30
Jul

Ada & The Memory Engine

Ada & The Memory Engine
Essential Theatre
through August 27, 2017

This is a truly incredible show which intellectually pulls you deeply into the plot as well as the characters you meet on stage. Playwright Lauren Gunderson has obviously done quite a bit of historical research and had to be as intrigued as were each of us in the audience.

The show is set in England in mid-nineteenth century. It is a tale being told of how the idea of a computer seemed to arrive. Lady Anabella Byron was the wife of Lord Byron, who was more than quite a bit of a rogue in his days. And their daughter, Ada had been abandoned by him when he flew the coop. Ada is played superbly by Ashley Anderson, and her mother, Anabella is played by Holly Stevenson. And this part of the story is based on historical fact.

Lady Anabella wants Ada to marry “properly”, ergo to someone of good name as well as good financial status. And to do so, she may have some problems as the sins of the father oft feel as if they are visited upon the offspring. Lady Anabella wants to hook her up with Lord Lovelace (Brandon Patrick) who may be a peer, but isn’t the chick magnet for Ada.

Ada has spent most of her years growing up learning about music and mathematics; and the M&Ms are of great importance to her. Enter Charles Babbage, played by Mark Cosby, and she is delving deeply into his theories as he wishes to design the first machine that can think its way through math problems. In fact, Charles Babbage was a real genius and his Difference Engine and Analytical Engine and others are considered to be a basis for the later development of those things with the typing pads that we all use today.

Ellen McQueen directed this marvelous cast, rounded out by Kathleen McManus and Evan Alex Cole as well as some prop extras who change the setting so easily. As you watch the show progress you start to recall the days of the huge room filling computers being programmed by punched cards, then later with huge reels of tapes; so long before those little chips that hold zillions more info.

If you were around when the computers started to take over the scene just 70 years ago, you’d think, as I did, that were Thomas J. Watson (founder of IBM, born 1874) alive and in the house he’d be diving head first into the story as well. For Ada became known as the first programmer as she and Charles got deeper into binary coding.

The show will run in repertory with G. M. Lupo’s Another Mother, at the West End Performing Arts Center on Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. You can get more info and check performance dates at EssentialTheatre.com

28
Jul

Annie Get Your Gun

Annie Get Your Gun
Stage Door Players
through August 6, 2017

Irving Berlin’s classic Annie Get Your Gun is always a delight to the eyes and ears. Directed by Robert Egizio the cast of 17 energetic players delivers up about 18 classic standard numbers such as There’s No Business Like Show Business, and You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun.”

The show is done pretty much cabaret style on an open stage with some changeable backdrops; for the music and dance is the stuff of the story. Annie Oakley is played by Paige Mattox, and Michael L. Pugh is Buffalo Bill Cody. And, George Devours struts his stuff as Sitting Bull, while Bryant Smith, as Frank Butler woos Annie. There were some slight tweaks to update the script a bit, but the story is the same.

The competing shows aren’t doing so well, as the performers try to get the upper hand. As they both seem to be failing, maybe it would be better if they could join forces. But, there’s always that little problem of who is the better shot; and as between Annie and Frank, trying to figure out who can do something better than the other.

The costumes and props are neat, and the choral singing and dance numbers are just a delightful dose of eye candy. It’s a pleasure to sit through a happy tunes musical where nobody gets killed.

A very good production in a very comfortable venue; and selling out fast. More info at StageDoorPlayers.net

27
Jul

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Aurora Theatre
through August 27, 2017

This is the musical version of the Hunchback, based on Victor Hugo’s classic tale, and with the music from the Disney film. Directed by Justin Anderson with a cast of more than two dozen players, on a superb set by Shannon Robert, the show tells the story of the young lad with the hump on his back being cooped up in a bell tower by a nasty relative who is a clergyman.

The lad is named Quasimodo suggesting he is only part human. He’s played to the hilt by Haden Rider. The Archdeacon Frollo is David de Vries. As you know, there is a gypsy lass, Esmeralda (Julissa Sabino), who is being badly treated;  as those who are of gypsy, or Romani heritage, are thought to be base criminals and they are sought after to be excluded from Parisian society. And Esmeralda has feelings for the hunchback, who turns out to be more humane than most of the other folks in many ways.

