'Burgh Vivant

 

Reviewed by Dr. Tiffany Knight Raymond, PhD and Theron Raymond (6^th grader)

At part of its 76^th season, Little Lake Theatre Company brings Kate Hamill’s 2018 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 novel, Little Women, to the stage. While Alcott is typically associated with New England, she was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania.

Like many, I’ve read Little Women and seen multiple film versions (although not all seven film adaptations) from the 1933 version with Katharine Hepburn as Jo March to the most recent – Greta Gerwig’s 2019 Academy Award-nominated version. All this is to say Little Lake takes on the storied history with this much beloved, canonical classic.

[Editor’s Note:  Be warned. Because of the popularity of the book and multiple film adaptations, the following information will not be considered spoilers.]

However, Little Lake is not daunted by the greats in bringing the four March sisters to the stage. Instead, they rise to the level of the greats thanks to director Meighan Lloyd Harding. Pacing-wise, the play does feel a bit long due to chronic set changes that slow the action and could be accelerated or simplified.

A barometric pressure test for any Little Women is to see if it has one tearing up at Beth’s passing. Harding’s production finds that valve with ease. Beth (Sophia Willis) is childlike. Willis is still in high school, occupying that liminal space between childhood and womanhood, which makes her Beth so authentic. She earnestly hugs her doll in nearly every scene. Prop designer Alex Keplar makes her doll heartbreakingly relatable with its matted hair – long-time lovie status made manifest. However, as someone long challenged with health issues, Beth also has a wisdom beyond her year and is a calming force as the “conscious” of the family.

Little Lake’s Amy (Kaylyn Farneth) is particularly petulant. She’s a bit exhausting and one-note as a tantrum-prone teen who’s coddled, yet quick to step on others with little disregard for their feelings. She’s the kind of neighbor who delights in reporting you to the HOA for overgrown hedges while simultaneously blaming you when her car clips your mailbox.

Meg (Carina Iannarelli) is often the least memorable March sister as she’s textbook conventional. Iannarelli upends that and shines. She transforms Meg from stern governess to starry-eyed bride to post-partum, exhausted mother of twins. Her character evolution is the broadest of the four sisters, and Iannarelli authentically conveys that spectrum-crossing journey. Meg stumbles back to her childhood home deranged with exhaustion and the toils of motherhood. Harding has Meg’s formerly coiffed hair askew in wanton tendrils, symbolic of her frazzled mental state.

Jo immediately embraces Meg’s return as a chance to return to the past. Meg recognizes the impossibility of that when she quietly asserts, “I’m Marmee now,” which is what the March girls call their mother. Parenting is wearing, but Meg will keep showing up.

Authoress Jo (Adrien-Sophia Curry) is the nucleus of Little Women, and Curry finds new depths in Jo. Jo is not just a woman determined to write in an era where that was unconventional. She’s also trapped between worlds. She is the most resistant to change, and her commitment to playing dress-up and acting out her plays of their childhood has a wistful nostalgia to it. The times have moved on, but she feels a bit stunted. Ultimately, it is her writing that saves her, not Laurie (a heartfelt performance by Sam Lander), the boy next door who wants to save her.

After a particularly bitter fight with Amy, Jo announces the two sisters have “nothing in common.” Watching Harding’s realization of Little Women, what strikes one is Hamill’s adaptation uses the four March sisters to literalize Robert Frost’s famous poem from 1915, “The Road Not Taken.” Frost pauses at a juncture and muses: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, / And sorry I could not travel both / And be one traveler.” The four March sister emerges from the same childhood, and yet they travel four different roads.

Hamill helps us see the conventional Meg is no better or worse than her opposite, the unconventional Jo. All four sisters are a paradox in different ways that leave each pulled between worlds. Little Women ultimately still resonates 150+ years after its publication because it explores the conditions of the human condition. We can each only be one traveler, and yet, we long for more.

