[NEohioPAL] Two Great Reviews of ARE WE THERE YET? at Actors' Summit

[Neil Thackaberry]

*Actors’ Summit stages journey though life*

10/8/2009 - West Side Leader

By David Ritchey

Musical revue sure to be audience pleaser


HUDSON — Actors’ Summit Theater’s production of “Are We There Yet?”
chronicles the lives of a family as they journey through life.

In the first scene, the four family members — parents and two children — are
driving down the road of life. Everyone has something to complain about.
Fortunately, they sing most of their complaints. In the final scene, the
children, who are now adults, drive their senior-citizen parents to a
retirement community in Florida. Life goes full circle.

This is a relatively new show. James Hindman, Ray Roderick and Cheryl Stern
(lyrics and book) and John Glaudini (music) lead the audience on a 90-minute
journey through life. The music and lyrics are upbeat, clever and pleasant,
although none of the music or lyrics has the potential to have a life
outside of this show.

This musical revue is the type of production that Actors’ Summit in Hudson
produces so well.

The four-person cast — Shani Ferry, Shawn Galligan, Dawn Sniadak and Keith
Stevens — create memorable characters and sing and dance well.

Ferry and Stevens are well known to regulars at Actors’ Summit. Each plays a
variety of roles in this production and, as always, plays them well.

Galligan is new to Actors’ Summit and fits into the cast like the
experienced professional he is. In the song “Baby Rap,” he sings a rap
dressed as a baby. Only this baby is wearing his crib on suspenders. Costume
designer MaryJo Alexander deserves special recognition for this wild, crazy
costume.

As a senior citizen, Stevens sings “Bernie’s Buffet,” in which he brags
about his sexual conquests of the senior-citizen ladies who descended on him
after his wife’s death. The refrain in this song, which is dedicated to his
dead wife, is “Lucille, I’m making you proud.”

Sniadak is the discovery of the season. She has a gorgeous singing voice and
holds the high notes with the best of the opera divas. She dances well, too.
Sniadak has a stage presence that forces the audience to look at her. She
plays a variety of roles — a bride, a new mother and a mature mother whose
son and male partner have just adopted a child. The audience applauded her
monologue, in which she slowly revealed a change in attitude about her son
adopting a child.

When Sniadak sings “‘Cause I’m a Mommy,” she brought down the house. The
song is a parody of “W-O-M-A-N.” In “‘Cause I’m a Mommy,” she sings about
all she can do to keep house, home, children and husband happy. “Watch me do
my juggling act,” she sang, and the ladies in the audience cheered.

The singers are accompanied by Evie Morris (keyboards) and Kirk Puterbaugh
(percussion).

Director Neil Thackaberry and choreographer Sasha Thackaberry did excellent
work with the cast. Each performer plays several different characters, and
they helped the actors make each character distinct.

In summary, the production is light, lively and sure to be an audience
pleaser.

“Are We There Yet?” continues through Oct. 18. For ticket information, call
(330) 342-0800.



David Ritchey has a Ph.D. in communications and is a professor of
communications at The University of Akron. He is a member of the American
Theatre Critics Association.



Actors' Summit: It's all in the family with 'Are We There Yet'

By Tony Brown, The Plain Dealer

October 03, 2009, 10:35PM



HUDSON, Ohio -- The happy news at Actors' Summit is that “Are We There Yet?”
contains a couple of really funny numbers superbly sung and acted by an
energetic quartet cast in a fun setting and to music by an instrumental duo
that sounds bigger than two people.

The entire thing — a cabaret about the evolution of family members and the
roles they play as life moves inexorably on — is overseen and permeated, as
usual, by the Thackaberry clan.

Pa Neil directs, Ma MaryJo Alexander does the design work, daughter Sasha
handles the choreography and son-in-law Keith Stevens leads the cast. So
it’s a show about a family largely staged by a family. Which is cute.

Cuter still is Shawn Galligan, in diapers, sunglasses and a bassinet,
bustin’ the “Baby Rap,” and Stevens doing a randy 80s-something widower
bragging about his nursing-home conquests in “Bernie’s Buffet” (he even
offers an early-bird special).

 Music director Evie Morris tickles a pair of keyboards while Kirk
Putterbaugh does the same to a muted drums-cymbals kit. The action, using a
set of outsized play-blocks and rolling office chairs, pleases. As do
performers Shani Ferry and Dawn Sniadak.

But “Are We There Yet?” ultimately fails to do much in large part because it
tries to do too much.

Created by James Hindman, Ray Roderick, Cheryl Stern and John Gluadini, this
little variety show stumbles when it tries to not only chronicle family life
but pretends to aspire to trace the arc of human life itself.

The show’s preponderance of “touching” numbers — about finding a birth
parent, seniors giving up a family home, divorcee dating — each starts out
maudlin and then goes downhill.

As if it weren’t schmaltzy enough, a tiny tot-dancing student comes out for
a solo in Act 1, and a little dog gets star treatment in the second act.

Cute is cute, but give us the matinee with Bernie anytime.

Through Sunday, Oct. 18 at 83 Owen Brown St., Hudson. $7-$29. 330-342-0800,
or actorssummit.org.
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