Open Circle Theatre - ARCHIVE
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Running time 2:00 - one intermission
t Potomac Stages Pick for a superb song cycle serving a new story
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Storyline: The impact of the war in Iraq on the American soldiers fighting it and their families at home is all encompassing, affecting the relationships of men and wives, daughters and sons, brothers and sisters. Support for and opposition to the war on the home front and the trauma of service in combat have two things in common - intensity and emotion. They rip some relationships apart and cement others.

Brown writes intensely personal, highly dramatic songs. They range from country-ish story songs to gospel tinged wails and from pop colored romps to solo pieces of either concentrated personal revelation or slightly off beat comedy. Each song is musically distinctive and dramatically effective. The songs weren't originally written as part of a single score with a single purpose. They had been written for various projects: shows, cabaret, concerts. Director Daisy Prince found a common thread and joined them together to create a theatrical song cycle. Thus, Suzanne Richard's re-envisioning of the piece with a new storyline, using the songs to examine the lives of two soldiers serving in Iraq, may lose Daisy Prince's contribution to the work in the process but does no damage to Brown's. Indeed, placing the songs in a new context adds depth and impact. Richard re-sequences the songs but adds no new libretto and makes a point of the fact that this is being done with Brown's permission.

In Richard's concept, Snipe is the adopted son of a politician, Lanny Slusher, who is a strong supporter of the war and his wife, Barbara Catrett, who breaks with him over the war. Add a fervent anti-war agitator, McQuay, and his sister, Debra Buonaccorsi who serves as a surgeon in the combat zone (turning one of Brown's most impressive ballads, "Christmas Lullaby" to an entirely new purpose with strength and beauty). As with many mixed-disabilities performance pieces, this staging uses the technique of having pairs handle roles, one to voice a part and another to sign.

As good as the concept and the dramatic execution are, however, two areas of concern affect the impact of the show. One is the decision to perform such a challenging musical piece without wireless microphones. True, the room is small enough that many performers could perform many songs without artificial aid. But some of these performers are stretched too thin trying to deliver Brown's very demanding score at the edge of their capacities. Rob McQuay and Debra Buonaccorsi clearly can handle the demands without any help, but just as clearly, the performances of Lanny Slusher and others would have benefited at times from an assist. Slusher, for example, has a scene early on in which his voice seems tentative at just the wrong moment which breaks the affect of the scene. Later, however, he is absolutely solid in a superb scene built on the song "She Cries." The choreography by two members of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange uses some of the vocabulary of modern dance that doesn't fit well with dramatic narrative theater, at least not when executed by cast members whose skills are those of musical theater performers rather than modern dancers. As a result, there are times when attention is drawn to the artificiality of the performance at just the moment calling for emotional reality.

Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. Directed by Suzanne Richard. Music direction by Zak Sandler. Choreographed by Shula Strassfeld and Peter Di Muro. Sign master: Monique Holt. Design: Klyph Stanford (set) Matt Mahaney (multimedia) Erin Nugent (costumes) Jessica Pearson (properties) Marianne Meadows (lights) Ian Armstrong (sound) Kate Kilbane (stage manager). Cast: Greg Anderson, Elver Ariza, Debra Buonaccorsi, Barbara Catrett, John Dellaporta, Zehra Fazal, Tiffany Garfinkle, James Garland, John Peter Illarramendi, Joe Isenberg, Ashley Ivey, Jan Johns, John Robert Keena, Jill Mayburch, Rob McQuay, Melissa Mustard, Nora Palka, Joe Peck, Andrew Vergara Retizos, Jon Reynolds, Rachel Saltzman, Tosia Shall, Lanny Slusher, Warren "Wawa" Snipe, Pauline Spanbauer.

