Category: Theatre

REVIEW: A Little Night Music

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A Little Night Music, based off of the movie Smiles of a Summer Night, was an exciting and jaw-dropping musical full of plot twists and shocking revelations that uses humor, song, and dance to portray infidelity as a romantic comedy. Set in 1900 Sweden, the story revolves around a messy love web between a lawyer, Fredrik Egerman; Fredrik’s wife, Anne; a famous traveling actress, Desirée Armfeldt; Desirée’s lover, Count Carl-Magnus Malcom; and the Count’s wife, Charlotte.

The drama between the characters shows the darker side of romance in a sarcastically endearing way. The men are ungrateful towards their partners but down bad for Desirée, which is what generates the jealousy that pushes the plot forward in unexpected ways. The entire time I was on the edge of my seat, uncertain where the story was taking me. The ending was bizarre yet satisfying: happy yet bittersweet. Afterwards, I had a lot of fun talking to my friend about all of the twists and turns in A Little Night Music, which for me is what set it apart from the other musicals I’ve watched. It was a story completely different from what I expected when reading the description of the plot online.

The students really brought this show to life; their voices perfectly replicated the classic European noble accent. The wardrobe was gorgeous, particularly Desirée’s deep red dress and Charlotte’s dark blue dress, a contrast that hints at their differences and heavy animosity. I was also very impressed by the live playing of the cello and piano on stage, as it was my first time seeing instruments played on stage by the actors and not by the musicians in the pit orchestra. Especially the student who portrayed Fredrik’s son, Henrik, who played the cello with a very good tone and vibrato. 

My favorite song would be “Send in the Clowns,” sung by Desirée as she discovers that love doesn’t always go as predicted. The lyrics were relatable and the emotion in her voice mirrors lots of the experiences people face in romance today. This is the last musical I’ll see this semester and was a fun one to review. If you’re looking for something to betray your expectations, then A Little Night Music is for you!

REVIEW: The Cherry Orchard

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Last weekend, I attended the University of Michigan Department of Theatre & Drama’s production of The Cherry Orchard directed by Dan Cantor. As a frequent attendee of this department’s University Productions, I was interested to see the show they selected for their two-weekend Arthur Miller Theatre slot, especially because I have never seen an Anton Chekhov piece staged.

Overall, I was impressed by the actors. While I have found the season selected for the Department of Theatre & Drama’s University Productions season in the 2023-24 school year to be somewhat underwhelming from a personal artistic preference standpoint, the performances of these students never fail to impress me. Generally, I thought the play was fairly well-directed for the thrust (which incorporates audience members on all three sides, a favorite theatrical layout of mine), but I found myself to be somewhat disconnected from the story and the characters.

I’m unsure if it’s the directing or the translation of Chekhov’s work that I didn’t enjoy. I can’t quite place my finger on it, but regardless of the dramatics occurring onstage, I couldn’t help but feel very isolated from the stakes of the show. I am typically a very engaged audience member – however, this two-hour and forty-minute play failed to keep my attention in its entirety. I did feel that some of the lines felt very heavily prescribed to actors, and I’m curious if line readings were a tool frequently utilized by the directing team in rehearsal.

Admittedly, I struggled with the relationships between the characters. This is not the fault of the actors in any respect – when you select a show for your season that exclusively utilizes eighteen to twenty-three-year-olds, there’s bound to be some confusion when it comes to the ages of certain characters. Typically, these University Productions will utilize hair and makeup design to emphasize the intended ages of each character. I’m rarely a fan of this, but I think a large cast show such as Cherry Orchard would’ve benefitted more from the use of physical differences to emphasize older age. While the script roughly explains each character’s relationships and ages, a little would’ve gone a long way with using design elements to display the intended difference in age.

One aspect of the show I enjoyed was the transitions and scenic changes. These were masterfully and beautifully choreographed, incorporating not only the backstage team but also the cast and onstage musicians. These transitions were accompanied by beautiful lighting and sound design – another highlight of the show. The ensemble work during the show, but especially these unscripted moments, was a clear display of the camaraderie the show’s whole company no doubt shared.

I’m looking forward to attending the Department of Theatre & Drama’s next season, and I am eagerly waiting for the season’s announcement. While the school year is coming to a close, I’m certain that the 2024-25 year will bring a new batch of remarkable theatre, both U-M affiliated and not.

