THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD 

                             VINTAGE THEATRE : DEC. 5 TO JAN 11 

            The cast of "THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD" (Photo credit: RDG Photography)

DROOD is the HOTTEST TICKET IN TOWN FOR THE  HOLIDAY SEASON!RUN TO GET TICKETS!!!

When was the last time you woke up humming the tunes you heard at theatre the night before? There are so many Glorious ear-worms in this score, you will be humming and singing these tunes for days! With book, music and lyrics by Rupert Holmes, Vintage Theatre’s production of THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD is not to be missed! In1985 “Drood” received Tony Awards for Best Musical, Book and Score. 

         On opening night a rousing, rollicking good time was had by all! Rowdy, and sometimes a bit on the bawdy side, the broad strokes of humor on display describing London’s Music Hall tradition may put you in mind of the American Vaudeville theatre.     The show is directed by the esteemed Bernie Cardell, who makes sure that we are entertained to the max!  For this reason alone, it is advised that any theatre lover get tickets as far in advance as possible.

The title role is played by Michelle Merz-Hutchinson. It is wonderful to see this actor’s superb acting and hear her outstanding vocals! Her singing of “Two Kinsmen” and “Perfect Strangers” is an utter delight.

Brian Trampler’s chairman, the show’s emcee, introduces the play by welcoming us  to the music hall with his singing of “There You Are,” lifting our spirits and making us hungry for the unfolding mystery to come. The chairman is also a sort of narrator who introduces characters and ties together the clues and events which follow. Trampler’s performance stuns!

Rosa Bud, Drood’s fiancee and the student of choirmaster John Jasper, is played by Makenzie Couch, who sings “Moonfall” with a soprano that is a breathtaking ribbon of silk. William B. Kahn’s acting and singing of Jasper, who secretly lusts after his student, has a baritone to die for. His singing of “A Man Could Go Quite Mad” is indelible.

Adam Johnson’s acting in the comic role of Bazzard made him an audience favorite. His singing of “Never the Luck” is hysterical.

Deborah Persoff’s performance in the role of Princess Puffer, the proprietor of a London opium den, is one for the books! This meticulously crafted and nuanced portrayal is so richly imagined that Dickens himself would applaud this actor’s masterful singing and acting of : “The Wages of Sin,” “Don’t Quit While You’re Ahead” and “The Garden Path to Hell."

It’s wonderful to see Daniel Traylor treading the boards once again as Mr. James Throttle. 

Musical director Jeremiah Otto did splendid work accompanying the actors on the keys as well as evoking stunning choral work from the cast in such numbers as, “Off To the Races,” and “An English Music Hall.” 

Charles Dickens’ vital, vibrant characters are all dressed in Cole Emarine’s extravagant eye-popping Victorian costumes!

Don Fuller’s set design and Emily Maddox’s lighting were both well executed. There were a couple of glitches in Russ Kirby’s sound design on the night this reviewer was in attendance, but they were quickly addressed and rectified.

Charles Dickens died before his novel was finished. As a result we as audience get to decide who the murderer was.

 This is just the ticket for the Holidays! Not to be missed!!!

For tickets go online at Vintagetheatre.org  or call the box office at 303-856-7830

 

 

                                                              Nancy Evans Begley

           JERRY’S GIRLS

VERITAS PRODUCTIONS AND THEATRE ARTS

In partnership with THE MIZEL CENTER FOR THE ARTS:

                                     11/13-11/23

                          NOT TO BE MISSED!!!

Nancy Evans Begley is a force of nature! Jerry’s Girls is a cavalcade of heart-opening and heart-expanding songs from JERRY HERMAN’s Broadway hits such as: Hello Dolly, La Cage Aux Folles, Mame, Dear World, Mack and Mable and Parade! 

This production was supposed to appear in Early September. Due to Ms. Begley's life-threatening illness it had to be cancelled. Having once again been scheduled, a water main broke in the theatre. However... Nancy Begley and her production of Jerry’s Girls have risen like the phoenix … and what a Joyous Gift this is! 

Three beautiful, talented, and vivacious women, NANCY EVANS BEGLEY, ALI CHUNG and DANA HART WRIGHT, grace the stage, giving their all for an audience of thoroughly appreciative theatregoers.

Upon entering the playing space of the Pluss Theatre, the playgoer is regaled with Andrew S. Bates’ scenic design. It includes 3 show-biz vanity tables lined-up along a back wall adorned with lobby cards of a bygone era. 

Director Katie Reid Milazzo has staged the revue with just the perfect right “light” touch.

Cole Emarine’s costumes, spangled with sequins and adorned with colorful feather boas, sparkle and shimmer. 

Using flickering lights to enhance songs like “When Movies Were Movies” from Mack and Mabel, genius lighting designer Brett Maughan has also added footlights to create an atmosphere of nostalgia.

