Running time 2:30 - one intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick for a consistently intelligent and melodic musical romance
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Storyline: A weekend at the country manse of a Swedish Grande Dame brings together a number of couples whose amorous adventures, legitimate or otherwise, connect them all. There’s the actress pursued by both a former and a current lover, there’s the former lover’s wife and her step-son. There’s the current lover and his wife who makes a pass at the former lover but only to stimulate jealousy in her husband. There’s even the maid and her flirtations. Over it all is the attitude of their hostess whose view of romance places style on a pedestal.

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Running Time 2:30 - two intermissions
 Stoppard: an acquired taste for active listeners
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Storyline:  Hamlet’s dazed and confused courtiers, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, wax philosophic about life, death, and the puzzlement of language and its meaning while the melancholy Hamlet and company carry on in the background. An existential play with a tension-filled waiting game where everyone seems to know the outcome, except for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The title is taken directly from a passage in the final scene of Hamlet.

With Tom Stoppard’s R&G, all that is solid melts away. There is little to trust in this world of minor characters from Hamlet. And it all starts with coin tosses in which for at least 90 turns the coins always come up heads, breaking all statistical logic. The text is an ecstasy of language and word play. It is rambunctious in its wit and banter on serious and not so serious subjects. The script is deconstructive and absurdist to its core in its rethinking of Hamlet from the viewpoint of lesser players who are summoned to perform a task and told not to question that task. And once they accept the summons they lose all control of their lives to the powerful forces of the Danish Royal Family. As for memory, well, they “cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.” Casting in such a cerebral piece of theater is no easy task. The two main characters are on stage for nearly the entire production, delivering line after line of tongue defying text. Plus this is a play that has been done often enough that it requires assured theatrical decisions to make it one’s own. Irene Lewis is up to the task from her casting choices to the craft work done to fill this a large, generous production with dramatic artistry in the final two acts.

The seemingly more perplexed and pensive Rosencrantz is played by Michael Jean Dozier, and the outwardly more active and emotive Guildenstern by Howard W. Overshown.  Dozier is especially adept at showing Rosencrantz’s bewilderment through deep far off looks into the recesses of his brain … bafflement showing through by his hand touching his face or a slumped shoulder or restrained gait as he passes about on the large stage. Overshown has a bit more life to his Guildersern’s existence; adding energy and active reactions, yet, he too he walks about with a dazed look. Overshown and Dozier allow Stoppard’s script to take the lead by almost underplaying their roles. When they endlessly bicker and quibble with each other about the meanings of things, they appear likeable and genuine. R&G brightens up when the gaudily attired and flamboyant Lawrence O’Dwyer arrives with his troupe of misfit but colorfully dressed actors. O’Dwyer is a live wire; sharp in his delivery of prescient thoughts throughout the production. The rest of the ensemble seem arch types; Reese Madigan (Hamlet) an air-head pretty boy until his life is on the line, Chandler Vinton (Gertrude) the image of purple majesty in a soon to be faded beauty, and Mark Elliot Wilson (Claudius) all chiseled face, good hair and a great voice. The remainder of the large ensemble are a laughable or pompous lot who provide either comedic flair or sexual posturing as the script demands of them.

Paul Steinberg’s set becomes a delight in Acts II & III when there is more theatrical use of the space. Chandeliers drop from the ceiling, floors move, scrims hide and unhide people and objects, large child like puppets depict a royal family and a ship is conveyed with Rui Rita’s imaginative lighting. The aisles between the risers are used to full advantage as actors scurry and lope in and out from all sides. The costumes do their job of differentiating class and power among the large cast. There is also incidental music that adds some flourishes here and there. One final note: kudos to CENTERSTAGE for a very worthwhile program with some robust gems of information.

Written by Tom Stoppard. Directed by Irene Lewis.  Music composed by Karen Hansen. Choreography by John Carrafa. Fight Direction by J. Allen Suddeth. Design: Paul Steinberg (set) Candice Donnelly (costumes) Rui Rita (lights) David Budries (sound) Mike Schleifer (stage manager). Cast: John Benoit, Joe Brady, Ralph Cosham, Michael Jean Dozier, Karen Hansen, Daniel Kennedy, Reese Madigan, Laurence O’Dwyer, Howard W. Overshown, Andy Paterson, Rich Potter, Jake Riggs, Kristen Sieh, Paul David Story, Chandler Vinton, Mark Elliot Wilson.

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Running Time 1:30 - no intermission
Not quite satisfying homage to a father
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Storyline: After fighting his way through World War II and becoming a first observer of the Buchenwald concentration camp and it victims, Donald Waldman, who declares his Jewish faith throughout the production, comes home to St. Louis to become a husband, father, and good friend to other men like himself. All but Waldman seem intent on leaving behind what they had witnessed. But the internal hostilities never ended for Waldman. Over the next decades the war induced stress takes its toll until he finally confronts his demons with the help of his granddaughter’s care.

Willy Hotlzman’s Hearts had been produced by several regional theater companies before Baltimore’s CENTERSTAGE took up the challenge. CENTERSTAGE gives Hearts a generous effort with a more than dependable cast and abundant technical artistic touches, but the overall production does not make a lasting impact. It is too often a tedious talk-a-thon sitting around a card table inter-dispersed with extremely well accomplished, harrowing battle scenes and then an extremely disquieting wallop at the end. The play’s central setting is the weekly card game played by four old, world weary war buddies. The focus is keyed around the life of the physically beefy Donald Waldman (Jordan Charney). Charney’s physical presence and his delivery makes him the center of attention for the full 90 minutes. There is no getting around him. Charney channel’s Waldman and his pain; the too biting humor, the eyes flashing too quickly, and the unmistakable big belly from overeating are the signs of a man medicating himself to hide from great internal stress. Near the end of the play the two major events that have marked Waldman for life are finally depicted, and Charney nails both moments. Upon hearing a German officer’s first words of anti-Semitism, he kills the unarmed man. Later he learns in the most traumatic way that even the best of intentions can lead to death.

The other actors circle around Charney. The solid Babe (Bill Cwikowski) is the one true and transparently knowing best friend to Waldman. It is he who first confronts Waldman over his worsening mental and physical condition, but to little avail. This is a time before post traumatic stress became the household word. It is a time when men were to just bear it, whatever it was. Cwikowski plays Babe as a guy’s guy; he does not play the role with external gruffness or swagger. He is someone who is sure of himself and his maleness, and is most confident when he is with his best friend protecting his back. Ruby (Vasili Bogazianos) is a pawn shop owner with an always “fixing for fight” intensity. Bazianos pulls it off with a quick cat-like mannerisms and speech. In one small scene he shows his maleness when gangsters try to take over Waldman’s furniture business and there he is with a weapon hoping to draw first blood. He also plays a number of other roles including battle scene buddies that ring true. Herbie (Merwin Goldsmith) plays cards in his boxer shorts and with a very unfunny constant stutter. The comedic one-liners he pronounces are rarely humorous. Only playing a granddaughter, yes - correct - a granddaughter, is Goldsmith able to shine through with an unexpected deft touch. 

