Tag Archives: 5th avenue theatre

Arts & Entertainment, Dance, Music, Theatre

“ELF — The Musical,” a Sparklejolly-twinklejingley Holiday Gift from the 5th Ave

December 11, 2012 Scott G

Somehow, the 5th Avenue Theatre seems to know just what you want in your stocking every year for the holidays. This year, it’s ELF – The Musical (through December 31), which brings the Will Farrell film to the stage. The story won’t change your life, but ELF has multi-level humor that will appeal to adults and kids, the right amount of sweetness, and the perfect cast to make your holidays happy and bright.

Matt Owen plays Buddy, the human who, as a baby, crawls into Santa’s bag at the end of his Christmas run and unwittingly smuggles himself to the North Pole. We know this because Santa, played with an endearing, weary charm by the always wonderful Seán Griffin, is reading the story to us.

Buddy is raised by the elves as one of their own, blissfully unaware that he seems to be the Shaquille O’Neal of the workshop (“Christmastown”). Someone lets the cat out of the bag, and Buddy heads to New York City to find his real dad. His expectations, laid out in the “The World’s Greatest Dad,” are…pretty high.

Like Farrell, Owen plays Buddy with a wink-free, wide-eyed, open-mouthed wonder. A strong singer and capable dancer, he draws us in with his guileless innocence. The production number “Sparklejollytwinklejingley” at Macy’s (one of the sponsors of this 5th Avenue production) shows off his showstopping skills as a song-and-dance man. That scene, even so, is stolen by Cynthia Jones as the store manager. She lights up the stage brighter than any string of Christmas lights.

The best number, by far, is “Nobody Cares About Santa.” On Christmas Eve, the department store Santas gather at a diner to kibbutz about the lack of respect they get, as they launch into what feels like the lost Santa scene from an early draft of Chicago — muted trumpets and Fosse jazz hands galore. It brought down the house.

Allen Fitzpatrick did his best Steve Ballmer impression as Buddy’s real dad. Not sure if that characterization and look was intentional, but it was amusing against the overt Apple product placements in the show. (Santa’s list is currently kept on a iPad. I hope he has that backed-up in iCloud.) As Buddy’s jaded love interest, Jovie, Kendra Kassebaum shows off her comedic timing and vocal range in “Never Fall in Love (with an Elf).” Duly noted.

Will the cast find enough Christmas spirit to help power Santa’s sleigh — which has gotten stuck in Central Park (much like it got stuck in the sand in my favorite holiday move, Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny?) You’ll have to come to the show to find out…here’s betting you’ll be glad you did.

Arts & Entertainment, Music, Theatre

The 5th Ave’s Rent is the Best Kind of Drag

July 29, 2012 Scott G

The buzz was that Rentheads were amped about this local production of the musical (through August 19 at the 5th Avenue Theatre), and they certainly showed up for opening night. Judging by the enthusiastic standing ovation at the end of the show, most got what they came for.

This is a homegrown take on the musical, directed by the 5th Ave’s Associate Artistic Director, Bill Berry, and featuring some of the best local musical theatre actors we have in Seattle. Strong voices and one killer drag queen make this show a winner, even if it departs from what seasoned Rentheads are used to.

I have somehow managed to never see this iconic, Tony- and Pulitzer-winning musical that takes inspiration in story and characters from Puccini’s La Bohème. Composer Jonathan Larson wanted to bring the struggles of the down-and-out-and-up-and-coming artists he knew to “the MTV generation” (this was the mid-’90s). It worked.

The woman next to me had seen Rent six times – once in London, and five other touring productions – so I looked to her to give me the superfan take on our local version.

I’m not sure how it is in other productions, but this show was owned—lock, stock, and barrel—by Jerick Hoffer as the drag drummer, Angel. Hoffer, whose alter-ego Jinkx Monsoon hosts An Evening at Le Faux at Julia’s on Broadway, is stunning. His Angel has a wink-free elegance, grace, and dignity; he plays it for real, not for laughs. I would go back to the show just to see him. (Watch your back, Nick Garrison.)

Berry cast this one well, demonstrating yet again that Seattle has a depth of musical theatre talent that can hold its own with touring shows. Naomi Morgan plays Mimi Marquez, the tragic stripper with the heart of gold. Morgan has a great pop voice without sounding like she’s over-ornamenting in the top five of AI. She can go from soft tenderness (“Light My Candle”) to rocker belt-y (“Out Tonight”) and do it all well. Aaron F. Finley (Jesus in Village Theatre’s Jesus Christ Superstar) plays Roger, the musician mourning the loss of his girlfriend to the disease that stalks the cast in the shadows. In this role, you get to hear the incredible, powerful high notes that made him so impressive as JC.

