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Running time 2:30 - one intermission
A Roman farce with a modern musical score 
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Storyline: A tuneful farce about a Roman slave who schemes to earn his freedom by arranging for his owner’s adolescent son to win the woman of his dreams, a virgin courtesan in the neighboring house of ill repute who has been purchased by a Roman captain returning from a war.

This was the first musical to reach Broadway with both words and music by Stephen Sondheim who, until then, had done words for West Side Story and Gypsy. It was a big success and remains one of Sondheim's easiest-to-love scores. Shevelov joined comedy writer Gelbart (who later created M*A*S*H) to craft a smoothly flowing book using the stock characters and typical situations of the comedies of Plautus, a Roman playwright dating from 251 - 183 BC. At the center of the piece is the conniving of Pseudolus, a part that has drawn over-sized performances from Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers, Nathan Lane, Floyd King and Whoopi Goldberg (yes, Whoopi Goldberg!).

The best of this cast are quite good, and all of them work very hard to put their individual gags over. Laura Romani is ravishingly virginal as "Philia, a virgin" and Josh Kidd makes a suitably clueless and, at the same time, charming hero named Hero. He joins her in a lovely "Lovely" in the first act. Todd Evan Pristas is frequently funny as Hysterium who goes to great lengths to remain "calm," and Thomas Cleary booms out a macho "Bring Me My Bride." Not everything works out as well as it could, however. The ladies playing the courtesans, Tintinnabula, Panacea and the twins, The Gemini, don't exhibit a lot of sex appeal and the ugly-old-bag role of Domina gets too serious a performance from Mary G. Thompson even if she is supposed to be distraught that the theater is doing "Comedy Tonight," instead of starring her in her favorite role, Medea.

The hijinks take place on a colorful and functional set, brightly lit as befits the tone of the piece, and Debbie Olson's costumes are quite well done but lack much of the sexiness that the show often seems to need. As is the procedure here at Riverside, the orchestra is pre-recorded and played through a fine sound system which also carries the sound from the individual performers' microphones.

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Directed by Stephen R. Hayes. Musical direction by Rollin E. Wehman. Choreographed by Kristin Morris. Design: Mitchell Morehead and Aaron P. Mastin (set) Debbie Olson (costumes) Phil Carlucci (lights) Frank Bennett (audio) Paul Johannes (stage manager). Cast: Stephen J. Burton, Emily Carper, Kristen Cottone, Thomas Cleary, Samantha Graves, John Hollinger, Josh Kidd, James E. Lawson or Stephen R. Hayes, Michelle LeRoy, Christin Barksdale Pristas, Todd Evan Pristas, Robert L. Nelson, Julie Olson, Laura Romani,  Mary G. Thompson, Anthony Williams, Mark Williams, Steven Williams.

 
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Running time 2:35 - one intermission
A solid production of a history musical with emotional punch
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Storyline: As the Civil War breaks out all around him, a farmer in the Shenandoah Valley sees no reason to let the battles of others affect the family farm he and his late wife created out of wilderness. He certainly doesn’t see why either side should take his sons to fight or his horses to ride. But, when his youngest son is taken prisoner, he leads the rest of his family in a rescue mission. His refusal to have his family involved turns out to have been principal and not cowardice as he voices his belief that, like all wars, “the undertakers are winning.”

This is the musical version of the 1965 movie that starred Jimmy Stewart. It came to Broadway at the end of the Viet Nam era and it was a strong anti-war statement delivered in a historical context to treat the message as universal rather than directing it at any one specific conflict. It is a well constructed play with a good, country-sounding score by Gary Geld and Peter Udell, the team that gave us Purlie. It has been a success at regional, community and school theaters ever since because it can be emotionally satisfying as well as musically delightful.

Hollinger may be the real strength of the show, but the collection of sons is notable too. With Todd Evan Pristas' leaps leading the spirited dances, the charm of Robbie Gutzwiller as the youngest son, Robert ("The Boy"), and the hesitant humor of Josh Kidd as the suitor for the hand of the daughter, this is a robust and boisterous brood. Emily Perkins and Kristin Morris handle the female side of the story well.

