North Shore Music Theater - Billy Elliot (Musical)

We live in a time where there are two things we strive to discover for ourselves, who are we as individuals and what certain community do we belong in? Both are equally difficult to figure out when we're in our adolescent years, but obviously the older we get the more easier it gets for us. But this subject seems to be the main theme of North Shore Music Theater's newest show, Billy Elliot the musical. The musical, an adaptation of the 2000 movie of the same title, takes place in north-eastern England during the coal miners strike of 1984 through 85 and revolves around an eleven year old boy, Billy Elliot, who develops a passion for dancing ballet. However, because of the current situation in his community and the emotional and mental states of his dad, older brother, and grandma, Billy must keep this a secret. Not until he meets a local Ballet instructor, Mrs Wilkinson, who immediately sees Billy's talent and encourages him to continue seeing her so she can train him to audition for the Royal Ballet School to pursue his dream.
Having seen the movie first, I figured that the musical would follow it almost note for note. It does, with the exception of a few added elements. In the movie, it is implied that Grandma was once an aspiring dancer when she was younger. In the musical, there is an entire musical number dedicated to telling the story of ambitions for dancing and her marriage to Billy's Grandfather. Some parts of the movie that might have been skimmed over were explored more deeply in the musical, which made it hard to decide which version was better.
Nevertheless, this production was very good. The performances from the ensemble were very enjoyable to watch all together. Ranging from very funny, to very intense, to very touching. Nicholas Dantes was amazing as Billy. Everyone who has either seen the movie or seen a preview of the show will know that the dancing that Billy does is intensely fast, and Dantes certainly gives out a jolt of electricity whenever he performs. Janet Dickinson played a very good Mrs. Wilkinson. To me she seemed like a less sinister version of Ms. Hannigan from Annie. In that she has the disillusioned-sassy wisdom that she shares with the kids that look up to her. Her chemistry with Dantes was very believable and realistic. Finally, Timothy Gulan's performance as Billy's dad, Jackie, was somewhat different from the movie's Jackie. In the movie, Jackie came off as a lot more mean spirited and more violent towards his sons. Which given the circumstances that lead him to be in this mind set, you can kind of understand. In the musical, Jackie's attitude towards his sons are pulled back a little bit. They took the liberties of making him a little bit more humorous and more lighthearted. He is still the miserable stern father, but he is less intense in this version. When he is being humorous, you can't help but laugh and enjoy this character. The music by Elton John and Lee Hall was composed amazingly by Andrew Bryan and the North Shore orchestra. Likewise to the choreography by the production's director Adam Pelty, Assistant Choreographer Bryan Thomas Hunt and dance captain Vanessa Russo.
Billy Elliot brings up several different subjects in today's society; self discovery, unity among communities, union strikes, homosexuality, and standing up for your passions in life. With the way the show handles these subjects, this production was very enjoyable to watch. Very heavy on the foul language, so I would think about bringing the kids to see this. Besides that, I highly recommend seeing it.
Billy Elliot the musical is being held at North Shore Music Theater, in Beverly MA from September 30th to October 11. For tickets, visit their website at http://www.nsmt.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1180 .          

