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Running time 2:20 - one intermission
A solid presentation of the bio-musical
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Storyline: Louise only met Patsy Cline one time, but they struck up a friendship that lasted through correspondence for the rest of Cline's life. Unfortunately, that life only lasted a few more years and ended in the crash of a small airplane when she was just thirty years old. By that time, however, she had compiled a catalogue of cross over hits spanning both country and popular music.

Conventional wisdom has it that a director’s job is to emphasize the strengths of a piece and compensate for, or at least distract from, its weaknesses. Warner Crocker certainly allows the strengths of both the material and the cast to shine through in his simple, uncomplicated staging, but he does little to divert attention from the weaknesses of both the structure of the play and the limited acting skills of its “Patsy.” She sings beautifully and he avoids distractions from that strength, but doesn't add much to any feeling that you come to know the country star she's portraying. But it can also be said that the first and most important job of a director comes at the very beginning when he selects a cast. Here Crocker certainly gets kudos for bringing Savaiano on board. Her energy drives the show.

The script they work from is certainly light on interesting information for the audience about the subject of the evening – Patsy Cline's short life or even shorter career in the limelight. The story here is simply of her friendship with "Louise" based on one rather extended encounter. The story is a true one, we are assured, and it isn't hard to believe given Cline's reputation for unpretentious openness with colleagues and fans alike. But you would never know that she was married twice or that she'd had serious accidents before, nor would you know much about her battle to take control of her career from a manager who didn't believe in crossing over into pop, or about the inroads she made into the business as a woman who headlined, had her own shows in Las Vegas and flat out refused to go on until her fee had been paid. Ah, well, just sit back and listen - its nice.

Steve Przybylski's five member band provides a reasonable facsimile of the cross-over blend of country and pop and Til Turner uses the space on Wayside's stage to create a bar on one side, a kitchen on the other and a honky-tonk stage between. There are a few projections to set the scene, but their screen is usually taken up with the names of the songs. Tamara M. Carruthers ads to the fun by decking out the two ladies in a range of outfits reflecting Cline's transition from fringed country to country-club dressy.

Written by Ted Swindley. Directed by Warner Crocker. Musical direction by Steve Przybylski. Design: Til Turner (set) Tamara M. Carruthers (costumes) Paul M. Callahan (lights) John Westervelt (photography) Malia Arguello (stage manager). Cast: Thomasin Savaiano, Sara Story. Musicians: David Artz, Larry Dahlke, Richard Follett, Steve Przybylski, Doyle Schaefer.

 
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Running time 1:55 - one intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick for a laugh-a-minute comic romp
Performances in the Fred Glaize Studio Theatre in Ruebush Hall at Shenandoah University in Winchester
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Storyline: Legendary producer David O. Selznick is not satisfied with the script for the biggest movie ever made, Gone With The Wind. With weeks of shooting already completed, he fires the director and screenwriter and brings in director Victor Fleming fresh from the set of The Wizard of Oz to take over. A new script is needed, so he brings in two-time Oscar winner Ben Hecht to write one from scratch. The problem? Hecht has never even read the book, and they need the script in just five days. Solution? Selznick and Fleming will act out all the scenes from the book for him while Hecht types out a new screenplay. The door is locked, the only food available is an unlimited supply of bananas and peanuts. Pandemonium ensues.

The more you know about Hollywood, the heyday of the studio system, and the great movies of the late 1930s, the more you get from this exercise in intelligent tomfoolery. However, it isn't necessary to bring any background into the theater with you, which is a good thing because the show only plays through this weekend and you shouldn't waste time on research when you could be spending it ordering your tickets. Hutchinson's script provides sufficient exposition to make everything clear without seeming to provide a history lecture first. Perhaps it is because Hutchinson takes full advantage of the fact that all three of his principal characters were larger-than-life megastars of the studios.

The cast here is superb. Both R. Chris Reeder, whose "Ben Hecht" is spot-on, and Peter Boyer, whose "Victor Fleming" is a fabulous foil, work their way through the ever deepening pandemonium with intelligence and marvelous comic timing. Christopher Michael Todd handles the "David O Selsnick" role almost as well, only occasionally seeming to be acting. The rest of the time for him and all of the time for the others, the characters really seem to be working their way through a five-day marathon effort to create a screenplay from a 1,000+ page novel. Director Warner Crocker keeps everything moving at ever escalating speed, pausing for a breath every now and then when some of Hecht's sermonizing or Selznick's rants on the studio system give the audience a chance to catch its breath.

Attention to atmosphere is evident at every turn. Til Turner provides a set that is a reasonable facsimile of the kind of bungalow office that was popular in Hollywood at the time and which David Selznick really did use. (He throws in a projection of the "Hollywood" sign in the distance, just to make sure you catch the flavor of the place.) Tamara M. Carruthers provides costumes that actually look like the clothing the characters would wear circa 1938. Steve Przybylski, Wayside's resident music master, has selected a catalogue of big movie scores to fill the atmosphere before the show and between acts. That some of these were composed long after Max Steiner composed the score for Gone With The Wind is totally beside the point. The homage to the work of Miklos Rozsa,  Maurice Jarre, Herbert Stothart and Bernard Herrmann feels just right.

Written by Ron Hutchinson. Directed by Warner Crocker. Design: Til Turner (set) Tamara M. Carruthers (costumes) Paul M. Callahan (lights) Steve Przybylski (sound) John Westervelt (photography) David Elias (stage manager). Cast: Peter Boyer, Lea Raulerson, R. Chris Reeder, Christopher Michael Todd.

