[NEohioPAL]Berko reviews: Actors' Summit, ClPubTheatre, The Nutcracker

[Roy Berko]

HOLIDAY PRODUCTIONS AT ACTORS’ SUMMIT, PLAYHOUSE
SQUARE AND CPT
Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)
--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--
Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	

WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION AT ACTORS’ SUMMIT

It’s that time of year when theatres try to pull
holiday entertainment out of the bag.  Ensemble is
running ‘THE GIFT OF THE MAGI,’ The Cleveland Play
House has shipped in ‘PLAID TIDINGS,’ Great Lakes
Theatre Festival has once again resurrected ‘THE
CHRISTMAS CAROL,’ and Cleveland Public Theatre is
featuring the farcical ‘MRS. BOB CRATCHET’S WILD
CHRISTMAS BINGE.’    Actors’ Summit, rather than do
the tried and true, has ventured off into trying to
create its own holiday gift to give and give again in
the form of Wayne Turney’s attempt to adapt Charles
Dickens’ ‘CRICKET ON THE HEARTH’ into a musical.

Transforming the novel ‘CRICKET ON THE HEARTH’ into a
play is not a new task.  It’s been attempted before. 
In most instances, the transformation hasn’t worked.  
Though Turney, musical creator Sebastian Anthony Birch
and director MaryJo Alexander give it their all, the
show’s world premiere doesn’t quite work either.

The book itself presents complexities not easily
overcome.  It has an obvious conclusion and lacks the
multi-level texturing that has made Dickens’  ‘OLIVER
TWIST’ work as the musical ‘OLIVER.’   It lacks humor
or great drama.  

Alexander has paced the show well, creates attractive
stage pictures, and has the cast basically on target
in their portrayals.  The problem isn’t hers.  

The problem is not Turney’s either.  Rather than
create new conceptual songs, Turney has relied on an
operatic technique for the lyrics.  He uses dialogue
set to music.  This allows the plot’s ideas to flow
along, but doesn’t give the audience the sound it is
used to hearing in musicals.  Most modern musicals
have songs which have verses followed by a chorus. 
This allows for familiarity with the repeated sounds
and words.  Think "Food, Glorious Food" from the
musical ‘OLIVER’ based on Dickens’ "OLIVER TWIST."  
In addition, the show’s songs don’t allow for ease of
listening.  Birch’s music is also sometimes hard to
warm up to.  Much of the music is atonal, and the
singers often appear to be singing one tune while the
musical accompaniment sounds like it is playing a
different melody.   A repeated bell sound, a musical
thread running through most of the music fits the time
of the year, but becomes piercing after hearing it
over and over again.  

The cast is generally acceptable. The
characterizations were clear.  Especially effective
were Greg Violand as the older love-struck husband,
Wayne Turney as Dickens, who narrates the show; Neil
Thackaberry, as the mean Tackleton who eventually, as
does Scrooge in ‘CHRISTMAS CAROL,’ softens into a nice
guy.  The singing voices aren’t all strong.  This is
especially obvious in the choral segments.  Several of
the cast had trouble in the higher ranges.  

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: ‘CRICKET ON THE HEARTH’ is a
work-in-progress.   Whether it will ever turn into a
holiday favorite is questionable, but Actors’ Summit
deserves credit for trying something new rather than
giving us one more repeat of tired traditional holiday
material.

‘CRICKET ON THE HEARTH’ plays through December 21 at
Actors’ Summit’s wonderfully intimate
theatre-in-the-three-quarter round.  For tickets call
330-342-0800 or visit on-line to actorssummit.org. 
The company’s next play is Michael Frayn’s drama
COPENHAGEN which runs from January 8-25.

‘THE NUTCRACKER’ DISAPPOINTS AT THE ALLEN THEATRE

When the Cleveland-San Jose Ballet fled the North
Coast for the warmer climes of California, it took
with it their version of ‘THE NUTCRACKER,’ one of the
area’s long time holiday traditions.  Playhouse Square
Center, in need of a holiday offering, for several
seasons brought in the delightful Radio City Rockettes
and their holiday program.   This year, as part of
their Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital Ballet
Season 2003-2004, the decision was made to bring in
the highly touted Pennsylvania Ballet with their
‘NUTCRACKER.’

No one who saw the CSJB version will ever mistake what
the Pennsylvania Ballet presented as its equal.   
Yes, the sets, the costumes and the music were
wonderful, but there was a lack of magic on stage.