Music Director Aldo Algoode accompanies the ladies delightfully on the piano, and even sometimes tosses in a brief comic commentary between scenes. He is aided in no small part by the very fine playing of bassist Johnny Torres. 

Rebecca Scott Dean’s choreography is lovely.  One example is that in which she has the ladies spinning exquisite white lace parasols which recalls the spinning train wheels for “Put On Your Sunday Clothes.” Another is her exhilarating choreo for “Tap Your Troubles Away” from Mack and Mabel.

As always, Curt Behm’s Audio Design is crisp, clear and at decidedly enjoyable levels.

BRAVI TUTTI!!!

RUN TO GET TICKETS!!!

For tickets call 303-316-6360 or go online at jccdenver.org

 ANNIE GET YOUR GUN

OVATION WEST THEATRE COMPANY

CENTER STAGE EVERGREEN

SEPT 5 – 28

          MICHELE CROW as ANNIE OAKLEY

CIRCLE THE WAGONS, ALL Y’ALL, AND GET ON UP TO EVERGREEN FOR A RIP-ROARIN,’ EAR-PLEASIN,’ EYE-POPPIN’ MUSICAL TRIP TO THE OLD WEST!

With music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and original book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields (revised by Peter Stone), Ovation West’s ANNIE GET YOUR GUN is not to be missed!

     The show was a big hit on Broadway in 1946, and the revival in 1999 garnered Tonys for Best Revival of a Musical and Best Performance for a Leading Actress in a Musical for Bernadette Peters. The show is chock-full of upbeat classics such as “There’s No Business Like Show Business”, “Doin’ What Comes Naturally” and “You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun.”

     Michele Crow is Outstanding as Annie Oakley! Besides her silver-throated vocals, this lady can really handle a gun! It turns out that she served a tour of duty during the war in Afghanistan, and her expertise shows!

     Daniel Sares is a thoroughly well-sung and acted Frank Butler. I couldn’t keep myself from thinking that if ever there were a good musical created of “Gone with the Wind” he would be an excellent Rhett Butler.  Sares’ duets with Ms. Crow like “Anything You Can Do” and “They Say It’s Wonderful” are unforgettable! 

     Dialect coach Christine Kahane has made sure that the dialogue is crisp and correct and even added Native American sign language that’s used in some portions of the show.

     David Sibley has created a fantasia of colorful costumes for this cast. From the buckskin fringes for the men to the jewel-toned costumes for the ladies, Sibley’s work is amazing! Sibley’s gowns for Miss Crowe in Act Two are eye-popping indeed!

     The Music Direction by award-winning Lee Ann Scherlong is of the excellence that the Colorado audience has come to expect of her! Her conducting of the sensational just off-stage orchestra makes the Berlin tunes ring in our ears for days! 

     The high-steppin’ dance moves created by choreographer Rachel Lessard are exhilarating! 

     Director Tim Kennedy, who gave an outstanding pre-show history of this classic has cast the show with an eye to authenticity and an ear for excellent voices. His casting is dynamite and the pacing great!

     Art Razo lends an aura of respect to his well-acted portrayal of Chief Sitting Bull.   (It is to be noted that one is deeply gratified that the disrespectful “I’m an Indian, too” was removed for the 1999 revival.) 

     Owen Niland turns in a dynamic portrayal in the role of Buffalo Bill Cody.

     Leslie Randle’s performance as Butler’s assistant, Dolly Tate, is superbly – and intentionally - exasperating! 

      Max Guzman (Tommy Keeler) and Savannah Poor’s (Winnie Tate) duet, “Who do You Love, I Hope,” is beyond enchanting! Hilarious in its well-sung and danced performance, you’ll want to be searching out their names in every program from now on! Brian Trampler gives us a fine performance as Charlie Davenport, the general manager of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. 

Evergreen is the perfect place to see this Wild West Show.  There was a herd of elk wandering down the road as we left the theatre! 

How does it get any better than that?

For tickets call   303-674-4002 or go online at www.ovationwest.org

 ASSASSINS

MINERS ALLEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER:

 AUGUST 8 - SEPTEMBER 14

 

                              The cast of ASSASSINS (Photo credit Sarah Roshan)

With music and lyrics by Steven Sondheim and book by John Weidman, ASSASSINS is a musical based on a concept by Charles Gilbert,Jr.

Controversial in nature, the show about the individuals who have assassinated a president, or attempted it, met with mixed reviews upon its 1991 Off-Broadway debut. 

In 2004 “ASSASSINS” received a Tony for Best Revival of a Musical.

Directed by Warren Sherrill, this is a muscular production with teeth. It’s a sort of schizophrenic danse macabre that alternates between insanity and gallows humor. Sherrill's casting is great and his pacing spot on!

