Best of the Best Jekyll & Hyde the Musical Thrills and Chills at The Little Theatre of Alexandria
Jekyll & Hyde
The Musical
The Little Theatre of Alexandria
Jordan Wright
October 22, 2024
Special to The Zebra
 (L to R): Shelby Young, Michael McGovern “In each of us there are two natures,” asserts Dr. Henry Jekyll who before long will take his claim of psychological duality to the depths of diabolical depravity surrounded by his fellow Victorians. Within a society so prim, proper and structured some of the most horrific crimes were committed and fantasized about.
Jekyll & Hyde, the musical, is based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s original Gothic horror novella. Set in 1888, Year One of the twelve gruesome Whitechapel murders in London’s East End and the start of Jack the Ripper’s staggering crime spree, it becomes the framework for Dr. Jekyll’s forays into the sordid side of London where he finds himself celebrating his engagement at the Red Rat cabaret with his trusted attorney, Gabriel John Utterson. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Ostracized for his dangerous theories by the Board of Governors of the local hospital and given no latitude to pursue his experiments, the young doctor retreats to his home laboratory to prove he can rid society of the evils of all mankind. Using himself as the subject experiment, Jekyll begins his transformation into the murderous monster he will become as Mr. Edward Hyde.
 (L to R): Michael McGovern, James Best, Mylo Cluff, Andrew Cosner, Nathaniel McCay, Amanda Jones, Cristian Bustillos (Photo/Mark Armstrong) Underpinned by a lavish score, this jaw-dropping production, framed by an astounding 40 musical numbers, offers up a terrific cast. Led by a treasure of a performer in Michael E. McGovern (where has he been hiding?) as both Jekyll and Hyde, this show delivers on all levels from stellar cast to inventive set design to intricate staging on a two-tiered stage. With a 24-member cast and 12-piece orchestra playing multiple instruments, high praise goes to Director Jennifer Hardin, Choreographer Stefan Sittig, Fight Captain Nathaniel McCay and Music Director Mark V. Deal. It takes a village to stage this mammoth musical and do it justice and this production team has achieved it magnificently.
Complementing McGovern is Shelby Young as Emma, Jekyll’s fiancée. Emma is the perfect Jekyll’s descent into madness in her charm, beauty and grace. With her gorgeous soprano voice, Young fulfills this role to perfection. Her rival for Jekyll’s affections is Lucy Harris, played by Lexi Mellott. Mellott has terrific timing plus outstanding vocal and dance chops wowing the audience in her seductive cabaret number “Bring on the Men” backed by the Red Rat chorus line. Hyde’s unctuous obsession with the captivating gamin is compelling.
You will thrill to Emma’s heart-wrenching number, “Once Upon a Dream”, Jekyll’s “I Need to Know”, “This is the Moment” and “Alive” as well as Lucy’s poignant “A New Life” and her duet with Hyde in a danse macabre “Dangerous Game”.
 Michael McGovern (Photo/Mark Armstrong) Watching McGovern transform into Mr. Hyde, the incalculably villainous monster, is both riveting and frightening. Over the past decade I have reviewed some amazing, WATCH award-winning musicals at LTA, but this one stands among the top ten on my “Best of the Best” list.
If you like Sweeney Todd, Chicago, Phantom of the Opera and Cabaret, imagine those iconic musicals combined in one show and you’ve got the picture. Here sweet romance, grisly murders, a hot jazz club and high and low society coexist in one rip-roaring musical.
Highly recommended. An absolute must-see show!
