He didn't exactly sound pleased, either.

I can’t imagine what the poor guy will think after Sunday’s fabulous ceremony, which started with that fabulous Broadway's-not-just-for-gays-anymore production number and went on to be peppered with many a gay reference or resonance. (I've attached a clip of that curtain-raiser below -- I hope YouTube doesn't pull it.)

Me, I thought it was terrific. Mind you, I don’t usually watch awards shows. Too many boring spots, too many commercials. But those three hours Sunday night, at least on TV, seemed to fly by and with far fewer hitches than “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” has had. And, yes, it was awfully gay. That’s what gave it such a kick.

Neil Patrick Harris is too good to be true -- cute, funny, a very competent singer and dancer, and a host who actually makes you believe he is welcoming everybody into his world. From the way he nailed the hilarious opening song (I can’t remember any Academy Awards show starting with something so witty, succinct and just plain fun) to the way he delivered the rushing rap at the close, Harris demonstrated a remarkable cool factor. (That not-for-gays-anymore song was written by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger, creators of “Cry Baby.”)

As for the actual awards, there didn’t seem to be too many surprises or strange choices. It was a glorious night for those of the Mormon persuasion -- nine Tonys for "The Book of Mormon" and some great references to a religion that is bound to come in for even more attention as the presidential race heats up.

I especially loved Trey Parker’s acceptance remarks, reminding folks who like the show that they will have to atone for it one day, and thanking “our co-writer who passed away, Joseph Smith.”

The “I Believe” number from the “The Book of Mormon” was ...

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Categories: Drama Queens
        

June 9, 2011

Still the top: Cole Porter at 120

So, OK, 120 isn't the roundest of numbers, but in this heat, I'll do anything for a quick blog post. And spotting the 120th birthday of Cole Porter will have to do. Besides, why shouldn't we pause to reflect on one of the wittiest songwriters of all time?

Ah, the irresistible pull of the melodic lines, the sophistication of all those rhymes -- and the hint of naughtiness around every turn (imagine what this guy could have produced post-gay lib.).

So a tip of the top hat to Cole Porter, courtesy of a divine interpreter of his music, the supreme Ella Fitzgerald (words thoughtfully provided on this clip so you can easily sing along):

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

June 7, 2011

Iron Crow Theatre Company digs into 'Love and Human Remains'

Iron Crow Theatre Company, Baltimore's ensemble troupe devoted to LGBT issues and perspectives, wraps up its first full season with a mostly persuasive production of "Love and Human Remains," the gritty and witty work by Canadian playwright Brad Fraser.

It's not an easy piece to embrace, what with the recurring spectre of a serial killer haunting a story about seven far-from-fully adjusted characters. But there's a lot of meaty, provocative stuff here about relationships -- friendly, abusive, sexual, romantic.

The play has something to say about fear, too. Everyone in this story shrinks from intimacy at one point and to one degree or another. Everyone is afraid not only of what might be outside the door, but also afraid of what might be inside the room, sitting alongside on a coach, lying alongside on a bed.

At the center of the piece are two roommates, David and Candy. He's gay, an actor who's back to waiting tables and more cynical than ever. She is David's former lover (he had a experimental phase), and she still believes in the possibility of genuine, soul-sharing mate. Candy ends up entangled with a man, an amiable bartender named Robert, and also a woman, Jerri, who fixates on Candy at the gym.

David, in between his preferred just-for-pleasure encounters, tries to make sense of his busboy, Kane, who has a puppy-dog attachment to him.

Then there's Bernie, David's longtime buddy, who seems to be awfully jumpy -- and curiously bloody. Rounding out this menagerie is Benita, a friend of David's who goes in for pleasure-and-pain diversions and apparently has psychic powers.

There is a long arc to the play, but ...

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May 31, 2011

Single Carrot Theatre names new artistic director

Nathan Cooper has been named artistic director of Single Carrot Theatre, the ensemble company that has been shaking up Baltimore's arts scene since 2007.

Cooper has acted in several Single Carrot productions since 2008, including "Killer Joe," "The Wild Duck," "Playing Dead" and "The Other Shore." His edgy performance in the doomsday satire "Tragedy" last season was particularly effective.

He's in the cast of "Linus & Alora," which opens next week, wrapping up Single Carrot's fourth season, and he will direct a production of "MilkMilkLemonade" next season for the company.

Cooper has also served as director of finance for the company. He succeeds founding artistic director J. Buck Jabaily, who left the organization last year take the helm of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance.

"My focus first and foremost is the ensemble," Cooper said in a statement released Tuesday, "but I want to ensure that we collaborate with the greater theater community to develop artistry on a larger scale in Baltimore ... I’m excited to further these relationships, and recognize that collaboration is at the heart of continued sustainability."

Jabaily said he felt it was important "for the next artistic leader of Single Carrot to ...

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Categories: Drama Queens, Shriver Hall
        

May 27, 2011

Maryland Shakespeare Festival to fill void at Evergreen Museum

The sudden folding of the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival earlier this year does not mean that the Bard's work will not return to the grounds of the Evergreen Museum and Library, where that company under-the-stars productions for 17 years.

The Frederick-based Maryland Shakespeare Festival, an organization founded in 1999, will fill the void this summer, bringing to Evergreen its staging of "As You Like It." Performances will be at 8 p.m. June 29-July 2 and July 6-10.

A pre-show, aimed at making Shakespeare more accessible, especially to children, will be offered each evening at 7:20. Tickets are $10 to $20; four-ticket family packages are $55.

Posted by Tim Smith at 5:56 PM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

May 26, 2011

Protest to 'Save Live Music on Broadway' merits support

If you're in New York City Thursday night in the vicinity of the Palace Theater (Broadway, between 46th and 47th), you'll find some interesting action outside.

The Save Live Music on Broadway campaign -- described as "a coalition of Broadway composers, lyricists, musicians, performers and top professionals from the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera and The Julliard School" --- will protest the producers of "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert."

Those producers, you may have heard, recently cut the size of the orchestra for that show at the Palace, and reinforced the remaining players with a recording.

The half-hour demonstration, starting at 7 p.m., may do little to change the situation in "Priscilla" or any other Broadway show where live music is threatened. But I think it's ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 10:21 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

Arena Stage premieres adaptation of John Grisham novel 'A Time to Kill'

Arena Stage has had an awfully eventful inaugural season in its vibrant new facility, starting last fall with an "Oklahoma" revival so widely acclaimed and box office-boosting that it's coming back for a summer run.

The company now has yet another high-profile production on the boards, the premiere of "A Time to Kill," adapted by Rupert Holmes from John Grisham's first novel.

This marks the first theatrical treatment of a book by the prolific, hugely popular writer, so the venture has newsiness built into it. And the Arena folks have lavished care on the work, assembling a large cast that does it justice and a design team that provides an efficient, atmospheric staging.

The final verdict on this highly-charged courtroom drama is mixed. It is impossible to miss the craftsmanship of the writing, acting and direction. It would take considerable effort not to be caught up in the story of Carl Lee Hailey, a black man in Mississippi who shoots dead the two men accused of raping his 10-year-old daughter as they are being led from a courtroom; he then faces a murder trial.

But it's also possible to feel shortchanged. The play stays largely on the surface of a plot that pushes just about every emotional, political, racial, social and economic button, but doesn't go very deep into any of the issues.

The piece cannot help but bring to mind images of "To Kill a Mockingbird," with smidgens of "Inherit the Wind," "The Verdict" and, it seems, even some "Matlock" episodes thrown in. With its revolving set allowing for a quick flow, "A Time to Kill" starts to resemble a TV show being filmed before a live audience.

Stereotypes abound among the characters. Some of the plot twists creak loudly and obviously. Some of the writing bumps head-on into ...

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Categories: Drama Queens
        

May 24, 2011

Kennedy Center presents sizzling revival of Sondheim's 'Follies'

There’s something almost subversive about Stephen Sondheim's "Follies."

The 1971 musical, which has been given a sizzling revival by the Kennedy Center, is held together by only the slenderest threads of a plot, as bare-bones as the scene for the action –- a run-down, empty theater, where an assortment of performers from the venue’s glory days gather for one last reunion before the place is demolished.

Most of that plot gets packed into the second act, throwing off the structure. Several numbers in the show seem almost arbitrarily tossed into the mix, spotlighting characters we don’t really know anything about and who then disappear.

So why the heck does “Follies” work so well, touch so deep?