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Running time 1:35 - no intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick for a heart-tugging, life affirming mix of
 humor and sadness
Playing at Shenandoah University's Glaize Studio Theatre in Winchester VA
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Storyline: A successful writer re-establishes contact with his old college professor years after graduation because he sees him on television talking about being stricken with "Lou Gehrig's Disease," Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The writer visits the professor every Tuesday throughout the progress of the disease and learns valuable lessons about living from his dying professor.

The book, subtitled "an old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson," detailed fourteen Tuesdays that sports writer Mitch Albom spent with Brandies University sociology professor Morrie Schwartz. The play telescopes them into fewer parcels in order to avoid seeming disjointed, and aptly edits the nearly 200 pages of wisdom into a workable single evening of theater. The decision to present it all in one act was wise because there isn't a good place in the story to break for intermission. The progress of the disease may seem a bit accelerated but the reestablishment and enrichment of the relationship between the professor and his student rings true. At least it does in this production so nicely guided by Warner Crocker. But, then, it is apparent from the performances that he has two actors of taste and skill with whom to work.

James Laster charms the audience just as Morrie Schwartz charmed Mitch Albom. He creates a mentor, a teacher, a friend and a father figure that every man and woman in the audience would want to have had. When the script has Morrie being witty, Laster has a gleam in his eye that doubles the pleasure of the line. When the script has him in pain, Laster hints at it rather than go for the cheap moan. And, when the script has him openly expressing emotions, he does so with an honesty that is appealing.

Paired with veteran (and Actors equity Member) Laster is younger but no less talented Matthew Eisenberg, who guides the audience into the story as the narrating student/mentee. After the opening narration which offers a glimpse of the relationship between professor Morrie Schwartz and student Mitch Albom, Eisenberg reverts to a reserve that matches the progress of the story nicely. He gradually allows his character to fall under the spell of his mentor, taking with him the heart of the audience who similarly come under that spell. When the final throes of the ravages of ALS bring Schwartz' life to an end, the tears of the audience are matched by Eisenberg's. It is an indication of that sense of restraint and good taste that his sobs don't exceed those of the audience - everyone is under the same spell at that moment. That, of course, is the mark of a satisfying, uplifting tear-jerker.

Written by Mitch Albom and Jeffrey Hatcher. Directed by Warner Crocker. Design: Til Turner (set) Catherine Lovejoy (costumes) Christopher Ham (lights and sound) John Westervelt (photography) Thomasin Savaiano (stage manager). Cast: Matthew Eisenberg, James Laster.

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Running time 2:15 - one intermission
A rock and roll concert masquerading as a musical
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Storyline: Young Buddy Holly wants to sing and play his own kind of music - rock and roll - rather than pursue a career in country music as his handlers prefer. He gets his first break, records hit after hit, and strikes off on his own when his producer and the members of his band don't see things his way. Despite more hits, and with a pregnant wife to support, he has to set out on the road, performing one-night stands as the headliner with other pop record stars. After a concert in Clear Lake, Iowa, he takes off for the next city but his plane crashes, bringing a short life and a brief career to a close.

This show was an early effort to craft a musical out of the catalogue of one celebrity's career -- what has become known as a "juke box musical." The score includes much of Holly's best known music including "Peggy Sue" and "That’ll Be The Day." It was a big hit in London, playing for twelve years, and it had a decent run on Broadway in 1990-91. The script takes something of a hero worship approach to the story: Holly is portrayed as a determined genius whose insistence on his artistic integrity is elevated to the status of a force for artistic purity that revolutionizes an art form. Never mind the contributions of everyone from Fats Domino to Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Didley to Little Richard or Chuck Berry to Bill Haley. And Elvis? Well, Elvis gets a mention in the dialogue at one point. There's no effort here to use music to tell any part of the story, all of the twenty-eight songs are simply sung - either in a recording studio or on stage (one is sung by Holly to his young wife, but he's just singing the new song he has written, its not a traditional musical theatre moment when a character bursts into song because his heart is too full to express a thought in mere words.)

As Holly, Robbie Limon does a good job on the rock n' roll feel of Buddy Holly's best known songs and some of his guitar breaks are exciting. Decked out with thick-rimmed glasses and a semi-authentic hair cut, he does have some resemblance to the skinny youngster. However, the show covers Holly's life from about age eighteen to twenty-two and Limon has difficulty passing as a teenager or even a man in his twenties. Larry Dahlke makes a believable small town radio announcer and both Richard Follett and Vaughn M. Irving make passable approximations of Valens and the Big Bopper. Melissa Graves adopts a distractingly European sounding accent for Holly's Puerto Rican wife.

Actor/Singer/Music Director/Sound Designer Steve Przybylski does some of his best work on the show in his capacity as an actor, turning in a nice performance as Holly's record producer, Norman Petty. He also plays the keyboard during the final concert recreation scene. As musical director, however, he still has a bit of work to do to smooth out the blend of singing and playing by the cast. The run has been extended through most of March so there should be ample opportunity to polish the playing and work on the sound of the back up vocals. As these get better the show is bound to get better too.

Songs from the catalogue of Buddy Holly and a few of his contemporaries. Written by Alan Janes and Rob Bettinson. Directed by Warner Crocker. Musical direction and sound design by Steve Przybylski. Design: Til Turner (set) Tamara Carruthers (costumes) Christopher Ham (lights and sound) John Westervelt (photography) Malia Arguello (stage manager). Cast: Clay Arthur, Larry Dahlke, Rex Daugherty, Richard Follett, Melissa Graves, Vaughn M. Irving, Robbie Limon, Steve Przybylski, Thomasin Savaiano.

