Off-Broadway Review: A Child's Christmas in Wales

Ashley Robinson, Mark Hartman, Jacque Carnahan and John Cullum. Photo: Carol Rosegg

An Old-Fashioned Christmas Treat
By Lauren Yarger
Gather round for good cheer, Christmas songs and the reading of A Child's Christmas in Wales Off-Broadway at Irish Repertory Theatre.

Chairs are gathered in front of the fireplace in a room decked out for the holiday. Four trees behind stacks of colorful packages glow with warmth as Dylan Thomas's poem, adapted and directed by Charlotte Moore, comes to life.

Jacque Carnahan, Katie Fabel, Kenneth Quinney Francoeur and Ashley Robinson, who often portrays the young Thomas) join Broadway legend John Cullum (the grandfather), who holds an oversized book of "A Child's Christmas in Wales," which serves as a reference for the evening's memories.

The prose, with its stories of odd relatives visiting for the holiday, descriptive language of snow falling and childhood fun and remembrances, is interlaced with Christmas songs both moving and filled with good cheer. A couple of songs are offered with Welsh lyrics and director Moore pens music and lyrics for "Open Your Eyes" and "Ring Out the Bells."

A highlight in the 20-plus song repertoire is Cullum's solo of "All Through the Night." What a Christmas gift, indeed, to have a chance to hear the star of Shenandoah and On a Clear Day among so many others, sing a bunch of songs (even if he is conscious of being part of an ensemble and doesn't let his fine baritone blow us out of the seats of the intimate DR2 Theatre where Irish Rep is performing during renovations at their home theater on West 22nd Street.)

Musical Director Mark Hartman plays the piano on stage, almost as if he is a family member urged to provide accompaniment so relatives can join together for carols. The 75-minute, no-intermission presentation has such a warm, nostalgic feel, that you'll wish Christmas didn't come just once a year. (In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I bought myself a Christmas present and got a ticket to go see it again).

A Child's Christmas in Wales plays through Jan. 3 at D2 Theatre, 103 East 15th Street in Union Square. Performances are Tuesday and Thursday at  7 pm; Wednesday at 3 and 8 pm; Friday at 8 pm; Saturday at 3 and 8 pm;  Sunday at 3 pm. Check holiday weeks for changes. Tickets are $71: http://www.irishrep.org/childschristmas2015.html

Off Broadway Theater Review: 2 Across

Andrea McArdle and Kip Gilman. Photo: Carol Rosegg

What's an Eight-Letter Word for 2 Across? Charming
By Lauren Yarger
What's an eight-letter word beginning with a "C" that  describes a two-hander about a guy and a girl who meet on a train? 

In the case of  2 Across, the new comedy by Jerry Mayer (a writer for TV shows like “M*A*S*H,” “The Bob Newhart Show” and “All in the Family”) Off-Broadway at St. Luke's Theatre, the answer is "c-h-a-r-m-i-n-g" -- and you can use that "i" to fill in the word "surprising" going down on the crossword puzzle grid, because the "two people meet and spill out the details of their lives" plot is a hard one to pull off on stage.

Mayer gets help from the charm of the actors here: Andrea McArdle (Broadway's original Annie, all grown up) and Kip Gilman (Aspirins and Elephants), directed by Evelyn Rudie. Janet (McArdle) and Josh (Gilman) meet aboard a Bay Area Rapid Transit train, each doing the New York Times crossword puzzle. At first, snobby Janet (she does her puzzle in pen) isn't interested in conversation with the affable Josh (who does his in pencil), who asks for some help with clues tot he puzzle.

But before long, the two are opening up about their lives: she's a psychologist and is worried about her 18-year-old son who has just joined the Marines, presumably on a whim.  He left behind his family button-making factory, but now finds himself unemployed and on his way to an interview for a job he doesn't really want.

