|
|
Jordan Wright
July 29, 2018
Frustrated with the current administration’s wackadoodle politics and its daily grind of mean-spirited tweets? Then let Dave be your panacea. This uplifting story is drawn from the 1993 eponymous movie written by Gary Ross and starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver. Remember that? Well, it’s now a musical written by Tony Award-winning composer Tom Kitt (Next to Normal, If/Then, Bring it On: The Musical, Freaky Friday and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical) and book writer/lyricist Nell Benjamin (co-writer with her husband Laurence O’Keefe of Legally Blonde, Mean Girls, Life of the Party, Huzzah!). We need this. We really, really need this!
 Drew Gehling (Dave Kovic/President Bill Mitchell) in Dave, running July 18-August 19, 2018 at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Photo by Margot Schulman. Director Tina Landau (SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical and many more) has achieved an astonishing assemblage of A-Plus experienced cast, crew and creators to produce a musical that soars in every category – choreography, sets, actors, musical numbers and lighting. Set Designer Dane Laffrey and Projection Designer Peter Nigrini have conceived a sensational, floor-to-the-rafters cyclorama embedded with LED projections that changes scenes at the proverbial drop of a hat. It’s not just cleverly conceived, it’s mind-blowing.
Set in Washington, DC, our hero, Dave Kovic (Drew Gehling) is a recently fired liberal-leaning, Abraham Lincoln-loving high school teacher who decides to take up posting YouTube videos of himself doing impressions of the current President, Bill Mitchell (also Gehling). When POTUS suffers a stroke whilst in flagrante delicto with his girlfriend, Randi (Rachel Flynn), Dave is summoned to act as his secret stand-in. He’s so convincing that FLOTUS, Ellen (Mamie Parris) and VP Nance (sounds like… oh, never mind… played by Jonathan Rayson), can’t tell it’s not Mitchell. The only ones in on the ruse are the Secret Service, his Director of Communications, Susan Lee (Bryonha Marie Parham), and his devious Chief of Staff, Bob Alexander (Douglas Sills).
 (L-R) Drew Gehling (Dave Kovic/President Bill Mitchell), Bryonha Marie Parham (Susan Lee) and Douglas Sills (Bob Alexander) in Dave, running July 18-August 19, 2018 at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Photo by Margot Schulman. Up till the switcheroo, Lee and Alexander had been serving a President who was a self-consumed, self-aggrandizing idiot, demeaning to his wife while unceremoniously wrecking the country. Sound familiar? Meanwhile, Dave becomes more and more irreplaceable as his poll numbers continue to soar and the country (along with the audience!) cheers on his progressive agenda. While POTUS is still in a coma, Dave feels guilty continuing the subterfuge until the ghosts of former Presidents – Buchanan, Taft, Harding, Harrison, Johnson, Hayes and John Quincy Adams – appear to him in the Lincoln Bedroom to convince him otherwise in one of the show’s most hilarious scenes. Imagine the Secret Service as an armed-and-dangerous chorus line fronted by the President’s Chief of Staff. Now, you’ve got the picture.
It’s a feel good, validating, change-the-world, political comedy musical with a flawless cast that will have you cheering all the way home.
Highly recommended. A total hoot from beginning to end.
 Drew Gehling (Dave Kovic/President Bill Mitchell) and the cast, in Dave, running July 18-August 19, 2018 at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Photo by Margot Schulman. With Jenny Ashman (Reporter, Ensemble), Jared Bradshaw (Reporter, Harding, Ensemble), Josh Breckenridge (Duane Bolden), Dana Costello (Reporter, Montana Jefferson, Ensemble), Trista Dollison (Reporter, Harrison, Ensemble), Sherri L. Edelen (Tour Guide, Mrs. Smit, Taft, Ensemble), Kevin R. Free (Murray Stein, Adams, Ensemble), Adam J. Levy (Mr. Wheeler, Ensemble), Erin Quill (Reporter, Hayes, Ensemble), Jonathan Rayson (Gary Nance, Johnson, Ensemble) and Vishal Vaidya (Paul, Ensemble)
Book by Thomas Meehan and Nell Benjamin, Set Design by Dane Laffrey, Choreography by Sam Pinkleton, Orchestrator Michael Starobin, Music Director Rob Berman, Costume Design by Toni-Leslie James, Lighting by Japhy Weideman, Sound Design by Walter Trarbach, Projection Design by Peter Nigrini.