Newburyport Firehouse - I love you, You're perfect, Now change

In every relationship there are three stages throughout. The first stage consists of finding the right person, going out into the world and fishing through the sea for the right catch. Going on dates, giving/receiving the first kiss, trying to impress each other in and out of the bedroom, and taring down the walls of distrust replacing it with the tall structure of trust. The second stage consisting of taking the new-found relationship to the next levels. Sharing families together, owning a house together, and sharing marital vows together. The third stage consisting of dealing with the aftermath  of previous stages. Dealing with commitments, sacrificing the thrills of the single life for the good of the new marital and parental life, and debating whether they made the right decisions in entering this new life.
On Thursday, June 18, the Newburyport Firehouse will open it's new musical production of I love you, You're Perfect, Now Change. The play is a series of vignettes performed by an ensemble of four. This ensemble consists of Carli Hamilton, Carol Smilinsky, Arthur Gomez, and Stephen Faria, directed by John Budzyna. The music, originally by Jimmy Robberts and Joe DiPietro is performed by Alisa Bucchiere. The play itself is a series of romantic comedies that greatly interpret the three stages of every relationship. The highs and lows. And they are all brought together by the hilarious performances by all four cast members, the classical piano playing by Bucchiere, and of course the brilliant direction by Budzyna.
This show is perfect for all those who have been in relationships, whether newly formed or ongoing for many years. No matter what sort of relationship people have been in, audiences will get a great kick out of the tongue-in-cheek humor of this show. I love you, You're perfect, Now change runs from June 18-28. Get your tickets on there website, http://www.firehouse.org/iloveyou.html.

SSU - Spring Awakening

Art is continuously changing. transitioning from different medium to different medium as a new generation comes and goes. The performing arts are no exception. All throughout the twentieth century the performing arts have evolved through different mediums, whether as straight plays or musicals. Different styles, different interpretations, and different genres yet still presented with the familiar conventions. Before the new millennium, these were only few and far between. But by the turn of the century, the shows with these conventions began to change entirely and in greater numbers. Taking already existing plays from the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century and putting a more modern, revolutionary, even Bohemian spin on them. One of the most revolutionary and most well-known of these plays is this article's subject, Spring Awakening.

Salem State University has just opened their new musical for the 2015 spring semester, the 2006 rock musical by Duncan Sheik and Steven Stater. Spring Awakening, is a rock musical adaptation of the German play under the same title by Frank Wedekind. It tells the story about a group of adolescent boys and girls in late-nineteenth century Germany discovering the peeks of their own sexual maturity.  It expresses different topics and issues that are continuously brought up, even to this day; teenage angst, sexual awareness, puberty, homosexuality, teenage pregnancy, breaking traditional conventions, and so on. This production of Spring Awakening is performed by SSU students; Krystal Hernandez, Courtney Plati, Lia Parisi, Brittani Napoli, Caitlyn Jones, Mat Stanley, Scott Jacobs, Nikos Koutsogiannis, David Meredith, Bobby Brennan, Jimmy McCormick, Andy LeBlanc, and Elizabeth Jelinek, and directed by William Cunningham.
Each cast member performed their character greatly, the central characters and side characters both. The ensemble is lead by the three central characters Wendla (Hernandez), Melchior (Stanley), and Moritz (Jacobs), facing a number of the issues I mentioned earlier. Each of them are as enjoyable to watch and as emotionally moving as one another. However, the two performances that stood out to me the most was, first, Mat Stanley. Last summer I had the privilege of working with this young man backstage at North Shore Music Theater. He was on the run crew and I was a spotlight operator. I can honestly say that it was a treat to work with him then, but it was an absolute joy to see him perform in a show such as this, almost a year later. Stanley portrayed the free thinking rebel, Melchior, spot on. Every scene he was in, you would either laugh, cry, or become inspired. Or all of the above. The same can easily be said about Andy LeBlanc as the figurative roles of the male grown ups. Ranging from the boys latin professor to the father of all the young characters. One scene in particular stood out the most displaying LeBlanc's ability to make us laugh and cry, all within an instant. I have seen this man perform in four shows now, at SSU. Each one he has played a combination of different characters, all with different personalities. And in each show, his performance as these characters has been extraordinary. I have enjoyed watching him perform in the past, and I look forward to watching him perform in the future.
This goes without saying, but Salem State University's production of Spring Awakening comes highly recommended. Speaking as a student who is planning on becoming a grade school teacher, I really enjoyed seeing a show that glorifies the creativity that younger generations can produce, and can be held up today as a parallel to what issues are transpiring in the educational system. Spring Awakening continues this Thursday until Sunday, April 26. If you would like to see this coming of age story be told by a group of coming of age students, come and see for yourself.                         