Director Tim Vasen works hard to have the production have lasting meaning, but the script fails him. Vasen succeeds best in the fluidness of the vast number of flashback scenes and the scenes of battle. However, in a stage setting this big and with a theater company with the necessary resources, one wonders about the artistic choice made to only have 4 actors play so many parts including two very key female roles. Why not more actors to increase the distinct characterizations? Why not females playing females?  And while it may have been the script, several larger political issues are dropped into the production and then quickly disappear from view. These include the subtext of alleged anti-Semitism by those in the U.S. Army including “rednecks” in general. The centerpiece of the production is the CENTERSTAGE technical work. One walks into a huge square space that Sara Ryung Clement has bestowed upon the audience. This will not be a small set drama played around a card table. There is a backdrop of gigantic floor to ceiling corrugated Army issue steel walls with movable doors of impressive size. Within the square space there are trapdoors and elevators that lift actors and a card table from beneath the sight of the audience while another trapdoor becomes a foxhole for three. Matthew Frey’s lighting goes from wide angle to pin points, from halogen bright white to softer colors when a man dances with his wife to be. John Gromada’s sound design includes a full pallet of bombs, rifle shots and pistol discharges that make one duck for cover. David Burdick’s costume design is inventive since men must also play women without a skirt in sight.

Written by Willy Holtzman. Directed by Tim Vasen. Fight direction by J. Allen Suddeth. Design: Sara Ryung Clement (set) David Burdick (costumes) Matthew Frey (lights) John Gomada (sound) . Cast: Vailli Bogazianos, Jordan Charney, Bill Cwikowski,  Merwin Goldsmith.

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Running time 2:30 - one intermission
A three-character look at the left in depression-era Alabama
v Full male nudity
Tickets $10 - $60

Storyline: Into the Birmingham, Alabama home of a left-leaning African-American father and his grown daughter in the early days of the depression bursts a white man on the run from the law. He prevails on them to shelter him, using a strange mixture of menace and persuasion. The longer he stays with them, the more each gets under the skin of the others, forming emotional attachments that ebb and flow as the world outside seems to be closing in on the fugitive.

Wallace takes her title from Gwendolyn Brooks' poem which reads, in part: "We are things of dry hours and the involuntary plan / Grayed in, and gray. 'Dream' made, a giddy sound, not strong / Like 'rent', 'feeding a wife', 'Satisfying a man.'" Some of the dialogue and many of the monologues in this play have a good deal in common with that snippet. The words are strung together in an artful arrangement that can be read with dramatic emphasis and made to sound profound - but what do they mean? Perhaps Wallace knows - she is, after all, the possessor of one of the MacArthur Foundation's "Genius Grants." Perhaps she discerns patterns and truths here that escape less gifted minds, but it is the duty of director Kwei-Armah and his cast of three to help us understand why these particular words are pasted together in this particular way. They do manage to make the plot clear. The events in these lives as they intersect are not hard to follow or understand. But the lovely, poetic words that all three are given to deliver remain obscure - pretty, but obscure.

Robinson is the father in the household and his ability to wax eloquent as well as his bursts of anger and frustration are impressive. Erika LaVonn brings a combination of weariness and wariness to the role of his widowed daughter. Steven Cole Hughes is a bit less menacing than one would expect of a fleeing criminal conducting what today's news reporters would call a "home invasion" (film at eleven!) but that very lack of the threatening in his persona works to his benefit as he slowly garners the respect and even affection of both of the others. Be aware that he has one fully nude scene which is not rushed nor is he given any place to hide in the spare design of this production.

The Head Theatre on the fourth floor of CENTERSTAGE's building is a big space for such an intimate piece. Robinson's opening monologue begins as he stands a dozen yards away from the people in the front row of the center section of the audience. The playing space is a 30'x16' platform over which hangs a placard reading "Negroes Beware - Do Not Attend Communist Meetings." It is signed "The Ku Klux Klan." It is a disturbing presence throughout the performance, as it is meant to be. 

Written by Naomi Wallace. Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah. Fight direction by J. Allen Suddeth. Design: Riccardo Hernández (set) David Burdick (costumes) Michelle Habeck (lights) Shane Rettig (sound) Richard Anderson (photography) Mike Schleifer (stage manager). Cast: Steven Cole Hughes, Erika LaVonn, Roger Robinson.

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Running time 1:20 - no intermission
A monologue about life as a struggling actor

Storyline: Out of college, out of his teens and into the world goes young Josh Lefkowitz, who shares his stories of following his dream of being an actor.

In the time-honored tradition of actor/monologist Spalding Gray, actor/monologist Lefkowitz admits to a fascination with the work of Spalding Gray. The layers of self revelation are peeled back little by little over the nearly hour and a half that he spends talking with us, the audience. The script for this well structured rumination is, of course, composed of stories from his own experience. He shares stories of working as an after hours parking lot attendant (were he revels in the ability to just sit and read and read and read), of his fist acting job and of his first period of unemployment following his first acting job. He also speculates on his own motivations and on what he wants to do with his life.

Leflowitz has an appealing stage presence which comes across as open, honest and unpretentious in a self-absorbed sort of way. His fascination with his own observations seems innocent rather than excessively egocentric. The secret is that he is so likeable that you do, indeed, want to know about all the small things that occur in his life. Besides, where else would you have a chance to see a performance that actually includes chuckling in iambic pentameter?

Having written the script himself, one wonders though just why he needs the text on the desk before him. He turns pages as he plows his way through the material and not infrequently takes a quick look down to check where he is. Since the pages are a bit curled at the edges, the audience can see just how many more pages remain. It gets to be a distraction.

Written and performed by Josh Lefkowitz.

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Running time 2:40 - one intermission
A revival of the first musical comedy based on a play by Shakespeare
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Storyline: Closely following Shakespeare's farce, the comedy set in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus tells of a pair of twins - one set are brothers separated in a ship wreck in infancy. One survived and went to Ephesus while the other survived and went to Syracuse. The other set of twins were their slaves and they accompanied their infant masters to their far flung fortunes. In adulthood, the Syracuse twin and his slave travel to Ephesus in search of his brother. Being identical twins, both masters and both slaves are mistaken for each other as complications revolve around the fact that, as a citizen sings "Our rigid laws of Ephesus most rightfully refuse / a visa to any citizen of uncivilized Syracuse." The penalty? Death.

