Download Twas easy to love this troupe`s `I Hate Hamlet` Theater I HATE

Twas easy to love this troupe's `I Hate Hamlet' Theater
I HATE HAMLET, by Paul Rudnick. Directed by Sally Wright. Performed by Curtain Call
Theater. At Frothingham Hall, Thayer Academy, Braintree, Oct. 21-23.:
Ellen Brams. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Oct 25, 1994. p. 21
William Shakespeare is long deceased, as is legendary actor John Barrymore. And the tragic
figure whom they both immortalized, Hamlet, never really lived except on stage or in a reader's
mind to begin with.
But in "I Hate Hamlet" at Curtain Call Theater in Braintree, Andre Rally, an unemployed TV
soap opera star from L.A. is alive and kicking, and begrudgingly accepts an offer to play Hamlet
in New York.
Rally is a guy who well knows his theatrical limits, is happy to make a buck as a TV heartthrob,
and is understandably petrified to take on "Hamlet." But when pushy real estate broker, Felicia
Dantine, rents him, sight unseen, the late Barrymore's apartment, Rally's terminally virginal
actress-girlfriend, Deirdre McDavey, is "aroused" by Barrymore's image and former role. This
and Rally's agent, Lillian Troy (one of Barrymore's former flings), push Rally into the role.
Then Barrymore's ghost starts to haunt his former residence, and Rally begins to understand and
ultimately enjoy who Hamlet is and who Rally is.
Sally Wright directed this six-character, two-act comedy with flair.
Cowed by the real estate agent, his girlfriend and his agent, Rally starts out as a wimp. Enter
Barrymore's ghost -- Rally's new mentor -- to convince Rally of his manhood, personhood and
"Hamlethood."
David Edge developed Rally with warmth, humorous appeal, and youthful sincerity. As Rally he
was natural, funny, fallable and totally credible as he vented Rally's frustrations and insecurities,
personal, sexual and theatrical.
Just as John Barrymore was arguably the consummate Hamlet, Joffrey Spaulding was the
consummate Barrymore's ghost and the pivotal strength of the Curtain Call show. With dashing,
lecherous, arrogant theatrical presence, he held both Rally and the audience captive.
Reveling both in old performances and old loves, Spaulding's Barrymore reveals to Rally
unknown fears and foibles, but also the joy of conquering them . . . onstage and off. Spaulding
was polished in his portrayal and slick in line delivery, uttering many of the show's best.
Jessica McDonald made real estate agent Felicia wonderfully nasal and shrill. Flashy, overstated
in body language, pushy and superficial, her Felicia was everything you can't stand in a person -and more. The audience loved being disgusted with her.
Rally's ingenue girlfriend, Deirdre, was brought to blonde and bubbly life by Stacey Erikson.
Ditsy Deirdre is in love with theater, classics, romance -- and with Rally, in her idealistic, thus
far platonic way. At times, Erikson made her almost terminally terminally vacant and
effervescent.
Lillian Troy as agent and former transient object of Barrymore's dalliance pushes Rally's buttons
to do "Hamlet," then Barrymore's ghost buttons for an encore performance of the night she left a
hairpin behind at his apartment. Sharon Evans as Lillian was stately, attractive, and
sophisticated. Her German accent may have been slightly overstated, but the chemistry between
her and Barrymore's ghost was well worth the admission.
And Pat Small was dynamite as Rally's California director pal, Gary Peter Lefkowitz. With killer
L.A. print shirts and a slick and sleazy, totally plastic demeanor, Small's Lefkowitz was totally
without class, flip and funny.
If you saw "I Hate Hamlet," you got your money's worth in laughs. If you didn't, put Curtain Call
Theater's upcoming productions on your list for theatrical pleasure.
`Lost in Yonkers' finds laughs, warmth in family
LOST IN YONKERS. Directed by Bob Harlow. Performed by Curtain Call Theater, 196
Commercial St., Braintree. Remaining performances at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. For
information, call 471-1623.
Ellen Brams. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Jan 17, 1995. p. 15
I must tell people up front that I was a fan of Neil Simon's comedy before I checked out Curtain
Call's production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy "Lost in Yonkers."
I still am.
Under the fluid direction of Bob Harlow, the homey story fits its intimate setting like a glove.
Anyone remotely familiar with Neil Simon comedy knows that it is often autobiographical and
comes from the heart. His characters, slightly and deftly exaggerated for laughs, are never
caricatures, and the audience often identifies because "everyone knows one" of the characters.
Set in Yonkers, N.Y., in 1942, the two-act play features a widowed man in debt from his late
wife's medical bills. He is trying to raise his sons and deal with his mother's and siblings'
unwitting and haphazard intervention to help while "lost" in their own problems. While a variety
of family members each are trapped with some social handicap, the play is funny and touching,
not morbid. It's about "family," an often mismatched bunch of genetically related people trying
to cope with their own issues while rallying to support each other.
Eddie is the widowed dad needing money because of debt to a loan-shark. He takes a traveling
job, leaving his sons Jay and Artie with his mother, an elderly physically handicapped victim of
the Nazis, and his sister Bella, a sweet, eternally innocent, slow woman who tries always to
please others.
Eddie and Bella have a pair of other siblings, Louie, the street-wise brother on the lam from the
mob, and Gert, whose nerves cause him to confuse inhaling and exhaling while speaking. No two
personalities mesh, and the friction and accommodation is part and parcel of both the comedy
and the human appeal.
The play, which spans nine months, is featured in a functional, set designed by director Bob
Harlow, built by John Cobble, Jon Young, and Moe Allie, and dressed by Martha Sawyer with
help from Flo Kelley. Eric Lantz' lighting, Tom Maloney's sound, and Meg Young's costumes all
work to define the period piece.
While Eddie's dilemma of being a long distance dad is the premise of "Lost in Yonkers," the play
is a diverse assemblage of character studies. The same situation is dealt with through seven pairs
of eyes, and the audience sees clearly through all of them.
Rick Durham plays Eddie, a proud man who never took handouts or walked from responsibility,
with sincerity.
Jay, Eddie's elder son, and Artie, played by Matthew Salloway and Andy Lantz, respectively,
bring talent and youthful exuberance to their roles as innocents trying to make the best of living
temporarily with Grandma and other relatives. Salloway as Jay is reserved but tries to be more
savvy and watch out for his kid brother. Lantz as Artie is wonderfully irrepressible, alternately
cocky and fearful, always a "real kid." They are credible as brothers, and the audience enjoys
their honest animation, familial banter and their attempts to outsmart the grownups.
Venti as Grandma Kurnitz is powerful as the eternally strong and resilient family matriarch, bent
from Nazi abuse but unbowed in her commitment to raise and take care of her troubled family.
She is proud, patently harsh and demanding to imbue her children and grandchildren with
strength to battle life's adversity, never realizing until the end that she might be part of the
problem. Venti gives her all in the role, with super results.
In striking contrast is the youthful, fragile-looking Alison Hutchinson, the emotionally caring yet
mentally slow and often rattled Aunt Bella. The audience is soon forgiving that she appears too
young for the role because of her talent. As Bella, she appears genuinely muddled and easily
derailed as she struggles with fear, occasional hope and childlike joy to be a woman.
Grandma and Bella run the permanent household, such as it is, above the family candy store in
Yonkers, but Louie and Gert, Eddie and Bella's other siblings, are also intermittently on the
scene. Frank Iavolla as sleazy street-wise Louie is a crowd-pleaser. His delivery is flawless, his
nervous demeanor just right.
Gert is a mostly "normal" sister who lives on her own, but when visiting is so stresed that her
breath control goes out the window and she sucks up the end of sentences like a vacuum cleaner.
It's quite a feat to speak substituting inhales for exhales and still deliver clearlines. Meg Young
does it with proficiency in a satisfying supporting performance.
You will find that "Lost In Yonkers" is not lost for humor or nostalgia.
Director enjoys challenge of `Salesman'
Alice Judge. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Mar 15, 1995. p. 20
Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" has become a classic of 20th-century theater not only
because it explores the depths of the American dream but, says director Michael Pevzner,
"because the play is structured beautifully."
Pevzner, who lives in Duxbury and runs the fine arts performance program at Massasoit
Community College in Brockton, is directing the Curtain Call Theater production of "Death of a
Salesman," which opens Friday and will run through March 25 at Thayer Academy in Braintree.
"The play was the first to use flashbacks, when it first came out in 1949," says Pevzner. "The
flashbacks enable the audience to understand how the characters got to where they are now."
Pevzner describes Miller's masterpiece as "a story of hopes and dreams for the future and (of) the
need for a sense of security."
The play, set in New York City in the late 1940s, tells the story of Willy Loman, a traveling
salesman struggling to survive in a world that has changed around him. Willy has lost his touch;
his company has changed, but Willy has not. In truth, he's not a good salesman, but he pursues a
lost dream.
In the Curtain Call production, Willy is played by Harvey Brock of Brockton. Willy's wife,
Linda, is portrayed by Cathy Venti of Quincy, who has appeared in many Curtain Call
productions.
Willy and Linda have two sons: Happy and Biff. Happy is a ladies man who talks big but lives a
shallow life. Biff, looks to his father for moral direction and is disappointed when his father
doesn't meet his expectations. Biff moves out West, severing the bond between him and his
father, but at the beginning of the play he has returned to New York to confront his father and his
past.
In the end, Willy is unable to sustain the fiction of his dream, and the play achieves the stark
stature of tragedy. But Pevzner points out that there are some light moments in the play, as well.
"Death of a Salesman" is not done very often by amateur groups because it is "a very challenging
play," said Pevzner.
However, he is enthusiastic about the cast and creative team assembled for the Curtain Call
production. He especially praised set designer Jeff Ripley, describing him as "an excellent,
serious set designer and an artist by trade."
Performances will be Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. in Frothingham Hall at Thayer
Academy, 745 Washington St., Braintree. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door, and
reservations may be obtained by calling (617) 356-5113.
Community troupe carries on
Juan Carlos Perez. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Mar 16, 1995. p. 08.c
BRAINTREE -- The Braintree-based Curtain Call Theatre has beat the odds for survival of a nonprofit community troupe.
Formed in 1962, the company had its first full season in 1963 and since then has been presenting a
comedy, a drama and a musical every season.
Curtain Call has staged more than 90 productions, including classics like "Who's Afraid of Virginia
Woolf," "Man of La Mancha," "Streetcar Named Desire" and "Guys and Dolls."
Most of the company's productions have been staged in Braintree -- at Thayer Academy since 1983.
Curtain Call's production of Arthur Miller's 1949 classic "Death of a Salesman" goes on stage at 8
p.m. Friday in the Thayer Academy Auditorium. Other performances are scheduled for Saturday and
next weekend.
Cathy Venti of Quincy, who joined Curtain Call in 1963 and has been its president three times, said
that the troupe's main contribution has been providing "cultural stimulus" to the community. It also
has been an outlet for the talent of theater lovers who earn their living doing other things, she said.
"We have lawyers, teachers, students, you name it, in our group," said Venti, a retired sales
executive. "Our members don't need to have formal training. We give people a chance to learn."
Director Michael Pevzner, a drama professor at Massasoit Community College in Brockton, said that
having a group like Curtain Call is important to the community's quality of life.
"It's an asset for the community. Audiences come to the theater seeking enlightenment as well as
entertainment. A good play broadens people's world view," said Pevzner, who first worked with the
company in 1981. This is the fourth play he has directed for Curtain Call.
And the quality of acting found in community theater groups may surprise many people, said
Pevzner, who has directed 15 plays for the Bay Players, a similar group based in Duxbury, where he
lives.
"These actors are often more in tune with life's travails than some professional actors who just do it
for the money and have become jaded," he said. "I call them citizen actors."
The cast includes actors from Braintree, Marshfield, Duxbury, Plymouth, Brockton, Quincy,
Weymouth and Hanover.
For tickets, call 356-5113.
Curtain Call's `Favorite Year' is a breezy romp
MY FAVORITE YEAR. Directed by Martha Sawyer. Presented by Curtain Call Theater at
Frothingham Hall, Thayer Academy, 745 Washington St., Braintree. Continues Friday and
Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets $10 and $12. Phone 356-5113
Ellen Brams. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Jun 21, 1995. p. 18
Curtain Call Theater's spring musical comedy production, "My Favorite Year," is a bright and
breezy romp through the world of "live" TV in New York in the Fifties, as seen through the eyes
of a brash young TV comedy writer from Brooklyn. This show, with book by J. Dougherty,
music by S. Flaherty and lyrics by L. Ahrens, may be more familiar from the movie of the same
name.
Director Martha Sawyer collaborated with music director Robert Goldman and choreographers
Kyrst Hogan and Miki Joseph to electrify Thayer Academy's historic Frothingham Hall in
Braintree with the vibrance of early live TV.
Benjamin Stone's favorite year was 1954, the pivotal point from which other life events came to
be ranked "before or after." Stone is a young man seeking to escape family problems by entering
the world of movies and TV, a world where the heroes don't tarnish and they don't walk away
when the going gets tough.
But when Stone, gopher and writer for the "King Kaiser Comedy Cavalcade," encounters Alan
Swann, a dashing movie idol whose popularity waned as his drinking habit increased, the two
learn a few lessons about love, life, reality and friendship.
Although the songs of this show are hardly standards, most are energetic. A few very touching
ones underscore the differences between the artificial world of comedy and entertainment and
real life. While Stone sings about movie heroes who are "Larger than Life" , there is the powerful
yet plaintive "If the World Were Like the Movies" by Swann..
Whether rousing or heartfelt, the songs reveal the feelings of the characters in an honest and
pleasing way. It would help, though, if the seven-piece orchestra would temper the volume a
little.
Director Martha Sawyer made sound casting choices, finding actors who have good on-stage
chemistry, clear character definition and a polished presentation. Jason Ricardo as Benjy Stone is
energetic, honest and appealing.
Ray Byrne as movie idol, full-time drinker and occasional dad Alan Swann is dashing, charming
and credible. Whether defining his stage persona with a swagger or stagger, or revealing the
frailties of the man behind the star image, Byrne gives the role a depth not usually found in
musical comedy.
King Kaiser, the TV show's host, egomaniac and resident Svengali, is brought to life by talented
Jonathan Young.
The TV show relies for its material on writers Sy Benson, K.C. Downing, Alice Miller and Herb
Lee, whose backstage infighting is a comedic treat of its own. Robert Gillet as Benson cares
more for food than humor; Ryann Bailey as Downing is a delightful ingenue with a sweet voice
who cares more for Stone and glamor; Adele Pevzner as Alice Miller wants her own 15 minutes
of fame (or at least one good joke); John Cobble as Herb Lee is the strong silent type with a
mastery of understatement. Pevzner, in particular, is a standout in her wise gal approach and
shticky renditions of "Funny/The Duck Joke" and in "Professional Showbusiness Comedy" with
King and company.
Another joy is Miki Joseph as Benjy's very ethnic mother.
Rich Jensen does a well-defined job as Belle's second husband, Rookie, who may have been a
bantamweight in the ring but is a heavyweight in the kitchen. Using an amusing accent, a rough
exterior and a dose of heart, Jensen makes Rookie come alive.
Other pushy but loving members of Stone's clan are Uncle Morty, whom veteran actor Joe
Doniger makes wonderfully remniscent of the old Molly Goldberg show, and Aunt Sadie, who is
enlivened from veiled head to toe by Meg Young.
A pair of young charmers round out the cast, which is supported by an enthusiastic chorus. They
are Jennifer Stone in her proficient stage debut as Leonora Silver and Kate Young as Swann's
daughter in the background, Tess.
BRAINTREE Theater, musical groups abound
Lauren Markoe. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Sep 26, 1995. p. 07.A
For those who don't feel like making the trip to Boston for music, art or theater, consider
Braintree.
Best known for South Shore Plaza shopping center and its quiet residential streets, the town is
also home to a vibrant arts community that welcomes residents and non-residents alike.
Just ask Meg Young.
A teacher with no background in the theater, Young joined the 33-year-old Curtain Call Theater
company in 1980, and has been acting and singing ever since.
Based in Braintree, the 100-member company is one of the most ambitious community theater
groups in the state, she said.
She doesn't criticize some other groups' tendencies to put on musical after splashy musical.
Those time-tested favorites draw large crowds, she said. But she is proud that Curtain Call "does
things that are a little bit harder."
She points to past performances of the dark "Death of A Salesman," and the "weird, avant-garde
`House of Blue Leaves.' "
Every year the group stages one drama, one comedy and one musical. Members of the company
include accountants, lawyers, construction workers, and high school students from Braintree and
surrounding towns. Some have professional experience. Many, like Young, have none at all.
Potential thespians and those interested in watching performances can call 356-5113.
Curtain Call devises a compelling "Mousetrap'
Theater - THE MOUSETRAP, by Agatha Christie. Directed by Dan Bolton. Performed last
weekend by Curtain Call Theatre at Frothington Hall, Thayer Academy, Washington St. in
Braintree. To be repeated this Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.
Ellen Brams. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Oct 11, 1995. p. 20
Amid the rash of somewhat farcical mysteries featured at area dinner theaters of late, it's nice to
see a theater company take a turn at the real McCoy.
The Agatha Christie classic, "The Mousetrap," which has delighted audiences for generations, is
a British drawing room whodunit with real (albeit eccentric) characters, a real homocide (and the
promise of more), and, if done right, real British accents to capture the flavor.
Director Dan Bolton, who skillfully directed Curtain Call Theatre's rendition of the piece,
assembled a strong balanced cast whose combined theatrical prowess not only brought the play
to life but also kept its authentic British flavor.
Curtain Call, long known for authentic functional sets, certainly made no exception with Andrew
Vallahan's attractive, well-lit bilevel construct, which well served the numerous entrances and
exits of the eight-member cast. Slow cue pickups and/or late entrances can be deadly (no pun
intended), and thankfully none were evident in this production. Accents were authentic and
consistent and pacing was appropriate to keep the suspense.
When Giles and Molly Ralston decide to operate an English country manor as a guest house they
have no experience and no clue who their first guests will be. They certainly haven't a clue that a
murder will be committed in the area and that everyone in the manor will be suspect and at least
one of them another victim. It's not an auspicious beginning for the newlyweds, but it does
provide a mind stimulating mystery.
Sally Wright, playing Sally, comes by her flawless accent the proper way, by birth, and her
abundant talent the hard way -- by years of performing. The audience eagerly buys her charm
and naivete, and her fear and hysteria as Molly. When she plays the ultimate case of "Guess
Who's Coming to Dinner?," the audience is in her corner, start to finish.
Richard Mauran as Molly's hubby Giles carries off the role with style and a nice edge when it
comes to both "police" interrogation and a roomer interested in his wife. Giles "takes charge" of
the situation and Mauran takes powerful charge of the role.
The assortment of initial roomers at Monkswell Manor were anywhere from amusing to
annoying to enigmatic, and certainly served their theatrical purpose to keep the pot boiling over
with suspicion.
Jessica McDonald is wonderful as Mrs. Boyle, whose Dickensonian name befits her disposition.
McDonald expertly portrays Boyle's haughty and snooty character without ever making her a
buffoon. A bully in a dress, McDonald does an exceptional job as the woman you'll love to hate.
In delightful humorous contrast is Joseph Murray as Christopher Wren, the flighty, nervous,
caring and occasionally silly architect. He plays his character with all the comic relief the author
intended. Outspoken in a nonthreatening way, Murray's Wren does good things with his voice
and body language to carry the character home.
Major Metcalf, a lodger who is in the military service -- or is he -- is the blandest of the
characters. But to Charles Dattola's credit, Metcalf is not just a "filler" in the plot. Dattola is
stern, sensible and credible.
Jennifer Stone creates a suspenseful Miss Casewell, with her questionable attire, secretive letter,
and itchy-twitchy behavior. And Stone manages to pull it off while also doing duty as the show's
producer and one of the makeup artists.
Armed with a delightfully sinister laugh and a host of flourishes, Mark Taylor makes "sinister"
fun as well as creditably creepy with his character, Mr. Paravicini, the only guest without a
reservation.
Completing the "Mousetrap" cast is Roland St. Claire Barrie as Detective Sergeant Trotter.
Despite some sporadic reline delivery, from which there was professional recovery and no harm
done, Barrie gives full life and credibility to his character.
Costumes for this period piece were impressive, and Cathy Venti and her assistants are to be
lauded for their contribution.
Finally, Dan Bolton is to be given an `A' for achievement in directing this tight and cohesive
thriller.