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Running time 1:25 - no intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick for a delightful diversion
 during the summer doldrums
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Storyline: Three wives, each unsatisfied with their marriage but each for a different reason, are relegated to the kitchen to chat after dinner while their husbands pursue manly activities, including a visit to the new refrigerated meat locker one has had installed in his basement to hold the carcasses of his hunting successes. The wives realize a unique opportunity to escape their mutually disappointing lives when the door of the locker accidentally slams shut and the husbands have no means of escape. Will the wives decide to open the door or take the unexpected opportunity to start their lives anew?

Playwright Michelle Lowe seems to be having more luck with her short, small cast comedies for actresses than lengthier projects. Her String of Pearls, a single act, four woman comedy generated many a laugh in New York a few years ago as it earned her a nomination for the Outer Critics Circle's award for best off-Broadway play. Then, this play had a brief run on Broadway where it simply didn't have enough heft to succeed. Heft isn't what it is all about - nor subtlety. The three characters Lowe creates are hardly deep thinkers, but, oh, they have an almost inexhaustible supply of one-liners.

The three women here are Thomasin Savaiano,who was so much fun as the distaff side of the original couple in Diaries of Adam and Eve here this Spring, and Vanessa Morosco and Liza Vann, who each have appeared on this stage one time before. Not only do they handle the near-constant volley of quips, rejoinders and retorts with sharp timing, each takes full advantage of the script's strength, which is that each of the three characters have distinct personalities and their actions as well as their lines reflect those characteristics.

All of this takes place on a highly detailed set of an upper-middle class American kitchen complete with richly textured cabinetry right down to the free standing island with built in sink. That island, and all of the set, gets quite a work out as the three women have an ever increasing struggle with the decision they must make, while the off-stage voices of their men and then just the off-stage pounding gets weaker and weaker.

NOTE: If you are driving out to Middletown for the first time, you might consider pre-show dinner at either the Irish Isle (540-868-9877) just a few doors north of the theater or the restaurant of the historic Wayside Inn (540-869-1797) just up the block.

Written by Michelle Lowe. Directed by John Healey. Design: Til Turner (set) Tamara M. Carruthers (costumes) Christopher M. Ham (lights) Teresa McGrath (sound) John Westervelt (photography) Malia Arguello (stage manager). Cast: Vanessa Morosco, Thomasin Savaiano, Liza Vann (and Vaughn Irving and Doug Wilder).

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Reviewed April 14
Running time 2:10 - one intermission
A delightful adaptation and updating of Mark Twain's stories
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Storyline: Act one involves Adam and Eve's experiences in the garden of Eden - the creation of Eve, getting to know each other, naming the other creatures, tasting the apple. Act two finds Adam and Eve, a modern married couple with some marital difficulties but a deep and abiding love for each other, returning for a weekend getaway to a garden tourist spot called "E" and finding, again, the love that the knew as innocent youngsters.

Twain created two very different characters in his two short pieces - a self absorbed, laid back and lazy Adam and an Eve who is interested in the world around her, curious about the nature of things and enthusiastic about it all. As mixed and matched by Still's picking and choosing between Twain's texts, the characters compliment each other, while, at the same time, their differences provide ample humorous effect. Still uses many of Twain's light hearted observations about the differences between the sexes and retains a general geniality that was the essence of Twain's ability to get us to laugh at ourselves.

Dahlke and Savaiano take these traits and run with them - literally, in the case of Dahlke. He scampers about the stage in the early going, running hither and yon through the garden of Eden. His discovery of the "new creature with the long hair" is a mixture of curiosity, fear and wonder that plays very well. When he settles into the more self-satisfied mode the rest of the first act requires, he's not quite as funny, but just as convincing. Savaiano gets most of the good lines in the early going - her "Eve" has yet to become fully comfortable with words and they tumble out of her as she searches her mental data base for the right one.

The change in tone to a more sentimental feel for the second act is accomplished smoothly with a good deal of second act opening comedy around the cell phones the modern Adam and his wife Eve have brought with them on their vacation, a trip which was arranged at the last minute through an internet getaway service. As the pair examine their own history together and renew their ties of emotion and affection, the play feels quite contemporary. There is a fairly superfluous epilogue for a lonely surviving Adam, but the play has already said just about all it needs to say - and said it very nicely indeed.

Written by James Still starting with the writings of Mark Twain. Directed by Warner Crocker. Design: Til Turner (set) Tamara M. Carruthers (costumes) Christopher M. Ham (lights) Teresa McGrath (sound) John Westervelt (photography) Malia Arguello (stage manager). Cast: Larry Dahlke, Tomasin Savaiano.

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Reviewed August 14
Running time 2:20 - one intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick for a solid  production
 of an intriguing comedy
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Storyline: The board of a Baptist mega-church in Texas has begun searching for a replacement for their aging but still vital and highly popular pastor. He takes control of the process and selects a younger preacher to be his co-pastor for a period of orderly transition, but the egos of both men complicate the arrangement.

A comedy/drama about a Mega-Church? Well, yes and no. As with any really good human comedy, this one is about both the world of the characters and about them as people with their strengths and their weaknesses exposed. This is not farce or slapstick. It is, instead, a warmly human portrayal of good men with human weaknesses. The remarkable thing about the script is its treatment of religion without either belittling a particular faith or sermonizing. Yes, there are sermons here - the main characters are preachers and the quality of their preaching is at the heart of the story. Still, the sermons serve the dramatic function of the story without crossing over either into parody or to proselytizing.

Bob Payne is superbly believable both as a preacher and as an executive who has built an empire which he can't easily relinquish just because he's reached an age when most men have expired or retired. He is a bit young to play the part of an 82 year old, but his apparent vigor can readily be accepted (not necessarily because of the special tea and pitted prunes he tries to foist off onto his would-be successor). James Fleming is just as believable as the younger co-pastor who is frustrated by the lot of the junior partner who has to handle the dedications of bowling lanes, invocations at ladies auxiliary weight-loss club meetings, and find the right advice about sex and drugs for youth groups.