"Something pre-ordained is happening here," Josh finally says when the two find themselves attracted to each other  despite their spouses and start entertaining the thought of an affair. All is not as it seems, however -- more importantly the plot doesn't take us down the predictable plot we think it is going to --  and we find as Josh and Janet do, that a lot can be learned about someone's character by how they complete a crossword, or solve the puzzles of life.

The charm of the story and the engaging characters developed by the actors are a pleasant surprise. The development of the relationship, played out in real time almost seems plausible, but that quiet train doesn't. I wish MetroNorth trains looked so nice (set design is by Scott Heineman, with train sound effects provided to enhance the commute) and were so roomy. Josh actually stretches out across unoccupied seats and the couple are able to change seats in the otherwise unoccupied car. Maybe I should just start covering theater in San Francisco where the real BART provides service.....

The play is performed in 90 minutes with no intermission.

2 Across plays through Jan. 31 at St. Luke's Theare, 308 West 46th St., NYC. Performnces are Wednesday and Saturday at 8 pm; Sunday at 2pm. Tickets are $39.50 - $69.50: 2acrosstheplay.com; 212-239-6200.

Christians might also like to know:
-- God's name taken in vain

Off-Broadway Theater Review: The Great Divorce

Michael Frederic, Christa Scott-Reed and Joel Rainwater Photo: Joan Marcus

The Great Divorce
By C.S. Lewis
Adapted by Max McLean and Brian Watkins
Directed by Bill Castellino
Fellowship for Performing Arts
at the Pearl Theatre
through Jan, 3

What's It all About?
C.S. Lewis'           comes to the stage to kick off the inaugural 2015/2016 season of Fellowship for Performing Arts with an adaptation by Artistic Director Max Mcean and Brian Wikins. Christa Scott Reed (The Pitman Painters), Joel Rainwater (The Lion King National Tour), and Michael Frederic (Bill W. and Dr. Bob) are three people who meet in a sort of limbo and take a flying bus on a journey toward heaven. But is it heaven? And if it is, how does one figure out how to get off the bus and separate from all that has been left behind? The plot has to do with spiritual choices -- the Great Divorce between heaven and hell. Among the characters appearing in the fantasy are an artist, a grieving mother, a mumbling grumbler and a bitter wife. How will the choices they made contribute to who they became and  how they deceive themselves about God. Will they be able to see the truth and embrace what waits in heaven or will there always be something else they desire instead of joy?

There are two kinds of people, a wise, tartan-clad adviser tells us: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, "Thy will be done."

What are the Highlights?

Well, you can't go wrong with C.S. Lewis. The British novelist who found faith later in life is one of the foremost thinkers about Christianity (He gave us such wonderful literary classics as "The Lion, the witch and the Wardrobe," "A Grief Observed," "Surprised by Joy" and "Mere Christianity," just to name a few. His study of how the enemy influences Christians, "The Screwtape Letters," also was adapted for the stage by McLean and had an Off-Broadway run several seasons ago (for which it received a "The Lights Are Bright on Broadway Award) and a national tour (see below for upcoming productions). Kelly James Tighe provides a backdrop that houses cartoonish projections (designed by Jeffrey Cady with lighting by Michael Gilliam) to enhance the fantasy setting. Nicole Wee provides costumes (many of them very quick changes) to clothe numerous characters and the always excellent John Gromada provides original music and sound design.

A good conversation starter.

What are the Lowlights?

The allegory can be rather confusing at times, especially if you aren't a student of Lewis or of theology. 

More Information:

The Great Divorce plays through Jan. 3 at The Pearl Theatre, 555 West 42nd St., NYC. Run time is 90 minutes, no intermission. Tickets: fpatheatre.com; 212-563-9261.

The Screwtape Letters adapted by McLean and Jeffrey Fiske will play in New York Jan. 6-24 and will tour to these cities:

PORTLAND, OR — March 1-2, 2016
REDDING, CA — March 4, 2016
SAN DIEGO, CA — March 6, 2016
MESA, AZ — March 12, 2016

McLean will star in The Most reluctant Convert, an adapttion from Lewis' writings about his conversaion from atheism to Christianity Dec. 13, 14, 20 and 21; Feb. 18-21 in New York.

