<div dir="ltr"><span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)"><br><br>*******************************************************</span><br><br>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">Sci-fi musical,<span style> </span>STARMITES, should delight many at
Porthouse</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">Roy Berko</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino;color:black">(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics
Circle)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">There
was “Star Trek.”<span style> </span>Then “Star
Wars.”<span style> </span>Then there were the
werewolves and vampires.<span style> </span>Then
“Hunger Games.” Now there is “Starmites.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">On
the surface, “Starmites” is a farcical musical about Eleanor, a shy, awkward,
teenage girl who escapes from the real world through an obsession with sci-fi
comic books. <span style> </span>Her walls are
covered with space age drawings.<span style>
</span>Her bedspread and stuffed animals follow suit.<span style> </span>Much to the consternation of her mother, the bedroom is
enveloped in comic books.<span style>
</span>Something has to change!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Change
comes when Eleanor becomes a participant in her fantasies and she gets involved
in an intergalactic adventure in which she is carried off into a conflict
between the evil Shak Graa and the Starmites, guardian angels of
Innerspace.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The
“mites” believe that Eleanor is pre-ordained to save the universe. (<i style>What kind of fantasy would this be without a
shy female who turns from nerd to heroine</i>?)<span style> </span>Her task is to find a powerful musical instrument (which is
also a ray gun) before it falls into the hands of Shak Graa.<span style> </span>(<i style>Ah,
the intrigue builds</i>.)<span style> </span>In
their quest, the Starmites and Eleanor are joined by a lizard named Trinkulus
who leads them into the Shriekwood forest.<span style> </span>(<i style>Be wary of the green
lizard that appears from nowhere!</i>)<span style>
</span>Of course, in the process, Eleanor and Space Punk, the leader of the
Starmites, fall in love.<span style> </span>(<i style>Don’t roll your eyes, this is a female tween
fantasy and there has to be a love story</i>.) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Of
course there are a couple of plot twists, a challenge to the destruction of the
lives of the young lovers, but in the end the shy one and her geeky boy friend
win out.<span style> </span>(<i style>Would you expect anything else?</i>)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">If
one were to analyze the goings on of this youthful, high-energy fantasy, they’d
discover a theme of discovering self-confidence, building self-esteem, and how we
discover the center of our strength.<span style>
</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The
script contains many spoofs on the sci-fi genre that might go right over the
heads of adults and young children, but the tweens who I was watching in the
audience seemed much more attuned to the references and the experiences of
right versus wrong in an out of the world way, and “in” references to the
on-going language and plight of the mid-young set.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">“Starmites,”
with music and lyrics by Barry Keating and book by Stuart Ross and Keating, saw
its first light in 1980 at the Off-Off-Broadway Ark Theatre.<span style> </span>It then moved Off-Broadway in 1987 and
on to the Great White Way in 1989, where it ran for 60 performances.<span style> </span>It received six Tony Award nominations,
including Best Musical.<span style> </span>(<i style>That must have been a weak Broadway
season.<span style> </span>Yes, the winner was Jerome
Robbins’ “Broadway” with the other nominee being “Black and Blue.”<span style> </span>The never heard from again, “Blue and
Black”</i>).<span style> </span>Even with that
underwhelming<span style> </span>competition, <span style> </span>“Starmites” won no awards.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">Keating’s
music is mostly doo-wop, with a little gospel and ballad sounds thrown in.<span style> </span>The songs, none of which hit the top ten,
include “Superhero Girl,” “Afraid of the Dark,” “Attack of the Banshees,” “The
Dance of Spousal Arousal,” and “Imolation.”<span style> </span>(<i style>No, I did not
conjure-up these title</i>!)<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">Interestingly,
there are three different versions of “Starmites.”<span style> </span>A junior version is intended for grade and middle schools.
“Starmites High School” is aimed at the upper school grades, and “Starmites
Pro,” the version being produced at Porthouse, is intended for community
theatre and professional-level productions.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">Porthouse’s
production, under the direction of Michael McIntosh, has some nice
touches.<span style> </span>It also misses out on
some of the intended fun.<span style> </span>There
were just not enough Marx Brother’s moments.<span style> </span>The script is fantasy, high farce, ridiculous. The audience
laughed in parts, where they should have been hysterical.<span style> </span>The pace was too languid. (<i style>Since I saw a preview performance it is
hoped that once the cast gets used to playing before an audience, they <span style> </span>will let loose, have more fun, and play
for the laughs and realize the ridiculousness of the script.<span style> </span>Hey guys and gals, this isn’t Arthur
Miller or Tennessee Williams.</i>)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">The
music was fine, but needed to have some Spike Jones-like sounds to accent and
underscore the ironic idiocy.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">The
comic book set, props and costumes were okay, but, they, too, could have been
more outlandish.<span style> </span>The choreography
needed more verve, more gimmicks and less traditional “Broadway” moves.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">There
were some nice performances.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">Lucy
Anders, as Eleanor, has a nice voice.<span style>
</span>Her “Love Duet,” sung with the animated, comic and dance-talented,
Daniel Lindenberger, (the most Broadway- ready of the student performers), was well
performed.<span style> </span>Lindenberger and the
Starmites’ (Elliott Lintherland, Dylan Ratell and Christopher Tuck) rendition
of “Milady” was nicely sung but needed a little more dynamism.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">Colleen
Longshaw wailed in “Hard to Be Diva.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">“Reach
Right Down” sung by The Starmites, Diva, Eleanor and the Banshees (Jessica
Nicole Benson, Grace Falasco, Miriam Henkel-Moellmann and Mackenzie Duan)
rocked the house.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.4pt"><i style><span style="font-family:Palatino">CAPSULE JUDGMENT: Artistic Director <span style="color:black">Terri Kent and the Porthouse staff, knowing their audiences,
usually play it safe, producing the tried and true musicals (e.g., “My Fair
Lady,” “Sound of Music.”)<span style> </span>Doing
“Starmites” was a stretch.<span style> </span>It will
be interesting to evaluate how the audiences respond and whether that
encourages future stretching of the boundaries.<span style> </span>(I’d love to see them do “First Date” or “Bridges of Madison
County,” recent Broadway shows.)<span style> </span>As
for the production, I would have preferred that, as the powers that be had
picked a ridiculous farce, that director Michael Macintosh, had pulled out all
the stops and created a staging that was parallel to the bizarre sci-fi plot.</span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:rgb(26,26,26)"> </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">“Starmites” runs from
July 19, 2014 at Porthouse Theatre, on the grounds of Blossom Music Center. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">NEXT UP AT PORTHOUSE:
“Oliver”” which runs </span><span style="font-family:Palatino">July 24-August 10.<span style> </span><span style>Curtain time is</span> 8 PM Tuesdays through
Saturdays and 2 PM Sundays. The picnic grounds at Porthouse open 90-minutes
prior to curtain time.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">For tickets </span><span style="font-family:Palatino"><a href="http://www.porthousetheatre.com/"><span style="color:windowtext">http://www.porthousetheatre.com</span></a></span><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style> </span>or
330-929-4416 or 330-672-3884</p>
<span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)"><br>••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••</span><br></div>