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!

Theatre Review

Tonight, for Valentine's Day, my friend Justin and I went to see Lucky Stiff at O'Connell & Company. My friend Bobby Cooke choreographed (well done!) and was in it (again, well done!) and offered me a couple of comps. Since Justin and I were already planning to go out for VD (lol) and considering we're the closest thing to "boyfriends" in each others' lives at the moment, I figured: "perfect Valentine's activity." And it was!

I hate to sound all "gushy," but I really liked it. Let me be frank - I don't often get to see much live theatre because I'm usually doing a show myself. And when I get time off, the last thing I want to do is go to theatre 'cause that's what I do all day. When I do go, it's hard to please me. I tend to be critical...sometimes overly so. I have to tell myself: "just enjoy yourself and stop analyzing every thing you see." Does it always work? No. But, I'm getting better at it.

Let me also say that this is my first Theatre Review on this blog. I refuse to review anything for the company I work for (MusicalFare) as that would be weird. And I obviously refuse to review anything I'm in...tacky and subjective. So that leaves shows I see at other theatres...which happens rarely. I've only seen one other thing this entire year (The Little Dog Laughed at BUA...and I saw it on closing night, so there wasn't much need for a review...though I did like it, for the record). The hardest part about reviewing local theatre is that I know just about everyone in town and I was afraid it would be awkward to write anything. I thought it might seem like I was "blowing smoke up my friends' asses" and praising them when I didn't mean it. Let me set the record straight: I won't write it if I don't mean it.

Lucky Stiff is an Ahrens/Flaherty musical. It's a cute story that I won't ruin by telling you the plot. Let's just say it's full of quirky characters, a lot of comedy, and some touching moments.

The cast was damn good. Let's start at the top: Andrew Kenneth Moss as Harry Witherspoon. I've known Andy for a few years now and I've seen him do some good work. But, I think, he's truly come into his own as an actor. It's a confident, quirky, funny performance. Utterly charming. And, lordy I could gaze at his handsome face forever.

Kelly Jakiel as Annabel Glick (I hope I'm spelling these right...) is wonderful. Kelly is fast becoming one of my favorite actresses in town. She does an amazing job in what could be a "typical" ingenue role. And the girl can sing. I truly adored her character and thought her chemistry with Andy Moss was spectacular. In my eyes, the two of them have graduated from "student actors" to "adult actors." They're both wonderful.

Pamela Rose Mangus, Jeffry Coyle (wait til you see him as a nun) and Michael Tosha do great work here, as does Josh Snyder in the role of "the dead guy" (a harder part than many people might think it is). My only criticism to Josh, and I don't know that it can be avoided, is that because of the seating in the theatre, audience members may often be looking at him from the side. We can see his eyes blinking and moving. Dead-on, he's behind sunglasses and we can't see that. But from the side, we see everything. Maybe close your eyes? Though, I'd fall asleep if I did that... Maybe there's no way around it.

Nicole Marrale Cimato, Eric Rawski and Wendy Hall all do some really fantastic character work. Nicole has found another scene-stealing role, complete with a song which she sounds great on. All of her characters are fun and funny (she had a majority of my laugh-out-loud moments in the show). Great job! Eric is a brilliant actor who always knows the "right" choice to make for the character. He can even make absurd moments seem completely normal - that's how good he is in this. Wendy really knocked me out because I've never seen her get to do a multiple-character role before. Every one of her characters is good and I swear to god, the woman changes costumes/characters around 7 times in the first 15 minutes of the show. I kept thinking, "there she is again!" yet every time she was unique.

Direction by Chris Kelly was appropriately absurd when necessary and genuinely real when necessary. It's a hard line to walk, but I think he did an awesome job. Chris usually directs plays, as opposed to musicals. He recently told me "directing musicals is hard." Yeah, it is. But ya'd never know it by what he's put up there. It looked effortless.

Bobby Cooke's choreography was pretty much exactly what the show called for! Clever when necessary and over-the-top when necessary. Never a "cringe-worthy" moment. And there were some truly (intentionally) funny choreographic moments. His character work is also a hoot! Some very funny stuff (love the waiter and bellboy!!!).

My only other criticism: it's hard to hear the singing sometimes during the tap number. But, all in all, a great show! I think I'll go back again at some point. Who wants to go?

My 2007 Theatre Season Retrospective

This is traditionally the time of year when we reflect on things...our lives, our careers and our overall experiences. When I reflect on my year in theatre, I am usually amazed. I'm amazed by the talented people I've gotten to work with and by the fact that I'm even able to fit all the projects into my schedule. Here's a summary of my projects from 2007, and a little about what they meant to me:

In January, I performed in an original musical entitled Familiar Strangers at MusicalFare Theatre. This show was very special for me in many ways. First of all it was conceived, written, directed and choreographed by one man, my bestest friend, Michael Walline. The story concerned a woman whose husband committed suicide. She subsequently had a breakdown of sorts and became psychologically unable to leave her home (agoraphobia). She lived her life vicariously through those she observed through her window. I played the dead husband and was seen in flashbacks or fantasy sequences. The cool thing about the show is that there was one vocalist (the sublime Loraine O'Donnell) who sang the entire show...all music of Joni Mitchell's. The rest of us danced the entire story. No ensemble singing, no dialogue (except for three lines at the very end of the show).

