A note on Reviews

This blog is primarily dedicated to professional musical theater talk, reviews, news, and the occasional personal rant or story about this or that (as you know, my dog is a primary topic of interest).

I wanted to write a note about the shows I review. I keep getting notes, calls, and e-mails about reviewing your shows, and wanted to respond.

I am a member of the professional theater union SDC (Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers) and am dedicated to professional union-based theater productions. There’s an entire blog post in there somewhere, but not for today. I am also a great proponent of professional theatre in an appropriate professional house, with professional backstage crew, full-size orchestras as written for the production, proscenium-based set design when this is integral to the artistic value of the show, and overall quality.

I review only professional musical theatre. My only exceptions are Croswell Opera House (which has a semi-professional summer season and always uses a full-size orchestra, and which was the last remaining summer stock house in the area before they reorganized a few years ago) the occasional Encore Musical Theater review (they do employ several professional performers from show to show, so I give them some leeway) and University of Michigan’s Musical Theater program productions (which, truth be told, are often more professionally produced than many other  shows). I also have strong feelings about what constitutes professional, and what should and should not be produced in a black box. I’ve previously posted on the types of shows that I will not go see in a black box, for example, My Fair Lady, Annie, or The Sound of Music which are all set-intensive proscenium theatre shows.

I also will not review community theater, high school theater, or other non-professional musical theater productions. Opera and community orchestra and chorus concerts are also out. I have already contacted some organizations privately about musical theater reviews in non-traditional venues (such as an upcoming musical theater piece being done by a professional opera company). I look forward to seeing your production.

I am not a paid reviewer. I pay for my own tickets, and sometimes attend the production by myself, sometimes with friends. I am under no obligation to review every show out there, especially when I don’t like the shows themselves or have no interest in seeing them. I want to see no more productions of Guys and Dolls again in my life….ever….by anyone. I even turn away to another station from Sirius XM radio’s On Broadway channel when songs from G&D come on…

But when I do review your show, I am looking at it through the eyes of a professional in the field of musical theater, and I have no qualms about exposing deficits in productions that should otherwise be better. I’m not interested in seeing amateur caliber professional productions, and when it smacks of that, I’ll label it as that. I have no problems with community theatre. I’ve directed for countless community theaters locally. But there is a difference between amateur theater and professional theater.

And that’s the view from Ann Arbor today…

Wharton Center (East Lansing) announces 2010-2011 Musical Theater Season

Wharton Center in East Lansing has announced their 2010-2011 Season.

Mary Poppins – November 3 – 21

9 to 5: The Musical – December 15-19

Stomp – January 21-23

Shrek The Musical – February 8 – 13

Chicago – April 8 – 10

Jersey Boys – Sept 28 – Oct 16 (2011) – Which technically makes this the 2011-2012 season, but I guess Wharton Center is charging for them now with their subscription for 2010-11 — Go see it in Toronto where it has a sitdown production.

“101 Dalmations” musical posts closing notice

“101 Dalmations” the musical, has posted a closing notice. It will continue with its current tour, which opens in NYC at Madison Square Garden in a few weeks, and will close on 4/18. All further national tour dates have been cancelled.

This is a shame — I’ve previously written a blog entry on the show. It needed work, and it was not ready for prime time. 101 Dalmations has played at both the Fox Theater in Detroit and Wharton Center in East Lansing during the past few month.

Rachel York, the show’s dynamite shining star, departed the cast on January 31st. Sara Gettelfinger took over the role of  Cruella DeVil and will play the part in NYC. Sad to see another show with 30 cast members and a huge crew close — but the show never achieved its lofty goals, had a week score, and required massive re-do of sets, costumes, and concept (i.e. eliminating adults on stilts) if it wanted to go anywhere. It might have been beyond fixing. At either rate, the producers did not give reason for closing the show.

Miller Auditorium (Kalamazoo) announces their 2010-2011 professional musical theatre tour season

Miller Auditorium, on the campus of Western Michigan University, announced their professional musical theatre tour season for 2010-2011 this past week:

The Color Purple – Tues Sept 21, 7:30

Legally Blonde – Thurs Oct 14 7:30, Fri Oct 15 8:00

Spring Awakening – Thurs Nov 4, 7:30

Wicked – December 1-12

Blue Man Group – Tues Feb 15, and Wed Feb 16 7:30

Monty Python’s Spamalot – Tues May 10, Wed May 11 7:30

Continuing the trend Miller started a few seasons ago, they continue to present One-Offs, with the exception of Wicked which plays for two weeks.

Broadway in Detroit announces 2010-11 Season

Broadway in Detroit has announced their professional tour season for 2010-11. This is the only local professional tour season announced so far this year. I will list the other theatres as they announce their seasons in the coming months. The Detroit season is as follows:

West Side Story – Fisher Theatre – Sept 30 – Oct 17

Rock Of Ages – Fisher Theatre – Nov 9 – 21

Mary Poppins – Detroit Opera House – Dec 16 – Jan 2

In The Heights – Fisher Theatre – Feb 1 – 13

Burn the Floor – Fisher Theatre – Feb 22 – March 6

Les Miserables (25th Anniv, tour) – Fisher Theatre – March 22 – April 3

“Young Frankenstein” the musical, Wharton Center East Lansing (Review)

It is what it is, and that is all that it is. Funny and entertaining, Mel Brooks’ musical adaptation of his own movie of Young Frankenstein is now playing at the Wharton Center in East Lansing — and if you missed it here (it closes Sunday evening) it rolls into the Detroit Opera House in a couple weeks with the same cast.

