'Burgh Vivant

by Michael Buzzelli

“Terraced thousands died, shaking scythes at cannon, the hillside blushed, Orange, green and yellow.” – Seamus Heaney

When a famous American actor, Jay Conway (David Whalen), agrees to perform in a play by up-and-coming Irish playwright Ruth Davenport (Christine Weber), he misunderstands which side of a war his character is on in David Ireland’s scathingly savage satire, “Ulster American.”

Director Leigh Carver (Simon Bradbury) invites the actor and the playwright into his London apartment to discuss the play. Before she arrives, Conway poses a brutal hypothetical. A bold, daring, and vicious question that lights the fuse on a stick of dynamite. The rest of the play sizzles toward a fiery explosion of savage words and brutal deeds.

The play begins like a David Mamet, with two men discussing the truth as they see it. The actor and the director see themselves as progressive and agree on core values. Hint: They might preach it, but they don’t practice it.

Ruth arrives a few minutes late (her reason for tardiness could be considered a spoiler and will not be shared here), ready to dive into the play with her leading man.

Conway, an Irish Catholic, is unaware that the Fenians, Irish Republican revolutionaries who sought freedom from British rule, were viewed as terrorists by the Northern Protestants, and that his playwright, Ruth Davenport, is not only a Northern Protestant but also an apologist for British rule. Davenport is so loyal to the crown that she views herself as English, even though Carver, an Englishman, views her as Irish.

The American Irish Catholic and the Northern Irish Protestant face off, and the Troubles begin again inside Carver’s cozy apartment. The play is wickedly funny, disturbingly dark, but, most of all, diabolically compelling.

Bradbury is brilliant as Carver. He has an unhinged rant at the end of the play, sputtering about the set like a whirling dervish. On opening night, Bradbury ad-libbed a few words to cover a dropped line, which was equally, or perhaps more, effective than whatever the real dialogue was.

Whalen, an iconic Pittsburgh actor (despite moving out of the area), was a wise choice for Conway. He plays the overly pompous, Oscar-winning actor (the actual statue shows up like a Chekhovian gun) perfectly.

Weber (with help from dialect coach Don Wadsworth) plays a complex character to the hilt. Her Ruth is ruthless. She is fierce and fearless in the role.

Once again, masterful set designer Tony Ferrieri creates a space the audience wants to pack up and move into (for a production company named Barebones, they have the most elaborate sets).

IRL Director Patrick Jordan delivers a kinetic, visceral tour de force for his trio of actors. The play ends with a brutal fight scene brilliantly choreographed by Randy Kovitz.

Playwright David Ireland uses the play to take several jabs at critics: “The only thing I want to see a critic write is a suicide note.”

Personal Note: Picture hearing that line and watching an entire row of patrons slowly turn their heads toward you. It was hilarious and slightly uncomfortable.

Speaking of uncomfortable: Seeing a play about politics and betrayal in John Fetterman’s neighborhood is an ironic twist.

“Ulster American” is a hodgepodge of topsy-turvy social, cultural, and political narratives, viciously funny and thoroughly engaging.

-MB

“Ulster American” runs until October 25th at the Bingo O’Malley Studio at barebones productions, 1211 Braddock Avenue, Braddock, PA 15104.  https://www.barebonesproductions.com/

 

 

By Lonnie, the Theater Lady

“Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors,” the humorous adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic, is a campy, vampy farce. Five actors play a dozen different wacky characters.

The play opens with Count Dracula (John Feightner) and meek real estate agent Jonathan Harker (Noah Kendall) discussing Harker’s upcoming engagement party in his fiancée’s hometown. He mentions that his betrothed, Lucy Westfeldt (Deanna Sparrow), loves danger. Dracula is intrigued and thinks that Lucy might be that “one special person” he’s been hoping to find to ease his loneliness. Without hesitation, he buys Withering Manor, a house in proximity to the Westfeldt’s’ home. Lucy lives with her father, Dr. Westfeldt (Anne Marie Sweeny), her sister Mina (Sean Michael Barrett), and, oddly enough, several of her father’s mental patients are living there to be rehabilitated.