For a show that bases its plot and its humor on mistaken identity, director David Schweizer's approach strangely seems to emphasize differences instead of similarities. In this age of non-traditional casting, audiences have come to recognize when they are to ignore the ethnicity of a performer. This not only expands the number of roles available to actors of all backgrounds, it increases the opportunities for audiences to see some really great singing, dancing and acting they might not otherwise enjoy. But, when the story is of mistaken identity, the casting of a black performer matched to a white Brooklyn-streets type (in the case of the slaves) or of an actor whose stage persona speaks of the sub-continent of India opposite a Filipino American (for the leads) the audience needs some help from the director to find the similarities and overlook the differences. Instead, Schweizer directs the two supposedly identical twin leading men in totally different styles. Manu Narayan addresses most of his lines to the character he is playing the scene with, while Paolo Montalban  turns his head to the audience to enunciate almost every line as if it were a punch line being delivered by a comic in the Jack Benny mode. The differences between Michael Winther and Kevin R. Free as the twin slaves aren't quite that obvious, but Winther is a much smoother con-man type of comic while Free is more the put-upon whiner type. Both are good at what they do, and both sell their big moments well, but they don't match each other.

The women in the leading roles are similarly but less confusingly different. Charlotte Cohn is very good in both song and scene and Rona Figueroa rises to the occasion for her big numbers. They are, according to the script, sisters. But at least they aren't supposed to be identical - which is a good thing given their contrasting ethnicity and appearance. Toping the highlights of the evening is the up-tempo Andrews-Sisters-type delivery of "Sing For Your Supper" using a vocal arrangement adapted from the original by Hugh Martin. It is the peak of the evening, but there are other fine moments as well, including a delivery of the delicious duet "You Have Cast Your Shadow On The Sea."

Dan Knechtges inserts some wonderfully inventive moves in his very serviceable choreography. It would have been interesting to see what he could have come up with for a bevy of chorus girls such as would have been the case in the original. Somehow, a bevy of three, which is what he has to work with in the opening scene, just doesn't live up to its promise, and the fact that each of his dancers also had to sing and play a role kept him from having a true chorus line. So, too, music director and orchestrator, Wayne Barker, suffers from slim resources. With a pit band of six he still manages to work in some elegant and energetic examples of the sound of the period (the 1930's, not ancient Greece) with both piano and harp in the lovely "Falling in Love with Love" and a jazzy muted trumpet in support of "Everything I've Got," a song borrowed from another Rodgers and Hart show set in ancient Greece, By Jupiter.   Barker's band really swings on the entr'acte that gets the audience back in the mood following intermission. 

Music by Richard Rodgers. Lyrics by Lorenz Hart. Book by George Abbott based on The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare. Directed by David Schweizer. Choreographed by Dan Knechtges. Music Direction by Wayne Barker. Design: Allen Moyer (set) David Zinn (costumes) Christopher Akerlind (lights) Ryan Rumery (sound)  Richard Anderson (photography) Debra Acquavella (stage manager). Cast: Laura Lee Anderson, Charlotte Cohn, Rosa Curry, Kyle DesChamps, Rona Figueroa, Kevin R. Free, Terry Lavell, Paolo Montalban, Manu Narayan, Charlie Parker, John Ramsey, Blair Ross, Christopher Sergeeff, Stephen Valahovic, Chris Wells, Michael Winther, Jessica Wu. 

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Running time 3:00 - one intermission
An unhurried account of provincial life among upper class Russians
 at the end of the time of the Czars
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Storyline: Three years in the lives of three sisters and their brother who live together in the Russian provinces at the turn of the nineteenth into the twentieth century. One sister is on the verge of spinsterhood, one is unhappily married, and the other sees marriage to a soldier as her ticket to Moscow, while the brother gets married but finds it is less than he had hoped and turns to gambling with resulting debts that threaten the family with the loss of their home.  

Lewis imposes no directorial digressions on Chekhov's play, relying on the material to be strong enough to warrant three hours of attention, and on her cast to bring his characters to life. Lewis uses a translation by Paul Schmidt, an American who insists that his is not another "English translation," but notably, an "American translation." He points out that Americans have become used to English translations of Chekhov, and as a result "tended to think (Chekhov) spoke the language of Shaw and Galsworthy." He makes a good point, and his translation provides audiences with American ears a text which sounds properly provincial, nicely late-nineteenth century and appropriately upper-class with touches that seem right for the Russian locale without any of the Britishness he found in other translations. It is important to note, however, that his work is offered as a "translation" and not as an "adaptation." This is pure Chekhov facilitated by rather than interpreted by Schmidt.

The fine ensemble cast is headed by Christine Marie Brown, Mahira Kakkar and Stacy Ross, who bond as the sisters, while Tony Ward as the brother and Kristin Fiorella as the woman he marries complete the family unit. Fiorella provides some of the spark for the emotionally charged third act as she, the local girl who sees status as the rewards of her marriage, complains of the waste of resources represented by treating aging surfs as people who have some claim on the family they served for so long. David Adkins is smooth as the recently re-assigned leader of the military post whose own strained marriage leads him into the arms of unhappily married Masha. Lawrence O'Dwyer is particularly impressive as the disillusioned and frequently inebriated army doctor. His own pain over his weaknesses is another post-intermission standout.

The evening is played out on an elegantly bare wooden platform with minimal but accurately detailed furniture. It gives a light and airy feeling to what must have been a dark and overly decorated interior of the Prozorov's actual home given the styles of the time. The effect is to allow concentration on the people rather than on the place, which, given the strength of the performers, happens to work quite nicely. It is intriguing that the production is the CENTERSTAGE debut of choreographer John Carrafa. It is intriguing because there is very little in the way of traditional choreography (as opposed to some very smooth movements) in the production, and Carrafa is a name to be recognized for his inventive, even flashy choreography in major musicals, with Tony Award nominations for both the recent revival of Into The Woods and the original Urinetown.

Written by Anton Chekhov. Translated by Paul Schmidt. Directed by Irene Lewis. Design: Robert Israel (set) Candice Donnelly (costumes) John Carrafa (choreography) J. Allen Suddeth (fight direction) Mimi Jordan Sherin (lights) Eric Svejcar (music) David Budries (sound) Debra Acquavella (stage manger). Cast: David Adkins, Christine Marie Brown, Willy Conley, Gene Farber, Kristin Fiorella, Mary Fogarty, Joey Hickey, Mahira Kakkar, Alina Lightchaser, Laurence O'Dwyer, Andy Paterson, Stacy Ross, Bradley Wayne Smith, Matt Bradford Sullivan, Evan Thompson, Tony Ward.