`Hollywood' cops leading roles Weymouth police officer also patrols local stage
Susan Misicka. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Dec 29, 1995. p. 01
Patrolman Dan Walsh can carry a gun, a badge and a tune.
When he's not on his police beat in Weymouth, he's either rehearsing or performing in community musical theater.
"Acting and singing is a passion of mine. It's more than a hobby. It's great therapy," said Walsh, who has been on the
force for 11 years.
He is currently performing in the "Holiday Follies" with the Showstoppers Dinner Theater.
Walsh, 36, plays Georgie James, the adult son of a pair of traveling thespians. The show runs through tonight at the
Golden Rooster restaurant in North Scituate.
Standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 200 pounds, Walsh, who sings bass, has no trouble getting parts in community
theater.
"Men are so rare. I walk in and they're like, `Don't let him out of the room!' " Walsh said, laughing.
He has been acting steadily for about 10 years.
It was his mother, Jerri Walsh of Hanover, and sister, Barbara Walsh of Quincy, who persuaded him to audition for
the lead in "The Fantasticks" with the Genesian Players at St. Francis Xavier Church in Weymouth. He got it.
"I used to act when I was a teenager in Demolay- 1
Rainbow minstrel shows," said Walsh of his previous stage experience. But it was "The Fantasticks" that really got
him into theater.
"I just got the bug after that," said Walsh, who's performed in about 40 shows.
His past roles include: Sky Masterson in "Guys and Dolls," L'il Abner, Stone in "City of Angels," Joe Hardy in
"Damn Yankees," Joey Evans in "Pal Joey," Joseph and the pharaoh in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat," a tie-dyed and bell-bottomed John the Baptist in "Godspell," Frank Butler in "Annie Get Your Gun,"
and the vocal instructor in "Singin' in the Rain."
Besides performing with Showstoppers in Scituate and the Genesian Players in Weymouth, Walsh has worked with
Curtain Call in Braintree, Hingham Civic and the Footlight Club in Jamaica Plain.
On Sunday, New Year's Eve, Showstoppers Dinner Theater will do a revue with music from "Les Miserables" and
"Phantom of the Opera." Walsh said he plans to perform in "Camelot" in January, possibly as King Arthur.
The son of a Boston officer, Walsh, 36, initially had no desire to become a police officer. After serving in the Air
Force, he worked at a couple of other jobs, including limousine driver.
"But the (Civil Service) test came up and I said, `What the hell?' " Walsh recalled.
He scored a 99 and soon snagged a Weymouth badge.
"I love being a cop. I look forward to coming in," said Walsh, who works the midnight shift and usually patrols East
Weymouth.
Nicknamed "Hollywood" by his fellow officers, Walsh combined his love of theater with his police work to make a
safety video being distributed throughout the schools.
"It's a video for kids on avoiding abduction called, `Stranger Danger' " Walsh explained.
Someday he hopes to become the town's DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) officer.
Walsh said he knows from his father's experience that police work is 90 percent boredom and 10 percent adrenaline.
On most shifts, he spends his time driving around in his cruiser, checking doors and keeping an eye out for trouble.
"That's why I want to work with kids, so every day will be worthwhile. If kids are involved or have been abused,
maybe you can get them out of that situation," Walsh said.
His favorite stage part so far was the role of the police sergeant in "Pirates of Penzance," which he admitted wasn't
much of a stretch.
"It was a real fun role, like an opera version of a Keystone Kop. A lot of real silly dancing. I have a lot of fun with
character parts," Walsh said.
But he also sees his acting in a serious light. "I try not to take parts where I'm not going to learn anything," Walsh
said.
His most challenging role was in "Falsettos."
"I had to play a homosexual. It was a great show, an amazing learning experience," Walsh said. The character,
Marvin, has left his wife for a man, but doesn't want to lose her completely.
"Developing a relationship with another man (on stage) was a big challenge," Walsh explained.
Vocal coach Karen Shepherd of Braintree approached Walsh after seeing him in "Damn Yankees" four years ago.
He's been working with her on his vocal technique and character development.
Walsh's parts often require him to dance, but he's never taken dance lessons. He tap danced for the first time in
"Singin' in the Rain."
"I'm athletic and I move well on stage, so I can get away with it," Walsh said.
"They call that a triple threat: a person who can do all three -- act, dance and sing. But I'm no Gene Kelly," Walsh
said.
Walsh has acted in commercials, including some for Ricky Smith Pontiac in Weymouth that have aired on cable
television. Six years ago, he did one for Miller Lite.
"I was just in the crowd at Boston Garden," he said. In addition, he's worked as a runway model in fashion shows.
Curtain Call Theater right on the `Money'
Theater - OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY, by Jerry Sterner. Directed by Miki Joseph; presented by
Curtain Call Theater at its clubhouse, Faxon and Commercial sts., Braintree. Continues Friday
and Saturday at 8 p.m. Phone 479-5468.:[Run Of Paper Edition]
Ellen Brams. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Jan 10, 1996. p. 20
"Other People's Money," a funny and engaging comedy about a corporate takeover in a New
England town, is the current production of Braintree's Curtain Call Theater. This deftly crafted
play about love, loyalty, luck and losing is a delightful exploration of what's really important in
life, told with homespun humor, slick sarcasm, pathos and warmth.
Producer/director Miki Joseph has assembled a strong, balanced, talented cast, and her skillful
direction creates great chemistry and tension throughout. This is a talky but never boring play.
Director Joseph also has designed a set that effectively contrasts the shabby office of a failing,
family-run manufacturing plant with the modern digs of the slick, ruthless New York investor
who wants to buy the company.
Andrew Jorgenson is the middle-aged factory owner whose whole life is wrapped up in the plant,
its employees and the the town it supports. With the counsel of his longtime manager and his
secretary/love interest, he keeps the floundering business going with pride and heart alone. When
Wall Street mogul Lawrence Garfinkle starts buying up shares with an eye toward takeover and
ultimate liquidation, a battle between good and evil ensues that tests the mettle of all concerned.
Robert Gillet brings Jorgenson to life with an endearing, down-home delivery and honest
emotion that keeps the audience totally engaged in his personal dilemma. Gillet, a veteran
community actor who previously starred in Curtain Call's "Death of a Salesman," here
contributes another masterful portrayal.
William Coles, the loyal company manager and heir apparent to the company throne, is
portrayed by Rick Durham as the quintessential company man, seeking security and more than a
pat on the back after his long service. Durham gives Coles a level-headed take on business, in
contrast to Jorgenson's from-the-heart style, and he achieves good onstage chemistry with Gillet
and with Steven Dooner as the villainous Garfinkle. Larry "The Liquidator" Garfinkle is a black
knight armored in greed, the kind of blatant, unrepentant villain an audience loves to hate.
Garfinkle is willing to do whatever it takes to gain money and success. Dooner brings to his
portrayal a combination of Donald Trump's drive and Alan King's wry humor, achieving a
characterization that is the essence of New York brash. Dooner's onstage "chutzpah" is just what
the author intended, and the way his character plays people against each other while
masquerading as a laudable capitalist rings sadly true. A corporate sadist with a snear, Dooner's
Garfinkle is very real.
On the good guys' side, Jorgenson not only has Cole as his right-hand man but a more precious
ally and partner in business and life, in the character of Bea. A secretary who takes more than her
work home, she is thoughtful, warm, and totally devoted to her man, right or wrong. Cathy
Venti, a wonderful actress who has graced Curtain Call's stage for more than 30 years, plays Bea
with ample amounts of the compassion and devotion needed for the role. The audience buys with
gusto not only her love for her boss but her stormy relationship with grown daughter, Kate, and
her abiding hatred for Garfinkle, who is trying to buy out not only her man but her life.
Kate, now a high-powered corporate lawyer, is enlisted to deal with the unscrupulous Garfinkle
on behalf of the plant. Stacey Erikson takes full advantage of her character's possibilities, letting
us see the loving yet somewhat resentful relationship Kate has with her mom and the mixed
emotions she has for Jorgenson, as well as her own character as a legal and professional climber
and the passionate woman who emerges even in an adversarial relationship with Garfinkle.
Erikson delivers a flip, funny, and fiery Kate.
For all its poignant insight into big bucks vs. conscience, "Other People's Money" has a lot of
great lines and humor interlaced with the abundant speeches. Joseph's skillful direction and a
laudable cast make for a worthwhile presentation of this very satsifying play.
`Camelot' offers delightful escape into spring
Theater - CAMELOT, by Alan J. Lerner and Frederick Loewe. Directed by Martha Sawyer;
musical direction by Peter Emerson. Presented by Curtain Call Theater at Thayer Academy, 845
Washington St., Braintree. Continues Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Phone 356-5113.:[Run Of
Paper Edition]
Ellen Brams. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Mar 19, 1996. p. 17
In this season of lingering winter and political mudslinging, Braintree's Curtain Call Theater
group is offering a welcome breath of springtime by returning us to "Camelot."
This classic Lerner and Loewe musical of the golden age of chivalry and King Arthur's court is
welcome for its charm and its colorful, harmonious vision of life. It opened last weekend at
Thayer Academy's Frothingham Hall and continues Friday and Saturday nights.
Martha Sawyer is well known on the South Shore as a tireless director, but in this production she
wore more hats than Merlin -- directing, designing the set and even helping to build and paint it.
This is an old-fashioned, full-bodied musical with 17 scenes, a large cast and many long and
appealing musical numbers, ably conducted by musical director Peter Emerson. The story
involves an Arthur who's past the bloom of youth, bereft of the guidance of his mentor, Merlin.
His half-sweet, half-saucy queen, Guinevere, has more than a passing interest in Arthur's favorite
knight, Sir Lancelot. An assortment of humorous characters divide their time between dawdling
and discovering an honorable and civilized way of life for knights in shining armor.
Paul Greene's portrayal of Arthur is touching for its humanity and sincerity in the face of rather
deliberately broad characters. Greene's Arthur is a humble man, trying to live up to a position he
never sought. Though his speaking and singing voice sometimes ebb, Greene is nevertheless
expressive. His rendition of "How to Handle a Woman" is touching, his duet with the queen on
"What Do the Simple Folk Do?" is endearing, and his signature number of "Camelot" carries the
lilting message of a naive and charming kingdom long ago and far away.
Monica Taylor is a completely fetching Guinevere. Coy, adventurous, trying to be a virtuous
example and a supportive queen, while at the same time romantically untamed, Taylor is tops
from start to finish. She is also gifted with a beautiful voice, and she does equal justice to the
rousing "Lusty Month of May" and the haunting "Before I Gaze at You Again."
As Lancelot, Dan Walsh is a striking leading man, presenting a larger-than-life persona without
upstaging anyone else and a rich voice that shines in "If Ever I Would Leave You." Walsh makes
Lancelot a totally credible character, equally devoted to Arthur and Guinevere and able to poke
some delightful fun at his own ego in "C'est Moi."
Curtain Call's "Camelot" is vibrant, both in the rich accompaniment of the eight-piece orchestra
and in the speldid costumes designed and executed by Richard Danehy. Barry Martin's makeup
defines the characters, and the dramatic lighting of Brad Swanson, assisted by Michael Flasher
and Peter Swanson, heighten many a moment.
This is a show with a number of choice supporting roles, and they are brought to full fruition in
this production. Michael McGuire is a wonderfully befuddled King Pellinore, the wandering old
friend from Arthur's youth. McGuire never trips over a line or a chance to be funny.
If ever there was a consummate young villain, it is Mordred, played here by Jeff Fosdick.
Fosdick is a delighfully despicable troublemaker, bent on dethroning his dad, Arthur, with the
help of the haunting and wonderfully witchy Morgan LeFey. Alison Hutchinson is graceful,
beguiling and a visual treat in her cameo as LeFey.
Dennis Luciani Jr. does double duty as Merlin and the knight of the round table known as Sir
Sagamore, lending equal verve to both roles. And the youthful charm of Chris R. Ferris makes
both of his roles, as Page and Tom of Warwick, special.
A large chorus of knights and ladies complete the cast and help make this "Camelot" a colorful
and tuneful great escape.
Curtain Call infuses `Cemetery' with life
Theater - THE CEMETERY CLUB, by Ivan Menchell. Directed by Raymond Jay Possick. Set
designed by Martha Sawyer. Cast includes Cathi Venti, Adele Pevzner and Marianne
Withington. Presented by Curtain Call Theater at Frothingham Hall, Thayer Academy, 745
Washington St., Braintree. Continues Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Phone 356-5113.
Ellen Brams. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Jun 19, 1996. p. 22
If the theme of true love is "till death do us part," then parting is the part of love "The Cemetery
Club" focuses on.
Ivan Menchell has deftly crafted a beautiful play that pays warm and touching tribute to the
bonds of love and friendship, and to savoring old memories without losing the spirit to create
new ones. And Raymond Jay Possick has skillfully directed the current production by Braintree's
Curtain Call Theater group.
Though the title may sound morbid, "The Cemetery Club" is a comedy filled with touching
moments and with humor rooted in humanity. Laughter abounds and audiences leave satisfied,
both theatrically and emotionally.
Martha Sawyer's unpretentious set captures the essence of a middle-aged widow's living room in
Queens, N.Y. The apartment's occupant, Ida, is a straightforward matron who still entertains her
friends, Lucille and Doris as if it were the good old days when the three ladies and their nowdeceased spouses shared good times and friendship.
Besides tea and sympathy, shopping, cards and gossip, the trio now meet monthly for a visit to
their dead husbands in the cemetery.
The three talented actresses in this production all seem a bit young for their roles, but all are
more than competent to carry them off.
Ida is the traditionalist among them, and seasoned pro Cathy Venti brings this quiet, lonely
widow to natural and touching life. Loyal to her husband in marriage -- and now to his memory - Ida is finally toying with the idea of a new relationship. Her old friend, Sam the butcher, also
widowed, may be a possibility.
Will she be able to find happiness in a new chapter of life? Will her friends wish her well, or will
they resent her retreat from endless mourning and, possibly, them? It may read like a soap opera,
but it plays like real life. Venti is genuine in her portrayal, a pleasure to watch as she allows Ida
to blossom under the long-delayed attentions of a man.
Lucille is an outrageous, colorful contrast to the prim Ida, and Adele Pevzner is delightfully
hilarious as a waning prom queen wannabe. Lucille is a widow of a different kind. Her hubby
cheated on her and then died, so Lucille is on a mission to prove she's still youthful and attractive
to the opposite sex. Decked in daily purchases of mink "to die for" (but only if it's a bargain),
she's pushy, noisy and flirtatious.
Not until her vulnerability is revealed beneath the obnoxious facade does the audience meet the
hurting soul who tries a little too hard to hide it. Pevzner has great comic timing, and she is able
to get laughs without appearing to try. At the same time, she shows us a tired woman who would
gladly trade mink for love. It's a superb performance.
Doris is the most conservative of the three women, a perpetually grieving widow who converses
regularly with her deceased husband and has no interest in socializing other than seeing her
girlfriends and visiting the grave. Director Possick bravely cast an attractive young actress,
Marianne Withington, in this difficult role.
Withington turns in a warmly credible performance as this unyielding, middle-aged woman who
is totally lost without her mate. And she gets some strong help from the talented Barry Martin
and assistant Denise Nicosie in Curtain Call's makeup department.
The costumes by Judy Cobble, assisted by Edythe Burke and Joyce Pickel, do much to help
define the conservative Doris, the respectable yet hopeful Ida and the flamboyant Lucille.
Sam, the widowed butcher, is not your soap opera stud. Long-married, awkward and introverted,
he's a little lame at the dating game. But John Cobble makes him duly shy, vulnerable and dear.
With all the women in this play, Sam could be a swinger if he weren't such an honorable,
frightened klutz. Cobble's quiet delivery, halting gait, somewhat crouched posture tell it all.
Elaine Lantz turns in a credible cameo performance as yet another widow, Mildred, who makes a
play for Sam and loses.
Don't be put off by the title. "The Cemetery Club" is really a celebration of life and love.
Curtain Call players in powerful `Elephant Man'
Theater - THE ELEPHANT MAN, by Bernard Pomerance. Directed by David Miller. Cast
includes David Edge, Dan Walsh and Sally Wright. Presented by Curtain Call Theater at its
clubhouse, Faxon and Commercial streets, Braintree. Continues Thursday, Friday and Saturday
at 8 p.m. Phone 479-8744.:[Run Of Paper Edition]
Lauren Wiley. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Nov 12, 1996. p. 21
"The Elephant Man" is an intense drama that challenges audiences with its stark emotions and
brutal honesty. In presenting this play, Braintree's Curtain Call Theater has displayed courage
and confidence in its cast and crew, and they in turn rise to the challenge with strong
performances.
The play, set in the 1880s, is based on the true story of London physician Frederick Treves and
the man he treated, John Merrick, who was horribly deformed by an unknown skin and bone
disease. Merrick was abandoned in a workhouse by his mother when he was 3, and then landed
in a freak show, where he was dubbed the Elephant Man. Treves gave Merrick a home at his
hospital and began a quest to provide him with a normal life.
When Bernard Pomerance adapted this tale for theater in 1977, he set the drama on a simple
stage with few props. He decided against using makeup to illustrate the Elephant Man's
deformities, so that the audience would view him as a human being, not a monster.
In his debut with Curtain Call Theater, director David Miller stays true to Pomerance's vision.
The eight-member cast performs upon a nearly empty stage that extends out to the front row in
the club's tiny, newly renovated theater.
Although this play is technically difficult, the cast and crew make it look easy. They act quickly
under the cover of darkness to make the 20 scene changes in the production. All the perfomers,
except for David Edge who plays Merrick, have to frequently switch costumes to play 18 parts,
ranging from side-show freaks to English gentry.
The play begins with Frederick Treves asking the audience, "What is a human life?" -- a question
the drama attempts to answer through the physician's story. Local police officer Dan Walsh
shows off his flair for acting by deftly portraying the refined English doctor whose faith in
society is shaken when he begins to see the world through Merrick's eyes.
Edge, a veteran actor and Curtain Call's executive producer, excels in the role of Merrick.
Without the aid of makeup, he must contort his body to become the deformed man. The
incredible metamorphosis takes place before the eyes of the audience after Merrick strides onto
the stage wearing only a loincloth.
During this scene, Treves describes the patient's many abnormalities, using slides of the actual
Elephant Man, and Edge twists his limbs and torso to mimic the photographs. Edge maintains
this painful posture and speaks his lines with Merrick's speech impediment for the remaining two
hours of the play. Edge's convincing performance pulls the audience along on Merrick's journey
from freak show to hospital, where he becomes an object of fascination for London's high
society.
In his quest to give Merrick a normal life, Treves recruits Mrs. Kendal, a beautiful actress, to
become the Elephant Man's friend. Local actor and director Sally Wright performs the role with
spunk and sincerity, sparking a powerful chemistry among the three leading roles in the drama.
When her character exits the play, the production loses much of its energy, and slowly grinds
away to its sad ending. Fortunately, Wright's departure is near the end of the story, and the
majority of the play is spirited and engaging.
The century-old story of the Elephant Man still resonates today by raising basic questions about
humanity and society. The Curtain Call players' passion and dedication to this drama will leave a
powerful impression with South Shore audiences.
Production offers plenty of songs and humor A spirited `City of Angels' in Braintree
Theater - CITY OF ANGELS. Book by Larry Gelbart; music by Cy Coleman; lyrics by David
Zippel. Directed by Martha Sawyer; musical direction by Derelyn Kahler. Presented by Curtain
Call Theater at Thayer Academy, 845 Washington St., Braintree. Remaining performances
Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.:[Run Of Paper Edition]
Ellen Brams. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Mar 19, 1997. p. 25
"City of Angels," the spring production by Braintree's Curtain Call Theater group, is a slick, sophisticated
and enjoyable musical. Author Larry Gelbart (the creator of "M*A*S*H") and Cy Coleman (composer of
"Sweet Charity" and other shows) teamed with lyricist David Zippel to create this 1991 Tony-winner
about life in Hollywood. It's centered on a hapless screenwriter and the character he has created, a smooth
and streetwise private eye.
The Curtain Call production is a full evening of solid entertainment, with 40 scenes, lots of songs and
plenty of humor. The characters are caricature types, but they're well depicted, and the chemistry works
for the cast. Director Martha Sawyer has chosen her cast well and has directed the onstage traffic
smoothly.
Musical director Derelyn Kahler and an eight-piece orchestra put out a lot of spirited music, and a quartet
consisting of Lisa Jeannero, A. John Porcaro, Debby Rawson and John Sawyer add rich vocal harmonies.
