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align=center><FONT face=Georgia><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: arial'>Mercury
salvages a saccharine </SPAN></B><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ">‘Chaplin’</SPAN></B></FONT><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
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face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
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align=center><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face=Georgia>Bob Abelman</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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align=center><I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face=Georgia>Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning
Journal</FONT></SPAN></I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia>Three things become abundantly clear
while watching Mercury Theater Company’s production of “Chaplin,” the
bio-musical about the creator of the Tramp and his epic rise and dramatic fall
in silent film-era Hollywood.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia>The first is that the show is a devised
star vehicle for the rare performer who can not only act and sing but
convincingly emulate Charlie Chaplin’s endearing on-screen persona.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Mastering the Tramp’s naiveté, pathos,
subtlety and underlying athleticism is a difficult task made even more so by the
show’s frequent display of archival film footage of the real Chaplin in action,
which provides an immediate and potentially humbling point of comparison.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ">The second and third is
that</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial">
</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ">Brian Marshall was born for the role and
there is nothing humbling about his portrayal.</SPAN></FONT></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"'>For
more of this review, go to: </SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/</FONT></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>