Jordan Wright
October 10, 2015
As part of this fall’s Women’s Voices Theater Festival, Director Joe Calarco commissioned American playwright Sheri Wilner and lyricists Julia Jordan and Adam Gwon to write Cake Off – – an original musical. What they came up with is a musical comedy, so off-the-wall sidesplitting that I’m still trying to catch my breath.
 Sherri L. Edelen (Rita Gaw) and Todd Buonopane (Paul Hubbard) in Cake Off at Signature Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman The storyline derives from a nationally known baking competition which in 1996, when the prize money jumped to $1 million, was won by a man for the first time. Sponsored by the ever so slightly altered company name of Millsbury, the plot centers around two competitors, Paul Hubbard (Todd Buonopane) and Rita Gaw (Sherri Edelen), and one emcee from hell, Jack DeVault (Jamie Smithson does triple duty as former contestants Lenora Nesbit and Nancy DeMarco).
Rita is a divorcee and three-time finalist whose talent derives from an unrequited career in chemistry. A science nerd in the art of baking, she lives vicariously through her doctor-to-be daughter.
 Todd Buonopane (Paul Hubbard) and Sherri L. Edelen (Rita Gaw) in Cake Off at Signature Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman Newcomer Paul has chosen his 12-year old son Wyatt’s (Ian Berlin) favorite cake recipe, Chocolate Junior Mints Cake, but becomes tormented with beginner’s angst, “I’ve never been a winner, I’m in the ‘Average Hall of Fame’,” he tells Rita, hoping to convince her he’s a better man than the personal trainer his wife has run off with. Rita just wants to prove to her five kids and deserter husband that she’s more than just a housewife and mother. They bond after Rita ignores contest rules to bail out his baking faux pas, and together they rhapsodize about their perfect ingredients in the number “Round One”.
Things heat up, and not just the ovens, when Jack snubs Rita to shower Paul with plenty of live air commentary as the event becomes a battle of the sexes. “This is a TV show,” Jack warns Rita. “They can’t taste the cake!” In “Be a Little Sweeter” veteran baker Lenore cautions Rita that the judges are looking for a telegenic personality something her legendary Roasted Apple Cake can’t overcome. That, and the fact that she’s a woman.
 (l to r) Jamie Smithson (Jack DeVault) and Todd Buonopane (Paul Hubbard) // Jamie Smithson (Jack DeVault) and Sherri L. Edelen (Rita Gaw). Photo by Margot Schulman Designer Jason Sherwood sets the stage with back-to-back stoves to mimic the layout of the famed bake-off as Rita and Paul measure and mix their delicious creations in a frantic rush to beat the clock.
Jordan and Gwon’s lyrics are catchy, quirky and even tender when it calls for it. But the real winners are Edelen whose voice and comedic timing are reminiscent of Lucille Ball, Buonopane who bookends her seamlessly, and Smithson whose extensive vocabulary of facial expressions is mind-altering.
Mix in a few cups of Erma Bombeck’s feminist domesticity with Fannie Flagg’s heartland hilarity, add some candy sprinkles, chocolate frosting and fourteen catchy tunes, and, dare I say it, you’ve got a recipe for success.
Highly recommended if you want to laugh your buns off!
Through November 22nd at Signature Theatre (Shirlington Village), 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information call 703 820-9771 or visit www.signature-theatre.org.
Jordan Wright
October 9, 2015
Special to The Alexandria Times
 (l to r) Curt Bouril (“Don Kirshner”), Liam Tobin (“Gerry Goffin”), Abby Mueller (“Carole King”), Ben Fankhauser (“Barry Mann”) and Becky Gulsvig (“Cynthia Weil”). Photo by Joan Marcus. Where were you when you first heard The Righteous Brothers sing “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” or “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” by The Shirelles? Maybe you were dancing to “Locomotion” by Little Eva or “Up On the Roof” by The Drifters, all songs written by Brooklyn-born Carole King (Abby Mueller) and her husband Gerry Goffin (Liam Tobin). Working for music producer Don Kirshner (Curt Bouril), known as “The Man With the Golden Ear”, their partnership produced hit after hit keeping them on the pop charts throughout the 60’s.
During their early career lyricist Gerry and the precociously talented composer Carole churned out hits at Aldon Music, a music publishing house and hit factory in New York’s Brill Building, where they worked side-by-side with fellow hit makers, Cynthia Weil (Becky Gulsvig) and Barry Mann (Ben Fankhauser) in friendly competition.
