Running time 2:15 - one intermission
A lifeless performance of the fantasy coming of age musical
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Storyline: A troupe of medieval players use all their theatrical tricks to tell the story of the son of Emperor Charlemagne who searches for fulfillment in many avenues but finds each insufficiently satisfying and fulfilling to devote his entire life to just one activity. It’s the old “is that all there is?” quandary.

In this production, Pippin is Joseph Garlock, and he's the strongest performer in the cast. He has a strong stage presence, obviously has worked through each of the moments of the show so he knows what he is about at every moment, and he sells both the songs and the skit material. With a satisfactory ensemble, he could hold his own and make the show enjoyable.

Genevieve James, as the lead Player, could pull off a similar quality performance but she has a fairly shrill voice which draws attention to any notes that aren't right on pitch. She certainly strides across the stage with a sense of confidence, which is something the members of the ensemble fail to do. Andrew Vergara Retizos throws himself into the festivities with aplomb in the role of Pippin's brother, the strutting soldier who revels in his own physique. Suzanne Edgar, as Pippin's love interest, has a number of strong moments in the second act and she sings well. But these pleasures are separated by lumbering ensemble numbers and gags that just do not seem to land. The often-show-stopping "No Time At All" is rendered competently by Maureen Campbell but she suffers from the fact that, to that point, there hadn't been a show to stop.

Again, as with the last show we reviewed here (You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown) James D. Watson is the musical director leading the small combo at a keyboard visible behind the set. Because it is located behind the singers, the combo again sounds soft and muffled relative to the vocal performances. If those vocal performances were better, that would probably be acceptable, perhaps even commendable. As it is, the sound seeming distant tends to emphasize the lack of intensity in the performance.

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Book by Roger O. Hirson. Directed by Don DeHanas. Choreography by Michael Mildenstein. Musical direction by James D. Watson. Design: Trey Thomas (set) Melody Sciarratta (costumes and properties) Dawn Bush (make-up) Craig Hower (photography) Mel Gilpin (sound and stage management). Cast: Maureen Campbell, Alex DeLeon, Suzanne Edgar, Sean Michael Fraser, Joseph Garlock, Sara Huff, Genevieve James, Amanda Lane, Andrew Vergara Retizos, Quentin Nash Sagers, Mary E. Theidemen.

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Reviewed May 5
Running time: 2:05 - one intermission
A clever and tuneful set of vignettes
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Storyline: A day in the life of Charlie Brown begins as he is, of course, late for school. He suffers all the trauma of lunch-time and the angst of wondering if the cute little redheaded girl will notice him. While his dog fantasizes, his family and friends go about their daily routines. He struggles with a kite, undergoes psychotherapy from “the doctor is in” Lucy and attempts to inspire his baseball team to avoid a total failure of a season. In the end, he is assured by all assembled that he is, in fact, “a good man, Charlie Brown.”

Mike Mortensen looks the part of the title character with his short blond hair and round face and he does a nice job on both the opening lunch break scene ("Is the little read headed girl looking at me?") and the kite-flying scene with its simple but effective "special effect" of a kite string stretched to the top of a pillar. Malinda Ellerman is often quite funny as the crabby Lucy with her adoring glances at Schroeder and her emphatic lesson in little known facts (snow comes up out of the ground but the wind blows it around making it look like it is coming down out of the sky!) Stacee Prigmore Monroe has a strong belting voice, an unusual aspect for someone cast as Snoopy. "Suppertime", however, requires something more than belting and her vignettes on top of the dog house ("Curse you, Red Barron!") drag a bit. Genevieve James has a strong sense of attitude as the new character Sally, one that was created on Broadway for Kristin Chenoweth, and Andy Tonken captures some of the comic blend of insecurity and assurance of Linus who goes from dancing with his security blanket to reassuring his sister that she has at least one thing that makes her special - she has a brother who loves her.

The simple set uses boxes painted in primary colors in front of walls featuring cut outs of Schultz' characters. In a neat device for the opening, all of the characters except Charlie are first seen with the actors holding masks which are the faces from those cut outs. At the end of the title song, the masks are slipped into slots on the walls of the set, completing the cartoon images of Lucy, Sally, Snoopy, Linus and Schroeder. The costumes nicely reflect the look of the original cartoons.

The four piece band is headed by musical director James Watson on keyboard who is visible through an opening in the back wall of the playing area. His visibility is incorporated into the show with Matthew J. Reckeweg's "Schroeder" called over to the keyboard position to push the button to add a sound effect to the music at the beginning of the second act. Watson does some nice piano-effect support, especially for Charlie Brown's number "The Kite," but the violin that is to add some richness and depth to the accompaniment too often goes sour.

Music, lyrics and book by Clark Gesner. Directed by Bill Graves. Choreography by Christopher Gerken. Musical direction by James D. Watson. Design: Donald Ely (set) Janet Zavistovich (photography) Melissa Gilpin (stage manager). Cast: Malinda Ellerman, Genevieve James, Stacee Prigmore Monroe, Mike Mortensen, Matthew J. Reckeweg, Andy Tonken.

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Reviewed July 30
Running time 2:05 - one intermission
A joyous and spirited performance
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Storyline: A group of young people gather to explore the Biblical stories of the teachings of Jesus drawing from the Gospel According to St. Matthew (and other gospels). They act out many of the parables, and, as their camaraderie strengthens through the collaboration, advance to enact the final hours of Christ ending with the crucifixion.

