Wheelock Family Theatre - the Trumpet of the Swan

Recently I have noticed that many professional theaters, as well as some community theaters, have starting becoming innovative with their story telling to audiences. Especially to those with physical and mental disabilities. These theaters have opened up to the variety of audience members who are handicap or have disabilities by making the performances more accessible to them. Not that this is a brand new thing, but it has become more common and frequent in the theatre scene today. One theatre which serves as an example is the Wheelock Family Theatre, located in Boston. I have only seen two shows presented by this company, and the one thing that I appreciated the most from both performances is how accessible they have made their performances to the handicapped.
Their most recent show at Wheelock, the Trumpet of the Swan, has not only continued with this accessibility, but also deals with a certain disability as well. Suffering from communication disorders. The inability to form words or sounds. Though Trumpet of the Swan is a children's story about a swan who can't talk, family audiences can take comfort in seeing how the characters find ways of communication, not just for the main character but also for those who may be suffering from disorders including; Autism, sensory impairments, Aphasia, Learning disabilities, and speech disorders.

-The Story:

The Trumpet of the Swan, based on the children's book by E.B WHite, tells the story of Louis, a Trumpeter Swan who was born a mute. He quickly becomes the "Ugly Duckling" among his Cygnet siblings, and his parents worry that he might not be able to find a mate if he cannot communicate verbally. On his own, Louis decides that he wants to try and learn to communicate by reading and writing. Louis meets an 11- year-old boy named Sam Beaver, who saved his parents nest some time in the past, before he was born. After telling him that he wants to learn how to read and write, Sam takes Louis to school with him who turns out to have a unique talent in doing so. Sam then buys Louis a chalkboard slate, so he can write his words down. Unfortunately, Louis' parents can't understand the words he is writing down. His father decides to get a trumpet for Louis to use as a means of communicating. He steals it from a local music store, breaking the store window in the process. The humans then start looking for Louis' father for the damage he has done, and he must pay for said damage. Louis tries to play his new trumpet to the love of his life, Serena, but she has flown north. By Sam's suggestion, Louis gets a job in order to obtain the money for his father to pay back. He starts by working at the summer camp that Sam goes to and gets a job as a trumpet player for the campers. After the summer is over, Louis travels along the east coast getting jobs as a trumpet player from the Swan Boats of Boston to the Philadelphia Zoo. While in Philadelphia, Louis saves Serena, who was blown off course by a wind storm, from being kept as an addition to the Zoo. Both Louis and Serena journey back to visit his parents and tell them that they have gotten married. Louis gives the money he has earned to his father in order to pay back the music shop keeper. As Cob is about to land outside of the store, the shop keeper shoots him in the shoulder. As he delivers a message from Louis and the money, Cob flies away. Some years pass and Sam is now 20 years old, camping in Canada, where he hears the sound of Louis playing his trumpet to his children.

-Honorable Mentions:
The first thing that stood out the most to me, at first, were the costumes designed by Lisa Simpson and Katiee Tredway. The costumes, for the animal characters especially, work very well with style of the music that Director, Shelly Bolman, decided to use. Which was Jazz. The costumes for Cob (Jaime Carillo), Cygnus (Caroline Lawton), and Louis (Elbert Joseph) are a perfect combination of Swan like movement and jazz style. 
This production seemed like it was a lot of fun to perform. The cast, both adults and children, clearly are having the time of their lives, and are having a lot of fun playing these characters. Jaime Carillo, playing Cob, was my favorite performance. He was clearly having more fun than everyone else in the cast. His character is often overly dramatic and it fits perfectly in a children's show.

-What I liked:
This production reminded of a children's production of Winnie the Pooh I saw at my community college, Northern Essex Community Collage (NECC). The way the costumes were designed were similar to how the costumes were designed in Trumpet of the Swan. Using a combination of regularly stylized clothing to help depict the animal character. Not only the costumes, but the simplicity of the plot and conflicts that may seem fairly light and simple to adults but heavy and important to children. One other thing that I liked about this production. was the fact that the character of Louis would sometimes talk in sign language. This goes back to what I said earlier with other theaters trying to add more elements into their shows to make them more accessible for children with deafness. It was a nice touch being something the children can look up to as a role model as well as adding to the character's uniqueness.
-What I didn’t like:
These may seem like minor nit-pick, but a lot of the logic behind the plot and some of the character choices seemed very unrealistic. I understand that this is a children's story, but it's hard to believe that a swan would learn to read and write so easily, learn to play a trumpet, and have to be a working member of society. On top of that, all the human characters see all this happening, and they treat it so calmly, like it's an everyday occurrence. There was one scene where a human character meets up with Louis and discovers that he can write and at first thinks about telling other people about this, but then changes his mind believing that no one would believe him. In any other story, I would have a major problem with these problems, but it's a children's story. It runs on child logic. 

-Overall recommendation:
Wheelock is clearly trying to put on a lot of children shows that are fun to watch for the whole family but also tackle situations that children with disabilities can relate to. Seeing characters that deal with similar problems that they do gives them hope and inspires them to preserver through whatever problems they encounter in life. I can see this show doing just that for children. I highly recommend taking the family to see this. There is definitely things in here for both children and parents.
The Trumpet of the Swan is at Wheelock Family Theatre from October 23 to November 22. For more information on tickets, visit their website http://www.wheelockfamilytheatre.org/current-season.aspx and follow the hashtags #trumpetingwft #wft35. If you have already seen this show, let me know what you thought in the comment box below.

