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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" align=center><FONT
size=3><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN>CVLT’s ‘Cannibal! The Musical’ is so bad it’s good</SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></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">Bob
Abelman<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"><EM>News-Herald,
Morning Journal, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times,<o:p></o:p></EM></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"><EM>Geauga
Times Courier<o:p></o:p></EM></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">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><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">This
review will appear in the News-Herald</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> on 11/01/13<B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><o:p></o:p></B></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><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'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>It is a rare and wonderful thing when the low-budget,
no-frills theater space that is the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre’s River Street
Playhouse puts on a show that is actually intended to be low-budget and
no-frills.<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'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN>Equally rare and wonderful is when the typically conservative community
theater company opens itself up for something as </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>blatantly irreverent, thoroughly inane, and joyously stupefying as
</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black">Trey
Parker’s “</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN>Cannibal! The Musical.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>In 1997, Parker and his writing partner Matt Stone created
the acerbic animated TV comedy “South Park” that helped put the fledgling Comedy
Central cable network on the map.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>More recently, they created the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical “The
Book of Mormon.”<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'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN>Before all this, as a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder
in 1993, Parker wrote, produced and starred in “Alferd Packer: The Musical,” a
film</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN> very loosely based on the true story of a 1870’s Gold Rush travel guide
who leaves his fellow travelers dead and partially eaten in the Colorado
hills.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>Several years later, an enterprising amateur theater troupe turned the
film into the stage play </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black">“</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN>Cannibal! The Musical,”</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN> which has been revised and remounted at equally enterprising amateur
theaters ever since.<SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>Yes, the play unabashedly dishonors the dead by turning
real people into caricatures and their untimely demise into black
comedy.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>And, sure, it sets the act of cannibalism to whimsical
music with playful choreography.<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'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>But it is done by the guys who have raised planting tongue
firmly in someone else’s cheek into an art form.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Parker and Stone are infamous for going
for the gross-out laugh, and nailing it, and purposefully seeking and destroying
the rules of conformity, convention and proper etiquette. They delight in doing
so.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>So, yes, this is an absolutely
ridiculous piece of theater.<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'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>And a fine example of it.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN>Still, as a precursory work, </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black">“</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN>Cannibal! The Musical” lacks the sharp wit found in “South Park” and the
clever undertones of parody that makes “The Book of Mormon” so much fun. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Its songs </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN>are merely </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">serviceable.</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And, as a movie turned
stage play, the quick edits that connected its many short scenes on film have
become more time-consuming and cumbersome interruptions in the
action.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>But it is funny to the core and, with astute add-ons and
hilarious contemporary references inserted by Andrew Rothman, the show’s
director and music director, the musical manages to capture what Parker and
Stone have become known for.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is
raw.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is raunchy.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is riotous.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>Best of all, Rothman fills the stage with game and talented
performers who understand the juvenile journey they have taken and relish in
it.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>Seth Clerget, Genevieve Vince, Chris Macchione, John Wright
and Dennis Burby play the very odd assortment of miners who embark on the
ill-fated expedition from Utah to Colorado, and are a pleasure to watch
throughout the entire production.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Their comic timing is impeccable and each performer gets a moment to
shine in a solo or ensemble number.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Clerget’s rendition of the corny “Let’s Build a Snowman,” sung while
hallucinating from starvation, is a particularly outrageous
highlight.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>As a rag-tag gang of nasty fur trappers, Ron L. Davis,
Robert Pollock, and Craig Gifford are hilarious.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Davis, the oversized bully of the bunch,
comes equipped with an absolutely gorgeous singing voice, which adds an element
of surprise to a production with no shortage of
them.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>Standout performances are turned in by James Paquignot as
Packer, Laura Henri as his noble steed Liane, and Colleen O’Leary as reporter
Polly Pry, who is chronicling Packer’s adventure. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Henri manages to charm the audience
without uttering a single word, and all three maintain their dignity and
straight faces despite the silliness that surrounds
them.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>The delightful Carlos Piepenburg, Natalie Dolezal, Assad
Khaishgi, and Alison Arko fill out the cast.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><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-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"
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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">So
sit back, leave your political correctness at the door, and enjoy the
inanity.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Come hungry for outlandish
comedy, with a side of Utah miner.</SPAN><FONT face=Calibri><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </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></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">"Cannibal! The
Musical”</SPAN></I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> <I>c</I><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">ontinues through November 2 at the CVLT’s
River Street Playhouse, 56 River Street, Chagrin Falls.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets, which are $12, call
440-247-8955 or visit <B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><A href=""><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.cvlt.org</FONT></A></B></I></SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style="COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>