Dracula embarks on a harrowing ocean voyage to his new home in Transylvania. The ship encounters a violent thunderstorm, hilariously acted out. The captain (Anne Marie Sweeny) struggles to maintain control of the helm while being drenched with water sprayed on her by one of the other actors. Dracula is the sole survivor of the voyage. Most of the other passengers die from a suspicious, mysterious blood disorder. (wink, wink) The others don’t survive the storm.

At the engagement party in England, the high-energy cast leans delightfully into their characters’ craziness! (The in-house mental patients serve the party guests.)This very clever, quirky script demands the actors perform with wild abandon and to their credit, and to the credit of the director, Kathy Hawk, they deliver. Every one of them throws themselves wholeheartedly into their roles. Hawk keeps the frenetic pace barreling along.

Feightner is the quintessential Dracula. He looms menacingly over the other actors–adding to his magnetism. He exudes charm when he believes it benefits him. He is sexy, lascivious, cunning, manipulative, and sinister. He captivates with his flawless comedic timing, dramatic moves, and posturing. His brilliant, engaging performance is a delight to behold and won’t soon be forgotten. Kudos!

Sparrow’s Lucy is such fun to watch. She visibly struggles with her attraction to Dracula while trying to remain faithful to Harker. She’s consistently energetic and often sweet. As Kitty, a kleptomaniac mental patient, she serves up just the right amount of ditz.

One can feel Harker’s neurotic timidity in Kendall. His portrayal of an eager-to-please, often overwhelmed straight man is spot on. His transformation to a confident, tough guy is as satisfying as it is humorous. Unflagging energy!

Sweeney’s pompous, self-important portrayal of Dr. Westfeldt is convincingly stuffy. Her unpredictable, insect-eating Renfield is too funny for words. Her jerky body movements and guttural noises are a total crack-up and made even funnier by the straitjacket she’s wearing. She makes the weird Renfield believable as a person with a mental health condition.

Barrett is on target as the needy, jealous, melodramatic Mina. His mustache contributes to the often-mentioned unattractiveness of the insecure Mina. He clearly relishes hamming it up as the whiny Mina. The audience benefits from his entertaining performance. It’s hard not to laugh at the mere sight of him in drag.

The dim, eerie lighting creates the just-right mysterious mood. (Nicole White, designer)

Loud thunderclaps, spooky music, and sound effects add to the fun. (Britt Pierce, designer)

Samantha Hawk had an arduous task, having to design so many different costumes, but she met the challenge. They are all well done and reflect the character’s personality. Dracula’s costume has some interesting lacy touches. Kendall wears his biker costume with confident swag.

The characters’ British and Romanian accents are consistent and ring true. Thanks to dialect coach Lisa Ann Goldsmith, they’re easy to understand.

It’s impossible to put into words how off-the-charts entertaining this show’s silly shenanigans are! It’s as though Monty Python and Mel Brooks mentored the actual playwrights, Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen, to write this zany, outlandish, ludicrous fiesta of frivolity. It’s bloody hysterical. To  quote a line from the play, “Fear is temporary, but regret is forever.” I urge you to see this absurdly riotous show. If you don’t, you’ll regret it forever!

-LtTL

Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors  runs through October 25 at Little Lake Theater, 500 Lakeside Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317

 

 

 

By Lonnie the Theater Lady

“Shane Patrick in The Oracle” opens in a darkened theater, where the only sound is the soft tinkling of a small bell Patrick rings for a few brief moments. He then shifts his focus to the audience in the dim, now silent theater. He effectively engages every audience member by making slow, deliberate eye contact with each one. This builds a somewhat uneasy yet thrilling anticipation for what’s to come.

He relates a story about Illiana, an oracle and vaudeville performer in the early 1900’s. Her mind reading and predictions of the future astonished audiences. Her unfortunate, tragic death cut her career short. She was found hanging lifeless from the rafters of a theater. Some speculated that Victor Gonzalez, a man who was desperately in love with her, ended her life after he became distraught when she didn’t return his love. The mystery of her death was never solved.