SSU - Student Theater Ensemble - 12 Angry Jurors

WIthin the past two years, this nation has been bombarded with tragedies being told to us through social media. Most frequently recent, cases of police officers severely harming suspects for crimes, or reasons, not always clear. The positions of who is more violent towards the other have varied through every case, likewise to the opinions of spectators. Through social media, spectators have all developed their own opinions on the cases based on the evidence they have read about or their own speculations based on their own personal reasons. With that said, there never has the opinions of other spectators been more important than in the realms of courtroom juries. Some jurors have based their verdicts on their opinion on either the crime or the suspect higher than the evidence that is hidden deeper between the lines. Negating said evidence all together. These episodes have occurred for a very long time, since the use of courtroom juries began. 
-The Story:
In 1964, Reginald Rose wrote a stage adaptation of, "Twelve Angry Men", based on the teleplay he wrote ten years earlier. The play takes place in 1954 in a jurors room in a local courthouse. There are twelve jurors present discussing the case of the defendant, a colored teenager who is accused of stabbing his father to death out in public. The jurors must come to a unanimous verdict of guilty or not guilty, and all vote guilty in the beginning until one of the jurors votes not guilty. The lone juror tries to convince the rest of the jury that the case is not so easily one-sided as they originally thought, despite the (often prejudice) stubbornness of the other jurors. What starts out as an easily one-sided verdict progresses into a battle between logic and strategy against stubbornness and prejudice to move the verdict to another side.
Salem State University presents the Student Theatre Ensemble (STE)'s adaptation of Rose's play, with the style of later productions. In which the setting is somewhat modern day, instead of the early 1950's, and the cast, which originally consisted of a all male cast, now includes male and female performers, changing the title from "Twelve Angry Men," to "Twelve Angry Jurors."

-Honorable Mentions:

Each character in this play has no names, they only go by their juror numbers, with the exception of the Foreman (who manages the group), the security guard (who guards the door outside), and the Judge and Clerk (both voice over). The cast do a very good job with their performances. Because this play was originally written in the 50's, the dialogue from most of the characters comes off as corny and somewhat stereotypical. But, honestly it makes the performances fun to watch. Out of all the arguing and conflicts that transpires in the jury room, the most intense conflict is between Juror Eight and Juror Three. Juror Eight being the only juror that votes not guilty and Juror Three being the juror that wants to see the defendant pay for his crime more than anyone else in the room. Each character is given an equal share in the spotlight, allowing the story to show that there is more to them than originally expected. However, the two performances that stand out the most are the two opposing jurors. Juror EIght, played by Jodi Buoncuore, plays a very strong-hearted and determined woman who simply wants true justice to be served where it is deserved. Buoncuore (who was previously in STE's production of Circle Mirror Transformation) has the attributes that make an empowering female lead. The kind that audiences can get behind and route for every step of the way. Juror Three, played by Ted Silva, plays the perfect antagonist. A true opposite to juror Eight. Stubborn, vengeful, hot-headed, but most importantly passionate about what he believes is true justice. Despite how one dimensionally cruel the character is, Silva still manages to make the character enjoyable to watch. He makes the character funny, annoying, intensely intimidating, yet also sympathetic. You can tell that there is something the character is hiding which causes him to be in this mind-set, but you don't need it spelled out for you. Which is what SIlva does perfectly.

-What I didn't like?

As I said earlier, the play was originally written in 50's. Naturally, the dialogue in this production seems a little bit dated at times. It makes it hard to stay in the world these characters are in, when the majority of the time they are talking like they should be on Dragnet. For example, in the beginning of the play, after the group of jurors have entered the room and have gotten settled in, they start talking about themselves and the case all through exposition. One of the jurors, tells the group that she works in advertising. She says this numerous times throughout the show, and at first I found it funny. Until she kept mentioning the same thing at least five times, if not more. It started to get a little annoying to me, almost to the point where I kept thinking to myself, "We get it! You work in advertising! Please move on!" Not only that, but it's never fully established whether this production is suppose to take place in modern day or somewhere in the 50s. At the very top of the show, we hear a montage of different news stations covering many different homicide stories, All from modern day. yet we have characters enter the juror room dressed up like they're all from I Love Lucy.

-What I liked?

Despite the dialogue being very dated, I really did enjoy the performances from the cast, all around. Each character had a distinct personality. And the cast did a really good job portraying these personalities. Though 12 Angry Jurors is suppose to be a heavy courtroom drama, I think it had a good flow and it certainly knew when to lighten up and be a little funny once in a while. The story and the characters certainly know how to suck you into the case with them. When the group goes over the different demonstrations of how the murder may have gone down, you can't help but try to work with them in trying to figure out the truth. Even though the demonstrations themselves might seem a little dated and a lot more simple and innocent compared to days studies, I still think the clues they find are pretty creative.This show makes you want get into the case and try to solve the mystery along with them.

-Overall recommendation:
Samuel Lewis, the director of this production, took a classic drama and made it relevant due to the numerous tragedies effecting this country within the past two years. If ever there was a time to present this production to an audience consisting mostly of college students, it is now. If you are someone who feels strongly about any of the past tragedies occurring all across the country or the people that may have caused it or been a part of it, this show will most likely make you think twice before passing final judgement. 
Though some of the dialogue is a bit dated, and some things about the world building is unclear, this is still a well done courtroom drama. Definitely worth checking out. 12 Angry Jurors opens Thursday November 5th and runs until Sunday November 8th in the Metro room inside the Ellison Campus Center at Salem State University. Order tickets online by emailing stetickets@gmail.com or call the STE hotline at 978-542-7000.

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.