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class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Great Lakes Theater
offers a highly spirited ‘Blithe Spirit’<SPAN style="COLOR: black">
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/><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; 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">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">News-Herald,
Chagrin Valley 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">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"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This
review will appear in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald
o</I></SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">n
3/8/13<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-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p><FONT
face=Calibri> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="COLOR: #222222; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Noël </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Coward’s “Blithe Spirit,” first staged in London in
1941, is the comedic equivalent of a dry martini.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Comprised of urbane smugness, just a hint of
slapstick and stirred (the worlds created by <SPAN style="COLOR: #222222">Noël
</SPAN>Coward are never shaken), the play is considered low-shelf stuff compared
to Cowards’ more successful “Private Lives” and “Hay Fever.” <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is, however, still clever, caustic and
particularly funny in the hands of Great Lakes Theater.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Classified as a “comedy of manners,” “Blithe
Spirit” is</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>
set in the sophisticated world of the upper class and serves to ridicule the
pretensions of those who consider themselves socially superior.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Witty dialogue presented through
rapid-fire delivery, rather than complicated plots or complex characters, drives
these plays.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Their </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">humor resides in witnessing reserved, typically
unaffected, upper-crust Brits addressing an utterly improbable and absurd
situation, and becoming increasingly nonplused. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>“Blithe Spirit” concerns
the socialite and novelist Charles Condomine </SPAN><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">(Eric Damon Smith)</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>, who invites the
eccentric clairvoyant, Madame Arcati (</SPAN><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Laurie Birmingham) and friends (Aled
Davies and Molly McGinnis)</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN> to his house for a
séance, hoping to gather material for his next book. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The séance inadvertently opens a pathway
for poltergeists and Charles is visited by his ethereal and beautiful first
wife, Elvira </SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">(Shanara
Gabrielle)</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>.
<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Elvira decides to stay for a while
and haunt Charles' marriage to his second wife, Ruth </SPAN><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">(Maggie Kettering)</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>, who cannot see, hear,
or tolerate the aberration.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">“Comedy of manners” storytelling is foreign-born and
woefully outdated, but the GLT effectively facilitates our acclimation to this
nearly <SPAN style="COLOR: black">three-hour, three-act excursion and it does so
from the get-to</SPAN>.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">P<SPAN style="COLOR: black">rior to Charles’ nine-page,
four-martini presentation of the exposition, which opens this play and justifies
its pretense, we are offered a delightful pantomime by Edith the maid (Jodi
Dominick).<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>According to Coward’s
brief stage direction in the script, Edith comes in “carrying, rather uneasily,
a large tray of cocktail things.”<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Dominick turns this simple note into comedic genius as she awkwardly
balances the load and—subtly choreographed to period music playing in the
background—agonizes over each and every items’ proper placement. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The audience is now properly entertained,
primed and ready for the evening’s festivities. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="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'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">In
general, director </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Charles
Fee</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> wastes
no opportunities to create interesting movement on the stage where none exists
on the page in order to keep this production moving at progressively breakneck
speed. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Keeping pace with their
witty repartee, </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Smith
and Kettering are wonderful as the </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>Condomines.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He a dapper milquetoast and she a
no-nonsense matron with little patience for his frailties, both are delightful
to watch throughout this 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; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><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">Gabrielle,
as Elvira, makes it easy to buy into Charles’ predicament of being attracted to
the dead.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Her 1940’s era
flirtation—framed i</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">n
platinum curls, a skin-clinging gown designed by Kim Krumm Sorenson, and
heels—creates wonderful 1940’s era sexual tension. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="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'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The
best thing about this production is Birmingham, who’s every motion and movement
as </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>Madame Arcati</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><FONT face=Calibri> </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">is
superbly eccentric.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Whether she is
roaming the room sensing ectoplasmic energy through her wrists, waving aimlessly
through air in search for the invisible </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Elvira,
or dancing with abandon to attract the spirit she uses to allure those who have
crossed over, Birmingham’s actions never fail to get a h</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">it-the-funny-bone
reaction.</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN><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><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><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">All
this takes place in the beautifully constructed and well appointed Condomine
living room.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Designer Russell
Metheny has an amazing eye for detail, best reflected in the tall wood paneling
and period furniture, and a gift for hiding the mechanics that generate the
set’s destruction at the hands of angry spirits.<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="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'">Like
a well made dry martini, “Blithe Spirit” offers </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">pure
escapism that is easy to consume.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>This fine production of it leaves you particularly lightheaded at the end
of the evening.<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"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">“Blithe Spirit” continues through March 10 at
PlayhouseSquare’s Hanna Theatre in downtown Cleveland.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets, which range from $15 to
$70, call 216-241-6000 or visit <B><A href=""><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal"><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.greatlakestheater.org</FONT></SPAN></A>.</B></SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>