At just a few points, the singers had difficulty being heard over the band at the performance I saw last
weekend, but that was a minor problem. Over all, the music is mellow, bluesy, funny and fine.
"City of Angels" is filled with a rich array of characters, both "real" and "fictional" -- though in
Hollywood, how can you tell the difference? There are the famous and the infamous, the rich and
powerful and the wannabes, egos in various states of dysfunction and a healthy dose of romance and
intrigue.
Buddy Fidler is one of the rich and powerful, a producer, starmaker and egomaniac. Although anyone
dealing with the cajoling and controlling Fidler would have nothing but contempt for him, the audience
has only love and respect for Ray Byrne, who plays the role.
Byrne coddles, coos, curses and manipulates, all in a laughable, strangely endearing and absolutely superb
way.
Byrne also has a fleeting turn as Irwin, one of the "fictional" characters in the story, and that's an
enjoyable appearance as well.
If Fidler is a lion, screenwriter Stine is the plot's sacrificial lamb.
As played by Richard Carey, Stine is meek, sarcastic and talented, a more-or-less devoted husband to
Gabby, an employer and occasional reluctant lover to secretary Donna and the creator of fictional alter
ego Stone, the sophisticated private investigator into whom Stine can project the courage he dreams of.
Carey does an engaging job of portraying Stine as a pretty normal guy with a well-paying fantasy life.
Stone, Stine's fictional private eye, is the ultimate in cool, yet he never gets the girl for long, and life
seems to be living him. Dan Walsh is dynamite as the handsome and charismatic Stone, who flirts
outrageously with danger as well as with women.
Walsh's rich singing voice is especially appreciated in his duet with Stone's ex-girlfriend Bobby (played
by Jennifer Gasser) on "With Every Breath I Take" as well as the "Tennis Song," which is peppered with
delicious double entendres and shared with alluring client Alaura.
Gasser handles the dual roles of Gabby (Stine's wife) and Bobby (Stone's former girlfriend) with
evenhanded aplomb.
As Bobby, she's a slinky lounge singer who turns to a different type of nighttime entertainment when her
career fails to take off. As Gabby, she is direct and very real as the wife who doesn't want her husband
cheating on her or his own professional self respect.
Kristin Hughes plays a pair of secretaries, one in "real" life and one "fictional" -- are you beginning to get
the pattern? In both worlds, Hughes' tough-talking but soft-hearted characterization is right on, and her
vocal delivery in her musical numbers is memorable.
The characters of Carla Fidler (Buddy's wife) and Alaura (Stone's mysterious client) are both played quite
well by Kathleen Bousquet, who dresses to the nines and serves up her roles with finesse.
She's especially delicious and vicious as Alaura, the woman (rhymes with rich) we love to hate.
Kristen Palson does nice work in a pair of small roles, as Alaura's spolied stepdaughter Mallory and as
Avril, a bimbo starlet who does bedtime auditions.
Chris Charron is dreamy as crooner Jimmy Powers.
In addition to his work in the vocal quartet, John Sawyer is appropriately and theatrically ethnic as the
embittered cop Munoz and as an oily entertainment type, Pancho.
Dennis Luciani is equally vibrant, whether doing hair or healing, in his dual roles as Gene and Dr.
Mandril.
Finally, this production, which concludes this coming weekend, is dedicated to the memory of Tony
Landolfi, who shared his talents and his kindness on the local theater scene for more than 30 years. It's an
appropriate tribute to a good actor, a good friend and a good man.
Curtain Call's female `Odd Couple' make a perfect match
Theater - THE ODD COUPLE (female version), by Neil Simon. Directed by David Edge.
Presented by Curtain Call Theater through last weekend at Thayer Academy, Braintree.:[Run Of
Paper Edition]
Ellen Brams. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Jun 26, 1997. p. 28
Curtain Call Theater's summer production of the female "Odd Couple," presented for the past
two weekends in Braintree, gave audiences equal access to the foibles and fun of the female
gender.
It's hard to find a soul who isn't familiar with Neil Simon's original odd couple, Felix Unger and
Oscar Madison, thanks to their long run on TV. Their female counterparts, created by Simon
later on, aren't quite so well known. Simply, he turned Felix into Florence, Oscar into Olive, and
made the poker pals into Trivial Pursuit buddies.
Turning the former Pigeon sisters (the ditsy upstairs neighbors of Oscar and Felix) into a pair of
Latino brothers in Florence and Olive's building keeps the pot boiling between the dissimilar,
dysfunctional friends. The clashes between the two women -- one sloppy, independent and hot
for some romance, and the other passive, frightened, prissy and neurotic -- provide frenzied fun
fraught with a hint of social peril.
By doing essentially the same play and characters but switching genders, Simon gives hilarious
credence to the premise that equality can sometimes make strange bedfellows.
The production was deftly crafted by the skillful hand of director David Edge. Working with his
real-life mother, the talented actress Patti O'Rourke, who played the slovenly but good-hearted
and down-to-earth Olive must have been a labor of love; it certainly paid off handsomely for the
audience.
O'Rourke has devoted herself tirelessly to behind-the-scenes work in local theater for decades, so
it was a double joy to witness her onstage success. Olive goes from concerned friend and laissezfaire hostess, to suffering roommate, to putty in the hands of her ex-husband, to romantic
wannabe, all the while dropping Simon's endless one-liners. O'Rourke made Olive totally human
and endearing, as well as laughable. Bravo.
For the play to work the chemistry between Olive and the totally opposite Florence must be
perfect. Elizabeth Morrell's Florence was every bit the passive homebody whose life has been
suddenly shattered by the separation from her husband. Obsessive about housekeeping, neurotic
about health, Florence is an emotional piece of work. Morrell played her with a wide repertoire
of facial expressions, body language and mannerisms, and the audience obviously loved it.
Olive's living room, the single interior set for the play, holds more guests than a bus terminal, all
gathering to "socialize." Stacey Erikson was quite effective as the flip and acerbic Sylvie, whose
barbs left no one unscathed. Mickey, the female cop, and Renee, generic gal pal, aren't given
much dialogue for character definition, but actresses Cindy Donovan and Meg Young,
respectively, made the characters real and likable.
The character of Vera is a delight, and Sandra Boxell certainly made the most of it. Always on
cerebral tape delay, Vera is an endearing but clueless ditz. Boxell gave her a wide-eyed stare,
verbal pause and worry-free attitude that were just right.
Manolo and Jesus Costazuela, the gallant neighbors whose courtliness loses a little in translation,
were very well played by Dan Walsh and Sean Keegan. Complete with wild shirts left open to
reveal the obligatory gold chains, these stud-muffin wannabes were comic standouts in their
supporting roles.
Martha Sawyer's well-done set design was appropriately lit by Michael and Laura Flasher, and
veteran makeup artist Barry Martin made everyone in the cast look good. The proof of this "Odd
Couple" 's success was in the audience's warm reception.
`Sisters Rosensweig' is provocative, funny
Theater - THE SISTERS ROSENSWEIG, by Wendy Wasserstein. Directed by Stacey Erikson.
Presented by Curtain Call Theater at their clubhouse, Faxon and Commercial streets, Braintree.
Continues at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.:[Run Of Paper Edition]
Ellen Brams. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Jan 14, 1998. p. 22
To experience a reunion of the three Rosensweig sisters is a head trip of the best kind. Wendy
Wasserstein's prize-winning play, "The Sisters Rosensweig," though text-heavy, is an incisive
and diverse tapestry of the lives, loves, fun and foibles of three successful American women. The
current production by Braintree's Curtain Call Theater is a rich and robust experience.
Wasserstein lets her characters talk in paragraphs, but they always have something worth saying.
It's set in London in 1991, but the political issues and stances are still timely. The conversations
among the sisters and the men in their lives are sometimes debates, sometimes contests of
sarcasm and wit, and sometimes demonstrations of warmth, passion and honest emotion.
Although somewhat rambling, the play is articulate, gripping and punctuated with enough humor
to be thoroughly entertaining.
The Rosensweig sisters are anything but the Brady Bunch. Sara is a multiple divorcee whose
rebellious teenage daughter, Tess, is in search of a cause. Sara left New York (the family's home)
long ago to become a respected international banker with a Hong Kong bank. Neither as freespirited as her globe-trotting, travel-writing sister, Pfeni, nor as stable in a relationship as her
traditionally Jewish suburban housewife (and local cable talk show host) sister, Gorgeous (yes,
that's her name), Sara is repressed and in pain. She's trying to fit in an alien environment, and
she's on the verge of irretrievable bitterness.
It's her birthday, and she is being visited by her sisters and an assortment of romantic others. The
play takes place in Sara's London flat as she reconnects to family, femininity and the possibility
of romance.
Meg Young is touching and convincing as Sara, presenting her as an intelligent career woman
and perturbed mom who doesn't realize the daughter's strong will comes from her. At the same
time, she is a wounded woman who is untrusting and self-protective when it comes to romantic
overtures. Young makes Sara a very appealing woman in her transition back to hope and
femininity.
Sister, Pfeni, courts eccentricity and roams the globe collecting bric-a-brac and memories but
can't find a real home. She's in a longstanding relationship with a conflicted lover who can't
totally commit. Alison Hutchinson is playful, ethereal and charming as Pfeni. She plays her as a
fun-loving hippie auntie to Tess, a colorful contrast to Sara and the antithesis of the very married
and very ethnic Gorgeous. Hutchinson is especially good in Pfeni's painful parting with her
longtime lover.
Marianne Withington is laughable and lovable as Gorgeous Titlebaum, who lives in Newton but
screams New York. Apparently the stable and traditional sister, who has a husband, flashy looks
and the accessories of success, Gorgeous doesn't hesitate to solve everyone's problems. She's
loud, pushy, quick with sarcastic humor and a delight for the audience. Withington nicely shows
the chink in Gorgeous's armor when revealing her less than idyllic marriage and financial state.
Tess, played sympathetically by Lucia Middleton, is searching for an identity, trying too hard to
be as smart as her mom and as cool as her aunt Pfeni.
The loves of all these ladies are as different from one another as possible, to no one's surprise.
Tess's boyfriend, Tom, played by Bill Stambaugh, is supposedly a committed young patriot off
to the resistance, but it's hard to get past the goofy, grungy characterization and take him
seriously. Stambaugh does a good job of presenting Tom as a contrast to the soiree society
around him.
As Nicholas Pim, Sara's socially well-connected and intellectual boyfriend, Steve Kerr, is duly
pompous, sanctimonious and smug. His stuffed-shirt delivery contrasts well with the other
males.
As Merv Kant, Sara's would-be new flame, Ray Possick deals in fake fur but real emotions.
Possick gives a low-key and genuine performance as a lonely widower who finds vicarious
flamboyance as a supplier of costume furs to the theatrical trade. Amid a number of over-the-top
characters, Possick contributes a real sense of ethnicity and manages to keep his character
honest.
Geoffrey, Pfeni's longtime off-again on-again lover, is by far the most challenging male role,
physically and emotionally. Geoffrey is a flamboyant, glib, effervescent and sexually conflicted
theater director. David Giagrando plays him with unflinching zest, great proficiency and
uncompromising honesty. Preening, prancing and dancing up a storm, he is always "on." And in
the parting scene with Pfeni, Giagrando offers a truly affecting moment of torment.
The clubhouse setting provides the right intimacy for this warm-hearted and touching family
drama.
Troupe hits home run with `Damn Yankees'
Theater - DAMN YANKEES. Words and music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross; book by
George Abbott and Douglas Wallop. Directed by Scott Gagnon; musical direction by Timothy
Evans; choreography by Janet Fountain. Presented by Curtain Call at Frothingham Hall, Thayer
Academy, 745 Washington St., Braintree. Continues Friday and Saturday nights. Phone (781)
356-5113.:[Run Of Paper Edition]
Ellen Brams. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Mar 18, 1998. p. 30
In baseball, like theater, hope springs eternal that the home team will have a good showing and
the fans will be loyal. The vintage Broadway musical, "Damn Yankees," combines the baseball
premise and musical theater with nostalgically pleasant results. Set in 1957, the show describes a
fictional season in the life of the hapless Washington Senators and of their most ardent fan, a
middle-aged guy named Joe Boyd.
Boyd hates the New York Yankees, perennial powerhouse of the league, so much that he's
willing to make a deal with the devil to help his team, and fulfill an adolescent dream to relive
his youth as a star athlete for the Senators. It's an old story, but the current community theater
production by Curtain Call Theater of Braintree is a hit.
Joe and Meg Boyd, tenderly played by real-life marrieds John and Paulette Brooks, are a devoted
couple for six months of every year -- except during the season, when Joe becomes glued to the
TV set and Meg becomes a baseball widow. Their relationship forms the frame in which the
story takes place.
Paulette Brooks has a strong, beautiful voice and a sincere delivery, and her performance as Meg
is sweet and direct. John Brooks plays Joe Boyd as an average "Joe," a little tired, stooped and
paunchy but burning with a buried dream.
When he says a cryptic "Goodbye, old girl" to Meg after agreeing to sell his soul to the devil
(a.k.a. Mr. Applegate, played by Joshua M. Kehrberg) in return for renewed youth and a chance
to play for the Senators, Brooks is credibly torn between real happiness and his dream. After
Boyd walks out the door on Meg, he walks onto the Senators practice field as an unheard-of
young pitching phenom, Joe Hardy.
Mr. Applegate, a Satan with glitz, and Lola, a slinky sexpot whose own bargain with Applegate
saved her from being the ugliest girl in Providence, R. I., are a couple of an entirely different
sort. As Applegate, Kehrberg can call up the devil with sneering or smiling malevolence,
produce a cane or a fire bolt with equal aplomb, and visibly revel in the misery he so easily
creates.
Kehrberg is a delightful demon, overall, but his big number, "The Good Old Days," could have
more effect if it were less rushed.
Jennifer Condon is stunning as Lola the seductress, punctuating her performance with enough
slithers, bumps and grinds to rock anyone's world, let alone the hapless Joe Hardy. Showcased in
the numbers, "A Little Brains, a Little Talent," "Whatever Lola Wants" and "Two Lost Souls,"
Condon gives a sassy, spirited portrayal, although her vocal delivery tends to be a bit screechy.
The youthful Joe Hardy is Lola's prey, and Donald infuses the role with exuberance, naivete and
a killer smile. DeBernard is a knockout in the upbeat songs, but he seems uncomfortable with
soulful ballads. However, he brings refreshing honesty to the role, and the audience appreciates
it.
While Joe is living his dream, Meg has the support of her baseball-loving friends. Candace
Fisher is an absolute hoot as Sister, the somewhat unlikely "hunk scout." Linda Hinsa is a nice
contrast as Doris, the slightly more sensible pal.
Mark Anderson does double duty as a tobacco-chewing ball player and a fast-talking radio
announcer with equal credibility. Jim Grassia also turns in a pair of brash performances as Henry
and the baseball commissioner. Leo Harrington gives vitality and "heart" to Benny Van Buren,
the sad Senators' ever-hopeful coach.
Other members of the supporting "team" are John Berger, Tom Ryan (Rocky), Jaime Weinberg
and Charlie Morgan (who is a standout for voice and spirited delivery).
Rachel Carney does a good, pert job as a pushy investigative reporter, and Julie Ganz and
Annemarie Connolly offer supporting cameos. Melissa Grassia, Kathleen Berry, Denise Lynott,
Kristen Hadley and Kelly Paty make up the lively ensemble.
Director Scott Gagnon directed traffic well on the small stage, and choreographer Janet Fountain
devised some eye-catching dance numbers. Musical director/pianist Tim Evans and his vibrant,
seven-piece orchestra provide a rousing musical backup.
With a great production and lively performances, this "Damn Yankees" is a devilishly crowdpleasing show with a lot of heart.
Picasso vs. Einstein CURTAIN CALL IN BRAINTREE WILL PERFORM THE AWARDWINNING COMEDY BY STEVE MARTIN:
Nicole Cirone BYLM:cironn. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Aug 1, 1998. p. 29
`Picasso at the Lapin Agile," a play about a hypothetical meeting between Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein before
they burst onto the world stage with their respective masterpieces, had its world premiere in 1993 in Chicago.
Successful runs followed in Cambridge, Los Angeles, San Francisco and off-Broadway in New York.
Now the Curtain Call Clubhouse in Braintree will be one of the first New England community theater outfits to
perform the award-winning comedy.
The road to obtaining the rights to perform "Picasso" was rocky, said director Michael Pevzner during a recent
rehearsal. But now with the rights secured and rehearsals under way, the cast and crew are ready to show off the
sassy and provocative comedy.
Although Pevzner has never seen another production, he said he first became fascinated with "Picasso" after reading
it in a play catalog.
"It is so witty and intellectual, it just grabbed me," said Pevzner, artistic director of the Buckley Performing Arts
Center and the Massasoit Theater Company.
"Community theaters are craving new material, and I 29
thought it'd be wonderful if the play was available."
Because a national tour was a possibility, the rights to the play were slightly restricted, said John Welsh, managing
director of Baker's Plays in Boston, which publishes plays and acts as an agent in leasing performance rights to
theater companies.
"Agents in New York lease to first-class professional productions before amateur productions, but the rights became
available and there has been quite a bit of interest in the play," Welsh said.
The show was written by comedian/actor/playwright Steve Martin, who has written screenplays for such films as
"Roxanne" and "L.A. Story." He also co-authored "The Jerk" and "The Man With Two Brains," among others.
"Picasso at the Lapin Agile," (which loosely translates to nimble rabbit) is set in 1904 in a Paris bistro. Picasso and
Einstein vie for each other's respect by battling opinions on painting, probability, love and the future of the world as
it enters the 20th century. Shortly thereafter Picasso painted "Les Demoiselles D'Avignon," the first major cubist
painting, and Einstein published the "Special Theory of Relativity."
Einstein, played by David Edge of Quincy, and Picasso, played by Michael Buckley of Norwood, needle each other
and evoke a sort of "Cheers" feeling in the bistro, with bartender, waitress and trusty bar patron involved in their
fiery discussions. Einstein obsesses with time.
"We are not going to so much change the century, as bend it," he says. "Let's say Picasso is a genius, time is flying
on in space, influenced by powerful gravity by people like Picasso."
People in the bar challenge Einstein, saying time doesn't bend. "What about light? That bends," Einstein quips.
After Einstein's heated tirades, which are brilliantly performed by Edge, Picasso pleads, "Are you through? So much
thinking all the time."
Asked of his artistic ability, Picasso says it is all in the wrist; Einstein says it begins in the mind.
The play is not only intellectual and funny, it is also about love. There are two female characters, the waitress and
countess, whom Einstein has been waiting to meet in the bar. The waitress absorbs Einstein and Picasso's squabbles
of love.
"You have the oldest pick-up line: `I would like to draw you,' " quips the sarcastic Carla to Picasso.
Attracting a variety of people to the summer workshop, the cast and crew range in age from 17 to the mid-50s. The
11 people, including actors, director, set and lighting designer Bob Gillet and costume designer Meg Young, have
rehearsed since the end of June to bring the performance to what they hope is full capacity in the cozy venue -about 80 people.
"The auditions brought 36 people, which is quite good, especially for a non-musical in the summertime," Pevzner
said.
Bill Holdcraft, a 17-year-old Whitman resident, plays a surprise historical figure in the play. He said this play is his
first performance outside high school theater.
"I'm learning how to change for different audiences, working with different people and learning different ways of
the craft," said Holdcraft, who will be a senior at South Shore Vocational Technical High School in September.
One character who seems completely out of place is named Schmendiman. In loveable Steve-Martin-loser fashion,
he enters the bar proclaiming he has invented a necessary, yet foolish, building device appropriately named after
him, the Schmendimite. After making a fool of himself, he leaves the bistro chanting his name, "Schmendiman,
Schmendiman."
In an interview with the San Francisco Examiner, Martin says he can most identify with Schmendiman because he
doesn't quite fit into the play.
But for all its hilarity, the play ends seriously. Einstein and Picasso reach a common plateau, agreeing their ideas
swoop down, thrashing into their heads rapidly. The ideas never seem to flow, and the pencil they use, whether it be
to sketch or document the ideas, pushes through the paper to create a sort of fourth dimension. They dream the
impossible and then execute it.
"My only regret is that we will be in two separate books of the encyclopedia," Picasso tells Einstein.
"But no Schmendiman will come between us," Einstein concludes.
"Picasso at the Lapin Agile" will be performed at the Curtain Call Clubhouse, at the corner of Commercial and
Faxon streets in Braintree, at 8 p.m. Friday and next Saturday, Aug. 8 and again on Aug. 13-15. Tickets are $10
when reserved by calling (781) 356-5113 or $12 at the door.
