Ragtime!

Ragtime, the musical David and I saw at Barrington Stage last night, is an exuberant romp through the early twentieth century. The music by Stephen Flaherty, the lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and the book by Terrence McNally all won awards on Broadway and the production, directed by Joe Calarco is energetic and dramatic.

Darnell Abraham

The large cast, headed by Darnell Abraham, J, Anthony Crane, David Harris, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, Elizabeth Stanley, and Zurin Villanueva is excellent, good actors and good Broadway singers all.

J. Anthony Crane        

It is very difficult to take an entire novel and turn it into a musical play. Opera composers have had to deal with this problem for years. This operatic musical needs pruning. Act One takes nearly an hour and a half. It has a number of big, climatic numbers that made me think the act was over long before it actually was. Act Two was an hour long.

  David Harris

Part of the problem is there are at least three separate story lines that have to be acted and sung involving an upper class white family, a black pianist, his girlfriend, their baby, a Jewish immigrant and his daughter, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, Emma Goldman, Evelyn Nesbit, and practically everyone else from that era. It's difficult to add music to this much story and not take too long.

  Hunter Ryan Herdlicka

The large cast sang with strong, Broadway voices. To this voice teacher, a 'Broadway' voice is one that has a sharp edge and a tendency to sing final high notes with a 'Judy Garland' terminal vibrato, after holding the note with no vibrato whatsoever.


  Elizabeth Stanley

 It is a very good musical that would be better with some editing.

   Zurin Villanueva

The Birds is for the birds

Last night David and I saw Conor McPherson's play The Birds at Barrington Stage's St. Germain Theatre,based on the short story of Daphne Du Maurier.

He should have left it alone.

  Stevie Ray Dallimore

Alfred Hitchcock made a scary movie based on the same work which, at least, had thousands of live birds attacking humans.

  Sasha Diamond

This one act play had sound effects along with films of birds at either side of the  stage. Not the same effect!

Kathleen McNenny
It also opened with a number of very brief scenes followed by blackouts which were more annoying than anything else. It purports to detail the last people left on earth after being birded to death.

Duh!


  Rocco Sisto

The cast included Stevie Ray Dallimore, Sasha Diamond, Kathleen McNenny, and Rocco Sisto. It was directed by Julianne Boyd.

Go see the movie!

Kunstler

Last night David and I saw Kunstler by Jeffrey Sweet at Barrington Stage's St. Germain Theatre. Jeff McCarthy ran away with the title role which might as well have been written for him.

I have seen him in numerous Barrington Stage productions over the past years, mostly musicals, but in Kunstler he has found his role.



The play is set at a nameless University in 1995 where William Kunstler is scheduled to speak. Outside many demonstrators are shouting hateful slogans against the famous lawyer who has defended the likes of the Freedom Riders in 1961,the Chicago Seven in 1968, the American Indian Movement at Wounded Knee in 1968, and the Attica Prison Riot in 1971.

He is introduced by a young law student played by Erin Roché, whom he involves in the speech, getting her to play the part of one of the judges before whom he is appearing and so on.



During the course of the 90 minute play, he relives the various trials and incarcerations he has lived through.

Mr. McCarthy uses his large sonorous voice and dramatic acting style to covey the trauma he has lived through to great effect.

This could almost be a one-man play since the character of the student is not really necessary to convey the life of this man.

Bravo to Mr. McCarthy and Barrington Stage for this fine opening event,