|
Disclaimer:
The reviewers' opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect
the views of TheatreLouisville.org.
|
Peer Reviews
Wonderful Town
Book by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov
Music by Leonard Bernstein, Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Directed by Sandy Richens Cohrs
Reviewed by Keith Waits
Entire contents copyright © 2008, Keith
Waits, all rights reserved.
The pleasures of a vintage stage musical are never
to be underestimated, no matter how corny, and
energy and enthusiasm go a long way toward pulling
off a show like Wonderful Town. Adapted
from My Sister Eileen in 1953, with music
and lyrics from the team behind On the Town,
this is the kind of show that asks little from
the audience, delivering bright, easy entertainment.
Ruth and Eileen Sherwood move to New York City from Ohio with little money and
no prospects but certain that they will find fame and fortune. It is a clichéd
scenario: following a couple of charming innocents as they encounter the more
worldly denizens of Greenwich Village, but the book supplies ample humor, and
the songs are catchy and memorable.
|
| The As Yet
Unnamed Theatre Company offers a lively Wonderful
Town at the MeX.
Below: Jennifer Poliskie (left) and Rebecca
Chaney (right). |
 |
This production overcame the drawbacks of a small
performance space and a recorded score that was,
unfortunately, heavy on a tinny synthesizer sound
when the music, by Leonard Bernstein, cries out
for a jazz orchestra. Director Sandy Richens Cohrs
managed her large cast through able blocking and
choreography that turned a close proximity to the
audience into a virtue, filling the stage with
energy.
As the sisters, Rebecca Chaney and Jennifer Poliskie anchored the production
and were in fine voice. Ms. Poliskie sang with particularly strong phrasing and
comic timing, and her "One Hundred Easy Ways to Lose a Man" in the
first act was a highlight, while Ms. Chaney, with her wide-eyed lack of guile,
has mastered the style of a 1930's ingénue. Gary Tipton was a smooth
and confident leading man, despite the discrepancy in age with the women he played
opposite, but the gentleman knows how to put a song across. Aaron Davenport,
Katy Mink Casper, Larry Chaney, Richard Ray, Josh O'Brien and Howard Whitman
filled out the supporting cast of friends and neighbors with aplomb, with Ms.
Casper displaying delightful charm and moxie.
The strongest points musically were often the quieter moments. Ms. Chaney and
Ms. Poliskie share a plaintive duet expressing nostalgia for their home, their
voices blending together beautifully, in "Ohio", while Mr. Tipton's
rendition of his solo number, "A Quiet Girl", was a lesson in musical
understatement. The bigger numbers were sound, but sometimes the performers,
while undeniably skilled, lacked the vocal power to give the numbers their full
impact, and the choreography was occasionally shaky in the execution, perhaps
just betraying opening night caution. But at the end of the first act there comes
a number with Ms. Poliskie and a bunch of Brazilian naval cadets in which she
is pressed into service teaching them the "Conga", that was so outrageous and
downright silly that it produced one of the funniest things I have seen on a
stage in a very long time. The male cast members participating in this riotous
chorus line were Tim Curtsinger, Brian Morris, Richard Ray, Gary Crockett, Eddie
Dohn, Andrew McGill, Jeremy Long and Josh O'Brien, and they looked like
they were having so much fun it was tempting to jump on stage and join them.
Their unfettered, go-for-broke attack on this number was the high point of the
evening.
This was my first time seeing a production by this veteran company, and they
seem to know their stuff. Proficient in getting the most out of what must be
a limited budget, and fearless in mounting a full-scale musical with thirty or
more cast members in a modest, black box space, I was impressed by the heart
and spirit on display.
Wonderful Town
The As Yet Unnamed Theatre Company
At the MeX Theatre
502-445-3203
http://ayutc.blogspot.com/
November 21 – 30, 2008
Posted Nov. 22, 2008
|
