My 2008 Theatre Season Retrospective

As I did last year at this time, I'm ruminating on this calendar year (2008) and my theatrical accomplishments, therein. Again, I'm amazed at how things work out. And I'm amazed at the level of talent of my fellow artists in WNY. It all seems to go by so quickly and yet so slowly at the same time. Certain shows feel like "forever ago" while others which were further back in time feel like they were only yesterday.

In January, I was performing in 12 Angry Men at the Kavinoky Theatre, which was an experience I'll treasure for a long time. It was a very good production full of talented actors and directed by Brian Cavanagh who did a splendid job. The show went through a bit of adversity after the opening weekend, but triumphed over it all. A wonderful cast (pictured, above - that's me fourth from the left) in a wonderful production - something I'll always be proud of. Photo by Chris Cavanagh.

After that, I did a small bit of choreography for the Kavinoky's production of Glorious! which was a hoot of a show. My stuff was merely a few teeny moments, but I'm glad I did it and am proud of the work.

The spring and summer were particularly busy times of the year for me...which is ironic in retrospect because that's when I wanted to take time off...but I digress. In March, I directed Beyond the Rainbow: The New Judy Garland Musical at MusicalFare. The show takes place during Judy Garland's famed Carnegie Hall Concert, where we see Judy singing basically the entire concert. As she sings, each song reminds our "Concert Judy" of moments and events within her life which are also presented to the audience, utilizing a "Younger Judy" and other actors playing the parts of those within Garland's life. This show was a unique challenge in that we needed two actresses to play Judy Garland. The "Concert Judy" was originally cast with an actress who developed vocal problems after the first week of rehearsal. She then (understandably) had to drop out of the show and we had to replace her. Loraine O'Donnell (pictured, above background) took over the role with grace, panache and a powerhouse voice and I'm sooooo incredibly grateful to her for joining us and doing such superlative work. Michele Marie Roberts (pictured, above foreground) portrayed "Younger Judy" as a dead-on characterization, right down to the tiniest mannerisms and vocal inflections. Michele was simply brilliant. The cast was rounded out with Todd Benzin, Marc Sacco and Kathy Weese, all of whom had major acting muscles to flex and the talent to back up those demands. It's one of those shows which I'm incredibly proud to have directed. Photo by Chris Cavanagh.

Almost immediately following that show's closing, I directed and choreographed Mid-Life: The Crisis Musical, the summer production at MusicalFare. The show itself is...how shall I say it...unevenly written. Some things are dead-on in their writing, while others are one giant cliche heaped on top of another. It made the comedy often times, predictable. But those other times...the times when the writing was sharper and less cliche...those moments made the show worth it for me. Oddly, it was another show where a performer had to leave the production in the first week of rehearsal as one of my male cast members became ill. His replacement, Guy Tomassi, stepped in and crammed a show into his head so fast you wouldn't believe it (again, for which I'm eternally grateful). He joined Tom Owen, Louis Colaiacovo, Maggie Zindle, Sheila McCarthy and Wendy Hall (all pictured, above) in a talented, zany cast who were willing to do anything for the sake of the ridiculousness the show called for.

Once that was open, I went into rehearsal for Artpark's production of Disney's Beauty & The Beast, in which I played D'Arque and dancing spoon #2. D'Arque is a weird character in that he's not introduced until Act 2 and he sings a trio with Gaston/LeFou, has one scene and then disappears into oblivion. He was relatively fun to play, but it would have been more fun if there was more "to him" in the script. Not that I was looking for a bigger role...it's just that there was so little reason for his existence other than as a plot device, he's kind of unfulfilling to perform. The dancing spoon part was fun, but the damn spoon was heavy. Oh, and I also was a fisherman in the town scene...and I had one fish to sell at market...and the fish was broken...and pathetic. :) The same fisherman character appeared in the "Gaston" number (pictured above - that's me standing to Gaston's right), which the dancers all refer to as "Bloody Knuckle Time" because of the metal beer steins used in the choreography. Trust me though, the knuckle injuries were completely unavoidable. The choreography was exactly as it was supposed to be. Overall, it was a fun experience because of the people. It was a very nice company of actors and Randy Kramer (Director) and Lynne Kurdziel-Formato (Choreographer) all did nice work with "Disney-fied" material. Don't get me started on the run crew, though... Photo courtesy of Artpark.

Then, I did some choreography for With You...Dusty Springfield at the New Phoenix in September. Fun show!

The above shows are only the shows which I directed, choreographed or appeared in. Add to that MusicalFare's productions of Sweeney Todd (props), Victory (props), Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (props), Jamestown Gals: The Music of Lucille Ball & Peggy Lee (props, RSM/ASM) and Charles Dickens Presents: A Christmas Carol (SM) and I did 11 productions in 12 months. It sounds like a lot, but last year I did 14 in 12 months. Honestly, not doing as many shows was a good thing and helped my sanity a little. I'm just grateful. I love what I do and can't wait to do more!