THEATER
Vets, drinkers, Lucy, and Darwin
By Darwin McPherson

Arin Lee Dandes plays Peggy Lee in
Musicalfare’s Jamestown Girls: The Music
of Lucille Ball and Peggy Lee.
Photo courtesy of MusicalFare.
Buffalo’s dynamic 2008–09 theater season continues in November with many new and exciting productions. So many shows, so little time—so let’s just get right to it!

Heroes
I’ve been looking forward to the Kavinoky’s Heroes since it was unfortunately removed from last season’s schedule. Originally, the Tom Stoppard translation of Gerald Sibleyras’s Le Vent de Peupliers was to star David Lamb, Vincent O’Neill, and Saul Elkin. Elkin’s schedule couldn’t be worked out, so Norm Sham is joining the two local theatrical heavyweights. Elkin will be missed, but Sham is a solid substitute.

Heroes features “the story/adventures of three World War One vets in a home for the elderly. Bored, lonely, and fearful of their inevitable end, they embark on a series of ‘missions’ that are simultaneously hysterical, poignant, absurd, and ‘heroic,’” explains director Paul Todaro. A prolific director (and actor) for the Kavinoky and Irish Classical, Todaro has worked with the three principals before on separate occasions, but this is the first time they’ve all been together. “I look forward to having all four of us in the same room,” he says.

Undoubtedly, the biggest challenge isn’t dealing with these tremendous talents (who are all good-natured gents offstage); it’s presenting this often-philosophical playwright in not-so-cerebrally-friendly Buffalo. Even though it is a translation, “Stylistically, Heroes is a Stoppard play,” Todaro says. “Stoppard means verbal comedy, wit, some physical gags, and fierce intellectualism siphoned through entertaining characters and unlikely situations.” However, the play has been successful around the world, and usually stars the leading actors in the region. This production certainly has that to its advantage. “Le Vent des Peupliers was a huge hit in France, as was Heroes in London. It bombed in the States. I think I know why,” Todaro says. “You be the judge this November.” Heroes opens November 7.

The Seafarer
One of the reasons I’ll miss Saul Elkin in Heroes is because when he worked onstage with Vincent O’Neill in the Irish Classical’s production of The Weir in 2001, it was, for me, a magical night at the theater. We may not be able to relive that experience, but we get a new “moment” as New Phoenix Theatre on the Park presents The Seafarer by Weir author Conor McPherson (no relation).

According to NP artistic director Bob Waterhouse, The Seafarer focuses on “four die-hard drinkers, all men, in a coastal village in North Dublin, who gather on Christmas Eve.” There’s the almost-infirm Richard; his younger brother Sharky, who looks after him; their friend Ivan; and Nicky, to whom Sharky has lost his wife and car. “Each of the four has lost his way,” Waterhouse continues. “They are joined by a fifth man, Lockhart, who gradually reveals himself to be the devil; he’s come for the soul of Sharky, who has a murky, violent past. The men sit down for a game of cards, with Lockhart playing Sharky for his soul. The depth of characterization and the friendships between the men give the play its heart, as does its black humor.” Despite the supernatural overtones, Waterhouse is taking “a highly realistic approach to this play,” he says. “The play’s like life, in the sense that fate often plays highly ironic jokes on us. Like the characters, we’re often too blind or shortsighted to see the symbolism of the twists in the path beneath our feet.”

Joe Natale is joining Waterhouse as codirector. “I expect to be bowing to his expertise and wisdom often,” Waterhouse reports. Natale is “famously a stickler for authentic accents,” which is a vital aspect of a McPherson production. NP executive director Richard Lambert stars as Sharky.

The four-time Tony Award nominated The Seafarer (including Best Play) opens November 13.

Triangles
Triangles from Road Less Traveled Productions is perhaps one of the boldest and most intriguing experiments this season. Featuring works by August Strindberg, Emanuel Fried, and Jon Elston, the evening’s three plays explore romantic triangles in different eras.

“Strindberg’s The Stronger is the gold standard, and Manny Fried wrote Triangle as a direct ‘response’ to Strindberg’s play,” says Elston, RLTP’s resident playwright and general manager. “My play, The Elliptical, is not so much ‘part three’ as it is a portrait of the evolution of social mores (or at least those regarding monogamy and commitment) in the past 100-plus years since The Stronger.”

