[NEohioPAL]Berko reviews: FOREST CITY (CPH) & FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE (CPH)

[Roy Berko]

CAST AND STAGING OUTSTANDING IN CPH’S ‘FOREST CITY’

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

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


When you attend a play, whether at a professional or
amateur theatre, do you have any idea of the process
that the playwright has gone through to get that
script ready for production?  Many people naively
believe that a person sits down at a computer and
spews forth a finished product.  ‘Taint so.  Scribing
a play  is usually an arduous task which requires
writing and rewriting and rewriting.  The process is
often for naught as, in the end, in spite of valiant
efforts, the script doesn’t work.  It may not succeed
because it just doesn't get the authors’ ideas across,
or it doesn’t look and sound right on stage, or it is
too complex to stage, or the audience doesn’t respond
positively. 

The Cleveland Play House is presenting the world
premiere of ‘FOREST CITY,’ a play by Bridgette
Wimberly.  How did this script come to being?    If
typical, Wimberly had an idea.  She, worked for a
period of time to get the plot clear, the lines
meaningful, the characters set and the production
qualities clear.  Then started her real work.  A
script on paper is not the same as one on stage.  A
reader can fill in the blanks, can imagine that which
is and isn’t.  On stage all of these things must be
made crystal clear to hold the audience’s attention
and allow each listener to gain the playwright’s
intentions.  What is most valuable to a playwright is
to have the play staged in some way that the voice of
the script can be heard.  This "hearing" often takes
place at a staged reading in which actors take the
script and create an audio version.  In some cases
these readings are actually staged so the author can
both see and hear the script.

Fortunately for Wimberly, for the last eight years the
Cleveland Play House has produced the "Next Stage
Festival of New Plays."   It provides a venue to a
select group of playwrights to be allowed to see, hear
and hone their scripts.   And so ‘FOREST CITY’ was
given the opportunity to go from childhood toward
maturity.  As my review of that first reading
indicated, I felt that the script needed a lot of
work.  It was very long, very wordy, unfocused, lacked
texturing.  The play had requisite conflicts-
infidelity, financial problems, illness, big business
versus the citizenry, inner family conflict.  It had
an interesting idea that was based on a real series of
 incidents. To make it a viable script, it needed some
heavy rewriting.  

The tinkering has been completed.  ‘FOREST CITY’ is
being given a full-scale production at CPH.  The
redoing did wonders.  The play has been tightened up,
shortened, extraneous materials eliminated, and humor
added.  Unfortunately, Wimberly has still not decided
on an ending.  There are at least four conclusions
that could be interpreted as, "okay, this is it." The
final, final one, is not the strongest.  In fact,  it
changes the tone of the play and makes it almost
hokey.  If the play is going to be produced elsewhere,
Ms. Wimberly is going to have to rethink the final
several scenes by asking herself what message she
really wants to leave with her audience.   She also
needs to ask why she introduces a child character near
the end whose physical presence plays no real role in
the play’s meaning.  

The play is set in Cleveland in the late 1960s.  Carl
Stokes has become the first African American mayor of
a major city, segregation is finally coming to an end,
the Glenville riots have brought attention to the
plight of blacks in the Forest City.  We see it all
through the eyes of the Taylor family: JT, his wife
Sandra Mae, his mother and his half brother.    JT is
trying to fend for his family on a railroad
day-laborer’s salary.  The family lives in a home they
purchased, and are fighting to keep. Though not much,
it is theirs.  A small black-owned and operated
hospital wants to expand.  To do so, they will need to
tear down the family’s residence.   The situation is
complicated by the fact that JT’s half brother is a
doctor on the hospital’s staff.

Seth Gordon, who is not only the director of this
production, but the Director of New Play Development
at CPH, has nurtured this script from its infancy to
this staging.  He has created a well-paced, creatively
staged, generally well-acted show.  He has keyed the
laughs and has stressed empathy in the right places. 