Godspell was the first big hit for Stephen Schwartz back in 1971 when he was in his early twenties. He went on, of course, to write for movies (Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame,) television (Geppetto) as well as the stage (Pippin, Children of Eden, Wicked). The success of the score over the years has all but obscured the quality of the script. Actually, the script was a highly inventive approach to a pastiche entertainment piece in the mold of Hair which was a big hit on Broadway at the time Godspell caught on in its off-off Broadway beginnings. It then moved successfully to off-Broadway and finally to Broadway where it earned Schwartz the second of his six Tony Award nominations.

The cast manages to establish the feeling of an ensemble - good friends sharing good times together. Among the women in the cast are Bridget Devlin Burke who leads a heartfelt "O Bless the Lord My Soul," Lynn Follmer Thorne who sells the Mae West-type spoof "Turn Back, O Man" and Diana Davis whose "Learn Your Lessons Well" is a kick.  As Jesus, Hower seems a bit unsure at times on stage, as if he concentrated more on the direction than on developing his own performance, but both Mike Mildenstein and Alex Zavistovich have polished their performances nicely. Mildenstein opens the festivities with "Prepare Ye The Way of The Lord" and Zaviztovich has the highest energy piece of the show with his "We Beseech The."

Hower and choreographer Yvonne Nutter mount most of the scenes and dances facing the long side of the theater, which means that those sitting on the shorter, eastern wall see much of the show from a side view. Still, no seat is a bad seat in this is a very small, very intimate theater so no one is really very far from any of the action. Also, it is possible that the balance between the vocals and the sound of the band is better on the eastern wall because the band is playing toward the long side from its position in the adjoining space. The voices are not amplified which makes great sense in a house this small. The placement of the band helps, but doesn't always completely avoid their being overwhelmed by the accompaniment.

Music and new lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Conceived and written by John-Michael Tebelak. Directed by Craig Hower. Musical direction by James D. Watson. Choreography by Yvonne Nutter. Design: Duane Mann (set and lights) Mike Leggett (sound) Janet Zavistovich (photography). Cast: Bridget Devlin Burke, Diana Davis, Craig Hower, Genevieve James, Mike Mildenstein, Rachel Nutter, Kristen Page-Kirby, Lynn Follmer Thorne, Alex Zavistovich. Musicians: James D. Watson, Mark Dion, Jim Tardibuono, Dominic Woodey.

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Reviewed December 10
Running time 2:30 - one intermission
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Storyline: At 14, the would-be playwright introduces the audience to the stories of his family in the days before the outbreak of World War II. His father struggles with two jobs to make ends meet until a heart attack slows him down. His mother is fiercely protective. His older brother tries to pull his own weight holding down a job he hates, and the men are outnumbered by the women because his mother’s sister and her two daughters, one with questionable health, have moved in with them.

There are many ways to approach a Neil Simon comedy. One is to concentrate on the human interest of the plot, for he always has an intriguing story to tell. Of course, with Simon’s continued use of narration addressed to the audience, it is hard to wander too far afield. Another is to concentrate on the individuality of the characters, for a Simon show is always full of people with interesting quirks and peculiarities, but each person is worth knowing. This is, after all, an affectionate portrait of people Simon loved. A third approach is to set up the gags and go for the greatest number of laughs. Here, director Brian Donohue seems to know that that the best laughs come from affectionate recognition, and he avoids the temptation to ham it up for the gags and concentrates on the story. Where he has strong cast members for individual parts, he gets the affectionate look at peculiarities across. Where the cast is less capable or less appropriately matched with age or persona, that affection gets to be a bit artificial.

Nathaniel LeDoux makes a fine "Eugene" even if he does look a bit old for the part: a 14 year old still in short pants. He has a nice, uncomplicated delivery and makes the many transitions from narration to dialogue and back with aplomb. To his credit, he avoids delivering an impersonation of Matthew Broderick in the role, making it his own for the evening. Since Simon reserved some of the funniest lines for his own self image, LeDoux gets most of the laughs of the night. Of all the characters in this slice of Simon family life, none is more touchingly written than that of his father. Randy Tusing nicely portrays both the father's fatigue and his strength in a complex performance of note.

The balance of the cast ranges from quite good - Tom McKnight as "Eugene's" older brother - to less than satisfying as some members of the cast stretch to fit into parts for which they are miscast, especially Rachel Epp who is simply too young and vital not to look like she's in a school production playing the mother who, at age 40, has been worn down by the pressures of running a depression-era home with extra mouths to feed. Without her exhaustion being visible, her excursions into bigotry are somehow less understandable than the script would have it. Eleven year old Taryn McClure is quite natural in the role the youngest resident in the house while Heather Underwood looks just right for her attractive older sister but she has a tendency to exhale her lines in exasperation.

Directed by Brian Donohue. Design: Duane Mann (set and lights) Amiralynn Corbett (costumes, properties, set dressing) Mike Leggett (sound) Christi Burch (stage manager). Cast: Rachel Epp, Nathaniel LeDoux, Taryn McClure, Tom McKnight, Tina Segovia, Randy Tusing, Heather Underwood.