[NEohioPAL]BERKO REVIEWS: PRODUCERS, DANCEWORKS, HANK WILLIAMS

[Roy Berko]

THE PRODUCERS PRODUCES LAUGHS, DANCEWORKS IS
COMPELLING, HANK WILLIAMS BIOGRAPHED AT CPH

Roy Berko
	
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--Times Newspapers--

Lorain County Times--WestlakerTimes--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times

TOURING VERSION OF THE PRODUCERS CONSULSES AUDIENCE

If you like Mel Brooks’s comedic flair, if you love
farce, slapstick, flashy dancing, creative staging and
catchy music, you’ll love THE PRODUCERS THE NEW MEL
BROOKS MUSICAL.  Obviously New York loved the show. 
It won a record 12 Tony Awards and 11 Drama Desk
Awards, and is still playing to sold out houses. 
Cleveland audiences anticipated loving it.  Before
opening night 80% of the tickets were sold.  And love
it they did.  The intermission buzz indicated the
audience was delighted.  As one person yelled, "I’m
having the time of my life.  This is wonderful!"  

What could not be wonderful?  There are a chorus line
of old ladies dancing with walkers, flapping pigeons
singing backup, spouting water fountains, smoke and
light effects, a chorus line of convicts, and a
wonderful cast.  This is funny stuff concocted in the
mind of a genius comedic madman.
	
The musical is based on Brooks’ Academy Award winning
1968 film, THE PRODUCERS.  It centers on the fortunes
of Max Bialystock, an unsuccessful theatrical
producer, and Leo Bloom, a nebbish accountant.  They
dream-up  a scheme to raise money,  produce the
world’s worst musical staged by the world’s worst
director, close the show quickly, and run off with the
profits.  The problem?  Their choice, "Springtime for
Hitler" turns out to be a smash hit and they wind up
going to jail.  "Springtime for Hitler?" That title’s
offensive! Well, the entire production can be
offensive if you don’t have a sense of humor.  Brooks’
has written a play that is an equal opportunity
political correct nightmare.  He insults
everyone...gays, Jews, Swedes, old ladies, World War
II vets, hillbillies, blacks, and the Irish, just to
name a few.  But, it’s all done with overdone comedy
and is hillarious.	
	
Don’t be afraid that Cleveland is getting a "second
rate" cast on the tour.  People who saw and loved
Nathan Lane and Mathew Broderick in the original cast
say that Lewis Standlen and Don Stephenson are every
bit as good, if not better.  Standlen, who has a long
history of being one of the best known of the
"unknown" stars of Broadway, has appeared in many
hits.  Stephenson has an equally impressive record.  
They are good, very good.
	
There are still some tickets left.  Try and get one. 
You won’t be sorry.  For tickets call 216-241-6000 or
800-766-6048, visit online at www.playhousesquare.com
or stop at the Play House Square box office.  Tickets
are priced from $27.50 to $82.50.  The show runs
through October 13 at the Allen Theatre.

GROUNDWORKS DANCETHEATRE CONTINUES TO GROW IN
REPUTATION

David Shimotakahara, the founder and Artisitc Director
of Groundworks Dancetheatre, is one of the world’s
truly nice people.  He is also a genius choreographer
and an equally proficienct dancer.  He founded the
company to "develop and present a new choreography
that encourages collaboration with ohter art
disciplines." He is also dedicated to bringing the
dance to various settings and right in the face of the
audience.  Groundworks has no permanent home.  Like
the gypsys, it finds the right places to spread its
art.  Their latest performances were done at the
magnificent St. Peter Church near downtown Cleveland. 
This is a church that has dedicated itself to a
minimalist setting and a maximum purpose.  The church
stripped itself of ornateness and has become a
community religious and arts center.    

It is appropriate that Dancetheatre performs in such a
venue.  The audience sits close up...surrounding the
stage, sitting from 3 to no more than 10 feet from the
dancers.  They experience the dance...hear the shoes
squeek on the floor, experience the heavy breathing
and see the sweat on the performer’s bodies.  They are
no passive viewers, they are active, involved. 

Shimotakahara’s own choreography, and the guest dance
directors that he has invited to particpate, lend
themselves to this format.  The stress is on dance and
the blending of the physical with original music and
creative lighting.   Sets or costumes aren’t featured.

