Thanks to Guest Reviewer Tom Klunzinger

The joy that is La Cenerentola (Cinderella), now being presented by MSU Opera Theatre, reflects many aspects of its 1817 day - the flowering of popular opera in the post-Napoleonic era, the renewed interest in Rome as a cultural destination, Young Love Triumphant, and most of all the exuberance of the 24-year-old composer just coming off the great success of his "Barber of Seville" the previous year.

(It was not unusual in the days before copyright to borrow from other writers and even yourself, so listen for the decidedly similar "Figaro" section later in the second act.)
This version takes some liberties with the traditional plot devices like the fairy godmother and magic (we do get to enjoy, however briefly, the pumpkin, the coach and Cinderella's fabulous dress), but that's only to avoid the need for the then-costly special effects: the fun is still there. 
Primarily, though, this was the popular music of its time, since you couldn’t hear it anywhere else but an opera house; there were no radios or smartphones. 

And it does deserve to be popular! This lively production, smartly directed by Melanie Helton, does great justice to Rossini's score including the flagship aria "non piu mesta" as well as several others and the beautiful harmonies of the quar/quin/sex-tets, all illuminated by the expertise of conductor Katherine Kilburn and the 33-piece MSU Symphony Orchestra.

As is usual with MSU Opera Theatre, the (seven) principal roles are double-cast, such that one cast Sings Wednesday/Saturday while the other sings Friday/Sunday; all are grad students and the Wednesday cast did an excellent job, not just with the music but also with the difficult Italian lyrics. (If you don't read the helpful synopsis in the program, convenient subtitles are projected throughout the show.

Performing well are the nimble dozen of Prince Charming's household staff, working to great comic effect in many scenes but particularly during the interactive portions with the audience. The  costumes are colorful and the set including projections is simple but effective.

No doubt your first encounter with Cinderella was the animated Disney or somewhat-later R&H version; if so, your experience is not complete until and unless you've seen this excellent Rossini version as well.

La Cenerentola continues Friday/Satirday/Sunday at MSU’s Fairchild Theatre. Buy tickets at https://music.msu.edu/performances-events/

Ennis tells us, "Broke-ology. It is a complex new science that examines two things. One, being broke. Two, staying alive despite your brokeness.” However, Nathan Louis Jackson’s domestic dramedy seems more about the challenge of balancing care for an ailing elder with children’s personal dreams/responsibilities than about poverty, itself. Yes, being poor and Black do not help, but the family “stuck-ness” feels universal.

This is Ixion’s 10th anniversary season where they’re repeating past favorites, and this is one of them, first presented in 2018 in the round, an unusual set up for the then-venue The Robin Theatre. Now at Stage One, Director Rose Jangmi Cooper has similarly increased the intimacy of this show by bringing the set closer to the audience, in a thrust-stage set up. A real-appliances kitchen and lived-in living room are on audience level, with the stage steps up to a sort of portal to another dimension with interesting lighting effects (Elison Hall). The lighting in the home has a sometimes-too-dark center, perhaps because the “theatre lights” added to this Sycamore Creek church venue may not be designed to reach that far forward. 

Sonia King (Shelia Burks) is the beloved wife/mother with dreams of a better future. After the prologue, we realize she is gone. Time has passed - and widower William (Kevin Forte) is suffering from MS in the partial care of sons Ennis (Jordan Taylor) who has a low-paying job a baby on the way, and his home-from-college brother Malcom (Caleb Liggett) torn between his family and a promising future in Connecticut. 

This is most of all a family show, with inevitable conflicts coexisting with love. Sonia is a comforting ghostly presence occasionally revisiting her ailing husband. The other three get purple hearts for mastering challenging line loads, especially Kevin Forte. He is making his acting debut with this challenging role which asks for both paternal strength and also the weakness of failing health. Brothers Jordan and Caleb bicker and bond and suffer and love and play dominoes and steal a garden gnome. Their relationship is further expressed by Michelle Harvey Hill’s media slides of the family in other settings. 