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August 9 - 27, 2006
Evita

Running time 2:20 - one intermission
A well thought out new approach to
a musical with substance
Performances at Round House Silver Spring
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Storyline: Eva Duarte, born poor and illegitimate in the hinterlands of Argentina, rose to be the first lady of her country by hooking her star to the career of Juan Peron. Her European tour in the 1940s and the activities of her charitable foundation, as well as the emotional impact on the entire country of her death at the age of 33, are chronicled in a pop opera.

The place of this pop-opera in the history of musical theater is solid. After Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's success of both Jesus Christ Superstar and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, they teamed up again. They did not just repeat the formula for the success of Superstar, but took their unique fusion of strong musical construction, iconographic topics and distinctive lyrics to new heights. The legendary Harold Prince - then in his forty-somethingth year of turning out Broadway hits (from Pajama Game and Damn Yankees to Fiddler on the Roof and Sweeney Todd) - mounted it in London and then transferred it to Broadway where it dominated the Tony's in 1980. The most recent look the Potomac Region has had at the show was the new national tour which aped Prince's direction quite effectively - it was directed by his assistant under Prince's "supervision." As a director, Prince imposed a strong view on the piece, and, as good as his work was, it is a pleasure to see the show re-thought and re-mounted so we can get a view of the strengths behind his hand.

Banno's strongest contribution is to turn the chorus from an undifferentiated mass representing "the people of Argentina" into a collection of real people, each with his or her own personality and each with his or her own reaction to the events going on in the story. At the height of the opening sequence set in "a nightclub" rather than in "a cinema" in Buenos Aires on the night the death of Eva Peron is announced, there are 24 individuals on David Ghatan's red dance floor reacting to the news. They are big, small, old, young, firm, infirm - in short, a population and not just "the masses." The choreography of this and later scenes abounds with individuals with their own movements working in harmony with each other, but there are very few moments of chorus lines moving in lock step. The effective incorporation of American Sign Language into the production, rather than having signing interpreters standing to the side, has each of the principals shadowed by a signing double with a distinct but complimentary personality of his or her own. Warren (Wawa) Snipe is particularly good as Che's "Second in Command" and Roslyn Ward, as "Young Evita" delivers some of the emotional richness of Evita's character that escapes Amanda Johnson who plays the title role.

The performances of the principals is the most uneven element of the production. Johnson's Evita gains in dramatic strength through the evening but starts out lacking in what the lyric says she has in abundance, "star quality." When she meets and teams up with Scott Sedar as Juan Peron it simply isn't clear what he finds so attractive in her. For that matter, he's bland enough that it isn't clear what she sees in him either. Worse, neither brings sufficient vocal power to make the score soar. That distinction is left to Rob McQuay, who is quite simply marvelous practically every moment he is on the stage: telling the story, commenting on the events, defining the personalities and generally doing everything that Tim Rice's book envisions that the character Che would do. And, he sings rings around everyone. Well, almost everyone. Stephen McWilliams takes full advantage of Lloyd Webber's intentionally second-rate tango song for the second-rate tango singer who "had the distinction of being the first man to be of use to Eva Duarte" ("On This Night of A Thousand Stars").

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Book and lyrics by Time Rice. Directed by Joe Banno. Choreography by Cassie Meador and Peter DiMuro of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange. Music direction by Stuart Weich. Sign master, Fred Beam. Design: David C. Ghatan (set) Zoe Cowan (costumes) Marianne Meadows (lights) Matt Neilson (sound) Kate Kilbane (stage manager). Cast: Jennifer Ackerley, Raymont Anderson, Elver Ariza, Henian Boone, Debra Buonaccorsi, Roger Christopher, Sylvana Christopher, Tiffany Garfinkle, Shereth Gilson, Amanda Johnson, John Peter Illarramendi, R. Daniel McQuay, Rob McQuay, Stephen McWilliams, Natalie Perez-Duel, Jon Reynolds, Jacquelyn Richard, Brian Rubiano, Tami Lee Santimyer, Scott Sedar, Tosia Anne Shall, Erica Siegel, Warren (Wawa) Snipe, Roslyn Ward, Samuel J. Weich, Hannah Willman.

