Vpstart Crow does have some outstanding debts, so they are asking for donations “if the Crow ever enriched your life through involvement in a play or being an entertained audience member.” Currently their PayPal link isn’t working, but once it is, we’ll provide a link.

Arsenic and Old Lace is a classic play, playing on Broadway for three years in the early 1940’s. The Brewster sisters have decided their mission in life is to help lonely old men into the next world by serving them their “special” elderberry wine. Mortimer, the nephew of the spinsters, has recently decided to marry, and his long-lost brother Jonathan returns to make the Brewster home his base of operations for his new “business” venture. Meanwhile Mortimer’s other brother Teddy believes he is actually Teddy Roosevelt. Mortimer discovers his aunt’s plans and has to deal with juggling the police and his family.

Other than a few very funny slapstick moments (notably because when they occurred they were a surprise), this production was marked with problems and half-hearted efforts.

The acting overall was uneven. Bryan Friel made a strong effort as Mortimer, with a good chemistry with his fiancée Elaine (Chelsea Mayo), although he never quite managed to convey a sense of urgency at his crazy family’s predicaments. The aunts Abby (Carole Preston) and Martha (Dorothy) were mostly successful being little old ladies, although getting into and out of a sofa is a bit more difficult when you have arthritis. The police officers (Matt Stephan, Ben Jablonowski, and Chaz Pando) brought comic relief to the stage and were a nice team.

There were a few moments when an actor forgot his line, and the other actors onstage weren’t able to cover the mistake, leaving an awkward pause in the scene. The costumes were presentable, although the policeman’s uniforms looked remarkably like a priest’s outfit, complete with white collar. The patrolmen also didn’t wear a police badge.

The lighting design was bizarre. Possibly the design was attempting to represent the time of day through the lighting, but the entire performance was in a fairly dim light. Except for the scene changes, which were done in a full light. The final scene change (from overnight to morning) appeared to confuse the actors as well as the audience. Actors were also in shadow as they faced stage left.

Teddy played a bugle several times throughout the show. It may have been more effective to have a sound effect play than his warbled, muted attempt at a bugle call. One of the calls was supposed to cause a huge surprised reaction from the people in the living room, but the weak call didn’t match the reaction it generated.

The playing space of the Gregory Family Theater is huge. The set pieces were spread across the area resulting in a lot of extra work by the actors as they traversed the stage and tried to work with their fellow actors on the opposite side of the expanse. The set pieces were on platforms, which could have easily been positioned closer together, making for a better use of space.

There weren’t many props used in this production, but the dinner scene used no props at all. A Brewster sister carried the meal in, but since her hands were empty, it caused an odd reaction from the audience. Another notable prop was the body that was carried through the window. The laughter the “body” caused wasn’t the laughter expected. The moment had a lot of potential, but the distraction caused by the appearance of the “body” wasted the build-up to that point of the show.

Director Rachael Murray also made some interesting blocking choices, as several scenes had actors delivering their lines upstage away from the audience. The pacing was a bit slow at times, although that could be a byproduct of the large playing space.

This funny script deserves better than the weak, distracting technical treatment it received in this production.

From the Director

When I first read Arsenic and Old Lace, I wasn’t surprised. It didn’t strike me as a literary masterpiece. It wasn’t something particularly profound. But I laughed. A lot. And sometimes groaned. It’s a play that makes us laugh at what should-by all accounts-be considered morbid. Why do we laugh at something as serious as murder? What is wrong with us?

Upon several more readings, I began to se even more examples of things we shouldn’t laugh at. While Teddy’s Rooseveltian antics are a hoot, his aunts hint that his delusions stem from a sad, lost place. Abby and Martha grew up surrounded by death, and they seem to have narrowly escaped a gruesome childhood (albeit, with some unusual proclivities). Jonathan Brewster, who appears to have stepped right out of a horror movie, struggles with self-image and takes pleasure in torture. While Mortimer appears to be the most “normal” of the bunch, even he cannot seem to make sense of what is going on around him. We see him slowly lose his mind as the play progresses.

Sometimes, I think people take theatre too seriously-especially those of us who do it. Joseph Kesselring uses the character of Mortimer Brewster, theatre critic, to keep theatre in the forefront of our minds. Throughout Arsenic and Old Lace, Kesselring pokes fun not only at other plays, but also at his own. He reminds us to not take theatre so seriously. It can be deep, thoughtful, and heart-wrenching, but it can also be entertaining, fun, and irreverent.

On that note, if theatre is (as we fancy it to be) a reflection of life, is Kesselring perhaps telling us not to take life so seriously? After all, we could die at any moment and potentially end up as a corpse in a window-seat! Maybe we don’t have time to be serious. Maybe we have to laugh to get us through the more unseemly aspects of life.