SSU-Student Theater Ensemble-circle mirror transformation

Theater, as well as the art of performing, has always held the power to entertain audiences around the world since the very beginning. Tragedies have made us cry, Comedies have made us laugh, Histories have educated us, and Musicals have inspired us. Time and time before, I have said that theater can be performed anywhere and by anyone. I append this by saying that theater can be performed in any sort of way. This is most prominent, when it comes to performance classes, whether at a school/university or community center such as YMCA, boys and girls club, etc. These classes, mostly, consist of a series of exercises focusing on the actors body rather than working on an actual show.
This week, from thursday April 9th to sunday April 12th, the Student Theater Ensemble of Salem State University opens their new show Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker. The play consists of performances by Kellie Moon, Olivia Duamine, Jodi Buoncuore, James Wechsler, and Ryan Hull, and directed by Alex Portenko. Circle Mirror Transformation is about a class of five individuals of different ages; Marty (Moon) the teacher of the class, James (Wechsler) Marty's husband, Theresa (Dumaine) an energetic woman from the city, Shultz (Hull) a carpenter, and Lauren (Buoncuore) a high school theater student, and their six week long journey through different performance exercises.
Both the direction from director Portenko and performances by the ensemble are equally masterful. The play, itself, is written with a lot of unfinished sentences, long pauses, and awkward chemistry between characters. Making this play all the more realistic. All performed perfectly by each cast member. Portenko's main direction for this play, was to take something ordinary and transform it into something extraordinary. Pun intended.
This play comes highly recommended. It shows what exercises may be performed in performance classes, as well as what kind of effect these sort of classes can do. They not only can help you discover and practice different exercises to help warm up when performing, but they can also assist in self realization, togetherness among strangers, and opening yourself up to what lies ahead before all of us in life as well as what questions to ask ourselves and consider along the way.  

Crabgrass Puppet Theater - African Adventure Tales

As a lover of the theater, the arts and all the different styles of both, I went to see a one day puppet theater performance, today. The Newburyport Firehouse presented, African Adventure Tales, a children's puppet theater production by Crabgrass Puppet Theater. African Adventure Tales presents two short African folktales; "Koi and the Kola Nuts," and "Anansi and the Talking Melon."
Koi and the Kola Nuts tells the story of a son of an african chief who inherits three Kola nuts from the family Kola tree. He ventures out into the wilderness in the hopes of making his own fortune. Along his journey, he meets three animals; a colony of ants, a snake, and a crocodile. He helps each one of them by giving them each a single Kola nut. In return each animal assists him in tasks that are appointed to him to prove his status. This tale teaches the lesson that kindness towards others are often rewarded in return.
Anasi and the Talking Melon tells the story of a spider, named Anasi, who eats a number of large melons and finds himself stuck in the biggest one. While stuck, he is able to walk around and talk. A passing ELephant comes across the melon and hears Anasi talking inside. Believing that the melon is magical and can talk, he goes to every animal he is friends with in the kingdom. From a Hippo to a Rhino and finally to the king of the kingdom, a Monkey. All but the king hear the melon talk and actually believe the Elephant. After being cast aside, Anasi frees himself from the melon and becomes hungry again, eating himself into a banana in the end.
My favorite part of the show was the design of the puppets and sets. The sets were minimalistic, yet very suggestive, and for a puppet show, thats all that there needs to be. The puppets themselves were very creative and faithful to African cultural designs. And their performances were entertaining and engaging. Each puppet being puppeteered by Crabgrass co-founder, Jamie Keithline. This show was obviously made for children. However, just because a puppet show is more kid friendly that doesn't mean that people of all ages can't enjoy them either. When we see puppet shows, we obviously see the puppeteer controlling it, but if we pay more attention to the puppet itself, we begin to see them more as the actual characters who's stories are being told on stage. It's why we still enjoy watching the Muppets on television and movies. There is an art to puppet theater, not just in making the puppets but in performing as them as well. So, with that all said, if any of you readers have kids who like to see live puppet shows, or if you are a fan of the art of puppet making, I recommend checking out other productions by the Crabgrass Puppet Theater company. They perform at schools, theaters, libraries, etc. For more information check out their website at www.crabgrasspuppets.com.

