Christmas Trio...

by Susan Hussey

Gorilla Theatre

December 5, 2009

For most of us Christmas is the time of year when we get together with the ones we love. For others, it’s the time of year when we get together with family because their our family, not necessarily because we love them.

Christmas Trio is a three character play written by Susan Hussey, produced by the Gorilla Theatre. As always with the Gorilla Theatre, Christmas Trio is presented in an intimate and in-your-face setting to the forty seven audience members in attendance. This dialogue driven character piece will have you wondering about your own family as you feel closer of theirs.

Christmas Trio chronicles the story of a family torn apart by joblessness, infidelity, alcoholism, divorce and miscommunication. As the play begins we meet Barbara, who enjoys a cocktail on her 40th birthday. Barbara laments about her life without a partner and how it stems from her home life, which she invites us to as Christmas time rolls around. Barbara visits her mother Edna in Florida the year she doesn't visit her father, Barry, at home. We learn of the trials and tribulations of this dysfunctional family over the years and eerily find parallels.

Well constructed and executed, this character study is flawless in inviting us into their world. Meg Heimstead, Karel Wright and Jim Wicker seamlessly cascade their soliloquies together to gel divided stream of consciousness to a building story. With a simple set and little use of props, Christmas Trio is an excellent example of words over dazzle and fluff.

With all of the superb dialogue and character development, I found Christmas Trio very hard to follow. One minute Barbara is a forty year old working professional who enjoys a cocktail and a bratty teenager the next. As we dive deeper into the turmoil of the family, it seems to go nowhere and wander aimlessly. Jumping from Barbara’s Christmas’s at age eight, sixteen, seventeen then back to forty left me with no resolution. Possibly, this is to mimic real life where we go through life with many unanswered questions in our past. Although in a place of escapism, I don’t like being reminded of that fact. Don’t get me wrong, the acting was there, but it couldn’t save the lacking storyline. I unfortunately left the theatre blasé with more questions than going into it.

All in all, I found Christmas Trio wonderfully acted and a well executed production. Although, if you’re looking for a feel good family piece for the holiday season, I would not recommend it. After the brilliant success of The Woman in Black, I was disappointed with the show as the lights faded. The Gorilla Theatre is a great place for intimate local theatre. This was not their best show but it won’t take away anything from Gorilla Theatre's reputation of top tier performance quality.

Christmas Trio plays through December 20th at the Gorilla Theatre. For more information please click here. Tickets start at $20 depending on the night.

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Wonderland...

Ferguson Hall
David A. Straz Center for Performing Arts
Tampa, FL
December 4, 2009

When you meet someone for the first time, you are usually asked the same question. What’s your name, or the less polite who are you? On the surface they may seem interchangeable, yet for Alice, it took a trip to Wonderland to realize they can be mutually exclusive.

Wonderland is a new musical written and produced by a creative team assembled by the David A. Straz Center for Performing Arts (formerly TBPAC). Marketed as a modern retelling of Lewis Caroll’s classic novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Wonderland delivers as such with laughter, song and delight.

Set in modern Manhattan, Wonderland follows the story of up-and-coming author Alice Cornwinkle. We learn about Alice’s irreconcilable differences with husband Jack which lead their daughter Chloe to runaway from home. Chloe leaves a riddle within a first edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to find her. Alice takes an elevator “down the rabbit hole” into Wonderland to find the White Rabbit, the Caterpillar, the White Knight, the Cheshire Cat, and the Queen of Hearts. Chloe’s riddle states Alice must reach the eighth square through the eighth door and become Queen in order to find her again. Along the way, Alice learns about love, family, her new book’s title and who she is.

With a story with so many recognizable characters as Alice in Wonderland, precise casting is crucial. The caliber of acting was fantastic. With Julie Brooks as Chloe, Jose Llana as El Gato, Tommar Wilson as the Caterpillar, Nikki Snelson as the Mad Hatter, and Karen Mason as the Queen of Hearts, Wonderland is jam-packed with exhilarating performances. Fresh off of her run with In the Heights on Broadway, Janet Dacal delivers a superb performance as Alice. Dacal’s solid and believable portrayal of Alice leaves no question in casting decisions. Darren Ritchie’s stellar performance as Jack and the White Knight left me wanting more as the curtain fell at the end of the show. Bravo.

