[NEohioPAL]Berko review: SUMMER OF '42/Kalliope Stage

[Roy Berko]

TENDER, DELIGHTFUL ‘SUMMER OF ‘42’ OPENS KALLIOPE’S
2ND SEASON

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

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

	Kalliope Stage, one of Cleveland’s newest theatres
and the only area theatre dedicated to producing only
musicals, has opened its second season with a
wonderful production of ‘SUMMER OF ‘42.’
	Does the show’s name sound familiar?  It should. 
‘SUMMER OF ‘42’ was the hit coming-of-age movie in
1971.  
	The plot concerns Hermie, an awkward, gawky, confused
teenager whose summer of fun becomes a bittersweet
lesson in love when he falls in love with a young war
bride in a seaside town.  
	The play, which is based on the novel and screenplay
by Herman Raucher, has words and music by David
Kirschenbaum and a book by Hunter Foster.  The duo has
remained faithful to the film and even improved upon
it.  They have created a fully integrated work, where
dialogue and songs interweave seamlessly,
complementing each other with precision. The addition
of the music adds a dimension of reality and
tenderness to the story.  
	Kirshenbaum's score makes use of World War II-era
music and incorporates self-perceptive and emotionally
laden ballads which add more to the happenings than
Michel LeGrand's Oscar-winning score for the movie,
which centered on the song "The Summer Knows." 
	Kalliope Stage’s production, under the watchful eye
of Paul Gurgol, is excellent.  Gurgol gets all of the
laughs, the tenderness and the reality out of the
script.  He allows the audience to become swallowed up
in the era  He is aided greatly by Russ Borski’s mood
setting and workable set, Kim Brown’s period right
costumes, Marcus Dana’s lighting design and Chad
Helm’s sound design.  The playing space also aids. 
This is a play that needs intimacy and since no viewer
is more than 15-feet from the action in Kalliope’s
small theatre, the personal tie to the performers is
easily accomplished.
	The Kalliope cast is excellent.  Beachwood High
School senior Alex Wyse was born to play Hermie.   
His skinny frame, which features flailing arms and
weak-kneed legs, gives him a look which is perfect for
the role.  But more important is Wyse’s total control
over the character.  His small, yet well-pitched
voice, is plaintive in the love songs, his yearnings
perfectly revealed.  It’s worth seeing the show just
to share Hermie’s anguish and angst as Wyse lives
them.
	Jodi Brinkman is the perfect Broadway-leading lady. 
She is a wonderful actress, beautiful and possesses a
compelling and big vocal sound.  She makes for a
perfect Dorothy.   Wyse and Brinkman not only sing
well together, but seem to have a powerful emotional
connection.
	Jay Strauss, a veteran New York actor, plays the drug
store owner, Walter Winchell and the aged Hermie with
total delight.  He is a wonderful character actor.
	Both Dan O’Neil (Benjie) and Aaron Dore (Oscy)
portray Hermie’s teenage friends well.  O’Neil hits
the role of the bird-watching intellect right on. 
Dore would be more effective if he would let his
natural personality carry him, rather than trying to
act his role.  He often appears to be trying too hard
to be the hormone driven Oscy.
	Jamie Finkenthal, Elizabeth Kelly and Julie Marx are
fine as both as the younger version of Andrews
Sisters-type singers and teenage girls.
	Highlights of the show include the drugstore scene in
which Hermie attempts to buy condoms, the hysterically
funny movie scene in which the boys attempt to make
their first “scores,” and the “unfinished business”
scene in which the boys are getting ready for their
first conquests.  Cheat notes have never been so
hilarious!
	CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  The recent trends in American
musicals are in your face offerings such as ‘RENT’ and
‘ASSASSINS.’  Sometimes it’s just nice to see a
musical offering that is charming, full of smiles and
laughs, and contains pleasant music.   It also helps
if the production is of high quality.    If that’s
what your looking for, Kalliope Stage’s second season
opener, ‘SUMMER OF ‘42’ will delight you.
	The show runs through November 7 at 2134 Lee Road. 
For tickets call 216-321-0870 or go on line to
www.KalliopeStage.com.
	Kalliope Stage’s next production is CHRISTMAS CAROL
RAG’ which runs from November 26 to December 19.  It
centers on Evelyn Scrooge and her chain rattling
partner Janet Marley in a Cleveland Premiere.   
Evelyn will be played by the talented Adina Bloom, a
Times Tributes Award winner. The rest of the season is
‘A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC’ from April 8 to May 8, and a
new version of ‘BABY’ from June 25 to August 1.


=====
Roy Berko's web page can be found at royberko.info and many of his theatre and dance reviews appear on artscleveland.net.


		
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