NEWSIES - Extra! Extra! Get it while you can!

CRT Cast of Newsies

NEWSIES
Jorgensen Auditorium
Connecticut Repertory Theatre
July 7, 2017
Music- Alan Menken
Lyrics- Jack Feldman
Adapted from the Disney film by-
Harvey Fierstein
Director Choreographer-
Christopher d'Amboise

 “Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it, and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light.” 

Joseph Pulitzer was talking about newspapers when he said this, but Christopher d'Amboise puts that advice into action on the stage of the Jorgensen.

     Joseph Pulitzer founder of the New York World and the St. Louis Post Dispatch was a Hungarian immigrant, who dedicated his life to the principles of independent journalism and sometimes to crushing union activity.

     In a time when journalism is under attack, and "fake news" receives more attention than well researched reporting, this production puts into stark relief the principles laid out by the ideals of the Pulitzer Prize and his own abandonment of those ideals when it affected his bottom line.

     Set in New York City at the turn of the century, when child labor was relatively unregulated; we are given a stylized story of the “Newsboy Strike of 1899”. This was a time, not unlike our own, when unions were under attack, workers were exploited, and Journalism was struggling to find its social conscience.

     Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst ruled the world of newspaper publishing with an iron fist and tried to raise the price newsboys had to pay of a bundle of papers.  

     Underlying the feel good story, catchy music and inspired choreography is an investigation of social injustice and exploitive labor. 

     Lyrics, dialog and situations that may have seemed innocuous when the movie and musical were first produced carry an extra layer of meaning in 2017. It is interesting that this year CRT at UConn produced both Waiting For Lefty (about a taxi strike) and Newsies (about a newsboy strike).

Newsboy Legion in Superman

     The newsboys became superheros in DC comics in the 1940s and again in the 80s and 90s. Then they were movie stars in1992, and Broadway gypsies in 2012. There was also "out of town" work at the paper Mill Playhouse in NJ in 2011. Now they have arrived in Storrs and they are tearing down the house.

     The trick to directing a musical is to get the different aspects of theatre, as well as the different actors, to perform as a unit.

     A communication round-robin reveals itself at the Jorgensen under the direction of Christopher d'Amboise. The music, the dance, the words, and the mise en scene, create a manege wherein meaning is performed. The forward energy of the story is at one moment carried by one of those elements and then passed on to another. The different parts of the musical are not a series of solos that happen at the same time but are an integrated whole. 

     Dance videographer Amy Reusch first introduced me to Christopher d’Amboise’s work with his New York company Off Center Ballet in the late 1980s. He has an innate sense of theatrical presentation that is manifest in his choreography and directing of this production.  Both the choreography and the dancing are charged with energy, and that energy comes across to the audience and draws us into the action. 

The cast stars Jim Schubin  as Jack Kelly, the leader of the newsies. As well as being an excellent singer Schubin has a great physical presence. 

Paige Smith, as Katherine Plumber, the female lead, gets stronger as the night goes on. 

Tina Fabrique has only one number as Medda Larkin but she slays it.

Richard R. Henry (Joseph Pulitzer) has a wonderful voice and an ability to hold the stage.

Tyler Jones as Crutchie has a key role. It is interesting that boy on a crutch instigates the first dance.

 Kalob Martinez brings a puppeteer’s focus to the part of Snyder. He is concentrated and intense.

Atticus L. Burrello, who will be entering the 8^th grade in the Fall, has a stage presence that draws our attention, and a sense of timing that will serve him in good stead for what I believe will be a long and successful career. This is someone to watch in the very near future. 

The Savings Institute Bank can be proud of their season sponsorship of the Connecticut Repertory Theatre.

Terrence Mann, who we know most recently as Mr. Whispers in the Netflix original series Sense8, has given had a highly successful first season as Artistic Director of the CRT.           You’d better watch out, because next year…HE’LL BE BACK.

Penzance at CRT

Tell your friends about this one!

