[NEohioPAL]Berko reviews: STEEL MAGNOLIAS (BECK), ANTAEUS DANCE

[Roy Berko]

‘STEEL MAGNOLIAS’ AT BECK, ANTAEUS DANCE’S ‘ BODIES OF
WORK’

Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association & The
Dance Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--
Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	

‘STEEL MAGNOLIAS’ DOESN’T HIT ALL THE RIGHT NOTES AT
BECK

There are few plays which allow the audience to laugh
through their tears.  STEEL MAGNOLIAS, Robert
Harling’s well-crafted script, is one of the few, and,
possibly the best.
	
The story, set in Chicapenn Parish, Louisiana examines
the lives of six women.  They are unique females whose
social and emotional lives center around the local
beauty shop where “anyone who’s anybody gets their
hair done.”   The women share gossip, laughter, tears
and friendship, while buoying each other through pain
and sorrow, while celebrating the wonders of life.
	
Truvy, a woman with big blond poofed hair, owns the
beauty shop, once a car port attached to her house. 
Annelle is her new employee, a born-again Christian
with a secret.  Clairee is the wife of the former
mayor and the wealthiest woman in town.  M’Lynn is a
social worker and mother of Shelby, whose life and
death is the centerpin of the play.  Ouiser is a
pseudo-miserable woman who is all bark and little
bite.    
	
The play is chock full of delightful lines:  “We went
skinny dipping and did things that frightened the
fish.” “I should have known my son had problems when
his imaginary playmate wouldn’t play with him.” “The
sanctuary looks like it was hosed down with Pepto
Bismol.”  On and on they go, and most pleasantly, they
aren’t just one liners...they fit into the script and
carry meaning and help develop both the characters and
plot.
	
Beck Center’s production, unfortunately, doesn’t live
up to the script.  Sara May’s directing is usually
right on target.  In this production, however, she
seems to have slowed the whole production down.  
Characters were not  consistently developed and the
line between comedy and pathos was often blurred.  
Dialect Coach Chuck Richie needed to hone the
actresses’ Louisiana rhythm, cadence and articulation.
 
	
The cast is generally talented, but fails to jell. 
Maybe, as the show runs, the blending will take place.
 Melinda Hughes, as the diabetes-inflicted Shelby,
comes the closest to a true-Louisiana sound.  A tone
which is absolutely necessary to illustrate that these
are Southern women, born and bred.   Hughes also sets
up the pathos by being both vulnerable and appealing. 
Rhoda Rosen as Ouiser has some wonderful moments. 
Bernice Bolek as Clairee also displays some grasp of
her role’s motivations.  Julie Ketterer as M’Lynn,
needed more resolve, Amy Pawlukiewicz as Annelle 
needed more character depth and Maria Corell as Truvy
who is the pivotal character of the script, needed to
let lose and develop a broader characterization.  
	
Casey Jones’ sound design, especially the musical
interludes between scenes, helped develop the correct
mood for each scene.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  Beck’s ‘STEEL MAGNOLIAS’ is an
acceptable, if not totally fulfilling production. 

For tickets to “STEEL MAGNOLIAS,” which runs until
June 27, call 216-521-2540.

ANTAEUS DANCE, BETH SALEMI SHINES, BUT....

Last spring, when reviewing Antaeus Dance Company, I
commented, in regard to Joan Meggitt’s choreography
that,  ‘A shortened piece would have made the evening
much more satisfying.”  Unfortunately, I must again
repeat those sentiments regarding both “The Wanting
Seed” and “The Usual Suspects,” which were presented
recently as part of the company’s ‘BODIES OF WORK.’
	
“The Wanting Seed” is billed as a “deeply spiritual
piece that examines individual sacrifice and how it
affects all of us.” In spite of a creative
interpretation of the Arvo Part’s music the
performance outlasted its effect.  

“The Usual Suspects,” is a piece inspired by silent
films of the 1920s and 30s.   Meggitt uses Mozart’s
classical music as the basis for a contemporary piece
which she claims contains “inherent physicality and
humor”.   After making her point in the first scene,
Meggitt keeps adding more and more, with less and less
effect.

In both of Meggitt’s choreographed pieces the
individual dancers were excellent, especially Beth
Salemi.   However, the corps segments displayed some
unmirrored segments, when the dancers’ timing was not
parallel.

The highlight of the evening was “Bounder,”
choreographed and danced by Beth Salemi.  Wearing a
modified hoop skirt, which she used expertly, Salemi
displayed both a sense of humor and dancing skill. 
This was an audience pleasing and clever creation.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  Joan Meggitt is a talented
choreographer who might consider reexamining her
philosophy and ask whether after accomplishing her
message she needs to restate and restate the idea.


=====
Roy Berko's web page can be found at royberko.info


	
		
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