The cast is all amplified so the sound fills the hall. Frank Bennett's audio design works nicely in this regard and the sound board operator obviously is paying attention to those moments in duets when one person's microphone gets too close to another person's mouth. There is a trick to avoiding drawing attention to the artificiality of the sound in such moments and they do a good job here of avoiding that. It makes one wonder, however, how come the sound can be as good for the live performance and yet the sound of the pre-recorded orchestral accompaniment can be so stilted. It is being reproduced through the same system and yet sounds almost as if it is an old monaural recording.

Music by Gary Geld. Lyrics by Peter Udell. Book by James Lee Barrett, Peter Udell and Philip Rose. Directed by Stephen R. Hayes. Musical direction by Rollin E. Wehman. Choreographed by Mykal Kvenberg. Design: Aaron P. Mastin (set) Debbie Olson (costumes) Phil Carlucci (lights) Frank Bennett (audio) William Myzk (production manager). Cast: Andy Braden, Stephen J. Burton, Michael Colby, Page Dreher, Brent Gallahan, Robbie Gutzwiller, Stephen R. Hayes, John Hollinger, Josh Kidd, Steven King, Kristin Morris, Greg Olson, Emily Perkins, Todd Evan Pristas, Dale Shrader, Christopher Stull, Michael S. Taylor, Steven Williams.  

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Running time: 2:30 - one intermission
This director clarifies the plotline of a musical based on a book of poems
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Storyline:  Andrew Lloyd Webber, the composer of Jesus Christ Superstar, The Phantom of the Opera and a dozen other amazingly successful scores decided he could make a musical of the poems that T. S. Eliot wrote for children under the title Old Posssum's Book of Practical Cats. The thinnest of storylines simply has a "tribe" of cats gather for their annual ball in a junk-filled yard. The highlight of the ball every year is the selection by their elderly leader of one of their own to be honored with a chance to go on to another of a cat's nine lives. Many of the cats sing or dance numbers designed to attract the attention of the elderly leader but he selects the one who is doing the least to attract attention and is in the most need of the renewal.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s first outing without his then-partner, lyricist Tim Rice, was this musical fantasy. With Eliot’s often witty lyrics and Lloyd Webber’s highly melodic music, director Trevor Nunn, Choreographer Gillian Lynne and designer John Napier took the audience on a visit to the world of cats. It became one of the most successful musicals of all time and held the record as the longest running musical in Broadway history when it closed after 7,486 performances.

It become an institution rather than "just a show," if it ever was "just a show." It began life -- twenty-five years ago, if you can believe it! -- as an attempt to create another world. The world of cats. It wasn’t meant as a traditional musical play. It was meant as a musical experience somewhere between dance extravaganza, grand opera, musical comedy and amusement park exhibit. It didn’t have a “book” in the traditional sense, although it won the Tony for best book for a musical, one of seven Tonys it won in 1983. Instead, it had a series of loosely related events held together by a theme and a concept. Above all, it had style, energy, inventiveness and audacity. While the audacity may not be quite as evident in this production, the style, energy and inventiveness are all still there.

Musically, this production has a fine support using a specially taped performance of the orchestra with the original orchestrations of Lloyd Webber or David Cullen. The strength of the performance is the work of the ensemble when the full chorus is singing. Solos and duets are handled nicely, but it is the full-throated and nicely enunciated work of the full cast that stands out. As a result, this strength opens and closes the show with the unison of "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats/The Naming of Cats" and the swell of "The Ad-dressing of Cats" acting as bookends for the vaudeville of individual acts in between.