 Carnegie Hall. Abby Mueller (“Carole King”). Photo by Joan Marcus Beautiful tells the story of their romance, marriage and tumultuous breakup. The simple story chronicles their struggles and successes and ultimately King’s solo career, which broke the pop mold with the release of her first album – the four-time Grammy Award-winning, “Tapestry”.
The show opens with a medley of hits from the 50’s before the duo got their start – “Poison Ivy”, “Love Potion #9”, “Yakety Yak” to name a few. Dressed in sharkskin suits and skinny ties, actors playing The Drifters appear to perform some of their numbers, as do the ersatz The Shirelles wearing their trademark beaded dresses with chiffon shoulder drapes, Little Eva (Ashley Blanchet), who had been their babysitter, and the entirely fictitious Janelle Woods (Rebecca E. Covington), a pop singer who becomes Gerry’s extramarital lover.
 The Shirelles. (l to r) Britney Coleman, Rebecca E. Covington, Ashley Blanchet and Salisha Thomas // The Drifters. (l to r) Dashaun Young, Paris Nix, Josh A. Dawson and Noah J. Ricketts The musical is heavy on songs, twenty-seven numbers backed by a twelve-piece orchestra, and light on script. But that’s just fine as you’ll probably be silently singing along recalling your first dance, or first kiss, to these memorable songs that are timed to reflect the state of Carole and Gerry’s rocky marriage. Goosebumps kick in with “Some Kind of Wonderful”, Gerry and Carole’s first duet, but the audience gives an collected audible sigh for The Righteous Brothers big number, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling”.
Scenic Designer Derek McLane captures the mood by drawing on the 1930’s architecture of the historic Brill Building, tricking it out with hundreds of neon-colored lights. Spare sets feature the mid-century modern furnishings of the period, while “On Air” signs suggest the atmosphere of a sound studio.
Abby Mueller does a fine job as Carole, especially at the end of Act Two when she lets loose her powerful voice on the biggest hits from “Tapestry” – “Natural Woman”, later covered by Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige, and “Beautiful”, a reflection of her coming of age as an independent composer and soloist.
See it if you love the music of this era, or even if you just like music with lyrics you can understand.
Through October 25th at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information call 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
Jordan Wright
October 5, 2015
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Kathy Gordon as Alice, Vato Tsikurishvili as Caterpillar. Photo by Johnny Shryock Alice is very, very, very unhappy. She has had to surrender her favorite playthings to a recently hired cruel-hearted governess, Ms. Prickett (Renata Veberyte Loman, later seen in the role of the Queen), who eats her tarts, insists she recite poetry and insults her intelligence. In this dark telling, and merging, of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, Director Paata Tsikurishvili takes us down the rabbit hole to a fantasy world unlike any other. After all, this is Synetic Theater. Did you expect a fairy tale? Lloyd Rose’s script adaption, divided into twelve parts, keeps the madcap charm yet affords little room for niceties.
 Renata Veberyte Loman as Queen of Hearts, Justin J. Bell as King with Ensemble. Photo by Johnny Shryock. This is an upside down world this growing-up thing – fraught with danger, nonsensical creatures and twisted logic – and Alice (Kathy Gordon) intends to sort it all out and in the process teach Wonderland’s inhabitants a few lessons in commonsense. Setting out she finds her toys have morphed into the Cheshire Cat (Alex Mills) and the White Rabbit (Tori Bertocci) who lead her into an evermore phantasmagorical dimension filled with shrouded creatures of the night who feed her cakes to change her size in order to enter a tiny portal to the realm of the Queen of Hearts.
 Alex Mills as Cheshire Cat, Kathy Gordon as Alice, Tori Bertocci as White Rabbit. Photo by Johnny Shryock Eventually Alice arrives at the tea party where she meets up with the Mad Hatter (Dallas Tolentino), Doormouse (Zana Gankhuyag, who graces us later as the Lobster) and the March Hare (Justin J. Bell, who does double-duty as King). “It’s always tea time,” they riddle her pop-locking to electronika and calliope in this carnival-like atmosphere.
 Dallas Tolentino as Mad Hatter, Kathy Gordon as Alice, Justin J. Bell as March Hare. Photo by Johnny Shryock Costume Designer Kendra Rai does not disappoint. Well known to Synetic fans and the Helen Hayes Awards committee (who bestowed upon her the 2015 Outstanding Costume Design Award for her work on last season’s The Island of Dr. Moreau, thus besting herself for her other two noms for Beauty and the Beast and Twelfth Night), she has outdone herself with eye-popping creations.
