Tag: Musical theatre

REVIEW: In the Heights

fragolina Leave a comment

It’s been some time since I’ve studied art history, but I remember one of the first things I learned about looking at a composition is the way the eye is directed to move around the piece of art. During nearly every musical number of In the Heights, I found my eyes moving around it in a way that felt deliberate – and I was unstoppably stunned the entire time.

From its very first scene with Graffiti Pete dancing, spray-paint can in hand and somehow defying all sorts of gravity, I don’t think my jaw left the floor. It was an excellent primer for the choreography of the rest of the show. During intermission, I flipped through the program and was equally stunned to learn that this show had two debuting choreographers in its cohort. Needless to say, those involved in the show radiated their talent into one of the best MUSKET shows that I’ve seen. The main cast and ensemble had near-perfect unison in their group movements while keeping their voices strong and smooth. A hallmark of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musicals, I enjoyed the incorporation of rap and hip hop and loved that the actors also seemed to enjoy it.

The cast, primarily actors of color, seemed made for the roles — especially Usnavi. While this was my first introduction to the musical itself, I felt that his casting could not have been more perfect as the bodega owner close-knit with those around him. Additionally, his character was such a centrally driving factor of the show’s main themes: community and the familial support that comes of it, and sense of identity in terms of the idea of “home” as an immigrant. The show also explored themes of being a first-generation college student, gentrification, cultural identity, and past versus future with the turbulent present that lies in between.

Cast and director Bruna d’Avila answering audience questions following the Saturday performance.

Following the show — which made me laugh, cry, and be completely astounded — I stuck around for the talkback with the cast and director Bruna d’Avila. As a senior and having seen 6/8 of the MUSKET shows put on during my undergrad career, I hadn’t experienced an addition like this and was excited to hear their insights. Several other impressed viewers (from high schoolers in a theatre group to adults who have emigrated from Latin American countries) sat around me and praised the crew for doing incredible work to highlight a story to which they expressed their personal relations to and respective admiration for the show. Stories such as these are beyond what I personally have experienced, though I felt grateful that a show such as this one exists for those whose stories it mirrors as well as a method for others to better understand these complicated notions of home and new life in America.

When asked about her favorite musical number of In the Heights, d’Avila excitedly spoke about “Carnaval del Barrio” and the importance of waving your flag proudly. This was a number with which I was also enamored both because of the cast displaying flags of specific Latin American countries and because it was one of those numbers full of complexity. Several lines of verse from its main characters worked into and beside one another as the song concluded, and I found my attention moving from one to the next in a circular pattern before realizing just how inimitable this scene was as a climactic moment.

The ending scene of musical number “Carnaval del Barrio”

There was not one part of this show that I disliked — every cast member appeared devoted to their roles and it showed. Each named character had their own arcs, even the piragua vendor/comic relief, Piragüero. Similar to the works of authorial genius Victor Hugo, the characters were interconnected with one another in a way that made the show feel well-rounded, as opposed to restricting certain characters to certain storylines. Everybody knew each other, which made the sense of community and family (which are not mutually exclusive) especially strong.

MUSKET has kept my attention all four years that I have been here, and I have made it a point to see as many of their shows as possible. Each of those shows have left me feeling impressed and grateful that such a talented group of people can become a familial community over a short span of time for a weekend of performance that blows us all away. If you also love musical theatre and are interested in getting involved with the team, the MUSKET family is always welcoming of new members.

REVIEW: Edges

Aria Gerson Leave a comment

College is a time for doing stupid things, they say. And having done more than my fair share of them myself, I can attest to the highs and lows of adulting. But at least I learned a little about myself in the process.

That’s the feeling Pacek and Paul — Michigan students themselves when they wrote the show — knew all too well. And it’s the feeling Edges hits right on the head.

Edges is more a song cycle than a full musical with a plot and fleshed-out characters, a show that feels more like an intimate confessional than a Broadway spectacle. Penny Seats’ staging did justice to that. Kerrytown Concert House is literally a converted house, adding to the idea that these characters were more than just written constructs — they could have been any of us.