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Based on poems by T. S. Elliot. Directed by Mykal Kvenberg. Choreographed by Holly Chorengel. Music Direction by Rollin E. Wehman. Orchestrations by David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Design: Matthew P. Westcott (scenic artist) Debbie Olson (costumes) Norman Kauahi (wigs) Phil Carlucci (lights) Frank Bennett (sound). Cast: Christin Barksdale, Katie Beale, Andy Braden, Stephen J. Burton, Holly Chorengel, Matt Curtis, Kristen Fatiga, Samantha Graves, Teddy Gregson, Stephen R. Hayes, Chris Hlusko, Roy Hollis, Mykal Kvenberg, Sabine Kvenberg, Gigi McClain, Amanda McCormick, Heather McIntosh, Kylie McLean, Thomas McNeal, Erin Miele, Kristin Morris, Todd E. Pristas, Billy Smith, Christopher M. Stewart, Anthony Williams.

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Reviewed August 11
Running time 2:45 - one intermission
This productions' Huck Finn makes the show
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Storyline: Mark Twain’s tale of Huckleberry Finn is set along the Mississippi River in the days when it was the key avenue of commerce between the reach of slavery and the free states of the north. Huck embarks on a raft trip down the river with runaway slave Jim, and is soon joined by a pair of charlatans who run scams among the river towns. His friendship with Jim sorely tests his acceptance of the concepts of slavery and the inferiority of one race of men as compared to another.

The same Roger Miller who had a string of hits blending a country sound with a uniquely humorous bent of mind with "Dang Me," "England Swings (Like a Pendulum Do)" and "King of the Road," turned his considerable talents to creating a score for a musical based on Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The results won Tony awards in 1985 for best score, best book and best musical. The score is a unique blend of country, show tunes, spirituals and comedy numbers. The book or script for the musical relies on those songs creating emotional highs to keep the momentum going. The crew here under musical director Rollin E. Wehman pulls off most of the big moments of the first act but misses on too many of them in the second. Still, there are scenes and songs to enjoy in both halves.

The cast supporting this Huck and Jim is stronger in the comedy and drama than in the singing with one notable exception. James E. Lawson sinks his teeth into both the role of Huck's Pap and the one song he's got, the drunken ranting against the "'Guv'ment" which he delivers with gusto. Also having a number of fine moments are Joshua A. Kelly as Tom sawyer and both Stephen J. Burton as a confidence man masquerading as "The King" and Stephen R. Hayes who is his accomplice, "The Duke," as well as the director of the production.

Hayes' direction is bright and clear, especially in the first act. The show benefits from sharp choreography which Hayes, in his program notes, says is a re-creation of the choreography that Karen Jameson Jack (now Hastings) devised for a production he directed fifteen years ago at the Lazy Suzan Dinner Theatre. These dances enhance the spirit of the show and help tell the story - something theater choreography is supposed to do but all too often doesn't accomplish. The set design features the evocative use of burlap, a river view painted rear cyclorama that assumes different impressive appearances under different lights, and an ingenious river raft that, while appearing to be propelled by the actors with poles, actually is controlled by a stagehand so that it performs more complicated maneuvers without breaking the flow of the show.

Music and lyrics by Roger Miller. Book by William Hauptman. Adapted from the novel by Mark Twain. Directed by Stephen R. Hayes. Musical direction by Rollin E. Wehman. Design: Gregg Hillmar (set) Matthew P. Westcott (scenic artist) Debbie Olson (costumes) Phil Carlucci (lights) Frank Bennett (sound) Andrew Stangland (stage manager). Cast: Andy Braden, Carl Bowman, Stephen J. Burton, Cynthia Carey, Devon Clark, Barbara Escamilla Cochran, Matt Curtis, Philip Edney, Brent Gallahan, Samantha Graves,  Carol Hagy, Stephen R. Hayes, Christopher Hlusko, Kylie McLean Johnston, Josh Kelly, Sonny La Rose, Danielle Lawson, James E. Lawson, Melissa Maddox, Sean McGowan, Kristin Morris, Robert L. Nelson, Karen Nicholson, Matthew Parker, Todd Evan Pristas, Christopher M. Stewart, Kenneth Walker, W. Douglas Wall, Kendric Walpole.