Theater packs power into `Mice and Men' T
Theater review - OF MICE AND MEN, by John Steinbeck. Directed by Martha Sawyer.
Presented by Curtain Call Theater at the Puritan Bridge Club, Faxon Street, Braintree, through
April 3. Phone (781) 356-5113.
ELLEN BRAMS. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Mar 30, 1999. p. 10
"Of Mice and Men," the dramatization of John Steinbeck's 1937 novel about the solitude,
austerity and dignity of a pair of itinerant ranch hands is a powerful piece of theater, not the
usual fodder for amateur companies. Many community groups wouldn't attempt such a play, let
alone have more than "a few good men" to do the job right.
Curtain Call Theater in Braintree is a long-established club which not only has dedicated, hardworking and talented members but often attracts new faces through its adventuresome
programming.
Martha Sawyer is a veteran director, and the club's ability to attract actors from a wide area was
important in casting this show, which requires nine men and only one woman, in a secondary but
important role. The two male leads need to be vastly different types but complementary and able
to create a warm, quiet relationship onstage. The supporting actors have to be able to create
clearly distinct individuals with the suggestion of interesting stories, despite the spare and
laconic dialogue.
In an era when male bonding hadn't been thought of, "Of Mice and Men" gained much of its
stunning power from the deep friendship between two drifters, George and Lennie.
To say that George is the brains of the outfit and Lennie the brawn is far too simplistic. Lennie, a
gentle giant with a childlike innocence about people and life, a limited I.Q. and a love for
animals, is an emotional drain on his buddy, George. George has to do the talking, keep getting
new jobs and keep the pair on the move to avoid the trouble the slow-minded Lennie keeps
getting into.
The often-repeated pledge between them is "I take care of you and you take care of me." In the
last analysis, that's all that they need -- each other, a little hope and an ephemeral dream of
eventually having a small stake of their own.
Jimmy Bowe does a wonderful job as Lennie. Punctuating his halting speech with vacant stares
and occasional flashes of memory or recognition, Bowe convinces us of the touching innocence
of a guy who wouldn't hurt a soul but can't survive alone. Unaware of his own strength, he
cowers before the smaller George, more in deference to George's perceived wisdom than in fear.
The audience pities Lennie but appreciates Bowes.
As George, Chris Pauley has mastered a mountain of dialogue while crafting a credible portrait
of a totally loyal friend. Pauley's George is low-key in delivery but always trying to stay a step
ahead. It's a convincing characterization of a caretaker who's always on the edge of having his
dream come apart.
John Sawyer does a superb job as Candy, the scruffy, aging, one- armed foreman with nothing
more than a crippled limb and an old dog to show for a life of hard work. He's dusty and
hardened, a guy who keeps his eyes open and his mouth shut. Sawyer allows Candy a brief but
touching transformation when he thinks he might hitch his hopes of a personal stake to George
and Lennie's dream, adding a little spring to his shuffle and a bit of enthusiasm to his voice.
The boss's son, Curley, and his new bride are a pair indeed. Bill Stambaugh gives full vent to the
eternally arrogant, mistrustful and jealous bridegroom, Curley. Curley is absolutely ferocious as
he grunts, growls and grimaces while accusing everybody of eyeing the wife he knows is a flirt.
Kristen Paisen plays the attractive, flirty and bored new bride who gets more than she bargained
for when she befriends the gentle- seeming Lennie. Paisen is winsome as a small town girl with
dreams of a theatrical career and a husband from hell.
The bunkhouse has few comforts, but a lot of hired hands coming and going. Nathan Blew as
Slim is an honorable guy with an ambling gait, a resonant voice, and a sincere delivery. Mark
Anderson as Crooks has his own bunkhouse, because he is an Indian. Anderson sells the point
that Crooks keeps his dignity by being equally inhospitable to hands visiting him. Eric Palson as
Carlson and Dan Sammon as Whit are a pair of tough guys whose hearts are as barren as the
land. Dan Walsh is a personification of machismo as the boss, a looming presence with a steely
eye and a booming voice.
The scenic design, also by director Sawyer, shows through the bunkhouse's rough-sawn interior
and spartan furnishings just how far away the notions of home and family are for these people.
"Of Mice and Men" is a powerful and touching portrait of the harshness of life and the
unexpected loyalties that can redeem it, however briefly. Curtain Call's production deserves
praise -- and your attendance.
A heartfelt rendition of `Broadway Bound'
Theater - BROADWAY BOUND by Neil Simon. Directed by Stacey Erikson at the Curtain Call
Theater Clubhouse, 22 Faxon St., Braintree, through May 15. For tickets, call (781) 3565113.:[Run Of Paper Edition]
ELLEN BRAMS. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:May 12, 1999. p. 28
Neil Simon always seems to write comedy from the heart, and often from his own memories.
This is evident in the Curtain Call Theater's current production of "Broadway Bound," part of
Simon's autobiographical trilogy that also includes "Biloxi Blues" and "Brighton Beach
Memoirs."
"Broadway Bound" is about the days when Simon and his brother were budding young comedy
writers for radio while still living with their family in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of
Brooklyn, N.Y. It is a warm, touching, intimate and very human play that proves we are all
products of where we've been.
In the play, Eugene Jerome (the Neil Simon character) keeps up a running commentary about his
older brother Stan, parents Kate and Jack, aunt Blanche, and grandpa Ben that not only shows
how much love and caring there was in the family but also how much natural humor came from
conversations and situations. No one was trying to be funny or was aware of how funny they
were.
Directed with great sensitivity by Stacey Erikson, the piece retains its ethnic flavor without
caricatures. The audience is invited to view a visual family album, where the pages are a bit
yellow, some of the images a bit faded or the paper brittle, but the strong bonds of love and
family remain clear.
The homey bi-level interior set allows the audience to feel that we are inside this home, where a
vintage radio, rotary phone and black and white photos recreate the era.
Bill Stambaugh portrays Eugene, a stockboy in a music store by day and aspiring comedy writer
by night. Gleaning, sometimes unwittingly, material from his gruff socialist grandpa Ben, his
loving, overprotective mother Kate and other family members, Eugene steps into and out of the
action, narrating and footnoting. Stambaugh is natural and sincere, using the occasional goofy
gait and expressions of a boy/man to embody the character. He is an engaging anchor for the
show.
Chris Tilden depicts Eugene's older brother Stan with appropriate breakneck speed and the
energy of a tornado. Stan may work in the boys clothing department at Brooklyn's Abraham and
Strauss, but he entertains big dreams of winning Broadway and Hollywood fame through writing
with his brother. Tilden's nervous, enthusiastic delivery is a firecracker for Eugene and a plus for
the show.
Kate, their mother, is a born caretaker who is facing an empty nest, a resident father moving to
Florida and a husband having a quiet affair after three decades of marriage. Endlessly offering,
serving and clearing dishes of food and checking on everybody else's well-being but her own,
Kate does her best to hide the pain of marital betrayal.
As Kate, Marianne Withington begins by being a bit too brittle, leaving open the possibility that
she'd have no place to go emotionally with the character. Withington did not disappoint,
however, covering a full range of emotions from wistful reverie to abject emotional pain to
resolute dignity with sensitivity and talent.
Jack, the admittedly wayward husband and father, doesn't have much time onstage or meaty
dialogue. Still, Jim Seaquist could put more emotion into the role so that the audience could view
more sympathetically the hardworking, self-sacrificing husband and father who simply, in
midlife, found himself enjoying the attention and intellectual challenge of a smarter but needy
woman "on the side" without ever loving less the wife and children he had.
Although Neil Simon's words plead Jack's case simply and honestly, Seaquist's performance
could benefit from sounding and looking more contrite.
Grandpa Ben as delivered by Leo Harrington is wonderful. It is ironic that Harrington, whose
motto according to the program is "Allow yourself to live your life . . ." is playing the part of a
man who wouldn't allow himself the material pleasures his rich daughter Blanche can offer.
Grandpa Ben's socialist beliefs dictate that it would be wrong to do so when the masses are
suffering.
As Ben, Harrington is delightfully feisty, great at deadpan comedy, and impeccable in his timing.
Alice Finnegan rounds out a cohesive cast as Aunt Blanche. Finnegan is very touching as the
rich but sad "pleaser" who doesn't feel loved. Not to worry, however: audiences will love both
her character and this show.
You're in good `Company' at Curtain Call
Theater review - COMPANY, Curtain Call Theater, Braintree. By George Furth, music by
Stephen Sondheim. Directed by Martha Sawyer. Through Nov. 20. (781) 356- 5113.
ELLEN BRAMS. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Nov 16, 1999. p. 22
"Company," the Stephen Sondheim musical with book by George Furth, features a clever premise, a
snappy score and some laughable life lessons about the essence of both marriage and friendship . . .
having "company," while negotiating life's hurdles.
Set in New York City in the 1970s, the central character Robert is alternately encouraged and frightened
by his friends' accounts of the perks and pitfalls of marriage. Among his pals are questionably happy
married couples and those heading into and out of that "institution of connubial bliss."
As they repeatedly fete the single Robert with a series of birthday parties (starting when he's 35), they
keep pushing him toward the marital ranks while unconsciously doing plenty, by example, to discourage
him.
The birthday candles are repeatedly blown out (without Robert ever being sure what to wish for).
Robert is convincingly played by Jon Sawyer in this production by the Company Theater in Braintree. He
and director Martha Sawyer, his real-life wife, are a formidable theatrical duo who head up this enjoyable
production, which courtesy of Sondheim's music, is sometimes harsh, even strident, on the ear but mellow
in its exagerated humor.
Martha Sawyer's direction is crisp and Robert Sawyer is convincingly affable, naive and conflicted, trying
to reconcile what he feels with what he witnesses about life and love. Sawyer's voice, a bit halting at first,
more than reaches its rich potential with the touching and memorable "Being Alive."
Other than Sawyer, "Company" is a couples affair and there are some interesting pairings. Meg Young as
Sarah and David M. Giagrande as her hubby Harry are one of the strangest stage couples. Both are
seasoned actors and have a solid, very funny stage chemistry.
Harry is a guy who has put down the bottle but has to keep putting down Sarah's holier than thou "put
downs" about his drinking. Young is passive-aggressive with dulcet tones and a sweet smile that makes
her endless "corrections" and digs sting even more.
Giagrande shows Harry's growing ire palpably with flashing eyes and a biting tone approaching Young's.
His clear, engaging singing voice belies his karate skills demonstrated in a hysterical marital exchange
giving new definition to the term "tough love."
Amanda Aidi as Susan and Bill Stambaugh as stage hubby Peter are an ever smiling, cuddly pair who
can't wait to get divorced so they can get back to being in love with each other. Stanbaugh's Peter is genial
and unaffected, but Aidi's wide-eyed Southern belle needs to work on her drawl.
With another couple, Jenny and David, otherwise known as Sara Freedman and Jim Daly, David is the
worldly husband while Jenny is more the naive wife. Daly is a bit stiff at the onset but finds a credible
comfort level later on which better defines his character.
Although Freedman's transition from straight to stoned on her maiden marijuana voyage wasn't too
believable, she more than makes up for it with her beautiful singing voice, evident throughout a solo and
in helping carry through some harmonies.
Amy and Paul are a Christain/Jewish couple living together for years but when it comes time for legal
commitment she has more than her share of pre-nup jitters.
The director cast very wisely because Stacey Eriksen and Richard Carey make a strong stage couple who
create a warm, humorous, even touching chemistry. Eriksen is a polished musical comedy natural whose
hysterical, flower-flicking "Getting Married Today" is one of several vocal standouts.
Carey, correctly countering her "hysteria" with low key geniality and common sense, hits the mark. He
too has a pleasing voice.
Joanne and Larry are a match made in hell. Karen Lewis delivers a hardboiled rich bitch who is blunt,
brazen and sexually bold. Loudly ridiculing polite "Ladies with Lunch," Joanne is a force to be reckoned
with and the audience loves watching Mark Anderson try.
Anderson is believable as Larry, a guy too bored and disgusted to bother to fight. Choosing a quick drink
or a dazzling dance floor exhibition with other women, he delivers anything but a happy hubby.
Our hapless hero Robert is passively on the make and dates a rather eclectic trio. April, well played by
music director Marianne Withington, is the ditsiest of blonde stewardesses. Carolyn Schneider is the
youthful Kathy going back to Cape Cod, because, although she loves Robert, she has found someone else
who is "willing" to get married.
Marta is a hopeless hippie high on life; Jodi Griffin, psychedelically clad, is a vision while April is
wonderfully vacant.
Vintage costumes by Meg Young assisted by Alice Finnegan were a plus. Whether the cast was "Side By
Side," as that well done vocal suggests, or in other well blocked configurations, the show was staged well
and enjoyed by audiences appreciative of pure escape.
No need to go far to laugh at a `Foreigner'
Local theater - THE FOREIGNER, by Larry Shue. Presented by Curtain Call Theater, Faxon and
Commercial streets, Braintree, through March 26. Phone (781) 356- 5113.:[Run of Paper
Edition]
ELLEN BRAMS. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Mar 17, 2000. p. 22
Curtain Call Theater of Braintree is a long-established community theater club that has continued
to grow and evolve. The core group of talented and dedicated actors and production people have
wisely welcomed newcomers, allowing the club to expand the range of shows it can undertake
and the audience to which it appeals.
The members have also done wonders with the clubhouse at Faxon and Commercial streets,
renovating it to accommodate a larger, more versatile stage area, comfortable raked seating and
more affordable performances.
The club's current offering, Larry Shue's clever comedy "The Foreigner," offers meaty, welldeveloped roles and a message about the universality of human needs. Director Stacey Erikson
and a talented, well-balanced cast make this spring production well worth seeing.
Martha Sawyer designed a terrific, panoramic set depicting the interior of a fishing lodge in rural
Georgia.
The plot begins when Froggy LeSeuer, an international consultant on explosives, brings his
grieving, socially catatonic British buddy, Charlie Baker, to Betty Meeks' fishing lodge for rest
and recuperation. Froggy soon learns that Charlie fears his own boring lack of personality so
much that he wants no conversation at all while visiting.
Having no idea of the sometimes funny, sometimes touching ramifications of his lie, the loyal
LeSeur tells everyone to leave Charlie alone because he's a foreigner who can't speak or
understand English. To Charlie's amazement, he becomes the center of attention (mostly
positive, some negative) as well as a confidant, a companion, a teacher and a hero -- all by
initially keeping his mouth shut. (There's got to be a message in ther somewhere).
John Sawyer is hardly a foreigner to theater. A veteran of many diverse roles, he handles with
finesse and conviction the challenge of becoming the theatrical mouse that ultimately roars.
From his first entrance, as a totally introverted guy with emotional baggage, no self esteem and
plenty of nervous mannerisms, Sawyer grabs the audience and doesn't let go. Although his
character is almost totally reactive to those who surround him, Sawyer uses priceless expressions
and mannerisms to develop good chemistry with the rest of the cast and to create considerable
character development. It's a winning performance.
Meg Young as Betty Meeks is the quintessential Southern hostess, light on worldliness but heavy
on kindness and grits. Affecting a down-home demeanor and a hunger for the excitement and
sophistication of places she's never been, Young is warm and believable.
Catherine and Ellard Simms are sister and brother boarders who are about to inherit wealth.
Ellard is an affable but backward young man who may not be capable of handling his share, and
Catherine's may be used for unsavory purposes by her soon-to-be hubby, the not so righteous
Rev. David Marshall Lee. Bill Stanbaugh is so good at depicting the sweet but slow Ellard that it
touches your heart. Stambaugh lets the audience know in a palpable, funny and endearing way
the value of love, attention and trust.
Catherine is played by Kelley Weeks. Her emotional connection to brother Ellard is genuine, and
her fear about a pre-nuptual pregnancy is credible. However, her sense of betrayal by her fiance
and his surprise motives for the alliance seems a bit perfunctory.
David Giagrando gives a strong performance as the unholy reverend with a hidden agenda.
Giagrando does a good job of showing the internal conflict between good and the evil in a man
with divided loyalties.
Christopher Reilly is truly menacing and totally credible as a brainless, bigoted bully who thinks
respect is found in a punch or a bullet. His performance is wonderful. And Jim Daly is certainly
believable as the true blue friend and military man, Froggy LeSeuer.
Curtain Call sure can `Strut' its stuff
Local theater - THE ALL NIGHT STRUT. Directed by Patti O'Rourke; musical direction by Rob
Bezubka and Derelyn Baker Kahler. Choreography by Meg Young and Patti O'Rourke.
Continues at 8 p.m. tomorrow through Saturday at Curtain Call Theater, Commercial and Faxon
streets, Braintree. Phone (781) 856-5113.
JIM DORMAN. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:May 16, 2000. p. 25
"The All Night Strut!" presents 30 unforgettable songs from the 1930s and '40s in an entertaining
trip down memory lane. The music brings us back to the Great Depression, World War II and the
post- war years. "Minnie the Moocher," "In the Mood," "I'll Be Seeing You" and "Fascinating
Rhythm" are just a few of the songs in this show. They feature the work of great composers and
lyricists like George and Ira Gershwin, Johnny Mercer, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Fats
Waller.
In the current production by Braintree's Curtain Call Theater group, words, music and cast
combine to portray what it was like to live during those years.
The songs are performed by John Sawyer, Martha Sawyer, Devin Collins and Sara Freedman.
The quartet features four-part harmony much like the well-known group Manhattan Transfer.
Although I saw them on opening night last weekend, the performers were obviously wellrehearsed. Their voices melded together beautifully through a demanding array of jazz, swing,
blues, gospel and pop.
After getting off to a fast start with "Juke Box Saturday Night" and "Minnie the Moocher,"
Devin Collins slowed things down a bit with "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," using his deep
voice to express the desperation of the 1930s. Collins' voice provides a solid bottom line in
"Strut's" four-part harmony, but on solos it takes a little getting used to. Nonetheless, he is an
excellent performer who contributes considerable energy and humor to the show. You won't
forget his Louis Armstrong-like ending to "Ain't Misbehavin' " singing "zo zo zo zo . . . zo zo."
Martha Sawyer sings some nifty jazz riffs and adds plenty of personality to "In the Mood." Later
she really shows off by leading the quartet through the bluesy gospel strains of "Operator" and
the tight vocals of "Beat me Daddy, Eight to the Bar." She has the kind of voice that makes you
want to hoot and holler, and many in the audience did just that.
An early highlight was provided by John Sawyer when he gave us a taste of '30s romance in "A
Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square." One look at Sawyer and you can tell by his eyes that he
loves this music. Especially when he sings lyrics like, "Was that a dream or was it true?" to
describe the night he met his lover. You can't help but get caught up in the dream yourself.
Later in the show, Sawyer sings lead on another showstopper, "As Time Goes By," complete
with its tasty and slow introduction. Once the song winds into its familiar refrain, the
performance is delightfully accented by reflections from a mirror ball.
The first act draws to a close stirringly with a medley of World War II hits, with the boys
dawning their "overseas" caps for songs including "GI Jive," "Praise the Lord and Pass the
Ammunition" and "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree." Sara Freedman completes the medley with
a moving rendition of "I'll be Seeing You," a song that will have tears flowing.
Freedman's fine voice, personality and acting make for a strong combination of talent. When we
first hear her sing so strongly and clearly, we can't wait to hear more. We are rewarded with
fiesty lead vocals on "Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer" and the heartfelt "A Fine
Romance."
The singers really open it up in the second act, featuring a Latin- influenced "I Get Ideas" and the
swing favorites "Tuxedo Junction," "Hit That Jive, Jack" and "It Don't Mean a Thing if It Ain't
Got that Swing." There is plenty of laughter and finger popping as the cast acts out their parts on
each song, wearing tuxedos and evening dresses and displaying some pretty fancy footwork.
Appropriately, the performance draws to a close with pleasing variations on "Lullabye of
Broadway" and its recognizable refrain, "Goodnight Baby, the Milkman's on His Way." It's a
great way to end a satisfying journey back in time.
Braintree is alive with 'The Sound of Music'
Ellen Brams. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Mar 15, 2001. p. 23
The Curtain Call Theater club of Braintree has been offering lively and interesting productions to
its patrons for nearly 40 years. You can count on a solid production, whether of a brave new play
or a revival of an old favorite when you go to the troupe's pleasantly refurbished clubhouse. The
current production of "The Sound of Music" is a delightful example.