 

REVIEW: A Little Night Music

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[Title photo: Cole Newburg (left) and Audrey Graves.]

Of all the entangled romantic comedies in musical theater, A Little Night Music is quite the knot. The Department of Musical Theater completes its 2023-2024 season with Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s musical-operetta surrounding a horny mess of bourgeoisie adults at the turn of the century in Sweden. But it gets better—accompanied is a full orchestra with the most waltz-worthy melodies that string you right along with this troupe’s ridiculous antics.

The plot is quite dense. Desirée Armfeldt (Carly Meyer) is a fading actress touring small theaters across the country. She has a young daughter, Fredrika (Mariangeli Collado), who lives with her grandmother, Madam Armfeldt (Kate Louissaint), in the country. Desirée continuously delays seeing her daughter, preferring her life on tour in the theater. On the other side of town, Fredrik (Cole Newburg) and Anne Egerman (Audrey Graves), the newly married couple (with a quite significant age gap) live with Henrik (Michael Fabisch), the teenage son of Fredrik. He is a seminary student, frustrated and often ignored and mocked by the family with contentious feelings for his stepmother, Anne. One evening, Anne and Fredrick go to the theater, where Anne learns of Fredrik’s romantic history with the leading actress, Desirée. The two share an evening together, until interrupted by Desirée’s current affair, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm (Owen Scales). Thus begins a spiral of jealousy and scandal when Desirée invites both couples Count Malcolm and Countess Charlotte (Gabriella Palminteri) and Anne, Fredrik, and Henrik to her mother’s home in the country.

This production was directed by Telly Leung, a graduate of the University of Michigan Musical Theater Department and an active Broadway performer. Direction choices were thorough and aesthetic for a venue that can leave you uninspired. However, the choice of an electric lime-green floor often took me away from the glamour of these characters’ lives and exceptional music and performances. This was in part recovered by a spectacular costume design right out of an Edwardian-type 1900s Sweden.



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The orchestration of the show is near perfect. A full orchestra accompanied the performance tonight at the Power Center, one of the finest pit orchestras I have heard at this University to date (musical direction by the fabulous Catherine A. Walker). A glimmering orchestra underneath some of the most brilliant voices at the University was a perfect end to the semester.  With leading women Carly Meyer and Audrey Graves, there was not a single pedestrian vocal moment. Their attention to virtuosic vocalism while navigating Sondheim’s cheeky text was a thrill. Angeleia Ordoñez (Petra) brilliantly performed one of my favorite tunes of all time, “The Miller’s Son”. It’s a satisfyingly audacious song from the promiscuous maid, Petra, and a 4-minute three-part opera in performance, displaying Petra’s keenness to the lives of the bourgeoisie around her. A groundbreaking 11-o’clock number, Ordoñez nailed it. The expansion of The Quintet (a decet for this production), enriched the musical score at whole, perhaps an ironic reflection of the three couples’ extravagant lifestyles. My favorite performance of this evening had to be Fabisch, accessing spot-on character physicality and honest comedy for the crowd-favorite Henrik. Not to mention his spectacular vocals shining through Sondheim’s tricky tuplet score.”

“A weekend in the country” with this outstanding cast would be my pleasure, anytime at all.

[Mariangeli Collado (left), Carly Meyer, and Kate Louissaint]

 

April 19th, 2024, 8pm. Power Center for the Performing Arts. Images thanks to The University of Michigan Department of Musical Theater.

REVIEW: Falsettos

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[Title photo: Sam O’Neill (left), Caleb McArthur and James Parascandola.]

It’s not often that I see a show that leaves me as moved as Basement Art’s production of Falsettos did.

Basement Arts is an organization whose mission is to create “inclusive student-produced theatre by allowing students from across campus to execute all aspects of the theatrical production process”. They perform three shows a semester, as well as produce the annual Late Night events such as the Mx. Walgreen Pageant and 24-Hour Theater. This semester already featured some emotional heavy hitters —Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties by Jen Silverman and For Colored Girls/When The Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange.