     The ingenious stylistic interface of lighting design (Vance McKenzie), scenic design (Tina Anderson) and costume design (Crystal McKenzie) conspires to deliver the violence of these mentally ill individuals in a dark and creepy carnival atmosphere steeped in a feeling tone reminiscent of Dante’s seventh circle of hell. You know, the one reserved for murderers.

John Hauser’s sound design (he also plays John Hinckley) is his usual exceptional work.

Damon Guerrasio’s monologue as Samuel Byck is a studied and masterfully delivered moment in the show that rivets!

Drew Horwitz is mesmerizing as a quasi-demonic John Wilkes Booth. 

Julia Tobey is breathtaking as the proprietor. You can’t take your eyes off her. 

Clark Destin Jones delivers the intermittent commentary of the Balladeer wondrously. His portrayal of Lee Harvey Oswald is one of deep inner conflict as the voices of all the previous assassins converge on him near final curtain.

Matthew Murry’s portrayal of Charles Guiteau is delivered with power! The shifts in his consciousness as he approaches the scaffold are delivered with intermittent religiosity and visceral bravado.

The music direction by David Nehls and his just offstage band succeeds in keeping the patriotic and the sideshow circus music balanced, allowing the vocals to shine.

   If there were one change this reviewer would have made, it would have been to deliver, “Something Just Broke,” the song describing the nation’s deep sadness after JFK’s assassination, in a visual style completely divergent from the general stylistic flow. In other productions this has allowed the pent-up emotions to flow out the tear ducts. 

Small criticism for a magnificent, if unsettling show.

 

This is an ensemble driven, revue-like musical that cries out to be seen. Just be sure to leave the kids home.

For tickets go online at minersalley.com or call the box office at 303-935-3044

    THE KNOCK

   CENTRAL CITY OPERA: JULY 5 – AUGUST 2

L-R: Armando Contreras, Mary Hollis-Hindley and Cierra  Byrd (photo credit: Amanda Tipton)

With music by Aleksandra Vrebalov and libretto by Deborah Brevoort, “The Knock” was commissioned by the Glimmerglass festival and Cincinatti Opera. It seems fitting that Central City Opera has chosen to produce its regional premier since the opera is set in Colorado.

     This one-act opera lets us as audience see and feel what it’s like to be loved ones left behind when their spouses are deployed to military service. 

     A female-driven production, “The Knock” is quite the opposite of many classic operas which, like The Barber of Seville, have one female role and multiple males. In this work several women who are spouses of men deployed to Fallujah, Iraq , gather since there has been a blackout and no communication.

 

     Vrebelov’s complex and ingenious composition, with its nerve-jangling strings and pulse-pounding percussion, put our own hearts and nervous system as audience in synch with the women involved, and what’s transpiring on stage.

     Mary Hollis-Hindley’s nuanced performance as Jo Jenner, a mother of two small children, who awaits the possibility of tragic news, makes us feel the anxiety with her search for anything-even a stick of gum!- to distract her and alleviate the fear.

    As Aisha McNair, Cierra Byrd provides a comforting presence as this community of military wives assembles.

     Armando Contreras is superb as Lt. Roberto Gonzales in his first journey to deliver the devastating knock. Wishing to have been on the front lines rather than carry this emotional burden, he studies protocols and gets lost in local landmarks, trying to make his way through this labyrinth of pain.

     During this emotionally charged production, if your chest is not heaving and tear ducts over-flowing you may not be breathing. Heart-wrenching and soul-shredding, this is a contemporary American work that demands to be seen and heard.     

     Alison Moritz’ deft stage direction is handled with a sensitive, light touch.

     David Bloom’s conducting of this unique composition succeeds brilliantly.

     Eliciting great sensitivity with the choral work, as well as the recitative moments, Arthur Bosarge, The Master of Choruses, does superb work harmonizing the ensemble.

     Lawrence E. Moten III’s scenic design uses simple unadorned geometric lines to suggest a house. A long line of tiny model homes forms a miniscule neighborhood on the apron of the stage.

     This new work is unmissable for lovers of serious dramatic opera!

   Special thanks to Central City Opera for bringing us the contemporary works of the American Opera.    

For tickets go online to centralcityopera.org or call the box office at 303-292-6700.

 THE BARBER OF SEVILLE

CENTRAL CITY OPERA: THROUGH AUGUST 3

Music by GIOACHINO ROSSINI

LIBRETTO BY CESARE STERBINI

 

L-R: Lisa Marie Rogali and Andrew Morstein (Photo Credit: Amanda Tipton)

  Central City Opera’s production of THE BARBER OF SEVILLE is a triumph in every sense of the word.

Since this production of Rossini’s famous comic opera is set in the 1930’s Lynly Saunders costume’ design and Andrew Boyce’s scenic design conspire to stylistically evoke an homage to the paintings of Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali! The chroma-key for these aspects of the show is vibrant and bright, with colors that appear to have been poured right out of the can.