A big part of the reason, of course, is Sondheim’s score, with its ingenious mix of pure-Sondheim and homage to other songwriters. That mix produces a constant aural rush, heightened by each telling melodic and harmonic twist.  

There’s a strange power, too, in James Goldman’s book, which convinces us that we don’t really need a lot of story, a lot of details. All of the characters who stop by to toast bygone days in that dilapidated theater are types firmly embedded in the collective consciousness of every devoted follower of theater and movies.

We know these people, or wish we did. We grew to love show business because of people like them. We want them all to be happy, because they made us happy so many times. We’re fascinated by their pain, their hollow marriages; we’re touched by their perseverance. Even those who get only five minutes or so of stage time in "Follies" reveal a lot, and leave a lot behind.

This new, potentially Broadway-bound staging looks ...

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

A brisk 'Pygmalion' wraps up Everyman Theatre's 20th anniversary season

The idea of any intermingling between the social classes so alarmed Plato that he thought it "may be justly termed evil-doing."

Funny how that notion was still so ingrained centuries later that George Bernard Shaw could have a gleefully evil time skewering it in his 1912 play "Pygmalion."

Here, the clash of classes creates a collision that shatters egos as brusquely as social barriers, all the while generating zingers, a la Oscar Wilde. This venerable comedy gets a brisk workout in a handsome production that brings down the curtain on Everyman Theatre's 20th anniversary season.

With a dash of Cinderella and a smidgen of Svengali, the plot of "Pygmalion" works on one level merely as an imaginative take-off on the ancient Greek tale of a sculptor falling in love with a statue that comes to life.

But there's also quite an undercoating to the play, where Shaw's socialist leanings can be detected, along with what might be thought of as at least almost-feminist viewpoints.

A lot gets said in "Pygmalion"; a lot is left unsaid. Most famously, there's the question of how much romantic spark, if any, is generated over the course of the action between phonetics professor Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle, the Cockney flower girl he turns into a faux-princess on a whim and a bet.

Thanks to "My Fair Lady," the decidedly romanticized musical version of the play, many folks ...

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Categories: Drama Queens, Everyman Theatre
        

May 23, 2011

Everyman Theatre plans diverse last season before moving to new venue

Everyman Theatre, which is currently wrapping up its 20th anniversary season with the G.B. Shaw classic "Pygmalion" (more on that anon), has announced the lineup for 2011-2012 -- the company's last in its N. Charles Street venue.

Fittingly, that farewell to the old building will come in May/June 2012 with a staging of the George S. Kaufman/Moss Hart comic classic of family, society and politics,"You Can't Take It With You."

The season will open in September with a classic that strikes a very different note ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 7:23 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens, Everyman Theatre
        

May 20, 2011

The perfect music to accompany the Rapture, in case the world ends on May 21

OK, folks. Stop that cowering and whimpering. Stop crowding the confessionals. It's too late for any of that, so buck up, sit back and just take the rapture (if you're among the chosen) or the icky alternative (if you're not) on May 21.

Meanwhile, to help you handle the suspense as the minutes tick away, click below on the perfect music to underscore such a momentous occasion, Olivier Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time." Since the power could go out on all of us at any minute as the process of shutting down the universe gets underway, I figured I might as well ...

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Posted by Tim Smith at 11:00 AM | | Comments (5)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

May 12, 2011

Singer-pianist Eric Comstock to perform at An die Musik

Eric Comstock, a singer-pianist known for his interpretations of the what everyone likes to call the Great American Songbook, will give two solo shows Friday at An die Musik.

Comstock, often in collaboration with his wife, vocalist Barbara Fasano, performs in such storied venues as the Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel in New York cabaret theaters. Baltimore's An die Musik may be ever so slightly humbler, but the intimate space ought to be an ideal environment for Comstock's music-making. (You can always imagine you're sipping gimlets while listening.)

The shows will be at 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Friday.

Here's a sample of Comstock's styling in a gig with Barbara Fasano:

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

May 11, 2011

Signature Theatre delivers first-rate revival of 'Side by Side by Sondheim'

If Stephen Sondheim isn't God, he's at least among the alternate definitions of "omnipotent."

In terms of individuality, creativity, erudition and insight, no one else in the music theater world can touch him. It's that simple.

And it explains why an entire show could be built around the man, the words, the music  -- and why said show, "Side by Side by Sondheim," is so enduring. This combination cabaret and homage (maybe veneration says it better) has been around since 1976, when it debuted in London; fans tend to treat the piece almost as reverentially as a full-fledged Sondheim musical.

Signature Theatre, which established itself some time ago as a major Sondheim shrine, brings the curtain down on its 2010-11 season with a thoroughly winning production of "Side by Side" that runs through June 12. (Perhaps the company will help develop a sequel someday soon -- Sondheim has written an awfully lot of great material since the 1970s, so "Son of Side by Side by Sondheim" is just begging to be created.)

Constructed in two acts, the show breezes through nearly three dozen songs, revealing various angles of Sondheim's artistic development, from his early lyricist days collaborating with the likes of Leonard Bernstein, Richard Rodgers and Jule Styne, to his first all-Sondheim masterworks. Periodic bursts of narration serve up biographical material and backstage anecdotes along the way.

It would be easy for all of this to turn stuffy and puffy, but "Side by Side" manages to avoid the trap. And the Signature staging manages to make just about every verse, melody and harmonic turn sound remarkably fresh. Even if you know the rhyme and reason of all the songs, you're likely to feel a fresh tingle.

The three exceedingly engaging singers in this cast have been put through their paces in imaginative, fluid fashion by director/choreographer Matthew Gardiner, who capitalizes on each performer's strengths. The production -- designed by Misha Kachman, lit by Colin K. Bills, subtly costumed by Kathleen Geldard -- looks and fels both polished and spontaneous.

Sherri L. Edelen brings consistently warm, colorful singing to the show. She also demonstrates ...

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Categories: Drama Queens
        

May 5, 2011

Center Stage postpones Josh Kornbluth's 'Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews?'

This just in from Center Stage:

"Due to scheduling conflicts, we’re saddened to have to postpone our performances of Josh Kornbluth’s 'Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews?' "

Actor/comedian Kornbluth was to have performed his play about "art, identity, Judaism, and culture," directed by David Dower, May 10-15 at the theater. Tickets will be refunded.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CENTER STAGE

Posted by Tim Smith at 9:43 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

April 27, 2011

Rep Stage explores teen secrets, sexual identity in provocative 'Speech & Debate'

This spring, plays with gay characters and issues have been sprouting up all over our area. Not that there’s anything wrong with that -- I’d say it's a case of fortuitous, even fabulous, serendipity.

Closing recently were stagings of Paula Vogel's bittersweet "The Long Christmas Ride Home" at Single Carrot Theatre and Adam Bock's offbeat comedy “Swimming in the Shallows” at Iron Crow Theatre. Still on the boards for another few weeks at the Vagabond Players is John Guare’s still-potent “Six Degrees of Separation.”

And Rep Stage is closing its season in provocative form with a dynamic and telling production of Stephen Karam’s “Speech & Debate,” which has much to say about what it means to be young and gay and alone.

Propelled by a darkly comic streak, Karam's fast-paced play concerns three high-school outsiders. What they have most in common is a deep-set need to know if anyone else out is out there like them -- and if anyone else out there might actually like them.

There’s Diwata (a name practically begging to be mangled by others, especially clueless adults). She’s a bit overweight and seriously over-eager. Determined to be an actress, despite the unwillingness of drama teachers to notice her vast talent, Diwata finds an ideal outlet online, unaware of just how out-there a blog can be. In short order, her life entwines with those of two others at her school in Salem, Ore.

Solomon is a 16-year-old would-be reporter fascinated with the local scandals involving anti-gay rights Republican politicians outed for relationships with young males. Solomon thinks this hypocrisy would make a great story for his student paper.

Things get much more complicated, though, when ...

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Categories: Drama Queens, Rep Stage
        

George Hamilton to star in 'La Cage aux Folles' at Hippodrome

The much-admired revival of the Jerry Herman/Harvey Fierstein musical "La Cage aux Folles" heading to Baltimore's Hippodrome next season will star movie/TV veteran George Hamilton.

The actor, whose perpetually bronzed skin had no rival until the emergence of House Speaker John Boehner, will have the role of gay nightclub owner Georges. Hamilton is not known for having a great singing voice, but he's likely to bring other attributes to the show, a comic clash of sexual, social and political forces.

As for the role of Albin, Georges' longtime partner who appears as the drag queen Zaza at the club ...