Serving as more than just a narrative connection between the two is Larry Dahlke as a reformed sinner now attempting to stay straight by devoting his time and effort to stage managing the church's various televised and broadcast services. The link between his past and that of one of the pastors provides the bond that drives the final resolution of the story. Played out on a handsomely designed simple set of pulpit and pastors' waiting room, the production has a good solid feel to it that rewards the drive out to the Shenandoah Valley for this gentle but absorbing comedy.

Written by David Rambo. Directed by Jack Young. Design: Til Turner (set) Tamara M. Carruthers (costumes) Christopher M. Ham (lights and sound) John Westervelt (photography) Malia Arguello (stage manager). Cast: Larry Dahlke, James Fleming, Bob Payne.

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Reviewed June 22
Running time 2:20 - one intermission
A Country-Western bit of foolishness in the tradition of the Nunsense series
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Storyline: The Little Sisters of Hoboken's Mother Superior has come up with yet another fund raising brainstorm. Since Sister Mary Paul was a country western singer before taking her vows, she sends her, and four other sisters from the order, on tour with a show that is a mixture of Grand Old Oprey and Hee Haw, complete with Laugh In-inspired panels in the set in which the sisters can appear to contribute corny jokes. They are accompanied by fiddling Father Virgil (also known as Brother Hollywood) and Brother David on the piano.

In the 1980s Dan Goggin used an unlikely scenario as a structure to mount a light, lively and often silly few hours of diversion built around singing, dancing nuns. Nunsense, in which seven nuns put on a fund raising concert, begat Nunsense II which begat this Country Western Nunsense Jamboree!, Nunsense A-Men, Nuncrackers,  and even Meshuggah-Nuns. This episode takes advantage of being Episode III to work in a bit of nonsense based on Star Wars, complete with a brief appearance by Darth Vader as the Mother Superior - or is it the other way around? This time the script includes a series of singing commercials although there isn't any indication that the "concert" is being broadcast.

Groggin's score is as bright and chipper as those for his other Nunsense exercises with one or two ballads thrown in to vary the mood. There are a few story songs, a yodel song and a number of songs in the tradition of country music such as "I Could Have Gone to Nashville" and "Dial Four-One-One." Puns and tortured verbiage abound with numbers like "Mini-Pearls of Wisdom" and gags like "Having amnesia can be a good thing, you can hide your own Easter eggs." There is even a tribute to Patsy Cline.

The two strongest performances come from Monica Lijewski as the big-voiced mistress of ceremonies and Larry Dahlke as the accompanying friar with a fiddle. Each of the other "sisters" have moments that work well either in their songs or in their comedy. However, the vocal energy slacks from time to time and there is a sense that some scenes are stretched beyond their humor. It takes unrelenting merriment to make this material work, and this cast only hits the high spots.

Written by Dan Goggin. Directed by Warner Crocker. Music Direction by David Fiorello. Choreography by Thomasin Savaiano. Design: Gerald B. Browning (set) Tamara Carruthers (costumes) Christopher M. Ham (lights and sound)  John Westervelt (photography) Malia Arguello (stage manager). Cast: Larry Dahlke, David Fiorello, Jennifer Hickok, Stephanie Lauren, Monica Lijewski, Tomasin Savaiano, Anna Marie Sell.

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Reviewed April 10
Running time 2:10 - one intermission
Strained efforts to make too many unfunny jokes work
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Storyline: A cast of three assume all the roles in a survey of the topic from before Amerigo Vespucci to the Presidents Bush. They try to milk the iconographic stories of the United States for humor and to use the humor to comment on the gap between America's promise and her success.

Perhaps it is the Britishness of the sense of humor behind the script that conflicts with the basic concept of the subject matter. The script here is by a trio of The Reduced Shakespeare Company troupe who do have American roots. Adam Long is a transplant, born and raised in America but living in London now, while Austin Tichenor and Reed Martin still live in California. Their American credentials, however, haven't given the piece the feeling that it springs from affection for a native country, but rather, a vaguely outsider-ish view from the opening in which a letter from a schoolgirl in England asks them to take on a history project because of their success in summarizing other complex subjects.

Director John Stanier is one third of the cast with Ray Ficca and J.J. Kaczynski each working very hard to make the piece work. However, while earlier Reduced Shakespeare efforts were marked by a feeling that no single joke could bomb because the cast moved on too fast to let the reaction set in, here there seem to be nearly interminable pauses waiting for laughs which don't always come. It must be difficult to find humor in the trench warfare of the first world war, but the lengthy silences of this part of the show are nearly interminable as is an extended audience participation segment which was marred at the performance we attended by the obvious disinclination of the audience to participate.

A colorful set is highlighted with small signs giving key events by year in a timeline that begins at the back of the hall and covers both side walls, each with gags such as "1722 - Sam Adams Born - Yea, Beer!" Steven Przybylski provides solid support in musical accompaniment.

Written by Adam Long, Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor. Directed by John Stanier. Musical direction by Steven Przybylski. Design: Gerald B. Browning (set) Cathie Gayer (costumes) Kate Furst (lights) Steve Przybylski (sound) Westervelt (photography) Malia Arguello (stage manager). Cast: Ray Ficca, J.J. Kaczynsk, John Stanier.  

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Reviewed March 12
Running time 2:40 - one intermission
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Storyline: The career and the private life of Hank Williams is recreated along with over two dozen of his songs. His relationship with his mother, the girl he married and the band with which he traveled the country are quickly sketched while major events in his career are illustrated with the songs that accompanied his rise to stardom.