In the “Musetta” role of Maureen Johnson, Ryah Nixon channels Jennifer Coolidge without the ditz. Her big number “Take Me or Leave Me” shows off her bluesy voice that I would like to have heard more often. Brandon O’Neill as Collins is solid, and his mournful “I’ll Cover You (reprise)” rips your heart out with its authenticity.

My neighboring Renthead’s critique was that this production sped through its paces too quickly, and didn’t let the characters develop enough. I had to agree, even as a newcomer, but that may have been opening night nerves propelling things. Also, the odd, OCD-ish movements that some of the characters displayed prior to the opening number and throughout the show felt gratuitous and perplexing.

The graffiti-laden set with scaffolding served the story well enough, though it felt overly familiar. Having just seen American Idiot a few weeks ago, it was fun to compare the two productions–though, with these two under my belt, I think I’m full up on scaffold-set/angry-youths shows for a while.

Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

5th Ave’s Damn Yankees is Darned Good

May 7, 2012 Scott G

Mr. Applegate (Hans Altwies) and Lola (Chryssie Whitehead) in Damn Yankees at The 5th Avenue Theatre. Photo: Chris Bennion

While anarchists were proving they had nothing better to do on a Tuesday in May, the 5th Avenue Theatre production of Damn Yankees (through May 20; tickets) took us back to sweeter, simpler time when a guy could sell his soul to the devil and still have a chance to get it back (Hint: keep your receipt).

Anchored by strong dancing and the conviction to play it sincerely, this production is just the antidote you need to any anarchists spray painting Porsche Cayennes outside.

The Adler and Ross musical comedy, set in the ’50s, is essentially an update of the Faust legend. Middle-aged real estate agent Joe Boyd loves his Washington Senators baseball team so much, he doesn’t have to think too hard when the devil, in the personage of “Mr. Applegate” offers to turn him into the “long ball hitter” in his 20s that the Senators need to win the pennant from the all-powerful Yankees.

Abandoning his wife, he trots off to “come out of nowhere” to get a spot on the Senators’ roster. In a weak moment, Mr. Applegate gives Joe an escape clause on his “baseball stud for soul” contract, and it ends right when the Senators need Joe to close the pennant.

Dancing is the star here, led by the excellent corps of male dancers who make up the members of the Washington Senators. Their acrobatic dancing, flipping, and tapping gives the whole show a sincere, nostalgic, irony-free sweetness that works. As Gloria, the reporter who is out to prove that Joe isn’t what he seems, Nancy Anderson holds her own and she cartwheels across the stage like a gymnast in “Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, MO.”

As the new Joe, Christopher Charles Wood has a beautiful, warm voice that fits the era of the story. He is most compelling as an actor in the scenes in which he visits (as the young baseball god) his wife Meg, played by the always wonderful Patti Cohenour. Their scenes and songs (“A Man Doesn’t Know” and “Near to You”) are really touching, as Joe admits to missing his old life (despite his awesome new one) and Meg to missing the husband who left without explanation.

This musical is owned by the bad guys, though. As Mr. Applegate, local favorite Hans Altwies is all confident swagger and delicious evilness. His Applegate lures Joe away from his middle-class, middle-aged life effortlessly. It’s easy to see how a less-confident actor might be tempted to amp up the evil here, but Altwies is an actor who knows that sometimes less is more.

And sometimes more is more. As Lola, the vamp brought up by Applegate from the home office to seduce Joe away from his nostalgia for his old life, and past his escape-clause expiration date, Chryssie Whitehead is magnetic. She’s an accomplished dancer and a decent singer, but she also has that charismatic spark that calls her out as a star. When she’s on stage, you have a hard time taking your eyes off of her. You have no problem believing that what Lola wants, Lola gets.

Arts & Entertainment, Dance, Music, Theatre

Oklahoma!‘s Kicks are as High as, Well, You Know (Review)

February 14, 2012 Scott G

The Cast of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! at the 5th Avenue Theatre. Photo: Chris Bennion

Oklahoma! at the 5th Avenue Theatre (tickets available now through March 4) is as good a production as you’ll likely ever see of this classic R&H musical. What makes it that much better is the choreography by Donald Byrd–giving this already solid production a depth that you don’t often see in the show.

Byrd, the artistic director of Spectrum Dance Theater, is a world-class choreographer who has created pieces for major dance companies all over the globe. Having him choreograph a show and embed his dancers in it is sort of like bringing a gun to a knife fight. Not to take anything away from the fine choreographers that the 5th and its colleagues typically use, it’s just that this isn’t your typical musical theatre dancing.

It starts with the song “Kansas City,” in which the actors blend ballet-infused moves into western and ragtime styles. It is, however, in the “dream ballet” sequence at end of Act II, that we see Byrd’s signature most clearly. Overtly balletic, the dancing in the scene embodies Byrd’s telltale mixture of humor and darkness, sexuality and violence (especially when Laurey is dragged by Jud across the stage as his conquest). It’s classic Byrd: beautiful with a pulse of malevolence that reminds us that not all is pretty on the prairie.

