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Running time 3:05 - one intermission
A fine performance of a stirring musical
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Storyline: In a hot and humid hall in "foul, filthy, fuming Philadelphia," the delegates of the 13 colonies debate everything from opening up a window to declaring independence. Central to the cause of separation are John Adams who is "obnoxious and disliked" but devoted to the cause, Benjamin Franklin, "a sage, a bit gouty in the leg" who understands the importance of crafting coalitions, and Thomas Jefferson who, at age 33, has "a remarkable felicity of expression." The audience knows what the outcome of the debate will be, but there is tension and drama aplenty along the way to the final vote.

The magic of this piece is the way book writer Peter Stone and composer/lyricist Sherman Edwards manage to communicate the complexity of the issues and avoid making simplistic cartoons out of the majority of the characters they portray. Richard Henry Lee is treated with less respect than most, being a comic popinjay of an egotist, but the adherents to the heritage of the British nation are shown as earnest, honest men who have an sincere difference of opinion. Indeed, Stone writes a marvelously moving moment at the end when the victorious John Adams pays tribute to the defeated John Dickenson, who, in Stephen Smith's elegant portrayal, has fought with all the energy and passion at his command in a cause he holds dear. Even the question of slavery, which was finally resolved on the side of human dignity only by bloody civil war decades later, is presented with both sides landing telling blows in the argument.

Three principal actors and two principal actresses carry much of the weight of the show. Joe Campanella is forceful and human as John Adams, and his duets with Danica Shook as Abigail Adams achieve the sweetness written into the brief segment "Till then." Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Jefferson are given life through the efforts of Milan Detweiler, who captures both Thomas Jefferson's reticence and his deeper passions, and Sharon Smith, who, as Martha, sings a lovely "He Plays the Violin." Most of the comedy and not a small amount of the wisdom contained in the script is well delivered by Paul Gernhardt as Benjamin Franklin. As with the entire cast, they sport the finery of a superb set of costumes and sound clear and clean as well as forceful through Daren Weisenberger's sound system.

Excellent theater is always marked by the finer touches that are brought to bear and here there are a number of examples. Most notable is the decision to bring the character of "Mrs. Pickett" to life. The introduction to the song "Mama, Look Sharp" relates the story of a revolutionary soldier, a mere boy who is shot and whose mother searched the battlefield "near half the night f'r Will'm cuz he'd gone ''n' crawled off the green 'fore he died." The song is usually sung by the courier and the two Congressional employees, custodian Andrew McNair and his assistant known only as "Leather Apron." Originally, however, the song was to have been sung with the boy's mother singing to her dead son - a dramatic moment which did not survive the cutting and trimming that preceded the show's Broadway opening. Here her role is restored in the brief appearance of Jeanne DeLisi. The youngster portraying Leather Apron is also a DeLisi, young Chris, whose stage presence is notable and who always stays in character through long periods of stage time with nothing really to do. That's hard for any actor, let alone one who appears to be still approaching teenage. Another, a full grown and full voiced Kevin C. Robertson, rocks the hall with the power of his delivery of the always powerful song "Molasses to Rum" toward the conclusion of the show. Earlier, an equally strong although quite different performance comes from Glen Bartram as Richard Henry Lee who sings the high spirited "The Lees of Old Virginia."

Music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards. Book by Peter Stone. Directed by Karlah Louis. Music direction by Deb Bartram. Choral direction by Yasmin Hatley. Choreographed by Tosia Shall. Design: James Campanella (set) Beth Robertson (costumes) Heather Sargent (make-up) Terry DiMurro (lights) Daren Weisenberger (sound) Shelah Novak (stage manager). Cast: Steven L. Barker, Glen Bartram, Michael Bleutge, Jay Burton, James Campanella, Joe Campanella, Steven Collins, Chris DeLisi, Jeanne DeLisi, Rick DeLisi, Milan Detweiler, John Dickson, Terry DiMurro, Jamison Foreman, Ted Fredrick, Herb Fuller,  Paul Gernhardt, Matthew Hatley, Jim Hepfinger, Jim Johnson, Craig McKee, Kevin C. Robertson, Danica Shook, Mark Smedberg, Sharon Smith, Stephen Smith, Terry Smith, Scott Tousley. Musicians: Jackie Falatko, John Friedman, Yasmin Hatley, Diana Larson, Peggy Lee, Nick Lee, Arthur Louis, Muriel Nanninga, John Paganelli, Doug Pascale, Audrey Reale, Adam Riley, Rick Rowen, Adrienne Salazar, Paul Westray, Shara Williams.