The genesis of the show was a 1979 scripted revue by one of the show's co-authors, Mark Harelik, during his student years in California. Later he worked with Randall Myler on another show (The Immigrant) after which the two revisited the Williams' revue to turn it into a bio-musical. It was produced in Denver in 1987, Los Angeles in 1988 and in Nashville in 1996. Then, in 2002 it had an Off-Broadway run with enough success to be picked up by many professional companies around the country. It even garnered a nomination for best Off-Broadway show in that season's Lucille Lortel Awards cycle.

Robbie Limon's performance as Williams provides the important mixture of physical resemblance to his subject, ability to sound very much like Williams and the acting talent to pull off the short scenes which establish his character and tell his life story. The authors didn't have much time left for storytelling when they decided to include dozens of songs in full, not abbreviated medleys. That decision put great stress on being able to get dramatic points made quickly without seeming cartoonish. Limon manages that better than some others in the cast, most notably Kathryn Stross, who doesn't quite overcome the over-simplification of her character as Williams' wife. Faith Potts and Richard Follett have more success even though their parts are equally sketchy in the script.

Gerald B. Browning designed an effective and efficient set for the piece with a center space serving as all the stages and recording studios where most of Williams' singing is done. It is flanked by two mini-locales. On the left is the shack where Elliott Dash, with his rich baritone, makes clear the influence of the blues on Williams' music. His hovering presence adds depth and richness to the entire show. On the right is the diner where Anna Marie Sell is the last waitress with whom Williams had a one night fling. Despite Sell's best efforts, the character's presence throughout the evening is as superfluous to the show as the waitress was to Williams' life.

Written by Randal Myler and Mark Harelik. Directed by Warner Crocker. Musical direction by Steve Przybylski. Design: Gerald B. Browning (set) Tamara M. Carruthers (costumes) Kate Furst (lights) Westervelt (photography) Malia Arguello (stage manager). Cast: Clay or Doug Arthur, David Artz, Larry Dahlke, Elliot Dash, Richard Follett, Robbie Limon, Faith Potts, Steve Przybylski, Anna Marie Sell, Kathryn Stross.

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Reviewed November 28
Running time 2:30 - one intermission

Storyline: In 1882 the captain of a schooner plying Lake Michigan receives a letter from a cousin in Chicago saying how much she and other German immigrants miss the tradition of decorating trees at Christmastime. She says that there are so few trees and so many immigrants that they can't be cutting them down to be Tannenbaum. He decides to make one last voyage before the lake freezes over in order to take trees to Chicago. The German-American population in the big city are so thrilled with the shipment that he makes it an annual tradition, taking thousands of trees to homesick immigrants over the years. But, after five years, the weather finally catches up with him and his ship goes down in a violent winter storm.

The story is loosely based on a real schooner, the Rouse Simmons, which went down in Lake Michigan in 1912 while carrying its twenty-fifth shipment of Christmas trees after a quarter century earning the title "The Christmas Boat" in what had become something of a thriving trade. In this telling, the time is shifted to an earlier decade so this boat would be the only one serving the Clark Street pier in Chicago, and the charm is enlivened by the inclusion of well defined characters both in the family and in the crew of the ill-fated schooner. The relationship between the captain and his wife, their only son and the captain's father makes for a loving family. Friendly competition between crew members adds humor and depth to the story. That story has a few unexplained aspects (if it was so dangerous to ship out so late in the season, why didn't they just take the trees to Chicago earlier?) but, in the tradition of holiday tales, it it fairly easy to overlook them until after the show is over.

The cast performing on opening night included Thomas Adrian Simpson, who makes the captain a warmly affectionate father, a loving husband, a supportive employer and a brave sailor without seeming to be a stiff cartoon. There is a very strong bond and a healthy physical attraction between him and Thomasin Savaiano as his wife, a light rapport with Aaron Haecker as their nine year old son, and a natural affection with James Laster as his lightly gruff father. They make a fine family team. Simpson also sings very well. Savaiano has a clear soprano which she uses to good effect most of the time but she occasionally gets a bit harsh on high notes.

The piece is charming, in part because it has a fine score of over a dozen songs, most of which admirably advance the story or illustrate a character, and all of which fit the feeling of the piece quite well. Who knows, you may even leave humming "What Is It About The Water" or "The Blessings of the Branch." Musical director Steve Przybylski accompanies the company on a keyboard. The performance could benefit from a fuller sound, especially some stings. But apparently, this is the way the show is licensed. Gerald B. Browning designed a very functional set for the show with a ship's prow that opens up to form the interior of the family's house. The sense of honest domesticity is enhanced by fine period costumes while the lighting emphasizes the warmth of the home and the cold of the winter exteriors, especially out on the water.

Book by John Reeger. Music and lyrics by Julie Shannon. Directed and adapted by Warner Crocker. Musical direction by Steve Przybylski. Design: Gerald B. Browning (set) Tamara M. Carruthers (costumes) Kate Furst (lights) Westervelt (photography) Malia Arguello (stage manager). Cast: Kevin Grubb, Michael Hadary, Aaron Haecker or Daniel Hasse, Joseph Bishara, Bob Butcher, Jen Gursky or Courtney Bell, Asherah Capellaro or Alexandra Adams, Kasey Hott or Virginia White, James Laster or Loring Stevenson, Andrew Leach or Graham Bultinck, Paul Major or Jason Laughrey, Thomasin Savaiano or Rachel Saltzman, Thomas Adrian Simpson or Scott Carter, Kathryn Strock or Liz Albert.