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Categories: Drama Queens, Hippodrome
        

April 25, 2011

A salute to William Donald Schaefer from Maryland Citizens for the Arts

As last respects are being paid to William Donald Schaefer, the dynamo Baltimore mayor and Maryland governor, it's a great time to remember what he did for the cause of culture.

The board of trustees of Maryland Citizens for the Arts, chaired by Douglas R. Mann, passed a resolution honoring that legacy. I think it's worth quoting the resolution in full:

We, the members of the MCA Board of Trustees, hereby resolve to commend and honor the extraordinary contributions made to the arts in Maryland by the Honorable William Donald Schaefer throughout his life and career.

Whereas, he recognized the vital role of the arts in the civic, cultural, educational, and economic life of the City of Baltimore and the State of Maryland and the responsibility of government at all levels to nurture the arts and enable equitable access.

Whereas, as a member of the Baltimore City Council, the Honorable William Donald Schaefer, sponsored and secured passage in 1964 of ...

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

April 22, 2011

Center Stage fills in remainder of 2011-2012 season

When Center Stage announced its 2011–12 season a few weeks ago, one slot was TBA. It has now been filled with "The Whipping Man," a play by Matthew Lopez that had a well-received run at New York's Manhattan Theatre Club earlier this season.

The production, scheduled for April 4–May 13, 2012, will be directed by incoming Center Stage artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah.

"The Whipping Man" tells the story of three Jews in

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Posted by Tim Smith at 11:25 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

April 19, 2011

Wondering why the wow factor eludes 'West Side Story' revival

Since attending opening night of "West Side Story" at the Hippodrome last week, I've been wondering why there was so little of a wow factor in the performance.

(I don't usually mull over such things for so long, but, hey, I'm technically on vacation, which means I get easily distracted. It's actually the same when I'm not on vacation. I just have an excuse now.)

If you missed my review, make your life complete and catch up with it here.

First, let me hasten to say that "West Side Story" virgins would do well to catch this national touring production. Revivals of the brilliant musical don't come around every day, given how big a show it is in terms of personnel and technical requirements.

And this one, which started out in D.C. three years ago and had a respectable Broadway run thereafter, provides a welcome opportunity to reaffirm how much gold is in this work -- the sizzling Bernstein score, the brilliantly athletic Jerome Robbins choreography. There's certainly enough quality in the production to make for an entertaining experience. But it just doesn't pack the punch it should. For all of the high-flying dance routines, the show doesn't soar high enough.

Arthur Laurents, who wrote the book for the musical, directed the original in 1957 and directed this revival, has a lot to say about revisiting "West Side Story" in his most recent book, "Mainly on Directing." He is especially proud of ...

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Categories: Drama Queens, Hippodrome
        

April 6, 2011

Baltimore Shakespeare Festival shuts down after 17 seasons

 The Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, a significant force in the local theatrical community, is closing after 17 seasons.

"This is a very difficult decision that was made by our Board," marketing and development director Chris Pfingsten wrote in an email I received Wednesday. "Needless to say, [artistic director] Michael [Carleton] and I are very disappointed. ... Neither Michael nor I will be making any official statement regarding this decision other than to say we are very sad, but also extremely proud of the work that was created by our artists on the BSF stage."

In addition to presenting works by Shakespeare and others outdoors in the Meadow at the Evergreen Museum and Library, the company, one of three Equity theaters in Baltimore, staged works at St. Mary's in Roland Park, most recently an imaginative production of "Richard III" last November.

For an update on the company's financial problems, despite a $1 million anonymous donation in 2007, check out a story filed later in the day on the Sun's Web site.
 

In a press release, board president Peter Toran said: 

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Categories: Drama Queens
        

March 25, 2011

Lanford Wilson, playwright of 'The Hot L Baltimore,' 'Fifth of July,' dies at 73

On Friday night, theaters Off-Broadway will be dimming their marquee lights for a minute at curtain time in a sign of respect to the memory of Lanford Wilson, the prolific playwright who died March 24 at the age of 73 of pneumonia in New Jersey. Nearly 30 of his works were performed Off-Broadway during his career.

Among the Missouri-born Mr. Wilson's plays were "Talley's Folly," which earned him the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1980 and was part of a trilogy that also included the much-admired "Fifth of July."

The author's ability to shine a revealing light on the marginalized or down-and-out proved especially effective. And as a gay man who grew up at a time when the closet was the safest place, Mr. Wilson was especially telling in his exploration of gay characters, who defied the stereotypes more likely to be encountered onstage.

Mr. Wilson's knack for defying convention spiced a 1973 play that has extra resonance for folks here in Central Maryland. It's titled .....

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Categories: Drama Queens
        

March 21, 2011

Hilary Hahn to present benefit in Baltimore for Japanese relief efforts

When Hilary Hahn learned that her concert tour of Japan had been canceled due to the earthquake/tsunami in Japan, the violinist started planning a benefit in aid of those affected by the twin disaster. That benefit will be in Baltimore, where Hahn grew up.

She will be joined in the concert Thursday by singer/songwriter Caleb Stine, violinist Yuka Kubota, pianist Yoshie Kubota, Baltimore School for the Arts students Tariq Al- Sabir and Robert Pate, and Suzuki students from the Peabody Preparatory. There will also be appearances by author Lia Purpura and historian Constantine Vaporis.

All proceeds from the event, including the sale of art, jewelry and more by Baltimore area artisans, will benefit Direct Relief International’s Japan Relief and Recovery Fund.

More info on the event is at the end of this post. First, here are excerpts from Hahn's statement:


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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

March 18, 2011

Reviews: Center Stage's 'Snow,' Shakespeare Theatre Company's 'Husband'

Just so you never fall out of my precious loop, I wanted to alert you to a couple theater reviews running on the Sun's Web site and, in slightly abbreviated form, in Friday's paper.

Baltimore's Center Stage is offering "Snow Falling on Cedars," an adaptation of the David Guterson novel. I'm a little tired of shows with actors playing multiple roles, and with narrative taking over the drama, but this play does raise important issues.

We need to confront the shameful internment of Japanese Americans during WW II; that issue is woven through this work. And we always need to be reminded of our problems with prejudice and rushes to judgment; those issues, too, are at the heart of the murder/love/war plot.

Note that the Smithsonian's America Art Museum has loaned to Center Stage a striking collection of works from the exhibit "The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946." The items will be on display during the first part of the show's run.

If you're in need of some great laughs ...

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Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

March 9, 2011

A Broadway song to fit my condition, from 'I Can Get It For You Wholesale'

After finally seeking medical advice and discovering, as I suspected all along, that I had something far more interesting than a mere common cold (common? moi?), I've started an antibiotic regimen that, I trust, will eventually render me physically flawless again (all right, all right -- I know they're just antibiotics, not miracle drugs).

Meanwhile, I've had a song running through my head these many sinus- and cough-filled days and nights, a song from the Broadway show that put Barbra Streisand on the map -- Harold Rome's "I Can Get It For You Wholesale." I figured you'd like to enjoy it, too, out of deep sympathy for my condition -- especially since I don't have anything more interesting to post right now.

The title says it all: "I'm Not a Well Man."

Singing the first verse (with a change of pronoun) is a 19-year-old Streisand, who, of course, got her chance to shine in the show-stopping number "Miss Marmelstein." Ever since I bought the original cast album for this now rather obscure musical, as part of my must-have-all-things-Streisand phase during my teens years, I've never forgotten this particular tune, with its delicious Jewish folk flavor. I've even been known to sing a few bars every time I've been under the weather (even though that can make other people feel sick).

Here, then, a flash of vintage Broadway. If you happen to be feeling lousy, too, I hope this perks you up a little:

Continue reading "A Broadway song to fit my condition, from 'I Can Get It For You Wholesale'" »

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

March 8, 2011

Kennedy Center's 2011-12 season features music of Vienna, Prague, Budapest; new 'Pal Joey'

The Kennedy Center's 2011-2012 season looks as packed as ever with activity in just about every genre.

Musically speaking, note a month-long festival celebrating the music of three great European cities: Budapest, Prague, and Vienna.

In addition to the National Symphony Orchestra's programs with music director Christoph Eschenbach (Dvorak's "Stabat Mater," concert versions of "Fidelio" and "Bluebeard's Castle," etc.), there will be performances by the Vienna Philharmonic, Prague Philharmonia and more.

On the theater side, there will be a new Kennedy Center production of Rodgers and Hart’s "Pal Joey" with a new book by Terrence McNally. That's bound to be quite an attention-getter. Same for the Sydney Theatre Company's production of Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" starring Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving.