As an almost 40 year old man, it was a challenge to dance again. This wasn't "musical theatre" choreography. This was modern, interperetive, contemporary dance like I used to do back in my college dance company. Granted, I wasn't in a lot of numbers as my character was dead. But those I was in really challenged me and moved me when I performed them. And, when you do certain shows and everything fits together, it's a blessing. This show was like that not just because of the material and concept, but because of the cast. This is one of the those shows where the cast was very close and very special to one another. Every one of them is a good friend of mine. Some of them have been my friend for almost 20 years: Michael (of course), Kelly Cammarata (whom I went to college with) and Terrie George (who has been a part of my theatrical life ever since I can remember). Some of them are long-time friends whom I've known and worked with for years: Loraine, Bobby Cooke, Nicole Marrale, Kristy Schupp and my other bestest friend (and housemate), Marc Sacco (pictured above with me). And a new friend, who I love like a little brother, Christopher M. Howard. Familiar Strangers is truly one of those experiences I'll hold close to my heart, forever.

In April/May, I performed in another new work at MusicalFare entitled A Rainbow Journey: The Harold Arlen Story. It told the story of Buffalo-born composer Harold Arlen. New works are always fun because no one else has been able to put a stamp on a character you're playing. And the text can change day-to-day. The best part of this show for me was the fact that it was the first time I was able to perform with both John Fredo and Kathy Weese (the three of us pictured, above) at the same time in over ten years. That' s kinda bizarre as the three of us used to do shows together constantly. Throw Norm Sham and Todd Benzin in the mix, and that made the experience even better.

My summer was spent working in Amherst and Lewiston. First, I started rehearsals for Sisters of Swing: The Andrews Sisters Musical at MusicalFare, which was being re-mounted for a few weeks in the summer after having been a big success the previous fall. I directed and choreographed. My original dream cast (Kathy Weese, Debbie Pappas, Kelly Meg Brennan, Phil Farugia and Todd Benzin - all but Phil pictured above) were back. In certain ways, I was happier with the re-mount than the original production. Don't get me wrong: I was damn proud of the original. But I was able to tweak some things (like my sometimes awakward blocking) for the re-mount that made the show, I believe, better. The day Sisters... started prevues, I began rehearsal stage managing Aida up at Artpark in Lewiston, NY. It was a hoot-and-a-half! The cast was lovely and talented, and included Nikki Renee Daniels (from Broadway's Les Miserables) and the ridiculously talented Michael Hunsaker. It was directed by my MusicalFare boss, Randall Kramer (nicely done, btw) and choreographed by my longtime mentor and friend, the brilliant Lynne Kurdziel-Formato. I also met some new, fantastic people (Steven Baker, Ashlea Potts) and got closer to some I previously knew (Kevin Kennedy, Allan Paglia).

This fall, I performed in a play. I love doing plays. This one was a coup, in itself. It was the World Premiere since the New York production of Terrance McNally's Some Men, directed by Javier Bustillos. It was a really great experience and I got to work opposite some fantastic actors and wonderful friends. Jimmy Janowski and Bill Schmidt blew me away. And working opposite Chris Kelly, Matthew Hurley and Matthew Crehan Higgins was beyond fantastic. The biggest challenge to this show was that I had to appear fully nude...several times...for long stretches. I'd never had to do it before, but I'm glad I did it. None of my nudity was gratuitous; it was all necessary. I miss this show, as well. I thank Javier for the opportunity.

The rest of my autumn was spent choreographing Dear Edwina for Orchard Park Middle School. I've done ten shows there over a 14 year span. Next year will be the last for our production team. The kids are great and Syndi and Cindy make me smile every day I'm there. (If you do scholastic theatre, I highly recommend this show.)

Currently, I'm in rehearsal for 12 Angry Men (another play!) at the Kavinoky Theatre. It opens in January, so we're rehearsing through the holidays. Everyone's very talented and I'm looking forward to being directed by my old friend (and a superb lighting designer!), Brian Cavanagh.

As if that wasn't enough, those are only the shows in which I performed or which I directed, choreographed or stage managed. I also worked on Tick, Tick...Boom! (props), Altar Boyz (props, lighting board-op), A Brief History of White Music (co-rehearsal stage mgr, props) - all at MusicalFare; MusicalFare's Bat Boy at Studio Arena for which I did preliminary production coordination, and MusicalFare's Sophie Tucker: Last of the Red Hot Mamas at ICTC for which I ran sound. I'm also working on props for MusicalFare's upcoming Sweeney Todd and doing some basic production work for Charles Dickens Presents: A Christmas Carol.

That's 14 shows in 12 months. I'm not bragging. I'm just grateful. I love what I do and can't wait to do more! (Maybe not 14 shows this year, though. Some sleep would be good, too...)