PicksInSix Review: Les Misérables - Broadway in South Bend

‘Will You Join In Our Crusade!’
PicksInSix® Gold Review | Ed Tracy

Cameron MacKintosh’s “Les Misérables,” the juggernaut of North American tours, opened at the historic Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend to an exuberant audience which, by all appearances, was equal parts lifelong fans and first-timers, including an aspiring Cosette or two at every turn.

It is no surprise. The 1987 Tony Award-winning musical (eight total including Best Musical) that has had two revivals on Broadway and several tours that preceded this 2022 reimagined version, has, as a result, remained in the public consciousness for nearly 40 years. You can be sure that the current edition still has all of the spit, fire and brimstone of the original. Quite simply, “Les Mis” is a soaring musical masterpiece, centered on a brilliant story by Victor Hugo and bursting with magnificent performances.

And while the music—a memorable score that includes a cavalcade of anthems, ballads and rousing company numbers including “Bring Him Home,” “I Dreamed A Dream,” “On My Own,” “Do You Hear the People Sing,” “One More Day” and “Master of the House”—is among the most recognizable and beloved in musical theater, the true test of the longevity of the show is how it matures over time, capturing the essence of the original and staying relatable for modern audiences.

The strength of the 19th century set piece—music by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmar—centers on the conflict between Jean Valjean (Nick Cartell), the former prisoner ‘24601’ turned fugitive who seeks peace and redemption, and his captor Javert (Nick Rehberger), whose sole purpose is to return Valjean to stand trial for his criminal past. While Valjean rises to a prominent position in society as a factory owner and mayor, he is ultimately exposed and must reckon his own well-being and the fate of others under the threat of Javert’s single-minded fury.

As the story unfolds, Valjean comforts the dying Fantine (Lindsay Heather Pearce) and promises to seek out and care for her young daughter Cosette (Emerson Mae Chan) who is under the stewardship of the Thénardiers (Matt Crowle and Victoria Huston-Elem), a pair of clever despots whose livelihood hinges on deception, theft and wickedness at the expense of everyone except their own daughter Éponine (Greta Schaefer).

Valjean rescues Cosette and raises her as his own. Years pass and the threat of revolution is in the air in Paris. Now young women, Cosette (Delany Guyer) and Éponine (Mya Rena Hunter) are in the company of student revolutionaries including Enjolras (Christian Mark Gibbs) and Marius (Jake David Smith), who is attracted to Cosette. Against her own true feelings, Éponine aids in bringing the two lovers together as tensions rise, the barricade is formed, and the bloody revolution begins.

Cartell’s powerfully moving Valjean—a masterful performance of “Bring Him Home”— and Javert’s soul-searching “Soliloquy” are among the many highlights, as is Hunter’s beautiful and touching “On My Own,” which very nearly stopped the show on opening night. Gibbs and Smith are phenomenal in “Red and Black” followed by Gibbs and the company’s inspirational “Do You Hear the People Sing.”  Delivering comic gold all night long, Crowle and Huston-Elem are terrific in the wily Thénardiers blistering “Master of the House” and in the reprise parody “Beggars at the Feast.”

The entire production is under the direction of Laurence Conner and James Powell and sports a full orchestra, under the superb direction of Glenn Alexander II. Every aspect of the technical elements is meticulously executed, electrifying the massive Morris stage with colossal moving scenic elements, state-of-the-art lighting effects and stunning projections inspired by Hugo’s original paintings, that make the climactic Act II barricade battle and sewer scene visually spectacular.

It is astounding that after nearly four decades, “Les Misérables” feels even more timely and relevant today with a new generation of performers. The sheer magnitude of this superb production is sure to leave you breathless.

PHOTO|Matthew Murphy

Broadway in South Bend
presents
National Tour
Les Misérables
The Morris Performing Arts Center
211 N. Michigan Street,
South Bend, IN
through August 10

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FEATURE: CONVERSATIONS|On the Road with Matt Crowle
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PicksInSix Review: Holiday Inn - Drury Lane

The Home of Boy Meets Girl

Just in time to ring in the season comes Irving Berlin’s “Holiday Inn” a refreshingly homespun backstage musical for the entire family chocked full of explosive dance numbers and the iconic tunes that everyone knows and loves from the Berlin songbook. In the capable hands (and feet) of director/choreographer Matt Crowle, with a streamlined book by Gorgon Greenberg and Chad Hodge, and a stellar company from head to toe, Drury Lane’s “Holiday Inn” is a high-wattage hit!