 (L to R): Cristina Casais, Shannon Hardy, Dani Lock, Melanie Campbell With Matt Yinger as Gabriel John Utterson; Brian Ash as Sir Danvers Carew; Michael Blinde as Jekyll’s Father/Inmate/Priest/Ensemble; Nathaniel McCay as Simon Stride; Amanda Jones as Lady Beaconsfield; Andrew Cosner as The Bishop of Basingstoke; Mylo Cluff as Lord Savage; Cristian Bustillos as General Lord Glossop; James Best as Sir Archibald Proops; Melanie Campbell, Cristina Casais, Shannon Hardy and Dani Lock as Red Rat Girl/Ensemble; Robin Lewis as Nellie, a prostitute; Jae Damauier as Spider, a pimp; Dino Vergura as Bisset Apothecary/Featured Ensemble; and Sharon Eddy, Josh Katz, Jillian Rubino and Garrett Walsh in the ensemble.
Conceived for the stage by Steve Cuden & Frank Wildhorn; Book and Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse; Music by Frank Wildhorn; Orchestration by Kim Scharnberg; Arrangements by Jason Howland; Produced by Luana Bossolo & Sheri Ratick Stroud; Directed by Jennifer Hardin; Music Direction by Mark V. Deal; Choreography by Stefan Sittig; Set Design by Lawrence “Skip” Gresko; Lighting Design by JK Lighting; Sound Design by David Correia; Period Costume Design by Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley; Stage Combat/Intimacy Co-Directors Brianna Goode and Stefan Sittig; Special Effects and Multimedia Design by David Moretti; Dialect Coach Alden Michels; Hair Design/Makeup Design by Robin Maline and Lanae Sterrett.
Through November 9th at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For tickets and information call the box office at 703 683-5778 or visit www.TheLittleTheatre.com
Young Frankenstein is The Funniest, Most Risque, Goofball Comedy Now Playing at The Little Theatre
Young Frankenstein
The Little Theatre of Alexandria
Jordan Wright
October 22, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Joshua Nettinger as the Monster; Noah Mutterperl as Dr. Frankenstein (Photo/Matt Liptak) If your taste runs to wacky sendups and zany schtick, you could do no better than Young Frankenstein at The Little Theatre. According to the program’s synopsis the comedy picks up where most tales of the famed monster leave off. This introduces us to his grandson, the young Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, a young scientist and man about town who travels to the family castle in Transylvania, bent on claiming his inheritance before racing back to his fiancée Elizabeth. With the encouragement of the adorably sexy, Inga, his grandfather’s laboratory assistant and hunchback Igor, and his grandfather’s former paramour the stern-faced Frau Blücher, Frederick agrees to stay and complete his grandfather’s experiment by bringing the monster back to life with a new and improved brain. What a life! And what a premise! When the monster is given life, we discover he’s a veritable vaudeville trooper!
 Young Frankenstein Cast in “Putting on the Ritz” (Photo/Matt Liptak) Thanks to Mel Brooks who wrote the music and lyrics and shared credit for the book with Thomas Meehan, we’ve got a rollicking musical comedy with more sight gags, double entendres, mashups and old-time burlesque jokes than you can count.
Director Frank D. Shutts II has rounded up some of the best local talent in the biz to bring his vision to the mainstage. Eighty-one actors came to the casting call – sixteen were chosen. He’s also chosen London’s West End version of the show which is more finessed than the original Broadway version. Twenty-one musical numbers backed by fourteen instruments create a big sound in the little theatre. A tricked-out stage set features a revolving library door, grand castle gates, a farmer’s wagon pulled by two “horses” and multiple surprises I want you to discover for yourself.
 Noah Mutterperl as Dr. Frankenstein (Photo/Matt Liptak) The acting, dancing and singing are excellent. As far as I’m concerned Noah Mutterperl who plays Frederick, could get on a train and open on Broadway tomorrow night. His style, indefatigable energy, talent and comic timing are spot on in every way. As for Joshua Nettinga who plays The Monster, he too could snag a lead role in a heartbeat. Performing in seven-inch lift monster shoes while pratfalling, getting up and tap dancing in top hat and tails, would grant him major street cred on the Great White Way. That doesn’t mean to throw shade on the three female leads – Claire Jeffrey as Inga who is as precious as she is hilarious, Liz Colandene as Elizabeth Benning who belts like a young Ethel Merman and Judy Lewis as Frau Blücher who is deadpan-perfect as the cigar-smoking chatelaine. Not to leave out James Maxted who plays The Hermit and croons “Please Send Me Someone” in the style of Al Jolson’s “Mammy” and Brian Ash as Inspector Hans Kemp whose chorus of Bavarian villagers rise up with torches and pitchforks in “He’s Loose”.