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Reviewed May 10
Running time 2:15 - one intermission
A joyous look at life in an unusual African-American family in the 50s 
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Storyline: Two teenage girls are brought north to Brooklyn by their father after the death of his wife. He's found solace in the religious teachings of a preacher who calls himself "Father Devine." Their aunt moves in because she had promised her sister that she'd look after the girls if anything happened to her. Besides, "it isn't proper for a father to live alone with his girls after they have sprouted bosoms." She's a free-thinking, often free-drinking woman who broadens their horizons but none of them are prepared for the day when their father comes home with his new wife - a white woman just immigrated from war ravaged Germany.

Nottage's script nicely balances generational and value conflicts. The two teenage girls view the differences between the three adults with a sense of detachment while they share the viewpoint of youth. It is the adult conflicts between religion and politics which are given most attention. The man, unsure of himself as a father after the loss of his wife, turns to a charismatic preacher for guidance. He gets form-letter responses calling for adherence to traditional fundamentalist values. The aunt, a confirmed communist, civil rights activist and hard-drinking, hard partying woman, brings very different values into the home. And then there is the arrival of a new mother for the children who is tentative at first but can't stay in the background forever -- her Teutonic heritage is just too strong.

Robinson and Edwina Findley, as her younger sister, form a bond that is a pleasure to watch, and their youthful vigor and enthusiasm for life gives the play a light feel even as it turns to heavy questions. LeLand Gantt plays the father with a stolid stoicism at first, but loosens up a bit as the situation in his home gets more and more complex. Kelly Taffe is sharp and sassy as the free-thinking aunt who can pour herself a drink as she first gets out of bed because, after all, it is already 3 o'clock. She is also the only one of the adults to establish much of an affectionate relationship with the two girls. Patricia Ageheim has the hardest task because her role, the German immigrant the father marries on something of a whim, is the least consistent in her behavior as written by Nottage. Part of this may well be an attempt to show that the girls didn't know her very well at this point in their lives - this is, after all, a memory play delivered from the viewpoint of the narrating older daughter - but it results in her having to bridge some very wide gaps. She goes from buttoned up, self controlled step-mother to dancing on the table in a slinky white gown and back again in a flash. 

The fact that this is a memory play is emphasized by James Noone's impressive frame for the playing space consisting of segments of the proscenium and other architectural details from the movie theatre the girls loved to visit. Flanking the stage over the heads of those in the front of the audience are two large movie projectors which silently come to life during a few memory scenes. The effect is apparently supposed to be highlighted by stage fog released in front of them so that the light from their lenses would form shafts toward the stage, but the fog effect didn't work very well on opening night. No matter, though. Robinson's narration was enough to keep the audience clear as to what was memory and what was simply wishful thinking.

Written by Lynn Nottage. Directed by David Schweizer. Design: James Noone (set) David Burdick (costumes) Alexander Nichols (lights) Michael J. Bobbitt (choreography) Mark Bennett (sound) Richard Anderson (photography) Mike Schleifer (stage manager). Cast: Patricia Ageheim, Edwina Findley, LeLand Gantt, Amina S. Robinson, Kelly Taffe.

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Reviewed March 29
Running time 2:40 - one intermission
 t Potomac Stages Pick for an historic new play  

Storyline: In the last decade of the century, the plans for a redevelopment project are threatened by the lack of clear title to one parcel, a dilapidated ruin of a house, the same 1839 Wylie Avenue house that was the home of "Aunt Esther" in Gem of the Ocean, Wilson's play dealing with the first decade of the century. The Pittsburgh mayoral hopeful who expects to stimulate economic recovery of the depressed community in the Hill District with this redevelopment, struggles to do what is right against all the pressures of politics, family and friendship.

Radio Golf debuted last May at Yale Repertory where the first play of the cycle debuted 21 years earlier. Since that time, director Kenney Leon has taken on the traditional Wilson process of developing the play through multiple productions at different regional theaters. Leon didn't direct at Yale, but he did at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles last summer and Seattle Rep in Washington State earlier this year with the same cast and creative team. Leon keeps the pace bright to match the humor and energy of the language. The plot moves swiftly but stumbles over a number of under-developed or over-looked elements of bureaucratic reality and chronology. When it becomes clear to the mayoral hopeful that the title to the parcel is tainted, he decides on a re-design to the project to build around Aunt Esther's house. He shows up the very next morning with an architect's rendering of the fully redesigned project!

As the mayoral candidate whose dreams of revitalizing the community of his youth, Rocky Carroll has both a spirited delivery of his own lines and an admirable ability to listen to those of his colleagues. The production also features three performers from the Yale Rep debut. James A. Williams has the unfortunate luck to have some of the less believable lines as the business partner who doesn't quite understand the legal ramifications of the mix-up over clear title to the property they are developing, but has a thorough understanding of the importance of the project to the community and to his own economic and his partner's political fortunes. The real delight of the play, however, is in the material for Anthony Chisholm as the claimant to the property and John Earl Jelks who is really the voice of what is right.

It all takes place in the central portion of David Gallo's highly detailed reconstruction of the dilapidated center of the deteriorating Hill District where the redevelopment effort has set up a construction office. Boxes piled along the walls, a desk, folding table and a few left over pieces of furniture make the space livable, while the wallboard provides space for architect's renderings of newer -- if not better -- things to come. Just as the play's characters and location are filled with the resonance of Wilson's century-covering series, the room is surrounded with abandoned spaces filled with the detritus of lives past. You don't really need to know anything about the cycle or the events in the other plays to enjoy this clash of heritage and hope, but the more you do know the richer the texture is.

Written by August Wilson. Directed by Kenny Leon. Design: David Gallo (set) Susan Hilferty (costumes) Donald Holder (lights) Kathryn Bostic (music) Amy C. Wedel (sound) Richard Anderson (photography) Debra Acquavella (stage manager). Cast: Denise Burse, Rocky Carroll, Anthony Chisholm, John Earl Jelks, James A. Williams.

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Reviewed December 28
Running time 2:45 - one intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick as a Caribbean-infused
 treat for the eye and the ear
Price range - $10 - $65
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Storyline: On a Caribbean island, the peasants tell a little girl a fable about a peasant girl like herself who grew up to love a member of the wealthy upper class Beauxhommes, who, while he loved her deeply, couldn't bring himself to cross the class line and marry her. The girl's devotion, however, survived even that and became the basis for hope for a better world generations later.