Patrick’s fascination with Illiana prompts him to conjure up her spirit and recreate her captivating act, “The Oracle.” He gives audience members a cup containing one die. They shake the cup to tumble the die, then look at the number showing on it. They then look at a written list of numbers from one to six. Each number has a topic written beside it—examples: career, love, health, etc. The person holding the die is then told to focus and concentrate on the topic that matches the number on the die. Amazingly, Patrick then accurately identifies the number on the die with 100% accuracy several times with different audience members. Uncanny. It leaves one asking, “How?”

Another part of the act involves psychometry, the word that describes the energy left behind on inanimate objects after having been touched by a person.

Patrick digs into a fishbowl filled with folded papers on which audience members have written their names and other information. (Thus, leaving their energy on the papers) Patrick holds the folded paper in his hands, reads the energy, and identifies an audience member, first by initials and then by name. He answers questions that haven’t been verbalized. One particularly funny exchange happens when Patrick says, “The answer to your question is about four hours.” He continues with, “Does that make sense to you?” The surprised audience member bursts into laughter, answers in the affirmative, and continues laughing.  His question: “How long will it take me to sober up?” So funny!

Other astonishing telepathic feats include telling people their astrological signs and birthdates, identifying what worries them, knowing a person’s favorite color, using Tarot cards to describe one’s personality, and other stupefying, seemingly impossible bits of knowledge Patrick intuits.

Most of this amazing show features soft, piped-in background piano music that creates a soothing yet somewhat mysterious tone. Perfect!

Patrick is a personable, likable performer who engages smoothly and comfortably with the audience throughout this immersive show. His mind-reading ability is truly remarkable and fascinating to behold. He makes it easy to believe the spirit of Illiana is present, and she makes her presence known subtly but without a doubt.

Thoroughly enjoyable best describes this engrossing show, which mesmerizes from the moment the jingling bell opens the show until the jingle of the same little bell closes it! Spellbinding!

LTL

The show runs until October 17 at Liberty Magic, 811 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh 15222

 

 

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By Timothy Ruppert

A few years ago, the great Tig Notaro hosted Under a Rock, a talk show designed to foreground her woefully insufficient knowledge of contemporary popular culture and its celebrities. I have long appreciated Notaro’s honesty, given that I too have scandalized many of my colleagues and intimates by my almost total unfamiliarity with many of the best-loved films and television series of my lifetime. Sam Raimi’s 1981 horror classic, Evil Dead, and the franchise that (apparently) evolved from it, provide a case in point. And so, when I was assigned to review Pittsburgh Musical Theater’s presentation of Evil Dead: The Musical, I hadn’t the faintest idea what to expect beyond the impressions of supernaturalism that the title imparts. What I found at PMT’s West End Canopy was one of the most gloriously ridiculous shows that I have ever seen, complete with a stellar cast, a committed audience, and a profoundly crimsoned ‘splatter zone’ (luckily) several rows off.

Evil Dead: The Musical brilliantly parodies the horror-cinema genre to which Raimi’s 1981 film and its myriad descendants belong, leaving no opportunity for humorous metacommentary unexplored. The show succeeds, in fact, by virtue of its shamelessly forthright absurdity, helped along by an incessant torrent of visual non sequiturs, frightful puns, and puerile sex gags. Beyond offering amusing tongue-in-cheek takes on the tropes of the silver-screen nightmare, going so far as to give us a mounted moose head possessed by pernicious spirits, Evil Dead indexes the last forty years of Broadway musical history, alluding freely to The Rocky Horror Show, Little Shop of Horrors, and A Chorus Line, among others. The relentless self-reflexivity of this show makes it a joy throughout, even for those who are new to the joke.

