​Clifford Odets 1935 play, Waiting for Lefty, is a series of vignettes framed by a meeting of cab drivers planning a labor strike — inspired by a 1934 strike of unionized New York cabdrivers. It’s a short play consisting of intense vignettes illustrating the personal situations of the cab drivers who are debating/planning a labor strike, and waiting for their leader, Lefty.


The basic black set consists only of chairs, and characters’ names graffiti-ed onto the back wall of Studio 60 in the basement of the MSU Auditorium building. It’s a short play with a simple set — but this production includes enhancements that enlarge the experience.

First is the “warm up act,” a short script, Just Cause, written and directed by Rob Roznowski, crafted from original interviews and public speeches representing current perspectives regarding recent strikes, organizing efforts and anti-union sentiments. Ava Ballagh, Ebony Battle, Zoe Dorst Chisom Anwunah, and Samantha Stanton debate and defy and support each other — setting us up to watch Lefty with the awareness that it’s more than “history.” Similar situations are happening now.

In Waiting for Lefty each actor is cast in two different roles. Upon receiving their “timecard” at the start of the show, they discover which roles they will portray at this performance — representing collective unity and the equitable distribution of responsibilities a union embodies. 

This makes it difficult to describe/credit individual actors… and without photos, I can’t be sure to identify each accurately. What counts is that they are excellent actors, a few outstanding, giving heartfelt life to their vignettes of 30’s poverty, injustice and more. (Michale Coffey, Tyler Finch, Ben Corsi, David Meagher, Jewell Redman, QueenMakeeda Taylor, Logan Verlinde, Hugh Watters, Bobby Conlan, Jameson R. Patrona, Xander Adamski, Kyle Jedrusik, Thomas Evansky, Karam Mawazini.)

Another enhancement is a different speaker after each show (1 hour 20 minutes performance, and about a half hour of speaker and questions.) Some speakers have been from unions. Our speaker was Tristan Fernaglish (I hope I got that name correct.) a professor of Jewish Studies who spoke on anti-semitism in unionization and employment issues.

And wait, there’s more! Plan to come early and/or stay late to explore the extensive collection of union-related paraphernalia and photos in “Room 10” right around the corner from Studio 60 (which is easy to miss if the lights are off: note to stage manager: be sure to assign someone to turn on those lights at the end of the play/discussion.)

Studio 60 is a small, up-close-and-personal venue, with maybe 90-ish seats, and it was FULL on this Wednesday, and so buying advance tickets is recommended. https://www.whartoncenter.com/events/category/dept-of-theatre
Pick up tickets (or purchase, while they last) at the box office on the Farm Lane end of the MSU Auditorium. Studio 60 is on the lower level, south side of the building.

Ixion’s latest, Playing for Real, is the first fully produced premiere of a clever script by Ron Asher that had a staged reading at Lansing’s Renegade Theatre Festival, in  - I think - 2019? 

We hear traffic and a few sirens, and Jonathan Hamilton pops into the dark theatre, looking for “Jerry” and “playing” for…unreal? Thinking he’s alone, he playfully explores Shakespeare's famous “To be or not to be?” speech. 

It soon becomes evident that the troupe is not doing Hamlet, but a new take on Romeo and Juliet. We get a taste of that “acting” and the “reality” that the company is in dire need of financing from a visiting producer. Director (Holly Sleight-Engler) and playwright (Charles Hoogstraten) scramble to organize a preview after said producer (Quinn Kelly) arrives in full swagger.

Actors Ian Whipp, Samantha Hall, Molly Sullivan join Jonathon in performing and opining with director and playwright on such topics as the nature of theatre and what is real, the compromised progeny of art and commerce, and an audience's desire to be “dangerously safe.” Tim Lewis appears and no one feels safe… and eventually Greg Pratt arrives and adds a new level of “reality.”

I remember really enjoying the Renegade version of this script, but this cast at times seemed to be trying too hard. First time director Steve Lee generated a lot of enthusiasm and passion and volume, but it rarely toned down to a level where we believed it was, indeed, real.

