"Liberty Falls 2020" web series by The Moving Company

The Moving Company is remounting their absurd comedy Liberty Falls 54321 as a four-part web series called Liberty Falls 2020, and I couldn't be happier about it. We revisit the specifically odd characters from the play (last seen in early 2017) in the specifically odd year that is 2020. The first three episodes are free to view, and if you like what you see, the fourth episode can be viewed for only $6.99. The talented and hilarious original cast (plus a few welcome additions) has reunited in creative ways to bring us wonderfully silly story, not without some social commentary. Click here to watch.

"Liberty Falls 54321" by The Moving Company at The Lab Theater

This weekend, The Moving Company is bringing back their "absurdly funny, surprisingly musically delicious, awkwardly cringe-worthy, and just plain ridiculous (in the best possible way)" Liberty Falls 54321, an operatic comedy. I really loved it the first time around in December of 2015 (and yes, I just quoted myself), and fortunately they've brought back the entire dream team of a cast (I think I've got my first nominee for "best comedic performance by an ensemble" for next year's TCTB Awards). The show is mostly the same show, with a few more topical jokes added referencing the recent election. Whether or not you saw it last time, Liberty Falls 54321 provides a hearty laugh in bleak times, best said by a note in the playbill: "You've got to admit, there's a lot of ugliness out there right now. So, we ask ourselves - what would Moliere do? Well, he'd look at it right in its wrong, ugly face. And make some fun out of it. Have a good old laugh at it. Yes, sometimes you just have to laugh at it all." A good old laugh indeed.

"A Christmas Carole Petersen" by Theater Latte Da at the Ritz Theater

It's December in the Twin Cities, and that means there are a ton of holiday shows to choose from (Christmas sells well in Minnesota). I've seen six already, with six more on the schedule for the next few weeks (read about all of them here). And right smack dab in the middle of this holiday marathon comes one of my favorites of the past, Theater Latte Da's A Christmas Carole Petersen. After a successful nine-year run in the aughts, everyone's favorite Minnesota family the Petersens took an eight-year break, and are now making a welcome return this holiday season. I saw the show once near the end of its original run and was completely charmed by it, and am thrilled to see it again. Master storyteller Tod Petersen shares his unique family story and holiday traditions that may feel familiar to many Minnesotans. But even if your family traditions are different from the Petersens', even if you celebrate different holidays or no holidays, this show will make you nostalgic for the days of yore and grateful for the gifts of the present.

"Liberty Falls 54321" by The Moving Company at the Lab Theater

The Moving Company has done it again. With their newest work Liberty Falls 54321, they have yet again created a crazy brilliant original piece of theater that is absurdly funny, surprisingly musically delicious, awkwardly cringe-worthy, and just plain ridiculous (in the best possible way). The story of a 105-year-old woman's birthday celebration in a small town in Wisconsin, created by the company and directed by Dominique Serrand, is really just an excuse for these specifically defined oddball characters to gather and show off their quirks and talents, skillfully brought to life by this dream cast. If you've never experienced the unique genius that is MoCo, let Liberty Falls be your introduction.

"Sweeney Todd" by Theater Latte Da at the Ritz Theater

Friends, Theater Latte Da has done it again. They've created a music-theater production that is so stirring and chilling, it's nothing short of brilliant. After the delightfully innovative and stripped-down Into the Woods this spring, they return to Sondheim with a similarly innovative and stripped-down Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. But where Into the Woods was a fun and slightly sinister mish-mash of classic fairy tales, Sweeney is all darkness and death, albeit with a bit of dark humor. Director Peter Rothstein again cast just ten actors in the show, many playing multiple roles and all perfect for the parts, and Denise Prosek leads a pared down orchestra of just four, that still somehow sounds musically full on this gorgeous and disturbing score. With a couple of actors not known for their singing leading this talented cast, and a cohesive look to the set, costumes, and theater space that is well used, this Sweeney is completely engaging and all-consuming, and brilliantly shows what Latte Da can do with not musical theater, but theater musically.