I hope you’ll find more than a few laughs in our production. Enjoy them while you can. You never know when a kindly old lady might offer you a charitably potent glass of elderberry wine.

Enjoy the show!

Rachael Murray

Cast

• Abby Brewster: Carole Preston
• Martha Brewster: Dorothy Scheutze
• Teddy Brewster: John Klnk
• Reverend Harper: James Ginther
• Mortimer Brewster: Bryan Friel
• Elaine Harper: Chelsea Mayo
• Mr. Gibbs: Eric Trumbell
• Jonathan Brewster: Gene Schmiel
• Dr. Einstein: Bob Rosenberg
• Officer O’Hara: Matt Stephen
• Officer Brophy: Ben Jablonowski
• Officer Klein: Chaz Pando
• Lieutenant Rooney: Eric Trumbull
• Mr. Witherspoon: Geoffrey Baskir

Production Team

• Artistic Director: Lisa Anne Bailey
• Managing Director: Shellie Jablonowski
• Producer: Cory Okouchi
• Director: Rachael Murray
• Stage Manager: Cheryl Cordingly
• Set Construction: Dan Clark
• Set Designer: Maria Johnson
• Lighting Designer: Stephen Winkler
• Costume Designer: Ben Kelley
• Makeup: Kelly Verdon
• Poster Designer: Cory Okouchi
• Program Designer: Bob Smith

Disclaimer: Vpstart Crow provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

What is more all-American than a good con? Novels, plays, and movies are full of them: Tom Sawyer, The Music Man, The Sting, Elmer Gantry, The Talented Mr. Ripley, to name a few, not to mention real-life tricksters and fraudsters who became prominent parts of popular culture, from P.T. Barnum to Bernie Madoff. Two things are necessary to run a good con: a clever, psychologically astute con man and a mark who is not only credulous but willing, almost eager, to be deceived.

In John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation, now on view at VpStart Crow in Manassas, the con man is Paul (Chaz D. Pando), a young, smart, adaptable, gay, needy, black man who weaves his way into the stereotypically empty lives of shallow, pretentious, affluent, white New Yorkers. Paul readily convinces them that he is the son of Sidney Poitier, who is coming to New York to cast a movie of Cats. With his dignified demeanor, soft-spoken words, and obvious intelligence, Pando’s Paul is someone who could be thought credible as a son of Poitier (though anyone’s belief in the preposterous Cats story can be understood only as comic exaggeration on the playwright’s part).

Paul is by far Guare’s most interesting character, who is always playing one made-up role after another, and who cannot stop playing a fictional role even when, near the end of the play, things are falling apart for him. Pando gives a very assured, controlled performance that is at the center of the production, portraying not only his character’s ability to cast a spell — as in a spectacular monologue on the meaning and implications of Catcher in the Rye — but also his inability to find an identity and reality of his own. Careless of the hurt he causes others, he has a streak of self-destructiveness, graphically shown as he stabs himself as part of the story he uses to gain entrée to the homes of other characters. A strong point of the Guare’s writing, and Pando’s interpretation, of the character is that his motivations remain elusive and enigmatic, though a desire for the lifestyle he sees among the wealthy is surely involved (his actual thefts barely get him out of petit larceny territory).

The product Paul sells is the appearance of meaningful human contact, instinctively tailored to the needs of each individual he encounters, and his marks can’t get enough. Paul’s initial targets are a wealthy art speculator, Flan Kittredge (Darren Maquardt), and his wife Ouisa (Lisa Anne Bailey). Flan, who knows and perhaps once truly loved art, now views it principally as a commodity. Ouisa, kin to “the ladies who lunch” of Sondheim’s great song from Company, finds few sources of satisfaction in her life. As Paul appeals to Flan’s eagerness to rub elbows with celebrity and Ouisa’s unmet need to be needed, the couple falls easily into his web.

It is Ouisa who explains the meaning of the play’s title, the notion that no one is more than six connections from anyone else in the world. I hope that Guare did not believe this to be a profound insight. Even if true, the idea is trivial, grist for little more than cocktail conversation. (There is, in fact, a “six degrees” party game, focused on actor Kevin Bacon.) An example: I am occasionally part of meetings involving the Secretary of Transportation, who in turn attends Cabinet meetings. I suppose this means that I am only two degrees removed from President Obama. So what? This has no real meaning in my life, let alone the President’s.