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Reviewed August 19
Running time 2:10 - one intermission
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Storyline: A young woman just getting out of prison travels to the scenic Gilead, Wisconsin she has dreamed about after seeing of a photo spread on the town in a magazine. She finds it is almost a ghost town having hit hard times when the local quarry closed down. The sheriff, to whom she is to report, gets her a job in the nearly bankrupt grill where she brings new spirit and life to the community.  The crotchety owner of the grill has not been able to sell the property, so the newcomer suggests she hold a raffle or contest to select a winner.

James Valcq who also wrote the book, music and lyrics for the off-Broadway Zombies from Beyond, and the late Fred Alley who was a founder of the American Folklore Theatre in Wisconsin, adapted Lee David Zlotoff's screenplay for the stage. Their approach is straight forward, letting the events in the story play out in linear fashion with background information provided in dialogue or lyrics when needed. Their songs have a country music sound that demonstrates how true country music, as opposed to the more commercially popular country/western sound found on radio stations identifying themselves as "country's best music," is closer to Irish pub songs and fiddle festival dance music than to standard American pop songs. Indeed, the twang of these songs sound more smoky-mountain/blue ridge than north-woods. The three piece band of music director Steve Przybylski captures that twang effectively on piano, bass and violin.

Good, strong voices mark the leads in this production. Ilona Dulaski, well known to Potomac Region audiences for her work at Signature, Round House and The American Century Theater, is the owner of the Spitfire Grill whose hardened heart softens over the course of the evening. It's good to hear her strong delivery again. Katie Deal is a new talent for our area but this performance as the outsider who rekindles hope in the town makes one hope it isn't the last we will see of her. Her back-country twang works especially well since her character says she was born in West Virginia. Teamed with her is an equally satisfying, clear voiced Wayside regular, Thomasin Savaiano. The male roles include a nicely done romantic lead by JT Arbogast as the Sheriff who falls for the newcomer, and Kyle Magley does a good job with the small but important role simply identified in the program as "Visitor" for reasons which will become clear during the show. Dawn Behrens doesn't do much with her role as the town gossip, while Mickey Killeaney's acting is a bit better than his singing in the role of the personification of the town's defeated spirit.

The set designed by Wayside's Michael "Jonz" Jones captures the feel of both the grill and the wooded exterior quite well. Kate Furst's lighting, which is very effective throughout the performance, is at its best for the brief establishing scene where the shadows create a jail cell that isn't really there. Tamara M. Carruthers' costumes capture the economic as well as social situation of the characters very well. Director Joseph Bishara's staging eliminated the necessity for his design team to create a small bedroom set for another brief scene which resulted in a confusing moment or two, but it doesn't last long and the story moves right along without too much damage.

Music and book by James Valcq. Lyrics and book by Fred Alley. Based on the film by Lee David Zlotoff. Directed by Joseph Bishara. Musical direction by Steven Przybylski. Design: Michael "Jonz" Jones (set) Tamara M. Carruthers (costumes) Kate Furst (lights) John Westervelt (photography) Malia Arguello (stage manager). Cast: J.T. Arbogast, Dawn Behrens, Katie Deal, Ilona Dulaski, Mickey Killianey, Kyle Magley, Thomasin Savaiano. Musicians: Liz Albert, Clay Arthur, Steve Przybylski.

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Reviewed June 6
Running time 2: 25 - One intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick for pure delight
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Storyline: Hans Christian Andersen's tale of an "aesthetically challenged farmyard fowl" is given a rousing musical adaptation. Ida and Drake Duck find their latest hutch hatches four normal ducklings and one oversized honker. Drake and most of the rest of the residents of the barnyard call the large arrival "Ugly" and the name sticks but his mother loves him anyway. He is the target of a hungry cat and gets separated from the family. His adventures bring him into contact with a gaggle of geese as well as with a formerly ugly girl who has blossomed into a beautiful swan. Her call is the same as his - "Honk!"

Anthropomorphic characters for musicals isn't exactly a new idea - think The Lion King or You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown for example - but here it is done with a light touch, a sense of humor and an innocent attitude that puts the emphasis on just plain fun. From the opening moments when John Stainier struts with a waddle as Drake through the introduction of such hugely entertaining characters as JJ Kaczynski's cat, Richard Follett's bullfrog and Lisa Schueller's Penny, the pretty swan, the animals are engaging and entertaining while their character traits serve the story well.

Kaczynski gives the kind of high energy performance those who saw his Helen Hayes Award nominated performance as Snoopi would expect as he sings about "a crazy little game called lunch" in "Play With Your Food" and Follett creates two very different over-the-top characters as the leader of a gaggle of geese and a helpful vaudevillious bullfrog. The honker at the heart of the story is given a suitably awkward and gently oversized performance by Joe Bishara. Thomasin Savaiano finds the right mix of puns and serious maternal instincts as the nurturing mother who loves all her offspring, including the ungainly one.

Music director Steve Przybylski gets rousing vocal work from the entire ensemble and leads the three piece on-stage band which is nearly hidden in Michael "Jonz" Jones' colorful stage-filling set. Katie Lemos's choreography is limited by the size of the stage but she comes up with some nifty barnyard struts and an impressive quasi-military formation for the big production number for the geese (appropriately titled "The Wild Good Chase"). Lovers of Les Miz will enjoy the visual gag she pulls to top the number. Tamara M. Carruthers' costumes are bright, colorful and whimsical but, then, so is the entire show.

Music by George Stiles. Book and lyrics by Anthony Drewe. Directed by Norman Hart. Musical direction by Steven Przybylski. Choreography by Katie Lemos. Design: Michael "Jonz" Jones (set) Tamara M. Carruthers (costumes) Kate Furst (lights) Westervelt (photography) Malia Arguello (stage manager). Cast: Joe Bishara, Richard Follett, Callie Gibson, JJ Kaczynski, Sarah Kahler, Stephanie King-Quick, Dena Kology, Monica Lijewski, Kyle Magley, Miah McPeak, Sarah Melinda, Tomasin Savaiano, Lisa Schueller, John Stanier.