Sweeney Todd is a tale of vengeance and murder, as Sweeney returns to London after 15 years imprisonment for a crime he didn't commit, only to find his wife and daughter gone thanks to the very judge who put him away. His barber business turns deadly as he becomes intent on exacting revenge on those who wronged him. His partner in crime Mrs. Lovett finds a creative way to dispose of the bodies at her pie shop and the two take in the boy Toby, who's just happy to have a home, until he discovers what's really going on. Meanwhile, the young sailor Anthony has fallen in love with Sweeney's daughter Johanna and he and Sweeney team up to get her away from the evil judge. This isn't a happily ever after kind of story so don't expect things to end well, but it's deliciously chilling to watch it all play out.

In Theater Latte Da's production, this sordid story takes place in what looks like a dilapidated carnival. The theme continues from the stage to the lobby of the theater, with slightly off-kilter carnival music playing and donuts sold at the concession stand. Scenic Designer Kate Sutton-Johnson (who also designed the German beer garden fairy tale world of Into the Woods) has built the most terrifying jungle gym you've ever seen on the Ritz Theater stage, complete with ladders, bridges, swings, and a very sinister (yet very cool) slide. The performance space moves beyond the stage as the cast makes great use of the space, wandering through the audience and hanging out with people sitting at the bars on either side. I was afraid they were going to start offering us meat pies (no thank you!). Along with Alice Fredrickson's faded and tattered costumes, and Paul Whitaker's effective lighting design, the whole think has a dark and creepy atmosphere that'll give you chills.

Mark Benninghofen and Sally Wingert
as Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett
(photo by George Byron Griffiths)

Music-theater (as Nautilus and I like to call it) is about character and story first, and music second (even Sondheim himself agrees). With that in mind it makes sense that Mark Benninghofen and Sally Wingert, two of the Twin Cities' best actors but not known for their singing, play the lead roles. Sally already showed us in Cabaret last year that singing is yet another tool in her vast acting toolbox, and her Mrs. Lovett is so funny, cunning, needy, and dangerously motherly. But this is Mark's first performance in a musical, and all I can say is - welcome to the wonderful world of music-theater Mr. Benninghofen, please stay a while! It's almost incomprehensible that someone would decide to do their first musical 30 years into their career, jump right into one of the most challenging and iconic roles, and do so with such aplomb that it seems like he's been performing in music-theater all his life. The entire cast is wonderful, but the show is called Sweeney Todd and it doesn't work without a strong Sweeney, and Mark is that and more. Fierce, ominous, darkly brooding, murderous yet sympathetic, and with a lovely voice too! Mark and Sally together are, as always, a delight to watch and sound like they've been singing Sondheim all their lives, not an easy trick.

Sally Wingert and Tyler Michaels
as Mrs. Lovett and Toby
(photo by George Byron Griffiths)

And now for the rest of the cast, who are known for their singing but are wonderful actors as well. I thought nothing could top Tyler Michaels singing "On the Street Where You Live," but Tyler Michaels as Toby singing "Not While I'm Around" does just that, so soaring and beautiful and moving. And he brings his trademark physicality to the role of this eager limping young lad, and also climbs, jumps, and hangs on the set as a member of the ensemble. The lovely-voiced Sara Ochs is almost unrecognizable and terrifying as the beggar woman with a secret, and also portrays her humanity beneath the madness. James Ramlet makes the Judge a villain you love to hate, and the "Pretty Women" duet is a highlight featuring James' yummy low rumbling timbre on the "bum bum bum bum." Elizabeth Hawkinson's Johanna is delicately lovely, and she sings like a nightingale. Also wonderful are Matthew Rubbelke as Anthony, Dominique Wooten as Beadle (with a bit of humorous pounding on the piano), Evan Tyler Wilson as the pompous barber Pirelli, and Benjamin Dutcher in a number of roles.

If you're a fan of Sondheim, music-theater, or just a really well-told story, Theater Latte Da's gleefully maniacal Sweeney Todd is not to be missed. Everything is perfection, top to bottom. An incredible and fully committed cast, spot-on direction, gorgeous music, and attention paid to every detail (watch for Sweeney's entrance, repeated at the end) to create an all-around stunning production. Playing through October 25, get your tickets now before it sells out.


This article also appears on Broadway World Minneapolis.

