[NEohioPAL]Plain Dealer Rave Review of "CRICKET" - Final 4 Performances

Thu Dec 16 12:45:02 PST 2004

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Troupe's Victorian tale filled with holiday warmth 
Tuesday, December 07, 2004 
Linda Eisenstein
Special to The Plain Dealer 
If you're interested in a holiday tale with a Dickensian bent, this year you 
have an alternative to the many area versions of "A Christmas Carol." Actors' 
Summit has brought back a revised version of "The Cricket on the Hearth" for 
its second seasonal outing. It's been given a handsome, assured production 
captained by director MaryJo Alexander. 
Though it's set at holiday time with a Christmas picnic and the occasional 
carol, "The Cricket on the Hearth" is really a Victorian fable about love and 
marriage. 
Local favorite Greg Violand, in fine voice, plays John, a middle-aged husband 
who can't quite believe he deserves the love of his beautiful young wife, Dot 
(Tricia Bestic). He begins to have serious doubts when Dot's school chum is 
about to make a marriage of convenience with the middle-aged curmudgeon 
Tackleton (an amusingly gruff Frank Jackman). 
The coming wedding also shatters the unspoken hopes of the innocent Bertha (a 
luminous Shani Ferry), the blind daughter of Tackleton's put-upon employee, 
the toymaker Caleb (Wayne S. Turney). Bertha has learned only to see the good 
in people, because her gentle father has intentionally misled her about 
Tackleton's character and their impoverished circumstances. A mysterious stranger 
appears, complications ensue, and everything gets sorted out with the expected 
happy ending. 
Author-adapter Turney has put the show in a frame, that of a troupe of actors 
in 1845 who are performing the tale under Dickens' supervision. The device's 
chief benefit is to allow Turney (who doubles as Dickens) to retain much of 
the charming, idiosyncratic narration. But it makes composer Sebastian Birch's 
contemporary music -- which mostly meanders and modulates, rarely settling into 
an accessible tonality -- seem incongruous for the period. 
Birch has given his capable actor-singers difficult, dissonant harmonies, an 
odd choice for what's otherwise a mainstream musical with commercial 
potential. Yet there are some lovely musical moments, especially Ferry's haunting solo 
"Now I Am Alone" and the opening ballad "Home Is Love," sweetly sung by the 
Cricket, Ken LeMar. The accompaniment of piano and bass lends a clean, sprightly 
sound. 
It's sung with confidence, danced with zest, and its underlying message of 
love and compassion makes it an upbeat holiday crowd-pleaser. 
Eisenstein is a playwright in Cleveland. 

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<H1 style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Troupe's Victorian tale filled with holiday warmth=20=
<o:p></o:p></H1>
<st1:date Month=3D"12" Da=
y=3D"7" Year=3D"2004">T=
uesday, December 07, 2004</st1:date> <o:p></o:p>
Linda Eisenstein<o:p></o:p>
Special to The Plain Dealer <o:p></o:p>
If you're interested i=
n a holiday tale with a Dickensian bent, this year you have an alternative t=
o the many area versions of "A Christmas Carol." Actors' <st1:City><s=
t1:place>Summit</s=
t1:place></st1:City> has=20=
brought back a revised version of "The Cricket on the Hearth" for its second=
 seasonal outing. It's been given a handsome, assured production captained b=
y director MaryJo Alexander. <o:p></o:p>
Though it's set at hol=
iday time with a Christmas picnic and the occasional carol, "The Cricket on=20=
the Hearth" is really a Victorian fable about love and marriage. <o:p></o:p>=

Local favorite Greg Vi=
oland, in fine voice, plays John, a middle-aged husband who can't quite beli=
eve he deserves the love of his beautiful young wife, Dot (Tricia Bestic). H=
e begins to have serious doubts when Dot's school chum is about to make a ma=
rriage of convenience with the middle-aged curmudgeon Tackleton (an amusingl=
y gruff Frank Jackman). <o:p></o:p>
The coming wedding als=
o shatters the unspoken hopes of the innocent Bertha (a luminous Shani Ferry=
), the blind daughter of Tackleton's put-upon employee, the toymaker Caleb (=
Wayne S. Turney). Bertha has learned only to see the good in people, because=
 her gentle father has intentionally misled her about Tackleton's character=20=
and their impoverished circumstances. A mysterious stranger appears, complic=
ations ensue, and everything gets sorted out with the expected happy ending.=
 <o:p></o:p>
Author-adapter Turney=20=
has put the show in a frame, that of a troupe of actors in 1845 who are perf=
orming the tale under Dickens' supervision. The device's chief benefit is to=
 allow Turney (who doubles as Dickens) to retain much of the charming, idios=
yncratic narration. But it makes composer Sebastian Birch's contemporary mus=
ic -- which mostly meanders and modulates, rarely settling into an accessibl=
e tonality -- seem incongruous for the period. <o:p></o:p>
Birch has given his ca=
pable actor-singers difficult, dissonant harmonies, an odd choice for what's=
 otherwise a mainstream musical with commercial potential. Yet there are som=
e lovely musical moments, especially Ferry's haunting solo "Now I Am Alone"=20=
and the opening ballad "Home Is Love," sweetly sung by the Cricket, Ken LeMa=
r. The accompaniment of piano and bass lends a clean, sprightly sound. <o:p>=
</o:p>
It's sung with confide=
nce, danced with zest, and its underlying message of love and compassion mak=
es it an upbeat holiday crowd-pleaser. <o:p></o:p>
Eisenstein is a playwr=
ight in <st1:City><st1:place>Cleveland</st1:place></st1:City>. <o:p></o:p></BODY></HTML>

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