[NEohioPAL]Another Positive Review of WORLD GOES ROUND at Actors' Summit

Wed Sep 24 09:27:07 PDT 2003

-------------------------------1064420827
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

 Zesty style makes up for light voices in Kander and Ebb revue 
09/24/03
Linda Eisenstein 
Special to The Plain Dealer

Actors' Summit opened its fall season with an entertaining if uneven 
production of "And the World Goes 'Round," a musical revue featuring the songs of John 
Kander and Fred Ebb. 
The singing isn't always up to professional standards - most of the voices 
are lighter than the material requires - but the performers are appealing and 
the costumes elegant. And the show gives audiences a chance to hear two hours' 
worth of material by Broadway's longest-running musical team. 

>From Our Advertiser

The collaborators' 40-year ca- reer runs the gamut from huge hits ("Cabaret," 
"Chicago") to specialty material ("Liza with a Z," "The Rink") to troubled 
shows ("Zorba!," "Kiss of the Spider Woman"). Ebb is a subtle lyricist, at home 
with torch songs and clever comedy. While composer Kander's tunes aren't 
always memorable or melodic, he's terrific at capturing place and style, from 
"Chicago's" vaudeville-inspired score to "Cabaret's" Berlin in the 1930s. 
Together, they've written musicals for grown-ups, tailored for big 
personalities (Liza Minnelli, Chita Rivera, Lauren Bacall), often flavored with irony 
and regret. In other words, their songs make perfect cabaret material. 
The Actors' Summit ensemble of six is backed by piano and drums, all 
blessedly unmiked, which makes for an intimate experience. The 30 songs are 
thoughtfully staged by director Neil Thackaberry and always well-acted. 
The ensemble shines in the comic numbers. From the frantic "Coffee in a 
Cardboard Cup" to the roller-skating in "The Rink" to the hilarious dancers' rant 
"Pain," the ensemble gamely goes through choreographer Sasha Thackaberry's 
paces. 
The piece is well-cast in terms of type. Red-hot redhead Tricia Bestic has 
the only power voice; she sizzles in "All That Jazz" and squeezes every drop of 
drama out of "Isn't This Better?" Cool blonde Tiffany Sandels handles the 
ironies in "How Lucky Can You Get?" and "My Coloring Book." MaryJo Alexander gets 
the lion's share of the middle-aged-regret songs, and though she acts them 
with style and authority, unfortunately the overload of that material taxes her 
voice. 
Dana Hart is a wonderfully milquetoast "Mr. Cellophane," but he lacks the 
pipes for the dark "Kiss of the Spider Woman." Both Kent Le Mar and Thomas R. 
Cummings are agreeably light, young tenors. Cummings is delightful in "Sara Lee," 
a comic ode to frozen baked goods, and Le Mar is funny as a gigolo partnered 
with housewife Bestic in "Arthur in the Afternoon." 
Musical director Michelle Makhlouf helps the cast get the most out of their 
solos, duets and trios, but they can't manage the difficult Manhattan 
Transfer-like harmonies of the big ensemble numbers, especially the finale's "Cabaret." 
Despite the shortcomings, this "World" offers viewers a pleasant and 
intelligent musical excursion. 
Eisenstein is a free-lance writer in Cleveland. 
To reach Linda Eisenstein: 
entertainment at plaind.com 

-------------------------------1064420827
Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<HTML><HEAD>
<META charset=3DUTF-8 http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; charse=
t=3Dutf-8">
<META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2730.1700" name=3DGENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffff=
f"> Zesty style makes up for light voic=
es in Kander and Ebb revue 
09/24/03Linda Eisenstein Special to The Plain Dealer 