The collaboration of seasoned director Martha Sawyer and accomplished musician and musical
director Robert L. Rucinski has resulted in an enjoyable treatment of this beloved vintage
musical. Sawyer has used her experience and savvy in staging this big-cast musical in the
confines of the clubhouse. There's no orchestra pit, so the musicians are more or less in the
wings, and a pair of ramps help the cast move easily and quickly through the show's 20 scenes.
The show retells the real life romance and marriage of apprentice nun Maria and the widowed
Austrian naval captain Georg von Trapp after she becomes the governess of his seven children.
The score, of course, features a wealth of wonderful and well-known music, from the frivolous
"Do-Re-Mi" and "My Favorite Things" to the nostalgic "Edelweiss" and the inspiring "Climb
Every Mountain."
The show is as exuberant as the precious children and their precocious nanny, as moving as the
sisters at the abbey and as romantic as the widowed captain finding a soulmate just as they need
to flee Nazi Austria.
Jennifer Gasser plays the devout, naive yet outspoken Maria with a sweet voice and an engaging
innocence. She convincingly allows Maria to grow into the strong, loving woman who becomes
the family's glue.
The captain is portrayed with vocal and theatrical strength by veteran actor/singer Dan Walsh.
As the often absent father of a spirited brood, Walsh makes a convincing transition from stern to
loving. We enjoy watching Georg defrost and love bloom, and Walsh's rich voice makes many
numbers robust and satisfying.
Samantha Byer portrays the eldest daughter, Liesl. Her beauty, sincere depiction of the joy and
worry of young love, and her lyrical voice make her performance a winner. Playing Rolf, her
telegram-delivering beau with mixed allegiances, Joseph Cullinane did a splendid job, filling in
for Tyler Reynolds at the performance I saw.
The other Von Trapp children are Brandon Grimes (who has great vocal range) as Friedrich;
Donal Magrane as the spunky Kurt; Carolyn Arnold as the outspoken "little adult" Louisa, and
Molly McDevitt, Meaghan Dubois, and Meghan Ryan as the truly adorable Brigitta, Marta and
Gretel.
There are a number of strong supporting roles worthy of praise. Among them are the nuns, well
played (with angelic voices) by Sara Freedman, Meg Young, Rachel Parkman and Kathleen
Bousquet as the Mother Abbess, whose "Climb Every Mountain" is sung beautifully.
Elsa Schrader, the svelte, sophisticated short-lived fianc of the captain is well played by Karen
Fanale, and Max Detweiler, musical promoter and inveterate mooch, is played with oily
affability by John Sawyer. Of a number of repeated cameos, my favorite was Alice Finnegan as
the knowing housekeeper Frau Schmidt.
Curtain Call's 'Dining Room' is a tasty treat
THEATER REVIEW THE DINING ROOM, by A.R. Gurney. Directed by Stacey Erikson;
presented by Curtain Call Theater, Commercial and Faxon streets, Braintree; continues
tomorrow, Friday and Saturday nights. Phone 781- 356-5113.
Ellen Brams. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:May 9, 2001. p. 31
The family dining room has always been a place for providing physical sustenance along with
emotional nourishment, communion and communication. In Curtain Call Theater's production of
A.R. Gurney's fast-paced, thoroughly engaging play, "The Dining Room," the same forum
becomes much more diverse in its aura emotional climate and functions.
With lovely formal dining room furniture provided by John and Martha Sawyer and an elegant,
spacious set designed by director Stacey Erikson and decorated by Jennifer Edge, and well
constructed by Jeff Freedman, John Cobble and their team, the audience feels immediately
drawn into the many superimposed lives portrayed by an outstanding cast of six.
The actors change ages, accents, and costumes in a heartbeat, bringing forth an endless variety of
characters in a multitude of vignettes with precision and finesse.
With each actor playing nine or 10 roles, it can truly be said this play is an actor's piece.
However, with the rapid mix and match of relationships and a minuscule amount of time for
character development, it's also an ensemble work. Curtain Call's production is an achievement
on both levels.
The affluent surroundings of an upper middle class home are the forum for the sometimes funny,
sometimes touching, always entertaining snippets from the lives of several households.
Recurring themes include the generation gap, keeping up appearances, tradition versus
contemporary utility, and the "domain" of the dining room (as if it had a life of its own).
The play is definitely a challenge for an amateur company, and Curtain Call is to be commended
for undertaking it and for carrying it off so well.
There are no weak links in the cast. Heather MacFadden is graceful, articulate and convincing in
her roles, including a chatty real estate agent and various socialites. She never overdoes her
characters.
Marianne Withington is a delight in everything from a bratty kid to an Irish maid, to a mom
having an awkward affair with her hubby's best friend, and a daughter diminished after a marital
breakup. Her transitions are rapid, deliberate and extremely effective, making the audience forget
she was someone totally different just a few paragraphs ago. Her characters were well crafted in
a relative instant, and she evoked easily all the emotions the author intended.
Whether depicting a maid, a society matron or a recalcitrant dancing school student, Christine
Burke delivers clean, credible characterizations. Alex Pevzner constantly reinvents himself,
doing different ages, accents and types with equal authenticity.
Christopher D. Tilden is a high-energy actor who punctuates all his characters with enough
panache to make them memorable. He's equally believable as an "average Joe" repairman and as
a pompous member of "the club" who's ready to avenge a slur on his brother with fisticuffs if
necessary.
Bill Stambaugh is an actor who always crafts his characters with definition and perception, and
he has some fine ones in this show. With a look, a change of gait, tone or accent, he truly
becomes a new person. From awkward child to a stern, halting dad, Stambaugh not only makes
the audience believe in his parcel of characters but feel that we've really gotten to know them.
In all, this production of "The Dining Room" is a thoroughly satisfying theatrical repast.
'Alice' provides a much-needed escape
Ellen Brams. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Sep 25, 2001. p. 22
Braintree's Curtain Call Theater club has begun its 40th season with a production that proves the
group hasn't run out of steam or creativity.
"Alice in Wonderland," a musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll's stories, is an engaging show for
adults and children and is most welcome at a time when pure flights of fancy and escape are
especially needed.
Director Stacey Erikson, assisted by Bill Stambaugh, has skillfully guided a large and talented
cast, ranging from tots to teens to adults. Erikson keeps the show moving as she transports the
audience visually through Alice's ongoing misadventures. Music director Barbara Hutchinson
has provided a rousing, if occasionally too loud, accompaniment for this endearing yet
unfamiliar musical, and Meg Young's innovative choreography helps keep the whole, eyecatching circus boiling with joyous activity.
The colorful and imaginative set, designed by director Erikson and painted by Tova Speter and
an able crew, and the wild and wonderful costumes provided by Martha Sawyer with assistance
by Linda White go a long way to heighten the fantasy.
The title role of Alice is played by the lively and pleasing Alexandra Sims, whose dance training
at the Boston Ballet school is showcased with grace and style. Her voice, though somewhat soft
for the spirited score and accompaniment, is pleasing and her facial expressions telescope her
endless mood changes of curiosity, dismay, concern and frustration.
Her co-star, Christopher Landis, is truly super as the White Rabbit. Playing a role a bit
reminiscent of the emcee in "Cabaret," Landis shows himself a consummate showman, with
song-and-dance skills and well controlled comic talent. His timing and his ability to engage an
audience are outstanding.
Sara Freedman displays an excellent voice as both soloist and more importantly the Duchess,
whose mothering skills are suspect. Colin Turtle can be a duck, table, sun or a dashing Knave of
Hearts with equal aplomb. Randy Cushing can be a most interesting caterpillar, a walrus, or the
King of Hearts in fine form.
Naomi Gurt-Lind creates both beautiful music with her gifted voice and high drama as the "off
with your head" Queen of Hearts, and you've got to love Meaghan DuBois as the sleepy
doormouse/ croquet ball. With a tad more downstage volume she'll be just perfect. Nicole Foti
not only provides a great grinning Cheshire Cat but brings audience smiles with her butterfly
ballet. Donal Magrane and Molly McDevitt are the truly precious and tapping TweedleDum and
TweedleDee.
Space doesn't permit individual mention of the many worthy cameos and multi-part performers
who contributed admirably to this fanciful fun ensemble. However, of particular note are Aaron
Barcelo as the French mouse, Doug Geschelin as a kind of Ray Romano carpenter, Jane King as
the March Hare, Michael Ryan as a Mad Hatter and Brandon Grimes as the Gryphon.
Things may be getting "curiouser and curiouser" for Alice in Wonderland, but they are getting
better and better at Curtain Call. Instead of swimming in tears from current events, swim in
smiles at this much-needed, well-executed escape.
'Tenor' is a great start to Curtain Call's season
LEND ME A TENOR, by Ken Ludwig. Presented by Curtain Call Theater, Commercial and
Faxon streets, Braintree. Continues Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. Phone 781-356-5113.
Ellen Brams. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Nov 14, 2001. p. 31
Ken Ludwig's "Lend Me a Tenor" is a laugh-a-minute slapstick comedy popular with audiences
for its zany, sometimes bawdy, nonstop hysteria. The play, set in Cleveland in 1934, involves a
local opera company and the visiting Italian tenor who is supposed to star in its production of
"Othello." Just hours before the sold-out performance, however, the star hasn't yet shown up, and
when he does arrive, he's too ill to sing - although not too ill to sweep various women of the
company off their romantic feet.
The play takes place in a hotel suite with enough doors to keep up a frantic pace of entrances and
exits. Nobody really knows whether they are coming or going, but they are always hysterically in
transit.
The current production by Braintree's Curtain Call Theater club, directed by Martha Sawyer,
moves along crisply, rises to emotional crescendos as powerful as "Othello's" and maximizes the
laughs. It's a great start to the club's 40th season!
Although Tito Merelli may be internationally renowned as a tenor and Max is an overnight
accidental, anonymous sensation, the cast is well balanced and features many individually
memorable performances.
John Sawyer is truly terrific as Tito Merelli, a.k.a. Il Stupendo, who is supposed to save the
floundering Cleveland Grand Opera from its sea of red ink but is more interested in satisfying his
bodily and sexual appetities. Sawyer is robust in his accent, emotional explosions and vocal
delivery.
Merelli's wife, Maria, has a love/hate relationship with her longtime mate and lustful Lothario.
As Maria, Marianne Withington a perfect powerhouse. Though she's diminutive, she has a
hurricane delivery punctuated by flashing eyes, shrieks and a temper that could wilt plants.
Bill Stambaugh as Max, the general assistant to just about everyone in the opera company, is
truly the mouse that roared. Through a series of comic circumstances, he becomes both a pal of
"Il Stupendo" and (for one performance only), a somewhat dubious opera star. Stambaugh is
wonderful in his unexpected evolution from stuttering flunkie to leading tenor, all in an evening.
Amid all the hilarity, Stambaugh never lets his character appear contrived or over the top, for
which he deserves high praise.
Jon Young plays the company's general manager, Saunders, a walking raw nerve who rages,
whines, schemes and then strokes everyone so as not to lose his sell-out house. Young never
skips a beat or flags for a moment as a dynamo in distress.
The play offers a number of plum female roles, all handled deftly in this production. Stacey
Erikson plays Saunders' beautiful ingenue daughter, Maggie, whose devotion to her eternal
suitor, Max, is tempered by her desire for a continental fling. Erikson makes the ditsy Maggie is
a laughable charmer.
Completing the stellar cast are Kim Palson as the company's gorgeous soprano, Diana, who
knows how to make men hit higher notes than she can sing; Nancy Bender as the guild
chairwoman (who could use a little more snob appeal), and and Colin Turtle as a boyishly
irrepressible bellhop with a lilting accent and a fair amount of chutzpah.
If recent events have left you longing for a good belly laugh, Curtain Call's rollicking "Lend Me
a Tenor" may be just the prescription.
Intimate theater in Braintree; Curtain Call celebrating 40th anniversary
Jessica Fargen, JESSICA FARGEN. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Nov 25, 2002. p. 14
BRAINTREE - Before the actors took the stage for the Curtain Call Theater's production of Neil
Simon's "Rumors," longtime theater patron John Sawyer gave the "bathroom" talk. Go now, or
wait until intermission, he told the 60 or so people waiting to see the show earlier this month.
The tiny theater on Commercial Street only has one bathroom, and it's right next to the stage. It
may not be the typical night out at the theater, but patrons say it is one of the best deals for your
money. Despite the tiny budget, they say, it offers a refreshingly professional and entertaining
night out. Tickets for the "Rumors," which recently ended its two-week run, were $12. The
actors are volunteers, the average budget for a show is $1,000 and the ticket booth doubles as a
costume closet. The quaint theater holds 75 people and props often end up coming from people's
living rooms and closets. The actors usually get ready on the stage because there are no dressing
rooms.
"This is our greenroom," said Stacey Erikson, the stage manager for "Rumors," as she walked
through a closet-like area off the stage where the actors sat crammed together waiting to go on.
Curtain Call Theater, which operates out of an old church on Commercial Street, produces three
shows a year. As Curtain Call celebrates its 40th anniversary, supporters say its popularity is
strong and its place for professional actors and those who see acting as a hobby is cemented for
years to come.
"In some ways it's probably better than more professional shows because it is so close and
intimate," said Meg Young, a longtime theater supporter and actor from Braintree. "They get a
lot more out of it than going to a big show in town where it's all ritzy and they say, 'Wow, Wow,
Wow.'
"This way they really appreciate what theater is and what goes into it because they are so much
closer to what is happening."
Jean Cohen, a thirtysomething from Plympton, went to "Rumors" this month with Bern Budd
and Betsy Budd of Marshfield. "It's an intimate space," Cohen said. "It's as good as anything you
can find around here," Bern Budd added. They were some of about 65 people, ages 20 to 60,
who attended the show.
Jonathan Young, a Braintree lawyer and Meg's husband, said the theater draws professionals and
amateurs. "Some have master's of fine arts degrees and others have never done anything (with
acting) until they stepped in our door," he said.
A musical takes about 11 weeks to prepare. Straight plays take about seven weeks. The cast
rehearses two to three nights a week for several hours. A week before the show rehearsals
intensify. The cast is entirely volunteer except the director, who is paid. Bob Gillet directed
"Rumors."
Jonathan Young said the theater supporters, actors and production staff are a close-knit family.
"People like to build relationships and a theater group is a great way to build relationships. You
form a friendship during the show," he said. "One of the things that has happened incidentally is
it's almost like a matchmaker." John Sawyer, the guy who gives the bathroom talk, met his wife,
Martha, on the set of a Curtain Call Theater show 17 years ago. They are one of five couples
who met while working on shows for the theater and then married.
Jessica Fargen may be reached at [email protected].
THEATER REVIEW; Curtain Call delivers intimate 'Cuckoo's Nest'
Jim Dorman. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Mar 17, 2003. p. 15
Curtain Call Theater's production of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is so intimate, you
might feel like you've been committed to the psychiatric ward yourself. The bright lights of the
day room shine above our heads onto the stark white institutional decor. Nurse Ratched's station
rises imposingly to our right like a well- protected fortress. We feel the weight of the men as they
shuffle across the room in pajamas and slippers. Big Chief Bromden (P.K. Egersheim reprising
the role from the recent Milton Player's production) stops right next to us, terrified, while he
quietly watches the scene transforming before him. So does the boisterous Cheswick (Jay
Savage) when he yells at Aide Turkle (John Sawyer). Watch out for catatonic Ruckly (Marc
Jacques); he might just drool on you as he passes by. And, at intermission, you can use the same
bathroom where Randle Patrick McMurphy just snuck a cigarette. This is the stage version of
Ken Kesey's famous novel and the even more famous 1975 movie starring Jack Nicholson. Dale
Wasserman adapted the story in 1962 when it had an unsuccessful run on Broadway. It is a
dismal yet satirical play about strength and courage in the face of control and humiliation. In the
story, McMurphy is sent to the hospital because of aggressive behavior while in prison doing
time for statutory rape. He's smart enough to know that the mental hospital is easier than serving
hard time at the prison farm. What he doesn't count on is the spirit-breaking manipulation that
Nurse Ratched uses to manage her ward. Directed by Stacey Erikson, with help from meticulous
stage manager Kelley Weeks, this "Cuckoo's Nest" is powerful, passionate and timeless. It
features many well- crafted performances. Among them is Bill Stambaugh as McMurphy. He
might be familiar to local audiences as Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire" at the
Company Theatre in 2001. Stambaugh carries the show as the rebellious character. He's tough
and he's funny, but he's also an inspiration to the previously docile and broken men on the ward,
especially young Billy Bibbit (Colin Turtle). At first, he's a pain in their backsides, but he
patiently prods them into rebelling against the subtle humiliation they are subjected to "like hens
at a pecking party." Stambaugh's defiant play-by-play of the World Series is a high point,
triumphantly challenging Nurse Ratched as the first act ends. Christopher D. Tilden practically
steals the show as the intelligent but spineless Mr. Harding. He makes Harding very accessible
and fascinating through his voice and gesticulation. Harding is smart and articulate, but as he
says, he's "a rabbit and not a wolf," and he's happy to let McMurphy challenge Nurse Ratched.
Tilden and Stambaugh work well together and have good chemistry having previously
collaborated on the Milton Players' production of "Godspell" in 2000. Sharon Evans plays Nurse
Ratched. Through her portrayal we see the evil that comes from abuse of authority and power.
She forces Harding and the other men to degrade themselves in the name of therapy and smiles
while she orders up electroshock treatments as discipline for aggressive behavior. Her devotion
to the rules and discipline is frighteningly oppressive. The supporting cast shines as well. Curtain
Call has done a fine job of presenting "Cuckoo's Nest" in their unique and intimate theater,
providing an enjoyable and engaging way to truly experience this thought-provoking story. ONE
FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
Curtain Call Theater, Faxon and Commercial streets, Braintree. 8 p.m. March 13-15, 20-11. $12.
781-356-5113.
THEATER REVIEW; 'The Dresser' a captivating look behind the scenes of 'King Lear'
Jim Dorman. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Oct 21, 2003. p. 19
The house lights go down, the actors take their places, the stage lights go up and the play begins.
To us it seems so effortless, but what goes on behind the scenes? Ronald Harwood's play "The
Dresser" invites us backstage to see what happens to an English repertory company as they
struggle to present William Shakespeare's "King Lear." The story takes place behind the scenes
at a theater in the English countryside. It is 1942 and the Germans have been bombing steadily.
Everyone, including the actors, and especially the leading man, is under incredible stress. Still,
the troupe continues to perform to packed houses night after night. The heart of this story is the
relationship between the company's aging leading man, known only as Sir, and the man
responsible for getting him onstage every night, his dresser.
Harwood's story, told from the point of view of the dresser, first appeared onstage in London in
1980, and Broadway the next year. In 1983, it was made into an Academy Award-nominated
movie starring Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay. Stacey Erickson ("The Unexpected Guest,"
"One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest") directs a strong cast in Curtain Call Theatre's captivating
version of this look at life in the theater. Sir always plays the lead roles. The success of the show
rides on his performance, and today, it looks like there may not even be one. Suffering from a
lifetime of regret and unhappiness, he fears it is all coming to an end.
He suddenly suffers a nervous breakdown and is taken to the hospital, but manages to check
himself out and return to the theater an hour before the show. Norman, his faithful dresser,
promises the stage manager to have him ready by curtain up. Most of the dialogue takes place
between these two men as Norman relentlessly motivates this broken man to once again become
King Lear. Jonathan Young turns in a mesmerizing performance as Sir. Seeing the character at
first, you wonder how this man became so desperate and delirious, and how he will pull it
together enough to go out on stage to perform. Young has totally embraced this role. He delivers
copious amounts of dialogue with a perfect English accent, intonation and purpose. His body
movement is that of a disturbed and barely functioning individual, but somehow you think he
will do it. It will take much more than applying his makeup and putting on the costume to
complete the transformation. Still, as he sits before his mirror in the modest dressing room,
gently prodded and bolstered by Norman, you see the process begin to take place. John Sawyer is
Norman, Sir's dresser for 16 years. He adores this man and is totally devoted to protecting him
and preparing him to perform each night. One can see that without him, Sir would have had to
stop acting long ago.
Norman feels safe within the confines of the theater. He likes the pretend world far better than
the real one. Sawyer turns in a stellar performance as the effeminate, selfless and dutiful assistant
who seems to enjoy being taken for granted by the man he lives for. Sawyer does a nice job of
providing the layers necessary for Norman's character. A fine supporting cast complements the
two actors. Martha Sawyer plays Her Ladyship, Sir's long-suffering lover and leading lady.
