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December 2007
The year in theater — and the best shows
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Christmas Day, my look at the best theater moments — and shows — of 2007 ran on the cover of the Living section. In case you missed it, I repeat it here.
Now, what do you think? Did I leave anything out? What were your favorite theater happenings and performances of 2007?
Happy Holidays. And thanks for reading this blog throughout the year.
Here’s a look at the top 10 theater moments of 2007:
1. Alliance wins Tony. Artistic director Susan V. Booth accepted the 39-year-old theater’s coveted regional Tony Award on prime-time TV, declaring the institution a “national theater with a local address.”
2. Kenny Leon. The True Colors Theatre director added a star to his crown by taking August Wilson’s final play, “Radio Golf, ” to Broadway. At the community level, he advanced the great playwright’s legacy by establishing the August Wilson Monologue Competition for high school juniors and seniors. Later in the year, Leon and former Wilson dramaturge Todd Kreidler said they’d adapt the classic film “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” for the Great White Way.
3. Muppets take Atlanta. The family of puppet master Jim Henson said it would give the bulk of its collection to Midtown’s internationally recognized Center for Puppetry Arts. The center is in the process of raising money to build the Muppets a suitable home.
4. Jewish Theatre of the South. Founding artistic director Mira Hirsch severed ties with the Marcus Jewish Community Center after 13 years. The Dunwoody agency said it would continue its theater mission —- but under a different name and with more mainstream, community-friendly fare.
5. Aurora Theatre. After leaving Duluth, the Gwinnett County ensemble opened a lovely new space in downtown Lawrenceville. With its handsome renovation of a 100-year-old church and adjoining construction of a new theater, Aurora became the metro area’s best suburban playhouse.
6. Actor’s Express. The edgy ensemble named Alliance Theatre literary manager Freddie Ashley its new artistic director, and newcomer Bill Fennelly said goodbye after just eight months on the job.
7. Cybill Shepherd. The former Memphis beauty queen who became an overnight ’70s sensation with “The Last Picture Show” created a stir with Bobby Goldman’s one-woman comedy “Curvy Widow” at the Alliance Theatre. Shepherd flubbed her lines and earned disastrous reviews but managed to sell out the run nonetheless.
8. “Disney’s High School Musical.” Theater of the Stars staged the first professional production of the tween phenomenon, and Disney liked it so much it picked up the spectacle and sent it out on a national tour.
9. Jennifer Holliday. The original Effie White claimed her legacy was stolen by the Oscar-winning film based on the musical “Dreamgirls.” She then made a remarkable comeback by reprising her signature role for Theater of the Stars during the National Black Arts Festival. Talk about goose bumps.
10. Suzi Bass Awards. The city’s only professional theater honors got all fancy and moved to the Fox Theatre’s Egyptian Ballroom. The big winner was Marietta’s Theatre in the Square, which picked up eight Suzis for the Celestine Sibley biography “Turned Funny” and the Sanders Family musical “Mount Pleasant Homecoming.”
And the year’s best shows are …
“Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.” Alliance Theatre.
“I Am My Own Wife.” Actor’s Express.
“Ceremonies in Dark Old Men.” True Colors Theatre.
“Dark Play or Stories for Boys.” Actor’s Express.
“Meds.” Out of Hand Theater.
“Gee’s Bend.” Theatrical Outfit.
“Metamorphoses.” Georgia Shakespeare.
“Dreamgirls.” Theater of the Stars.
“The Last Night of Ballyhoo.” Georgia Ensemble Theatre.
“The Jammer.” Dad’s Garage.
What do you think about the closing of Jewish Theatre?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In this morning’s paper, we report that Jewish Theatre of the South is disbanding after 13 years, and founding artistic director Mira Hirsch is parting ways with the Marcus Jewish Community Center.
For theater artists working in Atlanta, this is just one less place to work. For audiences looking for a place to hear stories about the Jewish experience, this was the city’s pre-eminent venue.
What does this news mean to you? Were you surprised? Will you miss the theater?
Tell us what you think. Here’s the story.