The show is nothing if not funny — the script is virtually intact from the movie, with more added to fill out the evening’s bawdiness. The audience just ate up the jokes, including those hidden in the clever lyrics. In places, Brooks has taken his own movie dialogue and incorporated it intact into the lyrics themselves. I didn’t get a chance to see this in New York, but I get the feeling this tour is pretty close to what audiences saw there.

Roger Bart (Frankenstein — pronounced Franken-shteen) and Shuler Hensley (The Monster) reprise their Broadway roles, and that is a major boon to this tour. I have never been a huge Roger Bart fan, finding his squirming and mugging off-putting; but Shuler Hensley is just terrific here. The “Puttin’ on the Ritz” second act number is the true show-stopper it is intended to be. But if you’re looking for other hummable tunes, you’re not going to find them here (with the possible exception of Frau Blucher’s “He Was My Boyfriend” — the all-around funniest moment in the show.)

While the entire cast of the tour is strong, I particularly liked Cory English (Igor); Joanna Glushak (Frau Blucher); and Anne Horak (Inga).

There were some sound problems throughout the evening at the Wharton Center — mic cues were late, and some garbled. Those types of problems will be less apparent in Detroit where the show settles in for a longer run and those types of technical issues can be better compensated for.

Overall — I admit I had fun, but that’s about it. I wasn’t blown away by the show; I wasn’t blown away by the sets or costumes or performances. I wasn’t blown away by the script, lyrics, or score. I loved the two numbers mentioned above. Everything about this production is professional and well-done. So why wasn’t this the best thing since the invention of the zip code?

First, your enjoyment of this show will go hand in hand with your enjoyment of slapstick, borscht-belt humor, and broad bawdy jokes. Similar in style and direction to The Producers, Brook’s critics-wowing audience-alienating mega-award winning hit, it’s like a Bialystock and Bloom production come to full colorful life. I didn’t like The Producers, although I was equally awed by the talent on display both performance-wise and art direction wise. So consider this more of the same…but different…but not different enough.

Second, your enjoyment of this show will go hand in hand with your tolerance-level for Roger Bart. If hand-swinging, face-grimacing, all-out mugging, squeaking, and voice inflection humor are your thing, add another star to the review.

Finally, your enjoyment of this show will go hand in hand with your love of the original Mel Brooks movie. Filmed in black and white with the incomparable Gene Wilder, Terri Garr, Madeline Kahn, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, and Cloris Leechman the movie is considered by many to be Mel Brooks at his absolute best. Adding music to the mix really does nothing more than make one long to run home and watch the movie again (which I did this morning).

You’ve surely already decided if you are going to go see the show or not — so go, have fun, and laugh. It’s cold outside, a good laugh is always welcome. But if you are a true musical theatre lover, you might not find the show as amusing as you would hope. Frankly, I had much more fun at the hilarious “The Addams Family musical” in Chicago a few months ago.

“The Marvelous Wonderettes” (Gem Theater, Detroit) is a delightful, colorful, tuneful treat (Review)

Approaching The Marvelous Wonderettes at the Gem Theatre (Fresh from New York City where it closed off-Broadway in January) is like dipping your hand into one of those Valentine’s Day bags of printed candy hearts….colorful, funny, and overall quite tasty. It’s also a bag full of sugar — and sugar is what you get in this tuneful and funny production, directed by Tony-winner Hinton Battle.

The four-girl New York City based cast is, in two words, marvelous and wonderful. Gretchen Bieber, Holly Davis, Marley DelDuchetto and Laura Hall are basically interchangeable in this all-singing all-dancing all-one-liner-joke telling musical written by Roger Bean, originally for the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, with eventual mountings in Los Angeles, and then off-Broadway NYC. It’s been an audience and critics darling since. Songs from the cast album are in constant rotation on Sirius XM’s “On Broadway” channel, so it’s well known to theatre folks at this point.

The first half of the production takes place in 1958, the second half a decade later. The girls sing popular songs of the 50’s and early 60’s, tell their stories, complain about prom rituals, and eventually growing up. There isn’t much serious here to ponder (not that there isn’t a moment or two of pathos, especially in the later goings of the second act when the girls bicker about boyfriends, marriages, and possible divorces). But basically this is just fun. It’s amusement-park entertainment taken to a much more professional level. It borrows generously from twenty other musicals, movies, and even glee club.

Seriously, the show is generally critic proof, and I’m not going to even try to poke holes in its occasional lapses of logic. It’s not about that — it’s about the songs. It’s about the moves. It’s about the colors. And it’s about sending the audience home floating on a cloud of nostalgia. It’s hard to say this is a don’t miss musical. It’s also hard to say it’s not a don’t miss musical. It’s the female equivalent of “Forever Plaid”. It’s really more of a concert-ical than a mus-ical…but it’s so well performed it makes you feel warm all over on a cold Detroit night…The audience at Friday night’s performance just ate it up, and if it’s any indication, the word of mouth will keep this musical entertainment going for quite some time.