– TKR, Ph.D and TR

Little Lake Theatre Company’s production of Little Women runs through October 13, 2024 at Little Lake Theatre (500 Lakeside Drive, Canonsburg, PA). Purchase tickets online at https://www.littlelake.org/.

 

by Michael Buzzelli

Harriet (Tami Dixon), the President’s Chief of Staff, is pissed.  The president has called his wife, the FLOTUS, Margaret (Tamara Tunie) the worst word imaginable (See You Next Tuesday). She rushes to the Press Secretary Jean (Amelia Pedlow), who tries to spin the foul utterance in Selina Fillinger’s “POTUS or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive.”

The President’s very frazzled secretary, Stephanie (Theo Allyn) tries to stop Margaret from confronting the POTUS about his dirty mouth and his aggravated anus; the president has some sort of butt-related sex injury, caused by his mistress, Dusty (Lara Hayhurst).

Jean and Harriet are trying to keep Dusty from a nosy reporter (Saige Smith).

Things get even wackier when Bernadette (Missy Moreno), the president’s twisted sister, gets out of prison to seek a pardon from her bro.

“POTUS or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive” starts with rollercoaster momentum and keeps going up and up!

It’s a non-stop jet-fueled comedy with riotous wit and ribald humor.

The all-female cast is the finest assemblage of women since George Cukor’s 1939 masterpiece, “The Women.” To call them Pittsburgh’s finest only diminishes their talent by their geographic location.  They are all stars.

Dixon is amazing as rage-filled Harriet, who is desperately trying to contain every insane crisis that flies, marches or sneaks into the White House.

Tunie plays Margaret with equal parts of the gravitas deserving of a First Lady, and the unhinged lunacy of a woman aware of her husband’s infidelity.  Tunie oozes charisma.

Pedlow gets some delicious lines and delivers them with aplomb.

Smith gets some terrific moments as Chris, the breast-pumping reporter who is constantly challenged by her male colleagues. She is delightful.

Hayhurst is a riot as the president’s not-so-secret mistress. She is a blue-tongued dimwit with inner strength and sexual superpowers.

Allyn plays a full-out loon, somehow adorable and crazy at the same time.

Moreno is a tour-de-force. The moment she showed up (to a thunderous applause on Opening Night), the show rockets into the next level of bizarre. She makes Billy Carter (President Jimmy Carter’s scheming brother) look like Mother Theresa.

The show is insane in all the best ways. It’s hilarious.

Chelsea M. Warren’s scenic design is masterful. It is a Rubik’s Cube of White House chic, adorned with impressive bric-a-brac that would even please Nancy Reagan’s expensive taste.

Tunie’s wardrobe by costume designer Madison Michalko adds an additional layer to her character, especially the shoes.

Playwright Fillinger is some unusual blend of Betty Friedan (“The Feminine Mystique”), Susan Harris (“Soap,” “The Golden Girls”) and  Aaron Sorkin (“The West Wing”).  There’s an underlying message but it’s hidden under a giant pile of jokes, pratfalls and silliness.

Meredith McDonough directs with verve. The show is a kinetic whirlwind of comedy, and it is adroitly executed by it’s enchanting cast.

“POTUS or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive” is a gem worthy of opening City Theatre’s fiftieth anniversary season.

Cheers to fifty more!

-Mike Buzzelli

“”POTUS or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive”” runs until October 13 at the City Theatre, 1300 Bingham, Pittsburgh, PA 15203. For more information, click here.

By Lonnie the Theater Lady

Young Jason (Dionysius Akeem) is struggling with conflicting loyalties. He’s torn between “the code” that bonds him to his fellow gang members and the deep love that he has for his Grandma Sadie (Renn Woods) and his longtime girlfriend Candy (Destiny Nwafor)—both of whom demand that he quits the gang. They threaten to cut him out of their lives when they think that he might have played a role in the murder of a suspected snitch. The continuing narrative looks deeply into Jason’s struggle to escape gang life.