Touring productions playing at the center next season will include "Billy Elliot the Musical," "Memphis," "La Cage aux Folles," "The Addams Family" and "Les Misérables." Barbara Cook's Spotlight series of fresh vocal talent returns to the center for its fifth season; the incomparable singer will also be heard in concert.

Back to the NSO for a moment ...

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

February 28, 2011

Center Stage names new artistic director

Interesting new from Center Stage. My story is elsewhere online.
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Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

February 25, 2011

A new Clef Notes contest invites you to find my best typos and other flubs

After discovering yet another haste-makes-stupidity problem in something I wrote, I figured it was time to turn this problem into a game.

I now invite you to be the first to spot the next howler in my blog entries and stories for the paper (in print or online). Feel free to dig back into the past and yank out oldie-but-moldy errors and rev up the humiliation all the more. Just post them in the comments section.

I'll keep updating and periodically award prizes of inestimable value (probably a CD you won't want) to the person who spots the most appalling or most unintentionally funny mistake, maybe also to the person who uncovers the highest number of examples.

I might even give a prize to the person who comes up with the most creative excuse for how I might have made the pathetic blunder.

This week alone,

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Posted by Tim Smith at 10:28 AM | | Comments (3)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

February 24, 2011

Priceless stories by moi elsewhere on the Sun site

I'd hate for you to be deprived of my journalistic labors, so, in case you haven't already stumbled on these, allow me to direct your hungry eyes to these stories about "Les Mis," BSO's "Magic Flute," and Hilary Hahn.
Posted by Tim Smith at 4:47 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

February 22, 2011

Theatrical tidbits: 'Oklahoma' reprise, Anna Deavere Smith, 'Two Men Talking'

If you missed the Arena Stage box office record-setting production of "Oklahoma" earlier this season, lighten your hearts with this news: It's coming back to the Mead Center for American Theater for a nice long run, July 8–Oct. 9.

This staging, directed by Arena's artistic director Molly Smith, breathed fresh life into the iconic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. Diversity in casting choices allowed the historically accurate situation in pre-statehood Oklahoma to be reflected. Many of the same cast members will reprise their roles in the return engagement.

Ticket sales to the general public start March 4; for the first 24 hours -- 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. -- there will be $50 tickets on sale at the box office, by phone (202-488-3300, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.), and online.

"Oklahoma" was so successful back in the fall, with audiences and critics alike, that there was a good deal of Broadway buzz. That buzz seems to be humming again.

There's other Arena Stage-related news. One of the other hits there this season was

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:26 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

February 16, 2011

A New York indulgence: Charles Busch's 'The Divine Sister'

I've slipped away to New York with the other half for a couple of days (terribly irresponsible of me, I know, but I have to use up some accumulated leave in the next few months). My blogging may be a little more sporadic than usual until I get back. Please forgive.

Tuesday night, we caught a show I had seen last November while here for the Baltimore Symphony's Carnegie Hall gigs -- "The Divine Sister," written by and starring the, well, divine, Charles Busch at the SoHo Playhouse. I thought at the time Robert should see it, too, since he's the world's most devoted fan of vintage Hollywood and this play resounds with references to the good olds days, with particularly emphasis on the irresistible Rosalind Russell.

So there we were Tuesday with other folks who braved the cold and blustery night to drink in the antics of a Mother Superior (think Roz Russell in "Trouble With Angels" and its sequel), and her heroic efforts to save St. Veronica's with her brash sidekick, Sister Acacius (the Mary Wickes role, of course).

It's an awfully clever show, right down to the send-up of "The Da Vinci Code" and any number of other twists, turns and treats -- a splash of "His Girl Friday," complete with overlapping dialogue; a quick nod to "Gypsy." And, since we're talking nuns, we're talking singing nuns, and that, too, results in some amusing moments in the production.

Busch makes

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February 14, 2011

Play at Clarice Smith Center looks at trauma of Marine returning from Iraq

The physical and psychological effects of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are likely to be felt for a long time and in many places, including theaters.

Locally this season alone, we've had "Black Watch," a searing look at a Scottish regiment deployed to the Afghan conflict, presented at the Harmon Center by the Shakespeare Theatre Company; and, at Center Stage, "ReEntry," a drama built out of interviews with Marines adjusting to the return from war.

Now comes "Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter," a work by Julie Marie Myatt focusing on a Marine who comes back, minus a leg, from serving in Iraq. The character of Jenny Sutter finds herself in a spot called Slab City, a former Marines barracks in California.

Myatt's play, produced by the University of Maryland's School of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies, is

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Posted by Tim Smith at 10:13 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

February 8, 2011

Critical silence ends: NY Times pans expensive, unlucky 'Spider-Man' musical

In the no-big-surprise department, the New York Times finally decided enough already with the postponed openings and reviewed "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," even though the costly musical remains officially in previews. I doubt he'll be the only mainstream critic to break the 'rule.'

Also in the no-big-surprise department, Ben Brantley dismissed this ill-fated show as "not only the most expensive musical ever to hit Broadway," but one that "may also rank among the worst."

I can already hear Glenn Beck, an ardent champion of the production, sharpening his claws for use against the elite press. But, really, was it ever possible that a $65 million musical could turn out to be fabulous when it couldn't open remotely on time, when it kept being plagued by accidents, and when the only real buzz it generated was about those two attributes?

Hey, maybe Brantley 

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Categories: Drama Queens
        

February 3, 2011

Center Stage salutes Irene Lewis after opening night of 'The Homecoming'

The opening night audience for Harold Pinter's "The Homecoming" Wednesday night at Center Stage was invited to stay put after the house lights came on.

Cast member Larry O'Dwyer then came out to start a tribute to the company's artistic director, Irene Lewis.

Although she will see this season through, the Pinter play is her last directing assignment of her two-decade tenure.

O'Dwyer singled out many qualities that he admired in Lewis, including "her insanity, with a tendency to anarchy." It was a warm-hearted, charming speech, concluding with Puck's curtain speech from "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Lewis then took a spot in front of the stage, standing next to a

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Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

February 2, 2011

'Black Watch' provides gripping reminder of Iraq War

The much-acclaimed National Theatre of Scotland production of "Black Watch" has arrived in Washington at what seems like an ideal time.

This examination of the famed Scottish regiment's experiences provides a startling reminder of a war many Americans seem to have forgotten, along with the continually challenging one in Afghanistan.

Except for the memoriam segment at the end of ABC's "This Week," when names, ages and hometowns of slain U.S. service personnel are briefly shone on the screen, TV viewers are largely spared reports from the nearly decade-long conflict. You can listen to political talking-head shows for hours on end and not hear a substantive mention of those wars.

"Black Watch," presented by the Shakespeare Theatre Company at the Harman Center through Sunday, practically slaps the audience out of this comfort zone and draws everyone smack into the battle zone, theater-shattering explosions and all (seating has been arranged on both sides of the stage).

Gregory Burke's 2006 play also focuses to visceral effect on the lives of soldiers after they get back home; the work was generated by interviews the playwright conducted. ("ReEntry," produced earlier this season at Center Stage, provides something of an American take on this concept.)  

In a little under two uninterrupted hours, "Black Watch" raises a lot of questions and issues, but it doesn't settle for tired, war-is-hell answers -- or resort to heavy anti-war subtexts. About the only thing we know for sure when the shows ends is

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Posted by Tim Smith at 11:33 AM | | Comments (0)
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January 27, 2011

Arena Stage presents Mary Zimmerman's evocative, provocative "Arabian Nights"

The centuries-old classic formally known as “The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night” presents one of the great plot devices: Young maiden Scheherezade escapes murder at the hands of King Shahryar by telling him riveting, to-be-continued stories.

In 1992, Mary Zimmerman adapted this material into a colorful work, “The Arabian Nights,” which has settled into Arena Stage with a dynamic cast and a fabulous collection of rugs.

It’s a long show (you may start to feel as if you will have to spend 1,001 nights in the theater), but something absorbing or amusing pops up after every slow spot, and the cumulative effect of so many  characters and adventures is  substantial.

Whether you laugh hysterically at the ultimate flatulence tale depends on how suppressed your inner frat boy is, but stories and stories-within-stories addressing love, lust and loyalty deliver their lessons and morals effectively. And the account of a little lost bag with strange qualities, an account improvised at each performance, is

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:22 AM | | Comments (0)
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January 26, 2011

Elsewhere online: My latest theater review

I've been ever so feverishly trying to finish writing various other things today, but I didn't want you to think the blog had been turned off. So, while you're waiting for something brilliant to be posted here (no one has that much time, I know), feel free to check out my review of "Shooting Star" at Everyman Theatre.