 Zana Gankhuyag as Doormouse, Alex Mills as Cheshire Cat, Dallas Tolentino as Mad Hatter, Justin J. Bell as March Hare. Photo by Johnny Shryock. The Queen’s Guard, as you’ll recall, are playing cards that dash about looking for heads to chop off, as per Her Majesty’s whims. But it’s Tweedle Dee (Augustin Beall) and Tweedle Dum (Thomas Beheler) as punk rockers that nearly steal the show reciting the Jabberwocky, “Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogroves, And the mome raths outgrabe,” finishing with a high-five. I’ll admit it is one of my favorite bits of nonsense poetry and I was totally captivated by this odd duo in leather jackets and spiky mohawks reciting Carroll’s famous 19th century verse.
 Dallas Tolentino as Mad Hatter. Photo by Johnny Shryock. Humpty Dumpty (Vato Tsikurishvili) makes a brief appearance before his precipitous fall, confounding Alice with the pronouncement, “When I use a word it means what I choose it to be. You can’t let words have the last word.” But it’s the Queen’s appearance at the garden party, replete with towering red pompadour and black and white patent leather dress plumped up with paniers, that truly blows our minds. “Off with their heads!” she familiarly commands as she neatly tucks a croquet ball into a wicket.
 Alex Mills as Cheshire Cat. Photo by Johnny Shryock. Resident Choreographer, Irina Tsikurishvili, works her magic, filling the stage with phenomenal dancers, most especially Mills who in one scene as the Cheshire Cat toying with a mouse, undulates, contorts and twists his lithe body into unimaginable feline positions, bending in half to lick his leg and slinking on to one of Scenic Designer Daniel Pinha’s giant arcing scaffolds to avoid discovery.
Highly recommended.
Through November 8th at Synetic Theater, 1800 South Bell Street, Arlington in Crystal City. For tickets and information call 866 811-4111 or visit www.synetictheater.org.
Jordan Wright
September 29, 2015
Special to The Alexandria Times
As part of this fall’s ongoing Women’s Voices Theater Festival featuring over 50 world premiere productions of plays by female playwrights, MetroStage Artistic Director Carolyn Griffin presents Uprising, a musical telling of the true story of noted abolitionist Osborne “Ossie” Perry Anderson. Set against the backdrop of a free black community during Secession Era America, it reflects a time of grave uncertainty, even for freed African Americans, who remain in fear of being kidnapped for bounty, taken south and sold again.
 (right to left) Cynthia D. Barker as Sal and Anthony Manough as Ossie – Photo credit: Chris Banks Ossie (Anthony Manough), on the run as the lone black survivor of John Brown’s ill-fated raid on Harper’s Ferry, encounters Sal (Cynthia D. Barker), a freed slave who picks cotton to support a child she has taken in. Ossie begs Sal not to turn him in, but she has plans for the future and is conflicted. Together they represent two diametrically opposing choices for African Americans of their day – – insurrection or keeping within the established racial system in an attempt to improve their lot. Sal chooses to work for meager wages on the plantation in the hopes of building a school for her adopted son, Freddie (Jeremiah Hasty), while Ossie is determined to crush the backbone of slavery by convincing others to join his movement.
 Little Freddie, played by Jeremiah Hasty – Photo credit: Chris Banks The musical opens with the melancholy strains of Tuneman’s blues guitar setting the tone for the conflicts to come. Conditions are relatively good for the men and women on this plantation just north of the Mason-Dixon line and their paternalistic boss, Whistle (Peter Boyer), often rewards them with bonuses.
When Sal finds Ossie in the field hungry and cold, she rejects his advances, refusing to feed him or offer shelter, afraid to jeopardize her freedom. But Ossie persists and Sal is fascinated by his surprising eloquence, his ability to read and his courtly manners. “Words,” he tells her, “I’ve seen them heal a man.” “Kill em too!” insists Sal who proves an equally verbal sparring partner to Ossie’s progressive views.
When Whistle learns of the insurrection and of Ossie’s escape, he becomes a cruel master, “I’m appalled at the lawlessness,” he barks, threatening them with reduced pay. If they find the fugitive, they must turn him in. When Ossie tries to convince the others to “Liberate your souls!” and join the movement, Bo-Jack (Djob Lyons), who’s hidden his love for Sal, and Ossie get into a brawl and all their lives become endangered.
 (left to right) Cynthia D. Barker,Peter Boyer, Doug Brown, Cynthia D. Barker, Jeremiah Hasty, Anthony Manough, Enoch King – Photo credit Chris Banks Musical interstices composed by Theodis Ealey and directed by William Knowles, are soulful and uplifting, filled with the emotionally stirring strains of gospel, spirituals and plantation work chants and blended by this cast’s exquisite voices.