‘Wonderful Life’ @ Theatrical Outfit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW. Grade: B
Theatrical Outfit’s “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” is a happy reminder that even the most familiar tales can be reborn through the magical suggestiveness of an old medium.
New to Atlanta’s bountiful assortment of holiday entertainment, playwright Joe Landry’s spin on the Frank Capra classic invests the cautionary tale of George Bailey with the shake, rattle and hum of a ’40s-era radio playhouse.
While an “applause” sign blinks above the stage, director Susan Reid’s five nimble players re-create the assorted denizens of Bedford Falls, who are so drawn from the cookie-cutter archetypes of American idealism that even the supernatural visitor comes off as a regular guy.
If you know Capra’s iconic film, you will appreciate the spot-on mimicry of some of the performances: Barry Stoltze’s pitch-perfect appropriation of Lionel Barrymore’s take on town villain Mr. Potter and Hugh Adams’ restrained version of Jimmy Stewart’s velveteen nasality, in particular.
While Adams and Shayne Kohout are required to pretty much stick to the characters of George and his wife, Mary, the other performers get to shade in the rest of the body politic of Bedford Falls — from Italian barkeeper Giussepe Martini (Brik Berkes) to George’s pipsqueak toddler Zuzu (Mary Lynn Owen).
Before the actors get to use the noise-making props of air-wave theater to tell the story of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” they are introduced as the has-been stars of fictional radio station WBFR. Kohout is former Miss Ohio Sally Applewhite, and Owen is Lana Sherwood, a stage diva of such dazzling variety that she’s portrayed both Mother Cabrini and Salome. (Good one.)
But aside from their announced bios and a couple of commercials for soap and hair tonic, these behind-the-scenes voices don’t get a chance to become real characters in their own right — à la “1940s Radio Hour.” And perhaps because there are so many layers to this show-within-a-show-within-a-show, the theatrical whimsy behind the sound effects often feels obscured and understated when it ought to be front and center — and perhaps miked better.
But these minor quibbles are more than redeemed by the delightful grab bag of emotions supplied by the actors, who create personalities who are by turn ruthless, ridiculous, overwrought, schmaltzy and twee.
As announcer Freddie Filmore tells us at the top of the broadcast, “It’s a Wonderful Life” is “a real feel-good heart-warmer.” Yet somehow this sentimental tale of 11th-hour redemption has managed to withstand the test of time: wondrous, featherlight, full of joy.
THE 411: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays. 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Also, 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 19 and Dec. 22. Through Dec. 23. $25. Theatrical Outfit, Balzer Theater at Herren’s, 84 Luckie St., Atlanta. 404-528-1500, theatricaloutfit.org
BOTTOM LINE: Delightful spin on a favorite chestnut.
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‘Children’s Scientology Pageant’ @ Dad’s
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW. “A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant” Grade: B -
Hey, Suri Cruise. Have we got a show for you.
If you want to make your daddy Tom Cruise very, very mad one day, tell him his little angel has landed a part in “A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant.”
Once it’s all over with, just make sure you tell Daddy you didn’t mean for your role in this delightfully perverse satire of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard to give him such a colossal “engram,” to use the Dianetics term for life-warping trauma. Tell him you are truly sorry for appearing in a show that makes him look about 3 feet tall.
OK, OK.
I confess that this is just my paparazzi-fantasy-gone-wild way of telling you about the wickedly funny holiday bon-bon playing at Dad’s Garage. For adult audiences, yet starring an ensemble of adorable children with glimmers of deadpan irony in their dimples, Kyle Jarrow and Alex Timbers’ cleverly conceived musical biography imagines the Hubbard saga as the sort of low-tech church or school pageant that might be happening right now in your own neighborhood.
Like a subversive “Our Gang” for the fringe theater crowd, “Scientology Pageant” received rapturous reviews from the New York press last year, even as Atlanta’s own Dad’s Garage quietly slipped the zinger into its holiday punch.
Happily, the hourlong frolic is back for a second run, which seems custom-tailored for alternative audiences who like their seasonal entertainments with a dash of bitters.
In our great land of tax-exempt religious freedom, the writers seem to say, people willingly give gobs of cash to messianic healers who offer “real answers” to the questions of life. One of the running gags of the play is that even Hubbard’s fiercest skeptics eventually yield to his hypnotic pitch.