If you happen to attend tonight's performance, you might well experience a rare case of nature imitating art -- snowfall is very much a part of the plot, and very much a visual element in this finely-acted production.

Posted by Tim Smith at 3:19 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens, Everyman Theatre
        

January 7, 2011

A couple more thoughts about 'Second City Does Baltimore,' and more SCTV

By now, surely you have your tickets to "The Second City Does Baltimore" (all right, I'll stop calling you Shirley), because you're obviously cool (evidence: you read this blog) and all the cool people are going to want to see this show. You can find  my review of this Center State presentation elsewhere on the site.

Note that most Wednesdays during the run will feature a bonus -- a walk-on by a local celeb. The first was Ed Norris, which, to tell the truth, made me ever so uncomfortable.

I'm all for rehabilitation, but you'd never have guessed during his jaunty time onstage -- being interviewed by cast members -- that he had ever done a different kind of time for tax-cheating and misusing a police fund to help pay for his extra-marital affairs. I mean, we're talking New Jersey-level corruption here, and he's now a great Baltimore celeb because he's got a sports radio show? Hon (imagine Trademark symbol here), I guess this city really is quirky.

Anyway, other guests for the "Walk-On Wednesdays" include Poe the Raven Jan. 19, Marin Alsop Jan. 26, Cindy Wolf Feb. 2, Dan Deacon Feb. 9 and Patrice Harris Feb. 16. I hope those segments will go more smoothly than the Norris one; it just didn't turn out very funny. And I still think it's a mistake to place the walk-on celeb thing after the regular show. That's just asking for an anti-climax.

Anyway, the production does have a lot of offer in the way of laughs. It would be hard not to like the Second City troupers and the way they "do" Baltimore.

As I mentioned the other day, anytime I hear the words Second City, I start thinking about SCTV, a fabulous invention from the Canadian branch of the Chicago-born comic franchise. I couldn't resist posting another little gem from that little network -- a TV commercial for the ages:

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:58 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

January 6, 2011

Second City doing Baltimore stirs memories of SCTV

Ever since "The Second City Does Baltimore" opened at Center Stage (press night was Wednesday and I'll have my review in a bit), I've been remembering one of the greatest achievements of the celebrated Second City comedy franchise -- SCTV.

That was a product of the Toronto branch of the original Second City in Chicago. At its frequent best, this parody of a television network and its increasingly desperate programming was about as funny as it got back in the day (late '70s, early '80s).

For those of you who may have missed out on the SCTV fun, or could use a refresher, I thought I'd post a taste. (Hey, I need to buy a little time while I finish all my other work.)

Here's the wonderful Andrea Martin and Catherine O'Hara):

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Posted by Tim Smith at 7:13 AM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

January 4, 2011

Single Carrot Theatre presents fourth annual 'Murder Ink' reading

Baltimore's homicide rate may have fallen, but, as in any city, it could never be low enough.

Each year, Single Carrot Theatre offers a live reading of "Murder Ink," the weekly column by the City Paper's Anna Ditkoff. The presentation is a way of humanizing the statistics.

As the theater company's press release puts it, "There’s no pretending that reading about these desperate, often [grisly] crimes will bring back any of the victims, but it does bring a little perspective to what is clearly an epidemic."

The fourth annual "Murder Ink" reading by members of the Single Carrot ensemble and the public will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday outside in front of the theater at 120 W. North Ave. It's free, and hot beverages will be served.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SINGLE CARROT THEATRE

Posted by Tim Smith at 3:33 PM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Drama Queens, Single Carrot Theatre
        

January 1, 2011

A New Year's toast via the incomparbale Judy Garland

Some friends in Baltimore, where Robert and I have spent several New Year's Eves, mark the occasion by playing a recording of the song "Here's To Us" from the 1962 musical "Little Me." There's something about the melody and the slightly bittersweet words that just seems so right:

Here's to us ... Not for what might happen next year, for it might not be nearly as bright. But here's to us, for better or worse. And for thanks to a merciful star, skies of blue, and muddling through. And for me and for you as we are."

This morning I had the song still running through my head and I thought I'd see if I could find a way to share it with my faithful blog readers as a way of extending my best wishes for the New Year. Lo and behold, there appeared a version by the incomparable Judy Garland -- a clip from her brilliant, if ill-fated, CBS TV show. It's got champagne and all. So -- a little belatedly, I confess (I should have thought of this last night, but I was too busy figuring out what to wear) -- here's to you and here's to us:

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

December 23, 2010

Guest blog review: Bernstein's 'Candide' at DC's Shakespeare Theatre Company

As a one-man band, it can get tricky for me to cover all the good music and theater stuff out there (especially when, as is the case now, I'm also trying to get some days off), so I'm always grateful when someone offers to submit a guest blog post. Steve Kilar, who just finished up an internship in the Sun's newsroom, wrote this review of a very enticing show I haven't had a chance to catch in DC.:

An ornate but claustrophobic parlor, confined to center stage by black curtains, opens Tony Award-winning director Mary Zimmerman’s fluid, timely production of Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide” at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington. “Candide” is the first musical STC has produced since 1989.

Decorative curtains and a low-hanging chandelier squeeze the young, naïve Candide and his materialistic adoptive sister, Cunegonde, into the small space surrounding a drawing room table.

They alternately shoot up from their chairs and – in liberated bursts – sing that they live “in the best of all possible worlds,” a note from the book of their tutor, Pangloss, an optimist with a capital “O.”

No sooner do Cunegonde and Candide profess their love to each other than this insulated room simultaneously explodes and collapses. The decorative interior curtains fall to the floor while the black stage curtains pull away to reveal an empty, wood-paneled expanse that occupies the depth and breadth of the stage.

The parquet floor and each of the three monotone walls, as high as Sidney Harman Hall’s stage will allow, appear to be bonded so tightly together that

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Categories: Drama Queens
        

December 22, 2010

The ultimate performance of 'Feliz Navidad' from 'Bette Davis'

Among the longest, heartiest laughs I ever had around Christmas Time was when a Baltimore friend enlivened a holiday party with the ultimate interpretation of that rather annoying Jose Feliciano ditty "Feliz Navidad."

This version features none other than the immortal Bette Davis (OK, impersonator Jimmy James, if you want to be so damn technical), and just the mere idea of that woman singing this bouncy tune is hilarious. The sound of it is all the more so. I figured I owed it you, my treasured bloggies, to share it this Christmas.

(I should also add that, in addition to being a hoot, this recording has another interesting property. If you play it for a mixed crowd of unsuspecting folks, you'll find that it makes a pretty good test of who's gay -- or exceedingly gay-friendly -- in the room. They'll be the ones who really, really get it.)

I was delighted to find a YouTube clip of this incomparable classic. It's audio only, accompanied by shots of Davis films, so you'll have to imagine her (or Jimmy James) actually singing it, but that should be easy enough.

So brace yourself. Here comes Bette doing to "Feliz Navidad" what should be done to "Feliz Navidad":

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Posted by Tim Smith at 6:00 AM | | Comments (3)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

December 21, 2010

Signature Theater gives 'Sunset Boulevard' fresh close-up

Billy Wilder’s celebrated 1950 film “Sunset Boulevard” seems perfect as it is, brilliantly spinning the tale of former silent screen goddess Norma Desmond pathetically fueling her dream of a comeback with the help of a down-on-his-luck screenwriter.

But some folks have seen in the material the stuff of a Broadway musical, starting with the movie’s iconic star, Gloria Swanson, who got far along into an adaptation in the 1950s before Paramount pulled the plug by denying the rights — life cruelly imitating art, you might say.

Andrew Lloyd Webber had better luck when he gave “Sunset Boulevard” the full musical treatment in 1993. The show didn’t achieve the blockbuster status of Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera,” but it boasts some of the composer’s most attractive songs and has the advantage of a strong book and often clever lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton.

Signature Theatre, the Arlington, Va.-based company with an enviable track record of staging musicals with abundant style, has given “Sunset Boulevard” a handsome new production that is likely to be packing audiences in for the length of the run.

Florence Lacey doesn’t give off quite enough aura to dominate the stage completely as Norma, but she’s a vivid actress and singer nonetheless and she reveals the character’s fragile emotional state affectingly. D.B. Bonds is impressive, dramatically and musically, in the William Holden role of screenwriter Joe Gillis, who gets much more than he bargained for when he pulls into the driveway of an old Hollywood mansion.