When I first heard that TBPAC was producing it’s own musical about Alice in Wonderland, I was skeptical. Although, when I read the list of actors contracted for the production I warmed up to the idea. By the end of the first act, I wondered why I questioned Wonderland in the first place.

Wonderland’s expert use of set changes, costumes, lights and song will surely entertain each audience during it's run. One note. The original book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is considered the epitome of literary nonsense. There are times when the entire company is dressed in the classic Alice attire, men and women alike. A two headed, three legged thing escorts Alice into Wonderland. I took these elements to follow the nonsensical tone of the book which allowed me to enjoy the show even more.

Wonderland is the first production of the Straz Center’s Broadway Genesis Project. The project is to produce and workshop productions poised for national tours and Broadway. With the exceptional production quality of Wonderland I would not be surprised to find it playing the Great White Way in no time. I applaud the Straz Center’s choice of Ferguson Hall. With 1,042 seats, you won’t have a bad seat with enough room to invite everyone you know. All in all, I endorse this production one hundred percent. I’m positive you’ll leave the theatre with questions just as I did, but wake up the next morning glad you saw it.



Wonderland is currently playing at the David A. Straz Center for Performing Arts’ Ferguson Hall. See this production now while it’s still at ground zero. For more information and tickets please click here. Tickets start at $38.50.

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RENT...

No Play Like This Play...

RENT

by Jonathan Larson
Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre
Orlando, FL
December 1, 2009


What can I say that hasn’t already been said about this masterpiece. If you are reading this review and haven’t seen RENT, drop whatever it is you’re doing and get in line!

Written and composed by Jonathan Larson, RENT is a rock musical update of Giacomo Puccini’s beloved opera La Boheme. Larson enjoyed a glimpse of success during the eighties and early nineties. Larson notable productions include Superbia, a rock retelling of George Orwell’s book 1984, and the small and intimate "rock monologue" which later became known as tick, tick…BOOM! In 1994, Jonathan Larson produced the first incarnation of RENT at the New York Theatre Workshop for a short three week run. After a lukewarm response, Larson reworked a couple songs and dialogue into the production we know and love today. In late 1995, again with the help of the New York Theatre Workshop, Larson was able to see his life’s work before his eyes. Sadly, on the night of the first preview, Jonathan Larson was found dead in is apartment due to a misdiagnosed aortic aneurysm. Instead of packing in the production, the cast crew decided to continue Larson's message of living for the moment. After a short run off-Broadway, the cast moved to the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway for what became a remarkable twelve year run. RENT closed in late 2008 one of the most respected and successful american musicals of all time.

In 2005, after nine years of success on Broadway, RENT was produced into a feature film. Personally, I find the film to be easily digestible for the non-theatre type, yet anyone who wants to feel the power and emotion of how it was intended to be seen should put on their Sunday best and catch a show.


For the 2009 North American tour of RENT, audiences are once again graced by original cast members Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp reprising their roles of roommates Roger Davis and Mark Cohen. Roger, an HIV positive musician who hopes to find his one great song and Mark, a bleeding heart filmmaker, echo Jonathan Larson’s sentiment of continuing their art in the face of harsh conditions. From the opening monologue through the blistering finale, RENT will keep you on the edge of your seat as you fall in love with the characters and learn how they live their lives trying to create with issues looming over each of them.

My only complaint about this production would have to be the acoustics of the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre. Time and time again during the show I found myself struggling to hear some of the lyrics and dialogue. Granted, when the company sang together it was great. Special kudos and adoration goes out to Lexi Lawson with her portrayal of Mimi and Justin Johnston as Angel.

With songs “Light My Candle”, “Another Day”, “Will I”, “La Vie Boheme”, and the timeless “Seasons of Love” the cast of RENT will take you on a ride of love, loss, self-fulfillment and friendship. I wholeheartedly recommend this production to theatre goers and the curious alike. With the absence of over the top dance numbers, jazz squares, and set changes, the power of Larson’s message will overshadow it’s lack of “traditional” Broadway theatrics. With the cast’s cascading vocal arrangement in the finale earnestly stating “no day but today”, I guarantee you'll be on your feet joining the ovation.

RENT is currently playing at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre in Orlando, FL. Located next to the Amway Arena, a stone's throw from I-4, the Bob Carr PAC is a short drive for a great show. For ticket information please click here. Tickets start at $34.00.

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