The Marvelous Wonderettes is at the Gem Theatre for an open-ended run. Tickets are available at the Gem Theatre box office (313) 963-9800 or Ticketmaster.

Hilarious and Winning “Spelling Bee” is Encore’s best…

“The 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee”, which opened tonight at the Encore Musical Theatre Company in Dexter is simply their best production to date.

The 25th Annual company: Chris Shewchenko, Christine Bunuan, Jeffreu James BinneySteve DeBruyne, Thalia Schramm, Sonja Marquis, Colleen Elizabeth Meyer, Evan Williams, Elizabeth Jaffe, Tobin Hissong

The seam between professional and amateur performers is non-existant here, and the ensemble company is top-notch without a weak link in the bunch. Breezily paced at an hour and forty-five minutes without an intermission by director Dan Cooney and choreographer Barbara F. Cullen, the show is just what the doctor ordered for a cold Michigan winter’s night (though you might consider leaving the kiddies at home for this one — while this is about kids in a spelling bee, it’s strictly in an adult entertainment vein.)

As the evening progresses, you will find yourself rooting for your favorites. Some of them might even be your family or business associates, since there are 4 audience volunteers per performance who join in the fun on-stage and get eliminated one by one (its guaranteed!)  Perhaps it will be Chip (audience favorite and charming Steve DeBruyne), or Logainne (a terrific Liz Jaffe). Maybe you’ll like no-nonsense Marcy (Christine Bunuan) or new-comer Olive (Thalia Schramm in another great performance at Encore). But maybe you go more for the colorful types: Coneybear (a stunning performance from Evan Williams) or magic-footed William Barfee (Jeffrey James Binnay).  The cast is rounded out by sure performances by the “adults”, Colleen Meyer, Tobin Hissong, Chris Shewchenko, and Sonja Marquis.

There is a dandy set by Toni Auletti, and the orchestra sounds great under the capable direction of CT Hollis.

Throw in a hilarious book by Rachel Sheinkin, great lyrics and passable music by William Finn, and a quirky and funny cast, and you have a show that is literally, at times, side-splitting hysterical. There’s a reason this show won a handful of Tony Awards a few years ago. Encore kept me laughing for the entire evening, and that is what this show is all about. Rate this 4 out of 4 stars.

Grab your tickets while you can at theencoretheatre.org, or by phone at 734-268-6200.  The show runs through February 21st.

“The Wizard of Oz” musical tour – non-Equity

As a point of reference, the current NETworks (MSG tours) musical of “The Wizard of Oz” is non-equity. As a member of SDC, the directors and choreographers professional theatre union, I can not in good conscious review this production as a professional musical theatre tour in Detroit.

I can not comment on the quality of this production. I don’t intend to see it. It has gotten generally good reviews across the country (the show has been touring since 2008).

Defying Gravity (DVD) television series

One of my favorite series from last year, DEFYING GRAVITY, finally came out on DVD this week — that means viewers can see the five episodes that ABC never aired. As a spaceship hurtles toward Venus and some type of mysterious project, they relive their relationships and friendships in flashback and onboard the spacecraft. Originally intended to run at least three seasons, the show was cancelled after one, primarily because of the way ABC screwed the producers out of funding.

Of the three shows I have loved most the last few years, all of them on ABC, and all of them cancelled, this was by far my favorite (the other two, Pushing Daisies and Eli Stone.)

ABC picked up this series literally three weeks before they aired the first episode, mis-sold it as a “Gray’s Anatomy in space” and never spent the money to develop an audience for the show as a mid-summer replacement. Developed as a multi-national series (including Fox, the BBC, and Space) this was not an ABC series, but one that they purchased and then botched selling. A websearch will lead you to the outline for the remaining episodes had the series continued beyond season 1. Sadly, the cast was dismissed, and the sets dismantled and destroyed in October.

This 4-DVD set contains all the episodes (including the 5 not aired on ABC), deleted scenes, and other extras. I watched all 5 unaired episodes in one sitting. This is the type of great television that was designed and written for Network, but shows why quality television is heading toward cable. The characters are interesting, the storylines gripping, and the episodes get better and better as they go along. The last 5 unaired episodes are by far the strongest episodes, and the show, sadly, leaves you dangling at the end. You can sort of infer how some of the pieces were going to play out, but this is just a darn shame that it was cancelled.

There is some fine acting here — from Ron Livingston’s mcdreamy sadsack astronaut to Eyal Poddel’s emotionally wounded psychologist. But every single supporting player here is good, and they are all likable.

The DVD quality is excellent (widescreen High Definition); the sets and costumes look great, the special effects are terrific. You will really enjoy this series, and like most viewers long for more. And unlike some other fare, this is bright sci-fi; colorful, with a heart. It focuses on the characters more than the science, but even that is fun.

Highly recommended.