Ed Dixon, as Norma’s rigid, devoted butler Max, does

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Categories: Drama Queens
        

December 16, 2010

By way of explaining the shortage of blog posts

I dared to take off a couple days this week (I'm supposed to take more next week), and I quickly fell behind in the blog department. Sorry about that. Just think of this brief lull as the perfect opportunity to catch up on all the brilliant previous posts you somehow missed.

I realize don't even have a good excuse for not posting something today. It's not 'cause I shouldn't, not 'cause I wouldn't, and you know it's not 'cause I couldn't, it's simply because -- well, I'll let the indelible Marlene Dietrich do the explaining for me:

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Posted by Tim Smith at 5:41 PM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

December 15, 2010

Center Stage production of 'ReEntry' to be streamed Thursday around the world

Center Stage will provide a free, live-streamed simulcast of "ReEntry," the sobering production that looks at US Marines returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, at 7 p.m. EST on Thursday evening.

Among the places lined up to show the performance are Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, the Naval Center for Combat Stress in San Diego, the US Department of Defense in Australia, and Towson University.

The simulcast is being made possible with the support of the NEA; Center Stage received a Chairman’s Extraordinary Action Award from that agency.

Military bases and other organizations interested in the simulcast are asked to contact David Henderson (dhenderson@centerstage.org) for more information.

Posted by Tim Smith at 10:18 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

December 10, 2010

For the theater lover on your holiday gift list, a double dose of Sondheim

There's no question what book every lover of theater -- musical theater, more specifically -- will want this year. That's Stephen Sondheim's own "Finishing the Hat" (Knopf), an irresistible collection of (to quote the book's subtitle) "Collected Lyrics (1954-1981), with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes."

Isn't it rich?

The book would be invaluable if it only contained the lyrics, since Sondheim's are the most consistently brilliant in imagery, emotion and rhyme that have ever graced a Broadway show. But there's much more. Extensive chunks of dialogue are included, providing context for the song texts.

And, for the icing on this multi-layered cake, there's Sondheim's running commentary -- explanations of how he arrived at words and phrases; analyses of how each show came together, how and why the songs worked or didn't work in their respective scenes; tons of backstage stories; even descriptions of the pencils Sondheim uses when he's writing.

You come away understanding aspects of crafting a line that you may never have considered. You also come away, of course, with an understanding of what makes Sondheim Sondheim.

The most fun in the book -- wicked fun, really -- may well be had from the author's commentaries on fellow lyricists. You just have to love the brutal honesty, even if Sondheim deflates one of your favorites in the process.

It was LOL time for me when I read his take on Oscar Hammerstein and

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Categories: Drama Queens, Holiday gifts
        

December 3, 2010

In today's Sun: 'Rock of Ages' rockin' the Hippodrome

This morning, I'm still recovering from a mortifying experience during last night's festive lighting of the Washington Monument.

For the benefit of any non-Baltimore readers of this humble little blog, I should point out that our fair city's monument to the first president pre-dates the one in DC by many a year and is located in one of Baltimore's most picturesque spots.

As for the mortification, let's just say that the best way to make an impression on one's editor when you're invited to his first holiday party -- his fabulous apartment overlooks the Mount Vernon Place and the Monument -- is not to spill half a large cocktail shaker's worth of Gimlets all over the place. (Robert and I brought said shaker, pre-filled, to the party; not one of my brighter ideas.)

Never did see the lights being turned on by the Mayor or the fireworks afterward, as we were too busy trying to clean up the spill -- how it managed to coat a wall, as well as the floor, I'll never know -- while all the other guests were glued to windows or out on the balcony.

Needless to say, the newsroom is already abuzz today with the story of my sensational faux pas. I'm just glad it's not on YouTube.

Anyway, I mention all of this by way of trying to divert you from the fact that I don't have a fresh blog post yet, as I've got to finish a story for Sunday's paper. Meanwhile, I can

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:47 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens, Hippodrome
        

December 1, 2010

Music to mark World AIDS Day from the great Cuban-born pianist Jorge Bolet

On this World AIDS Day, there's an unusual amount of optimism that important corners are being turned in the search for preventative measures, but that is small comfort compared to the appalling toll the disease has taken across the global. Members of the young generation are, thankfully, growing up without knowing the pain of losing friends and family members in rapid succession. The rest of us will carry those scars for the rest of our lives.

I will never forget the shock of hearing John Corigliano's Symphony No. 1 for the first time. In that work from 1989, subtitled "Of Rage and Remembrance," the composer found exceptionally inventive and moving ways to memorialize many of his own friends, weaving their lives literally into the score. A particularly close pianist friend inspired the most haunting reflection in the symphony. Corigliano made use of a venerable keyboard chestnut, the endearing Godowsky transcription of Albeniz's "Tango," a favorite of his friend; the piece is played off-stage in the outer movements.

If you have never heard that symphony, please check it out. We may live in a less rage-driven time when it comes to AIDS, but the symphony's way of capturing the raw emotions of the '80s has hardly lost its power. World AIDS Day got me thinking about that symphony again, but I found myself focusing specifically on that subtly sensual, wonderfully nostalgic "Tango." And, if you'll pardon the convoluted reasoning, that's the piece I'd like to offer here as a musical reflection on this solemn day.

I found a superb interpretation of the Albeniz/Godowsky "Tango" played by

Continue reading "Music to mark World AIDS Day from the great Cuban-born pianist Jorge Bolet " »

Posted by Tim Smith at 8:49 AM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Classical, Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

November 26, 2010

Everyman Theatre, Arena Stage extend runs of hit productions

Maybe the recession really is winding down. People aren't just storming department stores to grab bargains; they've also been rushing the box offices at Baltimore's Everyman Theatre and Washington's Arena Stage. Both companies have extended the runs of their hit shows to meet demand.

Everyman's staging of Arthur Miller's "All My Sons," originally scheduled to close Dec. 12, will now go through Dec. 18.

Vincent Lancisi directs an exceptional cast in an illuminating production of this still-potent American play, providing quite a lesson in ensemble acting and subtly atmospheric scenic design. I can't recommend this highly enough.

Arena Stage is celebrating its appealingly renovated facility with a vibrant revival of the venerable Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Oklahoma." The production was to have closed Dec. 26, but

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Posted by Tim Smith at 10:34 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Drama Queens, Everyman Theatre
        

November 22, 2010

Weekend in review: From 'Zippy the Pinhead' to the BSO

After taking Friday night off to be just a regular member of an audience for a change (I joined the sold-out crowd for Bill Maher's often wickedly funny socio/political analysis at the Hippodrome), I checked out two decidedly different musical experiences over the weekend. On Saturday, I caught the penultimate performance of "Zippy the Pinhead: The Musical" at the Theatre Project; the next afternoon, a block away at the Meyerhoff, I heard the Baltimore Symphony perform an absorbing program of Ravel, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. From the "Zippy"-diculous to the sublime.

As for the slender new musical, which has a score by Baltimore-based composer Lorraine Whittlesey and a book she co-wrote with the creator of the Zippy comic strip, Bill Griffith, I imagine it would appeal more to longtime fans of the source material. Except for "Doonesbury," my comic-reading stopped quite a while ago, and I confess that I never did much warm to "Zippy" back in the day. 

That said, I can appreciate the strip's blend of the goofy, the ironic, the droll and the surreal, and those elements certainly do exist in the musical. Not, alas, in sufficient quantities to grab much interest, even with a very short running time -- an hour, including intermission. Not really much humor, either, although a few Baltimore references and the video projections throughout were fun.  

A more professional performance level would no doubt have helped sell the show; the singing, in particular, left a lot to be desired.

The best efforts came from

Continue reading "Weekend in review: From 'Zippy the Pinhead' to the BSO" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 9:46 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

November 17, 2010

Everyman Theatre offers compelling revival of Arthur Miller's 'All My Sons'

The truth, Oscar Wilde told us, is rarely pure and never simple. In Arthur Miller’s first hit play, “All My Sons,” successful businessman Joe Keller tortures the complicated truth about his wartime work and obscures it with a sticky web of self-justification.

Keller, grippingly portrayed by Carl Schurr in Everyman Theatre’s sterling production of this still-searing work from 1947, is supremely confident he can explain how defective aircraft parts left his factory and led to loss of life. Besides, he was officially exonerated.

He has lived his lie so boldly and thoroughly that it doesn’t really occur to him that the truth could ever emerge. Why should it? The war is over; so is the guilt. Everybody did things they shouldn’t have during those dark years, didn’t they?