The legendary icon in stage, television and film, Renn Woods is perfectly cast as Grandma Sadie. Her love for Jason and her fear for his future is palpable. She dazzles with a heartfelt beautifully sung prayer for Jason’s safety. This truly mesmerizing number by an amazing vocalist is a rare and memorable treat. Wonderful!

Dionysius Akeem, a seasoned stage and screen actor impresses with his portrayal of Jason. His ability to express a wide range of emotions endears him to the audience. Vital to the show’s success is a strong performance by the actor playing Jason. Dionysius delivers that and then some!

Tracy Clark is Stacie, Jason’s wacky, wizened, former drug addict mother. She provides welcome comic relief with her exaggerated facial expressions, head tossing and posturing. She is hysterically funny as she gives Jason valuable guidance.

Destiny Nwafar’s Candy is believable as Jason’s longtime sweetheart. She’s refined, laid back and convincing in her love for and simultaneous frustration with Jason. The two have great chemistry together.

Les Howard plays Mr. Abdullah with sensitivity and authenticity. Howard rings true as Jason’s kind, concerned, wise mentor.

Day Ricks and Rodney Poteat give strong, real performances as Chico and Rick. The entire cast puts their heart and soul into their roles and performs with unflagging energy.

Kudos to the director, Ja’Sonta Roberts for bringing out genuine, natural performances from this very talented cast.

Playwright Lorenzo Boone’s dialogue is realistic, somewhat raw and not meant for the ears of children. “The Awakening” delivers an important uplifting message of hope for this and future generations. It highlights the vital role that loving family members and involved community members can play in shaping the character of young people.

This compelling, impactful, thought-provoking, well written play is a testament to the power of love. It’s guaranteed to spark animated conversations and perhaps even inspire people to take a more active role in the future of today’s youth.

LTL

Gold Pyramid Screen and Stage production runs through October 13 at the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall in Oakland. For more information, click here. 

 

 

By Claire DeMarco

The impetus for “Andy Warhol’s Tomato” grew from a longstanding story (never really verified) about college-age Andy Warhol.  In order to get free Coca-Cola at a local bar Andy diligently painted on napkins for the owner.

Playwright Vince Melocchi took this often-told story, developed a fictional play about Andy Warhol (Matt Henderson) and created a literary character named Mario “Bones” Bonino (Johnny Patalano).  Bones is the owner of Bonino’s Restaurant.

Warhol wakes up in the cellar of Bonino’s after fainting in front of his restaurant.

When Warhol drops and breaks one of Bones’ family picture frames, Bones insists that Warhol paint a Bonino’s Restaurant sign with the Italian flag as the background.  This accident sets the stage for two very different men to learn about each other.

Bones epitomizes the working class while Warhol is a product of poor immigrants from eastern Europe living in the city.

Warhol spends many months interacting with Bones as he works on the restaurant sign and continues with classes at Carnegie Tech studying commercial art.

A brief encounter between two very different personalities and lifestyles forms an unlikely friendship as they discover they have more in common that they thought.

We’ve come a long way from the days of Warhol’s youth (in the 1940’s) when his gayness could never be vocalized.  The closest one got to suggesting that lifestyle was to venture cautiously as Bones did and ask Warhol: “Are you funny”?

Henderson’s performance is riveting.  He is naïve, sometimes petulant, a bit snarky and sensitive.   He has perfect comedic timing.   His physical mannerisms suggest Warhol’s gayness but they are not overdone.

Patalano is spot on as the working-class Italian bar restaurant owner.  He highlights a range of emotions as he deals with and tries to understand young Warhol.  And that (n’ at) is done with a wonderful, accurate Pittsburgh accent with the ever-present evil eye gold chain dangling from his neck.

Henderson and Patalano complement one another as a well-balanced team.  The play works exceptionally well with these two equally talented actors.

“Andy Warhol’s Tomato” is the perfect selection for PICT (Pittsburgh International Classic Theatre’s) inaugural play for the 2024-2025 season.

“Andy Warhol’s Tomato” was written by Vince Melocchi with excellent direction by Elizabeth Elias Huffman.