 

(Special Blog)-the Importance of being modest

In my blog article on "An afternoon of Arthur Miller," I said, "Theater can be performed anywhere and by anyone." This saying sums up the connection between a community of theater goers. Theater, as well as the many different mediums of art, has been the central entity that has held a community of people together. Most of these bonds have been held together by the similar interests of the medium that is shared between the community, whether it be critiquing theater, producing theater, performing in theater, or simply observing theater. The more time the community spends time in theater, the more their interests expand and the closer the bond grows between one another.
Some people look at community theater and describe it as a less mainstream version of a theatrical production. True, the production value for a number of community productions are much less than that of a professional production, most of the time. The technical elements of the production are not state-of-the-art, the cast and crew don't always get paid or work on the production full time, the productions themselves may not run for months on end, and the stars in the production might not be as well known on Broadway as Sutton Foster or Joel Grey. With all that being said, in the long run, what is most important is taking a community of theater goers and putting on a show for other theater goers.
The theaters I have worked with, have taken the forms of all shapes and sizes. Ranging from large cathedral halls, to small dinner theaters, to the open outdoors. Each one using the space to their advantage, and each one having a certain charm and atmosphere to their houses. This charm was assisted by the that of their staff members. Particularly, their cast of performers. With community theater, people will always see some familiar faces during the run of the productions, whether onstage performing or in the audience observing. The more times people comes to these places to see these productions, more often they can call them, "a place where everybody knows your name."  
For seven years, I have worked closely with a wide range of community theater companies. Both onstage and backstage. Some have been an established company with a long history and others have, unfortunately had to step down from their places in their communities. These establishments, with their long history, have formed such close bonds. Families of friends. As understandable as the reasons may be, it has still remained heartbreaking for me to see the homes that sheltered these families fade away into obscurity. Within the house of these theaters, their history is preserved by different forms of memorabilia for outsiders to observe. When they are shut down, their history is preserved within the memories of those who were there, and share them with others through word of mouth.
As fleeting as these small theaters might be, there will always be a group of people who love theater enough to venture out on the town and enter a realm of comedy, tragedy, and sometimes music. Thus bringing us to the true meaning of community theater. It is a form of live theater created by the community and presented for the community.  