Fellowship for Performing Arts produces theatre from a Christian worldview that engages a diverse audience. More at fpatheatre.com.




Christians might also like to know:
-- God's name taken in vain

Lauren Yarger

Our Friends the Enemy -- A Story of a Legendary Truce

By Retta Blaney
Seeking to enhance his performance in the one-man World War I play he had written, actor Alex Gwyther spent a night in a replica of a 1916 battlefield trench outside London. By morning, though, exhausted from having slept little on the chicken wire in the “officers’ quarters,” he was no longer thinking about his skills.

“What really struck me was I was dying for a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea, typical English,” he said, adding that he couldn’t imagine living that way for an extended time. “What would it be like to be attacked or shelled? Most of that I have to leave up to my imagination.”

During a telephone interview from his parents’ home in Surrey outside London, Gwyther, 29, explained how he came to write and star in a play about one particular episode in the four-year-long war. World War I was part of his school curriculum growing up in England, but he felt the 1914 Christmas Truce was glossed over. In that event, English, French, Belgian and German soldiers crawled out of their trenches on Dec. 25 to share small gifts like cigarettes, food, hats and buttons, to bury their dead and to play football. Then the fighting resumed. In some places the trenches were so close, about 100 feet apart, one side could smell the other’s cooking.

Alex Gwyther as Private James Boyce, Photo by Pamela Raith

“I always thought there must be more to the story than a football match,” he said. “How crazy that they came together and then went back to fighting each other.”


Gwyther began researching the event and was surprised by what he found. The result, developed with director Tom O’Brien, is Our Friends, the Enemy, which will have its American premiere at Off-Broadway’s Theatre Row Dec. 8 to 20. The 50-minute show played to sold-out houses in London, had two tours of the United Kingdom, totaling 11 weeks, where it was seen everywhere from “village halls to football stadiums,” as well as a month-long run at the prestigious 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It also has been heard on BBC radio.

“It’s one of the stories we know but we don’t know these details about. I thought, ‘If only people knew about this.’”

What Gwyther had thought was crazy, men returning to kill each other after a day of fellowship, was not how the soldiers wanted it. Many refused to fight the next day and for days after that. It was those in command who, fearing a weakening of resolve, pushed the battle into full gear. Some two-thirds of the troops, about 100,000 people, are believed to have participated in the legendary Truce.

“A lot of people didn’t know that both sides increased fighting massively after that. They didn’t want soldiers fraternizing that way,” he said, adding that mustard gas was then introduced prematurely. “They didn’t want the soldiers to have that opportunity again. That’s why there was not another Christmas Truce.

“It’s sad, but it’s inspiring that it actually happened. I can’t imagine that happening in today’s world conflicts.”

Books and movies have captured this time in history, but to Gwyther’s knowledge no play has been written solely about the Christmas Truce, although it was featured as a scene in another play, Oh, What a Lovely War and the Royal Shakespeare Company staged an account with music.

For his play, Gwyther read books and diary accounts to make his stories authentic, but decided against using real names. Instead, he created Private James Boyce, a young English soldier, to act as narrator, sharing his diary entries as monologues for the audience, as well as providing narratives of different scenes happening spontaneously across the front lines.

“He’s like Scrooge, taking the audience across the western front and telling what was happening.”

As the audience enters, James is onstage, dressed in an authentic World War I uniform, cleaning his rifle, propping up sandbags and looking out toward the German trenches. After the theatre door closes, the lights change to a single spotlight on James as he walks forward, drops to his knees and prays. After a brief blackout, he begins to tell his story and those of his fellow soldiers on either side of the divide.

Andy Robertshaw, a World War I “guru” who was Steven Spielberg’s military advisor for “War Horse,” filled that role for Gwyther, supplying him with his uniform and equipment and arranging for him to spend the night in the trench. During that Saturday night experience, around 1 or 2 in the morning, Gwyther looked into the clear sky and saw stars. “It was quite moving. It’s what it must have been like after a week or so being attacked, to look at stars and think of home.”