Karen Wadland plays Madge, the stage manager who reluctantly agrees to go on with the show
despite Sir's condition. Kate E. Bellanich is Irene, the young actress who is smitten by Sir, but
only helps him realize that his precious youth is gone. And Bill Stambaugh adds some nice color
and comedy as the upstart actor and playwright Oxenby. On a final note, the scenes allowing us
to peek from backstage as the players perform "King Lear" are well done, and quite enjoyable.
THE DRESSER At the Curtain Call Theatre, Faxon and Commercial streets, Braintree. 8 p.m.
Oct. 23-25. $12. 781-356-5113 or www.curtaincallbraintree.org.
- Jim Dorman
They're getting their act together; Aspiring thespians take center stage during workshop
Jessica Fargen, JESSICA FARGEN. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Jul 14, 2004. p. 13
BRAINTREE At least for the purpose at hand, Jake and Julie are siblings and they are not
getting along. "I hate you," Jake Sheehy tells Julie DiBona, who is playing the part of his sister.
"I hate you, too," she says. "Why would I want your stupid toys?"
"Why would I want your makeup?" he shouts back. The scene ends as Julie storms off in a huff,
which is followed by light applause from the 15 or so people gathered inside the Curtain Call
theater on a recent morning.
Jake, 11, and Julie, 13, both of Braintree, were improvising during a theater workshop they say
has prepped them for bigger acting bits and, in general, built up their confidence. Jake and Julie
were given less than a minute to come up with the skit idea.
Theater in the Middle runs three mornings a week at Curtain Call. This is the fifth year for the
workshop, which goes until the end of the month.
On a recent morning, eight fake potted plants, a couple of folding chairs and a halogen lamp
lined the small stage in the dark theater on Commercial Street.
A dozen or so kids took turns doing improvisation and rehearsing for "Winnie the Pooh," which
they will perform the last day of class.
They are learning about voice projection, character development, breathing techniques and, well,
acting. "This will help me get a better part next year," said Jake, who attends East Middle
School. Julie, who played the angry sister in the skit, said what she has learned has extended to
the classroom.
"It helps me if I have to present something in class," said the South Middle School student who
is in the program a third straight summer. "It helps me speak clearer."
Kayla Zaniboni and Deirdre Tobin, both 15-year-old juniors at Braintree High, were in the
inaugural Theater in the Middle class, and stayed with it for four years. This year they are back
as non- salaried assistant teachers who say they are compensated by simply having fun. Both
girls said the acting classes bolstered their friendship and took care of their stage fright.
"When we had to do improv, I would freeze. I don't really notice the audience" anymore, Tobin
said. Zaniboni said she felt at home among her thespian classmates. "Here, you can be yourself,"
Zaniboni said. "Everyone is friends."
Acting, they both said, was a welcome release from their daily lives. "I like how you can just be
a different person," Tobin said. Stacey Erikson, who recently directed the Curtain Call's
production of "Bob's Date," and Meg Young, executive director of the theater, run the program.
For more information on Theater in the Middle or Curtain Call visit
www.curtaincallbraintree.org, or call 781-356-5113.
THEATER REVIEW; Please sir, I want some more 'Oliver'
Karen Eknaian. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Mar 15, 2005. p. 29
"Oliver" is a classic tale of the struggles of an abandoned young boy and his fight to find
someone to love him and to care for him.
Fear, distrust and ultimately, triumph are paramount in this play and must be acted out by an
emotionally driven cast.
The Curtain Call Theatre's performance of "Oliver" gave a whole new meaning to the phrase,
"Please sir, I want some more."
The performers were exciting and entertaining, even though there were certain musical numbers
that were dominated by the orchestra rather than the singer.
The setting was quaint and shabby-looking as it should be, and although the theater is quite
small, there is a sense of openness due to the high ceilings.
Oliver, a 13-year-old orphan who finds himself being tossed around like a rag doll between
several sets of grownups, was played by Andrew Smith. For a young man, Andrew has a
powerful voice and his solos were exceptionally emotional and captivating.
Some of the main couples within the play were also entertaining and seemed to match their
characters well. Bill Sykes was played by Michael Warner with a wonderfully evil presence. He
did a fantastic job of making everyone hate his character, although his voice seemed to be
covered by the orchestra during his singing performances.
This was not the case with Sykes' sweetheart Nancy, performed by Kate deLima, whose voice
was as powerful as Warner's presence was evil. With such a difficult role, both strong and
submissive to Sykes, deLima did a good job of swaying the audience back and forth between her
conflicting roles with her body language and tone of voice.
Mr. Bumble (Tim Fitzgerald) and Widow Corney (Sharon Petti) are a wonderful bickering pair,
before they are even a couple, which added a comical atmosphere during some of the more
stressful parts of the story.
The undertaker, Mr. Sowerberry and his wife (Jura Aukstikalnis and Colleen McCafferty) were
funny and particularly creepy, as they should be, during their duet of "That's Your Funeral."
Will McDonald played the Artful Dodger and will not be forgotten due to his excellent
performance as Fagin's most crafty thief, not to mention his wonderful accent and singing voice.
John Sawyer's performance as Fagin was extremely funny, and he did such a great job being
likeable that it was difficult to decide whether to hate him or have pity upon the old man.
The chorus should not be overlooked, as they had a very commanding voice as a group in all of
their numbers.
My only complaint might be that the beginning of the second act seemed rushed. How Oliver
came to live with the rich Mr. Brownlow was explained instead of shown and some of the
reprises seemed long.
All in all, a wonderful performance of a classic play and a great way to spend the evening with
family.
Oliver!
By the Curtain Call Theatre in Braintree, at 8 p.m. March 17-19. Tickets $16 Thursday, $18
Friday and Saturday.
- KAREN EKNAIAN
The Patriot Ledger
THEATER REVIEW; Curtain Call Theatre gives 'Anne Frank' new vitality
Drake Lucas. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:May 13, 2005. p. 16
Anne Frank's story is not new. Her World War II diary, first published in 1947, has been translated
into 67 languages. The play itself, based on Anne's diary, begins at the story's tragic end. But the
Curtain Call Theatre in Braintree is able to present the familiar story with fresh emotion, palpable
tension and a polished sparkle in Anne's eye. The play "The Diary of Anne Frank," which opens
tonight, will run through May 21. The intimate theater draws people into the crowded attic where the
13-year-old Anne hid with her Jewish family, the Van Daan family and dentist Jan Dussel (Michael
Pevzner) to escape deportation by the Nazis in World War II Amsterdam. The play opens in the
silence of remembrance as Anne's father returns to their hide-away annex alone after the war. David
DaCosta carries the character of Otto Frank with strength and compassion. He opens the pages and
begins reading as Anne's optimistic voice flows into the theater. The quarrels, fear and suppression of
hiding are all seen through the bright eyes of a spontaneous and eternally hopeful teenager who
narrates her experience of trying to grow up without a corner to call her own or any of her friends
with whom she shared childhood. Anna Finklestein plays the part of Anne flawlessly with youthful
energy as she mimics the adults, sulks, and has a crush on the reserved, shy Peter, played by Andy
Oberbeck. The haughty, materialistic Mrs. Van Daan (Toni Ruscio) and the selfish, grumbling Mr.
Van Daan (Mark Logue) are the bickering couple who break the peace of the Frank family as they
share the attic space that is so small, people had to sleep on the floor. The crowded set is welldesigned to reflect a life of people living on top of each other - literally. The loft beds provide a way
to keep all characters on stage, a technique that demonstrates the lack of space and inability for
anyone to be alone or move freely. No one suppressed her emotion more than Anne who longed for
expression in a place of confining silence. "When we get out of here, we're not going to remember
how to dance," she says with naive irony as she waltzes across the room. Gradually, everyone lets
certain customs be forgotten as they are kept inside for 25 months and food and other supplies
become more scarce. The entire cast plays the scenes with remarkable sensitivity, and sometimes
even a German accent. They make the air tense at the ring of a telephone, make the stomach drop at
the sound of a truck pulling up outside, and send a cold fear into the audience at the brusque march of
Nazi footsteps. The story is dark and quiet but touched with humor and warmth. The cast gave
enough time to the dialogue to allow the interaction between characters to develop, especially the
tender closeness of Anne and her father and Anne's romance with Peter. At the end, the audience has
grown with the characters. In recent weeks, people around the world have memorialized the 60th
anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps to call attention to and remember the
millions of people who died at the hands of Nazi cruelty. Perhaps there is no better way than to honor
the vibrancy, struggle and creativity of those who lived. The Curtain Call Theater's production allows
the timeless characters of Anne's story to survive.
Curtain Call wins awards
Drake Lucas. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Jun 13, 2005. p. 21
The Curtain Call Theatre of Braintree won four awards for its performance of "The Diary of
Anne Frank" at the Eastern Massachusetts Association of Community Theaters Festival held
May 28 at Babson College in Wellesley. The 22 members of cast and crew presented a 45minute segment of the full-length play, in costume and with set, to compete against six other
theater companies. Martha Sawyer of Scituate won for Best Costume Design, Stacey Shanahan
of Quincy won for Best Sound Design, Richard Carey of Quincy was named Best Supporting
Actor and the entire cast shared the Best Ensemble award. Other nominations included Andrea
Hager for Best Stage Manager, David DaCosta for Best Set Design, Mark Logue for Best
Supporting Actor, Rachel Fisher-Parkman for Best Supporting Actress and Shanahan for Best
Director. This is the company's eighth year performing at the festival.
THEATER PREVIEW; 'Something's Afoot' at Curtain Call Theatre
James Furbush, JAMES FURBUSH. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Mar 1, 2006. p. 17
It's quiet at the Curtain Call Theatre in Braintree as Chris Tilden and Rachel Fisher-Parkman
work out the kinks in their dance routine with choreographer Mariam Joseph, in the dark.
Then house lights flicker on over the darkened stage, illuminating the threesome, as director
Martha Sawyer climbs down from the lighting rails.
It is roughly two weeks until the March 10 opening of "Something's Afoot," a musical murdermystery spoof. The theater company has to steal rehearsals whenever time permits because there
is still a lot of work to do.
"I've wanted to do this show since I first saw it (in the 1980s)," Sawyer said. The play had a brief
Broadway run in the 1970s, but has become obscure since.
The play is reminiscent of the movie "Clue," and loosely spoofs the works of mystery novelist
Agatha Christie, specifically "Ten Little Indians."
Set in the 1930s, 10 stereotypical mystery characters are invited to a country estate. When the
owner is found dead, the story becomes a race to discover the killer. Of course, many other
characters are murdered, along the way.
"They die spectacularly," Sawyer said, of the show's appeal. "It's not just that they die, but how
they die."
And of course, Sawyer would not give away how any of the characters die, lest she ruin one of
the better aspects of the show, except she said many of them are from "booby traps or other
elaborate means."
Those deaths present the intimate Curtain Call Theatre, which seats 65 to 70, with technical
challenges.
In such a small space, the audience is just a few feet from the stage. At its best, that intimacy
helps break down the barrier between audience and production. At its worst, the opposite
happens.
"You really have to be on your game," Sawyer said. The deaths have to executed flawlessly, or
they won't be believable. Curtain Call was founded in 1962, and the company used Thayer
Academy's stage for many years. Now the community theater company has its own performance
space in a converted church on Commercial Street.
Sawyer, who has been with the troupe since 1977 when she began running summer workshops,
said having its own space makes sense.
"We were losing our shirt," said Sawyer, who is also president of Curtain Call. Financially, they
were better off selling out every show at their own small venue, instead of renting a large
production space. The smaller venue has not limited the group's ability to perform certain shows,
even big musicals. "Except Peter Pan," she said. "There's the whole flying thing, which is tough
to do."
With two weeks until the curtain goes up, Sawyer was still worried about this show's music,
choreography and technical aspects coming together - but then again, plays always seem to jell in
the final two or three weeks, she said. And while she never knows which plays will become
crowd pleasers, she feels this one will make the audience laugh, smile and feel scared.
"The word is entertained," she joked.
Something's Afoot At Curtain Call Theatre, 182 Commercial St., Braintree, March 10-12 and 1618, $18 Friday and Saturday, $16 Thursday and Sunday. All shows at 8 p.m., except March 12 at
2 p.m. Call 781-356-5113, e-mail [email protected] or visit curtaincallbraintree.org
THEATER REVIEW ; Laugh and cry at 'Steel Magnolias'
STEEL MAGNOLIAS; Curtain Call Theatre, 182 Commercial St., Braintree. Last weekend and
8 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Tickets, $13-$20, 781-356-5113. curtaincallbraintree.org for more
information.
The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Nov 7, 2006. p. 16
Braintree's Curtain Call Theatre has served up a menu of laughter and tears to open its 2006-07
season, timeless dramatic values but in a decidedly contemporary setting.
That's one of the more striking aspects of "Steel Magnolias," Robert Harling's bittersweet
comedy that first came to the public's attention as a critically acclaimed and long-running offBroadway hit in 1987. Two years later, the play reached the big screen in the hit movie version
featuring the day's Hollywood A-list of actresses, including Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley
MacLaine, Julia Roberts, Daryl Hannah and Olympia Dukakis, and the tagline, "The funniest
movie ever to make you cry."
Harling, previously an off-Broadway actor and voice-over artist, penned this, his first play as a
comic-tragic tribute based loosely on the life of his sister, Susan. She had recently died from
complications of diabetes, much like one of the main "Magnolias" characters, Shelby (played by
Roberts on screen).
"Steel Magnolias," directed by Curtain Call acting/directing regular Micheal Pevzner, debuted
Friday at the Braintree Theatre Playhouse, drawing a strong and welcoming turnout to the
intimate, 65-seat facility on the corner of Commercial and Faxon streets. The show has three
more scheduled performances this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.
"The company (Curtain Call) picked this play to open the season because it's always been known
for such good, meaty roles for women," said Pevzner, who retired four years ago as director of
the theatre program at Massasoit Community College in Brockton and directed a production of
"Steel Magnolias" at the college in 1991.
And meaty roles for women they are. The characters are a group of gossipy Southern ladies at
Truvy's Beauty Salon, where all the ladies who are "anything" come to have their hair done in
the small town of Chinquapin, La.
The women engage and exchange in sharp, funny dialogue in scenes of the typical working day
at Truvy's. There's the outspoken host Truvy herself, played by Toni Ruscio of West Roxbury,
who's always quick to offer free advice with a cut, shampoo or manicure. Her eager, somewhat
shy at first, new assistant Annelle (Kelly Shea Whitehead, of Hingham) is not sure whether she is
still married because her marriage may not be legal.
Filling out the cast are the town's two rich ladies, the curmudgeonly Ouiser, played by Hingham's
Sharon Evans ("I'm not crazy, I've just been in a bad mood for 40 years"), and the eccentric Miss
Clairee, played by Braintree's Meg Young ("If you can't find anything good to say about
anybody, come sit by me"). Also, the local social leader, M'Lynn (Marianne Withington of
Plymouth), and her daughter Shelby (Katherine Moore of Bridgewater), "the prettiest girl in
town" who's about to marry a "good ol' boy."
Adding to the overall light and sometimes loopy atmosphere are the opening scene's shotgun
blasts resounding outside the parlor as M'Lynn's husband, Drum Eatenton, picks off birds in the
trees of his backyard in preparation for his daughter's wedding reception that afternoon. Also,
there's the occasional rock and pop soundtrack as Shelby's radio plays the hits by the Ventures,
Roy Orbison and Billy Joel, among others.
But the mood turns serious over time, as the pair of two-scene acts transpire over several years.
The focus becomes M'Lynn and Shelby, the daughter's decision to have a child despite having
diabetes and the tragic battle with her medical condition, which includes dialysis and a donated
kidney from mom.
The overall cast flows well together in the ensemble format, lending spirit and sympathy to the
characters, illustrating their grace and charm backed by inner strength symbolized in the play's
title.
"As Clairee, Meg (Young) was also in my Massasoit production of 'Magnolias' in the same role
back in '91," Pevzner said. "I've also worked with several of the other actresses in this show. So I
know them, and they know me, and we know how we work together."
Matt Whorf For The Patriot Ledger
'DROP DEAD' FROM LAUGHTER
Drop Dead; Last weekend at Curtain Call Theatre, Braintree. Contact them at 781-356-5113,
curtaincallbraintree.org.
The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Mar 20, 2007. p. 15
Imagine a poor man's "Noises Off" set in an area called "Not Even Off-Broadway." Now
imagine that the almost totally unprofessional cast in the play-with-in-the play of the same name
are soon dying off one by one not only in the company's Agatha Christie-like play but also
offstage. If the resulting farce called "Drop Dead" does not prove as inspired as its Michael
Frayn predecessor, the Curtain Call Theatre's lively staging does make the Billy Van Zandt-Jane
Millmore play good lethal fun.
"Drop Dead" opens with a rag-tag dress rehearsal that does not bode well for opening night.
Actors arrive very late. A show-off actress named Mona Monet looks for applause from her
cheering squad. Hard of hearing old timer Constance Crawford often seems to dwell in a dream
world. Dick Shalit, supposed television critic Gene Shalit's brother, does not come remotely
close to real acting. Even professional Brent Reynolds has a problem - namely, pronouncing the
name of his character's young lover Penelope as Nipples or Pineapple.
Most seriously of all, producer Sol Weisenheimer has creative differences with the playwright,
Alabama Miller. Where Miller wants to spell out metaphors, especially snow, with overly long
discourses, Weisenheimer wants to make the play shorter and more risque to showcase his
girlfriend Candy Apples (who is playing Penelope). Slick, vulgar and judgmental, he refers to set
designer Phillip Fey as a "faigele" (Yiddish for "fairy"), as he clearly loves the play's flamboyant
director, Victor Le Pewe.
But soon Weisenheimer turns up stabbed. Did Miller take care of him to stage his play to his
own liking? Did either Fey or Le Pewe remove the bigoted producer in exasperation and rage?
Could one of the cast members be concealing a psychotic condition? Did the butler, Drools,
actually do it? Eventually the murderer is revealed, in a scene that is wonderfully wacky.
Along the way, Van Zandt and Millmore poke good-natured fun at sacred cows and theater
foibles. In his own way, Weisenheimer stands for all that is commercial and crass in many
modern producers. The more Alabama Miller pontificates about high-minded theater and heavyhanded symbolism, the more he becomes his own worst enemy. There is even a Pirandellian
touch that also calls to mind the musicals "Crazy for You" and "Lend Me a Tenor" during which
Le Pewe finds it necessary to dress up as Constance Crawford's character Lady Barrington though Le Pewe is humorously much taller than she.
Under Richard White's sharp direction, most of the characters make the most of their parts. Jason
Poisson catches all of designer Fey's frustration trying to do justice by all of the design demands
of the rehearsed play. Cathy Larson is properly vain as Monet, while K. Lance Wesley captures
Reynolds' relative restraint dealing with the incompetence around him. Mike Pevzner has the
right sleaziness as Weisenheimer. Woody Farrick as Le Pewe fairly eats up Fey's adoration. Bill
Houldcroft Jr. has Drools' officiousness, while Sharon Evans makes good fun of Crawford.
During intermission, theatergoers should give some time to the playbill for the play-within-theplay. Look for a reference to the presenter as "The Late Sol Weisenheimer." Also notice that Fey
is the only name credited for stage management, lighting, sound engineering and fire
marshalling, among other responsibilities. The actors' biographies are a hoot as well.
As the expression goes, you could die laughing at Curtain Call's hilarious "Drop Dead."
JULES BECKER For The Patriot Ledger
'HORRORS' BRINGS DELIGHTS ; Show closes Curtain Call Theatre season
Little Shop of Horrors; Braintree Curtain Call Theater. May 17- 19. Tickets $20,
seniors/students $18. 781-356-5113, curtaincallbraintree.org.
The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:May 16, 2007. p. 24
If "Little Shop of Horrors" were brand new and making its debut today, it might be described as
something like part "Revenge of the Nerds," part "Hairspray" and part "Weird Science."
But the fact that "Little Shop" debuted onstage as a 1982 off- Broadway musical comedy by
composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman - and that was a remake of the original lowbudget 1960 black comedy movie directed by Roger Corman - only indicates that this production
is, if anything, a major influence on 1980s classic camp films. Not the other way around.
In both the stage and screen versions - the latter including a 1986 feature film remake starring
Steve Martin and Rick Moranis - "Little Shop" has made its way to cult classic status.
Also, thanks to such qualities as its low budget, small cast and original style of humor, the show
has become quite attractive to community theater groups.
The latest local company to try its hand at "Little Shop" is Braintree's Curtain Call Theatre,
which delighted a strong turnout to the small neighborhood theater house as it opened with a
rollicking production last weekend.
