Hiatus/Reviews

Welcome back, all who read this blog. All meaning all four of you.

I'm back from my hiatus from theatre and showtunes, and I'm looking forward to a fall season full of lots of theatre and lots of belting, because lets face it...if you're not beting, you're not trying. Anyways, enough with me falling off the face of the earth without telling you, so let us move on.

Review wise, I caught Teatro 101's outstanding production of "Sideshow" which took place at the Mobtown Theatre in Baltimore. Artistic Director David Gregory has been garnering rave reviews for his work with his new theatre company, so I was very excited to see what the production had in store, and I will start with this...they need a better space. The work being done there is very high-caliber and really deserves a bigger space that can fit more people and give them more room to create, because, after seeing some terrible regional theater in the past few years, Teatro 101 is a breath of fresh air. The creative team work so well to bring this show to life, and this piece is notoriously difficult to do well. The company is fresh and exciting, and handled the conceptual challenge of this show with style. Upon entering, the audience is watching an old black and white film about a freak show, which sets an odd and almost unsettling mood that is kept until curtain call.

Mr.Gregory has assembled and directed a great cast. His direction is simple and effective, and doesn't rely on campy stereotypes to get the point across. It is clear that he holds his audience accountable to expect more from local theatre than some other companies do. Ryan Michael Haase, who is also in the cast as The Geek, created a brilliant set. The entire concept of his design was just so well thought out and well executed, despite the fact that it was generally sparse. The show is set in a run-down traveling freak show, and that is exactly what he created. The stage is nearly bare, accented with a few boxes and staircases. Various strung lights and ropes create a controlled chaos that I really enjoyed. Props to him for fantastic design. Julia M. Smith created an opening video which was projected during the first number of the show, and her creative use of stop motion animation gave the production a punch of something unexpected, and they handled the "transformation" of the freaks in a way that I've never seen before.

As for the cast, Amanda Rife and Shelly Work as Violet and Daisy Hilton, do a great job. Their voices blend well, and despite the physical challenge of staying "attached at the hip" they manage to create entirely separate characters, which is crucial with those roles. I will say that age wise, they were mismatched, but it is merely a surface observation that one quickly forgets. For such demanding roles, these two divas handle them wonderfully. Chris Rudy is Buddy, one of the roles that I can't say I'm very fond of. M.r Rudy has a great pop tenor voice, which is put on great display throughout the production, but some of his acting choices felt slightly stale at times. Perhaps it was a character choice that I never fully absorbed, but overall, he was enjoyable. The evening's real scene stealer is Kevin McAllister as Jake. If anything, it was worth seeing the show solely for his "You Should be Loved" in Act 2. The man can sing, and on top of that, he knows how to act a song. The audience was eerily still when he sang. He has a commanding presence that cannot be ignored, and he was the evening's stand out performance.

The ensemble fills out the show nicely. Their costumes were a little wonky, but they more than make up for it with their powerful sound and characters. I've seen Side Show done with a rather large ensemble, and I like that the ensemble was small. Granted, there wasn't any space for one more person on the stage, but they do a great job. I was really loving the vocals during "Tunnel of Love", especially with a special light trick that was used to set the mood.
Overall, the show gets an A++ from me. Great job, freaks!

OKAY. I know...it has been too long since I've written a review so that sucked, but deal with it. They were amazing, and I promise to post their next review ON opening night. Kudos to them!