This adaptation of a novel treats the story as a pure fable, giving a hopeful and positive twist to the ending which wasn't present in the original. The book for the musical, by the incredibly talented lyricist Lynn Ahrens, is a very impressive piece of musical theater staging, and her lyrics, as is so often the case in her work, are capable of moving a scene along or establishing a character trait with astonishing efficiency and eloquence. For example, she moves the story forward by nearly a decade in the simple two-line lyric "one small girl / not so small" while the young actress playing the child runs off stage and the actress playing her as a young woman runs on. Matching her, as usual, is her composer partner Stephen Flaherty. As a team they have given us Ragtime, Seussical, A Man of No Importance and Dessa Rose. This time out, Flaherty provides a score blending Caribbean rhythms with chants and soaring melodies in a highly theatrical mix.

The fine cast of eleven fill the large stage of the main floor in Pearlstone Theater with swirling motion as Roberson uses his choreographic skills not just on the dance numbers but on the entire piece, moving groups up stage and down, right and left, establishing different locales with just a few abstract figures of leaves as set pieces. The girl at the heart of the story is played most of the time by Trisha Jeffrey, an energetic wisp who is fresh from Broadway's All Shook Up (and, earlier, Little Shop of Horrors). Fresh is the operative word as she sings cleanly and clearly and dances with forceful energy. As the show begins, however, it is the younger version of her character that is center stage. At the performance we attended Heaven Leigh Horton had that role and was a delight.

J. D. Golblatt is the Beauxhomme boy who first toys with the affections of the Jeffrey's character and then falls in a kind of love that can't overcome class barriers. He gets the pain right when he sings "Some Girls you marry, some you love." The adults - both human and those who play the gods Erzulie: Goddess of Love, Asaka: Mother of the Earth, Agwe: God of Water and Papa Ge: Demon of Death - are all strong presences who swirl through the story. The six piece band is placed above the action and behind the industrial windows of Neil Patel's set and produces an island-infused sound that casts its own spell, especially the ever-present drums of the jungle and the impressive flute work of woodwind player Matt Belzer. The sound effects provided by Garth Hemphill help establish and maintain the impact of the island atmosphere.

Music by Stephen Flaherty. Book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens based on the novel by Rosa Guy. Directed and choreographed by Kenneth Lee Roberson. Musical direction by Darryl G. Ivey. Design: Neil Patel (set) Emilio Sosa (costumes) David Weiner (lights) Garth Hemphill (sound) Debra Acquavella (stage manager). Cast: Lakisha Anne Bowen, E. Faye Butler, LaVon Fisher, J.D. Goldblatt, Heaven Leigh Horton or Miah Patterson, Trisha Jeffrey, Christopher L. Morgan, Erick Pinnick, C.E. Smith, David St. Louis, Gayle Turner.

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Reviewed May 4
Running time 2:20 - one intermission
Edwardian era British drama of public
 and private morality
Click here to buy the script

Storyline: Mr. Voysey passes on to his son the law firm he inherited from his father along with a unique set of burdens. It seems his own father had been swindling the firm's clients whose wealth it managed, by paying the income but diverting the capital in order to support his own family's life style. Father had continued the scam for thirty years, keeping the financial house of cards from collapsing. Should  the son continue the fraud? Can he?

Two sets, each very different from the other and each filled with symbolism, present the two worlds of young Voysey, the office and the home. The office set is a painted backdrop, flimsy but serviceable just as the law firm it houses is mere appearance without substance. The scenes in the Voysey home, however, take place on a substantial, highly detailed version of an Edwardian dining room which slides forward to dominate the large stage of the Head Theater. As the room smoothly emerges out of the gloom, it brings with it the weight of family duties, putting in focus the consequences for young Voysey's extended family if he follows his instincts to refuse to continue the fraud.

As written, at least in this adaptation by resident dramaturg Gavin Witt, the pull of family devotion seems a bit of a stretch. These Voyseys are a strange lot, hardly worth the commission of fraud and theft, and the young man's devotion to family becomes more an abstract responsibility than an emotional attachment. That young man is played by Eric Sheffer Stevens with an earnestness that matches the station in life he inherited. His initial disbelief is nicely underplayed so that his character's resolve can emerge slowly. His relatives, on the other hand, are at times over played. Rob Nagle takes the booming voice of his character as the brother who went into the military to extremes that make you wonder why the young Voysey would want to save the family's reputation. Characters outside the family seem better formed. Leo Erickson as the secretary in the office and Laurence O'Dwyer as the client with the most to loose each find the right tone for their parts.

John Ramsey is so solid as the father that it almost seems a shame his character dies in the first act, the show certainly seems less substantial after his passing. He is able to spout the apparent truisms that underlie the family fraud with such a certainty that you can believe he has successfully defrauded his closest colleagues and confidants for decades by convincing himself of the morality of his actions. "One must be the master of money or its servant" falls from his lips with all the confidence of a religious belief.

Written by Harley Granville Barker. Adapted by Gavin Witt. Directed by Irene Lewis. Design: Allen Moyer (set) Constance Hoffman (costumes) James F. Ingalls (lights) Martin Desjardins (sound) Richard Anderson (photography) Mike Schleifer (stage manager).  Cast: Kelli Danaker, Curzon Dobell, Leo Erickson, Carol Halstead, Mercedes Herrero, Diane Kagan, Rob Nagle, Laurence O'Dwyer, John Ramsey, Kristen Sieh, Eric Sheffer Stevens, Jenny Sheffer Stevens.

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Reviewed March 2
Running time 2:30 - one intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick for a rocking good time
Click here to buy the CD

Storyline: A rock-influenced musical loose adaptation of Shakespeare's comedy about two young men who find their affection for each other strained by conflicts over affairs of the heart. All is well when each has a love of his own but when one becomes smitten with the other's and tries to win her with less than honorable tactics, deceit creates complications of its own until the ruse is revealed - can friendship survive such treachery?

Of all the people having such a good time, none seems to be happier to be on this stage doing this show than Miguel Andres Cervantes who makes his CENTERSTAGE debut sporting white wings to match white hair and white double knit leisure suit (hey, this is a show from the 70s) on a tiny motor scooter singing "Love, Is That You?" Later he assumes the role of nerdy dweeb Thurio with such enthusiasm that "Thurio's Samba" is a highlight. His enthusiasm is nearly matched by others in the cast including smooth voiced Ivan Hernandez and soulful rocker Rodney Hicks who are the two gentlemen of the title, sexy Angela Robinson as the lady who catches their eye and Kirsten Wyatt who belts a wicked "We Come From the Land of Betrayal."

