Entries Tagged 'Theater Review' ↓

by Franco Tarsitano

Let me begin by telling you that Ron Kelly, who by the way is a great performer, a great humanitarian, and a great personal friend of mine, opened his Holiday Variety Show, “FA LA LA THIS,” on Friday night atop of cozy Carolyn’s Coffee Connection.

The evening line-up of performers: Dove was “hands on” with his/her letters to Santa, Mel Meskimen brought the angst of “giftgasm”. Sweetness Jill Paisted fingered a folksy guitar and carols “Christmas In Jail,” and “Rudolph the Red-nosed Wino”. Ron Kelly’s “Top Ten Secret Santa’s Gifts” and “Top Ten Self-Help Books to Give As a Gift” caught me thinking that I might have to make some returns right away.

Ron’s final monologue reveals an astute story-teller who manages to keep the audience compelled with an unexpected twist. We are reminded that the Holidays have their innocence, tragedies and everything in between. “FA LA LA THIS” is a gift to Kenosha.

by Fannie Expositore

Charles Dickens is rolling over in his grave- but it’s okay, because he’s rolling with laughter. “A Christmas Twist” is not your grandma’s Dickens. A head-on collision of the classics “Oliver Twist” and “A Christmas Carol,” with a little Artful (read Orphan) Annie thrown in, this show introduces a few of your favorite characters with, well, a twist.

We meet a young(ish) Tiny Twist, a 6-foot-tall, crippled orphan boy, as he’s tossed from the work house to Fagin’s den of thieves and follow him into the loving arms of Bob and Emily Cratchit, his well intentioned (if somewhat inept) adoptive parents. Sarcasm and merriment ensue as a murder plot hatches between Fagin, an Indian burning, noogie giving Ebenezer Scrooge, and his nephew Mr. Bumble.

The cast includes many well known, albeit modified, Dicken’s characters including an air-headed Ghost of Christmas Past, an alcoholic Ghost of Christmas Present, and a Ghost of Christmas Future equipped with his own version of elevator shoes. Mr. Bumble, Scrooge’s greedy nephew, inundates the audience with an idiom for all occasions (“As harsh as a gruel enema”, “A more gruesome sight than a leper nudist colony”).

Tom Amacher steals the show with his recognizable, but distinctive version of Ebenezer Scrooge. As in previous LSP productions, such as the 2005 season’s “The Compleat Works of Shakespeare (Abridged),” his comedic timing is always right on.

This reviewer gives the show three laughs per minute (that’s three out of three, by the way).

When:
November 30- December 15

Where:
The Rhode Center for the Arts
514 56th street
Downtown Kenosha, WI 53140

To reserve tickets call: (262) 657-PLAY (7529)
www.rhodeopera.org

Fannie Expositore is ExposeKenosha’s “secret” reviewer.

Review by Matt Smith

What do you get when you combine some of the best theatrical talent in Kenosha with a comedic horror musical? That’s a question I never thought I would ask (or get an answer to for that matter), but at Rhode Opera House, this hilarious interpretation of the horror classic is something worth seeing.

Descibed by director Ray Setzer as “a cross between Mel Brooks and Gilbert and Sullivan,” this play puts us in the middle of a family headed by Dr. Sam Seward (Philip Jaeger), a psychiatrist in charge of a mental facility. His wife Sophie (Brandi Schuld) is the typical doctor’s wife with high fashion sense and (at first) low impression of others. The daughter, Mina Seward (Meg Walsh), the somewhat typical “victim” who’s fiance goes to Transylvania in search of Count Dracula’s castle, only to not return. The Count (Joseph Cardamone III) takes an interest in her from the start, but is thwarted several times before stealing his prize.

The play begins with the Count coming to the Sewards’ for a formal dinner. Joining them will be Bubu Padoop (Amy-Louise Seyller), Mina’s best friend, and one of the Institution’s inmates, Boris Renfield (Vince Cook). When the maid Nelly Norton (Melissa Kelly Caramone) is surprised by the seemingly insane Dr. Van Helsing (Jay Rattle), trying to warn the family of the impending doom, hilarity and foolishness soon follow.

This mini-musical, featuring so much talent both vocal and theatrical, feels just like a show on Broadway . The comedy styling and musical arrangements remind me very much of other comedic musical masterpieces like Wicked and Nunsense.

Lakeside Players, Inc. Presents:
Dracula The Musical?
by Rick Abbot
Sponsored by: Murder By Design

October 19th-November 3rd, 2007
7:30 pm Fridays & Saturdays
2:00 pm Sundays
(tickets are available at the door, the box office is open one hour prior to performance)

Where:
The Rhode Center for the Arts
514 56th street
Downtown Kenosha, WI 53141

To reserve tickets call: (262) 657-PLAY (7529)
www.rhodeopera.org

Matt Smith lives right in the middle of Historic Downtown. Since moving to Kenosha in July, he has instantly fallen in love with this city.