While nobly ludicrous in its own right, PMT’s version of Evil Dead: The Musical benefits terrifically from the buy-in of the cast, crew, and patrons who invest such positive energy into the production. The performers, led by Brett Goodnack as the demon-dispatching Ash, all merit accolades for the immense amount of work that this show asks of them. Kamilah Lay (Linda), Zanny Laird (Chryl), and Michaela Isenberg (Annie) were particularly impressive among a praiseworthy group. Nick Mitchell directs the broad comedy with an admirable dedication to detail (Mitchell also plays Professor Knowby, the historian whose research into ancient texts sparks the hilarity). The music is terrifically entertaining as well, with “Housewares Employee” (Goodnack and Lay), “Look Who’s Evil Now” (Laird, Moose, and House Spirits), “Ode to an Accidental Stabbing” (Isenberg and Ben Sheedy as Jake), “Do the Necronomicon” (Demons), and “It’s Time” (Goodnack and Company) landing especially effectively. Cheers to all the souls comprising the production staff, particularly Gemma Mitchell (choreographer and production stage manager) and the team of Avery Ferrell, Michael Fitzmaurice, and Christopher Patrick for makeup, wigs, and special effects. I respect the work that went into this show—and can scarcely imagine the labor necessary to clean up when the evening’s over.

I reserve a final word to acknowledge the spirited audience. Their affability and passion for this show (now playing its seventh year at PMT) enriches the event for all, including reviewers living under rocks.

—TR

For more information on Pittsburgh Musical Theater’s performance of “Evil Dead: The Musical,” please visit https://pittsburghmusicals.com/evildead/.

    

 

By Michael Buzzelli

Jennifer Simard kicked off the Trust Arts Cabaret Series on Monday, September 28, with a witty, delightful act in which she recounted personal stories from her days on Broadway and on the road.

Simard, currently starring in the meta-masterpiece, “Schmigadoon!,” brought whip-smart wit and a sultry singing voice to the Greer Cabaret Stage (currently staged for “Rent” for BDE Productions).

Simard was accompanied by Steve Marzullo on piano, who provided occasional vocal support when needed. He was a deft pianist, willing to banter with the Broadway star.

She played a variety of her best Broadway songs, including “That Was Then, This Is Now,” from her recent run as Helen Sharp in “Death Becomes Her.”

She also nailed a cabaret standard, “Ladies Who Lunch” from “Company.”

Simard kept the show quick and light. She even did a little bit of immersive theater, selecting women from the audience to be her “ladies in waiting” in a song cut from “Shrek: The Musical.”

The 9:30 show was packed, and the audience delighted in her stories. Even though she dropped some big names, she kept her humility and humor.

At the 9:30 show, she joked, “I was in plane accident with Sutton Foster. The plane lost electrical power, we had an emergency landing in Chicago, and skidded off the runway into the grass. It’s a good thing we didn’t die or the headline would have read; ‘Sutton Foster…and others die in plane crash.'”

It was a triumphant start to the Trust Arts Cabaret 2026-2027 season, which includes heavy-hitters like Christian Borle, Caissie Levy, Lorna Courtney, and (fingers crossed, because he had to cancel last year) Jeremy Jordan.

-MB

The Greer Cabaret, 655 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, has a full season of Cabarets. Next up is Christian Borle. For tickets and additional information, click here. 

By Lonnie the Theater Lady

The award-winning musical “In Clay,” based on French ceramicist Marie-Berthe Cazin, opens in her Parisian studio in 1938. As she anticipates the arrival of Henrietta, her estranged childhood friend (now a successful painter), she reflects on her full life journey. She remembers first meeting Henrietta when they both studied art under Jean-Charles Cazin, whose son, Michel, became Marie’s husband. She lived in a time when female artists were overshadowed by their male counterparts. Marie was infuriated upon learning that Michel signed many of her works and claimed them as his own. She felt ambivalence when Michel went off to fight in World War 1. Because of his betrayal, she isn’t having the success with her art she hoped for and feels discouraged. In one immensely powerful scene, Finke gains insight into her situation. She’s struck by the extraordinary beauty of a once broken ceramic piece that is even more beautiful after being repaired using the Japanese art of Kintsugi. Its durable beauty in its new form reminded her of her own resilience and beauty.