Broke-ology continues through March 30 at Stage One at Sycamore Creek 2200 Lake Lansing Rd, Lansing, across from Mcallister’s Deli. Driveway down the east side, park in the back and enter at rear door. Tickets at https://www.onthestage.tickets/show/ixion-ensemble/6781c73656dc5010883a6153/tickets?ots-cmpgn-refer=PATRONEMAILMC2&utm_source=OnTheStage&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PATRONEMAIL#/productions-view

The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious People is Oscar Wilde’s 1895 quintessential comedy of manners fueled by posh pretensions and witty repartee. Two young bachelors create an alter ego named Ernest and a mythical invalid named Bunbury to escape their socially restricted lives. Plans and intentions twist and flinch and pounce as they woo two young ladies fixated on marrying someone named Ernest. Miss Prism has secrets, and Lady Bracknell disapproves, until…


Director Bob Purosky did a wonderful job of shuffling his all-star cast in all those diagonal ways so that even we on the sides could get a good view. The pace and timing plus actors well playing the meaning behind period dialogue that can be awkward in lesser mouths — all came together for a fun show.

The Riverwalk stage took us back to the early 1900’s with a London apartment, English country garden and also interior of the manor house with an elaborate set, designed by Tom Ferris and brought to life by a large crew of builders and Ric Sadler’s scenography and set dressing. Ashley Hampton (and crew) added period costumes that completed the time travel and added style to the blithe bickering. 

Lewis C. Elson was a natural as the impish rake, Algernon, free to unleash his British accent with relish as he toyed with the plans and prospects of Jack, played with elegant frustration by Kameron Going. Beck Murphy and Rachel Daugherty were both charming as Gwendolen and Cecily, the simultaneously proper and giddy young ladies who inexplicably MUST marry someone named Ernest. 

Erin Hoffman’s Miss Prism was prim, coy and mysterious, especially cute flirting/not flirting with the adorable Rev. Canon Chasuble played by James Warren Houska. Gini Larson lorded over all with lofty disapproval as Lady Bracknell. Servants Lane (Robert Mueller) and Merriman (Taren Going) were hilarious in their own rights, reacting to the foolishness around them. I especially enjoyed Robert’s deadpan, restrained “Lurch” approach. (The Addams Family)
Note TOMORROW - Friday, 3/14 “Pi Day” - BRING CASH for a 50/50 raffle in the lobby. You could win cash — you could win pie — you have one more reason to see this classic show. 
Earnest runs Thur-Sun through March 23. Choose your own seats and buy tickets at http://www.riverwalktheatre.com

Primal is the first word that comes to mind after seeing Life of Pi (based on Yann Martel’s novel, adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti) at Wharton’s Great Hall. It is also brutal and beautiful. 

Taha Mandviwala is an amazing athlete as well as an engaging and universal soul in this masterpiece of puppetry and story-telling. We meet him hidden under his hospital bed, coaxed out to be interrogated — gently by a nurse psychologist and pointedly by an investigator. What are his memories of the sinking of a cargo ship carrying his family and their zoo animals across the ocean — from which he is the lone survivor?

The stage magically transforms to the busy zoo in India and we get to know Pi and his family — and enjoy the puppetry of many animals, not just the infamous tiger, “Richard Parker.” Pi’s choice to rename himself after an undefinable and infinite number, and his simultaneous interest in Christianity, Islam and Hinduism suggest existenrtial question: what is God? What is faith? What does it take to survive?

This is not a musical but boasts amazing choreography/puppetry and bold sound effects and music as well as lighting to create a visceral experience of being lost at sea. The lifeboat comes and goes and incorporates Pi’s hospital bed as the first story comes to life. There is a second story. If you saw the movie you know… The human animal is the most dangerous.

I “saved” this review to send today, after we attended a press event at Wharton to meer Taha Mandviwala and three puppeteers, plus a special appearance by the life-size Bengal tiger puppet. It was interesting to hear more about the world-wide appeal of this show, as well as learning that parkour (moving rapidly through an area negotiating obstacles by running, jumping, and climbing) is his Taha’s current sport — certainly well showcased onstage.

The puppets are sculpted in sections and the tiger takes three to operate: the head, who also speaks/roars (all vocalizations done live, not prerecorded); the heart who “breathes” for the beast, holding it up in back-pack fashion and operates the front legs; and the tail who operates back legs as well as the expressive tail itself. There are an assortment of puppeteers who switch out from the “Richard Parker” trio to the many other animal puppets for different shows.


Life of Pi is an exciting tale of hope and perseverance and continues through March 16. Tickets at http://www.whartoncenter.com
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