[NEohioPAL] Another Rave Review for WOODY GUTHRIE'S AMERICAN SONG at Actors' Summit

[Neil Thackaberry]

*‘Woody Guthrie's American Song'*


Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) was an American legend who wrote more than 1,000
songs chronicling the times in which he lived. Many of his songs were rooted
in the Dust Bowl era during the Great Depression. Trenchant lyrics of
privation and hardship more than resonate today.


"Woody Guthrie's American Song," a bio-musical revue conceived and adapted
by Peter Glazer, captures Guthrie's life and travels in word and some two
dozen songs that paint a vivid picture of an America in the 1930s and '40s.
It's at Actors' Summit in Akron through Oct. 30.


The buoyant production, expertly directed by Neil Thackaberry and performed
by a consummately trained ensemble, bring the prolific songwriter's poetry,
music and philosophy to robust life. Making this show even more challenging
is the fact that all musical accompaniment is provided by the talented cast
of eight actors/singers/musicians who handle a multiplicity of roles
flawlessly. It was thrilling watching this extremely well-directed octet
play and sing in such perfect and stirring harmony at all times. Michael
Anderson's snappy musical direction spins Jeff Waxman's original
orchestration and vocal arrangements into gold.


Guthrie celebrated the disenfranchised, the homeless, the unemployed, the
migrant worker, the immigrant, the union guy, the dispossessed farmer and
imbued them with a sense of dignity and hope. Filled with poignancy and
humor, his songs are an ode to the triumph of the American spirit, despite
hard times.


The musical chronicles Guthrie's life in story and song. The first act, set
in the early 1930s, traces Guthrie's birth in Oklahoma, the oil boom and
bust followed by the dust storms, the westward migration of the Okies to
California, and the deplorable conditions of the migrant camps. Mark Leach
conjures images of farms, fences and tractors buried in a tsunami of dust,
like ocean waves, in "Dust Storm Disaster," heightened by howling wind and
Kevin Rutan's ghost lighting, which bathes the ensemble's faces in darkness.
Leach is joined by a tipsy Dana Hart and company in "Bound for Glory," in
which the Okies head for California in a crowded boxcar.


"Ain't Got No Home in This World Anymore," a song about foreclosures and how
the rich man took their homes away, smacks eerily of the present.

Songs of humor are interspersed with those of heartbreak. In the lively
company number "Do Re Mi," paradise is waiting for the taking in California,
but only if you have the do-re-mi (aka money).

In the second act, set in the mid-1940s, the itinerant Guthrie heads
eastward, to New York City and the Bowery, where he confronts union
agitation, the specter of war and illegal immigration.


Voices blend seamlessly in the group numbers while soaring in solos of their
own.


Sally Groth's plaintive "Deportee" is about the tragic fate of a group of
nameless immigrants. MaryJo Alexander's patriotic "The Sinking of the Reuben
James" is a prelude to impending war. Keith E. Stevens's humorous "Talking
Subway Blues" centers on a newcomer navigating New York City's labyrinthine
public transport system. Hart sings of hope and a better life in "Better
World." Groth and Alexander's feisty "Union Maid" is a song of solidarity.


The rousing company finale "This Land Is Your Land," Guthrie's best-known
song, received a groundswell of audience participation and delight.
Deservedly so.


Thackaberry's staging keeps the actors moving and the narrative and tunes
humming like clockwork. Alexander's costumes - caps, fedoras and work
clothes for the men; plain shifts and shirtwaists for the women - augment
setting and character.


Like Odets, Guthrie was a communist sympathizer, although he was not
affiliated with any such American political party. His second wife Marjorie
Mazia (née Rosenblatt) was Jewish. In 2006, The Klezmatics set Jewish lyrics
written by Guthrie and Marjorie's mother, well-known Yiddish poet Alizia
Greenblatt, to music. Guthrie's son Arlo followed in his father's footsteps.


Guthrie's songs influenced a whole new generation of folk/protest singers,
such as Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, even Bruce Springsteen. In 1988, he was
inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.


The audience loved the musical revue. Me, too.


WHAT: “Woody Guthrie’s American Song”

WHERE: Actors’ Summit at

Greystone Hall, 103 S. High St.,

6th floor, Akron

WHEN: Through Oct. 30

TICKETS & INFO: 330-374-7568 or www.actorssummit.org
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