Set in an unspecified American town, the play has hardly lost its relevance, certainly not in the age of Halliburton and BP, and its ability to touch the senses remains undiminished. Even those who know this work well may find themselves startled anew by how much of a gut-punch this tragedy can still deliver.

Miller keenly understood what brings families together, what drives them apart, and why it all matters. Everyman artistic director Vincent Lancisi Director is very much at home dealing with such familial issues, and his unforced, insightful directorial touch draws from the cast — most of them from the company's own family of resident artists — performances fully alive with nuance.

Schurr’s sureness as an actor enables him to reveal every facet of Keller’s volatile character as the center of gravity keeps shifting beneath him — the actor’s eyes convey as much as any of his lines. Most importantly, Schurr also finds in Keller the ruggedly appealing qualities that help to explain the loyalty of the man’s family, the affection of a neighborhood kid.

As Chris, the son who came back from the war and joined his father’s business, Clinton Brandhagen reveals

Continue reading "Everyman Theatre offers compelling revival of Arthur Miller's 'All My Sons' " »

Posted by Tim Smith at 11:41 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Drama Queens, Everyman Theatre
        

November 12, 2010

In today's Sun: reborn Arena Stage, cutting-edge Iron Crow Theatre

In case you haven't already spotted my sure-to-be-life-changing reviews elsewhere online or in print, I thought I'd better mention them here.

I weighed in on the much-awaited production of "Oklahoma" that inaugurates the impressively renovated complex that houses the venerable DC company Arena Stage. It's great to see the space so magically transformed, with the sweeping glass walls wrapping the three-theater venue into a most welcoming package.

It's also gratifying to see an iconic American musical treated with such respect and enthusiasm -- not to mention high-calibre choreography (Center Stage could sure have used something of this level in its otherwise highly effective recent revival of "The Wiz"). And I think the idea of

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Posted by Tim Smith at 12:40 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

November 10, 2010

Center Stage offers free tickets to veterans and active service members on Veterans Day

Center Stage is honoring Veterans Day by offering up to 100 free tickets to veterans and active service members for Thursday's preview performance of "ReEntry," a play by Emily Ackerman and KJ Sanchez that is based on interviews with veterans and their families. The cast includes Marine vet Joseph Harrell.

The tickets will be given away first come, first served; there's a limit of two per person. To request tickets, send an email to Lily Brown: lbrown@centerstage.org.

Posted by Tim Smith at 7:05 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

November 8, 2010

Baltimore-born opera singer Matthew Morris organizes benefit for Trevor Project

Matthew Morris is a talented young Baltimorean who graduated from the Gilman School (class of 2003)and moved on to New York, where he earned a degree in voice from the Julliard School. He could be forgiven for concentrating solely on his career, which seems to be developing very nicely.

His credits include roles in in a premiere by ultra-hip composer Missy Mazzoli earlier this year at Bard College and in a Sante Fe Opera production of a work by Gluck last year while a member of that company's apprentice program. These days, Morris can be found in Paris, where he is singing Papageno in Peter Brook's adaptation of Mozart's "Magic Flute," which will go on a tour that includes New York next summer. In his spare time, the singer is also finishing up work on his master's degree at Bard College Conservatory, studying with stellar soprano Dawn Upshaw.

So, like I said, if Morris wanted to be a typically self-absorbed artist, who could blame him? But he found the time to produce a most worthy benefit concert for the Trevor Project, the national organization devoted to helping prevent suicides by gay teens. That cause has become more pressing than ever, in light of the recent deaths of several young men who had been bullied or harassed in one way or another and chose to end their lives.

The "You Are Not Alone" benefit on Nov. 22nd at St. Paul the Apostle Church (W. 60th and Columbus) will feature

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Posted by Tim Smith at 9:45 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

November 5, 2010

In today's Sun: Reviewing high 'Hair' in DC, previewing BSO's Mahler/Freud program

For the benefit of my cherished readers who seek wisdom and solace only on this humble blog, I thought I should mention that you can find elsewhere in the Sun a couple of items that may be of interest.

The Baltimore Symphony's intriguing reenactment of Mahler's session in 1910 with a budding shrink named Sigmund Freud promises a lively look into the lives and minds of some very cool figures. I've got a preview in today's paper.

And, for something completely different, I've also got a review of "Hair," the iconic '60s musical that has the Kennedy Center Opera House jumping.

Posted by Tim Smith at 10:27 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: BSO, Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

November 3, 2010

Blue Man Group rocks the Hippodrome

From the opening electronic ticker-tape messages, relaying birthday greetings and instructions on audience behavior (texting is banned, so older people “won’t feel inadequate”), to the deliriously multi-sensory finale, the Blue Man Group show at the Hippodrome Theatre packs a wallop.

The celebrated troupe, created by Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton and Chris Wink, has entertained some 17 million people across the globe since debuting nearly 20 years ago. This Baltimore appearance -- performances run through Sunday -- marks the first national tour of the theatrical version that has been a fixture in New York, Las Vegas and other places. It’s a big, loud, funny, silly, visually arresting production.

Tuesday’s opening night crowd, which gave every indication of arriving fully prepared and stoked for the experience, enjoyed superbly timed performances by Kalen Allmandinger, Josh Elrod and General Fermon Judd as the blue men. (Four players, including Mark Frankel, take turns in the lead trio roles during the run.)

There’s no point in trying to classify what these performers, with their trademark blue faces and bald, ear-less heads, do onstage for the better part of 90 minutes. It’s much easier to go with the flow — and duck down in your seat when those guys start roaming the aisles in search of audience volunteers. (Late-comers may have a much harder time remaining incognito.)

In a way, you could say that Blue Man Group represents

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Posted by Tim Smith at 2:32 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens, Hippodrome
        

Center Stage presents acting class taught by Rain Pryor

If you've been bitten by the theater bug, or maybe just looking to get bitten, Center Stage may have just the thing: "Mindful Acting with Rain Pryor: An introduction into the Art of Performance."

The Baltimore-based Pryor, daughter of the late comedian Richard Pryor, will teach a weekly class covering such topics as monologues, characterization and scene study.

She is the author of a bittersweet memoir, "Jokes My Father Never Taught Me," and a seasoned performer whose comedy and cabaret shows have enjoyed considerable popularity. 

The class meets Monday nights (7-9 p.m.), starting on Nov. 8, and goes through Dec. 13. The fee is $200.

BALTIMORE SUN PHOTO

Posted by Tim Smith at 11:35 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

October 29, 2010

To celebrate record-breaking ticket sales for 'The Wiz,' a little quiz

Who knew a 1970s musical with a not exactly great reputation would become the runaway best-seller at Center Stage?

The company's vibrant revival of the "The Wiz" -- sensibly approached by director Irene Lewis for exactly what it is, rather than what it might have been -- has just become the best-selling production in Center Stage history.

The show surpassed the previous record-holder, "Ain’t Misbehavin' " (about $310,000), and "The Wiz" still has another week or so to ease on down the road to establish an even bigger record.

To celebrate the production's success, I thought it would be ever so fun to have a little theatrical quiz. I can't offer a great prize, other than cyber-immortality for the winner, but I hope that will be enough. Here goes:

 

Continue reading "To celebrate record-breaking ticket sales for 'The Wiz,' a little quiz" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 9:31 AM | | Comments (11)
Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

October 22, 2010

Michael Ross returns to Center Stage as consultant during transition period

Michael Ross, former managing director of Center Stage, will return temporarily to the company in the capacity of management consultant on December 1 to help with the transition to new leadership.

Current managing director Debbie Chin is leaving in December; longtime artistic director Irene Lewis will step down at the end of the 2010-11 season.

Ross, who served at Center Stage 2002-2008 and enjoyed great popularity inside and outside the organization, is currently managing director of the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut. He plans to stay with that company, but agreed to lend a hand at Center Stage.  

In a statement released late Thursday, the theater's board president Jay Smith said:

“Michael is a respected national arts leader who understands the inner workings of Center Stage ... We have a terrific and experienced staff in place and are highly confident about our ability to manage the organization after Debbie’s departure. However, Michael, as an additional resource who knows us well, will ensure a smooth transition to new leadership.”

A committee, headed by Center Stage trustee and Maryland Film Festival director Jed Dietz, is searching for a new artistic director.