The other two leads are Kevin Harry as Clopin Trouillefou and Lowrey Brown as Captain Phoebus. The band of 9 players off-stage are under the baton of Ann-Carol Pence, and they are all spot-on as they run through more than 30 numbers in this Broadway quality production. I wish I could tell you that all comes out nicely in the end, but you probably know the story from your school days.

One aspect of this show is to bring out how those who are in political control don’t always make the best decisions. And it brings to mind the saying of George Santayana who opined that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

It is also really good to learn that this is another co-production so that two houses can merge talents and funds to bring such good productions to local audiences. The Aurora is in Lawrenceville; and this show will travel into downtown Atlanta opening on September 7th as part of the Theatrical Outfit’s year, but staged at The Rialto Center for the Arts.

More info and tickets easily found at AuroraTheatre.com This one is a solid ten on the proverbial scale.

23
Jul

Heathers, the Musical

Heathers, the Musical
OnStage Atlanta
through August 13, 2017

This is NOT the usual family style musical, in any way. Based on a 1988 cult film, it is a show noir.   Suicide, bullying, murder, and more pervade the plot. And in a culture where teen suicide is rising at alarming rates, one may have some concerns about this topic for certain potential viewers. It is not for depressed youngsters or others who have had losses in their families or suffered in their teen years in schools.

Having issued the above warning, I can tell you that Onstage has produced this one with great effort and talent.  Directed by Charlie Miller, with a live band and a cast of 19 players, the show moves quite well.

There are three bitchy girls each named Heather and they are played by Janine DeMichele Baggett, Sarah Watkins and Molly Wiley. They are totally self-possessed in every way. The two jocks are played by Joshua Jones and Austin Basham and Hannah Lake is Veronica, the girl who gets drafted into the Heather’s club.

The score of two dozen numbers is possibly best remembered for the Candy Store number; and you can infer what you wish from the title. Other sordid numbers include Dead Girl Walking, and the Me inside of Me.  It is all about teens trying to find themselves, and their raison d’etre. And, there is some question as to the personalities of two of the boys, as to their sexual preferences or orientations.

Be advised that the show includes some of the 7 words you can’t say on TV, teen sex, fighting and shooting.   But, the bottom line is that most of the audience had seen the film, and enjoyed the stage production.

More info at OnstageAtlanta.com

22
Jul

Life Could be a Dream

Life Could be a Dream
Art Station Theatre
through July 30, 2017

Art Station has put together a really neat production of Roger Bean’s opus dealing with the doo-wop singers of days gone by. Under the direction of Karen Beyer, a cast of five players sing, dance and clown their way through 19 numbers, with live band just off-stage.

Jacob Jones is a nerdy young man living with his mother. He wants to enter a contest being run by a local radio station where the winner will get a record contract. He hooks up with two buddies, played by Nathan Hesse and Rodney Witherspoon, II. After some back and forth decision making, The group, Denny and the Dreamers start to prep for the gig.

Then a fourth guy shows up. Clay Mote plays a garage guy who works for the firm that is going to sponsor the contest, and he and the boss’s daughter (Joy Walters) have eyes for one another. There’s a lot of teen age stress. Like the girls’ parents wanting to control her choice of boyfriends, and mother of Denny who keeps nagging him to get a job.

But the show is about the music, starting off with Life Could be a Dream (Sh Boom), including Runaround Sue, Unchained Melody and so much more. Even Rama Lama Ding Dong. If you have an AARP card, you’ll probably try to sing along.

Patrick Hutchison, Dik Holland and Jonathan Mills are the band, just off stage left. You’ll enjoy the songs, the dance routines and the acrobatics; nobody gets killed in this one.  Art Station is easy to get to in Stone Mountain Village and they have goodies available and art galleries as well.
More info at ArtStation.org

21
Jul

Blackberry Daze

Blackberry Daze
Horizon Theatre
through August 27, 2017

We are soooo fortunate in our area to have so many local theatre companies working so hard to add to our quality of life. This work is another example of a high energy story being presented by a cast of superb actors, with good costumes, sets, music and choreography.

It is a story set in Virginia after WWI, where you meet up with Herman Camm (TC Carson) a slick talking and snazzy dressing scum-bag womanizer who is working his routines with several local ladies. He gets involved with May Lou (Naomi Lavette) and also with her daughter, Carrie (Ayana Reed). But, there’s also an attraction to a local singer named Pearl (Brittany Inge) who he has the hots for. He wants you to believe everything that comes out of his mouth. Even though he is not a politician.