Playing for Real runs only about 50 minutes — and continues March 23, 29 & 30 at 8 pm at Stage One at Sycamore Creek Church Eastwood 2200 Lake Lansing Road, west of Eastwood Towne Center, directly across from McAlister’s Deli. The driveway is on the east side; enter in the back of the building and come up the stairs. (Elevator available) General admission tickets $15, can be purchased at the door or online, https://our.show/playingforreal

DON GIOVANNI
by guest reviewer T.E. Klunzinger

Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” we are told, is to opera what “Fiddler of the Roof” is to community theater: both of them get done a lot. (And felicitously, this production of “Don Giovanni” dovetails with the present production of “Amadeus” at Riverwalk.)

That said, each production is necessarily different; and this production is a feast for the ears and eyes. The 25-piece MSU Symphony Orchestra conducted by Katherine Kilburn does excellent justice to Mozart’s score, including the frequent instrumental passages and one major dance.

As usual, the eight principal roles are double-cast to afford more performance opportunities (Wed/Sat, Fri/Sun); and the Wednesday cast enjoyed by this reviewer was in excellent form, as well as the 18-member, albeit briefly-seen chorus. The difficult, non-musical recitatives are done well.

Stage Director Melanie Helton has conjured up a deceptively simple three-level set featuring a large, beating heart and which turns out to be much more than it first seems, which is then complemented by the subdued, darkish hues of the lighting as well as the frequently-changing kaleidoscopic backdrop.

A conscious choice has been made to use modern dress including a few cloaks and capes, to the extent that at one point the chorus looks like they’re going on spring break.

Oh, and the story: the eponymous protagonist has scandalized most of Europe by sleeping with almost every woman he meets, much like the well-known Casanova of his day; who then, being spurned, want to hunt him down and kill him… if they can find him.

This sort of tale was as popular then as it is now, such than Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo da Ponte had multiple “hits” as Rodgers and Hammerstein did in the 20 Century (although somewhat bawdier).

Thus you should run, not walk, to Fairchild Auditorium at MSU to enjoy this present gem: Friday & Saturday at 7 pm, Sunday at 3 pm; it runs a little more than three hours. Tickets at:
https://www.music.msu.edu/event-listing?

​Tour de force - that’s what came to mind during the standing ovation after experiencing Jeff Magnuson’s powerful performance as Salieri in Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus at Riverwalk Theatre.  This challenging imagination of an ancient rivalry was inspired by the 1830 play Mozart and Salieri by Alexander Pushkin. 

Shaffer has taken artistic license in his portrayals of Mozart and Salieri. A program note explains that “there may have been some occasional antipathy between the two men, but the idea that Salieri was the instigator of Mozart’s demise is not taken seriously but scholars.” But that doesn’t matter. This is not a history lesson, but an invitation into an all-consuming world of obsession and jealousy.

Lewis C. Elson’s giddy, naughty portrayal of the genius Mozart is entertaining but not over-the-top as he unwittingly drives Salieri to the brink. Jeff Magnuson convincingly transforms in age, and is both charming and scary as he invites us into his obsession with Mozart and his war with God.

These two men are central, and well framed by the entirety of director Amy Rickett’s elegant 17-other cast members and large production team. I particularly enjoyed the stylized gossip-mongers Laura Croff and Lauren Spadafora. Taylor Haslett was charming and conflicted as Mozart’s wife Constanze.

The simple, versatile set has elegant period touches (Leroy Cupp) and the scene changes are seamless. The sound is wonderful (Leon Green… and some Sergei Kvitko recordings.) The Costumes are fabulous and serve to define the period, masterminded by Kris Maier and multiple assistants, also Williamston High School and LCC Costumes, as well as the Riverwalk Costume Shop. The hair and wigs (Rebecca Dalhem and Lori Bailey-Smith) are also excellent. 

This play is a huge undertaking and rarely attempted. The last time I know of in this area was in 1993 featuring the both-departed Bob Gras and Darwin Morgan at the also-departed Lansing Civic Players. http://lansingtheatre.org/Lansing/Amadeus Kudos to Director Amy for giving this script a renaissance in this impressive production.

Amadeus continues through March 24 at Riverwalk Theatre. Reserved-seat tickets at http://Riverwalktheatre.com or by calling 517-482-5700.