SUN STAFF PHOTO 

Posted by Tim Smith at 7:10 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

October 20, 2010

Revival of J.M. Barrie plays shines light again on songs of World War I

One of the many pleasures of the current Rep Stage double bill of J.M Bartie plays -- you ought to catch it -- is hearing snippets of World War I songs. They're used as background before each play and put to particularly effective service during "The Old Lady Shows Her Medals," a poignant tale of two lives brought together under the most unlikely and mutually rewarding of circumstances.

Both world wars produced an awful lot of popular music, including patriotic tunes, comic ditties and the sweetest of ballads. Many songs associated with WW I may sound very dated and terribly sentimental to a lot of folks now, but there's some wonderful stuff there, in melody and lyrics. Hearing some of them at Rep Stage got me thinking about that whole genre and a piece of sheet music I bought at an antique store years ago called

Continue reading "Revival of J.M. Barrie plays shines light again on songs of World War I" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 6:48 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens, Rep Stage
        

October 15, 2010

Playwright Terrence McNally to attend Bay Theatre performance, do Q&A

Celebrated playwright Terrence McNally will attend the matinee performance on Sunday of his 1991 work about couples and complications, "Lips Together, Teeth Apart," at the Bay Theatre in Annapolis, Anne Arundel's only professional theater company.

McNally will stay for a discussion with the audience afterward. Sounds like a cool opportunity.

Posted by Tim Smith at 3:58 PM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

October 13, 2010

Latest 'Glee' episode hits high note with salute to legendary Judy/Barbra duet

It took me a while to get onto the "Glee" bandwagon, but I'm so glad I did. Sure, I'm still waiting for Will to teach these kids something at least sort of classical one day, just to stretch their eager little cords in another direction. But that's a minor disappointment.

This new season has already had some big peaks, including the "Grilled Cheesus" episode last week that led up, as I instinctively felt it would, to the strangely haunting Joan Osborne song, "One of Us."

That song always takes me back to 2002. It happened to be the first music I heard, inadvertently, after

Continue reading "Latest 'Glee' episode hits high note with salute to legendary Judy/Barbra duet" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 2:08 PM | | Comments (4)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

Rep Stage offers affecting revivals of World War I-vintage plays by J.M. Barrie

Although he’ll always be most famous for his endearing “Peter Pan,” the prolific J.M. Barrie deserves wider recognition for his other creations. Rep Stage is doing its part to provide that recognition with the revival of two World War I-vintage plays that reveal Barrie’s knack for generating subtle emotional power.

There is much more than mere curiosity value here. Issues and values reflected in these gems have hardly been dulled by time. Wars still break out; men (and, of course, women now) go off to fight them, leaving people at home to worry and adapt.

In “The New World” (1915) and “The Old Lady Shows Her Medals” (1917), Barrie fashioned telling slices of English life during the Great War. He drew some of his inspiration from his own earlier life, and even more, it seems, from his concerns for the beloved boys who had been his surrogate sons since the late 1890s.

Deftly directed with evident affection by Michael Stebbins, the Rep Stage production of these one-acters makes for an absorbing theatrical experience.

“The New World” is the slenderer of the two pieces, but it still offers a good deal of substance, along with some sly wit. The action, confined to a London drawing room, involves

Continue reading "Rep Stage offers affecting revivals of World War I-vintage plays by J.M. Barrie" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 11:06 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

October 7, 2010

Surprise marriage proposal goes according to plan at Hippodrome

The surprise onstage marriage proposal went off without a hitch Wednesday night during the performance of "Cirque Dreams Illumination" at the Hippodrome.

Although some readers fretted that I spoiled the surprise by reporting the event early on Wednesday (if only I were that widely read), the plot was not uncovered.

The solider, Sgt. Phillip Clark, an Army medic and Iraq War veteran now stationed at Ft. Meade, and his girlfriend, Jennifer Baggett, were called up to the stage as volunteers for a regular portion of the show, involving the making of a silent film. The couple played their parts perfectly -- they depicted illicit lovers being surprised by the woman's husband, who starts shooting. On cue, the soldier did his death scene and the girlfriend tried to revive him. Then he sprang into action on one knee.

Although un-amplified, the audience quickly realized what was happening and cheered. Here's a video clip (courtesy of the Hippodrome and Kit & Kaboodle Productions):

Continue reading "Surprise marriage proposal goes according to plan at Hippodrome" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 11:25 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Drama Queens, Hippodrome
        

October 6, 2010

Iraq veteran will propose to girlfriend during Cirque Dreams performance at Hippodrome

UPDATE 10/7: The surprise worked like a charm (but thanks to all you snarky people who offered comments, thinking this blog was so darn powerful it would derail everything). You'll find video of the event elsewhere on the blog.  

Audience participation is a regular part of the Cirque Dreams Illumination show that opened at the Hippodrome Theatre on Tuesday. But Wednesday night's performance will add a twist.

Two of the people picked from the house to go up onstage this time will know each other -- a U.S. solider stationed at Ft. Meade, just back from his third tour of duty in Iraq, and his girlfriend.

The skit they will be involved in concerns the making of a silent film (assuming it's the same as Tuesday's performance, the 'plot' will be about illicit lovers being surprised by the woman's husband).

When the skit ends, the solider will assume the bended-knee position and propose to his girlfriend in front of the entire company and audience.

The idea of the very public proposal came about after Cirque Dreams creator and founder Neil Goldberg learned that a solider wanted to buy VIP seats to the show and was planning to pop the question while at the Hippodrome.

No point wasting such a momentous event out in the house, when everybody could get in on it. Goldberg invited the couple to Wednesday's performance as his guests (names are being withheld until showtime) and organized the onstage surprise.

 

PHOTO COURTESY OF CIRQUE PRODUCTIONS

Posted by Tim Smith at 10:09 AM | | Comments (8)
Categories: Drama Queens, Hippodrome
        

Single Carrot Theatre opens season with provocative 'Natural Selection'

Picture it: The time is somewhere in the future. People are addicted to blogging; posting pictures of every little event that occurs in their day-to-day lives, no matter how insignificant; communicating by email more than actual, mouth-moving conversation. Kids plug into virtual classrooms and can even take part in school plays without ever having to leave the comforting nest at home. Lots of folks confuse and accept simulation for reality.

Wait a minute. This can’t be the future. Isn't this, like, now?

Eric Coble’s “Natural Selection,” an often sharp-edged play that provides Single Carrot Theatre with an effective season-opener, mixes the world of today with an unnerving idea of a much-closer-than-you-think tomorrow. It’s a place where urban populations are denser and more isolated than ever, the countryside is truly wild, and “climate change” is an understatement.

The prolific Coble borrows an assortment of durable sitcom devices to construct a deft, if somewhat over-padded, satire. It revolves around operators of a Florida theme park called Culture Fiesta, where visitors can get a supposedly authentic taste of diverse peoples and their customs. (I picture a tacky fusion of EPCOT and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.)

There’s trouble in the Native American pavilion. One of the workers has died, and

Continue reading "Single Carrot Theatre opens season with provocative 'Natural Selection'" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 9:18 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

October 1, 2010

Check out review of Everyman Theatre's 'Shipwrecked!'

If you can't wait until Sunday's paper to know what I thought about "Shipwrecked!" -- Everyman Theatre's season-opener -- you're in luck. It's now posted.

PHOTO (by Stan Barouh) COURTESY OF EVERYMAN THEATRE

Posted by Tim Smith at 3:19 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        
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About Tim Smith
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., I couldn't help but develop a keen interest in politics, but music, theater and visual art also proved great attractions. Music became my main focus after high school. I thought about being a cocktail pianist, but I hated taking requests, so I studied music history instead, earning a B.A. in that field from Eisenhower College (Seneca Falls, N.Y.) and an M.A. from Occidental College (Los Angeles). I then landed in journalism. After freelancing for the Washington Post and others, I was classical music critic for the Sun-Sentinel in South Florida, where I also contributed to NPR. I've written for the New York Times, BBC Music Magazine and other publications, and I'm a longtime contributor to Opera News. My book, The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Classical Music (Perigee, 2002), can be found on the most discerning remainder racks.

I joined the Baltimore Sun as classical music critic in 2000 and, in 2009, also became theater critic, giving me the opportunity to annoy a whole new audience. In 2010, my original Clef Notes blog expanded to encompass a theatrical component -- how could I resist calling it Drama Queens? I hope you'll find both sides of this blog coin worth exploring and reacting to; your own comments are always welcome and valued (well, most of them, at least).

Think of this as your open-all-hours, cyber green room, where there's always a performer or performance to discuss, some news to digest, or maybe just a little good gossip to share.
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