This production, with a cast mainly made up of
children and youth, lacked the delight and the
compelling charm necessary to truly bring to life
George Balanchine’s wonderful choreography.  Because
of the abilities of the youth, there was a lot of
walking and little real dancing.  

Rather than having the likes of Raymond Rodriquez and
Karen Gabay dancing the Little Prince and Princess, we
had two pre-teens walking around the stage.  In the
second act, in place of the Little Prince’s wonderful
dance solo we had a young boy standing in the middle
of the stage pantomiming the story that enfolded in
the first act.  As the little girl seated next to me
asked aloud, "What’s he doing?"

The fight sequences between the mice and the wooden
soldiers, which usually brings squeals of delight from
the children in the audience, lacked creativity.  The
children who played wooden soldiers walked, they
didn’t march or dance and the huge mice were less than
entertaining.

Even the adult dancers were no more than competent. 
The Snowflake sequence lacked enchantment, even though
the lighting and the falling snow cast the right
spell.  

There is a wonderful dance sequence near the end of
the ballet in which we see the Sugarplum Fair and her
Cavalier cavort.  Dede Barfield and Alexei Borovik
showed no emotional connection.  Borovik’s flying
leaps, which, if properly done usually bring gasps of
joy from an audience were met with mild applause.  He
failed to get much lift or execute the movements
parallel to the speed of the music.    Barfield’s
toe-work, especially in the sequence when she was
pulled across the stage by her partner to imitate an
ice-skating effect was fine, but there was a lack of
fire in her moves.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: Pennsylvania Ballet’s ‘THE
NUTCRACKER’ lacked magic.  Kids are cute, but ballet
requires dancers, proficient dancers.  As the ballet
ended, I glanced over at the velvet dressed young lady
next to me, now fast asleep in her father’s arms. All
I could think was, "Dennis Nahat and the Cleveland San
Jose Ballet, where are you now that we need you?"


‘MRS. BOB CRATCHIT’S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE’ COULD
DELIGHT YOU  AT CPT


On stage there is Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit,
Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present,
Ghost of Christmas Future.   It’s obvious that you’re
seeing Dicken’s ‘CHRISTMAS CAROL.’  Wait, there are
scenes from ‘OLIVER TWIST,’ ‘IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE’
AND ‘THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP.’   Throw in references to
‘PETER PAN’ and ‘MY FRIEND FLICKA.’   No, this is
definitely not ‘CHRISTMAS CAROL.’ 

Let’s look at this a little closer.  The ghost who
visits Scrooge just can’t get things right.   Mrs. Bob
Cratchit (did you know her name was Gladys?) is
unhappy with everyone and everything in her life.  
Her breaking point comes when Bob arrives with their
21st foundling.  She wants to go to a bar, down a few
Tequila Surprises and jump off the London Bridge.
Imagine her relief to find that she is simply placed
in the wrong time period and is Scrooge's soul mate. 
In playwright Christopher Durang’s hands, Scrooge’s
famous line "Bah Humbug" isn’t just a casual dismissal
of Christmas joy, it’s seasonal Tourette’s Syndrome.
Eventually everything is eventually rectified by the
Ghost of all three Christmases. 

The CPT production, under the direction of Randy
Rollison, is often funny, often hilarious, but also
misses some of the laughs due to poor line
interpretation.  The singing also covers the broad
realm of possibilities...some of the voices are
wonderful, others are off-key. 

Meg Chamberlain is outstanding as Gladys Cratchit. 
Dan Kilbane is a delightful 6-foot Tiny Tim who trips
and falls with ease while looking like a grinning
idiot who is in an advertisement for laser tooth
polishing.   David Hansen is properly clueless as Bob
Cratchit.  Nina Dominque is inconsistent as The
Ghosts.  Her singing voice lacks polish and her line
interpretation varies from excellent to unbelievable. 
The children in the cast needed more directoral
assistance to aid them to stay in character.    

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: If you aren’t in the right
mood...silly; aren’t willing to set aside some amateur
production qualities; and think that Christmas is a
sincere holiday, then you’ll be turned off by  ‘MRS.
BOB CRATCHIT’S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE.’ On the other
hand, if you've seen one too many productions of ‘A
CHRISTMAS CAROL’ and, upon hearing Tiny Tim
optimistically proclaim "God bless us every one!’" you
wish someone would expose him for the
attention-grabbing urchin he is, get in your sleigh
and go see the Cleveland Public Theatre’s production
of ‘MRS. BOB CRATCHIT’S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE.’   The
show runs until December 20 at the theatre which is
located at 6415 Detroit Avenue.  For tickets call 
216-631-2727.


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