It’s not just the dancing that makes this production special. There are some standout performances, big and small, that raise the level of the game. Eric Ankrim as Curley would give anyone else who has played that role (with the possible exception of Hugh Jackman, sans claws) a run for their money. Ankrim brings an easy confidence to Curley, with no false notes. The always-good Anne Allgood plays Aunt Eller as both wise and wise-ass in a way that grounds the entire production. Someone always has to be the adult, and she plays it beautifully. David Pichette as Ike Skidmore–a role that shows up first in Act II and doesn’t really have a whole lot to say–shows us yet again how an amazing actor in a relatively small part can give the production so much more headroom.

Even smaller moments, such as when dancer Amber Nicole Mayberry regally, lovingly reaches down to turn over Jud after he is stabbed, add a dimension to this production that you wouldn’t expect. Her small act, and the focus and dignity she brings to it, changes everything in that moment, humanizing Jud in an instant.

Standing literally over all of them was Kyle Scatliffe as Jud. A big man, Scatliffe has an even bigger voice–warm, booming and powerful. When he’s on stage, there is a buzz and tension that owes something to the character he plays but more to the actor portraying him. In his Act I aria “Lonely Room,” Scatliffe unleashes fury and power as he convinces himself that his options for a meaningful life with Laurey are dwindling and that he must take action. As he does so, red light seeps through the slats of his smokehouse, growing in intensity with the billowing intensity of his emotion. Like a hot wind whipping down the plain.

Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

Arabian Lights: Disney’s Aladdin at the 5th Avenue Theatre

July 27, 2011 Scott G

In the promotional video for Disney’s Aladdin (now through July 31 at the 5th Avenue Theatre; tickets), actor James Monroe Iglehart, who plays Genie in the new stage musical says, “Come expecting the movie, but come expecting a brand new vision of Aladdin.” He’s mostly correct in setting that expectation. Aladdin is a hugely entertaining musical that is tailor-made for fans of the Disney film.

Casting was pretty much dead-on. As Aladdin, Adam Jacobs couldn’t look more like his animated counterpart. With a smile you can see from space and a warm, rich voice, he was just as he should be. In one of the songs that didn’t make it into the original film, “Proud of Your Boy,” he shows off an impressive range with the ability to emotionally engage the audience.

As the classic Disney villain Jafar, Jonathan Freeman ate up scenery. Freeman provided the voice for Jafar in the original film, and it’s hard to imagine anyone doing it better. He does every British-accented bad guy from Ming the Merciless to Voldemort proud, with most perfect “evil plan laugh” on the planet.

But the no-contest, don’t-even-bother-to-pan-over-the-faces-of-the-other-nominees award for scene stealing goes to James Monroe Iglehart for his performance of Genie. This actor is a one-man big production number. He had a lot to live up to, given Robin Williams’ performance in the film. Iglehart brings his own voice to the character, while still following the fast-talking, accent-switching, pop culture reference-dropping example of Williams. What impressed me the most, though, was this guy’s seemingly limitless supply of charisma and energy. Iglehart isn’t, um, built like a gymnast, but his cartwheels and pure physicality gave you the impression that this is a guy could will himself to do just about anything on stage. While I’d recommend the production as a whole, it would be worth seeing just for Iglehart’s performance.

The stage musical stays very true to the movie in many ways, with some interesting tweaks. Some of the songs originally written for and eventually cut from the film are given a second chance in this production. The same is true for some of the characters as well. The trio of Aladdin’s friends dropped from the original movie–Babkak, Omar, and Kassim–are restored in the stage musical and serve as sort of a Greek chorus to move the story along. The tweaks are just enough to give fans of the film a reason to see the stage production, but they aren’t going to make 9-year-olds cry foul about any inconsistencies with the movie version.

This production is slick, and you can see how Disney could easily scale it up for a big Broadway theatre, or scale it down for a theme park or cruise ship version. It is, like so many things they do so well, extendable across multiple platforms.

Only a few things didn’t quite work for me. I thought the “Hey, we know we’re in a play” self-referential humor was hit a bit too hard throughout the production. When Babkak acknowledges his Greek chorus role (“That’s right, we’re a device.”), it’s cute. But then that sort of thing got old for me. Maybe kids love it, though. Courtney Reed as Jasmine looked perfect, but she didn’t have the belty voice of the Disney film princesses.

In this production, nothing offends, nothing challenges. There’s no real jeopardy, no surprises, since most of the audience has seen the movie (likely many, many times, if they have kids). But not every play should be Death of a Salesman. Sometimes you just want to be entertained, and this production does just that.

The SunBreak