RLTP artistic/executive director Scott Behrend conceived the idea of presenting the two older plays with a new work by Elston. Behrend added another interesting twist: Kristen Kelly and Lisa Vitrano star in The Stronger and Triangle as the two women at odds over the same man. Behrend is having them switch roles in both plays each night. “Kristen and Lisa have not worked together on stage before, and they’ve always wanted to,” Behrend says. “I felt that this was a perfect fit for two of our community’s most talented actresses. Watching them switch roles each night will be a particular treat; rarely is something like this done.” The Elliptical stars Todd Benzin, Kelly Meg Brennan, and Bonnie Jean Taylor, each of whom “take us on a funny ride every night,” Behrend promises.

The Stronger and Triangle are each about fifteen minutes, and The Elliptical is a little over an hour, so this distinctive theatrical event won’t be heavy on your schedule. Triangles opens November 14.

Tromping on Sacred Ground
Going back to the Victorian era, the Alleyway’s Mazumdar New Play Competition winner Tromping on Sacred Ground by Suzanne C. Dickie offers a biographical portrait of Henry Huxley, one of the first scientists to lend support to Charles Darwin after the publication of Origin of the Species.

“This play is a romance of ideas, a tribute to the joy of thought turned to action turned to social impact,” explains director Thomas Dooney. “In 1860, the Church of England refuted Darwin’s theories of evolution and influenced public opinion against them. The play shows that Huxley and his circle responded by suggesting the human mind was the greatest creation of God and the greatest human sin was not to exercise the mind … Huxley was a remarkable scientist and thinker in his own right. The play traces the relationship between Huxley; his wife Netty, a poet; and their friend, and Huxley’s longtime professional colleague, John Tyndall. These are three especially vivid historical figures who dispel the stereotype of Victorian narrow-mindedness.”

Casey Denton, Kelly Beuth, and Christopher Parada star as the principals. Tromping on Sacred Ground runs November 6–22.
Jamestown Gals
MusicalFare presents Jamestown Gals: The Music of Lucille Ball and Peggy Lee, an original production conceived by Michael J. Walline of Zooma Zooma and Familiar Strangers fame. Walline credits his father, who is currently battling Parkinson’s disease, with the initial idea.

“Around a year and a half ago, my Dad sat me down and said, ‘You need to do a show about Peggy Lee and call it Jamestown.’ He was born in Fargo, North Dakota, and he knew Peggy’s beginnings very well because she was from Jamestown, North Dakota.” Ball’s Jamestown, New York, connection came later. The junior Walline added “Gals” to the title “to make it more about the two women instead of just about Jamestown.” Their research revealed that celebrating their music would be the most interesting way to approach the show.

Before her stellar television career, Lucille Ball made many movie musicals. Later, she appeared on Broadway in Wildcat and starred in the movie Mame. “Funny thing is that she always said she could never sing,” Walline says. “Her voice may not have been the best, but it definitely was part of her charm as a performer.” For her part, Peggy Lee was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Pete Kelly’s Blues and she wrote all the music for Disney’s Lady and the Tramp.

As with Zooma Zooma, Walline doesn’t want to do direct impressions. “My objective is to capture the essence of Peggy Lee and Lucille Ball through their unique music and performance styles,” he says. “The essence of Peggy Lee is being portrayed by Terrie George and Arin Lee Dandes. Peggy had a dynamic voice that soared in her younger days, which suits Arin perfectly. Her voice became jazzier and smokier as she got older, which Terrie embodies beautifully. Lucille Ball has to be portrayed by two actresses who have perfect comedic timing, yet also can sing. Kathy Weese and Kelly Jakiel have both of these qualities.” John Fredo represents Desi Arnaz, while Marc Sacco portrays many other male performers.

Jamestown Gals: The Music of Lucille Ball and Peggy Lee opens November 5.

Also Playing
Don’t miss a musical treat as Broadway belter Linda Eder performs in concert at UB Center for the Arts on November 14. Eder starred in Jekyll & Hyde for almost 900 performances, and I think she has a voice to rival Streisand.

Fresh off UB’s October presentation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Buffalo State offers its own take on November 6–8 and 13–15. Donn Youngstrom directs.

Theater writer and WNED communications director Darwin McPherson invites readers to visit spreeblog.com for an expanded look at the projects listed here.


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