Falsettos is a culmination of merging two one-act musicals, March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, produced individually in 1981 and 1990. A fully sung-through musical— there are few moments without song. However, much of the show reads as a play, with heightened drama in every moment and not a single superfluous word. The show follows a Jewish Family in New York City in the 1970s— Marvin (Sam O’Neill), the frustrated ex-husband of the underappreciated Trina (Caroline Patterson), and partner to the stylish Whizzer (Caleb McArthur). Trina and Marvin’s son, Jason (James Parascandola), is growing up quickly, rapidly reaching the age of his bar mitzvah. Among all this, Trina and Marvin’s psychiatrist, (Sammy Guthartz), fall in love and get married. Thus, completes the web of this unusually interwoven family. That is, until you meet the quirky lesbians from next door in Act II, Dr. Charlotte (Abby Lyons) and Cordelia (Kate Cummings).

Falsettos was written by the incomparable William Finn and James Lapine, both Jewish writers (and Finn identifying as queer himself). It’s hard not to love this gem of a show. Its mechanical musical composition and emphasis on developing endearing and complex characters make the show feel complete and questionably familiar. The music is fun and catchy yet requires exceptional musical expertise to execute well (skillful music direction by Caleb Middleton).  The story blends humor and heartache while these characters are on their quests for happiness and acceptance.

The relevance that Falsettos retains from its 1992 premiere is remarkable. Difficult family dynamics, a rapidly changing social landscape, and a world that feels like it’s uncontrollably crumbling around them. Successful musicals stand the test of time, and after over three decades it’s clear that Falsettos made the cut.

The tense family dynamics were masterfully cultivated by director Naomi Parr and navigated equally as masterfully by this intense and thoughtful cast. Patterson (the needy, Trina) has one of the most captivating voices in the show—she does not shy away from the luxurious lines in the score while capturing Trina’s true angst and frustration with the imprudent men in her life. Her dynamic alongside the charming and perfectly awkward Mendel (Guthartz) was sublime. O’Neill and McArthur navigate perhaps the most complicated relationship dynamic in the show, one loaded with lust and devotion, sprinkled with violence and need for acceptance. The nuance the two brought to this unbelievably deep relationship was remarkable. Whizzer and Marvin’s poignant love maneuvered through each twist and turn, even past the heartbreaking finale—an arduous task beautifully achieved. Underneath these two intricate relationships leaves Jason (Parascandola), who left to pick up the pieces (literally and physically). Parascandola’s playful exchange with youth and hope left me rooting for Jason, wondering where his little life will take him next. It’s plain to see how this cast ripped my heart out and left it in the 1970s with them.

The cast of “Falsettos” and director Naomi Parr.

Parr states in her director’s note: “Falsettos addresses devastating tragedy but lives instead in the celebration of life, including mishaps that surround these moments of grief.” With one of the most responsive and touched audiences I’ve ever encountered, it seems the only thing missing from Falsettos was another weekend of shows.

 

April 6th, 9pm. Newman Studio. Images thanks to Naomi Parr and Basement Arts.

REVIEW: Wall to Wall Theater Festival

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Wall to Wall Theater Festival was formerly an annual event in the Walgreen Drama Center before the pandemic. I am thrilled to see its return — back and better than ever. Producers Jeff Wagner, Kate Ivanov, and Tate Zeleznik have revitalized the festival at The School of Theater, featuring five unique works directed by SMTD students.

Wall to Wall is described as an “immersive performance experience [where] five different short-form interactive pieces play throughout the hallways, classrooms, and studios of the Walgreen Drama Center. Each performed several times through the night, giving audiences a chance to curate their own experience traversing through live music, theater, and performance art offered through the festival.” It juxtaposes a normal theatrical experience allowing the audience member full control over their space and consumption of the art.

Juliet Schlefer singing Rachmaninoff’s 6 Romances.

The first piece I wandered into seemed like a mini-haunted house. Instantly, I knew this sinister set-up was the work of senior directing student Mirit Skeen. Through a maze of dark fabric, There was a haunting voice looming inside—singing Rachmaninoff Op. 38 otherwise known as “6 Romances”. This set was performed by the glittering soprano, Juliet Schlefer and lyrical pianist Eric Head.  I loved this creative and eerie presentation of a rather mysterious operatic song cycle.

Drake Zhao and Sarah Hartmus performing a scene from “Hookman”.