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Reviewed December 16
Running time 1 hour 50 minutes

Storyline: On Christmas eve, mean and miserly Ebenezer Scrooge learns the true meaning of Christmas as the ghost of his former partner, Jacob Marley, sends him the Ghost of Christmas Past to show him the error of his ways, the Ghost of Christmas Present to show him the opportunity to change and the Ghost of Christmases Yet to Come to show him the consequences of failing to change. 

Warner Crocker directs this version of a traditional favorite in very traditional fashion. There are neither new interpretations nor new plot twists. Of course, with a holiday tradition of this magnitude, the audience doesn’t expect nor want new materiel. They want the story they know delivered in a way that feels familiar. This they get in large measure.

The pacing of the production is slow, as if to make sure that no player, no matter how new to the stage, will be left behind. With a cast of twenty, many of whom are community members getting a first taste of performance, this is not necessarily a bad approach. This is especially true since there are two casts playing different schedules (see below). Still, there is an occasional urge to speak up and recommend “let’s get on with it!” 

Once again, Michael “Jonz” Jones has come up with a set design that matches the limitations of this small and intimate house with the needs of the story. There is a street scene of London that includes a sliding pair of doors that, when opened, reveal the interiors of the various locations of the scenes Scrooge must witness in his travel from miser to merry-maker.

Adapted by Warner Crocker from the story by Charles Dickens. Music, lyrics and musical direction by Steven Przybylski. Design: Michael “Jonz” Jones (set) Tamara M. Carruthers (costumes) Kate Furst (lights and sound) John Westervelt (photography) Malia Arguello (stage manger). Cast: Sarah Blackwell, Luke Callas, Sarah Calvert, Sharayah Calvert, Reece Crump, Jordyn Cunnagin, Brian Curl, Christina Ebert, Ray Ficca, Richard Follett, Robert (Ty) Herrell, Libby Ingham, Meagan Johnson, Will Johnston, Sarah Kahler, Stephanie King-Quick, Eliza Kutrieb, Ed Kyle, James Laster, Theresa McGuirk , Megan McShea, Laurie Morrison, Katie Nigsch, Kenn Nilsen, Jeffery Rice, Eric Rioux, Joseph Rioux, Zachary Roosa, Scott Ruble, Daniel Russell, Victoria Ryles, Doug Saffell, Thomasin Savaiano, John Stanier, Bobby Vrtis, Virginia White, Amanda Wilkins, David Woods.

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Reviewed August 21
Running time 2 hours 25 minutes

Storyline: It is the morning of the funeral for a middle-class English woman. Her husband is already being wooed by her nurse who is now out of a job, her son has taken up with the undertaker’s assistant in a bank robbery and a strange inspector is nosing about, causing the boys to panic. They hide the loot from the bank robbery in her coffin but there isn’t room for both the cash and the body so they try to hide the body in the wardrobe. Things keep on getting stranger.

Joe Orton’s script seems to capture the imagination of theater companies because of its clearly drawn characters, its opportunity for highly visible comedy and its many individually funny lines. But it isn’t his best constructed farce (What the Butler Saw is both more farcical and better thought out) and it leaves the audience in the dark about some key elements -- just what is it with the supposed inspector? Why is the son incapable of lying? (Just a line of dialogue of “I was brought up that way” isn’t enough. Aren’t most youngsters brought up to tell the truth?)

Warner Crocker’s direction seems altogether too earnest and the result is that few of the characters seem to evolve over the course of the evening. The play starts out farcically artificial and manic, leaving very little room for the energy to escalate as  things get out of hand. The look of the show is very good with a solid, functional set and fine costumes although the amount of loot the boys are trying to hide seems to be small enough to fit nicely in the coffin without requiring the removal of the body. This makes all the physical comedy with the body appear to be simply a convenient plot point.  

At the center of the pandemonium is the investigator who instigates the chaos. James Fleming plays him with a flair for delivering individual pieces of tomfoolery and, of course, he is a kook from the opening moment. But the rest of the cast doesn't seem to react to his impact on their individual plans with increasing alarm. Thomasin Savaiano, as the nurse, continues plotting and planning as if the disasters strewn in her way are business as usual, and James Laster, as the brand new widow, starts at such a high energy level that the only place for him to go when he panics is into a hoarse whine which robs him of some of the funnier lines Orton wrote for the character.

Written by Joe Orton. Directed by Warner Crocker. Design: Michael “Jonz” Jones (set) Tamara M. Carruthers (costumes) Kate Furst (lights and sound) John Westervelt (photography) Malia Arguello (stage manger). Cast: Joseph Bishara, David Covington, James Fleming, James Laster, Jeff Rice, Thomasin Savaiano.

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Reviewed July 6
Running time 2 hours 25 minutes
t Potomac Stages Pick

Storyline: A musical revue on the theme of the relationship between male and female in seventeen songs and eight comedy sketches tracing the subject from first date through courtship and marriage to parenthood, empty nesting and dealing with the loss of a spouse in old age.

Part of the charm of this piece is that, while it starts out with a somewhat cynical view of romance punctuated by politically correct stereotypes of male and female character traits, it redeems itself with a sentimental view as relationships deepen and the characters mature. It never seems to take itself too seriously and it never seems to harbor a mean spirit even when poking fun at the foibles of oh-so-human human beings. Just to keep the tone light, the stagehands who change the set, furniture and props in only semi-darkness between scenes are given a running gag or two which says to the audience "Hey, we're all having fun here."