In the Kreeger Theater through August 19, 2018 at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., SE, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information call 202 488-3300 or visit www.ArenaStage.org.
Jordan Wright
July 24, 2018
Special to The Alexandria Times
When composers Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber brought their controversial musical sing-through to the Broadway stage in 1971, four-and-a-half decades ago, it wasn’t heralded by critics. In fact, the mixed reviews didn’t bode well for the young men who at the time had only one successful musical to their credit, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. But after thousands of national and international productions, a film and a recent NBC TV staging starring John Legend, Sara Bareilles, Brandon Victor Dixon and Alice Cooper, this musical hasn’t missed a beat or an audience.
 Rishabh Bajekal (Jesus of Nazareth) and Thea Simpson (Mary Magdalene) in Jesus Christ Superstar, now playing at the Little Theatre of Alexandria. Photo by Matt Liptak. You know the story. A gentle, charismatic carpenter from Nazareth with a devoted following is betrayed, abandoned, tormented and ultimately crucified by King Herod’s army. His only faithful supporter remaining is a former prostitute, Mary Magdalene, played by Thea Simpson. Director Jim Howard interprets the setting as INRI Inc., a subsidiary of Genesis, Ltd., a corporate headquarters where cell phones, laptops and iPads are the preferred mode of communication for text updates on Jesus’s status, and where millennials celebrate with fist bumps and high fives.
 Carlos Antonio Ramirez (Judas) – Photo by Matt Liptak Notwithstanding some mic glitches in Act One on opening night (“blessedly” corrected by Act Two), we could easily hear the powerful and chilling voice of Rishabh Bajekal as Jesus of Nazareth. Bajekal, had at first been cast as Judas when Howard asked him if he would like to play Jesus. That left Howard to find his Judas, which he did when he discovered Carlos Antonio Ramirez, a local radio traffic reporter and sometime local band member who has an emotional, raspy, rock-and-roll voice that reaches far beyond the theater’s front door. His star turn commences in the second number with “Heaven on Their Minds”, and from that moment on every time he solos, he rattles the theater’s foundations. Sweet Jesus, this boy can rock out!
 Thea Simpson (Mary Magdalene), Cody Boehm (Simon Zealotes), Theo Touitou (Ensemble), Rishabh Bajekal (Jesus of Nazareth), Tyrone Brown Jr. (Ensemble), Michael Gale (Peter), Hilary Adams (Ensemble), Tracey Lucas (Ensemble) – Photo by Matt Liptak Another pitch perfect belter is Cody Boehm who plays Simon Zealotes. In the eponymous song from the middle of Act One, she sets a thunder-and-lightning tone that only Bajekal and Ramirez, and the fathoms-deep bass voice of Ryaan Farhadi as the evil Caiaphas can meet. And Andy Izquierdo, coming off his success as Elwood P. Dowd in LTA’s recent production of Harvey, stuns in his role as the campy/snarky King Herod with a hilarious second act surprise in the number, “King Herod’s Song”.
 Cody Boehm (Simon Zealotes) in the center with the ensemble in Jesus Christ Superstar, now performing at the Little Theatre of Alexandria. Photo by Matt Liptak. The excellent 24-member cast is choreographed by Michael Page, veteran of five previous productions at LTA of which this one has the most dance numbers. How, you may ask, can so many performers dance and sing on a relatively small community theater stage? Very well! Music Director Christopher A. Tomasino, a six-time WATCH Award winner, all for six LTA musicals, conducts this jammin’ 21-piece band (including ten horns!). Kudos to guitar soloists Ben Young and Danny Santiago who are outstanding.