Marquardt’s brusque Flan ultimately is not deeply affected emotionally by the play’s events, content to bask in financial success and the thrill of taking risks as a commodities trader in art. Ouisa, on the other hand, comes to need almost desperately the feeling of connection she gets from Paul. Especially in what appears to be an elaborate rescue fantasy, spun out in a long phone call during which Paul continues to play, almost woo, her, she finds a sense of the authentic experience of life she otherwise lacks, including in her relationship with her sitcom-type bratty children. This leads Ouisa to ask serious questions about her marriage and the way she has lived her life, which Bailey expresses in the form of Ouisa’s over-the-top rant to her husband near the play’s conclusion.

The show includes a number of smaller character roles. Among them, Matt Marcus stands out as Trent, a gay college student who is bewitched by Paul and gives him the information about his friends’ families that enables Paul’s con. David Schmidt, as a South African businessman who finances Flan’s latest art deal; Mike Rudden as Rick, Paul’s most tragic mark; and Sarah Farris as Elizabeth, Rick’s girlfriend (and the only potential victim grounded enough to resist Paul’s blandishments) also deserve mention. Other roles, while competently acted, are often little more than types.

The show is performed in the round, in an intimate space that affords excellent sight lines. Director Rob Batarla moves the cast smartly around the set, ensuring that patrons on all sides get the benefit of direct address by the actors. One scene, where parents and children swirl rapidly in circles around the furniture, seemed overly busy, and there were a few scenes (e.g., the Paul-Trent scene) that could have benefited from a more measured pace.

As befits a production in the round, the set is simple, consisting of a living room sofa and chairs (one hopes that a high-end art dealer would have more tasteful furniture than the Kittridges’ tiger-stripe upholstery). Kudos to Jean Gentry’s props design for use of good period cordless telephones. The lighting design is simple but effective, with specials in the corners of the playing area augmenting the general area lighting. The sound design makes extensive use of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, creating an appropriate tone of refinement for the play’s upper class milieu.

When the play premiered in 1990, it garnered some excellent reviews, including a rave from the New York Times‘ Frank Rich. Perhaps the topical impact of the play has diminished in subsequent decades, but while Gaure wrote some interesting characters and intelligent, sometimes witty, dialogue, the depths that Rich found in the original production were not apparent in the VpStart Crow version. While falling short of the “instant classic” claims for the play, the production’s very competent acting and strong pacing will hold an audience’s interest.

Director’s Note

Look around the theater and I bet you are connected to everyone in the room by at least six degrees. Well, probably less. You may know someone in the show. And the lady over to your left knows someone too. You two are three degrees apart. See how easy it is? Or is it scary? For me personally, I am four degrees to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, five degrees to Academy Award winner Catherine Zeta-Jones, and only two degrees to former Vice-President Al Gore. And those are just the ones I know! Speaking of Facebook, a recent report noted that because of the social media website, the actuality of degrees of connection has decreased to 4.74. We are all closer than ever.

With elements of comedy and tragedy, John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation is, at its core, the telling of a story about this basic human need for connection and, because we are telling the story in the round, you will get to live the story from every angle. We have also taken some theatrical liberties in story telling that I hope you appreciate, all in an effort to enhance the story telling.

On a personal note, I would like to extend many thanks to a lot of people who made this production possible. I have been wanting to stage this show for over 10 years now, and I am very pleased with this group of actors and collaborators who helped me bring this show to life.

Enjoy the show!

Rob Batarla

Cast

• Ouisa: Lisa Bailey
• Flan: Darren Marquardt
• Geoffrey: David Schmidt
• Paul: Chaz Pando
• Hustler: Kevin Walker
• Kitty: Carole Preston
• Larkin: Eric Trumbull
• Detective: Shellie Jablonowski
• Tess: Kimberlee Wolfson
• Woody: Ben Jablonowski
• Ben: Joshua Dickinson
• Dr. Fine: Geoffrey Baskir
• Doug: Clemente Santiago
• Police/Doorman: Dan Clark
• Trent: Matt Marcus
• Rick: Mike Rudden
• Elizabeth: Sarah Ferris

Production Team

• Director: Rob Batarla
• Assistant Director: Rachel Murray
• Producer: Jean Gentry
• Stage Manager: Leandra Lynn
• Assistant Stage Manager: Rachel Thompson
• Technical Director: Dan Clark
• Set Designer: Rob Batarla
• Lighting Designer: Ryan Johnston
• Sound Designer: Rob Batarla
• Properties: Jean Gentry

Disclaimer: VpStart Crow provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

SBR: Why did you want to do this show?

Rob: I wanted to do this show for a long time, ever since I first read it–probably about 10 or 15 years ago. Mainly, it’s because it is an incredible story. Theatre tells a story. That’s the whole point of it. But the way that John Guare does Six Degrees of Separation, the way he tells the story is very appealing. We fast forward; we go to the past. So the story-telling element of this show is fantastic, to me. Also, it’s based on a true story, so that’s interesting, and it’s somewhat edgy, which I like.