"Carousel" at Bloomington Civic Theatre

When Bloomington Civic Theater announced their 2014-2015 season last year, I was thrilled to see that the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic Carousel would be closing out the season. As a musical theater geek, this is one of those shows that you really must see, and I hadn't. But it turns out BCT was not my first Carousel; the Minnesota Orchestra presented a semi-staged concert of it last month. I found the music to be gorgeous and the story to be... challenging. I was happy to have another experience with the show again so soon and more time to spend with it. After seeing BCT's beautiful production, I appreciate this show even more. The music is gorgeous as performed by this spectacular cast and always fantastic pit orchestra, and they nicely handle the difficult issues of the play, namely domestic violence. There's a reason Carousel is a classic, and BCT makes that very clear.

For Rodgers and Hammerstein's sophomore outing as a team (their first being the smash hit Oklahoma!, based on the play Green Grow the Lilacs), they chose to adapt the lesser-known Hungarian play Liliom as Carousel, which was a bit of a gamble due to the darker nature of the story and not-so-happy ending. But the risk payed off; Carousel was another rousing success and ranks among R&H's big five musicals. This is the classic good girl falls for bad boy story, in which the good girl sees the best in the bad boy, and the bad boy tries to be a better person for the good girl, but ultimately fails despite his love for her. In this case the good girl is mill worker Julie Jordan and the bad boy is carnival barker Billy Bigelow. Although perhaps he's not so much bad as putting on a tough front to hide a deeply damaged soul. They both sacrifice their jobs to be together, which unfortunately does not lead to happiness for the pair. Through an unfortunate series of events Billy sees the errors of his ways and tries to make amends with his family.

Because of its themes of poverty and domestic violence, this a difficult story. But I was thrilled that BCT has cut what I see to be the most offensive and potentially damaging line, the one in which Julie tells her daughter that it's possible to be hit hard and it doesn't hurt. It most definitely does hurt when someone you love hits you, in more ways than one. It's hard enough to come to terms with the idea that even though he hits her, Billy and Julie truly love one another, without the implication that the abuse doesn't hurt. Simply removing this one line makes a world of difference, and turns a story that possibly excuses domestic violence into one that tries to get inside it and understand it in the hopes of shedding light on this issue that is as devastating today as it was 70 years ago when the musical was written, or 140 years ago when the story takes place.

And now that we've gotten the difficult part out of the way, let me rave about this cast! Firstly, our Billy, Dominique Wooten. According to his bio this is Dom's first leading role on a Twin Cities stage (although he has been sharing his talent in supporting roles at BCT and elsewhere for a few years), and I cannot think of a better debut. His voice is gorgeous and his performance of the famous "Soliloquy," covering a range of emotions and vocal challenges, is a triumph. He handles the difficulties of the role (Billy isn't really someone you're supposed to like) with grace, and brings out the humanity in this troubled man. He's well-matched in Elizabeth Hawkinson as Julie, her first time on the BCT stage. Her voice is beautiful, and her Julie is strong, compassionate, vulnerable, and completely believable. Becca Hart is also making her BCT debut as Julie's best friend Carrie, and she's a delight. Rounding out the two main couples is Joshua Smith (last year's Sky Masterson), sweet and charming and well-voiced as Mr. Snow. You really cannot ask for better leads than these four, and the supporting cast and ensemble are strong as well. Of special note is ten-year-old Natalie Tran playing the Star Keeper, a role not typically played by a child, bringing a whole new dimension to the role.

Carousel is a show that's heavy on the dancing, with the opening number being an eight minute waltz with no words that manages to convey everything about the setting and characters that you need to know. The second act also includes an extended ballet that introduces a new set of characters. Choreographer Michael Gruber and director Karen Weber nicely structure both of these segments and the cast performs the choreography beautifully, especially the graceful young Megan Carver as Louise.

If you're a musical theater fan who's never seen Carousel, like I hadn't before this year, you really must go see BCT's excellent production of this classic. And even if you've seen it before, it only gets better and richer with repeated viewing. This is a dark, difficult, devastating love story, but when Billy told Julie "know that I loved you" as the voices of the ensemble rose together in harmony on perhaps the most well known song from the show, "You'll Never Walk Alone," real tears rolled down my cheeks. That's the power of musical theater, to make you feel and empathize and learn something you didn't know before. Carousel continues at Bloomington Civic Theatre through May 17 (BCT shows have a tendency to sell out, so you might want to plan ahead - look for discount tickets on Goldstar).

