[NEohioPAL]Great Review of ALL NIGHT STRUT at Actors' Summit

Tue Apr 22 14:21:02 PDT 2003

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Actors' Summit's 'All Night Strut'
struts its stuff through musical era 
Pleasant evening
of vintage music offered in Hudson theater 
By Roger Durbin 
HUDSON -- Popular music of the 1930s and 1940s was born into some pretty 
tough times. A world-wide Depression and another war to end all wars, where 
millions were dying, seemed hardly the place for "Beat Me, Daddy, Eight to 
the Bar," unless you fully (maybe naively) believed that these things were 
temporary and life just had to, golly gee whiz, get better. In other words, 
you got to gush, get it out there and settle down into the sunshine rays of a 
whole big bunch of hope -- something like Shirley Temple, the moppet who 
defined the spirit of the age. 
Fran Charnas' "All Night Strut" sets out to condense the two decades into a 
90-minute commentary of the times through a cavalcade of music and some 
dance. There are different ways to approach this topic: play it for real and 
try to recreate the times, perhaps through presenting it as a radio program, 
with singers lined up behind massive microphones, their hair piled up, netted 
or pomaded accordingly and dressed in zoot suits and buttoned dresses with 
padded shoulders; treat it ironically by exploring and exploding the tension 
between the world gone awry and the people in it innocently trying to cope; 
or, do it Actors' Summit's way and evoke the period through clever costume 
touches and a "did you ever hear this one" or "do you remember that one" 
finesse. 
Director and performer Mary Jo Alexander gathered herself and three other 
fine singers into a substantial quartet (soprano, alto, tenor and bass). She 
rotated the singers in quartets, duets, pairs or solos as befit each of the 
tunes up and down the short flight of steps that served as the main set for 
the production. There was a sense of a floor show being put on, with each 
performer given the chance to descend the steps, take the stage and parade 
another number for us. 
Alexander's high, light soprano voice is absolutely suited to songs such as 
"I'll Be Seeing You (in all the old familiar places)" but seems much too 
trained when she tries to let loose on something like "In the Mood." 
Alto Anne Marie Pinto, who was the youngest of the group, seemed to know the 
era the best. She had the jive moves and naughty razzmatazz nailed in her 
takes on "Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer" and "Java Jive." 
Tenor Charles Martin has a wonderful emotive voice but was sometimes drowned 
out by the others. He needed his mike cranked up a few notches to let his 
voice resonate. Nevertheless, his versions of the plaintive lyrics of "A 
Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" and "As Time Goes By" gave a fragility 
and sweetness to these sentimental classics. 
Veteran actor Frank Jackman was the ham of the group, belting out "Brother, 
Can You Spare a Dime" and others for all their schmaltzy elegance. 
There's no listed credit for costumes in this production, but whoever was 
responsible chose basic black, with a splotch of red (like a scarf or 
handkerchief) for Act I. The duds seemed to be almost too polite if meant to 
evoke war-era hipsters (either along the Great White Way or up in Harlem) and 
anachronistic if looking ahead to the Beat Generation. 
For Act II, we see the women in long dresses. The puffy-sleeved big blue 
dress for Pinto went right to the era, as did her bundled, netted hairdo. The 
men were in morning/ mourning coats, which could easily have gotten at the 
sunshine/dark days aspect of this time in American history. 
"All Night Strut" is divided into two acts, each with eight songs and a 
closing medley of six or seven snippets of other tunes. Each set mixes jump, 
jive, swing and ballad selections. There's just enough dance (cha-cha and 
jitterbug) to underline the times. In this production, four star ratings go 
to the cast's renditions of "Minnie the Moocher," "Gimme a Pigfoot and a 
Bottle of Beer," "Operator (Give me Jesus on the Line)" -- which was done as 
a church choir -- and the smooth and sultry "Tuxedo Junction." The live combo 
(piano, bass and drums) was wonderful, earning its own after-performance 
round of applause. 
"All Night Strut" will play at the Actors' Summit theater space in Hudson 
through April 27. Performances last 90 minutes and are scheduled for 
Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. with a matinee Sundays at 3:30 p.m. 
Tickets range from $22 to $25, depending on seating choice, and may be 
obtained by calling the theater anytime at (330) 342-8000 or via e-mail at 
the theater's Web site www.actorssummit.org. 
Roger Durbin is associate dean and professor of bibliography for University 
Libraries at The University of Akron and an avid theater-goer. To contact 
him, e-mail rwd1016 at aol.com