SBR: How do you think this show might resonate with your audience?

Rob: I’m hopeful that the audience will enjoy the story as much as I do, and they’ll be captivated by what’s going on with Paul and Flan and Ouisa, and the people around them.

SBR: You’re staging this production in-the-round. Talk about some of the challenges with that.

Rob: When you’re in-the-round, there’s audience on all four sides, so at every moment of the play, someone’s back is to someone–an actor’s back is to an audience member. So, that can be a little challenging for the audience, because they obviously want to see what’s going on, but the benefit of it is that audience members will get to see things from a different perspective. Everyone will see a slightly different show based on what they’re able to see. The challenge for us was to make sure that every person gets a valid show. You can’t favor one side. During the rehearsal process, my comment was, “Every person who sits somewhere in the theater paid the same price.” The show that we give to the west side has to be the same as the show we give to the north side. So, there were definitely challenges with blocking and making sure that the show was fair to the audience. I think this type of show lends itself very well to theatre-in-the-round. It’s about telling a story. The actors do talk directly to the audience, so putting it in-the-round and putting the audience so close to the actors actually works very well for this production.

SBR: Why do you think Six Degrees of Separation is an “instant classic” in VpStart’s season?

Rob: VpStart Crow focuses on classic theatre. We do a Shakespeare show each year, things like that. Last year, we implemented something called an “instant classic,” which was a show that, fifty years from now, theatres that do classic theatre would be doing shows like this. Last year we did a Neil Simon play; next year we’re doing Doubt; this year we chose Six Degrees. Why do I think it’s an instant classic? Because I think it’s just a really damn good show, and I think fifty years from now companies that look back and do “classic” theatre–theatre that is good and stands the test of time–I believe this show is one of them.

SBR: There is partial nudity in this show. Do you think it may offend some?

Rob: I think you always run the risk that any theatre will offend anyone. The original Broadway production of this show had full nudity in it. We sort of scaled back. We do have some nudity; it’s partial. I’m hoping that it doesn’t offend people. I think the person who would come see this show would hopefully not be the type of person that would be offended by that. I believe we’ve done it tastefully. It’s not excessive; it’s not overtly sexual; it’s not superfluous. It’s not like we just decided to throw some naked people on the stage just to do it. I have seen shows where that happens. I think it’s appropriate. It’s not long in the scene. It doesn’t go on for a long period of time. But it is important to the plot, and it was in the script, and we decided to go forward with that.

SBR: Some people may be skittish when they see it has partial nudity and adult language. Should they have a little faith and see it anyway?

Rob: It’s not a David Mamet play: The F word isn’t every other word of the show. There is some adult language in it. At the heart of the matter, it is a production telling a story about human connection, and the way the characters go through and experience these connections and tell this story–that’s what it’s about. It’s not a salacious sex show with foul language throughout it. It is an adult show. It does have some adult themes, and it does have a little nudity and some language. But that’s not the crux of the show.

Vpstart Crow’s Six Degrees of Separation opens this weekend. The show runs May 11-13 and May 18-20. Show times are 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 2pm on Sundays. For more information, visit www.vpstartcrow.com.

• Arsenic and Old Lace, September – October 2012
• A Christmas Carol, December 2012
• Doubt, a Parable, March 2013
• Much Ado About Nothing, May 2013

Schedule is subject to change due to performance rights conflicts or other issues. Specific dates of performances and auditions are yet to be announced.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, a play based off a book by Barbara Robinson, tells the story of a church’s attempt to produce their annual Christmas pageant. The problems pile up though: the director is in the hospital, the replacement director’s kids don’t want to be in the show, and the toughest kids in the town do. This amusing show will be well received by kids with a few touches for adults.

Watching the “good” kids deal with the “bad” kids (the Herdmans) was quite believable. Julie Desmedt as Beth Bradley was sincere and open to other interpretations of the Christmas story (“well, she was pregnant!”) While she never put the other “good” kids in their place, she helped make the magic of the nativity’s effect on Imogene Herdman (Hannah Ivester) real.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is definitely aimed at kids, especially in the way it treats the adults of the story. They are a mishmash of ineptitude, showing signs of pride, fear, drunkenness, and laziness. The exception is the cheerful Grace Bradley (Deb Gregoire). Gregoire allowed her character to persevere in the face of adversity, never quite losing her temper as her production wheeled out of control.