"Musical Mondays" at Hell's Kitchen, February 2015

Musical theater loving friends, if you're not at Hell's Kitchen on the first Monday of the month, you are missing out. This is when Sheena Jansen and Max Wojtanowicz gather a few of their friends, who just happen to be among the most talented musical theater artists in town, for a little cabaret show. They've been doing it for over two years now, and it just keeps getting better and better. Each month has a theme, and this being February, the theme for this month's show was love. And as much as I love hearing my favorite musical theater songs, I also enjoy the choices made by this crew that are perhaps a bit more obscure. It was a fabulously entertaining night of musical theater, and it also served as a preview for shows to come this spring and summer. Read on for highlights and to find out where you can see the cast on stages around town.

This month's performers are a veritable Who's Who in the local musical theater scene. In addition to hosts Max and Sheena, performers include Aly Westberg O'Keefe and Dominique Wooten from last fall's brilliant production of Next to Normal at Bloomington Civic Theatre; two of the Andrews Sisters from History Theatre's Christmas of Swing, Ruthie Baker McGrath and Jen Burleigh-Benz (whom you may also know as Snow White from last fall's delightfully irreverent fairy tale Disenchanted); Radames/Joseph/et al. Jared Oxborough; and everyone's favorite, who's been in too many wonderful shows to recount here, Bradley Greenwald. They performed solos, duets, and group numbers, all accompanied by the maestro Andrew Cooke on keyboard. The show lasted about two hours, with a brief intermission, with food and bar service available throughout the night. It's also a fun place for people watching, as over half of the audience are theater people.

Highlights of the show include:

• Group numbers are always fun, including the opener, "It's Love" from Wonderful Town, and the closing number, the entirely appropriate classic
  L-O-V-E. But that's not to say that the night was fully of lovey-dovey songs. Read on...
• Listening to Bradley Greenwald sing Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" is worth the price of admission alone (which, BTW, is a super cheap $5 suggested donation). Swoon!
• File under the category of "my favorite musical theater songs" - Ruthie's delightfully hopeful "I'm in Love With a Wonderful Guy" from South Pacific, Dom's powerful "Somewhere" from West Side Story, and Jen's terrific rendition of that little known song "Don't Rain on My Parade" from Funny Girl.
• Yes, I own the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, so I was delighted to hear Dom and Aly sing "Elephant Love Medley" in a most charming way.
• Jared sang a lovely rendition of "Hey There," a song from The Pajama Game that has become a classic.
• The cast showed off their talent for harmony with a couple of strong quartets and a trio - "Poor Child" from Wild Party (Dom, Jared, Jen, and Sheena), "Dear One" from Kiss of the Spider Woman (Bradley, Dom, Jen, and Ruthie), and "I've Decided to Marry You" from the last year's Tony winner Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (Aly, Bradley, and Ruthie).
• I'd never heard the song "Lying There" from the song cycle Edges, but Aly brought tears to my eyes with her beautiful and moving rendition.
• Somebody needs to cast Jen and Bradley in a show together, because they looked and sounded gorgeous together on "Carried Away" from On the Town, with oodles of chemistry.
• Somebody needs to cast Sheena and Max in a show together, because they looked and sounded gorgeous together on "Where Would You Be" from from one of those aforementioned obscure musicals The Roar of the Greasepaint, with oodles of chemistry. Oh wait, they've cast themselves in a show together, that they wrote!  Which brings me to...

The cast's upcoming shows (click on show title for more info):

• About his beautiful silver hair Bradley Greenwald joked, "I used to have brown hair, but I've been in tech for a week." He stars as Fagen in the Theater Latte Da/Hennepin Theatre Trust co-production of Oliver!, opening at the Pantages Theatre this week.
• Max Wojtanowicz is making his Ten Thousand Things debut in The Unsinkable Molly Brown, which opens next week. It's worth noting that TTT's last musical ended up on my favorites list last year.
• Chanhassen Dinner Theatre's resident Music Director Andrew Cooke begins rehearsing his cast and orchestra this week, for the new production of Mary Poppins. Performances begin on February 27 and run through the summer.
• Max Wojtanowicz and Sheena Jansen bring their charming, funny, and poignant auto-biographical musical Fruit Fly, a Fringe hit in 2012, to Illusion Theater this March.
• Forcing me to make the long drive out to Excelsior once again, Jen Burleigh-Benz is starring in Old Log Theatre's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, also opening in March.
• Dominique Wooten is Bloomington Civic Theatre's Billy in their production of the classic musical Carousel, opening in April (can you believe I've never seen it?!).
• Ruthie Baker McGrath announced that she will be in a little show called The Music Man at the Guthrie Theater this summer.