The stage story setup, more or less true to the original 1942 film, follows crooner/composer Jim Hardy (Adrian Aguilar) and his dance partners Ted Hanover (Drew Humphrey) and Lila Dixon (Darilyn Burtley) who have their sights set on the big time. Hardy wants to settle down with Lila in Connecticut, just as Hanover and their agent Danni Reed (Honey West) book a six-week tour. Despite a marriage proposal from Hardy to Lila, the tour proceeds and Hardy is off on a new adventure as a gentleman farmer and owner of Mason Farm. The farm’s caretaker Louise (Danielle Davis) has a plan to help Hardy and set him up with an elementary teacher and the former owner of the farm Linda Mason (Erica Stephan). One thing leads to another, the engagement falls apart and the two suddenly realize they may have something more in common than the fact that the farm is still deep in debt. With few other options, they decide to turn the inn into a holiday show place, but only on holidays.

Miraculously, and only in a musical, the stage show blooms in a week so that as New Year’s Eve rolls around Holiday Inn magically becomes “the home of boy meets girl.” The story sails by after that and serves as a path to one tremendous dance number after another—every one a gem!

In a remarkable, and long overdue, return to the stage after a multi-year absence, Aguilar is phenomenal as Hardy, a steady anchor who adds numerous dimensional layers to the role. The sure-footed hoofer Humphrey has an abundance of talent and more than enough savoir faire to deliver a series of exhilarating dance numbers. The two are paired with Burtley, who gives a captivating standout performance as Lila. When attention turns to the heartwarming Stephan and the budding relationship with Aguilar’s Hardy, sparks really begin to fly. Stephan not only has a beautifully full singing voice that matches perfectly with Aguilar, she also dances effortlessly with Humphrey in multiple numbers. It’s a joy to watch unfold.  

Among the featured musical performances, Davis is hilariously delightful as Louise, leading the Ensemble in a dazzling performance of “Shaking the Blues Away” and there’s more than a few surprises in “Let’s Say It With Firecrackers/Song of Freedom” with a nifty cameo by Nicole Scimeca (who splits the role of Charlie Wilson with Lily Kocourek). There is plenty to be thankful for all night long when the score has hits like “Be Careful, It’s My Heart,” “Cheek to Cheek,” “Blue Skies,” “White Christmas” and “Heat Wave.”

Music Director Linda Madonia and conductor Christopher Sargent deliver the crisp, big band sound of Carey Deadman arrangements. Jeffrey D. Kmiec’s versatile scenic design transitions seamlessly from show stage to New England inn with Lynda Meyers elegant and evocative costumes punctuating every holiday. Lee Fiskness lighting design is enhanced by Bryce Culter’s projections and pin-perfect sound by Ray Nardelli all help to start the New Year right at Drury Lane.  

PHOTO|Brett Beiner

DRURY LANE THEATRE
presents
IRVING BERLIN’S
HOLIDAY INN
through January 9, 2022

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PicksInSix Review: A Gentleman's Guide To Love & Murder

“WHY ARE ALL THE D'YSQUITH’S DYING?”

When Porchlight Music Theatre’s production of “A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love & Murder” opened on Tuesday night, the temperature outside was a cool 12 below and the windchill off the lake was predicted at 40 below overnight. The fearless souls who filled up the Ruth Page Center for the Arts were rewarded mightily, each one a witness to the enormously talented Matt Crowle, turning up the heat on stage and masterfully dispensing his eight assigned lives with gleeful assistance from the scheming Monty Navarro, a terrific role for Andrés Enriquez, in the murderously comic, rags to riches heir-to-be-Earl ascension story that won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Musical.

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Stephen Schellhardt’s brilliantly directed and choreographed ensemble, with musical direction by Andra Velis Simon, includes bell-ringing performances from the poised and perfect duo of Emily Goldberg as Sibella Hallward and Ann Delaney as Phoebe D’Ysquith, Monty’s two competing love interests, whose big, beautiful voices are every bit a match for the challenging demands of the Steven Lutvak opera-infused score.

Robert L. Freedman’s book, based on a novel by Roy Horniman, centers around members of the ruling class and the plight of an heir to the D’Ysquith family (Enriquez) whose disavowed, and recently deceased, mother leaves behind letters and a birth certificate confirming his lineage. There is some devilish foreshadowing early on by Miss Shingle (the delightful Caron Buinis) that makes it clear that Monty will have to secure his own standing in society, and with it a considerable fortune, if he is to win the hand of his social climbing love Sibella (Goldberg). Immediately rejected, Monty hatches a plan to move up the family tree by sending everyone else down under. In no time at all, everyone is singing, “Why are all the D’Ysquith’s dying.”

All of those D’Ysquith’s are portrayed by the superlative Crowle, a skilled actor, comedian, dancer and singer and one of Chicago’s top talents in each of those categories, who conducts a master class in comedy in a performance that everyone will be talking about for a long time. It’s one madcap musical adventure after another. At one astonishing moment, as the scene closes on the death of a D’Ysquith, Crowle magically appears through a door dressed as another.