The set (designed by Rob Batarla) featured two main scenes, the Bradley home and the church auditorium. Batarla’s design made good use of the enormous playing area of the theater, allowing the audience to be able to more easily focus on the action. Ryan Johnston’s lights were effective at directing the audience’s focus, as there were many small scenes performed on the outer edge or along the very front of the playing area. The costumes were appropriate, with nice detail given to the Herdman children’s appearance.

The pay what you can performance was the first public performance ever for most of the cast. There were a few rough spots, most notably the lack of volume from several actors, both children and adults. There were also a few delays during scene changes. Playing Christmas music could have covered the delays. Over time I expect these problems will diminish.

In general, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a silly little show, and Vpstart Crow and Studio Works VA have created an enjoyable, family friendly hour of theater.

The Cast

• Gladys Herdman: Kai Amado
• Reverend Hopkins: Geoffrey Baskir
• Jack Slocum: Shane Dean
• Mrs. Slocum: Shelly Dean
• Hobie Clark: Taylor Dean
• Beth Bradley: Julie Desmedt
• Edna McCarthy: Meg Desmedt
• Ralph Herdman: John Dubbelde, Jr.
• Fireman: John Dubbelde, Sr.
• Mrs. Armstrong: Lisa Dubbelde
• Claudia Herdman: Meg Dubbelde
• Ollie Herdman: Audrey Gregoire
• Grace Bradley: Deb Gregoire
• Bob Bradley: Marcus Gregoire
• Imogene Herdman: Hannah Ivester
• Maxine: Rebekah Ivester
• Elmer Hopkins: Tanner Jaksa
• Leroy Herdman: Ethan Porter
• Fireman: Garth Porter
• Alice Wendleken: Hannagh Smith
• Mrs. Clausing: Angela Tracy
• Charlie Bradley: Ryan Tracy
• Mrs. Clark: Linda Whitaker
• Girl’s Chorus: Eilis Cribbs, Betty Gregoire, Lizzy Nicholas
• Understudy: Alice Wedleken: Sabrina Hostetter

The Production Team

• Artistic Director: Rob Batarla
• Managing Director: Clemente Santiago III
• Producer: Denise Smith
• Director: Rob Batarla and Kye-Won Kopko
• Stage Manager: Clemente Santiago III
• Technical Director: Dan Clark
• Set Designer: Rob Batarla
• Lighting Designer: Ryan Johnston
• Sound Designer: Rob Batarla
• Costumes: The Cast and Crew
• Hair and Makeup- Mary Price
• Poster Designer: Cory Okouchi
• Program Designer: Bob Smith

Disclaimer: Vpstart Crow provided a complimentary media ticket to ShowBizRadio for this review.

The Mousetrap is a classic (running continuously since 1952 in London) murder mystery whodunit in two acts. A group of supposed “strangers” are stranded at an English bed and breakfast inn during a snow storm. Murder, intrigue and even some comedy make this an Agatha Christie classic.

Mollie and Giles Ralston were the owners of Monkwell Manor, an inn she inherited. Newly married, the couple played by Rachael Murray and Dan Clark, were eager to make their guests feel welcome and comfortable. The couple felt somewhat ill at ease in the beginning, but warmed up to each other as events unfolded. Clark became especially protective of Mollie as tensions heated up.

Besides Mollie, the other two female guests were Miss Casewell and Mrs. Boyle. Mrs. Boyle (Lee McKenna) played her role quite believably as a thoroughly unpleasant woman. Her constant complaining even managed to get to Mollie who tried her best to placate the grumpy old woman. McKenna had some line issues at the start of her scene, but those were resolved by the end of act one. Miss Casewell, played by Shaina Higgins, made her part mysterious. She seemed to be hiding some dark secret which made her seem somewhat cold. Higgins staging was appropriately stiff, as a part of her character.

Of the four male characters the two who garnered the most laughs were Christopher Wren, played by Peter Louis Johnson, and Mr. Paravicini, played by Geoffrey Baskir. Johnson’s wild untamed hair matched his personality well and endeared him to Mollie. Even Miss Casewell appeared to find him mildly amusing. Baskir’s character came across as weirdly creepy. Like the rest of the cast he was definitely hiding something and always seemed to be looking over his shoulder. His and Wren’s ability to pop in and out of scenes kept you wondering about their stories.

Besides Giles, the two most stable influences were Major Metcalf and Detective Seargent Trotter. Both men were efficient and their characters were steadfast. Metcalf, played by Larry Keeling, was a keen observer of the human condition. Eben Kuhns as Detective Trotter was efficiently meddling as was his occupation. His movements around the stage were controlled.