The Pirates of Penzance

Writer: W.S. Gilbert

Composer: by Arthur Sullivan

Director: Terrence Mann

Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre

7 June – 22 July 2012

What’s a director to do?

If he is given a play that has been flop-proof for more than a hundred years and has a cast that is talented and willing to take direction then what is the director’s job?  The answer that is offered by Terrence Mann in this production of The Pirates of Penzance is that the director can integrate all of the performances into a unified dramatic whole, and then get as granular as possible so that each performance is as nuanced and complex as possible.  From the opening salvo to the curtain calls Mann keeps us interested and attentive.  He knows how a musical is supposed to work. The shared experience and practice of the CRT repertory company gives depth and texture to the interplay among actors.

Children and adults will love this whirlwind production of a Gilbert and Sullivan classic.

Alex Gibson has an astounding face, limbs made of rubber, and an impeccable sense of timing; his tap dancing, a la Irish step dancing, is one of the highlights of show.  He is currently a Junior at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.  See this young performer now and you will be able to say you knew his work before he became famous.

The choreography and movement by Cassie Abate is not only exciting to watch but also reveals character and moves the plot forward.  The Dance and Musical Theatre Program at Texas State University will be getting a movement treasure to head up their program in September.

Diane Phelan’s operatic voice, compelling acting, and graceful movement have been seen before at CRT and she continues to grow as a performer and a musician.

Sean Martin Hingston does it all.  To say that he can act sing and dance would be to undersell his talents.  For all his charisma he still fits into the larger ensemble.  He is an exceptional performer but he uses his considerable talents to serve the larger show.

Lynn McNutt is a laugh-a-minute Ruth.  “There are the remains of a fine woman about Ruth.”  Her burlesque sexuality is always funny and never inappropriate.  (During the curtain calls she gestures for the handsome men in the audience to “call me.”)

In 1884 Sullivan wrote of his music that, “It has hitherto been word-setting, I might almost say syllable-setting, for I have looked upon the words as being of such importance that I have been continually keeping down the music in order that not one should be lost.”

Seasoned pro, Steven Hayes, who is the very model of a modern Major General, has a great sense of humor and a feel for high camp.  The articulation of the lyrics of some of his songs and patter did not always reach the ears.   Sometimes the syllables that Arthur Sullivan worked so hard to foreground were lost in a blur; no matter, the audience loved him. 

Many of these actors have worked together both at CRT and in other venues.  One of the advantages of a repertory company is that the actors get a chance to know one another and learn each other’s style, timing and approach to interpretation.  In a rep company actors can learn how their style plays against another’s and then use that knowledge to the advantage of the production.  It allows them to give depth of interpretation within a limited rehearsal schedule.  It doesn’t matter if the play is all surface and gloss; any scene between the actors can have depth and detail. CRT not only has actors who have worked together on several productions this season, but have also worked together in the past.

The acoustics of the Harriet Jorgensen are not perfect but the sound reinforcement system is usually excellent.  Opening night the sound reinforcement that is often transparent at CRT was a bit more noticeable than usual.

The exhibit of Women’s “Dress from the Industrial Age” in the Jorgensen Gallery curated by Laura Crow, Director the Costume Design, Department of Dramatic Arts and Curator, at the UConn Historical Clothing and Textile Collection is an eye-opening look at styles of a bygone time.  It is in the gallery attached to the theatre.

On Storrs Road there is a kiosk that lists the productions that are being done by the Theatre program at UConn. It always has a compelling graphic and the name of the upcoming production, but the dates of the production are always too small to read while driving by in a car.  Making the dates on the sign large enough to read from a passing car would make it easier for people to know when a play is opening and how many days they have left to catch the show.

My Fair Lady

My Fair Lady

Book and Lyrics:  Allan Jay Lerner

Music:  Frederick Loewe

With Terrence Mann and Eileen Fulton

Director: Vincent J. Cardinal

Music Director: NDavid Williams

July 7 - 17, 2011

Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre

Review: Edmond Chibeau 7/8/11

Shortly after it opened in 1956 My Fair Lady became one of the most successful musicals in American musical theatre history.  It was adapted from the 1914 straight play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, but it has a long pedigree.