In the immortal words of Mel Brooks, “You’ll laugh till you plotz!” (He didn’t really say that. I did.)
 Joshua Nettinga and Liz Colandene (Photo/Matt Liptak) Ensemble – Daria Butler (Swing), Emily Carbone, Andrew Edwards, Lewis Eggleston, Odette Gutierrez del Arroyo, Patrick Kearney, Evie Korovesis, Luke Martin, James Nugent (Swing), Lourdes Turnblom.
Music Directors Francine Krasowska and Christopher A. Tomasino; Choreographer, Stefan Sittig; Dance Captain Evie Korovesis; Set Design by Robert S. Barr Jr.; Lighting and Special Effects Design by Ken and Patti Crowley; Costume Design by Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley; Hair/Wig Design by Kadira Coley; and Makeup Design by Natalie Turkevich.
Highly recommended. The funniest, most risqué, goofball comedy since the Marx Brothers spent the night at the opera!
 Andrew Edwards, Lourdes Turnblom, Joshua Redford, Patrick Kearney, Emily Carbone (Photo/Matt Liptak) Through November 11th at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For tickets and information visit www.TheLittleTheatre.com or call the box office at 703 683-5778.
A Directorial Triumph and Flawless Cast Reign in Mary Stuart at The Little Theatre of Alexandria
Mary Stuart
The Little Theatre of Alexandria
Jordan Wright
April 24, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Thomas O’Neill, Maria Ciarrocchi (Photo/Matt Liptak) Two women, two countries, two rulers, two religions. For Mary Stuart Queen of Scots (Sarah Cusenza), it becomes a fight for her life when she is imprisoned by her cousin Elizabeth I Queen of England (Maria Ciarrocchi). While in her cell Mary has only her faithful nursemaid Hanna Kennedy to confide in, Elizabeth has legions of lords acting as her councilors. That doesn’t prove to be as useful as one might imagine when we see how their self-serving machinations muddy Elizabeth’s resolve.
In 1587 England is in a precarious state since Henry VIII divorced as a Catholic (Heaven forfend!) and converted to Protestantism. Wacky six-time wedded Henry even called his daughter Elizabeth a bastard child, but she wound up with the throne so sticks and stones didn’t throw shade on her after all. As for the never-married “Virgin Queen” Elizabeth, it seems she came away with some wisdom after witnessing the knavish ways of good old dad and decided to keep single. Plagued by the divergent views of her lords, she vacillates on what to do with Mary. Will it be more favorable to her reputation if she is seen to be sympathetic to Mary? Should she let her return unharmed to Scotland or show her the scaffold? If you know your history, you’ll know how that played out.
 John Paul Odle, Sarah Cusenza (Photo/Matt Liptak) Set in the 16th century, the play draws from a Shakespearean style of drama to reflect the bloody history within castle walls. Conspiracy, double dealing, spying, jealousy and murder are all on the table in this riveting political drama by author Peter Oswald. As the conniving Lord Burleigh (John Henderson) tells Elizabeth when a plot to murder her is revealed, “You must kill or be killed.” But whom should Elizabeth trust among the flatterers and sycophants? She has already survived three assassination attempts on her life. Each woman feels trapped. Mary in prison and Elizabeth in obeisance to her countrymen, “O, appalling servitude,” she laments.
 Maria Ciarrocchi (Photo/Matt Liptak) We must remember how very young these women were when they took the throne. Elizabeth was 25 years old. At that time a woman had never reigned in England before. Mary was a mere six days old when her father James V of Scotland died, and she was the only living heir. Although she was brought up in the lap of luxury and culture in France, she returned to Scotland and ascended to the throne at a mere girl of 19. Both women so young and with extraordinary power.