 

Two performances featured scenes from straight plays. Shakespeare’s Corner (dir. Olivia Ray) featured a short scene from The Taming of the Shrew, which follows the marriage of headstrong Katharina to Petruchio, who employs various strategies in an attempt to dominate her. In the hallway upstairs, a part-comedic-part-horror scene from Lauren Yee’s Hookman was being performed (dir. Katy Dawson). The scene revolves around two college girls being followed by a (you guessed it) man with a hook.  It was a totally unassuming and endearing scene, with such a great use of the hallway space.

UMPH Jazz Band and Musical Theater student Sage Taylor.

UMPH is an up-and-coming Ann Arbor jazz band featuring Cole Oswalt, Luke Pisani, Shudane Hendrix, Max Rubin, Max McDermitt, and Alex Lahti-Thiam. This band brought a roster of musical theater students to sing R&B and funk tunes. I loved the concert-like vibe in the room, it was a nice juxtaposition to the theater.

The final piece I watched was downstairs in the basement. The group of eight performed two numbers from Dave Malloy’s chamber choir musical Octet, a musical about internet addiction. This show does not use any musical instruments, only the human voice. The team included Marcus Byers (Choreography) Alex Confino (Music Director), and Kate Ivanov (Director), who masterfully assembled this lesser-known gem with an all-star cast of vocalists.

I do hope Wall to Wall returns again! The creative use behind each space in the Walgreen and the simplistic brilliance of each nugget of theater came out to be a ton of fun. The creativity within the students of SMTD is truly remarkable.

 

 

April 7th, 7pm. Images thanks to Jeff Wagner. Title Image: Kate Ivanov’s Octet.

REVIEW: Jack and Jacob

Arlee Bay Leave a comment

The art of clowning may be funny, but it’s no joke.

On Friday night, I had the pleasure of attending Jack and Jacob: The World Tour in the Walgreen Drama Center’s Newman Studio. This piece, part magic show, part clown show, was all entertaining. Conceived by Professor Malcolm Tulip and senior acting major Jack Weaver, this one-hour laugh fest follows the journey of professional performer Jack as he grapples with the abandonment of his partner, Jacob, on the last leg of their comedy-magic fusion world tour.

The performance itself was led by Weaver, who played a heightened, fictionalized version of himself. The show also featured the voice and stage talents of Priscilla Lindsay, Mark Colson, Malcolm Tulip, Hugh Finnigan, Caitlyn Bogart, Amilia Fontaine, Ella Lewis, and Tate Zeleznik. The ensemble was delightful, and Weaver’s performance was nothing short of wonderful. He possesses a unique sense of humor with exceptional improvisational and audience interaction skills, and it was clear that this performer was in his element, utilizing the training he has received both in and out of the classroom over the past four years.

I was immersed in this highly interactive, comical experience before even entering the performance space. Upon arrival at the Newman Studio, audience members were stopped by a bouncer who demanded they reveal personal information about Weaver before answering. After a sufficiently comical interaction, the bouncer ultimately allowed the audience members to enter the performance area. I looked behind me as I entered the darkened space and saw the same routine being repeated with the group entering behind me, giving me the sense that we were all in for the same experience. The highly interactive nature of the bouncer’s greeting continued throughout the performance itself, which begs the question of when the performance began in the first place – a truly engaging and exciting way to spend my Friday night that kept me locked into the performance from the moment I entered the building. Throughout the show itself, audience members were consulted, questioned, spoken to, and even pulled up onstage.

The fictional conflict of the show, the abandonment of Jacob, created a clear arc for the fictionalized Weaver, who subsequently attempted to run the show himself and take on the role of Jacob when needed. It provided the perfect level of storytelling that sparked a sense of empathy in the audience towards Weaver while still allowing us to enjoy the spectacle and physical comedy of the performance itself.

It’s performances like these that remind me of the power that live theatre can have. At Jack and Jacob, I truly felt in community with the audience and actors alike. This production was conceived as a part of an independent study housed in the Department of Theatre & Drama, which only excites me for future projects that have the potential to be created and produced as an academic escapade. In the future, I would love to see more performances that could strike audiences as a more untraditional theatre-going experience, such as Jack and Jacob. Weaver’s passion for clowning, magic, and comedy shone through during this production, and I sincerely hope that other arts students will feel inspired to bring their creative minds to life onstage in a similar way.