Just because a law has been
passed by a Government, does that mean that the judges of that country must
uphold those laws even if they are obviously morally repugnant? This is the
question that confronts the cast and audiences of Springfield Community
Theater’s rendition of Judgment at Nuremberg. Made famous by the
1961 movie staring Spencer Tracey, Burt Lancaster, and other notables
(Judy Garland was nominated for an Oscar for her small part in the film), the SCT production attempts to find the relevant material for today’s
generations. The production starts with a short narration mentioning the
current proposed International War Crimes court and the different responses
of the two recent administrations to its existence. Other than this
brief tie-in, the play proceeds with its traditional settings and timing.
Storyline: A retired
American judge arrives to preside over some of the final trials at Nuremberg
for the War Crimes committed by the Nazi party. The main trials having
already occurred, the tribunal presides over the trials of the judges who
enforced the laws that resulted in the crimes against humanity. Over a
period of six months they come to know more about the German people and what
it means to uphold the law.
Originally written for television,
the play premiered in 1959 on Playhouse 90 at a time when the sensitivities
over the issues raised were at a peak. (Indeed, author Abby Mann recalls
that one of the sponsors - a gas company - demanded that the phrase "gas
chambers" be excised from the teleplay.) Because it was originally written for TV, the play's 23 scene changes over two acts
were easily done electronically. However, on stage this often results in players left frozen
and unmoving while a scene takes place nearby. This rapidly shifting
scenery, combined with a forced German accent, that breaks when the actor
becomes emotional, can tend to remind the viewers that they are watching a
play instead of letting them get caught up in the story.
The show, directed by
Zina Bleck, seems at times more powerful than the players can comfortably
handle. Tom Pentecost gives a credible performance as the new presiding
judge who must wrestle with his preconceptions and the brutal facts
presented at trial, and Doug Nelson is stoic in his portrayal of Ernst Janning, the one judge who tried to fight the system from within till he too
was consumed. The nature of the play though seems to overwhelm even their
performances with its lofty cerebral speeches that often feel more like a
sermon than the natural flow of the plot.
The company does well
though, bringing the show across in their limited space in the fellowship
hall at the Immanuel United Methodist church. The inexpensive nature of the
show combined with its still pertinent material that seems to have a strange
reflection on our current times, makes this an educational show for those who are unfamiliar with the
history of the Nuremburg Trials. The cast and crew’s portrayal of the
atrocities of the Holocaust provide fine post show talking points to carry
on through the evening.
Written by Abby Mann. Directed by Zina Bleck. Design: Pat Jannell (Set) Herb
Tax (lights) Keith Bell (sound) Zina Bleck (photography). Cast:
Eleni Aldridge, Bailey
Center, Kristine Cornils, Michael Fisher, Harry Kantrovich, August Kruesi,
Penny McKee, Doug Nelson, Tom Pentecost, Rich Prien, Paul Rubenstein,
Herb Tax, Cal Whitehurst. |
The challenge for a community theater company
presented by this entertaining mix of the music of the early 1940’s and the
atmosphere of war-time New York is well met by the Springfield Community
Theater for their big summer musical. That challenge was to find both the
instrumentalists to deliver the big swing band sound and the singing actors
or acting singers who could convincingly perform everything from the Glenn
Miller hit "I’ve Got A Gal In Kalamazoo" which opens the show, to Count
Basie’s "One O’Clock Jump" as well as Frank Sinatra’s Tommy Dorsey hit "I’ll
Never Smile Again" and about fifteen other well known songs of the time and
not a few singing commercials. SCT found all the talent they needed and
mounted a solid and swinging show.Storyline: Rather than a major
story, this recreation of the Christmas broadcast of the fictitious "Mutual
Manhattan Variety Cavalcade" is enlivened by many little background stories
taking place among the cast and crew as they set up the studio for the their
broadcast, warm up the audience and then perform before the microphones for
an hour. The cast and the band all have something going on in their lives
that impacts how they behave during the broadcast. The lead singer has a
drinking problem. The clarinet player is to ship out in the Army in the
morning. The delivery boy wants to break into show business. The door man is
taking book on the studio phone. None of it keeps the flow of the popular
big band music from filling the airways.
Musically, the show is as good as it is because music director
Christopher A. Tomasino has put together a solid, swinging band of 15 which
handles everything from Dorsey to Miller to Basie in fine fashion. (They do
have a bit of difficulty with the complex harmonies of Ellington, however.)
They sit on stage as part of the "Cavalcade" radio show with Tomasino
leading from the center chair while doubling on sax and clarinet. Some of
his sidemen have bits of their own, even to the trumpet player who takes an
occasional swig from a bottle in a brown paper bag.
Acting skills among the dozen performers who also sing are more than
acceptable, but it really is their singing that is important. Kim-Scott
Miller is smooth in the Sinatra-like crooner role. Juan Rodriguiz keeps his
cool while being teased by his colleagues while singing a very nice "Blue
Moon." Beverly Nicholson Benda is impressively emotional in "Have Yourself a
Merry Little Christmas" given what the song meant in that year when the war
was going so poorly overseas. Robert Chaves is appropriately a bit
saccharine as the singing host. Non-singing roles are well handled as well.
Blake Grobe worries over everything as the stage manager and doubles as the
sound effects man while Lou Kriser is a kick as the prototypical stage door
man, "Pops."
Ed Mormon’s sound design is of key importance as the working microphones
capture the vocals to match well with the volume of the band. He uses modern
microphones hidden in mock-ups of vintage types so that the atmosphere of a
seedy city studio established by Brian Moon’s nicely detailed set is not
disrupted. That atmosphere is carried forward with Nanette Reynolds and
Beverly Nicholson Benda’s attention to period costumes.
Written by Walton Jones. Directed by Joanna Henry. Music direction by
Christopher A. Tomasino. Choreography by Margery Arrivillaga. Tap
choreography by Margaret Allman. Design; Brian Moon (set) Kat Brais (hair
and makeup) Franklin Coleman (lights) Ed Mormon (sound). Cast: Kim-Scott
Miller, Juan Rodriguiz, Beverly Nicholson Benda, Robert Chaves, Blake Grobe,
Lou Kriser, Thomas Ziemba, Michael Kocher, Margaret Allman, Cris Peterson,
Peter Thaxter, Robin Lynn Reaves, Matt Dingels. |
