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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">CPH’s ‘Lombardi’ is
an imperfect play about an imperfect man<?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
9/28/12<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black; 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">Huddle
up.<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">In the playbill for
the Cleveland Play House’s </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">“Lombardi,”
</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">director
Casey Stangl suggests that the play is about more than a legendary football
coach and more than just football.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>No.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>No it’s not.<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">Despite her promise
that this </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">biographical
drama by Eric Simonson</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> offers something for
everyone, there is in fact very little for anyone.<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">This play is about
Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">1959
to 1967</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
Green Bay Packers and his infamous temper.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Yet, it is told primarily through the eyes of a <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Look</I> magazine journalist seeking—and
failing miserably to obtain—insight into the man and the mystery behind his
winning ways.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The running joke in
the story is that Lombardi is absolutely inaccessible, but this subsequently
results in storytelling that reveals very little.<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">Watching an old NFL
Film documentary would be more insightful than this 95-minute drama.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>So, too, would reading the actual,
scathing <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Esquire</I> e<STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1a1a1a; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">xposé</SPAN></STRONG>
on Lombardi that serves as the justification for the fictitious <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Look</I> magazine counter-article being
written in this play. So would perusing Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David
Maraniss’ book <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">When Pride Still Mattered,
</I>on<I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> </I>which this play is based.
<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"><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">It is ironic that the
projected image of a football field that fills the back of the Allen Theatre
stage during this production places the audience on the 25 yard line.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>While its intention is to give us the
impression of being right on the sidelines and privy to insider information, it
actually reminds us of our limited vantage point and obstructed
view.<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 biggest problem
with </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">“Lombardi”
as a piece of theater is that </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">the play is written
as if it were several one-man shows strung together.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The dilemma is not that various
perspectives on the same subject are being offered; it’s that they are
stand-alone expositions that lack a fluid, connective, or accumulative
narrative.<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">Here is the story as
told by the reporter Michael McCormick, played with extraordinary charm by Nick
Mills.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He stands in the spotlight,
talks directly to the audience as if we were buddies, and discloses about his
frustrations with this assignment.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Throughout the production he breaks away from its limited action and
breaks the 4<SUP>th</SUP> wall to share with us his latest failure at
penetrating Lombardi’s hard shell and stubborn
defensiveness.<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"><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">Now here is the story
being told by Lombardi himself, well impersonated although slightly understated
by Bob Ari.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He bursts onto the
stage, yells at the audience as if we just missed a tackle, and offers his
much-quoted wisdom-under-fire.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He
then hustles off again to chew out some other victim, tell the reporter
that</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">
“all that was off the record,”</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> draw up the power
sweep on a blackboard, or reappear in a short scene involving a player or his
wife. <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"><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">Now here is the story
being told by Mrs. Lombardi, played with aplomb by DeeDee Rescher.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Her steady diet of highballs loosens her
tongue just enough to want to share some real insight into her husband but not
nearly enough to carry it through.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Rescher, the recipient of the play’s best writing, serves as the show’s
comic relief and excels in this regard.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>She is the most interesting and entertaining thing on
stage.<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">Now here are the
ballplayers—played by Branton Box, William Oliver Watkins, David Hardie, and
their overdeveloped abs—who represent the variety of challenges facing Lombardi
during his tenure as coach and general manager.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They introduce us to the bad behavior,
business, and brotherhood that are as much a part of the game as the Xs and Os,
but they do so in spurts and just barely.<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">Following suit, the
show is unfortunately staged with the predictable, formulaic conventions of a
one-man show.<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">It uses
technology—including rear screen projections designed by Jeffrey Cady—to create
a sense of time, place, and transition to fill in the blanks in the
narrative.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>James Swonger’s set
pieces fly on, off and through the stage to attempt to make the production more
visually stimulating than the script affords.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In an act of dramatic desperation,
Lombardi comes on stage to deliver one last, inspirational speech after the
reporter has already declared him dead.<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">Stangl keeps things
moving on stage at a rapid clip, </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">but
the play’s basic structure and uncompelling writing deprives it of any dramatic
momentum.</SPAN><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">One of the final
lines in the play is from the reporter, who suggests that Lombardi was the “most
imperfect perfect man.”<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is
fitting though unfortunate, then, that his story is depicted in an imperfect
play.<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><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">“Lombardi”
</SPAN></I><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">continues
through October 7 in Cleveland Play House’s Allen Theater at
PlayhouseSquare.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets, which
range from $49 to $69, call </SPAN></I><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">216-241-6000 or visit
<A href=""><FONT color=#0000ff>www.clevelandplayhouse.com</FONT></A>.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN></I><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></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>