The production, which closes out Curtain Call's 2006-07 season, continues this Thursday, Friday
and Saturday evenings. Friday's show is sold out.
In 1960, the original "Little Shop" was billed as "The Funniest Film You'll See This Year."
Curtain Call's production, directed by Quincy native Paul Conroy, is essentially based on the
Roger Corman film script, and moves at an energized pace. A soundtrack of pre- Beatles
sockhop-era rock 'n' roll blends nicely with the action.
Seymour, played by David Lucey, is the nerdy young assistant at a florist shop on Los Angeles'
skid row, owned by the grumpy, penny- pinching Mr. Mushnick, played by Mark Anderson.
When Mushnick fears he might have to close the rundown shop for lack of business, Seymour
tells him about a special plant that he cross-bred from a butterwort and a Venus Flytrap, and
suggests the plant might bring new customer attraction if displayed in the window.
Seymour names the plant after his love interest, his co-worker Audrey (played by Braintree
native Mandy Mitchell), a sweet, simple gal who has an abusive boyfriend.
Meanwhile, as Seymour nurtures the plant, he soon discovers that his strange hybrid diets on not
the usual kinds of plant food but rather human blood and flesh, and that every night at sunset the
plant's leaves open up.
Seymour obliges by feeding him blood from his fingers, and Audrey Jr. soon grows to the size of
a small sedan.
Little Shop is also remembered as one of the first musicals to bring rock 'n' roll to the theater
stage.
Curtain Call's production pumps up the volume in grand style, with up-tempo numbers such as
the title song (featuring the bee- hived girl group trio appropriately named Chiffon, Crystal and
Ronnette), the climaxing ensemble piece "Don't Feed the Plants" and the romantic themes
"Suddenly Seymour" and "Somewhere That's Green."
Holding up the musical end, the offstage four-piece band of piano, bass, guitar and drums rocks
the house, led by musical director Bryan Dunn.
"I like to look at the theme of shows that I direct in an abstract way. And I like to make
audiences think, rather than just entertain," Conroy said about his rendering of "Little Shop."
"As a director, I usually stray toward darker, more in-depth shows," Conroy said.
Conroy is also a theater arts teacher at Quincy's Central Middle School. His previous directing
credits include "Cabaret" with the Milton Players and "Six Degrees of Separation" with the
Newton Country Players.
Matt Whorf For The Patriot Ledger
Funny things happen at Curtain Call's 'Forum'
THEATER REVIEW; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Curtain Call Theater,
182 Commercial St., Braintree. Last weekend and 8 p.m. Nov. 15-17. $17 at the box office. Cash
or check only.
Jim Dorman. The Patriot Ledger. Quincy, Mass.:Nov 15, 2007. p. 25
Once all 18 cast members welcome us with a rousing rendition of "Comedy Tonight" the odds
seem pretty good that a night of fun and frivolity is about to ensue. Such is the magic of "A
Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," an enduring and bawdy farce about a very
entertaining Roman family jubilantly presented by the Curtain Call Theater in Braintree.
"A Funny Thing" opened on Broadway in 1962. It featured music and lyrics by Stephen
Sondheim, and a book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. It starred Zero Mostel as Pseudolus,
our host, with Phil Silvers and Nathan Lane handling the role in two subsequent revivals, with all
three winning the Tony award for best actor in a musical. The show has won nine Tony awards
in all.
In the story, the always scheming Pseudolus, a slave to young Hero, son of Senex and Domina,
wishes to gain his freedom. He strikes a deal with Hero. If he can help him win the love of
Philia, the virgin courtesan from the brothel next door, Pseudolus will be freed. Philia and Hero
do fall in love, but Marcus Lycus (Bill Houldcroft Jr.), the brothel owner, has already promised
her to Miles Gloriosus, a very fierce and egotistical warrior who is on his way to claim her. To
prevent that, Pseudolus hatches one dubious plan after another to deceive the scary soldier. None
of them work, but they do promote a plethora of comic potential involving mistaken identity,
infidelity, sex, social commentary and cross dressing.
Martha Sawyer and Richard Carey direct Curtain Call's production with musical direction from
Bryan Dunn. It features a talented group of local actors, singers and dancers performing in an
intimate setting. David Edge plays Pseudolus and also Prologus, an actor who introduces the
story before the action begins. In his roles, he often speaks to the audience and to a few audience
members directly, even stealing a kiss at one point.
Edge is a congenial host and a fast-thinking Pseudolus. He never gives in no matter what he gets
himself and his co-conspirators in to. Edge is appropriately harried and brazen throughout the
performance, and he sings pretty well too, like on the surprisingly heartfelt "Free," a duet with
Christ Tilden as Hero.
Tilden also sings and acts well while expressing the untainted longings of a young man. He and
the "winsome" Valeska Cambron as Philia have immediate chemistry as the hopeful couple. Of
course, any man might fall for Philia. She's beautiful, and her only desire is to love and please
her man. Counting, spelling and thinking are not high on her priority list. Cambron, a trained
opera singer, pleasingly demonstrates her talents while singing "Lovely" and "That'll Show Him"
with Tilden.
Every actor in this show is in charge of comedy, but a few provide heightened levels. As his
character's name suggests, Bob Parsons as Hysterium is one of them. Just before the chaotic
finale, Hysterium agrees to pose as a seemingly deceased Philia. Let's just say that Parsons could
not look any less like the fair Philia, but he is riotously funny.
Robert McGrath plays Senex, the randy head of household who misappropriates Philia for
himself while Domina (Marianne Withington), his difficult wife, is away visiting her mother.
McGrath is delightful as he discovers a fountain of youth in his new found lust. Together with
Edge, Parsons and Houldcroft, he sings and dances to "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid," a
politically incorrect but endearing homage to women that is a show highlight. Later, Withington
manages to make Domina funny and even sweet while singing "That Dirty Old Man" to describe
her love/hate relationship with Senex.
Despite all the previously mentioned talent, Scott Carney practically runs off with the show by
providing us with a larger than life Gloriosus. The physically imposing Carney kicks the show
into high gear with his vigorous and animated portrayal, which plays nicely against Pseudolus'
desperate deceptions.
JIM DORMAN For The Patriot Ledger
Our Town Review:
By Jim Dormanfor The Patriot Ledger, November 13, 2008
BRAINTREE - A married couple enjoys one of countless meals together, a busy father arrives
home in time for his daughter’s birthday, a milk man completes his daily deliveries and two
teenagers fall in love over algebra; these are the simple, everyday experiences that Thornton
Wilder's "Our Town" hopes we learn to appreciate.
No one in Grover’s Corners, the fictional turn-of-the-19th century southern New Hampshire
town where "Our Town" is set, does anything exceptional. But, after seeing this play, you might
think that everything they do is important.
"Our Town" allows its audience to peek into the lives of two families (the Webbs and the Gibbs)
in Grover’s Corners and shows us how life evolves over 12 years. Our ubiquitous narrator the
Stage Manager reminds us people get married, they live their lives, and (sometimes much too
soon) they die. We see all this through the budding relationship of Emily Webb and George
Gibbs, who know each other as children, fall in love, and get married; all with the love and
support of their neighbors and families. But, just like in real life, no one lives forever.
The loveably creaky Curtain Call Theatre in Braintree presents "Our Town" again this weekend.
Longtime local director Stacey Shanahan squeezes plenty of folksy charm and genuine pathos
out of a large and diverse cast.
"Our Town" requires a bit more from its actors than most plays. Although they are dressed in
period costumes (smartly designed by Meg Young; especially Emily’s wedding dress), there is
little in the way of scenery and props. Besides a few tables and chairs, two ladders, a bunch of
boxes and some nondescript walls, the actors and our own imagination are all we need to
understand this story; although it can wear a bit thin, like when George and Emily sip imaginary
ice cream floats from nonexistent straws at the invisible drugstore.
After a slow start, when lines were sometimes stepped on, or delivered without clarity and
emphasis, the cast settles in, and the subtle power and emotion of "Our Town" casts its spell. By
the time it’s over, you might be glad you remembered to bring a few tissues.
As Emily, Alison Hough is the main event in this production. Through Emily’s life and Hough’s
portrayal of it, we learn the importance of every moment. Although Emily, like many teenage
girls, is often insecure, or even melodramatic, she quickly becomes everything (beautiful,
strong, understanding, supportive and optimistic) a father and mother would want in a daughter,
and a young man like George Webb could hope for in a wife. Hough nails it.
Greggory Daniels is equally adept as George, a young man on the verge of adulthood, who needs
a few kicks in the pants to help him over the last hurdles.
He gets one from Emily during the drugstore scene. He gets another from his wise mother as he
works through some pre-wedding jitters.
Together, Daniels and Hough are a major strength of this production. Along with the Stage
Manager (played with homespun appeal by John Sawyer, who should be commended for the
amount of verbiage he was charged with conveying) the young couple’s parents are the other
main characters in "Our Town."
Mike Tobin and Toni Ruscio show strength as Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs. Together they demonstrate
the tremendously important and difficult role parents play in raising a family. Richard Carey and
Margaret Cyr play Mr. and Mrs. Webb. Carey is charismatically engaging, and likeable as the
busy newspaper editor who also supports the needs of his family and the people of Grover’s
Corners, including concern for the Simon Stimson (Peter Kates), the troubled church organist
and choir director. Cyr effectively portrays the raw emotions that come with the constant
challenges of being a wife and mother.
Jim Daly as Howie Newsome, the reassuring milk man, and Jack Shanahan as young Joe
Crowell, the paperboy, demonstrate the subtle comfort that comes with the rhythm of everyday
events.
Kevin Moore, as Si Crowell, reminds us how much boys and girls idolize teenagers just a few
years older than them.
Curtain Call’s ‘12 Angry Men’ is highly compelling theater
By Jim Dorman for The Patriot Ledger, March 10, 2009
BRAINTREE - Often, the best plays are the ones in which you identify with the characters; the
ones where you think, "What would I do if I were in their place?"
With Reginald Rose’s jury-room drama ``12 Angry Men' that was easy for me, having served on
a jury at a murder trial three years ago. Knowing just how difficult that was for me and my
fellow jurors, I wondered if the Curtain Call Theater could capture the internal and external
turmoil that occurs when 12 strangers try to reach consensus on an issue as important as the fate
of an accused murderer. Happily, director Michael Pevzner and his cast are up to the challenge.
They have created a gripping portrayal. No moment or acting performance is wasted. They are
all as important as each juror’s vote.
The play has been produced several times, but the version that is the most recognizable is the
1957 movie directed by Sidney Lumet ("Serpico," "Dog Day Afternoon").
It featured some of Hollywood’s best, including Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall,
Martin Balsam, Jack Warden, Ed Begley and Jack Klugman. Curtain Call has managed to create
a version that is quite faithful to the movie. It’s not so much that they mimic scenes, although
one could argue that they do, it’s that each actor has obviously put their heart and soul into their
performances.
It’s like watching a finely tuned jazz band. They work well together, and when it’s their turn in
the spotlight, they soar. As the play progresses, each juror must face their prejudices, as they
deliberate the fate of a young man accused of killing his aggressive father. The verdict is stalled
by the sole juror who has a 'reasonable doubt' - Juror 8. It is a difficult role and David Edge
comes off as reasonable, thoughtful and brave in it.
Eventually, the other jurors start to question their beliefs and realize that they need to take a
closer look at the case, and listen to the different points of view.
Although Juror 4 (Jonathan Young), disagrees with the not-guilty vote, he at least is willing to
discuss the case. Edge and Young (both lawyers in real life) come off as rational and intelligent
throughout the play.
Offsetting their contemplative deliberations are the bigoted rants of jurors 3 and 10, played
skillfully and powerfully by Glenn Ryan and Mark Anderson, respectively.
Their characters’ inflammatory words and accusations nearly lead to several physical
altercations, as neither of these bullies makes any effort to disguise their disgust for anyone who
thinks this boy, or anyone like him, could be innocent.
Both actors are so strong and their characters so contemptible, it is easy to forget they are acting.
Jurors 5 (Dane Grigas), 9 (Ben Brenner), and 11 (Juan Carlos Pinedo) each help persuade their
fellow jurors, and the audience, that there are valid reasons why the evidence should be
questioned.
Grigas gains credibility as the streetwise juror. Brenner shows courage and wisdom as the oldest.
And, Pinedo is stirring as a proud and righteous immigrant who understands the magnitude of his
role as a juror. His character brings shame upon Juror 7 (Jim Gross), whose main concern seems
to be whether or not he will make it to the Yankees game on time.
The foreman (Mark Logue), jurors 2 (Peter Kates), 6 (Ed Krasnow) and 12 (K. Lance Wesley)
may not be as strong-willed as the others, but in them we may see ourselves, people who can find
the strength to make an informed decision, rather than just going along with the crowd. It’s not
easy, and these actors and characters help us see that. Colin Turtle provided a further element of
realism as the guard, the jury’s only contact with the outside world.
Jim Gross’s set design, including the faux tile floor, antique fan and old-fashioned doors and
windows, are quite realistic. It looked eerily like the drab room we deliberated in three years ago,
and helped me recall the important work we did there.
Catchy Tunes, Cast Propel "Urinetown"
By Julie Fay for The Patriot Ledger, May 13, 2009
Imagine a time when the water supply is so low that private bathrooms no longer exist. Pay-as-you-go
public toilets are the rule, and public urination is a capital offense.
Now overlay that premise with several catchy tunes and an abundance of winking at the audience, and
you’ve got "Urinetown: The Musical." Curtain Call Theatre provided a lively, entertaining production of
this offbeat Tony-award winner at last Friday’s opening night.
The glue holding the show together is Officer Lockstock, a cop who serves as judge, jury, executioner,
and, most notably, narrator. Bill McColgan, an imposing figure with a big voice, brings Lockstock to life,
deftly switching from one side of the proscenium to the other, while bringing the audience along for the
ride. His star turn as a gangsta rapper in the energetic "Cop Song" is an early highlight of the
performance.
As Penelope Pennywise, Sharon Petti shows an impressive singing range, but brings to mind Vicki
Lawrence as Carol Burnett, with too much mugging at the audience. The young lovers Bobby Strong and
Hope Cladwell, sung by Joshua Bishoff and Andrea Femino, acted their comic-book, love-at-first-sight
story with a fresh sense of idealism.
Femino was especially delightful as the ditzy ingénue, and her classically trained voice shows an
impressive range.
Susie Lawler was a perfect Little Sally, disappearing into her character and keeping the action flowing.
As Caldwell B. Cladwell, the corporate tycoon who controls the public amenities, K. Lance Wesley is
elegant and smarmy, although his singing and sense of ensemble could have been stronger. Liz
Fenstermaker, a hilariously pregnant Little Becky Two Shoes, is a riot as a bloodthirsty kidnapper bent on
revenge. Her energetic dancing in "Snuff the Girl" - a takeoff on "Cool" from "West Side Story" - was
enough to make one wonder if there would be a special delivery onstage.
The orchestra, which is tucked into a back corner of the minimal, functional set, generally played well,
with some early intonation problems and the challenge of maintaining ensemble while behind the actors.
Conductor Matthew Stern had his chance in the spotlight with a gospel-inspired "Run Freedom Run,"
parodying an overwrought choir director with flair.
Direction by Martha Sawyer and choreography by Pamela Martin are just right for the intimate space, and
capture the tongue-in-cheek flavor of the show.
Heavy themes like class warfare and ecological disaster aren’t easy to pull off in a musical, but Sawyer’s
light touch deftly brought out the best in the energetic, committed cast.
THEATER PREVIEW: Blast from the past. ‘Assassins’ tackles difficult subject with
humor, song, insight
By Julie Fay
For The Patriot Ledger
November 1, 2009
From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, presidential assassins have shaped history. In “Assassins,”
the musical by Stephen Sondheim, they sing and dance, interact and reveal themselves as more than onedimensional versions of the crazed murderers taught in the history books.
“It’s not as simple as ‘all these people were crazy,’” said Jim Fagan, the director for Curtain Call Theatre’s
production, which opens Friday. “It tells the story from their end, and (a director) has to walk the line between
understanding these people and apologizing for them.”
The musical, which won five Tony awards in 2004, bends the timelines of American history to allow
presidential murderers from the 19th and 20th centuries to converse (and sing) with one another. It’s a heavy
concept, but Fagan says it’s the music that makes it work. “In a play, you’d be caught up in all this drama,” he
said, “but the music tells the story so organically, it’s almost the (dramatic) scenes that seem like an
interruption.”
Of particular interest to Fagan is the character of Charles Guiteau, who shot President James Garfield in 1881.
According to Fagan, Guiteau was motivated by ambition and a desire for notoriety. “He had so many wild
dreams and aspirations,” said Fagan, “but he has trouble in the show seemingly focusing those dreams and
achieving them in a normal way. He just wants success so badly that he kills the president, and it’s a validation
of his entire life. He knows he’ll be remembered for it.”
Hingham’s Roy Harris, Jr., who plays the role of Leon Czolgosz, assassin of President William McKinley, said
his character’s motivations are complex. “He was a working man who had been tested severely by life in the
late 1800s,” said Harris. “He worked in a glass factory, working around ovens, constantly burning his hands
and being in danger of exploding glass. He was embittered by life in these preunion days because of this.”
Unlike Guiteau, Czolgosz developed associations with the political fringe, including Emma Goldman, whom
Harris described as an anarchist and free-love advocate. “He follows (Goldman) around (in the show) and there
is a very tender scene between the two of them, which defines the character as somebody more than just a
potential killer,” said Harris.
Insights like Harris’ have been a high point for director Fagan. “We have people playing roles they are
connecting with,” Fagan said. “Watching those connections has been really interesting, so see people stop
judging their characters and starting to live them.”
While he’s glad to be able to present the human side of these murderous characters, Fagan has no illusions
about the difficulty of the play’s subject matter. “The introspective person would find enjoyment in all the
things that make one squirm about this play,” he said. “It’s thought provoking, but the music is great, the play
is funny as hell and it’s wildly entertaining. So if you just want to go and be entertained, I think we can get to
you with that first, and then trick you inter thinking by the time you leave.
“I’d like the audience to come out of this questioning their belief in the black and white of what they’re
told.”
Sondheim’s dark musical takes stage
By Robert Knox
For The Boston Globe
November 5, 2009
Roy Harris is a professional writer, not an actor. But the Hingham resident will play the role of a
presidential assassin in “Assassins,” a dark musical by Broadway maestro Stephen Sondheim
that has done better in regional theaters than it did on the Great White Way. Like the rest of the
cast, Harris will perform for love (not money) at Curtain Call Theatre in Braintree, a company
that relies on volunteer actors while hiring professional directors and musical directors.
A freelance writer who writes for publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Harris has been
performing in community theater for five years, drawn especially to musicals because of his love
of singing. He said he loves Sondheim’s music; “When do you walk out of a musical these days
humming a song?” he asks.
But he points out that “Assassins,” with characters that include Lee Harvey Oswald and John
Wilkes Booth, is an ambitious and unusual choice for a community theater.
Curtain Call generally does three shows a year, drawing a loyal coterie of actors who show up
for auditions, said Mike Pevzner of Kingston, the theater’s publicity coordinator. Community
theater “is a way of life,” Pevzner said. “A theater company becomes an extended family.”
Pevzner agreed that “Assassins” is far from typical fare for local theater. He called it “perhaps
the most controversial play ever written.”
A play about people who killed, or tried to kill, American presidents, “Assassins” makes
audiences uncomfortable because it asks them to see things at least in part from the point of view
of the killers. “As uncomfortable as it makes us, these are real people,” said director James
Fagan.
Taking place in an imaginary netherworld where assassins from different eras confront and tempt
one another, the play depicts the interactions of the killers and would-be killers of presidents in a
kind of mystical congress of suffering souls who are seduced by the need to make a difference in
the worst way. “Move your little finger,” Harris says, summing up one of the play’s songs, “and
you can change the world.”
From infamous killers such as Oswald and Booth to failed assassins such as John Hinkley,
Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, and Sara Jane Moore, and largely forgotten figures such as Leon
Czolgosz (who murdered William McKinley, throwing the nation into mourning in 1901), the
characters have in common the desire to take history into their own hands.
A first generation American with Polish parents, Czolgosz “did it for the working man,” said
Harris, who portrays him at Curtain Call. “Be believed the working man is downtrodden and the
bosses rule the world.” While few celebrated his deed, in early 20th-century America, where
industrial workers put in 60-hour work weeks for subsistence wages, many people would have
agreed with his analysis of society.