Highly recommended, even if you’ve seen it a dozen times or more.
Additional cast members – Michael Gale as Peter, Amy Lapthorne as Annas, Emmy Kampe as Priest, Hans Dettmar as Pontius Pilate and a fifteen-member ensemble. Lighting by Ken and Patti Crowley, Assistant Choreographer Liz Colandene and Set Design by Matt Liptak.
Through August 11th 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
July 16, 2018
for the Alexandria Times
When Forensic Sketch Artist Kelli Schollard-Sincock, who holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Art from the University of Washington and completed the BFA program in Printmaking from George Mason, was thinking about how she could make an impact in her community, she recalled a casual comment a friend made during a lecture at Lorton the two women attended. The talk featured prisoners’ art the guards had collected either through barter or outright payment and she was duly impressed by the caliber of the work. Her friend said, “You should do that,” meaning teach art within the prisons. The offhand remark didn’t really register with her until she read a report that the new administration planned to cut funding for the arts. She felt it was a call to action.
Taking the bull by the horns, she approached Lt. Marybeth Plaskus at the Alexandria Detention Center and asked if they had a need for a prison arts program. Plaskus gave her the nod, and the first class was held in February 2017. “We started from scratch with one classroom that was immediately filled with about 25 male students. That was such positive reinforcement for me. They were always thankful I was there,” she says. Since its inception the program has not only been hugely popular, but it has grown rapidly and now includes classes for women at the Fairfax facility.
Piggybacking on her success at the Alexandria prison, she then reached out to the Fairfax County Detention Center and began her arts program there in August 2017. She now teaches there twice a week plus one day a week in Alexandria. Yet there is still more demand. Schollard-Sincock’s goal is to hire more teachers to fill the many requests for additional classes.
 Kelli Schollard-Sincock teaching at the Fairfax County Detention Center Initially the challenge was to find art supplies which are not funded by state or local counties. She had to get creative. Well, that’s what artists do. Right? In a stroke of good fortune, she discovered the ‘Buy Nothing Project’, an online sharing organization for free items that operates locally through Facebook. There she put out a call for art supplies and had such a positive response that for four weeks she drove all over the county gathering an immense amount of materials.
 Photo from Alexandria County Detention Center Prison Art Program courtesy of Kelli Schollard-Sincock Del Ray Artisans heard about her classes and thought they could help. The gallery’s Fundraising Director Joe T. Franklin, Jr. and Acting President Drew Cariaso wanted to learn about the program and have her give a talk to their members. Member artists were so impressed with her outreach program that they held a fundraiser including an in-house drive for materials. “People have really taken ownership of the program,” she adds. Subsequently the gallery has been instrumental in helping her set up a non-profit to be called ‘Inspiration Matterz’ which will allow her to expand the program with the help of additional art teachers. She credits Program Directors Lenora Murphy and Latanya Ervin at the William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center with keeping her program ongoing and her husband Austin and son Gregory for their support and encouragement.
 Photo from Fairfax County Detention Center Prison Art Program courtesy of Kelli Schollard-Sincock Schollard-Sincock chooses the subjects that are executed in a variety of mediums. “Men and women respond totally differently to the programs. My intention is to teach tangible skills not just doing crafts. My very first student was an older gentleman. He told me, “I don’t know what I’m doing here. The best you’re going to get out of me are stick figures.” She says he really clicked when he started painting and is now painting photorealistic drawings. “He is like the case study of why I’m doing what I’m doing.”
Over the past year she has seen a huge change in their attitude. “It’s empowering to learn that you have developed a skill. The biggest thing in these classes is getting them to trust me and not give up.”
Director of the Target Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, Leslie Mounaime, reached out to her and offered their site for a show. On Friday, July 20th, Del Ray Artisans will host the opening night reception for “Off The Grid” in the Torpedo Factory’s Site 2 Community Gallery showcasing 49 framed drawings from Schollard-Sincock’s prison art program. The opening reception is from 7-9pm. The show runs through August 31st.