The first half of the show was set up almost like a group therapy session. The only sets were a pair of stools, and when it was each character’s turn to sing, they would take a stool and tell their story as the other actors watched from the audience. This worked with the material of the show, but at the same time, some of the actors sat on the right side of the stage, where there were no audience members and where the majority of the audience couldn’t see. I don’t want to fault the company for working within the confines of their space, but this setup annoyed me slightly throughout, as the actors would be turned to the side at times singing to the other characters, making them hard to hear.

Edges operates in two halves — essentially, falling in love and falling out of love. After the opening number (a quintessential “I want” song about being afraid to be who you really are), various characters took their turn singing about all of love’s messy parts. The songs themselves were intensely relatable, but adding to that was the fact that the characters are not given names, adding to the idea that they could be any of us.

One highlight was “I Hmm You” — one of the few songs in the first half sung by two characters — which was equal parts awkward and delightful. The actors executed perfectly what it was like to be a 20-something in love.

But Edges had its share of emotional numbers as well, my favorite of which was “Lying There.” The song, about lying next to the person you love, unable to sleep wondering if they feel the same way, was resonant and heartfelt.

The show’s shift happened at “The Facebook Song,” the first ensemble number since the opener. “The Facebook Song” was hilarious (even if slightly outdated — the number one way you can tell this show was written in 2005 is that Facebook was not only the go-to social network for college-aged kids, it was still called “the Facebook”) and the choreography — where each character held up a cardboard Facebook icon and turned it over to reveal certain postings — only added to the song’s comedy. However, I also felt that the song almost didn’t belong in the show. The other numbers, while not necessarily connected, showed a clear arc, but “The Facebook Song” seemed to not fit in with that arc. It seemed almost as if it were in the show as a marker of sorts between the first half and second half. However, “The Facebook Song” brought down the house and for good reason, so I’m loathe to say it didn’t belong.

In the second half, the audience learns that the relationships set up in the first half haven’t been going well, as the various characters come back onstage and sing an array of breakup songs that are at times hilarious and heartfelt. Actor Emily Manuell — who nailed the emotionally-resonant “Lying There” in the first half — was given a complete change of pace in “In Short,” a number about all the ways she wished the person that once kept her awake would just die. She nailed the comedic timing of the piece, another showstopper that left me laughing out loud.

The show wrapped up with another ensemble number where the characters come together saying they’re ready to be loved again. They’ll likely go through all the same feelings again, but at least they’ll be better for it. And that’s where the show packs its real punch.

At times, Edges was almost painfully relatable, eliciting uncomfortable laughter and the kind of awkwardness that’s funny because it’s real.

That’s how you know they nailed it.

PREVIEW: Edges

Aria Gerson Leave a comment

Thirteen years ago, two 19-year-old Michigan students had a problem. They were being shunned from their school musicals.

Well, that’s not exactly true. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul were still cast, but were given background roles. That’s not out of the ordinary for underclassmen. But, well, theatre kids and college students can be cocky — I should know, I’ve been both — and Pasek and Paul weren’t satisfied. So they decided to write their own show, Edges, about their experience. After all, when you write the show yourself, you can have whatever role you want.

Ask most people today, and they’ve never heard of Edges. And it’s mostly theatre buffs who know the names Pasek and Paul. But their other works are a different story.

La La Land. Dear Evan Hansen. The Greatest Showman.

The accolades are piling up for the pair. They’ve won Golden Globes, Oscars, Grammys and Tonys — a meteoric rise for two guys who graduated only a decade ago.

And while Pasek and Paul are more known for their recent work, Edges — a coming-of-age song cycle written about our generation — is still a cult classic among a certain subset of college students. Edges is no slouch, either, as it won the pair a Jonathan Larson Award (named after the late Rent composer) at the age of 19 — the youngest to ever win.

This week, we, too, can return to Pasek and Paul’s roots and be transported into a world not so different from our own.

I wonder what Pasek and Paul, the 19-year-old theatre “rejects,” would think if you told them that in 2018, their story would almost seem like one right out of a musical — the cocky youth, the show-within-a-show, their rise to the top.