Scenic Designer Tucker Topel recreates a well-worn basement that serves as a storage facility for Bonino’s Restaurant as well as an area set aside as Bones’ office. The steps into an unseen restaurant (with open backs) expose a multitude of discarded items.  Several unexplained wall frames without paintings have a clever resolution at the play’s end.

-CED

“Andy Warhol’s Tomato” is a production of PICT (Pittsburgh International Classic Theatre).  Performances run from September 20^th – October 6th at Carnegie Stage, 25 W. Main Street, Carnegie, PA. For more information, click here. 

 

By Michael Buzzelli

When Tony Wendice (Josh Innerst) learns that his wife Margot (Brooke Turner) is having an affair with Maxine (Shannon Arielle Williams), he plans the perfect murder – or so he believes – in “Dial M for Murder.’

The dastardly husband can’t just divorce Margot. She’s the one with the family money that keeps him in the lifestyle he believes he deserves. Instead he concocts evil machinations to off the beautiful blonde heiress.  His plan involves finding a ne’er-do-well from his college days, Charles Swann (Michael Patrick Trimm), now living under the alias Lesgate (after a series of aliases that sounded like all the names from the firm of Price-Waterhouse Coopers).

While the play is based on an classic Hitchcock thriller from 1954,  ‘Burgh Vivant would like to insert a brief pause to mention upcoming spoilers. 

Tony’s plan to off his wife goes awry when Margot plunges her sewing scissors into her assailant’s back, killing the attempted murdering instead of the marked victim.

But Tony is accustomed to improvisation. He “Yes Ands” the shit out of the situation, concealing evidence and planting an incriminating love letter from Maxine to Margot on Lesgate’s body.  Now, he has framed Margot as the killer and set up Lesgate’s corpse up as a blackmailer she murdered to protect her lesbian relationship.

Maxine,  fighting for the life of her lover, realizes that Inspector Hubbard (Ken Bolden) cannot solve the crime, and takes it upon herself to aid him.

Playwright Jeffery Hatcher (“Compleat Female Stage Beauty”) adapts the Alfred Hitchcock thrilling suspense tale with a bit of a modern twist.

Side note: It’s as modernized as it can be for a show about a rotary landline telephone.

Additional side note to Millennials: In the ancient times, telephones were stationery devices that were housed in a living room, bedroom or kitchen. They did not text, take photos or post them to social media sites. The telephone in question had a rotary dial, a spinny little contraption that had numbers and letters on it .

In the update author Mark becomes Maxine, adding an additional layer of scandal to the love affair.

Turner is a charming lead. She is so likable in the role, the audience gasped when she’s framed for murder.

Innerst does a fantastic job as the diabolical hubby and Trimm is the perfect patsy for his misdeeds. The interaction between Innerst and Trimm is boils with a palpable intensity.

Williams, a newcomer to the Public’s stage, has very few acting credits, but you won’t be able to tell. She is delightful.

Bolden is wonderfully comedic as the inept inspector. His battle with a metronome on the shelf of the Wendice estate is riotously funny.  Bolden isn’t just comic relief, however, he brings a depth and soul to the character.

Scenic designer Antonio Troy Ferron has created a sumptuous living space, furnished with impeccable style and panache. The kind of home the real -if she were real – Margot would live in.

Margot is swathed in flawless outfits by costume designer Tracy Dorman.

The accents seem authentic and distinct. Kudos to Nancy McNulty McGeever and her ability to coax the posh West End London accent out of Turner and Innerst . Note the long A sound in their speech patterns.

Director Celine Rosenthal commands a tight ship. The blocking is kinetic, wonderfully aided by Hatcher’s crisp and precise dialogue.

It may not be a perfect crime, but it’s a perfect play.

“Dial M for Murder” runs until September 29 at the O’Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater, 621 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information, click here.

By Michael Buzzelli

“How does a bastard orphan son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence, impoverished, in squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?” The Broadway smash hit, “Hamilton” will tell you using every musical style at its disposal, including hip-hop, jazz, R & B, rap and showtunes.