Kelli Schollard-Sincock’s own work can be found on her website www.KelliSincock.com.
Jordan Wright
July 3, 2018
I’m not taking sides on this hot button generational debate. But I am splitting my sides over The Second City’s latest gift to comedy at the Kennedy Center. Breaking News: “Shear Madness” is on hiatus until late August after a 60 million-year run. Ever since the Kennedy Center expanded its comedy offerings, big things have been happening on its storied stages and Second City is one of the most reliable comedy troupes the theater has ever produced.
 (l-r) Frank Caeti, Asia Martin, Cody Dove, Holly Walker ~ Teresa Castracane Photography Generation Gap…, a new series of hipster skits by a six-member cast, will agelessly rock your funny bone with its trendoid lingo and physical comedy shenanigans. But woe betide to the boomer who isn’t up to speed on pop culture (Beyoncé, emojis, Tinder, G-Chat, Snapchat and sexting, to mention just a few), though it appeared this all-ages audience caught on quickly. They certainly caught the spirit of it. The Generation X kids were in hysterics.
The show is geared to poke fun at the divide between the older generation and today’s youth culture – getting awards for showing up, video dance games vs actual couple dancing (Egads! Touching while dancing!), fear of newspapers and preoccupation with selfies are just a few of the topics ripe for spoofing. Here SCOTUS is replaced by Alexa and Twitter is described as a modern-day walkie-talkie.
 (l-r) Evan Mills, Holly Walker ~ Teresa Castracane Photography There are audience participation skits, something Second City is well known for. In one, a young woman is invited on stage and challenged to write in cursive and, much to nearly everyone’s surprise, she actually nails it. Kind of makes you want to go back every night just to see how that goes. Another game brings up a semi-senior audience member to see if he understands emojis. He doesn’t, and it’s hilarious to see what he thinks some of them are meant to represent. Another reason to see it again. It’s “on fleek”, as they say, meaning super cool or looking great. Okay, that one I had to look up.
Show stoppers: A wildly accurate impression of one of those ridiculous wiggly balloon men at car dealerships. Another scene where a mother tries to get her daughter to listen to her pleas, but is ignored by her serial texting child.
 Top Row LR Frank Caeti, Asia Martin, Maureen Boughey Bottom Row L_R Holly Walker, Evan Mills, Cody Dove photos taken by Teresa Castracane Photography It’s a funny, frenetic, comedy that touches on issues every generation grapples with. But, notwithstanding our differences, there is one thing we can all agree on, nobody wants to hear about their parents’ sex life, especially if they enjoy it! TMI!!!
Created by Asia Martin, directed by Anthony LeBlanc, written by Carisa Barreca, Asia Martin, Jay Steigmann, Jamison Webb, and the Casts of Second City.
Starring Maureen Boughey, Frank Caeti, Cody Dove, Asia Martin, Evan Mills and Holly Walker.
A fun night out. Bring the teens. Anybody’s teens.
The Kennedy Center’s upcoming District of Comedy Festival begins July 19th and runs through the 25th. Check the website for listings and stay tuned for the upcoming featured solo acts by Jeff Foxworthy, Miranda Eisenberg, Colin Quinn, Lily Tomlin, Maz Jobrani, Brian Regan and more.
Through August 12th in the Theatre Lab at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information for future shows call 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
Jordan Wright
July 1, 2018
 Ephraim Sykes, Jawan M. Jackson, Jeremy Pope, Derrick Baskin, and James Harkness in Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations, now playing at The Kennedy Center. Photo by Doug Hamilton. Jam-packed with hits from America’s number one R&B/Soul/Funk/Pop group of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, this bio-musical from the Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a blast-from-the-past, an oldies-but-goodies mega hit. Told through the eyes of Otis Williams (Derrick Baskin), the group’s founding member, the story takes us on a top-of-the-pops journey from the original foursome’s Detroit roots on Euclid Avenue through its heyday under producer Berry Gordy with songs written by Smokey Robinson (Christian Thompson). Through the years the group gained and lost members like David Ruffin (played by the spectacular Ephraim Sykes), Eddie Kendricks (a riveting Jeremy Pope), Melvin Franklin (the silken bass of Jawan M. Jackson) and Paul Williams (James Harkness).
