Time to take a break from holiday stress and enjoy a musical holiday confection that will lift your spirits — but has enough sass for us Humbug-ers, as well. 

The Riverwalk Holiday Cabaret features a fun mix of pop songs, in the “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” vein — but adds some more unusual tunes from musicals such as Elf, the Musical, Anastasia. I particularly enjoyed Travis Williams’ rendition of You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, and Laura Croff’s comic vindictive Surabaya Santa from Songs for New World, and Maggie Smith’s Santa Baby, where she charms the entire male cast of Santas.

Meghan Eldred Woolsey has assembled an all star cast of singer/actors (Laura Croff, Brian Farnham, Larissa Gleason-Clark, Kelley Lofton, Ben Holzhausen, Bob Purosky, Racheal Raymer, Maggie Smith, Travis Williams, & Adam Woolsey) with the high-kicking dancers of The Karyn’s Dance Place Company (Sarah Albrecht, Olivia Carpenter, Kendall Craddock, Rachael Dec, Kennedy Kirsch, Nora Laukkanen, Natali Mann, Harper Massey, Chloe Mayes, Frankie Nevin, Kyra Pohl, & Jennifer Tran) with award-winning choreographer Karen Perry and music director, leader of The John Dale Trio - John Dale Smith keyboard, Jerry Krause electric bass and Tim Thelen drums. (Their preshow instrumental music is one of the many reasons to arrive early.)

I say singer/actors, because all these folks have not only great voices, but also the stage presence to “sell” their songs, with artful staging by Director Meghan. The flashy dance numbers are a treat and a change of pace from the soloists. Kudos to choreographer, Karyn Perry. We felt a little Busby Berkeley flair going on in their varied numbers. 

This is a holiday show that will entertain the whole family. (I would not bring younger kids, but older ones will be entertained. The whole experience is only about an hour and half including intermission. Intermission concessions include a variety of Christmas cookies plus juice, coffee and hot cocoa. (I recommend added the cocoa mix to the coffee.)

Make reservations at https://www.riverwalktheatre.com/box-office.html
or call 517-482-5700. Tickets will also be available at the door while they last.
General seating, so get there early for best parking and best seats.
7pm Saturday
3pm Sunday
$15 for all ages.

​The Two Gentlemen of Verona is the crowning achievement of Mary Job’s LCC Shakespeare Studio class — a class I should probably take, to improve my anti-Shakespearean attitude. I do appreciate the poetry and word play of Shakespeare when I read it or study it — but in the real-time, can’t-look-that-up mode of live stage performance, the language feels to me like an impediment to communication.

That said, Mary makes sure that the actors fully understand this challenging language, and the plot is discernible by their earnest attitudes if not by the words. 

Two Gentlemen is an early Shakespeare script, a silly farce of a show with what Director Mary deems “teenage boys” competing and falling in and out of love, complete with plucky girl disguised as a boy, robbers in the forest and an unlikely but neat happy ending. Be sure to read Mary’s interesting director’s note, and the helpful synopsis of the play that is included in the program.

The LCC Black Box was set up in a thrust configuration, with classic columns and a platform, and colorful gobo lighting quickly switching  the settings (Robert Fernholz, set and lighting) The show was set in the 20’s with period-ish costumes and jaunty music that had a little old-timey keystone-cops flavor (sound design Max Frutig and TJ Allen.)

My favorite performer was Lance, Proteus’s servant, played by Edward Heldt, who seemed blessed with the funniest lines, and played them to the hilt. His dog, Crab, played with deadpan “Grrrr’s” by Sara DeVaney, provided helpful counterpoint. Kudos to ALL the actors, dealing with ALL those words.

Only two shows left! 8pm Saturday and 2pm Sunday. Donations at the door fund the LCC Scholarship program. 

LCC Black Box Theatre
Room 1422 Gannon Building
411 N. Grand Avenue, Lansing 48933
Park on Grand, and enter through the small door on the south end of the building.

http://www.lcc.edu/showinfo

Thanks, once again, to our guest reviewer T.E. Klunzinger

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
 
So as the audience was gathering for last night’s opening of Fiddler on the Roof in Wharton Center’s Great Hall, the significantly younger man in the next seat turned to me and said, “What’s this about, anyway?” Really. So I explained – Jewish life in the little Russian village of Anatevka, with some people getting married – and realized there’s not a whole lot of plot.

Then why has this musical endured to become an inescapable staple of high school and community theater? The songs, of course, and the lack of sex and violence; but probably more because of the universality of the story of a simple man just trying to get through a simple life and trying to maintain some semblance of family and tradition.

This is a crackerjack production originally directed for the 2015 Broadway revival by Bartlett Sher, who has worked wonders and won Tonys with revivals of other big musicals. Here he gives us simple yet effective staging with great choreography harkening back to the original work of Jerome Robbins in 1963. And the fiddler gets a lot more stage time.

(When this touring production was announced a few months ago, the Israeli TV actor Yehezkel Lazarov was to be the star; but now, although his name is on the lobby cast board, he is nowhere to be found in the printed program.)

Broadway regular Danny Arnold does a fine job as Tevye, singing and acting to perfection. And yet… he seems almost too young to have five mostly adult daughters, and in any case presents as a, well, Broadway leading man. Perhaps I too much remember Tevyes like Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernardi and Topol, but I was looking for a little more bluster and even weariness in the role.

A particular highlight here is the completely restaged “Teyve’s Dream” featuring Fruma-Sarah and a host of creepy dead people worthy of a Tim Burton nightmare. And after watching generations of high-schoolers with bottles glued to their heads, it was fun to see five guys do an actual freehand bottle dance in the wedding scene.

This vigorously-staged production is certainly worth a visit to Wharton Center at this family-centered time of year and runs through December 9 at varying times – consult the website for details.
http://www.whartoncenter.com