The cast is universally excellent.  Margaret
Ford-Taylor, as Mother Taylor milks the role for all
it is worth.  She has excellent comic timing and
builds the emotional levels with ease.   Her role of
"witch doctor," family center and peacemaker are
clearly developed. 

Caroline S. Clay, as Sandra Mae, shows the pain of a
wounded woman with much clarity.  Johnny Lee Davenport
gives us a JT that is both strong and weak.   He
clearly shows us the hard head and the soft
underbelly.   

Wiley Moore, as the doctor brother, could have
textured his performance more.  His sometimes monotone
presentation and lack of facial expression makes him
appear to be less than involved in the goings-on. 
Count Stovall, though having line problems, gives a
clear picture as an old-time doctor whose dreams have
been overshadowed by the times.

Scenic designer Beowulf Boritt has been forced to
create a set that must reveal many settings...porch,
living room, bedroom, doctor’s office, banquet hall
lobby, staircase and dock.  To do this he has created
an impressive complex piece of work on a turntable and
moving platforms.  It works moderately well though the
action is often slowed down by all the changes. 

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: ‘FOREST CITY’ is worth seeing.  As
a former dramturg for the Festival, I would urge Ms.
Wimberly to keep working on the script.   That
additional tinkering could result in a modern day "A
Raisin in the Sun."  The play runs through November 6
in the Drury Theatre of the Cleveland Play House, 8500
Euclid Avenue, Cleveland.  For tickets to CPH
productions call 216-795-7000, Ext. 4.

(If you are interested participating of the
development of a play script the 2003-2004 NEXT STAGE
FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS runs from October 30 through
November 22.  For complete information go on line to
ww.clevelandplayhouse.com or call the box office.)

LOVE OF MIKE AT CPH--PERFORMERS OUTCLASS MATERIAL


Want to produce a musical review?   The songs are
usually not the problem...they are readily available
unless you are writing an all original score.  You
pick a theme, decide on what songs to do, and put them
in an order based on the effect you are trying to
achieve.  Sounds easy?  Nope!  Musical reviews are
hard devices to conceive.  More miss than hit.

William Hoffman, the conceiver of ‘FOR THE LOVE OF
MIKE’ now being staged in the Cleveland Play House
Club, decided to do a musical celebration of a
vaudeville life.  He selected about 20 songs and
conceived it as a tribute to Mike.   He assembled a
very talented cast, rehearsed the materials, and
invited audiences to attend.  

Audiences will hear some wonderful songs like "The
Bowery," "The Streets of New York," and "Hard Hearted
Hanna."

Unfortunately, the evening doesn’t work very well. 
Much of the evening seemed forced.  The script is so
weak that the performers had to force-feed the notions
to the audience, material which they didn’t appear to
have much belief in.   In addition, rehearsal time was
obviously limited and the performers had to learn a
lot of patter and unfamiliar songs such as "I’m
Looking for Daddy Long Legs," "Cleaning and Dyeing,"
and "The German 5th." (Yep, I’m not making these up.) 
 Because of this there were lyric and line problems.

The cast, Greg Violand, Maryann Nagel, Kevin Joseph
Kelly and Charles Eversole are all solid performers. 
Violand’s "That’s the Reason Noo I Wear a Kilt" is
delightful.  His voice soars in "I Belong to Glasgow."
Nagel and Violand are wonderful in "Yiddisha
Nightingale" though at times Irish seems to creep into
their Yiddish patter.  The company does a rousing
"Alabamy Bound" and "Are You From Dixie?" Kelly‘s "Oh
What a Gal" was fun.  Eversole plays the piano with
pizazz.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: This is a very talented group of
performers.  I wish they had just stood and sung and
forgotten about Hoffman’s attempt at creating a hat
tree on which to hang the material.  Shticks like
"Cleaning and Dyeing" were close to embarrassing and
the "surprise" ending was not clever.   GO HEAR THE
VOICES.

‘FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE: A MUSICAL CELEBRATION OF A
VAUDEVILLE LIFE’ runs through November 15 at the CPH
Club.  For reservations call 216-795-7000, Ext. 4.


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