 Maria C, Sarah Cusenza, Sally Cusenza, Paul Donahoe (Photo/Matt Liptak) Since the play centers around Mary, it must have a strong actress, one who will imbue her performance with deep emotion and the gravitas befitting her role as a queen. I was totally taken with the acting brilliance of Sarah Cusenza whose Scottish accent was spot on and who held the stage with tremendous aplomb.
Mary Stuart is a powerful production, and it is flawless. You could hear a pin drop in the audience so fascinating are the story and the character’s interactions. Jaw-dropping period costumes by Juliana Cofrancesco, Abbie Mulberg, Carol Pappas and Robin Worthington coexist with Matt Liptak’s Elizabethan period set design to perfectly frame the pulsating action.
The Little Theatre has surprised this reviewer with yet another excellent production and a directorial triumph by Kathleen Barth who has assembled an impressive cast to manifest her vision.
Highly recommended.
With Sally Cusenza as Hanna Kennedy; John Paul Odle as Mortimer; Kirk Lambert as Amias; John Henderson as William Cecil, Lord Burleigh; John Barclay Burns as Count Aubespine and Melvil; Richard Fiske as Count Bellievre and Kent; Paul Donahoe as George Talbot; Stuart Fischer as Dungeon Drury and William Davison; Thomas O’Neill as Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester; Lee Swanson as Officer and Sheriff; Sam Beeson as O’Kelly and Page.
Dramaturg, Griffin Voltmann; Lighting Design by Matthew Cheney; Sound Design by Janice Rivera; Makeup and Hair Design by Robin Maline and Lanae Sterrett; Dialect Coach Hilary Adams.
Through May 13th at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For tickets and information visit www.TheLittleTheatre.com or call the box office at 703 683-0496.
A Frothy Comedy Delights at The Little Theatre
Lettice and Lovage
The Little Theatre of Alexandria
Jordan Wright
February 28, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Pat Nicklin as Lettice Douffet: Rachael Hubbard as Lottie Schoen (Photo/Matt Liptak) In this delectable comedy we find ourselves drawn to Lettice Douffet (Patricia Nicklin), an erudite lady with a penchant for the dramatic. As docent of Fustian House, a historic manor in Wiltshire, England, her tours are peppered with bland tales of its former denizens. Noticing the distracted tourists, she begins to enhance her talks with wildly invented fables designed to titillate. The tourists are delighted and far more attentive as she performs her zany pantomimes which include stories of the occupants making dinners of hedgehogs and rabbits. Unfortunately, the poor dear runs up against some touring scholars who challenge her “facts”. That’s when we witness her uncanny ability to dodge her way out of a pickle.
Soon Lotte Schoen (Rachael Hubbard), the Director of the Preservation Trust and a stickler for facts, calls her into her office to confront her shenanigans. Lettice eloquently holds her own, defending her histrionics by explaining she comes from a theater family where, “enlarge, enliven and enlighten” is her mother’s watchword. (If prevaricating could be blamed on the theater, courtrooms would be a circus. Hmmm… I think there’s a TV show for that.) Notwithstanding her mounting a strong case for performance art, Lotte gives her the axe and Lettice goes off roundly defeated.
 Tourists in the castle: Tegan Cohen, Nicole Gray, Nicole Lamberson, Colin Davies, James Blacker (Photo/Matt Liptak) After a time, Lotte pays a visit to Lettice’s lowly Earls Court digs and offers to help by suggesting a job on a tour boat she thinks would suit her. They bond over ageism in the workplace and Lettice regales Lotte over some serious drinking. They soon become fast friends with a penchant for reenacting historic executions. Yes, you read that right.
