"Move over Chicago, Philadelphia's
coming."
That's what director/producer Terrence J. Nolen said near the conclusion of Monday night's Barrymore Awards, honoring the best of the Philadelphia theater season. You can't blame Nolen for being proud - his production of Bruce Graham's Something Intangible was the night's big winner, scoring seven awards, including outstanding play. The outstanding musical award went to another original production: Cinderella at People's Light & Theatre Company.
The Walnut Street Theatre prior to the 2009 Barrymore Awards ceremony
Actor
Ben Dibble, nominated for his performances in Candide
and The Producers, with wife Amy Dugas Brown
Cinderella
was People's Light's fifth annual original Christmas show filled with
slapstick, cross-dressing and audience participation in the tradition of an
English panto. Michael Ogborn, winner for outstanding original music for his
work on Cinderella, described the process by saying "it's like the Group
Theatre gets together every year to do an annual Mitzi Gaynor special, and I
for one could not be happier." The show won four awards overall, including
outstanding direction of a musical (Pete Pryor) and outstanding ensemble in a
musical.
Two other shows won three awards each: the
Middle Eastern war drama Scorched at
the Wilma Theater, and the doo-wop musical Avenue
X at 11th Hour Theatre. Scorched
earned nods for ensemble in a play, sound design, and supporting actress in a
play (for Janis Dardaris). Avenue X's
winners were for leading actor in a musical (Michael Philip O'Brien),
supporting actor in a musical (Forrest McClendon), and music direction (Dan
Kazemi).
The cast of Scorched accepting the award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Play
Six other productions won a single
award each.
Jennie Eisenhower won the lead actress
in a musical honor for playing multiple outlandish roles in Forbidden Broadway's Greatest Hits; she
thanked the voters for "embracing my weirdness." Kate Eastwood Norris
won the lead actress in a play award for her performance in Rock 'n' Roll, and in her acceptance
speech she paid tribute to her mother, whose battles with illness inspired her
portrayal of Eleanor in the Tom Stoppard play.
Jennie Eisenhower (left) and Kate
Eastwood Norris
Bristol native Christopher Gattelli won
the choreography award for the production of Altar Boyz staged at the Bristol Riverside Theatre.
Christopher Gattelli
The Barrymores were presented before a
packed - and very receptive - audience at the Walnut Street Theatre, which
celebrated its two hundredth anniversary this year. The presenters paid tribute
not only to the Walnut but to the entire history of theater in Philadelphia,
which
dates back to 1754, as well as to the vibrant contemporary scene. Mary Martello, a winner for
her role in the Arden Theatre's Candide,
paid tribute to "the creative life that makes this city hum." Actress
Kala Moses Baxter, a nominee for the F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging
Philadelphia Theatre Artist, said in a videotaped segment that "I believe
you can find any character you want to play on Broad Street." (The Haas
Award, which includes a $10,000 check, was presented to costume designer
Charlotte Cloe Fox Wind.)
In one of the more unusual moments of
the night, actor Tony Danza appeared as a presenter, introduced as
"Northeast High School's Newest English Teacher" in reference to the
reality series he's now filming in the city. Danza offered his services as an
actor to the city's theaters, which drew a smattering of applause. (Does he
know that the Walnut is doing Fiddler on
the Roof next spring?) He then presented the award for Excellence in
Theatre Education and Community Service, joking that "I have done some
community service." The award was won by the Lantern Theater Company,
whose former education director George Sedgwick had a joke of his own: "First
of all, I do want to thank Tony Danza for introducing me to Alyssa Milano after
the show."
The Lifetime Achievement Award was
presented to Dugald MacArthur, a veteran director and educator. John Connolly,
Executive Director of Actors Equity, called MacArthur "the unspoken
granddaddy of theater in Philadelphia" and praised him for "the
profound effect he had on my generation."
John Connolly (left) and Dugald MacArthur
The drag cabaret artist Martha Graham
Cracker - whose alter ego, Pig Iron Theatre Company co-founder Dito van
Reigersberg, also appeared as a presenter - closed the show with a bizarre but
wonderful Philly soul version of "Don't Cry For Me, Philadelphia." The
audience then left for a reception at the Benjamin Franklin House.
The program opened with a videotaped
segment spotlighting the number of artists who work in the city's theaters, and
mentioned that over 1.1 million tickets were sold last season. Mary Martello's
acceptance speech may have put it best: "Let's keep at it."
