SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET -- Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival

music& lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
book: Hugh Wheeler
director: Dennis Razze
music director: Vincent Trovato
sets: Steve TenEyck
lights: Eric T. Haugen
costumes: Lisa Zinni
sound: Matthew Given
choreography: Erin Hurley
cast: Charlie Mann; William Michaels; James Stabp; Michele Sexton; Dee Roscioli; Christophe Coucill; Evan Harrington; Katie Wexler; David Garry; Dave Schoonover; Andrew Goedel; Paul Louis Lessard; et al

The dark story of a vengeful barber and a down-on-her luck baker in 19th Century London, complete with song and dance.

*****

This was my first venture to the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.  The stage itself is somewhat small for such a large offering, but they did a great job of utilizing the space.

The voices were all quite strong, the leads being very good.

Overall, a delightful show.

ORIGINAL SHORTS 2012 - Theatre du Mississippi

"Assisted Living" by Jeffrey Neuman; director - Daniel Munson; cast - Alex Courrier, Daryl Lanz, Sontha Reine

"Dead Letter" by Tim J. Brennan; director - Kathy Peterson; cast - Lolly Foy, Ray Felton

"Final Witness" by J.D. Thompson; director - Daniel Munson; cast - Alex Courrier, Daryl Lanz, Sontha Reine

"Flash" by Daniel Munson; director - Lolly Foy; cast - Sean Krage, Andrew Halverson, Tracy Van Voorst, Ray W. Felton, Clare Foy, Bridget Foy, Mara Jarvis, Alex Jung, Jessica Clarke

Four short plays in staged reading format.  All four plays were the winners of the first Theatre du Mississippi playwriting competition.

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A delightful evening of four strong, original works.  I thought the staged reading format would bother me, but all the actors managed to have scripts in hand but pull off strong performances and I never really noticed the scripts.  Rehearsal-style props, and again it never really bothered me.

I hope to see more of this sort of theatrical offering from Theatre du Mississippi.

GUYS AND DOLLS - Saint Mary's University

book: Jo Swerling & Abe Burrows
music & lyrics: Frank Loesser
director: Dr. Gary Diomandes
music director: Judy Myers
choreographer: Christine Martin
scenic design: Kit Mayer
lighting design: Greg Freeman
costume design: Nadine Parkos
sound design: Brett Huus
cast: Aaron Henry, Carlos Villapando, Brian Pipal, Becca Kring, Jake Rivet. Ashley Curry, Katie Sapper, Mary Doctor, Rachel Stetenfeld, Ashley Von Arx, Lauren Salonek, Taylor Marshall-Miernicki, Amalia Santos, Saral Collova, Hannah Virlee, Andrew Russell, Shelby Clarke, Haylie MacComb, Kaeli Todd, Sarah Anderson, Sydney Wilkins, Phil Soulides, James Gilbertson, Aaron Pepple, Alex Akers, Sam Gibson
Colleen Morgan, Hannah Schwarze, Matthew Gorgone, Tom Conry, Keara Hannan, Billy Murphy, Lydia Monroe, Maggie Allexsaht, Theresa LaValla, Rebecca Garrigan, Jessica Drake, Rick Baustien. Andrew Russell, Alex Green, Allie Kriz, Bryan Moore, Molly Nocera, Joanna Mills, Serica Rowley, Ashley House-Mischke, Sarah Adams, Emily Casey-Hare, Mary Mieszala

A gambler in the 1950's makes a bet that he can pick up any woman.  Another gambler takes the bet and picks out the prim and proper leader of the local Salvation Army.  Hi-jinks ensue and someone falls in love for real.  All set to popular music.

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Saint Mary's University of Winona has been setting the bar high for college-level theatre and this is another example of the great showmanship of the students and faculty at the small university.

There are no surprises here.  This is a classic musical theatre production.  Lots of singing, dancing, and workable sets that keep the action flowing.  The performances are all top-notch.  Bryan Moore as Sky Masterson has just the right amount of cocky swagger and believable affection toward Keara Hannan as the sweet Sarah Brown, leader of the local Salvation Army.

Allie Kriz delivers just the right amount of over-the-top crazy as the love interest of gambler Nathan Detroit (Alex Green).

But surely it's the singing gamblers, Matthew Gorgone as Nicely-Nicely Johnson, Tom Conry as Benny Southside, and Brian Pipal as Rusty Charlie, who keep the play engaging after hitting a homerun with their song "Fugue for Tinhorns."

A big part of producing a show like this is getting the casting just right, and Dr. Gary Diomandes seems to have done that quite well.  Everyone fits their role to a 'T' and it makes the show just a whole lot of fun.

It's probably too late to see this (the shows only run one weekend), but given the quality of this production it's worth your while to make sure you see whatever this university produces.

NOISES OFF - Winona State University

playwright: Michael Frayn
sorry no no playbill offered, so no information to share


A dreadful sex comedy titled Nothing On—it is the type of play in which young girls run about in their underwear, old men drop their trousers, and many doors continually open and shut.  Nothing On is set in "a delightful 16th-century posset  mill that has been converted to a modern dwelling for which renters are solicited; the fictional playwright is appropriately named Robin Housemonger. Each of the three acts of Noises Off contains a performance of the first act of Nothing On.

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This farce needs split-second timing and constant movement but failed to deliver.

There were moments that I was surprised that these were college students-- their timing was almost impeccable on occasion.  But then there were other times that they completely let their focus down and the performance was akin to bad community theatre.  And of course it was this inconsistency that brought the whole show down.

Some plays are written in such a way that you can't ruin them, and that stands mostly true here.  As long as you get the lines out, you are bound to get some laughs.  But if you can get them out with the right inflection and with the timing of the movement, you can bring the house down with laughter.  That didn't happen.

A good effort, but it feel short, even for a college production.