To say that Nicklin inhabits her character with zeal would be an understatement. She had the audience well in hand by taking total command of the stage. Hubbard proved to be up to the challenge with an equally memorable performance. The whole dang thing is spot on hilarious.
 Colin Davies as Mr. Bardolph; Pat Nicklin as Lettice Douffet (Photo/Matt Liptak) Look for Tegan Cohen who shows off her comedy chops as Lotte’s secretary and Colin Davies who makes a brief but effective appearance as Mr. Bardolph, the attorney hired to defend the women against a murder charge. Did I forget to mention murder?
Director Juli Tarabek Blacker has Peter Shaffer’s super witty script to work with and makes the most of its snappy pacing and eye-rolling bon mots.
Other cast members include Nicole “Nicki” Gray, Nicole Lamberson and James Blacker.
Produced by sheri ratick stroud and Griffin Voltmann with Set Design by Julie Fischer, Lighting by JK Lighting Design, Costume Design by Joan Lawrence, Sound Design by Manuel Medina.
Light, lively and tons of fun!
Through March 18th at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For tickets and information visit www.TheLittleTheatre.com or call the box office at 703 683-0496.
 Janice Zucker, Matt Baughman, Kathy Ohlhaber and Marsha Rehns perform “Ripcord” at LTA June 11. By: Jordan Wright
Special to the Alexandria Times
Originally published June 25, 2021
It’s nearly impossible to calculate the thrill of a live audience when you’ve been deprived of the joy of a shared experience by this interminable pandemic. Hearing live applause, chuckles and guffaws from your fellow theater-goers is a balm for the spirit. So, it’s not surprising that actors received hearty cheers after every scene change during the June 11 Little Theatre of Alexandria performance of “Ripcord.”
For Alexandria’s beloved LTA, the COVID-19 pandemic has been both a challenge and an opportunity, especially when many of us are Zoom-weary. I am pleased to report that the powers that be have come up with a clever solution, as I arrived to find my closest seat mates, a good 10 feet away on all sides, were cats. Cut-out color cardboard heads of cute cats graced the nearest seats.
Attendance has been kept to a minimum as theaters have tried mightily to mount productions in a safe environment. An announcement before the first act gently reminded the audience to keep their masks on – then we were off and running.
Director Jessie Roberts kept the mood light and breezy with a quirky comedy written by one of her favorite, though less well-known playwrights, David Lindsay-Abaire, who gifts us with well fleshed-out characters enveloped in wry humor. Abby (Janice Zucker) and Marilyn (Marsha Rehns), two social opposites, have been thrown together as roommates in a retirement home.
Abby is the snarky one: “I never get scared,” she insists – think Maude from the “Golden Girls.” Whereas Marilyn – think Betty White’s character Rose – is full of goodwill and joie de vivre.
Together they contrive a bet to take ownership of the bed nearest the window. Abby wins if she can get Marilyn angry and Marilyn wins if she can scare Abby. Highjinks ensue when the home’s attendant Scotty (Cameron McBride) tries to intervene and Marilyn’s son-in-law, Derek (Matt Baughman), and daughter, Colleen (Kathy Ohlhaber), get in on the action.
It was hard to choose my favorite scenes among ones that featured a zombie, a rabbit-headed thief, an evil clown and an assortment of other kooky characters who provide comic relief to all the underhanded plots the two women concoct in order to win the prized bed. But I’d have to say, though you can expect a happy ending to the delightful mayhem, it was the oft-fraught interaction between Abby and Marilyn that formed the crux of the play.
Rehns and Zucker are well-cast and do a splendid job of convincing us they are arch-enemies. Expect pathos and humor in their clever contrivances to secure the desired bed. And yes! There is a sky-diving episode (thus the play’s title) cleverly achieved through video projections. McBride, as the referee between the warring factions, is the thespian glue that allows the two to shine.
Adam Ressa performs as Abby’s son. “Ripcord” is produced by Lynn O’Connell and Alan Wray; sets by Jim Hutzler; costumes by Kit Sibley and Jean Schlicting; and sound design and very clever projection design by Jon Roberts.
