Ms. Smarty Pants Know It All

I caught the traveling company of Fiddler on the Roof in Chicago’s Auditorium Theater last week. I have seen the movie before, but I have never seen this musical come to life on the stage.

I had almost forgotten what musical theater used to be like. I’ve gotten so used to the more modern productions fielding massive sets that move and flash and smoke. Everyone’s in complicated costumes and complicated make-up.

This traveling production of Fiddler brought in just a few well-made pieces to establish place, and then it let the actors carry the stage. A very nice change of pace. I was very aware that I was watching a stage performance, if that makes sense at all.

Overall, I think this company does a passable job, but I do have some qualms to share.

My first note has to do with the number of people on stage in relation to the size of the stage. I can’t imagine that the Auditorium’s stage is really that much smaller than other stages around the country, but for whatever reason, the crowd scenes felt overly crowded. This muddles the action and makes things harder to follow.

A jammed stage also hems in Jerome Robbins’s original choreography. I would have loved to see the dancers highlighted in those now iconic set pieces. I imagine that this is a constant challenge for every traveling show, but it seems like they should have a system figured out by now.

I also didn’t think that the featured dancers were all that strong, but this could be due to the constrained square footage with which they had to work.

Unfortunately, I also felt that some of the casting could have been better. The rabbi, for one, did not have a voice that fit the character. The constable, while large, did not project the presence that he should have to make the role work.

If this production is going to rely on the talent, the producers need to find the right people for the parts. As it is, I feel like I saw an enjoyable effort but not a top-notch one.

Tags: Theater by Ms. SP
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Million Dollar Quartet is a home-grown musical that is a fictionalized account of a December day in 1956. Four would-be legends ended up in Sun Records, the baby of pioneer producer Sam Philips.

Personally, I find awkward the musicals that cobble established songs together into a new storylines. In the case of Million Dollar Quartet, where the characters are performing them straight-up as songs rather than as story elements, I found it additionally odd.

This is a show where a couple lines of dialogue, really—of exposition, are jammed in between the songs. The night jumps from hit to hit to hit.

It’s not bad if that is what you want, but it does make reacting to it a bit difficult. Is it a concert? Is it a play? How should I blend the two?

The up-close seating of Chicago’s Apollo Theater heightens the confusion. The actors can see you, and you can see each other. The loud, brash rock ‘n roll, as well as the narration, definitely go through the fourth wall. The talent of the cast is not in question. They bring the charisma and abilities of the original performers through, and the resulting music is pretty stupendous, but it does bring to the fore an interesting social phenomenon.

Even now, this early rock ‘n roll comes across so raw and powerful. The beats, rhythms, and energy power right into you. But what if those teens who propelled this music into the mainstream the first time are now a little too settled to “shake it, baby, shake it?”

Well, what happens is that the music and attitude come blasting from the stage while the audience may clap along a little bit… sometimes… if some people feel like it.

At least that’s what happened on the night that I went.

It was awkward.

Tags: Chicago, Theater by Ms. SP
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Return of the Dapper Men changes what we will think of when we think about a graphic novel. The volume itself is hardbound with raised cover elements and high quality paper. It is a beautifully made book that feels like one to keep.

The visuals are also so unique and created with care. I’m not usually one to linger over images within a graphic novel, but I did for this one. Janet Lee, the artist, applied a unique style, which is nicely explained in an extra spread at the end of the book, to their creation.

Her multi-layered cut-out process complemented and added to the fairy tale/parable tone of the overall story, of which the basic premise is: Anorev is a town that’s wrong. Seemingly, an 11-year-old boy and a robot girl are the only ones who can feel it.

It is an ambitious effort that is worth your time, but… the scarcity of plot details is what makes it fall short for me. The mystery rolls along well while reading but the pages will frustratingly leave out reveals and answers on purpose. We’ll pick up right afterwards to deal with the consequences.

I understand playing with genres. It’s a trend in today’s works, but for me, I still think fairy tales and satires need themes and arcs.

It felt like Jim McCann was trying to get there but even after a few days of thinking, I still don’t know if he had anything specific to say about ideas like destiny, growing up, embracing differences, and change.

There are leads and hints aplenty in the story line. I would like more resolutions, both emotional and plot-wise, to make the reading experience more satisfying.

Tags: Books by Ms. SP
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