Barrymore
Awards for Excellence in Theatre
2009
Award Recipients by Category
Outstanding
Overall Production of a Play
Something
Intangible - Arden Theatre Company
Outstanding
Overall Production of a Musical
Cinderella
- The People's Light & Theatre Company
Harmelin
Media Award for Outstanding Direction of a Play
Terrence J. Nolen - Something Intangible - Arden Theatre Company
Outstanding
Direction of a Musical
Pete Pryor - Cinderella - The People's Light & Theatre Company
Outstanding
Music Direction
Dan Kazemi - Avenue X - 11th Hour Theatre Company
Ark
Media Award for Outstanding Leading Actor in a Play
Ian Merrill Peakes as Tony Wiston - Something Intangible - Arden Theatre
Company
The
Charlotte Cushman Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play
Kate Eastwood Norris as Eleanor/Adult
Esme - Rock 'n' Roll - The Wilma Theater
Garfield
Refining Company Award for Outstanding Leading Actor in a Musical
Michael Philip O'Brien as Pasquale - Avenue X - 11th Hour Theatre Company
Garfield
Refining Company Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Musical
Jennie Eisenhower - Forbidden Broadway's Greatest Hits -
Walnut Street Theatre, Independence Studio on 3
Outstanding
Supporting Actor in a Play
Jered McLenigan as Freddie Filmore - It's a Wonderful Life! A Live Radio Play - Prince Music Theater
Outstanding
Supporting Actress in a Play
Janis Dardaris as Nazira/Nawal 60-65 - Scorched - The Wilma Theater
Outstanding
Supporting Actor in a Musical
Forrest McClendon as Roscoe - Avenue X - 11th Hour Theatre
Company
Outstanding
Supporting Actress in a Musical
Mary Martello as Old Woman - Candide - Arden Theatre Company
Outstanding
Set Design
James Kronzer - Something Intangible - Arden Theatre Company
PECO
Award for Outstanding Lighting Design
F. Mitchell Dana - Something Intangible - Arden Theatre Company
Earl
Girls Award for Outstanding Costume Design
Rosemarie E. McKelvey - Something Intangible - Arden Theatre
Company
Clear
Sound Award for Outstanding Sound Design
Jorge Cousineau - Scorched - The Wilma Theater
Outstanding
Original Music
Michael Ogborn - Cinderella - The People's
Light & Theatre Company
Outstanding
Choreography/Movement
Christopher Gattelli - Altar Boyz - Bristol Riverside Theatre
Independence
Foundation Award for Outstanding New Play
Something
Intangible - By Bruce Graham - Arden Theatre
Company
Outstanding
Ensemble in a Play
Scorched
- The Wilma Theater
Outstanding
Ensemble in a Musical
Cinderella
- The People's
Light & Theatre Company
The
Ted and Stevie Wolf Award for New Approaches to Collaborations
Delaware Theatre Company & The
Ferris School for Boys - No Child...
Excellence
in Theatre Education and Community Service Award
Lantern
Theater Company - Classroom
Connections
F.
Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist
Charlotte Cloe Fox Wind
Special
Recognition Award
Deen Kogan
Lifetime
Achievement Award
Dugald MacArthur
2009
Award Recipients by Production
7 Awards:
Something
Intangible - Arden Theatre Company
4 Awards:
Cinderella
- The People's Light & Theatre Company
3 Awards:
Scorched
- The Wilma Theater
Avenue
X - 11th Hour Theatre Company
1 Award each:
Altar
Boyz - Bristol Riverside Theatre
Candide
- Arden Theatre Company
Forbidden
Broadway's Greatest Hits - Walnut Street Theatre
It's
a Wonderful Life! A Live Radio Play - Prince
Music Theatre
No
Child... - Delaware Theatre Company
Rock 'n' Roll - The Wilma Theater
Photos by Tim Dunleavy
The
Rock Tenor, which opened this week at Philadelphia's Wilma
Theater, is a theatrical-style concert designed to spotlight a mix of different
musical styles. In that respect, at least, it succeeds: it's mostly familiar
rock anthems, but with Broadway, opera and country music mixed in. It's a
carefully rehearsed, extremely slick show that shows off its talented cast very
well. The lighting and the staging successfully duplicate the style of an arena
rock show in a small theater. If it's lacking in the excitement and spontaneity
of the best rock concerts, it still manages to be a pleasant and inoffensive,
if somewhat bland, evening. The Rock
Tenor is very impressive; it's just not a lot of fun to watch.