Director Clemente Santiago III allowed each actor to build their characters, and each character presented themselves as strangers inside the larger group. The ensemble cast worked well together, yet they all seemed to have something to hide…. They were very effective in building tension throughout the play, from the bickering of the newlyweds to the uncertainty of who each person should trust. Scene Designer Rob Batarla made wise use of the stage in creating the quaint inn. The appearance of snow through the window and on costumes as characters entered from the storm was a pleasure. It added believability when the guests commented on the snow to actually have snow on stage. The show’s lights and sound effects were very well done.

A well performed, believable Agatha Christie tale.

From the Director

Although I had known about the classic play by Agatha Christie, I had never actually seen it until this past Winter in London at the St. Martins Theatre, where it has been running for 34 years. As I sat in my seat and prepared myself, I thought “okay, a murder mystery from years pas, I’m sure it will be pretty easy to figure it out early on…right?” I was clearly wrong! The entire play I was constantly questioning every character, and changing my mind every five minutes, I that I almost annoyed the next person to me by gasping when I found out who the real killer was. What I remember the most was how much fun it was trying to figure it out. And so when I was given the privilege to direct and bring this show to VpStart Crow, I wanted to ensure that the audience would go through the same journey as I did.

In addition to annoying your family and friends with your guesses during the show, I wanted to include another way to reward someone who guessed correctly before the killer was revealed. So enclosed in this program is an interactive voting contest that will allow you to make your best guess as to who the killer is. During intermission, fill out the form with who you believe is the killer (and try not to cheat by searching online, that wouldn’t be part of the fun, I highly recommend trying to figure it out yourself). Then you can place your vote in the ballot box in the lobby. A drawing will be done at the end of the run, and one lucky winner will win TWO free season tickets! That’s a $120 value!

I’ll give you a few hints and things to remember while watching:

• Never underestimate the power of the radio.
• Remember where people are at all times.
• Suspect everyone!

And most importantly, have fun! We wouldn’t want it any other way.

Clemente Santiago III, Director

Photo Gallery

Eben Kuhns (Detective Sargeant Trotter), Larry Keeling (Major Metcalf) and Peter Louis Johnson (Christopher Wren)	Dan Clark (Giles Ralston) and Rachael Murray (Mollie Ralston)
Peter Louis Johnson (Christopher Wren)

Photos by Cory Okouchi

Cast

• Mollie Ralston: Rachael Murray
• Giles Ralston: Dan Clark
• Christopher Wren: Peter Louis Johnson
• Mrs. Boyle: Lee McKenna
• Major Metcalf: Larry Keeling
• Miss Casewell: Shaina Higgins
• Mr. Paravicini: Geoffery Baskir
• Detective Seargent Trotter: Eben Kuhns

Crew

• Scene Design: Rob Batarla
• Costumes: Cast and Crew
• Sound Design: Rob Batarla
• Tech Director: Dan Clark
• Producer: Rob Batarla
• Properties: Shellie Jablonowski
• Stage Manager: Leandra Lynn
• Hair and Makeup: Mary Price
• Directed by: Clemente Santiago III

Disclaimer: VpStart Crow provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

Rumors is a two act comedy by Neil Simon. Charlie and his wife Myra have invited a few guests over to help them celebrate their tenth anniversary. The only problem is, Myra is nowhere to be found, the cook and the wait staff have gone away and Charlie has managed to shoot himself in the ear with a gun. Then the guests begin to arrive and the cover-ups keep covering up.

This was a typical Neil Simon comedy, full of laughter, mistaken identities, secrets, and scandal. What a better time to have a dinner party! Overall the Vpstart cast gave a commendable performance. There were some line as well as pacing issues and some interesting blocking decisions by the show’s director, but the show was funny and the cast and the audience seemed to enjoy themselves very much.

The first hapless couple to arrive were Chris and Ken Gorman, played by Tegan Cohen and Mike Rudden. Both played their parts believably. Cohen managed to stay involved with the action on the stage even when she was not the center of attention. Rudden’s bit in the second act when a gunshot robbed him of his hearing was quite funny and he played it up well.

Claire and Lenny Ganz (played by Shaina Higgins and Rob Batarla) were an uptight, snobby couple. The Gormans (Gormen?) at first tried to keep Charlie’s ear hidden, but quickly ran out of excuses and had to share the little secret with the Ganzes. This caused quite a bit of excitement for Higgins who then felt the need to share with her husband Lenny, who could care less, after all the other rumors she has come across at their “club.” Batarla had a monologue in the second act that was delivered with an unparalleled sincerity, receiving a nice round of applause from the audience at its completion.