Brilliantly directed by Thomas W. Jones II who has cast an impressive ensemble to present this powerful tale – – Manough, Barker, Lyons, Doug Brown as Charlie, Naomi LaVette as Lottie; David Cole as Tuneman, the strolling minstrel, and the captivating Jeremiah Hasty making his stage debut as Sal’s boy, Freddie. (Expect the inimitable Roz White to resume the roles of Lottie and Miss Ellen May, and Enoch King to return as Bo-Jack as they end their roles in a national touring company and rejoin the cast.)
Costume Designer, Janine Sunday, captures the period perfectly with subtle colors that blend seamlessly with Set/Projection Designer Robbie Hayes grainy-filtered backdrops of life in the Deep South.
Highly recommended.
At MetroStage through October 25th – 1201 North Royal Street, Alexandria, 22314. For tickets and information visit www.metrostage.org.
Jordan Wright
September 8, 2015
Special to The Alexandria Times
 (left to right) Natalie Fox as Daisy Coates, Tom Flatt as Vernon Volker (in the back in green), Kat Sanchez as Susannah Huntsmen, Ted Culler as Richfield Hawksley, and Abigail Ropp as Mary Pierre (on knees). Photos by Matthew Randall, Allrand Photography Laughing Stock is Charles Morey’s comic love story to summer stock and the actors and crews that make up these “little families”. For those who have ever attended a production in a barn turned theater, volunteered to work backstage or were talented enough to perform at their local playhouse, this comedy is sure to spark fond memories. Shawn g. Byers does a handy job of directing this paean to seasonal theatre – – an incestuous platform where summer romances bloom, show biz careers are launched and lifelong friendships are formed – – or not.
 (left to right) Michael Dobbyn as Jack Morris, Kat Sanchez as Susannah Huntsmen, and Richard Isaacs as Henry Mills. Photos by Matthew Randall, Allrand Photography The setting for our story is a 200-year old cow barn where the Director, Gordon (Lars Klores) and his Casting Director Susannah (Kat Sanchez) are getting ready for auditions for their 82nd season and the cast-to-be is introduced in a series of hilarious vignettes referencing their experience or lack thereof: Mary (Abigail Ropp), an ingénue who seduces the Director for the part; Vernon (Tom Flatt), an aging fop with a long list of theatre credits; Richfield (Ted Culler), a seasoned actor who consistently bobbles his lines; Jack (Michael Dobbyn), the handsome, romantic lead who’s passing the summer before starting law school; Daisy (Natalie Fox), who brings along her mystic sensibilities; and Tyler (Will MacLeod), a cheery lad who is bent on pursuing Mary. Together they neatly represent your garden-variety summer stock actors.
 (left to right) Tom Flatt as Vernon Volker, Ted Culler as Richfield Hawksley, Michael Dobbyn as Jack Morris, Abigail Ropp as Mary Pierre. Photos by Matthew Randall, Allrand Photography Gordon’s struggling little troupe is under the thumb of Barbara DeMartineau, a financial backer who insists he mount a production of The Sound of Music. But Gordon has his season planned for King Lear, Dracule (a ghoulish mystery based on Dracula which he himself has penned) and the farcical Charley’s Aunt, and he tries to dissuade Barbara from her conditions of support while sweet-talking her into mailing in her annual check.
 (left to right) Will MacLeod as Tyler Taylor, Abigail Ropp as Mary Pierre, Michael Dobbyn as Jack Morris. Photos by Matthew Randall, Allrand Photography As for management, the theater’s tiny budget is controlled by Craig (Larry Grey), an endearing martinet who is the Office Supply Overlord and whose chief concerns are the disappearance of script marking pencils and an ancient Coke machine. Sarah (Melissa Dunlap) is Gordon’s love interest and the troupe’s Stage Manager, and Henry (Richard Isaacs) is the harried Set Designer.
 (left to right) Lars Klores as Gordon Page, Michael Dobbyn as Jack Morris, Kat Sanchez as Susannah Huntsmen, Ted Culler as Richfield Hawksley, and Will MacLeod as Tyler Taylor. Photos by Matthew Randall, Allrand Photography This comedy is certain to resonate with anyone who has ever taken an acting class, performed in even the smallest production, or known anyone that has. You’ll revel in the egotism, melodrama and backstage antics. In one hilarious bit, Susannah, who is directing their production of Charley’s Aunt, gets the cast to pretend to be animals, a well-known acting exercise that draws on physical realization. “Stay within your bubble,” she exhorts the odd collection of orangutans, gazelles and wildebeests. In another she absurdly insists the lead character in Charley’s Aunt is experiencing a modern-day gender crisis because he sports a skirt. Vernon declares the playhouse to be “the Dachau of summer theatres”. But, as Sarah insists, “it’s just another playhouse season.”