Stepping in at the last minute to fill the part of lovely Julia who is "metamorphosed" by love is energetic Toni Trucks who makes the most of her opportunity, delivering her songs with panache. Classic clowning plays in the piece as well. Robert Dorfman wanders about with his dog "Crab" and teams up with Andy Paterson in everything from "turn off your cell phones" routines to up-tempo songs like "Hot Lover." The role of the corrupt Duke of Milan, written as a critique of then-President Richard Nixon, is sung with smarmy delight by Kingsley Leggs. Just who came up with the Nixon and Bush inflatable dolls we don't know, but the effect on the title number is just right.

The people on stage aren't the only ones who seem to have had a fabulous time putting this show together. Catherine Zuber must have had many a chuckle as she designed the colorful, whimsical costumes that bridge the gap between street carnival style and theatrical pizzazz. Her flair is matched by Christopher Barreca who must have had a number of joyful "I could do this!" moments designing the set for the big, wide, deep and open playing space in the Head which includes bridges lowered from the ceiling, platforms raised from the floor, mirrored walls sliding from the side to center-stage where they reflect the entire audience, and the great big inflated heart that symbolizes the theme of the show for the opening. David Budries seems to have provided a fine sound design but the execution on the night we reviewed the show was marred by multiple malfunctions and assorted pops and cracks.

Adapted by John Guare and Mel Shapiro from William Shakespeare. Lyrics by John Guare. Music by Galt MacDermot. Directed by Irene Lewis. Musical direction by Eric Svejcar. Choreographed by Luis Perez. Orchestrations by Galt MacDermot and Harold Wheeler. Design: Christopher Barreca (set) Catherine Zuber (costumes) Rui Rita (lights) David Budries (sound). Cast: Elizabeth Broadhurst, Miguel Andres Cervantes, Lenny Daniel, Enrique Cruz DeJesus, Robert Dorfman, Demond Green, Ivan Hernandez, Rodney Hicks, Howard Kaye, Kingsley Leggs, Melissa Menezes, Karina Michaels, Andy Peterson, Angela Robinson, Heather Spore, Toni Trucks, Kirsten Wyatt.On stage musicians: Austin P. Caughlin, Ryan Diehl, Chris Hofer, Lee Lachman, Eric Svejcar, Marshall White.

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Reviewed January 5
Running time 2:30 - one intermission
Click here to buy the script

Storyline: In the crime ridden, racially diverse London suburb of Hakney, a single father operates a neighborhood cafe while he tries to resist the pressures of the gangs and drug cartels as he raises his son to a higher standard than the code of drug money, protection rackets and street justice. The appearance of his own long estranged father and the recruitment of his son by a neighborhood operator bring things to a final violent confrontation.

Kwei-Armah is writing of a sub-culture about which American audience's know little. The struggle in this country over the remnants of the damage done in the forced enslavement of half a million Africans and their descendents in the original thirteen colonies seems so overwhelming that it is difficult to even consider the legacy of the one and a half million slaves "imported" into the British Caribbean (not to mention the two and a half million taken to the rest of the Caribbean and the four and a half million transported to the mainlands of Central and South America). Some of the descendents of the blacks taken to the "West Indies" have now moved to the British Isles, creating their own sub-culture. They carry with them some of the universal aspirations of humanity, including in this instance, the belief that a father's duty is to raise his son to a set of standards in which he can take pride.

The father trying to raise his son to be the kind of man he thinks is proper is played by Curtis McClarin, who manages to capture both the anxiety of single-parenthood and the pride of accomplishment in his performance. His London-flavored accent is easy on the ears. LeRoy McClain is the son, a bit clean cut for the role but with an easy patois as well. But the linguistic complexities get a bit difficult with Thomas Jefferson Byrd's portrayal of the hustler pulling the son into the world of organized criminal activity and Sullivan Walker as the long-absent father/grandfather who returns to the scene for less than admirable reasons. Byrd's accent may be difficult to penetrate but his character's motivations are clear enough and his role in the denouement is powerful indeed.  

The play was commissioned by the National Theatre in London and received its premiere there two years ago. This is the American premiere and it is given as handsome a production as could be wished. Set designer Neil Patel thrusts the diner into the audience space from an enlarged proscenium and director Marion McClinton uses Michelle Habeck's stark lighting cues to move the action along quite briskly.

Written by Kwame Kwei-Armah. Directed by Marion McClinton. Fight direction by David Leong. Dialect consultation by Gillian Lane-Plescia. Design: Neil Patel (set) David Burdick (costumes) Michelle Habeck (lights) Shane Rettig (sound) Richard Anderson (photography) Debra Acquavella (stage manager). Cast: Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Yvette Ganier, LeRoy McClain, Curtis McClarin, Ernest Perry, Jr., Sullivan Walker.

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Reviewed June 2
Running time 1:45 - No intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick for strong performances and an absorbing story
Click here to buy the movie

Storyline: In post World War II middle America, the women who occupy two neighboring houses have their lives uprooted on the day and night of the Labor Day Picnic when an attractive young drifter comes into town.

Written by William Inge. Directed by Irene Lewis. Choreographed by Ken Roberson. Fight coordination by J. Allen Suddeth. Design: Scott Bradley (set) David Burdick (costumes) D.M. Wood (lights) Martin Desjardins (sound) Richard Anderson (photography) Debra Acquavella (stage manager). Cast: Anne Bowles, Linda Gehringer, Josh Heine, Tana Hicken, Leo Kittay, Kevin McClarnon, Kristine Nielsen, Kristen Sieh, Finnerty Steeves, Eric Sheffer Stevens, Ann Talman.

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Reviewed March 3
Running time 2 hours 55 minutes

Storyline: An acknowledged masterwork of the musical theater, this "musical thriller" based on a nineteenth-century legend is a unique mixture of melodrama, macabre humor and psychological insight telling the story of a London barber who seeks vengeance for injustices done to him, his wife and their daughter. The revenge goes awry, driving him farther and farther from sanity as he teams up with the ditsy proprietress of a pie shop who sees in the remains of his victims fresh supplies for her meat pies.

This production's Sweeney is Joseph Mahowald who brings a full opera-trained voice and a striking look to the part of the barber turned butcher. One lady, on leaving the theater, was overheard to exclaim "Talk about your Sean Penn look-alike!"  Mahowald knows how to hold forth on stage with great energy, his voice is a great instrument and his eyes are magnetic in just the way this mad man should glower. His take on the role seems to be a steady descent into madness rather than snapping at the point when his obsession on exacting understandable revenge on individuals who have horribly wronged him and his family switches over to an all-encompassing madness that envisions the slaughter of the entire human race. That moment is clearly established in the script and the score. Indeed, the title of the song he sings at that point is "Epiphany" in which he explains that, because "the lives of the wicked should be made brief/for the rest of us death will be a relief,  we all deserve to die." Yet that chilling moment seems to slide by.