The third couple to arrive were Cookie and Ernie Cusak. They were probably the most down-to-earth couple. Cookie, played by Maureen Frank, was perhaps ditzy in a sweetly endearing way. Having her own cooking show made her the perfect solution to the fact that the hired help has all disappeared. Ernie Cusak played by Larry Keeling seemed a bit stiff in the first act, but warmed up well to his role in the second act. As a reasonable man, Keeling kept his thoughts and temper in check until it was no longer possible.

The last couple to arrive were not happy and had no desire to be a couple. Cassie (played by Julie Cameron) was sure her husband was having an affair and it did not matter who knew it. She was an angry woman and felt the best revenge was to flirt with everyone else rpesent, adding another layer of tension to the evening. This of course did not sit well with Claire or Lenny. Glenn Cooper, the state senator hopeful, was played by Matthew Randall. As the calm, cool senator Randall could control every situation, except any involving his wife. The two clashed, and this made the evening all the more entertaining.

The two cameo roles by Officers Pudney and Welch completed the off the wall evening. Officer Pudney (Jacqueline Brown) had some opening night jitters and the timing got a little out of sync at that point. She did have some funny lines which she delivered with much finger pointing and arm waving which caused much laughter. Officer Welch played by Wesley Allen was easy going, but dedicated to the blue and gold.

The set by Designer Mark Waldman was well done and detailed. As the Hylton Performing Arts Center is a larger and higher performing area without a proscenium, the set was much wider than deep and sometimes it seemed there was a lot of walking across the set, such as to reach the telephone which rang constantly. Sound Designer Rob Batarla made sure the sound effects were loud, but not overwhelming, unless called for. Lighting Designer Bethany Gooddell created a warm atmosphere with the simple lights, although there was one odd dark spot down center.

There were a few line problems and opening night jitters, which should go away as performances continue, but the problems still allowed for Neil Simon’s comedy to shine through.

From The Director

Neil Simon is one of America’s most prolific and most popular playwrights, for both the stage and film. He has written both comedies and drama with equal dexterity, starting as early as 1966, and was one of the screwball writing staff for Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows. After twenty years, however, his writing turned autobiographical with the popular trilogy, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and Lost in Yonkers. It was only after these three that he wrote Rumors, which he himself titles “A Farce.”

Farce has many different faces and definitions, a few of which we present for your choice. You may see some or all of these in our production:

• A comedy which aims to entertain by means of unlikely, improbably situations
• The use of mistaken identity to varyig degrees of sophistication
• Sexual innuendo, word play, physical humor, and/or deliberate absurdity
• Humans who are vain, irrational, neurotic, and/or prone to automatic behavior
• Naughty behavior that the characters attempt to hide and may get away with.

There is no moral message to our presentation. We are here only to entertain you. Enjoy!!

Donald Neal, Director

Photo Gallery

Shaina Higgins (Claire), Tegan Cohen (Chris)	Shaina Higgins (Claire) and Rob Batarla (Lenny)
Matthew Randall (Glenn) and Larry Keeling (Ernie)	Tegan Cohen (Chris) and Julie Cameron (Cassie)
Matthew Randall (Glenn), Tegan Cohen (Chris), Mike Rudden (Ken), Larry Keeling (Ernie), Shaina Higgins (Claire), Rob Batarla (Lenny) and Maureen Frank (Cookie)	Rob Batarla (Lenny), Mike Rudden (Ken), Larry Keeling (Ernie) and Matthew Randall (Glenn)

Photos provided by Vpstart Crow

Cast

• Chris Gorman: Tegan Cohen
• Ken Gorman: Mike Rudden
• Claire Ganz: Shaina Higgins
• Lenny Ganz: Rob Batarla
• Cookie Cusak: Maureen Frank
• Ernie Cusak: Larry Keeling
• Cassie Cooper: Julie Cameron
• Glenn Cooper: Matthew Randall
• Officer Pudney: Wesley Allen
• Officer Welch: Jacqueline Brown

Production Team

• Artistic Director: Rob Batarla
• Managing Director: Clemente Santiago III
• Producer: Rob Batarla
• Director: Don Neal
• Stage Manager: Clemente Santiago III
• Assistant Stage Manager: Leandra Lynn
• Technical Director: Mark Waldman
• Set Designer: Mark Waldman
• Lighting Designer: Bethany Gooddell
• Sound Designer: Rob Batarla
• Costume Designer: Johanna Schoenborn
• Properties: Jean Gentry, Maureen Frank
• Hair and Makeup: Mary Price
• Poster Designer: Brian Anderson
• Program Designer: Bob Smith

Disclaimer: Vpstart Crow provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

It’s like what Mazeppa, Electra, and Tessie Tura tell Louise in Act II of Gypsy: “you gotta have a gimmick.” This line must appear somewhere in the Shakespeare Directors’ Instruction Manual. In Vpstart Crow’s production of The Merry Wives of Windsor, the gimmick is texting. Falstaff texts. Mistress Ford and Mistress Page text. Practically everyone in the cast except, oddly enough, the younger characters (Ann Page, Fenton, Slender) constantly has a cell phone in hand and is constantly texting. Sometimes the texts appear, Facebook style, on a large monitor above the coffee bar. (Yes, the modern dress production is set in a coffee bar, apparently one with a liquor license.) Through the magic of theater, the 160-character limit has been banished, so texts can be as long as, well, a speech from a Shakespeare play.