Alexander Hamilton (Tyler Fauntleroy)’s tale is told…sung…by his frenemy Aaron Burr (Jimmie “JJ” Jeter), the son-of-a-bitch who shot him.

When Lin-Manuel Miranda adapted Ron Chernow’s book, “Alexander Hamilton,” he turned it into a cultural touchstone, launched the playwright into superstardom, and revitalized Broadway.  Miranda became…wait for it…legendary!

The story is biographical, following Hamilton as he moves to New York, meets the aforementioned, Burr, his fellow patriots, the Marquis de Lafayette (Jared Howelton), Hercules Mulligan (Kai Thomani Tshikosi), John Laurens (Nathan Haydel), and the wealthy Schuyler sisters, Eliza (Lauren Mariasoosay), Angelica (Marja Harmon), and…Peggy (Lily Soto).

The show is both hilarious and tragic (it’s not a spoiler if its American History).  “It’s Quiet Uptown” is a deeply moving song about the death of Philip Hamilton (Nathan Haydel in one of the many dual roles).

Walking into the show, I told my seat mate, “Temper your expectations, it’s not the original cast.” My advice was unfounded. The cast was tremendous.

Fauntleroy is an engaging Alexander Hamilton. He is talented and charismatic.

Jeter’s Burr is riveting, especially when singing to his imagined daughter, Theodosia.

Mariasoosay’s Eliza will break your heart. She is wonderful in the role.

Jared Howelton – as Thomas Jefferson – nails “What’d I Miss?” a delightfully peppy tune wherein Jefferson returns from Paris after the Revolutionary War.

A.D. Weaver’s George Washington commands the stage, much like the original must have commanded the troops. He is confident and dominant, an alpha dog. His number, “One Last Time” is a showstopper!  Perhaps, watching a President acknowledge his shortcomings and step aside to let new leaders run the country resonated in a way it hadn’t before.

The cast is superbly directed by Thomas Kail with amazing choreography from Andy Blankenbuehler.

If you haven’t seen “Hamilton” by now, and you needed one more nudge before jumping on the Broadway bandwagon, it is this critic’s fondest hope that this review will get your butt to the theater.

-MB

“Hamilton” plays through September 29 at the Benedum Center, 237 Seventh Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information, click here.

 

It’s 1942 and the Oberon Theater’s director and male actors have gone overseas to fight in WWII. Rather than closing the theater for the season, Maggie Dalton (Mary Randolph), the theater director’s wife, decides to produce Shakespeare’s “Henriad” with an all female cast—dressed as men.

Maggie convinces leading lady Celeste Fielding (Diana Ifft) to join the production. Persuading the theater’s benefactor, Ellsworth Snow (Kevin Bass) to fund the show isn’t quite as easy. It’s accomplished when Maggie agrees to cast Snow’s wife, Winifred (Marianne Shaffer) in the show.

Disappointing auditions produce only two actors. June Bennet (Annabel Lorence) and Grace Richards (Julie Ann M. Boles), both of whom are completely, comically  inexperienced. The show must go on so the actors are required to play multiple roles.

A plethora of challenges pop up during the very comical rehearsal process. In one hilarious scene, the women are instructed in “man walking” (So silly and yet so funny).

Randolph’s Maggie is the glue that holds everyone and everything together. She’s human and convincing as the sometimes rattled, sometimes poised director.

Ifft glows as the glamorous self-assured diva who poignantly accepts that she has aged out of her ingenue stage roles.

Bass is a talented character actor who delights as he uses his masterful comedy chops to embody the sometimes stuffy, yet lovable Ellsworth.

Shaffer channels her inner Betty White as the clueless, sweet Winifred. She knows exactly how to play it for laughs and she does so with smashing success.

Lorence plays it just as sweet and innocent as she needs to, in order to endear June to the audience.

Boles authentic portrayal of Grace’s ambivalence rings true. The audience easily relates to  and empathizes with her.