Managing his heavy gear, listening to the intense shelling (firecrackers) and being “gassed,” Gwyther felt he better understood his characters and what they went through. “Before, it felt phony trying to pretend I knew what it was like living in a trench. I wanted the proper experience so I could be more truthful. It helped me as an actor to get into the mindset of a soldier.”

He also realized he probably wouldn’t have survived since he didn’t get his mask on in time when the surprise canister of thick, putrid “gas” was lobbed. He couldn’t see a thing and began choking on the fumes. “I think I would easily have died.”

World War I, which claimed 15 million lives, was different because its reasons were not so clear, Gwyther says, and because it was fought by “ordinary people, doctors and school teachers,” not trained soldiers. “Neither wanted to be there. They were fed propaganda. After the Truce they realized these are decent guys. We don’t want to be here.”

The people in power “sign-off,” not seeing “these are individuals being sent to war,” Gwyther says. The play “highlights the futility of war and shines a light on how easy it is to send people to war.”

Gwyther keeps photos of WWI soldiers backstage and looks at them before each performance.

“It gives me perspective. How would they want their stories to be remembered? It reminds me why I want to tell them.”

About the show:

After an acclaimed run in London, the Edinburgh Fringe and two triumphant UK tours, Our Friends The Enemy, written by and starring Alex Gwyther with direction by Tom O’Brien, arrives in New York City to celebrate the holiday’s for a strictly limited two-week engagement at Theater Row’s Lion Theatre, 410 West 42nd St., NYC. Performances run through Dec. 20 Tuesday at 7 pm; Wednesday through Saturday at 8 om; Saturday matinee at 2 om; Sunday matinee at 3 pm. Tickets are $36.25: www.Telecharge.com. 

Retta Blaney is an award-winning journalist and author of Working on the Inside: The Spiritual Life through the Eyes of Actors. Read her blog at uponthesacredstage.blogspot.com.

Off-Broadway Theater Review: Rose

Kathleen Chalfant. Photo: Carol Rosegg

Rose Kennedy, We Hardly Knew Ye

By Lauren Yarger

Those of us who are older think we have a good idea of who she is. Members of younger generations, born after the Kennedy dynasty was the top news story, might think they know her from events that shaped her life. But Laurence Leamer’s play Rose proves that we probably just know parts of the whole when it comes to the tragic life of Rose Kennedy.

We mostly know her as the mother of President John Kennedy, his politically active brothers Bobby and Teddy and daughter Eunice, who founded the Special Olympics. But did you know she had six other children, one of them mentally challenged and that she had to put up with a philandering husband who had many affairs, including one with actress Gloria Swanson?

The fascinating, often tragic events of Rose's life are explored in the play, being presented in its world premiere Off-Broadway by Nora's Playhouse, and in a brilliant portrayal by award-winner Kathleen Chalfant. Leamer, is the best-selling author of "The Kennedy Women," and "The Kennedy Men and Sons of Camelot" and incorporates information gleaned during 40 hours of interviews he taped with Rose Kennedy while working on her ghost-written autobiography. 

It is July, 1969 and we are invited into Rose's elegant Hyannis Port home (designed to incorporate projected photos by Anya Klepikov) as the matriarch awaits Teddy, who just a few days ago drive his car off a bridge in Chappaquiddick, MA, killing the passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne.

Rose chats with the audience in between taking phone calls from family members like Jack''s widow, Jacqueline, who recently has decided to remarry Greek oil tycoon Aristotle Onassis and Ted's wife, Joan, who has turned to alcohol for comfort. (Leamer overuses the telephone technique in his first attempt at writing for the stage, but it is plausible that Rose would be fielding a lot of them after the tragedy).

Rose's husband, Joe, isn't any help. He's upstairs where he has been some time, bedridden following a stroke. All of the family relationships are strained here, we discover. Rose is distant from her daughters, who felt their male siblings got all of the advantages, and the brothers are all gone now, except for Ted.  Jack and Bobby were assassinated and the eldest son, Joe, was killed in World War II.