Newburyport Firehouse - Almost Maine

It's friday, the night is clear and filled with coldness. The northern lights materialize, glow and glimmer high above the clouds. All elements that make the perfect date night in the small town of Almost, Maine. The off-broadway play, by John Cariani, opened last night at the Newburyport Firehouse Theater. Almost, Maine is a series of romantically comedic vignettes, which by the end of the play all connect with each other.
   The first vignette, "Her Heart" staring Robert Ringuette and Jasmine Rush and directed by Bob DeLibero, revolves around two characters. Glory, played by Rush, camps out in the yard of local mechanic East, played by Rignuette, in the hope of seeing the northern lights in the sky in memory of her late husband, West, while carrying her broken heart in a paper bag. What starts out as a funny misunderstanding becomes a sign of fate written brightly in the sky.
   The second vignette, "Sad and Glad" staring Josh Paradis, Christin Clohosey, and Kate Ventiglimia and directed by Jannie Kitchen, is about two former lovers, Jimmy played by Paradis and Sandrine played by Clohosey, meeting each other after several years and catching up by coincidence in a local bar, constantly being interrupted by their enthusiastic waitress, played by Ventiglimia. Sandrine has moved on to another partner, while Jimmy has stayed in his state of woe since the break up. For Jimmy, as one door finally closes another opens.
   The third vignette, "This hurts" staring Abigail Seabrook and Conor Burke and directed by Stephen Faria, is about two neighbors, Marvalyn played by Seabrook and Steve played by Burke, in the laundry room of their apartment complex. Marvalyn accidentally hits Steve over the head with her ironing board, to which he assures her everything is alright by explaining to her he cannot feel any sort of pain. Through their conversations together, Steve learns the differences between two types of pain. Physical and emotional.
   The fourth vignette, "Getting it Back" staring Lily MacLeod and Christian Doyle and directed by Kimm Wilkinson is about a couple, Gayle played by MacLeod and Lendall played by Doyle. Gayle begins to break up with Lendall, returning all the "bundles of love" he has given to her throughouttheir relationship and demanding that he return her's to her. By the end of the fight, Gayle discovers that the bundles of love one gives to another can take all sorts of shapes and sizes.
   The fifth vignette, "They Fell" staring Will Fraser and Michael O'Malley and directed by Tim Diering is about two co workers, Chad played by Fraser and Randy played by O'Malley, spending the night together drinking beer and complaining about how much they fail at holding their relationships. By the end, they both realize that some relationships can actually be held up. All it takes is a little fall.
   The sixth vignette, "Where it Went" staring Jeffery Rath and Adrienne Montezinos and directed by Stephen Faria is about a married couple, Phil played by Rath and Marci played by Montezinos, are discussing their flaws with their marriage after iceskating while simultaneously trying to find Marci's shoe. Phil and Marci spend so much time trying to find out what can be done and try to find a sign as to what should be done. By the end, they find it. The shoe as well.
   The seventh vignette, "Story of Hope" staring Kyle Linehan and Sarah Gibby and directed by Bob DeLibero is about Hope, played by Gibby, trying to find a young man after she abandoned him years ago. She finds a man, played by Linehan, and discovers a revelation. One that parallels that of "Where it Went." Love that once was, has now lost hope.
   The eighth vignette, "Seeing the Thing" staring Julie McConchie and Jim Manclark is about two co workers, Rhonda played by McConchie and Dave played by Manclark, who have spent a long time having fun with each other and enjoying each other's company. On this night, Dave decides to show Rhonda an encoded picture of how he feels about her. Rhonda, not being able to see the picture, struggles with understanding what Dave's feeling is. By the end, Rhonda discovers the big picture and what Dave is trying to tell her. When searching for the meaning to something, one must simply look closer and closer.
   Finally, one vignette, which was the Prologue, the Interlogue, and the Epilogue, staring Max Sklar and Kari-Lyn Mayne. The vignette is about two friends, Pete played by Sklar and Ginette played by Mayne, hanging out on a park bench. After Ginette declares her love for Pete, he tells her that she is not close enough (based on the circulation of the planet). This forces Ginette to walk away from Pete. As time goes by, Pete sits on the bench waiting for her to come back. By the end, Pete realizes that the farther she gets from him the closer she gets back to him.
   These plays were very well constructed, well directed, and well performed. The performers ranged from laugh-out-loud funny to realistically sympathetic. They all have this touch of pathos to them that is backed up by the humorous dialogue written by author John Cariani. Each story describes what adult life in northern Maine is like. What works very well with the acting and dialogue are the technical elements. The set, designed by David Stawasz consists of rotating platforms that, while minimalistic, make it clear to the audience that this scene takes place in a local bar or the front porch of a log cabin. The lighting, designed by James Atkins, shine brightest, pun intended. The backdrop of the set, for each vignette, is a starry night backdrop that shine in multicolors and twinkles magically and romantically.
If you are looking to treat yourself to an original, live, romantic comedy, representing one of our neighboring states in New England, and expressing the highs and lows of real life relationships, then this play comes highly recommended. The Newburyport Firehouse's new production, Almost, Maine continues throughout this weekend, Saturday March 21 at 8:00pm and Sunday March 22 at 3:00pm.