And I don’t know about you, but I want to see where it all began.

Edges, presented by the Penny Seats Theatre Company, runs at the Kerrytown Concert House February 8-9 and 14-16 at 8 PM and February 11 at 4 PM. Tickets are $15 general admission online or at the door, or free with a Passport to the Arts.

REVIEW: Violet

brynel Leave a comment

Looking for something to do to help you forget about the stress of exams and assignments this weekend?  Violet is the perfect musical to do just that!  The University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre, & Dance brought to life this story that has hilarious, beautiful, and heartbreaking moments interwoven in.  Even on a Thursday night, the audience was completely standing at the end after being left speechless.

Violet is about a young woman (Natalie Duncan) whose face was disfigured when her dad (Jamie Colburn) accidentally hit her with an axe.  She grew up her whole life with people staring at her scar, or even worse, refusing to look her in the face.  She finally decides to travel to meet a television preacher (Ben Ahlers) who she hopes will heal her scar.  Along the way she meets Flick (Justin Showell) and Monty (Charlie Patterson), two soldiers on the road.

Natalie’s voice couldn’t have been any more fitting for the role of Violet.  One must have a decent Southern accent and some killer vocal chords to captivate the audience; and she did just that.  The audience was laughing while she was singing “All to Pieces”, about how she wants her physical features changed up like those of celebrities.  They got chills during the strong performance of “On My Way” done by the cast.  And they sobbed during Violet’s solo of “Look at Me”.

I typically recommend shows here and there to see, but this one cannot be missed.  It is such a beautiful story with a cast who did not disappoint.  The expected, but still shocking, amount of talent in this show blew the audience away.

There are still three shows left at the Arthur Miller Theatre: 12/9 at 2pm and 8pm, and 12/10 at 2pm.  Tickets are $20 for General Admission and $12 for Students with ID.  More information can be found at http://tickets.smtd.umich.edu/single/EventDetail.aspx?p=3355.

PREVIEW: MUSKET PRESENTS SPRING AWAKENING

Vijita

As I sit on my bed and sing along to Mama Who Bore Me, I look back at my adolescence and remember the angsty phase where I wanted to know everything about life, sex and drugs and rock and roll and explore who I really was. Those glory days are over for me, sadly, when the adult world was all new, but Spring Awakening is a musical about teenagers who are discovering the inner and outer tumult of sexuality. It is being put up this weekend at the Power Centre by MUSKET, the University of Michigan’s student-run Musical Theatre organization.

Founded in 1908 as the Michigan Union Opera Company, MUSKET was once a small, all-male theatre troupe that specialized in presenting works written by University of Michigan students. Later realizing the irreverent nature of their gender limitations, the organization shifted its focus in 1956 to include students of all genders and changed their name to “Michigan Union Shows, Ko-Eds, Too”, or MUSKET for short. With this shift also came a change in the organization’s content – instead of producing student written operettas MUSKET began presenting Broadway-style musicals, a tradition that has lasted over 50 years. Spring Awakening is part of the commemoration of MUSKET’s 60th Performance Season. Each year, MUSKET presents two musical productions: one in the fall semester and one in the winter semester.

As described by director Wonza Johnson, Spring awakening is the “the Winner of 8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, told through “the most gorgeous Broadway score this decade” (Entertainment Weekly) – SPRING AWAKENING explores the journey from adolescence to adulthood with poignancy and passion that is illuminating and unforgettable.”

With just 2 days to go, the musical theatre geek in me already has Spring Awakening on my Spotify playlist. I Believe is literally my anthem for this month through midterms and musical season.

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WARNING: THIS PLAY CAN BE A TRIGGER AS IT PORTRAYS
-References to past rape/child sexual abuse
-Explicit (consensual) sex
-Suicide and references to suicide
– Items used to commit suicide like guns, razors, etc.
-Death

REVIEW: Green Day’s American Idiot

Jeannie Sandefer

Cast of American Idiot

On Sunday afternoon, I walked into the Mendelssohn Theatre ready to be dazzled by the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance’s performance of American Idiot. When I left, I’m not sure if dazzled is the right word for what I felt…it was closer to disappointment. Not quite disappointment, but pretty dang close.