     The story is well known. Two young lovers, Count Almaviva and Rosina, long to wed. The obstacle is her guardian, Dr. Bartolo, who is constantly monitoring the young woman, and hoping to marry her himself. Figaro, the jack -of-all-trades in Bartolo’s house, aids  Almaviva by telling him to disguise himself to get into Rosina’s presence. Luke Sutliff’s famous well-known aria, “Figaro, Figaro,” (known as Largo Factotum) starts the musical fireworks superbly. Dr. Bartolo is aided by his friend, Don Basilio, who is Rosina’s music teacher.   Lisa Marie Rogali is the fetching Rosina. This artist’s mezzo-soprano and divine coloratura enchant.  Andrew Morstein’s tenor as Count Almaviva is superb.  Ashraf Sewailam lends a magnificent bass-baritone to his portrayal of Bartolo.  Stefan Egerstrom delivers an excellent bass as Don Basilio. 

     Stage director Eric Sean Fogel has cast the show with an eye to great comedic actors and an ear to world class operatic voices.  These singers have backgrounds ranging from the Met and Santa Fe Opera to LA Opera, Houston Grand Opera and the Salzburg Festival. Director Fogel has paced the show with the breathtaking speed of a racing locomotive, making the evening fly by. 

     Louis Lohraseb brings out all the joyous exuberance of Rossini’s score with his conducting of the delicious Central City Opera Orchestra, while brilliantly keeping the musicians in the pit in sinch with the singers onstage. 

(Central City Opera has added another performance due to popular demand!)  

 

This opera is sung in Italian with English supertitles. 

 

NOT TO BE MISSED!!!

 

For tickets go online to centralcityopera.org or call the box office at: 303-292-6700

 

 

 ONCE UPON A MATTRESS 

Central City Opera:  July 12 through August 2

(Playing in repertoire with THE BARBER OF SEVILLE and THE KNOCK)

Marisa Rosen and the cast of Once Upon a Mattress (Photo Credit: Amanda Tipton)

CENTRAL CITY OPERA’S PRODUCTION OF “ONCE UPON A MATTRESS” IS UNMISSABLE!”

Incoming artistic director Alison Moritz has given us reason to cheer with her delightfully whimsical stage direction of Mary Rodgers’ “Once Upon a Mattress.” Pacing the show with the speedy bliss of a carnival ride, Moritz has cast the show superbly. Perhaps her greatest success comes from casting Marissa Rosen in the role of Princess Winnifred the woebegone.  Ms. Rosen has that innate gift of comedic timing and aura of humor coupled with infectious laughter that brought Carol Burnett to the public’s attention in the early 60s. Rosen’s singing of “The Swamps of Home,” “Shy” and “Happily Ever After” are by turns hysterically funny and touchingly poignant.

 Director Moritz’s second coup comes from her casting of the dashing Schyler Vargas in the role of Sir Harry.  Vargas’ glorious baritone delivers “In a Little While” and “Yesterday I Loved You,” to harmonious perfection in his duets with the fetching Veronique Filloux as Lady Larken.  (One wishes he had been able to see and hear Vargas as Guido in “Nine” and Riff in “West Side Story” for Opera Indianapolis.) 

Michael Kuhn gives the most studied portrayal of Prince Dauntless the drab that this critic has had the pleasure of seeing and hearing in his many viewings of this Tony Award - nominated musical. Kuhn rises above the somewhat flat writing of this character to deliver a truly studied and delightfully enjoyable performance.

As Queen Aggravain, Margaret Gawrsiak is pompously condescending and aggressively domineering. Her delivery of “Sensitivity” is a knock-out!

As King Sextimus, Aggravain’s timid and silent husband, Andrew Small is especially watchable in his non-verbal instruction of his son, Dauntless, concerning the birds and the bees in “Man to Man Talk.” 

Alex Mansoori is at the top of his form as the jester in “Very Soft Shoes.”

John Heginbotham’s fiery choreography for “The Spanish Panic” is danced to exuberant perfection by the ensemble.

Andrew Boyce provides a scenic design suggesting a story book castle torn from the pages of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Princess and the Pea.” In like manner, Elivia Bovenzi-Blitz’s eye-popping costume design transports us to the wondrous land of make believe.

Under the baton of conductor Kelly Kuo, the scrumptious Central City Opera Festival Orchestra delivers a joyously ear-pleasing confection.

The magnificent choral work is thanks to Arthur Bosarge, Master of Choruses.

One must add that director Moritz has hilarious surprises in store for you. No spoilers here! You will simply have to go and experience for yourself.

This is a treat the whole family will enjoy!

Not to be missed!

 

For tickets go online at centralcityopera.org or call the box office at 303-292-6700