The songs by lyricist Joe DiPietro and composer Jimmy Roberts are all clever, solidly constructed and work well as part of comic sketches. What is more, the lyrics have as much appeal as light-verse word play as the music does with bright melodic lines and interesting rhythms. The lighter comedy songs such as “A Stud and a Babe,” “Single Man Drought” and “Always a Bridesmaid” are filled with banter while the more sentimental ones really touch a nerve. “Shouldn’t I Be Less In Love With You” is one of those rare show-music songs that find a subject that hasn’t already been covered in so many songs that there is nothing left to say. The idea here is for a spouse of many years to marvel at the growth of affection rather than the cooling off many seem to expect.

The cast is well matched, to each other and to their roles. Joe Bishara has a very strong voice and a good sense of comic timing while John Stanier has a smooth way with a song. Thomasin Savaiano proves she can tear up the house with “Always a Bridesmaid” while Eva Kolig hits the same heights with “I Will Be Loved Tonight.” Together they put on an evening worth the drive.

Book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro. Music by Jimmy Roberts. Directed by Warner Crocker. Music direction and piano accompaniment by Jose Simbulan. Violin accompaniment by Christina Ebert. Design: Michael “Jonz” Jones (set) Tamara M. Carruthers (costumes) Kate Furst (lights and sound) John Westervelt (photography) Malia Arguello (stage manager).  Cast: Joseph Bishara, Eva Kolig, Thomasin Savaiano, John Stanier.

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Reviewed April 12
Running time 2 hours 5 minutes

Storyline: The Gospel of Matthew (with a few items from John) is set in modern times in the American south. Jesus, born in Gainseville, Georgia, to Mary and Joseph Davidson who have to seek shelter in Valdosta when their car breaks down on a trip to Atlanta where they face an IRS Audit. He delivers the Sermon on the Mount from Stone Mountain and his Last Supper is set in Atlanta where Pilate is the Governor of Georgia and Ciaphus is the head of the Society for Belief in the Bible. The crucifixion becomes a lynching.

Ray Ficca, who appeared here in last season’s Laughter on the 23^rd Floor, brings a down-home charm to this part as Matthew the narrator who, in telling the story, takes on the roles of the major characters. There is humor here a plenty but there is also a deep respect for the material. The script is not just anachronistic humor and he captures the pathos and romance of “the greatest story ever told.” For every “man does not live by grits alone” there is also a thoughtful and revealing view of the text from which it comes, such as simplifying “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased” to the touching “This is my dear son. I am proud of him.” 

Musicals based on the gospels aren’t exactly rare: even those that use modern musical idioms and play around with the historical setting. Think of Godspell or Jesus Christ Superstar. In this case, the sound of the show is the brand of bluegrass that recording star and song writer Harry Chapin made so popular, with touches of narrative folk music and pop songs, during his short career (he died in a car accident at the age of 39 shortly after finishing work on this show).  Chapin’s songs are direct, honest storytelling set to catchy tunes. They benefit from the show’s treatment of the story as a theatrical rather than a religious piece so the transition of Jesus from infant to youth can be covered by the jaunty “It Isn’t Easy (Growing Up To Be Jesus)” and the Sermon on the Mount (“Miracle on Stone Mountain”) can turn the golden rule into a catchy refrain of “turn it around.” The most intriguing of the bunch is a song for Mary and Joseph late in their son’s life, “You Are Still My Boy.” Few tellings of the story of Christ give their perspective and Chapin makes it touchingly familiar to any parent. 

Crocker made a smart decision when he decided to mount this show in its original five-performer size. Some have tried to make it a bigger show by casting different performers for each of the key parts rather than have the lead actor portray them all. Of course, the talents of Ficca made that decision an easier one to make than it might otherwise have been. The other four performers are the on-stage bluegrass band, each taking on different, smaller parts when called for in the songs themselves. Thus you have sweet toned Rich Follett as “Disciple/Guitar” and strong voiced Larry Dahlke as “Disciple/Fiddle” and so forth.   

Book by Tom Key and Russell Treyz. Music and lyrics by Harry Chapin. Directed by Warner Crocker. Musical direction by Steven Przybylski. Design: William “Jonz” Jones (set) Tamara M. Carruthers (costumes) Denman Anderson (lights and sound) Westervelt (photography) David Elias (stage manager.) Cast: Doug Arthur, Don Bryant Bailey, Larry Dahlke, Ray Ficca, Richard Follet. 

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Reviewed August 11
Running time 2 hours 25 minutes
Price range $20 - $25
t Potomac Stages Pick

Written by Susan Cooper and Hume Cronyn. Directed by Warner Crocker. Music composed by Jonathan Holtzman. Design: Nick Collins (set and properties) Melanie Spalding/ Namara M. Carruthers (costumes) Sean Savoie (lights). Cast: Faith Potts, James laster, Richard O. Follett, James Fleming, Emily Dorsch, Kenn Nilsen.

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Reviewed June 12
Running time 2 hours 20 minutes

Music by Galt MacDermot. Lyrics by William Dumaresq. Directed by Warner Crocker. Music direction by Jose Simbulan. Choreographed by Scott Ruble. Design: Nick Collins (set and props) Tamara Carruthers (costumes) Sean Savoie (lights and sound.) Cast: Brad Surosky, Gordon Thomas, John Stanier, Lonnie Burr, Richard Follett, Emily Dorsch, Corney Bouldin, Holly Sydnor, Andrew Leach, Jared Rosa, Lynn Roof, William Diggle, Luke Callas, Porcha Dodson, Jan Johns, Trevor Richardson, Michael Jurenek, Scott Ruble, Aaron Mize, Katherine Bartoldus.