Mahowald establishes a fine chemistry with his co-star, Nora Mae Lyng, without compromising the role's essential loneliness. Her strength in the role is as a comic actress and their work together on such delights as the incredibly inventive "A Little Priest" is a delight. She does a splendid job on her introductory number, the tongue-twisting "The Worst Pies in London." In the book scenes, she gets key plot and character points across with clarity and she creates a very interesting, very human Mrs. Lovett. She does have a tendency, however, to sing just a touch flat at times. No such tendency could be found in Ed Dixon, Wayne W. Pretlow or Aaron Ramey who sing the parts of the judge, the beadle and the sailor Anthony Hope with clarity and passion. Ron DeStefano gets the most out of both the comedy and the horror of young Tobias. As happens all too often, the role of 16 year old Johanna is sung by a woman noticeably older than that but with a fine voice. In this case, Maria Couch.

Music director, conductor, keyboard player Milton Granger reduced the orchestrations for the piece from the nine instrument compliment currently available for lease to the six used in this production. It is an awfully thin sound with all together too much reliance on programmed keyboards but he has managed to retain practically all the harmony lines and supporting themes that make Sondheim's score so rich. Sound designer David Budries opted for tiny microphones mounted on nearly-invisible wire booms attached to the ear of each actor/singer. Even from the front rows the show has a highly amplified sound to it and, especially in the first act, amplified sound seemed to come from the center of the stage even for those singers on the extreme right or left. Set designer John Conklin creates a sterile atmosphere with tile walls, moveable steel stairs and metal sheathed set pieces. He provides a slot for bodies to slide out of after disposal but only those bodies that will be part of the next scene seem to emerge leaving some in the audience to wonder what happened to the rest of them.

Book by Hugh Wheeler from an adaptation by Christopher Bond. Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Directed by Irene Lewis. Music direction by Milton Granger. Choreographed by Willie Rosario. Fight Coordination by J. Allen Suddeth. Design: John Conklin (set) Catherine Zuber (costumes) Mimi Jordan Sherin (lights) David Budries (sound) Richard Anderson (photography) Debra Acquavella (stage manager). Cast: Rebecca Baxter, James E. Bonilla or Reed Cahill Vicchio, Maria Couch, Ron DeStefano, Ed Dixon, Michael Brian Dunn, Osborn Focht, Nicole Halmos, Jay Lusteck, Nora Mae Lyng, Joseph Mahowald, Mary Jo McConnell, Wayne W. Pretlow, Aaron Ramey, Rebecca Robbins, Alecia Robinson, Steven F. Schmidt.

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Reviewed December 2
Running time 1 hour 35 minutes

Storyline: The marriage of a bi-racial couple is on its last legs as the husband’s infidelity becomes too clear to ignore. Their 15 year old son is entering into a bi-racial relationship of his own while their younger son is becoming aware of the reasons behind the tensions that fill the home.

She said “that’s not much of a story for a whole play” and he said “it was a one act play and plenty went on in that hour and a half. Besides, it was a very interesting portrait of a the tensions in a household where the marriage is falling apart but neither party is quite ready to admit it.” She countered with “so much of it was delivered in such a monotone - here’s a man and wife on the verge of a break up over his infidelity and neither raises their voice more than a time or two?”

Then she said “and the dialogue - so many incomplete sentences. Like I said, people don’t talk like that.” He countered “Bear in mind that this was not a highly educated household, that the tension was as thick as a knife and that each of the characters were afraid of the consequences of finishing their sentences. But there were a great number of very perceptive observations delivered without sounding overly poetic. For example, when the wife thought her son would actually bring a girl home for dinner she started cleaning house saying ‘Sometimes a mess doesn’t announce itself until there’s the prospect of company.’ Not a bad line, that.”

She and he would, however, agree that the physical production was well done, especially the sound design by Shane Rettig with its effects of a dog barking at the back of the house, the telephone ringing off stage right, the bus that pulls in from one side and pulls out from the other and the rain effect for the climax. But Potomac Stages doesn’t do “He Said/She Said” reviews. The reviewer would probably just write a highly positive review if it wasn’t for the fact that the webmaster might not publish it.

Written by Jerome Hairston. Directed by Marion McClinton. Design: David Gallo (set) David Burdick (costumes) Donald Holder (lights) Shane Rettig (sound) Richard Anderson (photography) Debra Acquavella (stage manager). Cast: Johanna Day, Massimo Angelo Delogue, Jr. or Sylk, Robyn Simpson, Ray Anthony Thomas, JD Williams.

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Reviewed October 19
Running time 2 hours 45 minutes

Storyline: The wealthy Tarlton family gathers in their solarium with their houseguests for the weekend, daughter Hypatia’s fiancé and his father. Each has a unique view of the pre-World War I world. Their sparring is interrupted when one of those new-fangled flying machines crashes through their skylight bringing with it a gallant pilot and a mysterious passenger.

About fifteen minutes before intermission - and before the crashing aeroplane -- Hypatia exclaims “I do so want something to happen.” The audience may be excused for sharing her desire and something very definitely happens very soon. But before it does, it becomes clear that every one of the characters George Bernard Shaw has created has very definite opinions on practically every possible subject and is determined to deliver those opinions in lines which a century later would be valued as “sound bites” for a teaser for the television show “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.”

The sparring begins with two of the strongest performances, those of Trent Dawson, as the scion of the family whose business acumen is sadly ignored by his elders, and Andrew Weems, as the whiney would-be groom for the free thinking Hypatia. The exchange between the two is extraordinarily funny but it seems on reflection that it benefits from coming first, before other tirades and philosophical ruminations intrude.  Both George Morfogen as the would-be-groom’s father, and particularly Peter Van Norden as the “pater familias,” are wonderful in their scenes with their kids.

As always, Center Stage has mounted a sumptuous production with a set, costumes, lights and sound design to savor. Tony Straiges’ set is a delight but those sitting in the mezzanine are well advised to visit the orchestra level before the show starts so they can see that the room they are viewing is a solarium with a glass ceiling. It becomes important just before intermission. Notable as well is the contribution of speech consultant Wendy Waterman for the enunciation of Shaw’s quotable lines is uniformly clear. With the exception of a few bon mots lost in the occasionally garbled delivery of Patricia O’Connell as the mother, every morsel of Shaw’s rich desserts is served up with verve.