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Reviewed August 3
Running time 3 hours 10 minutes
Performed at Potomac Falls High School
46400 Algonkian Parkway

This is a powerhouse presentation of Rodgers, Hammerstein and Joshua Logan’s Pulitzer Prize winning musical with a cast of some sixty-five headed by full voiced, well cast leads in a handsomely designed production with solid sets, colorful costumes and a hall-filling sound with so many voices raised. The fourteen member orchestra struggles at times with the tricky rhythms of the reduced version of Robert Russell Bennett’s famous orchestrations of Richard Rodgers tuneful score and the cast sings better than it dances, but the play delivers its moral messages with straightforward earnestness cloaked in layers of romance and comedy. 

Storyline: Two romantic stories are intertwined on an island in the South Pacific early in World War II. A Navy nurse from Arkansas falls in love with a French expatriate planter but has difficulty overcoming her southerner’s prejudice when she discovers he had been married to a native woman. At the same time a Navy Lieutenant falls for a native girl but can’t overcome his prejudice either.

The script for this sprawling show is big and a challenge for any director. The scenes for the love stories are so lushly romantic, the musical comedy numbers for the Navy men (“There is Nothin’ Like a Dame”) and women (“I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair”) and combined choruses (“Honey Bun”) are so big and bright while much of the story is advanced by songless scenes played in front of the curtain by earnest Navy officers. Striking a balance would be difficult for any director. Add the size of the cast, especially as this community theater company has approached it with large numbers of marines, nurses and Tonkinese, and direction almost becomes logistics. Here Kathleen Bleutge settles for an approach as uncomplicated and traditional as possible, recreating some of the staging and the effects used in both the original production and the movie version.

Sally Mann in the Nurse Nellie Forbush role and Hans Dettmar in the part of the French planter Emile de Becque both bring fine singing voices to the project and each has a confident stage presence. Mann looks a good deal like the original Nellie, Mary Martin, with her short light hair which she shampoos on stage and Dettmar’s booming basso is at times thrilling. The performance that really captures audience attention and gains affection is by Karlah Louis who is simply marvelous in both the comedy and the humanity of the native wheeler-dealer, Bloody Mary, who sees in the Navy Lieutenant the ultimate opportunity to arrange a match for her lovely daughter.

Less successful are the principal cast members playing men wearing uniforms. Tim Adams is said to be recuperating from a cold which may explain some of his difficulty with the big climax to “Younger Than Springtime” and give him credit, he certainly managed to pull off the most important number for his character, the number that really delivers Oscar Hammerstein II’s central message, “You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught.” Neither Jim Hepfinger as the Captain nor Ken Shall as the Commander were able to save the always problematic scenes played out in front of the curtain without benefit of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s marvelous music. 

Music by Richard Rodgers. Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan. Adapted from James A. Michener’s novel. Directed by Kathleen Bleutge. Music direction by Deb Bartram. Choral direction by Jeannie DeLisi. Choreography by Tosia Shall. Design: Kathleen Bleutge (set) Fern Ferrer (costumes) Terry Nelson DiMurro (lights) Murdoch MacNeil (sound) Ken Mack (photography) Helen Gernhardt and April Bridgeman (stage managers). Principal Cast: Tim Adams, Michael Bleutge, Rick DeLisi, Hans Dettmar, Herbert DuVall, Christine Farrell or Melissa Rickwald, Jim Hepfinger, Mikey Hepfinger or Ty Walker, Karlah Louis, Sally Mann, Samira Nikain, Ken Shall, Tim Silk, Stephen Smith.