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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">CVLT’s “Greasepaint”
is all about the music<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">News-Herald,
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
/><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Chagrin</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> Times, Solon Times,
Geauga Times Courier<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Member,
International Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">This
review will appear in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald</I>
</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">on
9/14/12<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">A greater sense of
urgency, rarity and value get added to a sale, a service or a special event
whenever the words “limited time only” precede its promotion.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Such is the case with the Chagrin Valley
Little Theater’s limited-time-only production of the musical “The Roar of the
Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The urgency is
authentic, for the show runs for just three performances and all of them are
this weekend. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But what makes this
production truly rare and particularly valuable is the 24-piece Chagrin Falls
Studio Orchestra backing up each performance. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Full orchestration and the richness it
generates are not only unheard of in community theater circles, but smaller and
increasingly synthesized sound has become the norm in local professional
theaters and on cost-conscious national tours of Broadway productions. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">CVLT director Don
Edelman and CFSO conductor Stephen Eva began their partnership five years ago
with a concert version of “Guys and Dolls,” offering limited production values
and abbreviated dialogue but with all the music and a huge on-stage
orchestra.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Their collaborations
have progressed to fully staged musical productions including “Man of La Mancha”
and, now, Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley's 1965 Tony nominated
“Greasepaint.”<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Few shows are more
conducive to full orchestration but less in need of being fully staged than
“Greasepaint.”<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Its story is an
absurdist reflection of the British class system and the struggles between the
haves—personified by an older, overbearing character named Sir—and the lower
class have-nots—as represented by a younger cockney Everyman named Cocky.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In a series of scenes that tend to
resemble vaudevillian sketch comedy rather than narrative storytelling, the two
engage in a game where Sir makes up the rules in order to torture his vulnerable
playmate, while Cocky suffers stoically until finally standing up to his
tormenter.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Mostly, “Greasepaint” is
a series of wonderful songs that are tangentially related to and only slightly
inspired by the storyline.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In fact,
it often seems as if the tedious on-stage proceedings merely serve to set up the
many musical numbers. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>The show has faded into
relative obscurity, due in large part to its outdated social commentary, weak
script and outmoded pseudo-experimental presentation. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Still, several of its songs—including the
up-beat “On A Wonderful Day Like Today” and “Where Would You Be Without Me,” as
well as the ballads “Who Can I Turn To?” and “The Joker”—became cover classics
for popular performers in the 1960s and still hold up
today.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Consequently, the CVLT’s
full staging of this allegorical satire seems a fruitless enterprise despite
Edelman’s valiant effort to keep the on-stage antics lively and visually
interesting.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The musical
performances turned in by Edelman’s cast and Eva’s orchestra, however, are most
certainly worth the price of admission.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">An opportunity to
witness an early dress rehearsal revealed a stage stacked with exceptional
musical theater talent.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The six
young girls who comprise the chorus of street urchins—Sophi Dennis, Jeanne
Greminger, Sophie Longo, Emily McCulley, Ashleigh Nagy, and Lilly Saunders—are
enchanting, generate beautiful harmonies and nicely execute Ida Porris’
delightful choreography to underscore most of the musical numbers.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The operatic Evie Koh and Brian Keith
Johnson as The Girl and The Negro, respectively, and the adorable Caitlin
Houlahan as The Kid are each featured in only one song, but they excel in the
spotlight and leave you wanting more.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">As
for the leads, </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bob Keefe’s Sir and
Dan Hoy’s Cocky are an absolute pleasure to watch and listen to throughout the
production.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Hoy’s boyish charm
and sweet tenor lighten but do not lessen the emotional load written into his
songs, including </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">the
heartfelt "Who Can I Turn To?’ at the end of Act One and the exhilarating
"Nothing Can Stop Me Now!" in Act Two. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Keefe shows off his character actor chops
in every musical number that comes his way, delivering each with an air of amped
elitism that just barely buffers an underlying malevolence.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Both are superb.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Although a concerted
effort to turn “Greasepaint” into a concert performance would have been much
appreciated, the show’s music still manages to win the day.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But for a limited time
only.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">“The Roar of the
Greasepaint—The Smell of the Crowd” performances are September 14 to September
16</SPAN></I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">at the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, 40
River Street, Chagrin Falls.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For
tickets, which are $20, call 440-247-8955 or visit <B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><A href=""><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.cvlt.org</FONT></A>.</B><o:p></o:p></I></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>