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<HTML>Actors' Summit's 'All Night Strut'<=
BR>
struts its stuff through musical era 
Pleasant evening 
of vintage music offered in Hudson theater 
By Roger Durbin 
HUDSON -- Popular music of the 1930s and 1940s was born into some pretty tou=
gh times. A world-wide Depression and another war to end all wars, where mil=
lions were dying, seemed hardly the place for "Beat Me, Daddy, Eight to the=20=
Bar," unless you fully (maybe naively) believed that these things were tempo=
rary and life just had to, golly gee whiz, get better. In other words, you g=
ot to gush, get it out there and settle down into the sunshine rays of a who=
le big bunch of hope -- something like Shirley Temple, the moppet who define=
d the spirit of the age. 
Fran Charnas' "All Night Strut" sets out to condense the two decades into a=20=
90-minute commentary of the times through a cavalcade of music and some danc=
e. There are different ways to approach this topic: play it for real and try=
 to recreate the times, perhaps through presenting it as a radio program, wi=
th singers lined up behind massive microphones, their hair piled up, netted=20=
or pomaded accordingly and dressed in zoot suits and buttoned dresses with p=
added shoulders; treat it ironically by exploring and exploding the tension=20=
between the world gone awry and the people in it innocently trying to cope;=20=
or, do it Actors' Summit's way and evoke the period through clever costume t=
ouches and a "did you ever hear this one" or "do you remember that one" fine=
sse. 
Director and performer Mary Jo Alexander gathered herself and three other fi=
ne singers into a substantial quartet (soprano, alto, tenor and bass). She r=
otated the singers in quartets, duets, pairs or solos as befit each of the t=
unes up and down the short flight of steps that served as the main set for t=
he production. There was a sense of a floor show being put on, with each per=
former given the chance to descend the steps, take the stage and parade anot=
her number for us. 
Alexander's high, light soprano voice is absolutely suited to songs such as=20=
"I'll Be Seeing You (in all the old familiar places)" but seems much too tra=
ined when she tries to let loose on something like "In the Mood." 
Alto Anne Marie Pinto, who was the youngest of the group, seemed to know the=
 era the best. She had the jive moves and naughty razzmatazz nailed in her t=
akes on "Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer" and "Java Jive." 
Tenor Charles Martin has a wonderful emotive voice but was sometimes drowned=
 out by the others. He needed his mike cranked up a few notches to let his v=
oice resonate. Nevertheless, his versions of the plaintive lyrics of "A Nigh=
tingale Sang in Berkeley Square" and "As Time Goes By" gave a fragility and=20=
sweetness to these sentimental classics. 
Veteran actor Frank Jackman was the ham of the group, belting out "Brother,=20=
Can You Spare a Dime" and others for all their schmaltzy elegance. 
There's no listed credit for costumes in this production, but whoever was re=
sponsible chose basic black, with a splotch of red (like a scarf or handkerc=
hief) for Act I. The duds seemed to be almost too polite if meant to evoke w=
ar-era hipsters (either along the Great White Way or up in Harlem) and anach=
ronistic if looking ahead to the Beat Generation. 
For Act II, we see the women in long dresses. The puffy-sleeved big blue dre=
ss for Pinto went right to the era, as did her bundled, netted hairdo. The m=
en were in morning/ mourning coats, which could easily have gotten at the su=
nshine/dark days aspect of this time in American history. 
"All Night Strut" is divided into two acts, each with eight songs and a clos=
ing medley of six or seven snippets of other tunes. Each set mixes jump, jiv=
e, swing and ballad selections. There's just enough dance (cha-cha and jitte=
rbug) to underline the times. In this production, four star ratings go to th=
e cast's renditions of "Minnie the Moocher," "Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle o=
f Beer," "Operator (Give me Jesus on the Line)" -- which was done as a churc=
h choir -- and the smooth and sultry "Tuxedo Junction." The live combo (pian=
o, bass and drums) was wonderful, earning its own after-performance round of=
 applause. 
"All Night Strut" will play at the Actors' Summit theater space in Hudson th=
rough April 27. Performances last 90 minutes and are scheduled for Thursdays=
 through Saturdays at 8 p.m. with a matinee Sundays at 3:30 p.m. Tickets ran=
ge from $22 to $25, depending on seating choice, and may be obtained by call=
ing the theater anytime at (330) 342-8000 or via e-mail at the theater's Web=
 site www.actorssummit.org. 
Roger Durbin is associate dean and professor of bibliography for University=20=
Libraries at The University of Akron and an avid theater-goer. To contact hi=
m, e-mail rwd1016 at aol.com</HTML>

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