Actors' Summit opened its fall season with an entertaining if uneven prod=
uction of "And the World Goes 'Round," a musical revue featuring the songs o=
f John Kander and Fred Ebb. 
The singing isn't always up to professional standards - most of the voice=
s are lighter than the material requires - but the performers are appealing=20=
and the costumes elegant. And the show gives audiences a chance to hear two=20=
hours' worth of material by Broadway's longest-running musical team. 
<TABLE cellSpacing=3D0 cellPadding=3D0 width=3D250 align=3Dright bgColor=3D#=
ffffff border=3D0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD width=3D250 bgColor=3D#000000 colSpan=3D5><IMG height=3D1 src=3D"http://=
www.cleveland.com/artsandevents/plaindealer/^/images/spacer.gif" width=3D1><=
/TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD width=3D1 bgColor=3D#000000><IMG height=3D1 src=3D"http://www.cleveland.=
com/artsandevents/plaindealer/^/images/spacer.gif" width=3D1></TD>
<TD width=3D4><IMG height=3D1 src=3D"http://www.cleveland.com/artsandevents/=
plaindealer/^/images/spacer.gif" width=3D1></TD>
<TD width=3D250><IMG height=3D8 src=3D"http://ads1.advance.net/RealMedia/ads=
/Creatives/ADVANCE/CONTENT_WELL_ARROW/arrow.gif" width=3D11>From Our Advertiser <IMG height=3D1 src=3D"=
http://www.cleveland.com/artsandevents/plaindealer/^/images/spacer.gif" widt=
h=3D1> <A href=3D"http://ads1.advance.net/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.=
cleveland.com/xml/story/e/easta/617976943/StoryAd/CLEVELANDLIVE/AV_WEATHER_C=
L04/250_250_copy3_cl.html/34303063363034663365663730396530?617976943" target=
=3D_blank><IMG height=3D250 src=3D"http://ads1.advance.net/RealMedia/ads/Cre=
atives/CLEVELANDLIVE/AV_WEATHER_CL04/250_250_copy3_cl.gif" width=3D250 borde=
r=3D0></A> <IMG height=3D1 src=3D"http://www.cleveland.com/artsandevents/=
plaindealer/^/images/spacer.gif" width=3D1></TD>
<TD width=3D4><IMG height=3D1 src=3D"http://www.cleveland.com/artsandevents/=
plaindealer/^/images/spacer.gif" width=3D1></TD>
<TD width=3D1 bgColor=3D#000000><IMG height=3D1 src=3D"http://www.cleveland.=
com/artsandevents/plaindealer/^/images/spacer.gif" width=3D1></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD width=3D1 bgColor=3D#000000><IMG height=3D1 src=3D"http://www.cleveland.=
com/artsandevents/plaindealer/^/images/spacer.gif" width=3D1></TD>
<TD width=3D4 bgColor=3D#000000><IMG height=3D1 src=3D"http://www.cleveland.=
com/artsandevents/plaindealer/^/images/spacer.gif" width=3D1></TD>
<TD width=3D250 bgColor=3D#000000><IMG height=3D1 src=3D"http://www.clevelan=
d.com/artsandevents/plaindealer/^/images/spacer.gif" width=3D1></TD>
<TD width=3D4 bgColor=3D#000000><IMG height=3D1 src=3D"http://www.cleveland.=
com/artsandevents/plaindealer/^/images/spacer.gif" width=3D1></TD>
<TD width=3D1 bgColor=3D#000000><IMG height=3D1 src=3D"http://www.cleveland.=
com/artsandevents/plaindealer/^/images/spacer.gif" width=3D1></TD></TR></TBO=
DY></TABLE><NOSCRIPT><A href=3D"http://ads.cleveland.com/RealMedia/ads/click=
_nx.ads/www.cleveland.com/xml/story/e/easta/@StoryAd?x"><IMG src=3D"http://a=
ds.cleveland.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_nx.ads/www.cleveland.com/xml/story/e=
/easta/@StoryAd?x"></A> </NOSCRIPT>
The collaborators' 40-year ca- reer runs the gamut from huge hits ("Cabar=
et," "Chicago") to specialty material ("Liza with a Z," "The Rink") to troub=
led shows ("Zorba!," "Kiss of the Spider Woman"). Ebb is a subtle lyricist,=20=
at home with torch songs and clever comedy. While composer Kander's tunes ar=
en't always memorable or melodic, he's terrific at capturing place and style=
, from "Chicago's" vaudeville-inspired score to "Cabaret's" Berlin in the 19=
30s. 
Together, they've written musicals for grown-ups, tailored for big person=
alities (Liza Minnelli, Chita Rivera, Lauren Bacall), often flavored with ir=
ony and regret. In other words, their songs make perfect cabaret material. <=
/P>
The Actors' Summit ensemble of six is backed by piano and drums, all bles=
sedly unmiked, which makes for an intimate experience. The 30 songs are thou=
ghtfully staged by director Neil Thackaberry and always well-acted. 
The ensemble shines in the comic numbers. From the frantic "Coffee in a C=
ardboard Cup" to the roller-skating in "The Rink" to the hilarious dancers'=20=
rant "Pain," the ensemble gamely goes through choreographer Sasha Thackaberr=
y's paces. 
The piece is well-cast in terms of type. Red-hot redhead Tricia Bestic ha=
s the only power voice; she sizzles in "All That Jazz" and squeezes every dr=
op of drama out of "Isn't This Better?" Cool blonde Tiffany Sandels handles=20=
the ironies in "How Lucky Can You Get?" and "My Coloring Book." MaryJo Alexa=
nder gets the lion's share of the middle-aged-regret songs, and though she a=
cts them with style and authority, unfortunately the overload of that materi=
al taxes her voice. 
Dana Hart is a wonderfully milquetoast "Mr. Cellophane," but he lacks the=
 pipes for the dark "Kiss of the Spider Woman." Both Kent Le Mar and Thomas=20=
R. Cummings are agreeably light, young tenors. Cummings is delightful in "Sa=
ra Lee," a comic ode to frozen baked goods, and Le Mar is funny as a gigolo=20=
partnered with housewife Bestic in "Arthur in the Afternoon." 
Musical director Michelle Makhlouf helps the cast get the most out of the=
ir solos, duets and trios, but they can't manage the difficult Manhattan Tra=
nsfer-like harmonies of the big ensemble numbers, especially the finale's "C=
abaret." 
Despite the shortcomings, this "World" offers viewers a pleasant and inte=
lligent musical excursion. 
Eisenstein is a free-lance writer in Cleveland. 
To reach Linda Eisenstein: 
entertainment at plaind.com </BODY></HTML>

-------------------------------1064420827--