 Ephraim Sykes, Jeremy Pope, Derrick Baskin, Jared Joseph, James Harkness. Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Production of Ain’t Too Proud. Photo by Kevin Berne Though the story guides us through their triumphs and tragedies, and multiple group member changes, over the years, the show hangs on their hits – hits that a generation of us danced to, made out to and even got married to back when we grooved to the lyrics of their love songs. Don’t think for a minute that the audience was a bunch of aging baby boomers clinging to memories of their teenage years. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. I looked around to see who was there – who was tapping their toes, mouthing the lyrics and bobbing their heads, and there were all ages. Because you just can’t sit still to this rockin’ out, concert-style musical – certainly not while watching the highly choreographed synchronized dance movements The Temptations made famous or the 31 platinum hits presented here. These were the tunes that backgrounded family BBQs, birthday parties, dance parties and early discos. Melodies that were shared in cars and parks, and on street corners where quartets would spring up like weeds. There is so much joyfulness in the early music – “My Girl”, “I Can’t Get Next to You”, “If You Don’t Know Me by Now”, “Cloud Nine” and so many more. Eventually though the scene changed with the death of Martin, John and Bobby and the group’s music – “War”, “I Wish It Would Rain” and “Ball of Confusion” – reflected those days. Just as “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” reflected the psychedelic era.
 Ephraim Sykes, Jeremy Pope, James Harkness, Jared Joseph, Derrick Baskin_Photo by litwin The musical is backdropped with period-centric projections by Peter Nigrini of Sponge Bob Square Pants and Amélie fame and choreographed to a gold standard by Sergio Trujillo known for his work on Jersey Boys and On Your Feet. Familiar with Dancing with the Stars? Orchestrations are by the show’s 17-year veteran musical director, Harold Wheeler with music directed by the legendary Kenny Seymour. Multiple Tony Award-winning Director Des McAnuff puts it all together and it’s as tight as the group’s pegged trousers and slim fit, sharkskin jackets and the sequin-gowns worn by Diana Ross and The Supremes who make an appearance along with Tammi Terrell, all of whom are costumed by Paul Tazewell veteran designer of Hamilton and a ton of other blockbuster Broadway hits.
 Taylor Symone Jackson, Candice Marie Woods, Nasia Thomas. Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Production of Ain’t Too Proud. Photo by Kevin Berne. I’d copy the playbill for you word for word if I could, because the cast includes some of the most successful and talented black performers from the original Broadway casts whose voices, bios and acting chops, are well known within the spheres of musical theater, film and TV. These are multi-talented actors from Broadway productions of Motown: The Musical; Beautiful: The Carole King Musical; Memphis; Sister Act; The Scottsboro Boys and The Lion King with voices and moves to die for. The only issue I have is why, oh why, were we teased with a too brief solo by Rashidra Scott’s heart-stopping voice on “If You Don’t Know Me by Now”? Just when we had goosebumps. It could have been as powerful a moment as Jennifer Holliday’s Dreamgirl number, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”.
So now the Kennedy Center has two major hits with Hamilton and Ain’t Too Proud. Do you need any other reason to go? Take this advice from the exhortation by one audience member who called out in appreciation at the end of “Losin’ You”. “Jesus!” she uttered loud and clear to an audience that was feeling the same thing at just that moment – that this music is the coolest, grooviest, most soulful music we can ever know.
Book by Dominique Morisseau. Based on the book “The Temptations” by Otis Williams with Patricia Romanowski. Music and lyrics from The Legendary Motown Catalog.
Highly recommended. See it before it heads to Broadway when tickets will be as scarce as hen’s teeth.