The recently completed program included four dances
and two musical interludes.  "Several Truths," danced
by Amy Miller and Shimotakahara was a perfect blending
of power, flexibility and emotion.  The dancers
intertwined, rolled, swirled, and gyrated in perfect
sync with the atonal music.  A metaphor for the many
stages of sadness "Tristeza" featured the wonderous
Amy Miller in a solo piece set to soaring music which
was enchanced by the high domed cathedral.  "The
Garden," choreographed by Shimotakahara, was presented
in its world premiere.  Though rather long, the
methaphor of the garden’s plants paralleling the
creation of life, the wilting and disappearance of
those growing flowers as three dancers became two,
then one and finally none, worked well.  Felise
Bagley, Amy Miller and Xochil Tejheda de Cerda grew
and departed as one.  The piece was well lit by Dennis
Dugan and the live music well played by Phil Curtis
and Roger Zahab.  The last dance segment, "Circadian,"
also choreographed by Shimotakahara, deals with "the
rhythms associated with the earth’s rotation affecting
our behavior and biology."  The dancers, Mark Otloski
, extremely slender and well over 6 feet tall and
Felise Begley, petite and just barely 5 feet were,
well matched.  Their intertwinings and their
contrasting sizes helped convey the feeling of free
yet attached movements as they flowed in circles and
patterns of separtness yet togetherness.  The only
problem, if there is one, is that all the dances have
the same heavy feel.  A little frivolity here and
there would be welcome.

Groundworks Dancetheatre is a Cleveland treasure.  
They need your attendance at performances.  They need
your financial donations to keep the company afloat. 
We don’t want to lose this gem!  For performance
schedules and information write GroundWorks
Dancetheater, P. O. Box 18191, Cleveland Heights, OH
44118, call 216 691-3180 or go on line to
www.groundworksdance.org.

LOST HIGHWAY REVEALS HANK WILLIAMS AT CPH

Fifty years after his death Hank Williams is still a
country music icon.  LOST HIGHWAY: THE MUSIC AND
LEGEND OF HANK WILLIAMS reveals his life and legacy, a
legend which included such enduring hits as "Your
Cheatin’ Heart," "Honky Tonk Blues," "Jambalaya,"
"Lovesick Blues," "Hey, Good Lookin’," and "Lost
Highway." It was a life that included a dysfunctional
marriage, alcohol and drug abuse, and a premature
death at age 29.  It’s a tale worth telling.

Authors Randal Myler and Mark Harelik have developed
what might be called a review with dialogue that
traces Williams from childhood through death.  The
play works well until the ending.  As written, the
script actually has three endings: Williams’ death,
his musical resurrection with the song "Your Cheatin’
Heart," and then a tacked on "I Saw the Light." Why
the duo decided to go beyond the logical ending is a
mystery.  They could have saved the two songs for a
curtain call if they felt the audience needed to hear
these two Williams hits.

Jason Petty, is not only a Hank Williams look-alike,
but a Williams sound-alike.  He totally captures the
man.  It is amazing to watch him physically transform
himself from the young, dynamic Williams, to the
conflicted, withered Williams.  Petty is backed up by
a gifted group of performers who not only effectively
sing and play the instruments of his backup group, the
Drifting Cowboys, but are also proficient actors. 
Cleveland favorite, Mike Hartman, clearly develops
Williams manager.  Michael W. Howell’s bass voice
captivates as a blues singer who influenced Williams
in his early years.  Margaret Bowman is fine as
Williams’ mamma.  Only Tertia Lynch fails to develop a
believable portrayal as Williams’ wife.

If you like Hank Williams you’ll appreciate LOST
HIGHWAY.  The show is drawing a non-traditional CPH
audience.  Some attendees were decked out in cowboys
shirts, hats and boots.  Even some big-haired ladies
appeared.  

 LOST HIGHWAY: THE MUSIC AND LEGEND OF HANK WILLIAMS
continues at the Cleveland Play House until October
20.    Tickets, which range in price from $32 to
$47.50 may be obtained by calling 216-795-7000 or
on-line at clevelandplayhouse.com.


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