Written by George Bernard Shaw. Directed by Irene Lewis. Design: Tony Straiges (set) Candice Donnelly (costumes) Mimi Jordan Sherin (lights) David Budries (sound) Richard Anderson (photography) Mike Schleifer (stage manager). Cast: Trent Dawson, Garson Elrod, George Morfogen, Natalija Nogulich, Patricia O’Connell, Stacy Ross, Eric Sheffer Stevens, Peter Van Norden, Andrew Weems.

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May 16 – June 15, 2003
The Rainmaker

Reviewed May 23
Running time 2 hours 20 minutes

Storyline: During the drought-ridden depression years, a stranger claiming he can make rain enters the lives of the Curry family: caring but pragmatic father J.C. Curry, skeptical realist elder son Noah, romantic younger brother Jimmy and daughter Lizzie on the verge of spinsterhood. The stranger may offer a miracle more important than rain.

Katie MacNichol makes an intriguing Lizzie, relying on her considerable performance skills to show that when Lizzie is considered plain it isn’t that she’s unattractive, just too intelligent and willful to play the games women are supposed to play in her place and time to get a man. She lets the audience see and feel most of the important thoughts and emotions, although she inexplicitly underplays the central moment when the worlds “old maid” are first said aloud. Without those words stinging, her subsequent outburst seems a bit contrived. Thomas M. Hammond finesses the few dated factors in his part smoothly (it is hard to remember a time when a divorced man would be so ashamed he’d pretend to be a widower even when everyone in town knows the truth) but Kevin Isola seems a bit too urban and urbane to make the uneducated but smooth talking con man seem at home on the parched prairie.

The solid core of the production is the trio of actors playing the Curry men. Tom Ligon lets the character of the father develop slowly so as to set up the big scene of the second act when he takes control of the family situation and puts his foot down in no uncertain terms against his Noah's instinct to interfere in Lizzie’s affairs. Matthew Boston is just crusty enough as Noah, and Kevin Wheatley brings a brightly youthful innocence and enthusiasm to the part of the younger brother that gets the audience past the awkward script point surrounding the sexual mores of the middle class at the middle of the twentieth century.

Scott Bradley’s highly raked and slightly out of true set gives a fine visual space for most of the action. His parched and cracked soil surface is simply marvelous. But he calls a bit too much attention to the design elements with the drop-down wall for the tack room which creates a space that seems bigger than the entire farmhouse. The climactic special effect is very nicely managed and gives the audience that final sense of completeness that sends them out into the world with that “I’m glad I saw this one” feeling.

Written by N. Richard Nash. Directed by Tim Vasen. Design: Scott Bradley (set) David Burdick (costumes) J. Allen Suddeth (fight coordinator) Jane Cox (lights) Martin Desjardins (sound) Richard Anderson (photography) Mike Schleifer (stage manager). Cast: Matthew Boston, Tomas M. Hammond, Kevin Isola, Tom Ligon, Katie MacNichol, Jeffrey Ware, Kevin Wheatley.

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Reviewed April 15
Running time 2 hours 50 minutes

Storyline: In the last three days of her life, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotts, finally comes face to face with her cousin, enemy, jailer and fellow monarch, Elizabeth I, Queen of England. Mary, the Catholic Queen of a Scotland that followed England out of Catholicism under Elizabeth’s father Henry VIII, had sought asylum from her cousin in England only to be imprisoned for nearly twenty years. As the play reaches its climax Elizabeth struggles with the decision to sign Mary’s death warrant.

What a pair of queen’s Lewis gives us! Brandy Zarle, with just a touch of Scottish brogue, and a fiery temperament to match, still manages to convey all the innate dignity of royalty under extreme duress. Lise Bruneau lets the audience see the pain, the uncertainty and the fears that the Virgin Queen won’t show to her court. Bruneau may have Zarle at just a slight advantage as the part of Elizabeth is written to build to its climax in an uninterrupted rise while that of Mary begins with a burst of high energy, dips a bit and then builds to a searingly emotional climax. But both are fascinatingly human characters. Mary is surrounded by loyal ladies in waiting and former members of her retinue while Elizabeth’s court is filled with strong characters of many stripes. Sam Tsoutsouvas is particularly impressive as her treasurer, Lord Burleigh.

In this sumptuous production, the world of Elizabethan England comes to life in a design that never intrudes on the story but always supports it. Catherine Zuber’s costumes capture just what we think of when we think of that place and time with so many of the members of Elizabeth’s court using their clothing to communicate their importance, while all of Mary’s retinue is subdued in serviceable black until Mary’s emergence for her execution in a bridal white. Tony Strages comes up with a set that makes the transitions from prison to court and from garden to scaffold in the most elegant and simple ways. James F. Ingalls’ lights help the changes of scene feel natural. John Gromada has composed a very effective incidental score but his sound for the crowd outside the castle seems to be switched on and off on cue, a distracting reminder that this is, after all, only make believe.

While the nearly three hours of the show may be a full enough evening for any theatergoer, the amount of background information included in CenterStage’s unusually comprehensive program would reward an early arrival. They have a café which is open before the show and the experience of this play, more than many others, would benefit from time spent familiarizing yourself with, or refreshing your memory of, the history of the two ladies whose histories clash on this stage.

Written by Friedrich Schiller. Translated by Robert David MacDonald. Directed by Irene Lewis. Design: Tony Straiges (set) Catherine Zuber (costumes) James F. Ingalls (lights) John Gromada (music and sound) J. Allen Suddeth (fight coordinator) Richard Anderson (photography) Linda Marvel (stage manager). Cast: Lise Bruneau, Roland Bull, Leo Erickson, Neal Freeman, Francois Giroday, Jonas Grey, Patricia Kilgarriff, Wil Love, Laurence O’Dywer, Robert Alexander Owens, Jake Riggs, Michael Rudko, Tony Tsendeas, Sam Tsoutsouvas, Catherine Weidner, Chandler Williams, Brandy Zarle.

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Reviewed January 15
Running time 2 hours 10 minutes

Like all good revues, this recreation of the 1978 mega-hit presentation of music written or recorded by legendary Thomas “Fats” Waller, builds as it goes along, saving its best for last. Of course, the great revues start from a high level of excitement and then build to a thrilling climax. This one starts at a fairly low energy level so the heights it must scale are less daunting. Still, once it gets its engine running in the second act, it takes on a sense of momentum and is a lot of fun.

Storyline: Revues don’t have storylines, as such. Here we have a cast of five and a five piece jazz combo run through over 30 songs associated with jazz pianist and vocalist "Fats" Waller, who recorded over 500 songs, and wrote alm