The characters Stuart Lasker (Noah Kendall) and Ida Green (Lynette Goins) are playwright, George Brant’s nod to social commentary –beyond the previous alluding to feminism.

Kendall is sympathetic and likable as Lasker, who is denied acceptance into the military because, in 40’s jargon, he is a “swish.”

Goins, a mild mannered, agreeable costume designer, is rejected as a blood donor because the blood bank already has enough “Negro blood.” This serves as a reminder of the cruelty of Jim Crow laws.

It’s clear that the entire well cast troupe is having a ball onstage.

This thoroughly enjoyable, delightful, laugh-filled show will keep you in stitches. Beyond  that, it is a reminder of the gains that have been made in equal rights over the past 80 years, as well as a sobering warning of what is currently at stake.

LTL

“Into the Breeches” runs through September 7th at South Park Theatre, Corrigan and Brownsville Road, South Park, PA. For more information, click here. 

By Claire DeMarco

Growing old has its positive and negative components.  It’s a plus if you’re still here and functioning but a minus if your mental capacities are slipping.  But whatever the situation, loving friends and family make a big difference.  “On Golden Pond” is an example where love triumphs.

Norman Thayer Jr. (John Reilly) and Ethel Thayer (Kathy Hawk) are ensconced at their vacation cottage for their 48th annual summer retreat.   The cottage shows signs of age as does Norman. He is approaching his 80^th birthday.

Norman was probably always a bit ornery, sarcastic and quick-witted but combined with the early signs of dementia, his outbursts now are mainly concentrated on death.

Ethel keeps Norman in line as much as possible, keeping him involved in their annual summer activities of picking strawberries, going for walks in the woods and listening to the loons.  Being married to Norman requires both compassion and fortitude.

This summer their daughter Chelsea Thayer Wayne (Anne Marie Sweeney) makes a rare visit to the cottage, bringing her new boyfriend, Bill Ray (Justin Mohr) and Bill’s son, Billy Ray (Colin Bozick).  Chelsea does not have a great relationship with her father.  She hugs Ethel ferociously, acknowledges Norman but has no physical contact with him.  She addresses her father as “Norman”.

The annual summer retreat takes on some unusual twists and turns when Chelsea and Bill head off for Europe, leaving Billy in Norman and Ethel’s care.

Reilly is phenomenal as Norman.  His physical movements and facial expressions indicate his current state of mind, whether he’s befuddled or as sharp as a tack.  His comedic timing is excellent as he spits out one of many sarcastic retorts.  He is adept (at times) in concealing his frustration and fear when he realizes his diminishing mental state.

Hawk plays Ethel as compassionate, caring but stern when necessary.  She expresses her concern for Norman’s decline sometimes through her facial expressions and at times through vocal, yet mostly tender interjections.  Ethel loves Norman.

Hawke and Reilly are well-matched as Norman and Ethel Thayer.

Sweeney’s demeanor changes when Norman is mentioned as part of a conversation.  She is noticeably tense when Norman is physically in the same room.

Mohr’s first interaction with Norman is slow as he tries unsuccessfully to converse with the elderly man.  He tries to insert himself into a conversation that Norman tries to control.  Mohr’s expressions throughout their discussions highlight his frustration.

Bozick shines as the teenager with the smart aleck mouth who is a pretty nice kid under that outward veneer.

Steve Gallagher is delightful as Charlie, the local mailman.  As the town gossip, he loves a good conversation.  With eyes bulging, he salivates waiting for or delivering the next juicy tidbit.

A fantastic well-balanced cast in a well-executed production!

Scenic Designer Tucker Topel’s detailed set emphasizes the well-worn summer cottage, filled with memorabilia, older furnishings, and in general need of repairs and updates.

Great direction by Dana Hardy Bingham.

Book by Ernest Thompson.

-CED

“On Golden Pond” runs from August 22^nd – September 8th at Little Lake Theatre, 500 Lakeside Drive, Canonsburg, PA.  For more information, click here.