Sharpenicity

HARD TIMES   Take a break from the seasonal ritual of  A Christmas Carol   to  enjoy another Dickens’ classic.  Hard Times, at Washington Stage Guild , is truly a show for this season.   One of Dickens shortest books is nevertheless filled with dozens of characters. This adaption for the stage by Stephen Jeffreys requires no less than19!  Switching roles in split seconds, Steven Carpenter, Brit Herring, Chelsea Mayo and Sue Struve,  each take on four or five, giving life to Dickens’ wide range of humanity. Brit Herring is Mr. Gradgrind, whose builds his life around facts. He will also play his manipulative son Tom who will rebel against all this by drinking and thieving.  Chelsea Mayo’s most important role is as his lovely daughter Louisa whose emotions are suppressed by his emphasis that facts alone are what to base one’s life on. She will be married off to Mr. Bounderby, played by Steven Carpenter, who will also play the James Ha...

AMADEUS             Antonio Salieri (Ian Merrill Peakes) pleads with God  Theaters are known to have ghosts. I saw one last night at  the Folger Theater.  It was Antonio Salieri,  in the starring role of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus .  As in his life, he played the bitter court composer at odds with the brilliant Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  Once again, as in his life, he is not given credit as he always felt was his proper due for the program notes credit Ian Merrill Peakes as Salieri. In Amadeus , Salieri is a ghostly figure who in his last hours before dying re-lives the story about how he is responsible for Mozart’s death.  Peakes is more than superb as the 18th century Viennese court composer whose rivalry with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is the stuff of this all consuming bitterness. Indeed Peakes is a strong actor for sure, but it is truly Salieri who takes over the stage in angry moments when he rages at God for ...

MANON   Live at the Met Young and vibrant,  the innocent country girl Manon will end worn out by her frivolous life, regretting her choice of pleasure over true love as she dies in desolate spot outside of prison. From the opera’s first aria,  I expected that  soprano Lisette Oropesa was too cheerful to carry that role to such a bitter end.  But her skill as an actress and her talent— with a range not just vocally but of human continuum of experience— delivered an unforgettable performance. Tenor Michael Fabiano is her lover, Chevalier des Grieux. Intense and troubled, he tries to escape his heartbreak of Manon’s loss in a monastery, only to rebound as her gambling companion, and to follow her to a painful end. Polish baritone Artur Ruciński is her cousin Lescaut,  who goes along for the exhilarating ride of a gambler through life. Maurizio Benini conducting Massenet’s sensual score, which lingers in the ears of memory long after  The Live at th...

THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at Constellation Theatre Company The Constellation’s sell out production has now been extended until Nov 24, 2019.  It has all the ingredients for a cult favorite that could pack the theater for ages.   Everyone knows something about that man eating plant  in a florist shop on Skid Row but to see this production  is to see it come to life — very up close to the audience. As endearing as Seymour, the flower shop assistant who creates an exotic plant, by scene-stealer Christian Montgomery … or as lovely as Teresa Quigley Danskey as his dream girl warm-hearted coworker Audrey… or as fun as the three girl singers/ sassy street urchins: Selena Clyne-Galindo as Chiffon , Alana S. Thomas as Ronnette,  Chani Wereley as Crystal… or as dynamic as  Scott Ward Abernethy who is Audrey’s boyfriend Orin, a dentist who tortures his patients (as well as taking on four other roles)… or as sentime...

THE GREEN ROOM How will four Generation Z friends make it from a small college theatre department’s  "green room” to the Off-Broadway stage?  The Green Room spans three years of college life, in which four actors explore all the complications from looking for love to last-minute cramming for final exams. They are young, vibrant, aspiring—still green— like the room.   Director Jessica Jennings  guides them through this complicated journey to success as  Rod Damer and C. Stephen Foster’s book comes to life on stage.   The magic ingredient is music. Charles Pelletier’s rocking pop score and lyrics, with David Fletcher’s skilled musical direction, give the cast much to sing about. Ariana Valdes is Divonne, “the Diva.”  In one of the show’s most unforgettable moments, her rendition of “It’s All About Me” sums up great diva moments from musicals and movies. The song won a Songwrite...

EVERYBODY   A 15th century play about Death might be the livest show  around.   Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins brings the  medieval morality play up front and center for all to  look squarely at the most shared and puzzling human question. Death is portrayed by the irresistible Nancy Robinette, who  carries out her mission directed by God, played by Yonatan Gebeyehu (who also doubles as Usher, who “ushers the audience”  in to the story as God ushers us into and out of life.) He also plays Understanding! There is nothing unique to think of life and death as a lottery. And while death is mysterious, so is who of five fantastic actors  or Somebodies are going to play the single role (thought of as  Everyman ).   Alina Collins Maldonado, Avi Rogue, Kelli Simpkins, Ayana Workman, and Elan Zafir all participate in God’s lottery  to see what roles they will take for that performance.   No two  shows will be alike, ju...