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Reviewed November 7
Running time 1:30 - no intermission
Performed at 1409 Playbill Cafe
Three young women dish the dirt about sex
v Mature themes/nudity
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Storyline: Three roommates have three different views of the expectations of society for young women's sexuality. In a series of conversations in their shared bathroom they complain, argue, brag, question and joke about men, dating, mating, pornography and body image.

In her program notes, director Suzanne Richard tells how the rehearsal process with its intensive exploration of the text line-by-line seemed to reveal to the cast that there was more to this than the merely  "fair" play she thought it was on first reading. Perhaps, but the revelation didn't survive the process of putting the show on a stage.  While it raises interesting questions and introduces distinct characters, it never seems to build toward a dramatic whole. It remains a merely fair play being given thoughtful, earnest delivery by a cast of three actresses.

Those actresses are Jessica Lynn Rodriquez as a woman who is terrified at not being able to find acceptance in the single world because of her weight, Selene Faer as one who would rather not conform to the standards she thinks men hold for single young women, and K. Clare Johnson as their roommate who is proud to measure up and expects to have her sexuality ratified by her success. The fact that Faer performs in her wheelchair as well as in the tub adds another layer of meaning to the script's examination of self-image and the appearance expectations of society, but neither Faer nor Richard allow that aspect to overwhelm the central points of the author, at least not after the opening scene which Faer performs in the nude. There are two cast members who are never seen - two male voices on tape which invade the women's minds.

Klyph Stanford's set is the most intriguing aspect of this production. He places the frame of a huge wall mirror between the audience and the performers who spend much of the time staring at themselves (and, thus, the audience) as they apply makeup, arrange their hair, pick at imperfections and consider their wardrobe. Behind them is a bathroom, complete with tub which is used both for bathing and dying clothes. The walls are lined in semi-soft and harder porn cut from magazines, surrounding these three women with the images of sexual identity they believe the world imposes on them.

Written by Clare McIntyre. Directed by Suzanne Richard. Design: Klyph Stanford (set) Melanie Clark (costumes) Rebecca L. Trotter (properties) Marianne Meadows (lights) Ian Armstrong (sound and photography) Karen Currie (stage manger). Cast: Selene Faer, K. Clare Johnson, Jessica Lynn Rodriguez and the voices of Michael Dove and Brandon Thane Wilson.

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Reviewed July 5
Running time 3:10 - one intermission
Performances at Round House Silver Spring
A parable play given an earnest production
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Storyline: Two different tales of life in a village in the Caucasus (today's Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) at the end of World War II intertwine. Two groups have returned to a valley at war's end, one hoping to resume age-old customs of life, the other wanting to institute modern improvements in farming and industry. Just who has the better claim and who gets to decide? Among themselves they enact the story of Grusha, a maid who took in an apparently abandoned infant who - in the tradition of folk stories - is the son of the Governor. Then they play out the story of Azdak, a judge who must decide if the child should be taken from Grusha and given to its natural mother who has returned. If the fate of the valley should turn on which group can put the resource to best use, should the fate of the child be decided similarly? Or should the judge draw a circle with chalk and see which woman can drag the child over the line first?

Open Circle has gathered a cast of performers with a mixture of abilities and disabilities and with or without various physical challenges. They perform the piece in a combination of spoken English and American Sign Language, with vocal repeats of lines signed by non-speaking actors by speaking actors and signed interpretations of spoken lines reminiscent of the impressive Deaf West production of Big River that recently played Ford's Theatre. Here, however, music doesn't provide quite the structure, meter and pace that was so effective in that Broadway musical. There are a number of dance sequences here and two outright songs, but a good deal of the story is acted in a stylized though not necessarily musical manner.