Why didn’t Shakespeare think of all this? In the pre-electronics Dark Ages of Elizabethan England, the poor fellow was forced to rely on the meager resources then at hand, like language and character. Fortunately for this production, the central character of the play, Sir John Falstaff, is in the hands of someone who gets the character and language. It is hard to imagine any actor in the local theater scene better equipped to play Falstaff than Jay Tilley, who brings to the role an unbeatable combination of girth and top-notch comic acting chops. His Falstaff is gross, smelly, and utterly unashamed of himself. The production, which putters along somewhat fitfully when he is offstage, comes alive when he is on.

Timothy King, as Mr. Ford, is up to the challenge of playing the foil to Tilley’s Falstaff. King is also a gifted comic actor, who switches seamlessly between jealous husband and canny trickster, with excursions into unrestrained physical comedy, notably his blitz on a laundry basket. King even draws substantial laughter in using hand sanitizer. The scenes between King and Tilley are the evening’s best.

The quality of the supporting cast varies. One of the most successful turns is by Jean Gentry, as a nearly omnipresent senior citizen barista. Jack Powers does a convincing dumb jock type as Slender, while Catie Zadnick gives Ann Page an agreeable touch of sexiness. In her most important scene, Mistress Quickly (Sara Joy Lebowitz) does indeed speak very quickly, and at some length, managing the impressive feat of not letting Falstaff get in a word edgewise.

Aimee Snow and Kecia Campbell, as the important characters Mistress Page and Mistress Ford, did not appear fully comfortable in their roles. Snow, while playing her part with energy, suffered several line bobbles. Campbell’s connections to Mistress Page, Falstaff, and Mr. Ford often felt more tenuous then merry. That said, the fun these ladies have in repeatedly gulling Falstaff is an enjoyable element of the production.

In this production and others, Vpstart Crow sometimes casts women in roles originally written for men. Often, this practice is benign: having the Welsh minister be Dame rather than Sir Hugh Evans does no harm, and having the Host be a barista works quite nicely. But if not done carefully, gender-neutral casting can lead to strange results. At the end of the play, Dr. Caius and Slender carry off two actors to be married, in the belief that they are absconding with Ann Page. The actors thus carried off are obviously women, and have played their roles as women, not as pants roles, throughout the performance. So when Caius and Slender return, indignantly complaining that they have married boys, it creates a jarring double take.

“Trust the material.” That theatrical principle, above all in plays that have successfully entertained audiences for 400+ years, is a key to satisfying productions. You really don’t need a gimmick.

Photo Gallery

Photos by Cory Okouchi

The Cast

• Shallow/Fenton: Steven Rice
• Dame Hugh Evans: Sara Bickler
• Slender: Jack Powers
• Mr. Page: Carlos Fischler
• Sir John Falstaff: Jay Tilley
• Bardolph/Jane Rugby: Maria Rizkalla
• Pistol/Roberta: Shaina Higgins
• Nym/Jann: Harlie Sponaugle
• Ann Page/Simple: Catie Zadnick
• Mistress Ford: Kecia A. Campbell
• Mistress Page: Aimee Snow
• Host: Jean Gentry
• Robin: Justin Smith
• Mistress Quickly: Sara Joy Lebowitz
• Dr. Caius: Jack Seeley
• Mr. Ford: Timothy R. King

Production Staff

• Director: Bob Smith
• Artistic Director: Rob Batarla
• Managing Director: Clemente Santiago
• Producer: Cory Okouchi
• Stage Manager: Josh Waldman
• Assistant Stage Manager: Maureen Frank
• Assistant Stage Manager: Leandra Lynn
• Techical Director: Mark Waldman
• Hair and Makeup: Mary Price
• Set Designer: Production Team
• Costume Designer: Bethany Goodell
• Lighting Designer: Bethany Goodell
• Light Board Operator: Bethany Goodell
• Sound Designer: Bob Smith
• Properties: The Cast and Crew
• Poster Designer: Brian Anderson
• Program Designer: Bob Smith

Disclaimer: Vpstart Crow provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.