Tension also exists within the family because of decisions made regarding Rosemary, the family's oldest daughter, born with learning disabilities that were kept secret as the family came to social prominence. Eventually the young woman was put into an institution and subjected to a lobotomy which caused permanent damage. Joe Kennedy, Sr., apparently embarrassed by Rosemary's deficiencies and always looking for a "cure," ordered the procedure behind Rose's back. Yet, we're not sure that if she had  known, Rose would have been willing or able to do anything about it....

The nuanced performance by Chalfant, directed by Caroline Reddick Lawson, has us engaged throughout the 90-minute performance. The show has a very limited run, unfortunately, only through Dec. 13 at Theater Row. 

Other information:

Design Team includes Jane Greenwood (costumes), Caitlin Rapoport (lighting) and Jane Shaw (sound).

Named for the heroine of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Nora’s Playhouse is devoted to presenting a wide range of women's stories, told through the collaboration of women artists. Rose is the playhouse's first off-Broadway production. 

"Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter" by Kate Clifford Larson was published this fall.

Rose plays through Dec. 13 at the Clurman Theatre, 410 West 42nd St., NYC. Tickets are $65: 212-239-6200; www.norasplayhouse.org.

Christians might also like to know:

-- No content notes. Enjoy. There are some parts dealing with Rose's discovery of her faith at a convent school and how that faith helps her cope.

Off-Broadway Theater Review: Ripcord

Ripcord
By David Lindsay-Abaire
Directed by David Hyde Pierce
Manhattan Theatre Club
Through Dec.6

What's It All About?
Fabulous comedy/drama from Pulitzer-Prize winner Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Good People) about two women in the Bristol Place Assisted Living Facility. Abby Binder (Holland Taylor) has been enjoying a room all to her self for most of the years she has been at the facility, but recently Marilyn Dunne (Marylouise Burke) moved in and Abby wants her out. Bouncy, sunshiny Marilyn never stops talking, especially about her family and little grandson. Abby just wants to be left alone and in peace and implores home employee Scotty (Nate Miller), to pull some strings and get rid of her. The budding actor agrees -- if Abby will join Marilyn on a trip to a haunted house in which he is performing. As the roommates discover more about each other, Abby reveals that nothing frightens her while Marilyn apparently never gets angry. The women make a bet: if Abby can make Marilyn angry, she will get a single room again. If Marilyn can scare, Abby, however, she will stay and get Abby's bed with the view.

What ensues is hysterical hijinx as the women try to win the bet, with Marilyn involving her plucky daughter Colleen ("Saturday Night Live"'s Debbie Downer Rachel Dratch) and reluctant son-in-law Derek (Daoud Heidami). Also paying a visit is Abby's estranged son, Benjamin (Glenn Fitzgerald). Amidst the laughs, are some poignant human emotions -- Marilyn's marriage might not have been all that happy and Abby has reasons for building a wall of stone around her heart -- well acted by Holland and Burke who develop a splendid "Odd-Couple-esque"  relationship ably directed by David Hyde Pierce.

What Are the Highlights?
Great dialogue and non-stop laughs. At the end of the first act, everyone in the audience still was laughing, prompting each other to recall their favorite parts and laughing all over again. Many people voiced doubt that the second act could live up to the first and would be sure to disappoint, but I can tell you, they were pleasantly surprised and exclaiming, "That was awesome, when leaving the theater. I convey these comments so you will know I am not alone when I say that I haven't enjoyed a show this much in a long time.

The sets designed by Alexander Dodge lift the show to its full potential. They take us from the assisted living facility into the wild blue yonder and beyond.

The haunted house sequence left me in stitches, especially given how much I did not appreciate the Sleep No More experience at the McKittrick Hotel a few seasons ago....  Funniest baby-eating clown (also played by Fitzgerald) ever.