And that's it for this month, folks. The next Musical Mondays takes place on March 2 and will feature the music of Cy Coleman (I know, I don't really know who that is either, so this one is sure to be educational as well as entertaining!). "Like" the Musical Mondays Facebook page for updates and more information.


This article also appears on Broadway World Minneapolis.

"Next to Normal" at Bloomington Civic Theatre

Diverging from the usual feel-good classic musicals, Bloomington Civic Theatre is currently presenting Next to Normal, one of the few musicals to win a Pulitzer Prize for drama and perhaps the most brilliantly written musical of this century. Unlike shows like Guys and Dolls or Singin' in the Rain, you won't leave the theater feeling happy and carefree. You'll leave feeling emotionally exhausted and perhaps continuing to think heavy thoughts for several days. Next to Normal is not an easy show to watch, but it's such a rich and rewarding experience. I couldn't be happier that there are not one but two local productions if it this season, at BCT now through November 15, and at Yellow Tree Theatre next spring (which is sure to be a much different show with their small intimate stage). This was my fifth time seeing Next to Normal, and BCT's production is as beautiful and heartbreaking as ever.

Next to Normal tells the story of what at first appears to be a normal American family, until the cracks begin to show. Diana and her husband Dan married young and started a family. They suffered a great tragedy that triggered Diana's bipolar disorder, which she's been dealing with for years. Everyone in the family suffers in their own way. Dan has to be the strong one as Diana falls apart, and therefore never gets the chance to deal with his own feelings about what happened. Their children, Gabe and Natalie, live in the shadow of the tragedy and are trying to deal with it on top of the normal problems that come with adolescence. Natalie's afraid that she'll follow in her mother's footsteps, and Diana's unable to be the mother that she wants to be. Diana hits rock bottom and undergoes ECT, aka shock therapy. It erases her memories, both the good and the bad, and she struggles to get her life and family back. One of the things that this show does is play with the idea of "normal." There is no such thing as a "normal" family; all families look different and are dealing with their own unique issues, both big and small. As Natalie sings, "I don't need a life that's normal, that's way too far away, but something next to normal, would be OK."

Karen Weber gives a raw and fearless performance as Diana, taking her to all her highs and lows, a voice full of emotion. Sean Dooley broke my heart as Dan, the caregiver in the family who sacrifices himself to take care of everyone else. Like he did in RENT, Blake Rhiner gives a passionate and powerful performance as their son Gabe. Aly O'Keeffe (née Westberg) brings her effortlessly beautiful voice to the role of daughter Natalie, imbuing her with all the angst, despair, and hopefulness of a teenager. Rounding out the six-person cast are Erin Patrick Miller, sweet and funny as Natalie's "perfect for you" boyfriend, and the powerful-voiced Dominique Wooten as the doctors.

Music director Anita Ruth usually helms a big traditional pit orchestra, but in this show she directs a six-piece onstage rock band, which is fantastic. Director Joel Sass also designed the set (as he does at the Jungle), and it's really cool. The use of levels, representing different rooms in the house, is continued from the original Broadway set but on a more manageable scale. The sharp clean lines of a modern and orderly home contrast with the chaotic inner life of this family. Barry Browning's bold lighting highlights the changing tones of the songs.

Next to Normal is a truly brilliant musical, but a heavy one, dealing with issues of mental illness, codependency, drug abuse, suicide, and grief, albeit with moments of humor (a great relief to the audience). It's a perfect example of what musical theater can do; it can be so much more than just light frothy entertainment (although there's a place for that too). Next to Normal is real, relevant, poignant, smart, funny, deeply emotional, and yes, profound. Check it out at Bloomington Civic Theatre through November 15, just don't expect big colorful dance numbers (discount tickets available on Goldstar).


This article also appears on Broadway World Minneapolis.

"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at Bloomington Civic Theatre

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a delightful, hilarious, and at times poignant look at a middle school spelling bee. I've seen the 2005 Tony-winning musical four times now, and I never tire of it. Bloomington Civic Theatre's new production is of course perfectly cast and very well executed, with Anita Ruth's small but still beautiful pit orchestra and Joe Chvala's unique eye for movement and direction. It's different than the large-cast traditional musicals they often do, which I love because it shows the full range of what musical theater is and what BCT can do.