Through July 22nd at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information for future shows call 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
Jordan Wright
June 15, 2018
So… Hamilton…Yes! It’s beyond everything you’ve heard it is – and so much more – a ground breaking revolution in musical theater based on one of America’s most accomplished and influential American Revolutionary heroes. Told in the poetry of hip-hop and rap and made emotional through bluesy ballads, this radical, freewheeling oeuvre heralds Hamilton’s arrival to America as a bastard immigrant (possibly mixed race) orphan whose groundbreaking achievements to establish a government and financial system – separate and apart from the oppression of King George’s England – helped form the foundation of our country. Got it? Unless you’ve recently reviewed your sixth-grade history, I suggest you Google the libretto and buy the show’s CD so you can be well prepared to (mentally, please!) hum along. I tell you this because the rhyming patter comes at you in warp speed which is what makes it palpable, both on stage and in the quickened hearts of the audience who are breathlessly leaning in from the first note.
 Hamilton Company – Photo credit Joan Marcus If you’re familiar with Lin-Manuel Miranda (PBS has a terrific documentary running on the making of Hamilton), whose previous hit musical In the Heights catapulted him to fame, you can sense his mind at work here – his sensitivity to struggle, his compassion for the immigrant and his all-around, too-cool-for-school hipness that is in full view with every turn of phrase. The man is a genius and an original. In the same way that Shakespeare mixed stories of love and despair between commoners and landed gentry, Miranda has his pulse on the grand scheme of life.
 Shoba Narayan, Ta’Rea Campbell and Nyle Sostre ~ Joan Marcus One of the most engaging features of the show, is the constant motion of the performers. Whether dancing, fighting or just rapping, the main stage rotates in a wide circle, affording the actors constant interplay and showing us just how interconnected our Founding Fathers were – Jefferson, Madison, Washington, Burr and the Marquis de Lafayette (Because, what would we have done without the French? Oh, right, lost the Revolutionary War.) They all were so young when they birthed our nation. American history brought to life and, as the song goes, we are in the room where it happened.
 Miguel Cervantes and Jose Ramos ~ Photo credit Joan Marcus Austin Scott as Alexander Hamilton is fierce. We’re into him immediately. His confidence and stride mark the character’s brash youthfulness, exactly as we would wish him to be. Peter Matthew Smith in the role of King George provides the comic relief as the prissy king who believes the Americans will beg to return to British rule. And for those of you fortunate enough to have seen it in New York, Carvens Lissaint, now plays Hamilton’s mentor, George Washington, and Nicholas Christopher, who was George Washington in the original cast, now plays Aaron Burr. Gracing the female side, Julia K. Harrriman, displaying her stunning voice, plays Hamilton’s long-suffering wife, Eliza.
 Rory O’Malley ~ Photo credit Joan Marcus The program lists 34 songs, but as a sing through, it’s all vocals with full orchestra masterfully conducted by Julian Reeve.
Facts: Hamilton is the winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was recently nominated for a record breaking 16 Tony Award® nominations, including Best Musical. With book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, direction by Thomas Kail, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, and musical direction and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton is based on Ron Chernow’s biography of America’s Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. Scenic design by David Korins, costume design by Paul Tazewell, lighting design by Howell Binkley, sound design by Nevin Steinberg, hair and wig design by Charles G. LaPointe.
 Mathenee Treco, Jordan Donica, Ruben J. Carbajal & Michael Luwoye ~ Photo credit Joan Marcus Additional cast members: Sabrina Sloane as Angelica Schuyler, Bryson Bruce as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson, Chaundre Hall-Broomfield as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison, Rubén J. Carbajal as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton, Isa Briones as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds, Alexander Ferguson as Philip Schuyler/James Reynolds/Doctor, Andrew Wojtal as Samuel Seabury, Robbie Nicholson as Charles Lee and Raymond Baynard as George Eacker.
This is the one you’ve been waiting for. Go!
Through September 16th at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information for future shows call 202 467-4600 or visit online.
|
