Friday, November 11, 2011

Quick Hit Theater Review: Iron Curtain

Jenn Gambatese with Top L to R: Sara Brophy, Robby Sharpe, James Patterson;
Bottom L to R: Clint Carter, Ronn Burton. Photo by Gerry Goodstein
Iron Curtain
Book by Susan DiLallo
Music by Stephen Weiner
Lyrics by Peter Mills
Directed by Cara Reichel
Choreography by Christine O'Grady
Music Supervision & Orchestrations by Remy Kure

Summary:
The musical writing team of Howard Katz (Todd Alan Johnson) and Murray Finkel (David Perlman) strikes out on Broadway when Damn Yankees steals the basis of their show about a baseball player who sells his soul to the devil. They attract the attention of Yevgenyi Onanov (Gordon Stanley), in charge of the Soviet Union's Ministry of Musical Persuasion, charged with staging a propaganda musical about the evils of America. His Soviet version of Oklahoma directed by whip-cracking (literally) East German Hildret Heinz (Bobbi Kotula) hasn't impressed Nikita Khruschchev (John Fico), so he kidnaps Katz and Finkell, with the help of KGB agent Sergei Schmearnov (Aaron Ramey), brings them to Moscow and forces them to create a musical. Desperate, the team retools their failed musical "Faust Ball" as "Damnable Yankees" and they hit one out of the park.

Finkel is morose, trying to fend off Hildret's romantic (and sadistic) advances, and is just beginning to realize how much he cares about Shirley Dooley (Maria Couch), the actress/girlfriend he never quite committed to at home. Murray isn't minding Russian hospitality, even at the rundown Lapov Luxury hotel, though, especially if it means getting to spend time with the show's star, Masha (Jenn Gambatese).

Will clueless Shirley be able to track Howard down behind the Iron Curtain with the help of a border guard (Ronn Burton)? Will a Frau divided between her duty and love let Howard go? Will Masha defect to join Murray? Will Onanov get to fully express his love for musicals? The answer to the last question is yes, in the fabulous send up of the song "If Not for Musicals." The rest I will leave to your imagination.
Highlights:
I love this show. DiLallo's book is tongue-in-cheek, hysterically funny. Weiner's score is varied, full and fun. "Half a World Away" is right up there with the loveliest ballads to grace a stage. Mill' lyrics are tight, clever and poetic. Why this show hasn't gotten a larger New York production is a mystery. I'd love to see what John Rando would do with it.

Stanley, who has portrayed Onanov in prior productions of Iron Curtain (once in 2008 when the musical was in development at the O'Neill Theatre Center where I first fell in love with it) sort of IS this character to me now and lends a lovely voice to the musical numbers. Gambatese sings up a storm and Burton steals the scene as different characters Shirley encounters in her search for Howard.

Lowlights:
This presentation, helmed by Reichel, who also directed prior versions which won it the Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical., just doesn't achieve Détente, however.
This production by Prospect Theater Company takes itself too seriously. Half of the fun of the corny book and lyrics is a subtle double entendre that you don't always catch on the first pass. It's much funnier to let the audience "get it," or have it come back to bite them a few seconds later. Here they make sure we get it, and it seems like the actors almost slow down to the point where they might check and ask "Did you get the pun there? Did you catch those snappy lyrics?" Part of the reason my critic Fellows and I at the O'Neill begged to see this show a second time was to see what we had missed in the fast-paced, laugh-filled first time.

Also too pronounced as the strange accent and S&M tendencies of Hildret (though Kotula originated the role at Village Theatre). And there isn't enough chemistry between Katz and Finkel.

Information:
Catch the humor before the Iron Curtain comes down on Nov. 27. The performance schedule is as follows: Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:30 pm; Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm; Sundays at 3 pm.  There are added performances on Nov. 19 at 3 pm, Nov. 21 at 7:30 pm and Nov. 26 at 3 pm.  No performances on Nov. 23 and 24. The Baruch Performing Arts Center, Baruch College is located at East 25th Street between Lexington and Third Avenue.  Tickets are $50, with premium seating availablefor $65.To purchase tickets visit www.ProspectTheater.orgor call 212-352-3101.
www.IronCurtainTheMusical.com.

Prospect Theater Company is a non-profitorganization founded in 1998 by five graduates of Princeton University in orderto allow a diverse group of emerging theater professionals to work together inpursuit of artistic excellence and innovation.  Known both for itsdevelopment of new musicals and its engaging interpretations of classic plays,Prospect strives to build bridges between artists and audiences, and to connecttheater's present to its past—in order to build its future. www.ProspectTheater.org.

Christians might also like to know:
--God's name taken in vain.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Gracewell Prodiuctions

Gracewell Prodiuctions
Producing Inspiring Works in the Arts
Custom Search
Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

Search

Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

All Posts on this Blog