[NEohioPAL] Review of "Miracle & Wonder" at Ensemble Theatre

[Bob Abelman]

Ensemble's 'Miracle & Wonder' decks the hall with bounds of folly 

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 11/23/12

 

 

It's a bit of a stretch to think of reality TV as educational, but there are lessons to be learned by watching "American Idol."  The most significant is that it is frighteningly difficult to win the hearts of a nation and be the next big thing.  When it comes to entertainment, we are creatures of habit who find comfort in the familiar.

 

When it comes to holiday entertainment, where we find comfort and joy/comfort and joy in our traditions, we are even less open to change.  

 

Great Lakes Theater has offered "A Christmas Carol" to sold out audiences for 24 consecutive years.  "Black Nativity" has been a staple at the Karamu House since 1961.  From November through January, productions of "Annie" are everywhere.  Traditions have staying power not easily usurped by newcomers and wannabes. 

.  

Cleveland Heights playwright Jonathan Wilhelm must not have gotten the memo.  His holiday comedy, "Miracle & Wonder," is having its world premiere at Ensemble Theatre and is vying for a place at the table of Yuletide favorites.

 

It just might succeed.

 

While a brand new work, this play seems to be formulated from the same recognizable recipe used in current holiday favorites.  It just picks and chooses ingredients and follows directions with the kind of creative irreverence that comes from having consumed way too much eggnog beforehand.  

 

The play's opening is not unlike those cheery holiday TV specials starring the cast of a popular sitcom.  It is so full of punch line-laced banter that one half expects actors from "Happy Days" to arrive at the door with gifts.  But then the silly comedy takes a backseat, this heartfelt play finds its own narrative footing, and intelligent storytelling reveals itself.     

 

"Miracle & Wonder" contains a dash of the claymated version of "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer," in that its characters apparently come from the Island of Misfit Toys.  Everyone in this play is broken or incomplete and in desperate need of repair.  It's these quirky inadequacies that fuel all that is funny in this play.  It's the repairs that take place-the spiritual healing, the moral redemption, and the emotional voids being filled-that is the focus of attention, drives the drama, and provides the play's quota of warm and fuzzy moments.

 

There's a pinch of "It's a Wonderful Life" as well, for an angel (an absolutely delightful John Busser) serves as the repairman.   Rather than wearing standard issue wings and halo, however, this angel is the stuff of Jewish mysticism and is more likely to recite parables than sing hymns as he travels from one damaged soul to another.

 

As are most seasonal entertainments, "Miracle & Wonder" offers a heaping helping of family.  Yet, this play features families that are creatures of circumstance rather than created by conception.  A young African-American girl (Lauryn Hobbs) is the adopted child of Jewish parents.  Her best friend (Katie Wilkinson) is being raised by a gay man (Curt Arnold) whose mother (Anne McEvoy) is not really his mother.  An obsessive-compulsive kindergarten teacher (Agnes Herrmann) learns that her live-in mother-in-law (Lissy Gulick) is not really related to her husband, and that her husband is not really married to her.  These people are somehow connected to one another and are kin-by-kindness to Polly Esther (Tim Tavcar), a lonely drag queen.

 

All the exposition required to establish each character's storyline and the connection between them is occasionally burdensome.  But thanks to truly superb performances (the scenes between Gulick and McEvoy rival any found on any other stage in any other production), director Ian Hinz's clear vision and steady hand, and adorable singing cherubs facilitating the frequent set changes, the evening flows with miracle and wonder.

 

Move over "Miracle on 34th Street."  There's a new holiday entertainment in town whose quirky charm, abundant sense of humor, and tender message introduces a unique and welcome brand of Christmas cheer to the mix.

 

"Miracle & Wonder" continues through December 2 at the Ensemble Theatre in Cleveland Hts.  For tickets, which range from $10 to $20, call 216-321-2930 or visit www.ensemble-theatre.org.

 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20121120/61728591/attachment-0004.htm>