The entire show takes place within a spelling bee competition, with a few flashbacks or fantasies to help explain certain characters. But basically it's a spelling bee, following the spellers from the moment they arrive at the bee, through triumphs and defeats, to the crowning of the winner. Along with the six quirky characters in the play, four audience members* are asked on stage to participate in the bee, adding an element of improvisation. Three adults try to wrangle the kids and keep the bee running smoothly, to varying degrees of success.

Highlights of the show include:

• Real life husband and wife Nicholas Leeman and Colleen Somerville play the adults presiding over the bee. Nicholas plays Vice Principal Panch with the perfect dry wit and occasional exasperation (and he's also the improv master as he deals with whatever the audience members throw him). Colleen's lovely voice is put to good use as former spelling bee champ Rona Lisa Peretti, with maternal fondness for the spellers and nostalgia for the bee. Not surprisingly, they have great chemistry, although Ms. Peretti does not return Mr. Panch's growing affections.
• As the bee's "comfort counselor," opera-trained Dominique Wooten cuts an imposing figure and can really belt (see also Les Miserables), and brings heart and humor to the paroled prisoner trying to help these kids deal with the disappointments of life.
• Six twenty-somethings convincingly play tweens and are all perfectly cast. Like she did in Carrie: The Musical for MMT last fall, Jill Iverson plays a complex and troubled teenager with a difficult relationship with her mother, but Olive is a bit lighter than Carrie and her story has a much less devastating outcome. Ryan London Levin is quite funny as former champ Chip, who's eliminated under unfortunate circumstances. Andrew Newman is adorable as the loopy and sweet Leaf Coneybear who knows he's "Not that Smart" (a role originated by Modern Family's Jesse Tyler Ferguson). Marcy Park is the least-developed character among the kids, but Hope Nordquist makes the most of her moment, a very active and busy "I Speak Six Languages." Andy Roemhildt plays all of the quirks of the singularly unique William Barfee to the hilt. Finally, Maisie Twesme is a standout as Schwartzy, with a lisp and a facial tic that never waver and a knack for engaging the audience spellers.
• The songs are mostly fun and light, with clever lyrics and catchy melodies. But occasionally the score is quite lovely and heart-wrenching; the musical highlight is the gorgeous three-part harmony in a fantasy sequence with Olive and her distant parents, with the three strong voices of Jill, Colleen, and Dominique blending beautifully together.
• This is an unusually small orchestra for BCT, but that's what the piece calls for, and as per usual it's spot-on. Joe Chvala's choreography captures the awkward movement of pre-teens, not quite in control of their bodies.
• I like to go to BCT on days when they have a post-show talk-back and listen to the cast and creative team talk about the experience. My favorite moment was when the cast was asked why they do this if they're not paid (much), and Ryan responded, "theater is crack!" As someone who saw over 150 shows last year, I heartily agree!

As Anita pointed out in the talk-back, this sort of light comedic show is harder than it looks. It takes a lot of work to make the precisely timed comedy look as effortless and natural as this. If you've never experienced the unique delight of Spelling Bee, do yourself a favor and head out to Bloomington between now and February 16 (discount tickets available on Goldstar). And make your plans for next season at BCT which was just announced. It looks like another great one; I'm particularly excited about Next to Normal (which I've seen several times and love) and Carousel (a classic I've never seen but have been wanting to).

*The audience spellers are given obviously easy or difficult words depending on if the script requires them to stay or leave. But they don't always comply, which is part of the fun. The cast told of someone who misspelled an easy word, which caused them to have to rearrange the song order. And there's always that one person who's a great speller and gets even the hardest words right. At the show I attended they finally had to trick him with to/too/two (which reminds me of the 30 Rock joke about the game show Homonym).