Jordan Wright writes about food, spirits, travel, theatre and culture. Visit her website at www.WhiskandQuill.com or email her at [email protected].
Jordan Wright
October 21, 2019
Special to The Alexandria Times
A highly regarded American mystery writer firmly ensconced in lofty literary circles, author Shirley Jackson had a way with things that go bump in the night. Through her horror novels, The Haunting of Hill House and later, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, both of which predated both Stephen King and Anne Rice, she became an icon in the field of horror writing. Joyce Carol Oates who edited an anthology of Jackson’s work wrote, “Characterized by the caprice and fatalism of fairy tales, the fiction of Shirley Jackson exerts a mordant, hypnotic spell.”
 Danielle Taylor (Mrs. Dudley) ~ Photographer: Matt Liptak As a result of her influence on the genre the Shirley Jackson Award, created posthumously, is given for Outstanding Achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror and the dark fantastic. Somewhat recently there has been a real revival of Jackson’s novels. Netflix’s first season series of The Haunting of Hill House debuted in 2018 and will follow up with a second season in 2020.
 James Murphy (Luke) Bruce Alan Rauscher (Dr. Montague) ~ Photographer: Matt Liptak To get us into the Halloween frame of mind and encourage a visit from the spirits of the dead, Director Maggie Mumford takes us into the confines of Hill House – a dreary castle where a young poltergeist; a professor, his wife and her lover; a society gamin; the handsome heir to the mansion; and a ghoulish housekeeper have gathered to research paranormal activity. Well, not the housekeeper, she’s just a cringe-worthy overseer.
 Bruce Alan Rauscher (Dr. Montague) James Murphy (Luke) Kirk Lambert (Arthur) Patricia Nicklin (Mrs. Montague) Shannon Labadie seated (Eleanor) Kathy Ohlhaber (Theodora) ~ Photographer: Matt Liptak Set in a Victorian era parlor beneath a portrait of the late owner, the characters slowly reveal themselves, and their motives. Luke Sanderson’s aunt is the current owner of Hill House. He’s a dashing young man and frequent tippler whose intentions are to support Dr. Montague, the lead investigator. Eleanor is the pretty, and peculiar, young woman whose mother recently passed away, and Theodora, an outspoken young woman full of frolic, who befriends the brooding girl forming a sisterly bond to protect her against the spirits who haunt the house after sundown. Under a pall of family scandal, madness, suicide, murder and lawsuits, the motley crew attempts to document supernatural phenomena within its evil walls. As Dr. Montague tells the assembled invitees, “Some houses are just born bad.”
 Kirk Lambert (Arthur) Patricia Nicklin (Mrs. Montague) Shannon Labadie (Eleanor) ~ Photographer: Matt Liptak But it isn’t until Mrs. Montague arrives with her crusty lover, and a planchette as spirit guide, that the house revs up its hauntings with ominous creaks, ferocious knocking, howling winds and troubled spirits crying out from the grave. Credit Sound Designer, Janice Rivera, Lighting Design by JK Lighting Design, and period costumes by Jean Schlicting and Kit Sibley for a spooky experience that goes far beyond the horribly stilted, and entirely re-imagined drama, that has recklessly been co-opted from Jackson’s original novel. I don’t have the heart to fault the actors, they are trying to breathe life, or death as it is, into the whole exasperating script.
 James Murphy (Luke) Kathy Ohlhaber (Theodora) Shannon Labadie (Eleanor) ~ Photographer: Matt Liptak With Shannon Labadie as Eleanor, Kathy Ohlhaber as Theodora, Bruce Alan Rauscher as Dr. Montague, James Murphy as Luke Sanderson, Patricia Nicklin as Mrs. Montague, Kirk Lambert as Arthur Parker, and Danielle Taylor as Mrs. Dudley.
Through November 9th 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
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