[NEohioPAL] Reviewer says "the best harmonies and strongest vocal performances ever heard on the CVLT stage..."

[Chagrin Valley Little Theatre]

  Chagrin Valley Little Theatre


    //Is There Life After High School?
    by Jeffrey Kindley & Craig Carnelia (show details)
    <http://cvlt.org/78thSeason/highschool.php>

*Fridays & Saturdays at 8 PM
through May 17th
with matinées at 2 PM May 4th & 11th *
40 River St. in historic Chagrin Falls Village

Adults - $16, Seniors & Students - $12

Visit www.CVLT.org <http://cvlt.org/78thSeason/highschool.php> or call 
440-247-8955 (Mon-Sat, 1-6 PM)

BUY TICKETS ONLINE! <https://www.ticketturtle.com/index.php?show=2608>


      About the Play

Something about High School, for some reason, just sticks with us...

*Directed by Don Edelman, Musical Direction by Regis Bookshar *


          CVLT serves comfort-food musical

    by Bob Abelman
    /The News-Herald, April 25 2008 /

    Sometimes theater is a rich, multi-course gourmet meal, carefully
    prepared and magnificently served. Each mouthful stimulates the
    taste buds, fills the senses and nourishes the soul. At other times,
    theater is fast food - overly processed and full of meaningless
    calories. Each helping is void of good taste, hard to swallow and
    difficult to digest.

    /Is There Life After High School?/ - being served up by the Chagrin
    Valley Little Theatre in Chagrin Falls - is comfort food.
    Uncomplicated and calming, the show goes down easy, requires little
    effort to chew and leaves you absolutely satisfied. After Saturday's
    production, audience members wanted little more than to push
    themselves away from the table, sigh with contentment and loosen
    their belts a notch.

    Inspired by Ralph Keyes' best-selling book with the same title, the
    musical is little more than a collection of songs, skits and
    soliloquies that take a wistful look back at high school. There is
    no story line per se, just a common theme.

    Nine performers take on a variety of roles in an assortment of
    situations reflective of the pains and pleasures of adolescent
    formal education.

    When not handled properly, this show can easily turn into a
    nostalgic, sugary confection. It is, after all, chock full of corny,
    sentimental stuff. In one syrupy song, composer Craig Carnelia
    actually rhymes "stars and stripes" with "holy cripes." That, no
    doubt, contributed to the show's short-lived Broadway run of only 17
    performances and to an outbreak of diabetes in the greater
    metropolitan area.

    At CVLT, in the capable hands of experienced director Don Edelman,
    /Is There Life After High School?/ maintains its integrity and
    balance. Edelman's astute sense of showmanship, coupled with Ida
    Porris' fluid choreography and Edmond Wolff's solid set and lighting
    design, make for a very enjoyable, absolutely charming production.
    Shows like this are custom-made for the intimate CVLT stage.

    Most of the credit goes to the exceptional cast of players. As a
    collective, Don Bernardo, Darlene Fowler, Chris Hunter, Steve Kay,
    Sharon Lloyd, Pat Mazzarino, Libby Merriman, Eric Oswald, and Maggie
    Wise produce some of the best harmonies and strongest vocal
    performances ever heard on the CVLT stage. They owned the audience
    halfway through the opening number.

    As individual performers, each member of the cast is natural and
    immediately likable. Stand-out performances include a best-friend
    duet by CVLT veteran Sharon Lloyd and newcomer Darlene Fowler, which
    nearly stopped the show, and Maggie Wise's stunning solo performance
    in "Diary of a Homecoming Queen."

    The one distraction in this production is the age of the players.
    Ideally, the cast should be old enough so that high school memories
    resonate but not so old that they haunt or torment. This cast is too
    old, and its age range of nearly 30 years is way too broad. This is
    an unfortunate occupational hazard in community theater, but one
    that is easily dismissed once the singing begins and the seven piece
    orchestra, under the superb direction of Regis Bookshar, kicks in.

    Comfort food is home-cooked, tasty, familiar fare. /Is There Life
    After High School?/ most certainly fits the bill. Sidle up to the
    buffet.

CVLT was voted 'Best Community Theatre' by Cleveland Magazine Readers, 
and 'Best Theatre Group' on the Fox 8 HotList in 2007.

Chagrin Valley Little Theatre is generously funded by Cuyahoga County 
residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and is supported by the Ohio 
Arts Council.


  CVLT.org - 440.247.8955

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