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Reviewed April 18
Running time 3 hours 10 minutes

The Potomac Region is fortunate to have two capable productions of this 1964 musical running in dinner theaters at either geographic extreme - 22 miles north of Washington at Toby’s and 44 miles south at the Riverside Center. The musical, based on Arnold Perl’s adaptation of the stories of Sholem Aleichem, has an emotionally affecting story and a host of interesting characters told in a dramatically arresting manner with a warm humor. It is accompanied by a score of memorable songs including “If I Were A Rich Man,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” “Miracle of Miracles” and “Sunrise, Sunset.” What is more, it has one of the top principal characters in the annals of musical theater: Tevye, the dairyman in Tsarist Russia who talks to God, loves his family, holds onto tradition as long as he possibly can and leads his family off to face the new world when the old one collapses. No show is perfect and Fiddler does have a one-dimensional character in Tevye’s wife Golde and a number of simplistic stereotypes. But it has so many marvelous elements it seems churlish to point these out.

Storyline: In a tiny Jewish enclave in 1905 Russia, Tevye lives in poverty with his wife and five daughters. Without dowries, how will he get them husbands? When a wealthy local widower asks for his eldest daughter’s hand he arranges a marriage but finds that she prefers to wed a penniless tailor. Tevye bends a bit and allows her her wish. When his second daughter falls in love with a penniless revolutionary and wants to follow him into exile in Siberia without his permission but with his blessing, Tevye bends further and allows her her wish. But when his third daughter falls in love with a Russian and wants to wed outside their faith he simply can’t bend that far. “If I try to bend that far, I will break.” The anti-semetic furor that accompanied the end of the Tsarist regime overtakes the entire enclave and Tevye and all his neighbors are forced to leave their homes.

Riverside Center has a full voiced singing actor in the role of Tevye. James E. Lawson brings a rich baritone to the role and he draws as much humor as possible from the comic aspects of the part without descending to clownishness. He doesn’t, however, show much of Tevye’s growing sense of panic and hurt as traditions collapse around his head, saving the torment and pain to the end when it all but overwhelms him. But when it does hit him, it comes through clearly and with emotional force.

The best sung role among the supporting cast is that of his second daughter, played by Laura Yanez who sings a glorious “Far From The Home I Love.” Kristopher Holtz unleashes a strong voice as her husband-to-be on the Act Two opener “Now I Have Everything.” Elizabeth Roth, who plays Tevye’s wife, is unable to lift the unfortunately limited role out of stereotype. She has a grating quality in her voice that seems appropriate to the shrewishness of the part but costs both “Sabbath Prayer” and “Do You Love Me?” of much of their charm.

The Riverside Center has all the technical resources to mount an impressive production. The commodious stage is filled with substantial sets, the sound system delivers the music and dialogue to every ear in the hall and costumes and lights are first caliber. There is an attempt to duplicate some of the magic of the original Broadway production in both the sets which Gregg Hillmar designed to look much like Boris Aronson’s gorgeous originals patterned on the paintings of Chagall, and in the choreography which Mykal Kvenberg attempts to recreate from Jerome Robbins’ original steps including the spirited bottle dance and Russian step dancing. Neither, however, manages to recapture the quality of those originals rather than simply imitating them.

Book by Joseph Stein based on Sholom Aleichem stories adapted by Arnold Perl. Music by Jerry Bock. Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Directed by Stephen R. Hayes. Music direction by Rollin E. Wehman. Choreography by Mykal Kvenberg. Design: Gregg Hillmar (sets) Matthew P Westcott (scenic artist) Debbie Olson (costumes) Phil Carlucci (lights) Frank Bennett (sound) Sean McGowan (stage manager). Cast: Katie Beale, Denise “Dee” Bennett, Frank Bennett, Keith C. Bevins, Mary Catherine Boren, Barbara Cochran, Stephen R. Hayes, Christopher Hlusko, John Hollinger, Kristofer Holz, Ryan Luff, Josh Kidd, Kimberly S. Kuehl, James E. Lawson, Rebecca Lloyd, Sean McGowan, Robert Miller, Jessica Lynn Morris, Kristin Morris, Todd Evan Pristas, Laura Romani, Elizabeth Roth, Betsy Saylor, David Springstead, Christopher M. Stewart, Robert Wolpole, Laura Yanez.