Again, in between the laugh lines is a nice story about family, friendship, forgiveness and fresh starts.

What Are the Lowlights?
The short run already is an an end.

More Information:
Creatives:Peter Kaczorowski (lighting design), Jennifer von Mayrhauser (costume design), John Gromada (original music and sound design) and Thomas Schall (fight director).

Christians might like to know:

-- Language

-- God's name taken in vain

Broadway Theater Review: Allegiance

Lea Salonga and George Takei in a scene from "Allegiance" (c) Matthew Murphy

A Trek Through the Years to Tell Story of Life in the Japanese Internment Camps

By Lauren Yarger

Inspired by the true-life experience of its star George Takei (“Star Trek,” “Heroes”), Allegiance follows one family’s journey in this rarely explored part of American history on stage – life in the Japanese internments camps during World War II.

In this play, a mysterious envelope leads Sam Kimura (Takei) back 60 years to when he and his sister Kei (Lea Salonga of Miss Saigon fame making a long-awaited return to Broadway) try to survive after their family is transported to an internment camp. Young Sam is played by Telly Leung.

Sam enlists in the army to prove the family’s loyalty, but Kei, dealing day-to-day with government efforts to humiliate and indoctrinate the camp residents as well as with the shame of her father, Tatsuo Kimura (Christopheren Nomura), takes a different path. She becomes part of a resistance movement while finding romance -- and some difficult consequences-- with Frankie Suzuki (Michael K. Lee), who feels Sam’s decision to fight is a betrayal of his people.

A secondary romance flares between Sam and white nurse Hannah Campbell (Katie Rose Clarke), who changes her views about the camps as she gets to know the people living in them. Friend Mike Masaoka (Greg Watanabe) never stops fighting for the rights of the Japanese-Americans forced to give up their homes, businesses and lives. Family, perseverance and forgiveness are consistent themes.

The story is important, but the telling of it in the book by Marc Acito, Jay Kuo and Lorenzo Thione falls flat. Music and Lyrics by Kuo are unimpressive (and very American-musical sounding with only a hint of the Japanese culture reflected), even if some impressive voices sing them (while it is wonderful to hear Solonga’s beautiful voice again, some of the songs seems composed just to give the singers an opportunity to belt). Choreography by Andrew Palermo is awkward and seems completely out of place.

Scenic Designer Donyale Werle and Costume Designer Alejo Vietti provide some of the creative highlights with color fading as the family’s situation turns bleak. Newsprint projected onto the set (design by Darrel Maloney) give a sense of the times. War scenes, directed by Stafford Arima, make us feel that we’re at the front. A number of scenes, totally unnecessary, could be cut, however, and trim the two-hour, 30-minute run time.

Allegiance runs through Feb. 14 at the Longacre Theatre,  220 West 48^th St., NYC. Performances are Tuesday and Thursday at 7 pm; Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 8 pm; Wednesday and Saturday at 2 pm; Sunday at 3 pm. Tickets are $65 - $149: (800) 432-7250; allegiancemusical.com.

Ensemble:

Aaron J. Albano, Belinda Allyn, Marcus Choi, Janelle Dote, Dan Horn, Owen Johnston, Darren Lee, Kevin Munhall, Manna Nichols, Autumn Ogawa, Rumi Oyama, Momoko Sugai, Sam Tanabe, Elena Wang , Scott Watanabe and Scott Wise…. Ensemble

Creatives:

Music and Lyrics by Jay Kuo; Book by Marc Acito, Jay Kuo and Lorenzo Thione; Direction by Stafford Arima; Choreography by Andrew Palermo, Music Supervision, Arrangements and Orchestrations by Lynne Shankel, Musical Direction by Laura Bergquist., Scenic Design by Donyale Werle, Costume Design by Alejo Vietti, Hair and Wig Design by Charles G. LaPointe; Lighting Design by Howell Binkley, Sound Design by Kai Harada, Projection Design is by Darrel Maloney. 

Christians might like to know:

-- No content notes.