Theatre Review: "Once" at the Orpheum Theater

When it comes to Broadway musicals, people often expect something big. Stunning scenic effects, massive production numbers, solo vocal pyrotechnics reverberating to the balconies.

But then along comes Once.  A single, well-appointed, fundamental set. Folky stylized dance numbers.  Intimate songs. Elemental dialogue. By contrast, modest in every respect. It opened in New York in 2011 already well sold, being a staged remake of a much-admired, much awarded 2006 movie. More praise. More awards. Eight Tonys.

It’s easy to see why there’s been such acclaim when you attend a performance by the national touring company production in its short stay at the Orpheum here in Omaha. The tender story comes endowed with wonderful songs and dynamic staging. Yes. Dynamic. Calling it intimate and modest does not imply bare-bones simple.

The 12 cast members emphatically, compellingly stomp, swirl, and whirl. They sing to perfection, sometimes solo, sometimes duets, sometimes in ensembles. And collectively they play seven guitars, two eloquent violins, cello, piano, and other strings such as ukulele, banjo, mandolin and several. Plus several pieces of percussion. That doesn’t mean showing off virtuosity. It means a well-tuned  ensemble.

They serve the story. Not a complex one. An appealing one. Front and center are two characters generically called Guy and Girl. Within the framework of what looks like a Dublin pub, you see and hear how they came together and where they went. He’s a single obscure Irishman who sings and plays guitar in his owns songs and earns a few Euros repairing vacuum cleaners (generically called “Hoovers” in that part of the world.)  She’s Czech, sometime plays piano, takes odd jobs, sustains and tends her mom and little daughter while separated from her husband. Girl sees that Guy has true talent and does all she can to encourage him to pursue a career, even when she loves him which could mean they’ll separate.  

That part of the story comes across touchingly clear. But I found that much of the time I could not understand the more complex and amusing parts of the dialogue due to the Irish accents and the Czech-like ones. On opening night it was clear, due to laughter in many parts of the theatre, that quite a lot of people present had no such problem. FYI: There’s profanity.

Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová wrote most of the songs which range from intense, to wistful, to reflective and, at times, to passionate. Among them is the beautiful and famed “Falling Slowly” the Oscar winner for Best Original Song in 2008. A Grammy winner too. There is also the sweet “Gold,” made so endearing in choral a cappella singing in the second act. It’s by Irishman Fergus O’Farrell, who gets no mention in the program book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Hansard--

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark%C3%A9ta_Irglov%C3%A1

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/2013/0211/647350-radio-documentary-fergus-ofarrell-interference-muscular-dystrophy/

Stuart Ward as Guy makes the best and most of every song as does Dani de Waal as Girl. As for characterizations, they project sincere truth. But the superb ensemble singing, playing, dancing   leaves the most indelible impression.

Bob Crowley’s wonderful set adds to the magic. With its myriad mirrors and lights along the walls, you feel as if you are in a special place. Of course, you are. This once.

Once continues through May 17 at the Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16^th St. Thurs. 7:30 p.m. Fri: 8 p.m. Sat: 2 & 8 p.m. Sun: 1:30 & 7:30 p.m.  Tickets: $62-$524. www.omahaperformingarts.org

Theatre review: "Our Town" at Blue Barn Theatre

Thornton Wilder’s timeless classic Our Town remains full of life at Blue Barn Theatre. Director Susan Clement-Toberer’s imaginative use of the playing space becomes a vital, truly up close, personal sense of a close-knit community.  She and her cast create a vigorous, believable ensemble. Integrity.

This re-visit to Wilder’s enduring 1938 play makes it clear why it deserves its reputation. Although perhaps considered a nostalgic immersion into a simpler American time, the beautiful third act makes it clear that Wilder has much more there for us. A message that transcends time and place. A message to take home again and again. It’s about death. Yes. Death. The simple message bears repeating: Each of us will die. While alive, we should cherish what we have and those we love while there is time. No wonder a Pulitzer Prize was awarded.

Clement-Toberer’s interpretation seems to emphasis simplicity, not just in the way this is staged, which, after all, conforms with Wilder’s own bare-bones concept. Rather, her actors mostly come across as more generic than specific. As if these archetypes need not have clearly defined  personalities.

However, the deliberately elemental language about everyday life gets delivered by nearly everyone in the cast with clear, natural sincerity.

The core of the story concerns two intersecting, neighboring families, the Gibbs family and the Webbs. It follows them over 12 years during which time George Gibbs courts Emily Webb. They marry. She dies.

Benjamin Thorp’s personification of George starts full of endearing charm and emerges with natural depth. But Kelsi Weston’s Emily on opening night never developed beyond sounding like an insecure high school student. Early in the play that could be justified. Yet on opening night, the readings of most of her lines, even as a young adult, sounded as if Weston hasn’t learned how to convey their meaning. Wilder’s significant dialogue for Emily barely got its due. 

The almost equal roles of the parents, played by Michael Markey, Moira Mangiamelli, Benjamin Thorp and Emma Chvala, remain convincing.

The only other principal character is the Stage Manager, a memorable invention by Wilder. Nils Haaland gives him unassuming, easy-going friendliness, as if part of the scenery, rather than choosing to stand in the spotlight himself. Yet, he does deliver the eloquent third act monologue with all the beauty it contains, serving Wilder to perfection.

There are 22 other people represented, few of which could deliberately, briefly, clearly, stand out.

Of those, Dennis Collins leaves in indelible impression playing the alcoholic choir director Simon Stimson.

The playwright, characteristically at Blue Barn, gets no biographical print space in the multi-paragraph nine pages concerning everyone else involved in these performances.  FYI: His play The Skin of Our Teeth (1942) also won a Pulitzer as did his novel  The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Another play, The Matchmaker (1954), has become best known as the Jerry Herman musical Hello Dolly. http://thorntonwilder.com/

 

This production is Blue Barn’s final one at its Old Market theater and a joyous, loving way to wrap things up, especially given such an indelible sense of community.

Our Town runs through June 7 at Blue Barn Theatre,  614 S. 11^TH St. Thurs-Sat: 7:30 p.m. Sun: 6 p.m. Tickets $25-30. www.bluebarn.org