I’ve been anticipating this show since the summer when it was announced, so perhaps my expectations were to blame for this feeling. But it was something more tangible than that. But let’s start with the good first.

From the moment I walked into the theatre, I knew this was yet again the work of masters of their craft. The set design was amazing – two television sets on the side, one burbling with static before the show began, a rickety looking staircase looking like it was lifted straight from a NYC fire escape, leading up to the walkway, with two doors cut into the massively graffitied wall. It was gorgeous, a perfectly fitting for the edgy American Idiot. The only complaint I had was that the action on stage turned insular. After seeing masterpieces such as Stupid Fucking Bird and Cabaret where the whole theatre and stage was used, I was surprised that all the main action happened on stage or on the walkway – the only time the TVs on the sides were used was the very beginning of the show. But overall, the set was amazing and perfectly set the mood for the show, the graffitied American flag large but covered by the drum kit.

The other highlight was definitely the actors. Of course they were amazing – this is an SMTD show we’re talking about. I really felt like I had been transported to early-2000s suburbia/city/America, not to mention the emotional intensity (or lack of, in some character’s cases), was perfect and real. I was also thoroughly impressed with the singing. The danger of doing a musical like American Idiot is how it twists genres. Sure, it’s a musical, but there’s nothing explicitly musical about the songs off of the critically acclaimed album. These are rock songs, and what’s more is that their famous rock songs – it’d be hard to find someone that’s never heard “Wake Me Up When September Ends.” Even though it’s been adapted to the stage brilliantly, with so many lovely harmonies, the songs still have the spine of a rock song – not an easy thing to sing, when you come from a musical theatre background.

The actors went above and beyond all my expectations, especially the lead, James Kilmeade playing Johnny. There were times when I could tell their training kicked in (especially any time St. Jimmy was on stage – fantastic, but not quite hitting the rock spectrum), but overall, I loved the music – it was all perfect.

What surprised me was the fact that I wasn’t a fan of a lot of the choreography. At times it was brilliant – “Give Me Novocaine” in particular, when Johnny and Whatshername do some floor work, so to speak. There was also a lot of creative use of staging along with the choreography – that stairway in particular got a lot of use around the stage. But a lot of it felt very normal and safe to me. Lots of headbanging – at one point I wondered if any of them were suffering the effects of it after four straight shows – lots of stomping, lots of angst.

What bothered me wasn’t the headbanging; I guess in my heart I expected it. But that’s exactly why I cringed a bit – it was exactly what I expected from a performance of American Idiot. In short? It was safe. I’ve seen SMTD shows that branch out, doing new, unexpected things, like their entire production of the quasi-experimental Stupid Fucking Bird. Headbanging around the stage didn’t feel new or creative or unique to me. Sure, it made sense, when you have high energy songs like “American Idiot” opening the musical, or crowd favorite “Holiday.” But with the large cast and the general formula of slow song-fast song-slow song, the headbanging got old really quickly. It also felt really out of place in a musical working against the cookie-cutter version of suburban America, calling for freedom. Where’s the freedom in being perfectly lined up to headbang in sync? I’m not saying choreography should be thrown out the door – the structure was perfect when Tunny went off to war in “Are We The Waiting” (which was another highlight of mine). But overall, the choreography constantly took me out of the action, reminding me that it was a musical and not just the lives of these three characters.

Even so, I still highly recommend seeing it. The music alone is enough, and it is a certain kind of spectacle. However, it definitely doesn’t top some of the other productions I’ve seen the school do. Also, don’t see it if you’re expecting a straight musical with an easily defined plot – there’s very little dialogue, and is written to be intensely symbolic. Think Across the Universe minus Jim Sturgess and with less dialogue.

American Idiot runs for one more weekend, Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8pm, and the last performance is the Sunday matinee at 2pm. You can buy tickets here or in person at the League Ticket Office.