Things get dodgy when Willie (Christian Magby) comes home from the war, and sees what is going on in town. Things get testy and Herman gets what he deserves. But, you’ll know that from the start as then the tale goes back to weave together the fabric of deception which created the outcome. Christy Clark rounds out the cast playing four supporting roles.

The show is a difficult story set to music by William Knowles and with a script by Ruth P. Watson and Thomas W. Jones, II, who also directed this production derived from the book, Blackberry Days of Summer by miss Watson. And TC Carson was in the cast as Herman Camm when the show premiered last year, and has come to town to reprise the role. S. Renee Clark on piano and Spencer Bean on guitar provide the on-stage music and the story moves on with great aplomb.

There are some very harsh segments, and this is not one for the kiddies. But, it does take you back in time to hard days for many people trying to find their ways through the forest of life.

The Horizon is in Little Five Points, with free parking and easy to get to. More info at HorizonTheatre.com

14
Jul

Between Riverside and Crazy

Between Riverside and Crazy
True Colors Theatre
through August 6, 2017

Stephen Adly Guirgis won the 2015 Pulitzer for Drama for this work about a former cop and his somewhat dysfunctional family and friends. Eric J. Little directed this high quality work with a cast of eight well known players.

There is a lot about this play that resonates with a lot of the angst which is permeating our society these days. We start off meeting Pops (Earl Billings) who was a police officer in New York City. He is having a tough time pursuing a case against the department for discrimination, after being shot up by a white cop.

Pop’s wife died and his son, Junior (Keith Arthur Bolden) just got out of jail. They live in a rent-controlled apartment on Riverside Drive in New York City. And the city wants to take back the flat and cancel the rent control lease. And that sort of thing happened a lot in NYC.

Junior’s girlfriend, Lulu (Annamaria Dvorak), and Oswaldo (Cristian Gonzalez), a recovering druggie also often hang out at Pop’s pad. Andrew Benator comes on as Lt. Caro, who used to work with Pops, and is trying to get him to accept a settlement proposal from the city. But, that isn’t going anywhere very fast. The other two players are Diany Rodriguez who poses as a church lady but has another agendum, and Jerri Tubbs, as a NYPD detective who gets called in after some problems arise.

The show is staged on a terrific set by Moriah & Isabel Curley-Clay, and the work is first quality in every way. You do wonder where things are going, and what may happen; but you are not correct. But all will come around in the end, even though the denouement may seem a bit longer than needed.

Staged at the Southwest Arts Center on New Hope Road, which is just off of Cascade Rd reached easily from 285. Like many shows that Kenny Leon has staged, there are racial issues; and that is nothing less than a mirror of the world in which we live.

More info and tickets easily found at TrueColorsTheatre.org

10
Jul

She Kills Monsters

She Kills Monsters
Out of Box Theatre
through July 22, 2017

Playwright Qui Nguyen loves to write about nerds and geeks, and this opus is quite a voyage into the world of Dungeons and Dragons. If you’re an old geezer who thought nothing could get more complicated than a remote control for your TV, then get ready to travel through time and space into a world you’ve not seen before.

Or, just find somebody under the age of 40 and ask them to explain it all to you; because back in the days of Happy Days and the Fonz, we weren’t all sitting in front of an iPad or playing war games on a Galaxy Phone. Most of us never even messed with Pong or Pac-Man.

So be prepared, as the Boy Scouts would advise. For this work, which runs about 90 minutes takes you deeply into the netherworld. Directed by Will Brooks with terrific costumes, and exciting fight scenes; it is a story of Agnes (Kristin Storla) whose family, including her younger sister, Tilly (Ali Olhausen) perished in an accident. Tilly had been into D&D, and Agnes new not of the experience.

She hooks up with Chuck (Nick Cothran) who becomes her Dungeon Master and descends into her quest to find and restore the soul of Tilly. There is plenty of combat, some stress, some humor, and lots of somewhat gothic essence. It is NOT for the little ones, nor for the dowagers among us. But, it is extraordinarily well done, and the minimalist set works fine for the cast of 12 players as the tale unfolds.

Out of Box is easy to get to on Cobb Parkway up near the Big Chicken, and parking is free. More info and tickets at OutOfBoxTheatre.com    And, if you like comedy, next up will be The Only Light in Reno by Topher Payne. Check it out.