The small in numbers cast plays much larger than it is with over 80 magnificent Jeff Handy costume changes and loaded with singers and dancers who play multiple roles featuring Rachel Klippel (Miss Barley) and Michael Reyes (Chief Inspector Pinckney), with Megan Elk and William Dwyer. And while everyone has their hands in this delectably comic pie, Sharriese Hamilton’s Lady Eugenia stands toe-to-toe with Crowle’s Lord D’Ysquith at the dinner party in a comic confrontation that is one of the most hilarious sequences you will ever see.

Angela Weber Miller’s whimsical set design, with Denise Karczewski’s lighting design and a series of artful projections by Anthony Churchill, showcase the versatility of the Ruth Page space and create picture perfect settings to follow the (not so) cunning Monty from a dark and dreary dungeon to the upper most crusty crust of society, meeting a succession of wacky D’Ysquith’s until the poison in his pocket finds a new home and, well, who wants to know the ending of a good old fashioned murder mystery musical before they see it for themselves.  

PHOTOS|Michael Courier

PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE
Presents
A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER
through March 16th
THE RUTH PAGE CENTER FOR THE ARTS
1016 North Dearborn
(773) 777-9884
WEBSITE
TICKETS

(Revised 1/31/19)
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PicksInSix Theater Review: The Santaland Diaries

“This was really going to happen!”

Throughout Matt Crowle’s remarkable performance in “The Santaland Diaries” that opened at the Goodman Theatre on Thursday, dozens of delightfully quirky, 1980s era personalities pour out with genuinely touching, and often frightfully irreverent, observations that collectively tell the story of a short-lived, but memorable, stint as a Macy’s elf named Crumpet. The material is rooted in the personal experiences, and fertile comic mind, of David Sedaris whose 1992 National Public Radio holiday essay evolved into the 1996 Off-Broadway one-man show (adapted with Joe Mantello). Crowle’s solo debut is directed by Steve Scott and plays out in and around a colorful and impressive reproduction of a Santaland outpost at Macy’s Herald Square courtesy of designer Kevin Depinet.

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The play, essential at this time of year for those looking for an escape from the days of “merry and bright” as well as those who relate to the six weeks leading up to Christmas as an opportunity to throw themselves into retail, is a bit of a time capsule. For those of us who remember, it is a look back at how different things were when Phil Collins was a rock star and kids pressed their faces up to the two-way mirror to catch a glimpse of Cher, only to find St. Nick. And then again, when it comes to our deepest sensibilities, little has really changed, proving just how much of a chestnut it is. 

If you are a regular listener to the holiday broadcast, large passages of “The Santaland Diaries” will be hilariously familiar. What you are not able to imagine, until you have settled into your seat at the Owen, is the inspired interpretation that Crowle brings to his jaded, frenetic and heartily endearing Crumpet that makes this a laugh-filled, impish joyride from destitute actor to persecuted full-time elf.

If this is your first time, you will certainly revel in Crowle’s unique brand of pathos with Sedaris’ satiric, edgy, adult-only commentary. All is fair game, especially if one is dressed in a green velvet smock, candy cane striped tights and an elf hat decorated with spangles, which Crowle first dons with the declaration “This was really going to happen.”

Consider characters as wide-ranging as the presumptuous Santa Santa, an array of bratty kids, manic moms and sexist dads to the complexities of the Santaland support system of window elves, exit elves, store managers, supervisors and, at least one, cheerleader. Crowle dishes them out effortlessly, one character to the next, imparting Crumpet’s wily point of view along the way as the days click down to Christmas Eve.

The pre-show announcement about the cast being available in the lobby after the show to collect for Season of Concern drew a smattering of laughter from those who realized that this was a one-man show. After more than 70 minutes on stage, there was Matt Crowle in the lobby, collecting for the charity that is so important to the well-being of the Chicago theatrical community now and throughout the year. While I made a small donation as I passed by, it reminded me that one should never show up to the theater without some cash (or a check) in your pocket at this time of year, particularly on the night when you just might run into an appealing elf at the door.

PHOTOS|Erik Scanlon

GOODMAN THEATRE
Presents
Matt Crowle
in
The Santaland Diaries
Directed by Steve Scott
through December 30th
170 North Dearborn
(312) 443-3800

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PICKSINSIX Review: SOUTH PACIFIC

'SOUTH PACIFIC' – BRAWNY, BOISTEROUS AND BEAUTIFUL!

A visual stunner … There is a brilliant simplicity to the Drury Lane’s lofty new production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s classic SOUTH PACIFIC. Director Victor Malana Maog and his creative team have delivered a visual stunner, assembling an extraordinary cast – led by the commanding performances of Tony Award nominees Robert Cucciolli and Samantha Hill – while perfectly navigating the delicate divide of the themes of prejudice and racism to make a powerhouse evening of entertainment. Drury Lane's SOUTH PACIFIC is brawny, boisterous and beautiful!

