theater VALLEY
CITY
Blood Brothers. Willy Russell’s folk opera follows the twisting, tumultuous paths of Eddie and Mickey, fraternal twins who are separated at birth, raised in wealthy and poor families, swear a blood oath after meeting at age eight, become a council leader and a criminal, and are tragically divided by Mickey’s affair with Eddie’s wife, the siblings’ longtime friend. The West End production ran for a stunning 24 years. The international cast album features Petula Clark as the twins’ cleaning-lady mother and halfbrothers David and Shaun Cassidy as Mickey and Eddie. The LP was narrated by Russell, a former folk singer and women’s hairdresser whose popular plays Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine became popular movies. (Pennsylvania Playhouse, June 2-3, 9-11, 15-18)
Gypsy. Often cited as the greatest American musical, this rollicking bio epic is loosely based on the life of famous striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee. It’s at the Arden stage (till June 18) with all of Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics intact, including classics like “Everything’s Coming up Roses.” Five-time Barrymore Award-winner Mary Martello plays Gypsy’s mother, the tyrannical Mama Rose, who will stop at nothing to ensure that her kids succeed in show business. The Arden should resurrect other forgotten but equally famous musicals like Richard Rodgers’ famous 1943 Broadway hit, Oklahoma.
John & Jen. Northampton Community College launches its first summer season with Andrew Lippa’s musical biography of the roller-coaster relationship between a protective older sister, her brother and her nephew. Ties are strengthened and shattered by domestic violence, war, war protests, the battle between dependence and independence, cemetery visits and role playing during a talk show. (June 15-18) Hair. Freak flags fly high in this outrageously exuberant musical time capsule/time machine of late ’60s passions. Claude and his tribe members sing, dance and rap about war, pollution, drugs, astrology, prejudice and the candy-coated pleasures of white and black boys. The show, which debuted 50 years ago, soars with “Aquarius,” “Good Morning Starshine” and other flower-power anthems. (Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre, June 14-July 2) Evita. The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival opens season No. 26 with this sensational musical chronicling the meteoric rise of Eva Peron from would-be actress to Argentina’s first lady, women’s rights advocate, shunned world leader, ambitious idealist and celebrity martyr. The title role is played by Dee Roscioli, best known as Elphaba in the Broadway production of Wicked, and a star in the festival’s Sweeney Todd and Fiddler on the Roof. Juan Peron is played by Paulo Szot, a Metropolitan Opera regular who won a 2008 Tony Award as Emile de Becque in South Pacific. (June 14-July 2) The Hound of the Baskervilles. Three actors perform 16 roles in this free-wheeling, rib-poking adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1902 novel in which Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson investigate skullduggery on a family estate allegedly cursed by a supernatural beast. Novel touches include using a frame to play a gallery of ancestors and scolding Tweeting spectators. Adaptors Steven Canny and John Nicholson respectively run BBC Radio’s comedy division and Peepolykus, a crazy comic company. (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, June 21-July 16) “Disaster.” Northampton Community College’s second summer offering spoofs ’70s disaster films through a floating casino/disco hit by earthquake, tidal wave and nearly disastrous characters, including a nun addicted to gambling. The soundtrack is jammed with such ’60s-’70s jukebox hits as the Jackson 5’s “Never Can Say Goodbye,” Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4” and Blue Suede’s “Hooked on a Feeling.” (June 28-30, July 1-2, July 5-9).
Uncle Vanya. When it comes to Russian plays, Philadelphia’s usual answer is…Chekhov. Hedgerow Theater did Uncle Vanya in February 2107, and the Lantern Theater did its own version of The Seagull in 2010. Chekov’s Seagull came up again in EgoPo Classic Theater’s amazing February production. Uncle Vanya is the story of a celebrated professor’s complicated family. Quintessence Theater Group (215-987-4450). Till June 18. BalletX. Three innovative works—Schachmatt, In Between the Passing and The Last Glass—opened BalletX’s Spring Series 2017. In Schachmatt (Cayetano Soto, choreographer), a delightful but all too short French-themed segment danced to “J’attendrai” by Rina Ketty, set the stage for a dynamite Peter Gunn theme by Jack Constanzo. The less than enthralling “Cuban Mambo” segment by Perez Prado (we wanted more French numbers) nevertheless kept my eyes glued to dancers Megan Dickinson and Gary W. Jeter II. Often when dancers express states of joy and suffering there’s not much of a need for an accompanying narrative, but sometimes only words can bring the abstract into focus. This was evident in segment two, the world premiere of In Between the Passing (Tommie-Waheed Evans) which played into an athletic sensibility while exploring expressions of time and mortality. Symphony No. 3 Op. 36 by Henryk Gorecki had this writer making up his own internal narrative to go with the dancers’ footprints. The Last Glass (Matthew Neenan) had me hoping for costume changes—bicycle pants, yellow flowered vests with polka dot ties or even a procession of umbrellas and red balloons to break the monotony of the sackcloth-like dancer’s tunic. The White Devil. When John Webster’s play premiered on a dreary, cold winter night in London in 1612 there was no standing ovation. The London audience was less than thrilled and Webster’s work, including The Duchess of Malfi, faded into obscurity until the 1920s. The Philadelphia Artists’ Collective production at the Broad Street Ministry was a genuine theatrical implosion. Webster is Shakespeare unhinged. Murder, betrayal, more murder, random stabbings, a fencing match and poisoned helmets, not to mention a penitent home for whores and a liturgical fashion show showcased the corruption of the male-dominated English Court. Act I was a tangled mass of confusion as the play’s 101 subplots slowly came into focus, but Act II was as invigorating as the classic B film, Faster Pussycat. Kill Kill. Charlotte Northeast (Vittoria/Conjuror) is a natural in any Elizabethan setting, Dan Hodge (Flamineo) is a one-man SNL, David Pica (Lodovico/Marcello) was almost too comfortable with the diabolical, while the forceful J.J. Van Name (Cornelia) dominated the stage with her classic authoritativeness. Damon Bonetti’s direction showed artistic verve, although I do wish that the trend of women (Lexie Braverman as Giovanni) playing the part of boys would come to an end.
Twelveness. George Gershwin contemplates music, politics and freedom with fellow composer and tennis partner Arnold Schoenberg, a refugee from Nazi Germany who settled in California, thanks largely to Gershwin’s efforts. The two spar over their very different concepts of melody, rhythm and harmony while joined at the dinner table by Gershwin’s girlfriend, Ginger Rogers, the singing, dancing star. Playwright Charlie Barnett plays in the band Chaise Lounge and composed for the TV series Weeds and Archer. (Crowded Kitchen Players, June 8-18, Charles Brown Ice House, Bethlehem) n
The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey. Pelkey, a 14-year-old gay teen is the victim of a hate crime. He wore rainbow sneakers, was a makeup artist and advised women four times his age how to dress. Written and performed by James Lecesne and directed by Tony Speciale, at times the script has a contrived “activist” feel as if co-produced by the Human Rights Campaign. There are also moments when it veers off course as if a dramaturge advised Lecesne to “stop talking about the boy so much.” Lecesne’s immense talent makes this theater experience worthwhile. He’s mesmerizing to watch and the 70 minutes go fast. (Philadelphia Theatre Company until June 4) n
— GEOFF GEHMAN
— THOM NICKELS
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