Eva Salvetti brings a fluid sense of motion to the play as the narrator/storyteller while Suzanne Richard gives the maid Grusha a bright, open persona and Scot McKenzie brings a physicality to Azdak, the judge. Each has to cover a few other roles as well, but not quite as many as do the rest of the cast of fifteen who must cover the bulk of the different roles of which there are no fewer than ninety-two listed in the program. With a prologue and two interlocking stories involving so many characters, clarity of direction is paramount. Here a team co-directs, and, while the result seems fairly efficient and effective, the complexity of the story and character lines might well have benefited from a single hand at the helm.

Open Circle is using the big black box space of Round House Silver Spring for the first time. For the prologue and first act, a camp before a large tent sets the scene while the tent is replaced by a simple cross bar structure sporting a hangman's noose for the final act. The colors of the sky on the cyclorama at the rear, augmented by the earth tones of the costumes works well. The incidental music in Fahir Atakoglu's score obscures some of the dialogue but that may have been a function of finding the proper level for the sound system.

Written by Bertolt Brecht. Directed by Monique Holt and Grady Weatherford. Design: Matthew Soule (set) Melanie Clark (costumes) Marianne Meadows (lights) Fahir Atakoglu (composer/sound) Michael Geske (stage manager). Cast: Luisray Aguilar, Elver Ariza, Tiffany Garfinkle, Maggie Glauber, Alex Grant-Genievski, K. Clare Johnson, Whalen J. Laurence, Frank Mancino, Scot McKenzie, Jon Reynolds, Suzanne Richard, Jessica Lynn Rodriquez, Eva Salvetti, AliceAnna Schumacher, Linden Tailor.

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Reviewed September 25
Running time 1:55 - one intermission
Playing at the Clark Street Playhouse
t A Potomac Stages Pick for Energy, Enthusiasm and Unique Staging
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Storyline: The Passion of Christ - from the entrance into Jerusalem through the last supper, the betrayal by Judas, trials before Pilate and Herod and the crucifixion - is told through the anachronistically modern lyrics of Tim Rice set to the wide range of rock music styles by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Jesus Christ Superstar has been "up-dated" before. The movie version featured a band of "hippies" arriving in a battered Volkswagen bus to put on the show, and the recent Broadway revival was set somewhere under a freeway in a space that looked like a left over from West Side Story's rumble. But it has probably never been as up-to-the-minute as is this production, which, through the use of an imaginative multi-media display, clearly places Jesus' arrival in the middle of the current election here in the United States. Indeed, Jesus becomes a third party candidate for President and even overtakes both Bush and Kerry as election day approaches. All this compliments rather than competing with the passion play of the script. It gives new immediacy to the anachronisms of Rice's marvelous lyrics from "What's the buzz" to "Did you mean to die like that? Was that a mistake or / did you know your message would be a record breaker?"

Open Circle's commitment to artists with disabilities is taken to full realization with this cast, some of whom perform from wheel chairs, others perform in sign language and still others exhibit other handicaps but are never stopped by them. Rob McQuay commands the stage in the role of Jesus with a full voice, strong dramatic delivery and full mobility in his wheelchair. With surtitles projected on Grady Weatherford's multi-media screen and American Sign Language translations, a team of speaking and non speaking actors handle the roles of Caiaphas and Annas with a clarity that exceeds the successes of the roles in many other productions.

Not all roles are assigned to actors with disabilities, however. Both Matt Conner and Lindsay Allen are marvelous as Judas and Mary, two roles that are crucial to the success of the piece. Director Richard uses the updated concept to great advantage in Pontius Pilate's segments with a normally non-singing Rick Foucheux using his acting skills to turn his songs into scenes as a Pilate who hosts a television interview show. At the opposite end of the scale, the effort to turn "Herod's Song" into a Blues Brothers, John Belushi take off just doesn't work. It is an exception, however, as almost all other touches -- from the chorus members of "Heal Me Christ" actually having visible disabilities, to the pizza and chianti for "The Last Supper" -- have a satisfying feel of being thoroughly thought through. The cumulative effect of the energetic performances and the election year overlay is to make this production easily as satisfying as the recent Broadway revival.