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Who’s who … You may need to know that Emile de Becque(Cucciolli) is convinced that Ensign Nellie Forbush(Hill) is the woman of his dreams when he meets her during naval operations on a remote island in the South Pacific. It is 1944 and Nellie and the nurses keep time with the SeaBees, the engineering arm of the Navy, led in rousing spirit by Luther Billis(Matt Crowle) an operator who is competing for the local business with Bloody Mary(Yvonne Strumecki) a native of Bali Hai, the mysterious and forbidden island nearby. Enter Lt. Joseph Cable(Austin Colby) mix in some intrigue, adventure and suspense, and you have the makings of a pair of star-crossed love stories.  

What stands out … Musical Director Roberta Duchak and Conductor Christopher Sargent have created an exhilarating musical experience. It helps to have the exceptional talents of Cuciolli and Hill at the center of a professional cast.  What is striking, however, is that every transitional change of set(Scott Davis), lighting(Yael Lebetzky), costumes(Olivera Gajic) and sound(Ray Nardelli) are perfectly woven together with the choreography(Otis Sallid) to create a series of simple, but dramatically effective tableaus.   

What to watch and wait for … the classics: “Some Enchanted Evening”, “Bali Hai”, “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair” and “This Nearly Was Mine” … touching moments: “Younger Than Springtime”, ”You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught” and tons of fun: “There Is Nothing Like A Dame, “ and “Honey Bun”.

Timely topics … There is exceptional depth in the material and Maog’s production of SOUTH PACIFIC broadens our understanding of timely topics. So, beyond the enjoyment of a classic score and the terrific performances, this production ventures to a place where we can consider how our lives have been changed and enriched.

The takeaway … Look no further than the lyrics of “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught” and it is clear that Rodgers & Hammerstein knew that no one is born with prejudice, bias and fear, a message that it is perhaps even more relevant and important to us now than ever before. This a memorable experience on every level. Don’t miss it – SOUTH PACIFIC is high-flying fun! 

PHOTOS|Brett Beiner


DRURY LANE PRESENTS
RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN'S
SOUTH PACIFIC
through June 17th
100 Drury Lane
Oakbrook Terrace, IL
(630) 530-0111

WEBSITE

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PICKSINSIX Review: MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG

"Porchlight ‘Merrily’ Turns Back the Clock"

Reeling in the years... let’s turn back the clock and find out exactly how we got here from there. That’s the premise of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, Porchlight Music Theatre’s brilliant new offering at Ruth Page Center for the Arts. There is a lot to unravel and it’s all done with surgical skill by Porchlight Artistic Director Michael Weber and a cast that sings the daylights out of this score.

What it’s about... let’s begin at the ending, shall we? Franklin Shepard (Jim DeSelm) has all the trappings of success, but no one really likes him much, including his old friend, bestselling author, admirer and alcoholic Mary Flynn (Neala Barron), his wife, Gussie (Keely Vasquez) to whom he has been unfaithful and just about everyone else at his Los Angeles pool party. Tick. Tock. Turn back the clock and Frank and Mary’s partner, Charley Kringas (Matt Crowle), frustrated and hurt by Frank’s actions, implodes on national television. Drilling down, we find that Frank’s world is fraught with temptations that ultimately ruin his marriage to his first wife Beth (Aja Wiltshire) and other twists and turns that lead, to where we all truly start out at one time or another – young, reckless and hopeful.

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The story of our lives... this is one of the iconic musicals that Sondheim fans savor. It is the story of our lives. In the more than four decades that have passed since its inauspicious Broadway debut, this show continues to technically evolve with every passing year, something Weber has tapped into in an ingenious way, this being 2018 after all. It’s a clever use of media, staging and that all makes for great storytelling, or is it 'un-telling'?

Who stands out... Of the three amigos in the middle — Jim DeSelm, Neala Barron and Matt Crowle — DeSelm gets the difficult assignment of being the heartless, success-at-all-costs riser you need to like and you will. Barron is a powerhouse - charming and vulnerable, with a depth of feeling that is up to everything the versatile Crowle, one of Chicago's most gifted talents, dishes out. Keely Vasquez sizzles as Gussie. And, I’ll wager we will be seeing alot more from the terrific, multi-talented Wiltshire. 

What to watch and wait for... Crowle’s show-stopping ‘Franklin Shepard, Inc.’ and 'Good Thing Going'…’Old Friends’…Wiltshire’s touching ‘Not A Day Goes By”…’It’s A Hit’

What life is all about... Friends like us. Damn few.

PHOTOS|MICHAEL COURIER

PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG
Stephen Sondheim|George Furth
Directed by Michael Weber
through March 11th
RUTH PAGE CENTER
FOR THE ARTS
1016 N Dearborn St.
773-777-9884

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