The story we enjoy as the Lerner and Loewe musical comes to us from many sources including Ovid’s Metamorphosis, the 1762 opera Pygmalion by Jean-Jacque Rousseau, a play in blank verse by W. S. Gilbert which premiered in 1871, and of course George Bernard Shaw’s 1916 Pygmalion.  One wonders how the arc of this production would have been different if W. S. Gilbert had been working with Arthur Sullivan on operettas when he wrote his version of Pygmalion? 

Early in the show Professor Higgins sings his indictment of the British Class system with the wonderful, “Why Can’t the English Speak English” and shortly thereafter proceeds to say of poor Eliza, "She's so deliciously low. So horribly dirty."

This enables the script to bite the heels of aristocratic and middle class prejudice and also to deepen the character of Professor Higgins by showing us a contradiction in his character. 

Terrence Mann delivers the line with a frisson of excitement and an air of superiority that makes us look forward to the comeuppance that he so richly deserves; and that we are sure Elisa will provide.  When Mann, as Higgins, delivers the line it opens up the Fabian themes of the play and whets our appetite for the coming emotional conflict with Elisa Doolittle.

Lerner and Loewe are not Fabian democratic socialists and they write for the pure joy of entertainment.  But the underlying Shavian philosophy in the George Barnard Shaw Play cannot help but seep through into the Musical Comedy of 1950s Broadway Americana.

Terrence Mann, who plays the professor of phonetics Dr. Higgins, is know for originating the Broadway roles of Rum Tum Tugger in Cats, Javert in Les Miz and the Beast in Disney's Beauty and the Beast.  My suspicion is that he will be remembered in the theatre community for his generosity of spirit; a generosity that is manifest in several ways in this production.  He often gives support and throws the focus to Alix Paige who plays Eliza.  When he does a turn of his own he commands the stage, but when another actor is speaking he leads us to other actor with his eyes and body posture.

In the final moment of the play Mann says, “Bring me my shoes” and then makes a disarming shrug and smile that belies the 1950s male chauvinism that might be carried in the line.

Alix Paige who plays Eliza Doolittle has a terrific sense of comic timing and holds her own with her experienced co-stars.  Her voice is beautiful and her range is broad.

Richard Ruiz as Alfred P. Doolittle shows us how quickly a common dustman is willing to adopt the morality of the petite bourgeoisie when given the chance.  His acting style for this production is broad and serves the needs of both his character and the production.  He is an audience favorite.

Eileen Fulton, famous for her long tenure on As the World Turns, is poised, professional, and compassionate as Higgins' mother.

Timothy Gulan as Colonel Pickering has a wonderful sense of comic timing.  Conner Moore as Freddy Eynsford-Hill is all starry–eyed innocence and puppy love.

Vincent J. Cardinal’s Direction does a good job integrating the different levels of experience found in the heterogeneous cast while allowing the actors the freedom to find their own performance.

A reviewer who was fortunate enough to have seen Rex Harrison reprise his role as Higgins in the 1981 revival at the Uris Theatre on Broadway would notice that Cardinale’s interpretation is less arch and more compassionate the earlier one.  Cardinal’s  production hews close enough to the various Rex Harrison versions but manages to keep the moments fresh and surprising.

The attentive Musical Direction by NDavid Williams keeps the show moving and always supports the actors.

The excellent Choreography is by the actress, dancer, choreographer Charlotte d’Amboise who is also performing on Broadway as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago.

I am glad that I was encouraged to see this production by Amy Reusch who studied under Jacques d’Amboise and worked for many years with Christopher d’Amboise.  If you see it you’ll be glad too.

This Fair Lady is well danced, well costumed, well acted and well directed.  It is beautiful to watch and fun to listen to.

La lluvia en España cae principalmente en la llanura.

Catch it if you can.