But Sondheim’s play refuses to endorse simple answers or attitudes. One lyric in his song about
Czolgosz asks, “Who would want to kill a man of good will like Big Bill?”
Sondheim, who writes both music and lyrics for his musicals, matches the music to his troubling
matter. The songs combine great melodies and discordant music, Harris said.
The play’s musical director, Matt Stern, said Sondheim uses patriotic music such as marches and
anthems and skews the familiar genre to reflect the delusions of the characters. “The different
styles of music reflect American values,” said Stern. The songs carry the implicit message that
America’s desperate characters are also a reflection of its values: the believe in freedom and an
individual’s right to make a change.
Sondheim’s songs also reflect the musical styles of his characters’ times. Czolgosz’s song is
written in the style of barbershop quartet. The song of a failed ‘80s assassin sounds like a Burt
Bacharach ballad.
Sondheim began his career by writing lyrics to a postwar musical that broke the mold, “West
Side Story.” He followed it with acclaimed musicals such as “A Funny Thing Happened on the
Way to the Forum”; “Into the Woods” (a postmodernist take on folk tales); and “Sweeney
Todd,” which enjoyed a successful Broadway revival four years ago.
Harris called “Assassins” a piece of musical theater whose theme is a persistent form of
American soul-sickness responsible for tragedy and national trauma. “You get inside the head of
these assassins,” he said.
COMMENTARY: Dealing with the dark side, on the ‘Assassins’ stage
By Roy J. Harris, Jr.
For The Patriot Ledger
November 11, 2009
As a rapt 13-year-old in 1960, I heard John F. Kennedy weave his spell to a throng of supporters
at a St. Louis shopping mall. It was my first presidential campaign.
As a college student nine years later, I went door-to-door for Robert F. Kennedy, who, like his
brother, would be gunned down for his public service.
So what was I doing on a Braintree stage last weekend, in the company of the killers and wouldbe killers who targeted JFK, RFK, Abraham Lincoln, and a half-dozen other American heads of
state?
I was in the cast of a musical: Stephen Sondheim’s brilliant but rarely performed “Assassins.”
Our first three performances of a two-weekend run, I’m happy to say, seemed to wow the packed
houses. (We have three more, at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.)
Literally and figuratively, it is a fantastic score. And it was the powerful, dark music that I’ve
always loved — by the same songwriter who wrote “Company,” “Into the Woods,” “Sweeney
Todd,” and the lyrics for “West Side Story” and “Gypsy” — that drew me to audition for the
play.
The experience has been exhilarating — not least because of the dedication of the cast: veteran
community theater actors like Boston attorney Dan Kelly, who brings a rare, and scary,
understanding to the role of John Wilkes Booth. Or Stephen Lee, whose Charles Guiteau is
maniacally perfect as he plugs James Garfield in the back, and unapologetically goes to the
gallows for his deed.
The failed assassins are hardly less notable.
A particularly stunning performance is turned in by Hingham High School student Maggie
Weston, playing a five-times-married mother-of-three, Sara Jane Moore, as she bumbles her way
through trying to kill Gerald Ford. Her character is comically exciting, in stark contrast to mine:
the ploddingly single-minded Leon Czolgosz, an abused worker who murdered William
McKinley at a Buffalo exposition in 1901.
Yet even now, after bonding with the other 12 members of the Curtain Call Theatre cast through
weeks of rehearsals and performances — singing some haunting, very difficult music — I walk
off the stage each evening with a very strange feeling. As if I have ventured through the dark
side of American history.
It very much suggests the malevolence we all remember as we beheld the smoldering World
Trade Center towers, and a few of us recall from that November 1963 morning in Dallas, or that
1968 California primary-election “victory celebration.” Or from the news flash that President
Ronald Reagan had been shot – an event that he would later leaven, so characteristically of the
Great Communicator, with jokes about assailant John Hinckley’s ineptitude. (“Where did that
guy learn to shoot, the Russian Army?”)
I have been a journalist since the 1960s, from Boston to Pittsburgh to St. Louis to Los Angeles.
And in that lifetime “role” I always told myself that I was prepared to encounter that dark side of
the news. Fortunately, my direct exposure to it has been negligible, although I will never forget
having to dig with all my might into trying to explain the causes of the Challenger Space Shuttle
tragedy.
Still, for my one experience covering a presidential entourage — a joyous 1991 gathering of five
presidents: Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford for the
dedication of Reagan’s California library — I remember at least fleetingly asking myself the
unimaginable “What if” question.
In such a world as ours, how could one not?
THEATER REVIEW: ‘Children’s Hour’ is anything but kid stuff
By Peggy Mullen
For The Patriot Ledger
May 13, 2010
Playwright Lillian Hellman said the motivation for her first play, “The Children’s Hour,” was to
tell a story about a lie.
Many other themes have been ascribed to the work in the years since it was produced on
Broadway in 1934, and the play was banned in Boston and other cities for the implied lesbian
relationship between school teachers Karen Wright and Martha Dobie, the “lie” upon which the
drama revolves.
The play takes place in the Wright-Dobie school for girls, where Mary Tilford, a truly evil child
if there ever was one, is a student. The school has been endowed by her rich grandmother, a fact
that Mary takes full advantage of in her power struggles with the adults charged with her
education.
High school senior Rebecca Dickinson, who looks much younger than her years, plays Mary as a
petulant, spoiled and manipulative girl devoid of conscience, driven only by selfishness. She
pouts, she whines, she wheedles, and Dickinson succeeds almost immediately in making you
hate her.
Only headmistress Karen Wright can stand up to Mary. Shannon Lillian Hogan plays Wright
smoothly, from the cut of her clothes to the grace of her movement. This woman is confident and
self-assured in her authority as well as her femininity, a threatening and inappropriate way to
behave in the 1930s, when women were expected to aspire to nothing more than marriage and
motherhood.
Valerie Sheehy as Lily Mortar, Martha Dobie’s freeloading aunt, is the epitome of the woman of
the times. Needy and supercilious, she’s an old woman without a husband and she treats her
niece as a meal ticket. Sheehy’s shrill delivery includes a dusting of sadness, just enough to elicit
pity even when the character is at her most odious. There’s an emotional link between Lily and
Mary, two women, one old, one young, trying to assert themselves in a world that grants high
status to only the young and powerful.
The exception to the rule is Mary’s grandmother. As Mrs. Tilford, Sharon Evans delivers the
most impressive performance as the rich matriarch whose weakness for the whims of her
granddaughter becomes destructive. The lie, whispered into Mrs. Tilford’s ear by Mary, is that
Miss Wright and Miss Dobie are lovers. It is how Mrs. Tilford acts on that information that
wreaks havoc on the lives of everyone at the school.
Martha Dobie suffers most, we’re to learn eventually. Deanna McLean’s portrayal of her as a nononsense teacher and pragmatic businesswoman barely hints at the inner turmoil she reveals at
the end.
Your heart goes out to Rosalie Wells, the fellow student who Mary extorts into colluding in the
lie. Kirstyn Toughey of Pembroke is excellent in the pivotal role of a frightened young girl easily
bullied into submission by her fear of being exposed as a thief.
Sexual orientation, while still controversial, is no longer shocking, and Hellman’s play is dated
in that regard. But in the age of digital communication, when information can be spread
enormous distances in a nanosecond, it’s chilling to consider the consequences of an idle lie.
Murder lays bare a town’s soul by Robert Knox
Boston Globe, August 5, 2010
“The Laramie Project” is a play about the murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student
whose death 12 years ago came to symbolize violent homophobia. A 21-year-old student at the
University of Wyoming in Laramie, Shepard was abducted, beaten, and left to die tied to a fence
on the open prairie because, in the opinion of almost all who have examined the case, he was a
homosexual.
In the year following the slaying, while two local young men were put on trial and found guilty
of murder, a New York theater company traveled to Laramie and interviewed a wide crosssection of the town’s populace for their reactions to the murder and its meaning for their
community.
The spectrum of opinions from these 200 interviews forms the substance of the play, written by
Moises Kaufman and other members of the Tectonic Theater Project, which was praised as a
pioneering work comparable to “Angels in America” when it opened 10 years ago. Critic Mike
Kuchwara of the Associated Press called it “nothing less than an examination of the American
psyche at the end of the millennium.”
Curtain Call Theatre in Braintree, a community theater that will perform “The Laramie Project”
next week, describes the play as “a theatrical collage” that explores both “the depths to which
humanity can sink” and the heights of human compassion. The play consists of “a series of
monologues, some brief snippets” extracted from the interviews, said director Rob Drapeau of
Dedham. Its dramatic structure reveals the character of the town, especially “how the town starts
to unravel.”
Some of the play’s 70 characters – such as Shepard’s father and the two killers – are directly
connected to the case. Some are local citizens appalled by what happened, while others are
willing to entertain the belief that Shepard provoked his murder by involvement in drugs or some
other crime. Some believe that the murder must have been committed by “outsiders.” These
voices come from “both sides of the tracks,” a literal sociological marker in the town of Laramie,
according to the Tectonic Theater Project. The college side of town – students and professors –
attributed the crime to a climate that encourages and tolerates homophobia. The two young men
who committed the murder, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, came from the other,
disenfranchised part of town, characterized by school dropouts, crystal methedrine addiction, and
resentment of the college kids.
Divided over whether local attitudes fostered a hate crime, some townspeople said “We’re not
like this,” while others replied, “No, we are like this.” The effect is that the audience sees the
same event from multiple angles, Drapeau said. Among the principle voices is Dennis Shepard,
who argues against the death penalty for his son’s murderers. He wants them to have a long line
in which they can think about all they have denied his son. Romaine Patterson, a close friend of
Matthew’s and a lesbian, becomes an outspoken voice against homophobia in town, later
carrying her message to a national audience as a radio host. Fred Phelps, who heads a nationwide
campaign against gays, picketed the trial, arguing that the killing was justified.
Curtain Call’s production is performed by nine actors, with Justin Stidham of Braintree playing
the narrator and the other eight playing multiple characters. Empathy for different points of view
is furthered by having the same actor play thematically related characters, such as a Catholic
priest and a Mormon spokesman, Drapeau said.
Among other cast members, Richard Carey of Quincy plays Moises Kaufman plus a handful of
other characters and Jimmy D’Amico of Canton plays Laramie limousine driver Doc O’Connor,
who testified in the case, and others.
Curtain Call is producing “The Laramie Project” in summer, a time when many local theaters go
dark for logistical and financial reasons, because a play dependent on “the urgency of the words
rather than any spectacle” is amenable to a spare, workshop-style production, Drapeau said. He
believes it has a strong message as well: “The message is very much anti-homophobia. It is prodiversity and anti-violence.”
LIFE, DEATH, MATH AND MADNESS ON THE LOCAL STAGE
The Curtain Call Theatre opens its 2010 season with "Proof."
By Amanda Smith November 6, 2010 http://braintree.patch.com
David Auburn's script for Proof is at turns thought-provoking, wrenching and wickedly funny. Director
Peter Kates and his cast pulled the audience through a full range of emotions in the opening performance
of the play at the Curtain Call Theatre on Nov. 5.
Proof explores family bonds, personal ambition, love and mental health. Kates' production illuminates the
relationship between mathematics and poetry in a way that is both accessible and moving. The actors,
however, carry Auburn's material with equal parts sensitivity and humor.
Catherine (Sarah Jacobs) is the 25-year-old daughter of Robert (Glenn Ryan), a mathematics professor
whose work is the stuff of academic legend. Catherine has lost years of her life and education to caring
for her father as he has descended deeper into insanity. She has inherited much of his intellectual ability,
but she fears she has also inherited his madness. Robert reassures his daughter in the first scene by saying,
"Crazy people don't sit around wondering if they're nuts."
Jacobs' performance and dress -- T-shirts, jeans and sneakers -- demonstrate Catherine's adolescent
mentality, arrested in her emotional development by her obligations to care for her father and her
dependence on him. Catherine's character lies in sharp contrast with her older sister Claire (Rachel FisherParkman).
Fisher-Parkman's performance highlights the relationship between the two sisters as more like that of a
mother and daughter, presenting Claire as a practical and self-assured adult struggling to understand and
care for her sister.
Dan Delaporta as Hal, Robert's protégé and Catherine's love interest, shows great comic timing and
delivery alongside dramatic depth. The real chemistry in this performance, though, is visible between
Jacobs and Ryan, who present a father-daughter relationship that is fluid, challenging and expressive, but
also infused with affection.
A film version of Proof, with Gwyenth Paltrow as Catherine and Anthony Hopkins as Robert, was
released in 2005. Meg Young, producer of the Curtain Call's production said, "I think it works better as a
play."
The entire production takes place on the back porch of Catherine and Robert's home, and the intimate
setting of the Curtain Call makes Young's assessment apt, as audience members are close enough to feel
that they are watching the scenes unfold from Catherine and Robert's backyard.
The production of Proof continues this week on Nov. 11, 12 and 13 at 8pm. General admission tickets are
$18 and can be reserved through the theater's website or purchased at the door.
The Curtain Call Theatre's next production will be a comedy, To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday. Auditions
for this show will take place on Dec. 6 and 7.
Let x Equal Much Promise Posted by The New England Theatre Geek on November 10, 2010
Proof by David Auburn, Curtain Call Theatre, Braintree, MA 11/5/10-11/13/10
http://curtaincallbraintree.org/
Take x; add a strong cast and tight direction to a Pulitzer Prize winning script, and the result will be
Curtain Call Theatre’s production of Proof. The small theater group embodies two of the main themes of
the play: testing theories and proving yourself.
The cast brings strength and soul to the script. At the core is Sarah Jacobs. This recent Brandeis
University graduate possesses natural talent that creates an awkward, intelligent, and inwardly strong
Catherine. She has a few small affectations and a lack of cynicism, but those nuances will go away with
life and career experience. Dan Delaporta, as Hal, exudes energy and geekiness. He displays both the
self-centeredness and sensitivity that makes him a good match for Catherine. Both actors will continue to
thrive as long as they practice their craft and remain open to all opportunities.
Glenn Ryan portrays the resilient patriarch Robert. He tries to hide his fragility behind his intelligence.
Robert’s towering presence promotes a believable, co-dependent relationship with Catherine, and
although she hides under that presence while he is alive, she is not helpless. Catherine survives despite
her muted existence for a chance to thrive herself.
The only characterization I question (although I do not know if this is director or actor’s choice) is Claire
played by Rachel Fisher-Parkman. Claire is like her father with the ability to put on a façade and appear
to be in control. From the moment Rachel enters, though, she seems visibly anxious, which makes
Claire’s falling apart in the second act less pronounced. Rachel is a capable actress, but whoever decided
upon the motivation for her character should have tested that “proof” more.
When the play starts, a projection of a head with numbers coming out of it is shown on the main
backdrop. This concerned me because the projector is noisy and the projection doesn’t really add
anything; yet, before I could dwell upon it too much, it was gone and the play truly started. Technology
creates an enticing trap in this millennial age; “we have technology, so we must use it.” Fortunately, the
projection is the only temptation that director Peter Kates falls prey to. He goes back to the actors and the
script to present an honest, heartfelt story.
While the acting space is small, Kates utilizes every inch with purpose and vigor. Kates’ scene design
gives additional acting spaces, including a railing that the actors walk upon. The only place where Peter
Kates, the designer, and Peter Kates, the director, get in each other’s way is with the two columns in the
middle of the porch. The columns block action, particularly when one or two of the actors stand directly
behind them. With this exception, the remaining action continues to be appropriate and energetic.
While the “proof” may not be finished and the outcome not perfect, this production bestows a sincere
portrait of a family of genius that is trying to find its own identity outside the shadow of their father.
Overall, they show that you don’t have to be a professional theatre to produce a powerful production. The
“proof” is at Curtain Call. 11/7/2010. TNETG.
BRIGHT PERFORMANCE AT CURTAIN CALL
Curtain Call Theatre in Braintree opens "To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday,"
By Amanda Smith for Braintree Patch, March 8, 2011
http://braintree.patch.com
Summer sun, flip flops and beach chairs provide bright contrast with the story of a family struggling to
recover two years after the death of a young wife and mother in a boating accident on her birthday. So
begins To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday. The play, written by Michael Brady, premiered to a packed house
at the Curtain Call Theatre on Friday, March 4.
Directed by Curtain Call veteran Richard Carey and produced by Shannon L. Hogan, the story focuses on
widower and former professor David (David Edge) who has withdrawn from his life and loved ones,
including his teenage daughter Rachel (Dorian Oberstein). He spends his nights looking at the stars and
talking to the memory of his wife, Gillian (Margaret Kelly).
Kelly’s appearances in the performance are comparatively brief, but she brings a grace and ethereal
quality to the role that makes Gillian appear something between ghost and memory for David and the
other characters.
The action takes place over a single weekend, the second anniversary of Gillian’s death and her 37th
birthday, as Rachel and her aunt conspire to encourage David to consider dating and introduce him to a
former student, Kevin (Kelli Canniff).
This production is driven by complex character performances from all members of the cast. Edge presents
David’s anxiety and pain in a manner that is subtle but palpable. In a moment of confrontation with his
daughter, he brings forth controlled intensity, and Oberstein presents the 16-year-old Rachel in a manner
that befits a girl teetering on the edge of adulthood as she attempts to console her father; she is both
childlike and maternal.
David’s primary adversary is his sister-in-law, Esther, played by a very excellent Antionetta Ruscio.
Esther first appears bossy and demanding, but Ruscio exudes warmth as the layers of Esther’s own grief
are exposed, and she and David make their way toward reconciliation.
The comic highlight of the production comes from Jim Gross as Esther’s husband Paul, a man who
peppers conversation with corny jokes and banters with Rachel’s friend and neighbor Cindy, a witty and
sparkling Danielle Bourgeois.
A film version of the play was produced in 1996, directed by Michael Pressman. The intimacy of the
Curtain Call’s performance space, though, brings an immediacy to the script, though, and allows the
audience to experience the family’s pains alongside the players.
The run of To Gillian on her 37th Birthday continues March 10-12 at 8 p.m. at the Curtain Call Theatre on
Commercial Street in Braintree. Reservations can be made through the theatre box office.
The Curtain Call Theatre will complete its 2010- 2011 season with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King
and I in May.
High Demand Justified for 'The King and I' at Curtain Call Theatre By Malea Ritz for Braintree Patch, May 21, 2011 http://braintree.patch.com The play has its final performance tonight at 8 p.m. at the theatre on Commercial Street in Braintree. Cheerful piano tunes and an uplifting orchestra introduce an unlikely love story between two characters that seem complete opposites. The King and I drew a large crowd to the Curtain Call Theatre on Thursday, May 19, selling out not only for the night, but all other shows for the weekend too. Directed by Martha Sawyer and produced by Patti O'Rouke, the play depicts the story of an English schoolteacher and her son's transition adjusting to the new culture of Bangkok. The schoolteacher, Anna, played by Christine Kenney, has been summoned to teach the multiple wives and children of the king, played by Michael Tow. Kenney's character is skeptical about the people of Bangkok, but over time comes to love and accept them. She helps to prove to Europe that the king is not the barbarian he is widely thought of as. In the end, Anna and the king realize they enjoy each other's company much more than they had planned. The play is based on the book Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon. The music is by Richard Rogers and the book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein. Kenney and Tow have very tangible chemistry and seem naturally comfortable together. Tow's stubborn attitude is completely believable and he portrays the king's character perfectly. Kenney's turn as Anna the schoolteacher is kind and loving. The other characters also display their impressive acting abilities as they effortlessly capture and keep the audience's attention. For instance, the many kids playing the roles of the king's children perform so cutely that when they begged Anna to stay in Bangkok, the audience knew she could not turn them down. Bright, vibrant colors highlighted in the actors' and actresses' costumes seem to illuminate the stage. The flashy metallics and colorful outfits portray an ethnic vibe for the characters. Anna and her son, Louis (Jeremy Atkins), are of English descent, so instead wear more traditional clothing that looks very accurate. The costumes definitely help set the scene for the play. Minimal scenery was made up for by the excellent performances. The actors and actresses not only use the stage, but the aisles as well, which helps to involve the audience. Also, the small, close seating of the audience, almost at eye level, provides an intimate experience. Since most of the characters in the play are of Asian descent, some of the non‐Asian actors and actresses are forced to try out the accent. They do well with this, as it is not their native language. Kenney and Atkins also pull off a believable English accent. Proceeds from the concessions during intermission go toward Curtain Call's scholarship fund. The final showing of The King and I is tonight at 8 p.m., though that performance is also sold out. See the theatre's ticket page (http://www.curtaincallbraintree.org/tickets.html) for more information on the waiting list.