When at last the hinted-at audience takes its seats in the steamy, dung-filled barn, we view the plays in fast-forward sequence. Slapstick ensues in spades as we witness the whatever-can-go-wrong-will-go-wrong production of the three plays. Actors bump into each other, exits and entrances are bolluxed up, lines are muffed, props go missing, sound effects go haywire, fog machines misfire and actors miss their cues. Kudos to the actual Stage Managers, Charles Dragonette and Margaret Evans-Joyce for getting things exquisitely discombobulated.
Tons of fun for anyone who loves theatre and the absurd.
Through September 26th at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street. For tickets and information call the box office at 703 683-0496 or visit www.thelittletheatre.com
Jordan Wright
August 25, 2015
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Christine Sherrill (Violet Chandler), and Mark Evans (Cal Chandler). Photo by Christopher Mueller Cal Chandler, son of successful politician, Senator Reed Chandler, is not exactly a model of statesmanship. He’s your typical privileged Yale grad and pot-smoking, ex-Vietnam vet raised in a political family. Sound familiar? It’s just the first of many of the plot’s parallels to our real American political landscape. When Cal’s father dies in flagrante delicto before re-election, his mother and uncle, the family’s political advisor, Grahame Chandler (Lawrence Redmond), plot a course to groom young Cal to take his place. And do they ever plot! Move over Shakespeare. There’s a new Lady Macbeth in town and her name is Violet Chandler. To give you some idea, the show’s intro is “Let the Games Begin” which trumpets, “These are the games, the tools and the tricks.”
As Violet and Grahame ply their considerable savvy to transform the reluctant scion into a model of respectability, we have a front row seat to the backroom wheeling and dealing of a political campaign including a nefarious mobster, Anthony Gliardi, played by Dan Manning with distinction. The ever-watchful Grahame, making sure Cal won’t be caught up by reporters’ probing queries, warns the budding pol, “You must limit yourself to three topics – the economy, crime and taxes.”
The Fix is a scrumptious concoction of jealousy, scandal and infidelity (Will Gartshore, as Violet’s doomed lover, Bobby “Cracker” Barrel is terrific) served up with a side of moral depravity, deceit and the delightful pleasure of déjà vu and schadenfreude all in the same soup. Oh, yes, we know what’s going to happen, and no, we still can’t turn away.
 Mark Evans (Cal Chandler). Photo by Christopher Mueller. Mark Evans, as Cal, is spectacular – a super sexy, blindingly handsome, ripped-bodied (he strips to his skivvies in the first act), breathtaking dancer and jaw-dropping singer who earned his street cred in The Book of Mormon. As the lead, Evans commands much of the attention in this pivotal role and he does not disappoint, nor does veteran performer Bobby Smith as Cal’s late father who returns from the grave to offer advice to his wayward son. Act Two brings Smith and Redmond together as Harvard alums sporting satin-striped suits and doing a mean soft shoe in a hilarious vaudeville-style skit that incorporates crutches as props. After all, isn’t politics just show business with money and a message?
Christine Sherrill lends an alluring villainy to Violet, a woman who thrives on perks and power. In “Spin” a drunken self-examination solo at a symbolically chosen vanity table, she belts out a heart-stopping message that defines her years stumping with her husband on campaign trails, “It’s a rough ride on the back roads. You give it spin.”
 Bobby Smith (Senator Reed Chandler), Christine Sherrill (Violet Chandler), and Lawrence Redmond (Grahame Chandler). Photo by Christopher Mueller. The Fix gives us all the elements of a smash hit with book & lyrics by John Dempsey, music by Dana P. Rowe and direction by Eric Schaeffer. Matthew Gardiner crafts the choreography and it is impressive, as is the eight-piece orchestra (sounds like eighteen) under Jon Kalbfleisch. Setting the stage are the combined efforts of Misha Kachman’s scenic design and Hannah Marsh’s clever projection design of incorporating TV screens with news anchors that report on Cal’s soaring career from councilman to governor.
Highly recommended.
Through September 20th in the MAX at Signature Theatre (Shirlington Village), 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information call 703 820-9771 or visit www.sigtheatre.org
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