The
Rock Tenor is built around the talents of Rob Evan, whose
credits include stints as the lead singer of The Trans-Siberian Orchestra and as
the leading man in Broadway's Jekyll
& Hyde. Evan has a strong, stirring voice, and he has a good feel for
all the material; when he sings a medley of "Bring Him Home" (which he
sang on Broadway in Les Misérables)
and the recent Daughtry pop hit "Home," he sounds equally comfortable
in both styles. Director Vincent Marini has surrounded the middle-aged Evan
with a cast of four younger, skinnier singers, each of whom occasionally steps
up to sing lead. There's a dynamic five-piece rock band backing them up, plus two
female string players (a violinist and a cellist) who, like the four younger
singers, seem to have been chosen as much for their good looks as for their
talent.
At the top of the show, Evan promises the audience
"an eclectic set of music for the next two hours... my only hope is that
you keep wondering what comes next." Well, you certainly can't call a show
predictable when it contains a medley of "O Fortuna" (from Orff's Carmina Burana) and "Wanted Dead or
Alive" (from Bon Jovi's Slippery
When Wet). Some of the transitions work nicely: the piano filigrees of
Styx's "Come Sail Away" blend surprisingly well with Mozart's
"Eine kleine Nachtmusik." But others are iffy: the melody of
Sondheim's "Johanna" is twisted nearly beyond recognition to make it
fit as a counterpoint to a far inferior song, Journey's "Open Arms."
(There's a Handel aria thrown into that medley too, just for the hell of it.)
As you might be able to tell, the arrangements are
not just a blend of the popular and the classical, but also the good and the mediocre
- and the creative minds behind The Rock
Tenor seem to have no clear idea where the good ends and the mediocre begins.
Case in point: Act Two opens with Morgan James (who is very impressive
throughout the show) singing a beautiful version of "Half Acre," a touchingly
poetic song by the indie folk-rock band Hem. But just when you think this show
is taking a welcome turn toward mature, edgy music, Evan shows up to sing a schlocky
Air Supply hit ("Making Love Out of Nothing at All") and ruin the
moment.
The dominant musical style of The Rock Tenor is 1970s-80s arena rock - not just Journey, Styx and
Bon Jovi but also Yes, Led Zeppelin and Queen. If you're not tired of hearing
"We Will Rock You" at televised sporting events, you may love this
show. But I consider much of that era's rock music overplayed and overblown,
and The Rock Tenor didn't change my
opinion. The cast performs these songs impeccably, but with a studied
earnestness that lets you know they take the melodramatic material very
seriously. (Only one of the singers, Alex Keiper, ventures an occasional smile
during the rock tunes.) It's only during the show's few excursions into
country-rock - songs like Rascal Flatts' "Life Is a Highway," Keith
Urban's "Kiss a Girl" and Queen's rockabilly-inflected "Crazy
Little Thing Called Love" - that the entire cast loosens up and seems to
be having fun.
The show's technical aspects are top-notch. Herrick
Goldman's lighting design is flashy but tasteful, and Nick Kourtides' sound
design isn't too overpowering - both of which are helpful in making the show
succeed in a 300-seat theater without blowing the audience out of its seats.
There are three large video screens behind the band, but they're barely used -
except during a rendition of Queen's "Who Wants to Live Forever" that
takes images of Evan singing a duet with himself and juxtaposes them with
images of dead rock stars. It's an attempt at a grand statement that comes off
as too self-important.
And that's The
Rock Tenor's fatal flaw: too much pomposity and too little joy. Evan and the
other singers have terrific voices, but the rigidity of the format stifles
their personalities. It's easy to admire the performers, but hard to make any
sort of connection with them. A little more patter might help; Evan speaks
between songs only three times in two hours, and the other performers don't
speak at all. Sometimes letting the music do the talking isn't a good idea,
especially when so many of the lyrics lack sophistication.
Director Marini has assembled a show which may well
have a life far beyond its Philadelphia engagement, where I presume it will get
tweaked and improved. I hope so. The Rock
Tenor has much to admire from a technical point of view: it's professionally
assembled, it has an attractive and polished cast, and it's filled with music
that will probably endear it to a mass audience. But as it stands now, it's a
good idea for a show rather than a completely satisfying show.
The
Rock Tenor runs through August 23, 2009 at the Wilma Theater,
265 South Broad Street, Philadelphia. Ticket prices range from $25 to $40 and
are available by calling 215-546-7824, or online at http://www.therocktenor.com.
The
Rock Tenor
Directed by Vincent Marini
Musical Director: Galen Butler
Production Design: luckydave
Arrangements and Orchestrations: Henry Aronson, Joe
Church, Randall Craig Fleischer, John Hinchey, Jeremy Roberts, Kim Scharnberg,
Jeremy D. Silverman
CAST:
Rob Evan, Dustin Brayley, Morgan James, Alex
Keiper, Aaron Lavigne
With Betsy Goode (cello) and Susan Aquila (violin)