Finke is splendid in this one-woman musical. She’s fragile yet strong, charming, and very funny. She plays all the characters in the show and transitions smoothly from one to the other with crisp, distinctly different voices and physicality — often with humorous results. Her spellbinding storytelling is evident in both her speaking and pitch-perfect vocals. Her flawless French accent never wavers even when singing the jazzy, upbeat songs whose clever lyrics advance the story in every number. The range of emotion she conveys in her vocal numbers is truly remarkable. She belts, purrs, entices, growls, grieves, celebrates, and contemplates. Remarkable talent!

And, on top of all that, she expertly throws a pot from a clay ball on a potter’s wheel located at center stage. Drops of water fly, the wheel spins, and small, wet sponges caress the clay as she casually continues her story. It’s fascinating to see the piece metamorphose from a simple ball of clay.

**To avoid any confusion, please note: Alex Finke, the actor, is very pregnant. Her character, Marie, is absolutely not. 

Fun fact: One hundred fifty pounds of clay are lying in wait to be used during the show’s run.

The band sits on the side of the stage in full view yet unobtrusive. The talented musicians’  tight instrumentals beautifully complement Finke’s dynamic voice and energize the story. (Matt Herbert, music director)

The artsy, cluttered set overflows with shelves of pottery, books, a potter’s wheel, a kiln, lumps of clay, and assorted artist’s tools strewn around the floor. It suggests an artist’s frenzied desire to create in the perfect space. (Tony Cisek, designer)

This captivating, poignant production brings the complex Marie-Berthe to life while exploring the struggles and victories of her creative journey. “In Clay” is an exceptional, enthralling, inspiring must-see show.

-LtTL

City Theatre, 1300 Bingham Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203. The show runs through October 11

 

 

 

 

 

by Claire DeMarco 

Sibling rivalry has been around since Cain and Abel.  “True West” continues that tradition with the two main characters, Austin (Marc Palombo) and Lee (Braxton McCollum).

Both brothers, who have always had a troubling relationship, find themselves together at their mother’s house in Southern California in the early 1980’s while she is vacationing in Alaska. Austin is house-sitting. Lee, who normally hangs out in the desert, just pops in unannounced.

Austin is the younger brother embracing a traditional life. He is college-educated, married with children, and enjoying a successful screenwriting career. Lee is a loner, an excessive drinker, and always confrontational. He is also a petty thief (with a penchant for stealing appliances).

Tensions build between the brothers when Hollywood producer, Saul (John McManus) visits to discuss potential opportunities for Austin. Through sheer nagging and persistence, Lee ingratiates himself into convincing Saul that, he too, can write a screenplay.

Conflict grows between the brothers as Lee threatens to break into Austin’s settled, controlled world.  When Lee successfully entices Saul to have his screenplay produced and Lee’s is tabled, the brothers engage in verbal assaults as each one engages in role reversal.

The more Austin drinks the more aggressive and argumentative he becomes. Although he continues to verbally lash out at his brother, Lee attempts to supply some reasoning to his arguments with Austin.

And just wait until their mom (Nancy Julian) shows up!

Palombo delivers as the younger brother who is normally structured, controlled and serious. He brilliantly changes from that world, gradually taking on the annoying characteristics of his older brother.

McCollum pulls out all the stops as the older brother.  He is believable as the irritating, sarcastic and braggard older brother, but he successfully also shows us his insecurity.

Both Palombo and McCollum’s roles transition into a frantic physical free-for-all confrontation that requires a controlled delivery and great timing. They succeed.

McManus plays Saul as the typical Hollywood producer – a flashy dresser with a slick delivery. His main concern is financial, and he is a convincing manipulator toying with both brothers.

Nancy Julian has a small role, but she plays Mom as a woman a bit out of touch with reality, marginally concerned with her sons’ fighting but more upset about her houseplants neglected during her absence.

Special recognition to:

Director Samuel G. C. Muñoz

Scenic Designer Noah Glaister

Fight Captain Katie Marks

Congratulations, Playbox Productions on a well-done production!

-CED

“True West” is a production of Playbox Productions.  Performances run from September 24th to October 4th at Three Stories, 937 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information, click here.