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<p class=topstorytitle align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=5
color=red face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:red'>Actors’
Summit’s ‘Main-Travelled Roads’ ‘excellent’<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><strong><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>9/25/2008
- </span></font></b></strong><em><b><i><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-weight:bold'>West Side Leader</span></font></i></b></em><br>
<em><i><font face="Times New Roman">By David Ritchey</font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<h3><em><b><i><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Production
features fine acting, directing</span></font></i></b></em><o:p></o:p></h3>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>HUDSON
— The bad economy in this country has begun to show its ugly face on the
stages of American’s theaters. Few theaters can afford big, elaborate
productions.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Many
theaters need small cast shows that require only one set or a fragment set.
Think of “The Fantasticks,” a favorite of schools and community
theaters for years.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Playwrights
have caught on by thinking small.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>And
Actors’ Summit Theater is staging the small production — four
performers and one piano player with a fragment set — “The
Main-Travelled Roads.” It is on stage through Oct. 5.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
production at Actors’ Summit only is the second staging of “The
Main-Travelled Roads.” We can expect this script to become a favorite of
community theaters.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>“The
Main-Travelled Roads” is a musical by Paul Libman (music) and David Hudson
(book and lyrics). The play is based on short stories by Hamlin Garland. In his
book, “The Main-Travelled Roads,” Garland told stories of life in
rural Wisconsin. As the stories move forward in time, the audience can see how
developing technology changes the characters’ lives. For example, Dave
Johnson (Stephen Brockway) owns a threshing business and the horses need to
pull the threshing machine. However, Johnson finds his economic situation
deteriorating as other farmers buy gasoline-powered threshing machines.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Garland
wrote tender love stories set against a rural world and created a landscape
scarcely populated. A farmer might own 1,000 acres. A girl has few options for
a husband simply because she has little contact with men of a marriageable age.
Life is emotionally and physically difficult. Everyone in the family has to
work to keep the farm profitable.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Director
and choreographer Sasha Thackaberry made a wise decision — she made the
stories the star of the production. That decision lifts the production to a
higher level — intellectually and emotionally.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
stories are wound together in a tight braid that holds the audience’s
attention. First, Aggie Dingman (Kathleen Culler) and Will Hannan (Keith
Stevens) have a romantic moonlight ride in his horse-drawn wagon. This is one
date, but they’re in love. (I suspect these things moved faster in rural
Wisconsin in the late 19th century.) But when Will doesn’t show up to
take Aggie to the county fair, she goes with Dave Johnson.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Will has
a legitimate excuse (and this is long before cell phones). And six years later,
he shows up at Dave and Aggie’s home. Will is a success. Aggie has a
child, is exhausted and is married to an abusive husband.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In
another part of the county, Ed Kinney (also played by Brockway) is known as the
“Creamery Man.” Ed is single and is considered the best looking man
in the county. He takes a shine to Lucinda Kennedy (also played by Culler), the
cutest gal in Molasses Gap. But she goes away to school and returns a changed
woman.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In that
year, Ed started flirting with Nina (C.J. Bonde), a Dutch (German) girl. Nina
falls for Ed, but he still loves Lucinda.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In town,
Delia Hall (also played by Bonde) and Otis Hall (also played by Stevens) have
found the good life in their beautiful home filled with expensive items. They
married at a mature age. He is a successful attorney. She dresses in silks and
satins.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Circumstances
beyond their control tie the lives of these three couples together forever.
Their stories, laced with good music and lyrics, make for a pleasant evening in
the theater.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
authors never promise that love will make everything right in a rugged, rural
world. But the audience can hope that everyone lives happily ever after.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
talented cast is balanced in abilities to act, sing and dance. Stevens, Bonde
and Culler have performed in several productions at Actors’ Summit. They
bring plenty of youthful energy to their performances. This is Brockway’s
first performance with Actors’ Summit, and he’s a welcomed addition
to the company.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The four
performers take the stage with energy, enthusiasm and honesty about the
characters they play. This is a winning quartet.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Musical
director Evie Morris sits at a piano and does an excellent job accompanying the
musical numbers. In one intriguing number, Lucinda practices the piano on a
table (pretend it’s a piano), while Morris plays the notes on a real
piano.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Libman
and Hudson are working on another script that may help solidify their
reputations as outstanding contributions to American musical theater. The road
to Actors’ Summit should be well traveled by theater-goers who want to
see this excellent production before it closes.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>For
ticket information, call (330) 342-0800. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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