White Christmas at Beef and Boards

Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre kicks off the Christmas season a bit early this year with their production of White Christmas. Fans of the film beware, the staged production varies greatly from the beloved musical numbers performed by Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen. In effect, the adaptation strips the main characters of valuable relationship building moments to make way for big ensemble numbers.

The show heralds the return of Christine Mild to the Beef and Boards stage, who blew audiences away earlier this year with Always. . . Patsy Cline. I could seriously listen to the warming tones of her sentimental voice for hours on end. And while the show fails to truly feature her vocal talent, it was a pleasure to hear her sing again. Unfortunately, pleasure was not gleaned from the voice of Curt Dale Clark as Bob Wallace. While Clark has solid vocal chops, he largely fails to capture emotion as he sings, opting instead for the dreaded musical theatre smile and mug to the audience.

Tim Ford does an honorable job of filling the shoes of Phil Davis. The brilliance of Danny Kaye's portrayal of the part creates a hard shadow to creep out from, yet Ford manages to make the role his own. He explores the womanizing and romantic depths of the character, rather than donning the clownish aura Kaye made famous in the film. As Judy Haynes, Erin West is simply a doll. The dance stand-out of the show, she captures the essence of greats like Ginger Rogers as she two-steps with her partner Ford.

The difficulty in staging White Christmas is two fold. First, the actors cannot escape comparison to such a wonderful holiday film, setting them up for almost immediate failure when they rightly choose to deliver differently built characters. Secondly, it just can't feel like Christmas before we've even worn the ghoulish masks of Halloween. However, Eddie Curry's direction creates a sentimental piece easily enjoyed when expectations are checked at the door.

Cabaret Poe at the Historic Irvington Lodge

Cabaret Poe at the Historic Irvington Lodge is a must see show for this Halloween season.  Creative, catchy and delightful, the cast of four takes audiences on an unforgettable journey through the work of Edgar Allen Poe.

Here is my review originally published in NUVO.

Director, composer, lyricist and star of Q Artistry's Cabaret Poe, Ben Asakywee, transforms the literature of Edgar Allen Poe into a snappy pop musical, with just the right amount of somberness and humor. Tim Burton-inspired designs seamlessly represent the collision of Poe's macabre writing with the tongue-in-cheek of Asakywee's adaptation and direction. Spot-on dead-pans from Asakywee, Julie Lyn Barber and Renae Stone, who join him on stage, create ripples of giggles through the audience as they tackle the genius of one of America's greatest storytellers through song and dance. With a confident use of direct address and audience interaction, the trio of actors is thoroughly entertaining from beginning to end. The Historic Irvington Lodge provides the perfect backdrop for a Poe parlor show. Through Oct. 31; 677-5318, www.cabaretpoe.com.

Review: Holes at the Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT)

Originally published on The Examiner.com.

The Indiana Repertory Theatre presents Holes on their main stage now through November 6. This delightfully mysterious children's tale, by Louis Sachar, comes to life through the eyes of a rag-tag gang of six boys sentenced to a horror-filled work camp. Through a series of flashbacks, the fate of one young prisoner becomes clear. An ensemble of eight adult actors don various characters and accents as easily as costumes, working to move the play through centuries of time with enigmatic storytelling. Directed by David Bradley,  

Holes at the IRT offers a live action glimpse into the whirlwind mind of famed childrens author Louis Sachar.
Based on Sachar's 1998 novel of the same name, Holes has been adapted for the stage and the screen both by Sachar himself. Because of this the script manages to adhere to the essential storytelling elements that make Sachar's work so unique including his ability to make believable far-fetched characters and to prolong suspense even as he jumps from the Old West to the modern day Texas.

The cast is easily divided into two parts, adults and kids, with each team working equally to further the plot in very different ways. While the cast of kids explore the gentle dynamics of teenage relationships among boys, the adults jump from character to character, each more outrageous than the last. The juxtaposition of realistic characterization in teen characters and the caricature like jumps each talented adult makes captures perfectly the way adults can sometimes seem so zany to kids.

An impressive set from Rob Koharchik, complete with about a dozen holes from which endless theatre magic seems to spring, the dry, dusty landscape that sets the modern day scene easily translates to a variety of locations throughout time and around the world. With ample help from Lap Chi Chu's lighting design, the show becomes a veritable flying carpet. Wendy Meaden's costume design also make impressive transformations throughout the show.

While Louis Sachar's novel is most popularly read by school children, the IRT's production of Holes is appropriate for kids of all ages. Enjoy this truly magical theatre production with family and friends, a great opportunity to introduce you kids to live theatre. Catch it through November 6 at the Indiana Repertory Theatre bring Indianapolis theatre to downtown.