"Les Miserables" at Bloomington Civic Theatre

I'm not one of those Les Mis fanatics. I first saw it on tour over a dozen years ago, and what I remember most about it is that it was really long. I liked it well enough to buy the soundtrack, which I listen to periodically; the score is gorgeous and includes some wonderful songs. But I've never really connected with it like I have other musicals (I'm more of a RENThead). That changed a little when I saw the movie last year, but that too felt long and a little exhausting. But after seeing Bloomington Civic Theatre's new production of Les Miserables, I finally see what all of the fuss was about. It does not feel long or tedious; every moment is completely engaging. The music soars in the hands of this talented cast of singers and the big gorgeous pit orchestra (Anita Ruth has written some new orchestrations to replace the synthesizers, adding bassoon and guitar and doubling some instruments), and the themes of redemption, forgiveness, and love are so compelling. I've seen just about every musical production at BCT for the last few years and I always enjoy what they do, but Les Miserables is the best thing I've seen there so far. It's absolutely thrilling.

In case you're unfamiliar with the theater juggernaut that is Les Miserables, here's a quick primer. The musical premiered in London in 1985 and arrived on Broadway in 1987, and became one of the longest running musicals in both locations. Based on the 19th century novel of the same name by Victor Hugo, it follows the life of Jean Valjean from the release from his 20-year imprisonment for stealing food, to his involvement in the French Revolution, and many points and characters in between. Always on the run from Inspector Javert, Valjean tries to make a good life for his adopted daughter Cosette while struggling with his past. As director Karen Weber (who went back to the original text to inspire the tone of this production) writes in a note in the playbill, "It is a sprawling morality play, set against a tumultuous period in French history. That setting illuminates and encapsulates the suffering and oppression of generations of the French people, the human spirit crying for an end to that suffering, and the desperate measures taken to end it."

Valjean and Javert
(Dieter Bierbrauer and William Gilness)

One of the reasons I was so excited to see BCT's production of Les Mis is the cast. As anyone who's read this blog with any regularity knows, I'm a big fan of Dieter Bierbrauer, and have been since I saw him play Tony in West Side Story at the Chan years ago. I will see him in anything (even a musical that takes me back to the 80s, my least favorite decade), and I love seeing him in iconic musical theater roles like Jean Valjean, the troubled hero of Les Miserables. In addition to Dieter's typically perfect vocals, this is a very physical performance as he transforms from a young man beaten down by years in prison, to a respected businessman, to an aging man who walks like he's lived long and suffered much (but can still easily sling a young man across his shoulders). He carries the character's suffering in his body and his voice. "Bring Him Home" is a highlight, so beautiful and heartfelt. I didn't think anything could top hearing Dieter sing "Being Alive," but this just might have.

Of course Dieter is not the only star in this show. There are so many characters who have great moments in song, and BCT has chosen the perfect actor for each one. William Gilness is a great adversary as Inspector Javert, strong and unmoving in his goal to find Valjean, until Valjean shows him mercy and he is unable to process it and doesn't know how to go on with life. Laurel Armstrong beautifully embodies the tragedy of Fantine. The talented Aly Westberg is an incredibly sympathetic Eponine, another tragic character, and her "On My Own" is another highlight. Riley McNutt has a strong voice as Marius, with Molly Jo Hall as his lovely Cosette. Carl Shoenborn and Sally Ann Wright are entertaining as the comic relief innkeepers. Dominique Wooten is magnificent in a scarlet jacket; his cries to war make me want to climb a pile of rubble and wave a red flag! From the oldest to the youngest, this cast brings these characters to life. In a post-show discussion, Karen said that she told her cast that it's not enough to sing beautifully (as they are all capable of doing), but they also need to tell the story in a compelling way. Mission accomplished.

Once again, Michael Hoover designed a functional and appropriate set. Stairs to a balcony provide many levels on which Karen effectively places the action. A rotating center piece allows set pieces to enter and leave the stage smoothly, most effectively the barricade in the second act. As it spins we see both sides of the barricade. Costume designer Ed Gleeman has dressed the cast in period clothing both desperate and opulent.

Les Miserables is such an inspiring story. Through a moment of kindness, a man's life is changed and he goes on to affect others' lives by passing on that kindness. But through it all he's still just a man, with doubts and regrets and struggles. In short, it's the human experience. I see a lot of theater, and it's not often that I'm moved to a standing ovation (in fact sometimes I resent it when everyone stands up and I'm obliged to follow). But this is one of those times when I was eager to stand up and applaud and show my appreciation for all the work that went into creating this marvelous theatrical experience. Les Miserables is playing at BCT through November 16, get your tickets now before it completely sells out! (If you have no plans for Halloween, discount tickets are available on Goldstar.)