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lyrics by Tim Rice. Directed by Suzanne Richard. Music direction by Tracy Olivera. Multi-Media design by Grady Weatherford. Choreography by Fred Michael Beam and Stefan Sittig. Design: Misha Kachman (set) Noelle Julian (costumes) Marianne Meadows (lights) Kevin Hill (sound) Ian Armstrong (photography) Michael Geske (stage manager). Cast: Lindsay Allen, Anthony Aloise, Carlos Barillo, Jon Bell, Steven Carpenter, Rusty Clauss, Matt Conner, Selene Faer Dalton-Kumins, Betty Entzminger, Lisa Ferris, Rick Foucheux, Marcia Freeman, Eleasha Gamble, Jewel Greenberg, Shira Grabelsky, J.P. Gulla, Monique 'MoMo' Holt, Mary C. Idone, J.P. Illarramendi,  Dave McLellan, Rob McQuay, Willie "Will" Mincey, Pablo Murcia, Melissa Schwartz, Dan Sonntag, Pauline Spanbauer, Jay Tilley. Musicians: Troy Hernandez, Nicholas Jackson, Alfredo Pulupa, Keith Tittermary, Jason Wilson.

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 June 19 - August 2, 3003
Laughing Wild

Reviewed June 26
Running time 1 hour 55 minutes
Performed at 1409 Playbill Cafe

Christopher Durang’s Ronald Reagan-era comedy is in two very different acts. The first is a pair of monologues, one for each of the two characters. It presents each of the actors -- in this case Suzanne Richard and Dan Via -- with a wealth of material from which to build an intriguing portrait of a unique character, while at the same time, delivering cogent and funny observations on urban American society. They take full advantage of the opportunities, creating a first act that is bright, fun and fast even though, on the clock it actually lasts longer than the second act. That second act brings the two characters together in a series of scenes that stretch credulity just about a half inch beyond the limit and, although the performers continue to do great work, the focus fails for a while before a fine final return to a kind of dual monologue.

Storyline: A chance encounter at the tuna shelf in a grocery store brings together a former patient of a mental hospital and a recent graduate of a much needed self-confidence course in a momentary confrontation that sticks in both of their minds. Those minds seem to meld as they explain to the audience dreams both seem to be having involving everything from Sally Jesse Rafael to Christian icons.

Suzanne Richard, as Woman, is nothing short of marvelous in both the monologues and the scenes all night long. She has a mannerism, a movement, a telling expression and a bit of business for every moment, every emotion and every thought in her character’s head. It is true that Durang wrote some of the funniest lines for her character but they would fall very flat in the hands of a less polished performer. Here, Woman addresses the audience directly with an open honesty and a palpable need to be accepted and loved but a hard shell to protect her from rejection that is the shield she relies on. Then, as the play delves into dreams, she becomes everything from talk show host (there’s that Sally Jesse again) to Dr. Ruth to a car alarm.

Dan Via’s task may be a bit trickier, for his part is of a character suffering from a shyness, an introversion and an insecurity problem not compensated for in the assertive manner of Richard’s. He also is saddled with the central characterization in an overly long dream sequence in which he is an unbending religious icon. But he does a fine job with a great deal of the material and makes the most of some of the subtler bits to be found in Durang’s script.

This is the first production of Open Circle Theatre in downtown Washington. It is a company dedicated to producing professional theater “utilizing the considerable talents of artists with disabilities.” Of course, not all disabilities can be seen and nor are all the contributing artists of a production visible. Still, the emphasis in every aspect of this production is on abilities and no accommodation need be made by a discriminating audience. This is simply a fine production of an intriguing piece featuring two marvelous performances.

Written by Christopher Durang. Directed by Arianna Ross and Suzanne Richard. Design: Scot McKenzie (set and sculptures) Kathleen Geldard (costumes) Marianne Meadows (lights) Mark Anduss (sound) Jenn O’Neill (stage manager). Cast: Suzanne Richard, Dan Via.