[NEohioPAL] Berko review: BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE @ Cleveland Play House

[Roy Berko]

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

 *Entertaining BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE at Cleveland Play House*

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)

Since it moved into its new digs at the Allen Theatre, Cleveland Play House
has been on a roll.  Attendance has skyrocketed, they are operating three
theatres with spaces that allow for creative and technically complicated
staging.  The artistic staff has selected challenging and interesting
shows, including LOMBARDI, IN THE NEXT ROOM (OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY), RADIO
GOLF, RED, THE WHIPPING MAN, ONE NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN.  Even their
recent holiday show, A CAROL FOR CHRISTMAS, though not the aesthetic
quality of other productions, was an attempt to bring positive attention by
melding the talent of a local playwright with a local writer, and to create
a new local holiday tradition.
One can only wonder why the powers that be decided to pick John Van
Druten’s lightweight comedy, BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE for its winter opener.

The program indicates that the play is a “classic.”  By what standard?  It
is definitely not an American classic in the vein of LONG DAY’S JOURNEY
INTO NIGHT, OUR TOWN, or DEATH OF A SALESMAN.  It doesn’t compare with such
classic stage comedies as YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU, HARVEY or THE MAN WHO
CAME TO DINNER.  In fact, if a list of classics had to include a Van Druten
play, it would most likely be I AM A CAMERA, which was transformed into the
compelling musical CABARET.

BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE, which opened in November of 1950 ,and closed the
next June, received mediocre reviews in its Broadway run in spite of a cast
that included Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer.  The script would probably
have faded from view if not for the Kim Novak, Jimmy Stewart 1958 movie.

The plot concerns Gillian Holroyd, a witch who casts a spell on book
publisher Shepherd Henderson, her attractive upstairs neighbor.   Numerous
complications get in the way of their romance including her uninhibited
fellow-witch, Auntie, who lives in the same building as the potential lover
and keeps playing tricks on Shepherd.  Nicky, Gillian’s immature brother,
is a warlock who likes also to play tricks, and Sidney is a writer who
Henderson wants to sign to write a volume on witchcraft. There is also the
issue of Pywacket, Gillian’s cat, who is actually the witch’s familiar
companion, who helps carry out her mystic deeds.  And there is the problem
that witches must choose between the life of a bedeviler or that of a
normal person.  Living in both worlds is not acceptable.

The title of the play refers to the methods used by the Catholic Church to
cast out demons and witches, which gets a fleeting reference in the script.

The CPH production, under the direction of artistic director Michael Bloom,
is entertaining.  It misses out, however, on some of the potential fun by
minimizing visual illusions that usual make fantasy comedies work,
including explosions, turning people into other people or things, magic
tricks, and vanishing acts, which are expected by audiences.  There are
only a couple of minor tricks, and using a fake cat in place of a real
animal, cut down on the “oh-ah” factor when animals appear on stage (e.g.,
Sandy in the musical ANNIE and Bruiser, the Chihuahua, in LEGALLY
BLONDE).  Some
of the most delightful moments center on the dancing segments while set
pieces are being adjusted.

Georgia Cohen is properly sultry as Gillian, but a little more Rosalind
Russell-like delightfulness might have helped.   Patricia Kilgarriff is
amusing, full of nervous energy and Betty White cuteness as Miss Holroyd,
“Auntie.”  Marc Moritz gives nice eccentric energy to the role of Sidney
Redlich, an alcoholic  writer,  and Jeremy Webb is properly boyish as
Gillian’s immature brother.  He makes it easy to imagine his glee when the
character supposedly turns all the traffic lights on Park Avenue green at
the same time.

Eric Martin Brown has the matinee idol good looks, but fails to create a
real person as Shepherd.  His lines often lack reality and there is little
romantic spark between him and Gillian.

Russell Parkman’s three-level set works well, but the oversaturation of
colors and objects overwhelms the senses and distracts from the performers.
David Kay Mickelson’s costumes are era and mood correct.

*CAPSULE JUDGMENT: BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE is a pleasant, but not compelling
evening of theatre.  The dated script doesn’t do much to help keep the
Cleveland Play House’s recent run of masterful works rolling.*
* *



BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE runs through at the Allen Theatre.  For tickets call
216-241-6000 or go to www.clevelandplayhouse.com.
*********************************
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20130118/27e4a603/attachment-0004.htm>