You can form your own opinion about the Church of Scientoloy, and the organizations’s website (scientology.org) happens to be a good place to start the quest for a “civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war.”
For now, it’s time to celebrate what a talented bunch of straight-faced farceurs director Mary Claire Dunn has assembled. Small of stature though they may be, these kids are pretty much winners all.
In particular, you can see how Jason David (who makes a really excellent George Washington) has a knowing wit that will serve him well as time goes on. Also good are Max Greenhouse (as L. Ron’s best friend, Donald), Sarah Gooding (as the smirky and balletic Angelic Girl) and Zoe Spencer in a variety of roles.
Actually, all the youngsters except Hunter Ballard (who plays Hubbard quite handsomely) perform multiple roles — quite convincingly. Alex Vannier and her brother, C. Philip, have resumes that would be the envy of many post-collegiate actors. For the record, the Vannier siblings are 12 and 9, respectively, and it’s tiny C. Philip who gets to play Tom Cruise.
Though there were a few technical glitches on the night I saw this show, a little clutziness seems to go with the territory, doesn’t it? When the big opening number — “Hey, It’s a Happy Day!” — turns into hooky disco pablum, you start to realize what a seductive song-and-dance “Children’s Scientology Pageant” can be.
Bring out the E-meter. I’m ready to get audited.
How ’bout you, little Suri?
THE 411 : 8 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays. Also, Monday , Dec. 16-17 and Dec. 23. Through Dec. 23. $10-$25. Dad’s Garage, 280 Elizabeth St., Atlanta. 404-523-3141, dadsgarage.com
BOTTOM LINE: A smart satire for adults, performed by kids.
Fennelly’s ‘Frankenstein’ bites the dust
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For weeks now, we have been hearing about the dueling “Frankenstein” musicals in New York. There’s that big Broadway version by Mel Brooks and that off-Broadway version by a pair of relative unknowns.
Both have strong Atlanta ties.
How would the earnest homage to Mary Shelley’s Goth classic hold up against the relentlessly silly specatacle known, officially, as “The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein”?
Was there every any doubt who would be the last monster standing in Manhattan?
“Frankenstein: A New Musical,” directed by Bill Fennelly, is closing Sunday after 70 performances, including 25 previews. Fennelly, as you may recall, served an eight-month stint as artistic chief of Atlanta’s Actor’s Express, before departing in June to take on the “Frankenstein” project.
For the record, I never saw “Frankenstein: A New Musical” and therefore have no opinion on it. But the New York critics sliced it up pretty bad.
“The histrionic tone is wearying to the point of silliness,” The New York Times’ Charles Isherwood said of Mark Baron’s music and Jeffrey Jackson’s book and libretto. “This one is not even a horror show. It is, however, horrible,” wrote Newsday’s Linda Winer.
Apparently even the long and laborious 19-day stagehands’ strike, which diverted some Broadway traffic downtown, couldn’t revive the gasping musical, which stars Augusta, Ga., boy Hunter Foster (“Urinetown”) as tortured scientist Victor Frankenstein.
Though Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” opened Nov. 11 to mixed reviews, it has the kind of stellar name and title appeal that means it is likely to run for a long time to come.
Marietta native Shuler Hensley, who plays Frankenstein’s monster in Brooks’ movie-based comedy, has received the best reviews of director Susan Stroman’s cast, which includes “Will & Grace” star Megan Mullally.
“We regret that Hensley, as the Monster, doesn’t get to use his gorgeous baritone throughout the show, but he makes a splendidly human creature,” Winer wrote. The same could be said of Hensley’s recent performance as Kerchak the ape in Disney’s gorgeously designed bomb “Tarzan.”
Oddly enough, Hensley is credited with some of the pre-recorded music used in Fennelly’s musical at 37 Arts Theatre.
As for the Southern connections, let’s not omit Foster’s sister, Sutton, who plays Dr. Frankenstein’s fetching fraulein assistant, Inga, in “Young Frankenstein” and won a Tony Award for “Thoroughly Modern Millie.”
