Theatre

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – Lyric Theatre at Civic Center

The Lyric Theatre is, of course, the premier theatre troupe in Oklahoma City, and we went to their production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Civic Center last night. The flying car thing was pretty cool – no visible ropes, etc. I liked the lights in the face, that tactfully dimmed after a bit. The singing and acting were the best we’ve seen so far in Oklahoma. The 2nd Act was more fun, though it felt short enough that the intermission seemed needless. Maybe time just flew. Get to your seats on time for Act 2, because the evil spies open it in the orchestra, which is funny, though some of their humour was more trite. The obligatory clapalong and the now unavoidable standing ovation for any performance of anything ended the show. Jemima (Lauren Kliewer) was wonderfully enthusiastic – my favorite character for that, though Molly Tynes as the Baroness was wonderful – less flat in the 2nd act where she broke out of the mold.

See: NewsOK article & video and  Previous NewsOK article

Summerstock

We went to see Oliver (the musical) on opening night at Summerstock 2010 at the outdoor amphitheatre at Mitch Park in Edmond.

At about the 4th number it starts to get interesting. We thought the female street urchins were talented.

Bring blanket or chair. Concessions are cheap, but it’s junk, and nothing’s open nearby at intermissions but a 7-Eleven, so bring your bananas and granola, box wine or beer, and it’s a show. If you don’t want outbursts to interrupt the play, sit away from families with children. Young couples are usually quieter. If you’re on a blanket, stake out a spot higher than stage level (or you won’t see over the chairs). Avoid the aisles, because people do use them to come and go, not waiting between numbers, unlike a theatre performance. There were no mosquitos – June bugs were plentiful but not a big deal (I liked simulating one at the back of the wife’s neck).

The performance was too familiar to the wife (me too) – that’s not their fault – we just know the story so well that there are no surprises.

One thing I’ve observed at nearly every play so far is that actors should practice more clarity doing their lines. The tendency to rush or breathe through syllables, popular in a texting culture, makes some things incomprehensible, especially for someone with an Oklahoma accent attempting a British one. We saw the same thing with Jekyl and Hyde. Enunciate the syllables, for goodness sake, or you’re throwing out half of what the writer created, and generating a lot of truly broken English.

Green Gables

Went to Anne of Green Gables today at Poteet Theatre in Oklahoma City. A local Protestant church houses this theatre, which puts on numerous productions each season and teaches acting classes. We’re definitely going to Guys and Dolls in November.

I hadn’t read the book (my wife had) or seen the play. It was quite good. The wife prefers musicals,  but I like it all. The actors were, understandably for this play, mostly young. Impressive performance by all.

We had coffee at Coffee Slingers – home of individually pressed kick-ass coffee (meaning, it’s strong), and some really bad food (no need to say where). Of course, we came home to find our house had suffered severe storm damage (broken glass, holes everywhere, etc.) that we had just missed. At least the car didn’t get hit.

Jekyll & Hyde (The Musical)

We took in a matinee of the production of Jekyll and Hyde (the musical) by the Regional Actors Community Theatre at the Wilkins Theater of Northern Oklahoma College [details]. A great way to spend an afternoon.

The play was good – I liked the running theme, not just of the “essential twoness” (to use WEB Dubois’ term) of man’s character, but of the social elements of hypocrisy and “the fascade!” (as the continual refrain went). I thought the play had one or two quirks: The alternate love interest for Jekyll’s fiance never developed. I don’t think it was necessary to include his interest in her if it’s just to show that ‘no, she makes her own choices’ – I found that part preachy and trite, but I enjoyed the comedy of Jekyll’s response, which made up for it. Likewise, Lucy’s pimp (Spider) was trotted out a couple of times, once for a brief monologue, but without any further development there, either. Again, unnecessary, and probably better to leave him nebulous and enigmatic than offer a persona that doesn’t get to really live before we cease caring whether he’s going to become another victim or not. I was willing to take an interest in both characters and their desires, but then the writer must give us more. Don’t tease.

The musical numbers were good, although I could do with just a slight few less of them, but then I’m a barbarian. I think when the same character has just finished one song, sits down, and starts another, it’s a bit thick. I thought the lyrics were inventive, though. I want to say almost ‘Matt Groenig like’ in their satirical appropriateness to the ‘fascade’ theme of Hyde’s genuineness (being truly what he was) over against society’s pretense (and that of his victims).

The performance was in a small theatre, but the vocals often didn’t achieve sufficient volume. I’d have liked the actors mic’ed wirelessly for amplification, but of course it’s a small college budget, so I don’t expect Madonna’s equipment. And I’d have liked to hear more of the actors’ actual voices in some cases, instead of trying so hard to sing in their ‘character voices’ (adding age, accent, and melodrama). The level of practice was evident though – these guys must have drilled all season, and often into the night.

Mary Beth Garrison (Lucy) was the standout female performer, in my mind. Her vocals were unstudied (as in natural, not unpracticed), and she put herself unselfconsciously into the burlesque scene (among others), with the other young female roles clearly having a  blast joining her. They were ’smokin’. She succeeded in being a tragic figure, just as easily.

Eric Bradford (as John Utterson – Jekyll’s attorney) was, in my view, the most interesting male performer. I often forgot that he’s much younger than his role, or even that he was acting. Impressive young man. He displayed great comfort in his part, seemingly relaxed at all times, and ever reliable to inject the atmosphere of support required of Jekyll’s staunch friend. He succeeded so well, I wanted him for my own friend by show’s end.

The lead’s (Edward Dixon’s) best part was the song in which he switches back and forth repeatedly from Jekyl to Hyde. He clearly practiced the speed demanded by the score, which was managed with quite a bit of class by two musicians on their own. Again, though, I would have liked to have heard more of his true voice - I thought it cracked to a bit of a whine throughout the musical. But occasionally he let go, where the volume he wanted to project forced him back to how he really sounds – those were his best moments – somwhere between unselfconscious and confident, or at least surrendered to the vocal demands.

Many of the vocalists could focus more on clarity. I’d rather understand what they’re singing, without straining to comprehend, than for the ladies to sustain such high, operatic notes, or the men try to retain an accent and artificially deep tone. The goal is not to imitate someone else’s performance, but to make it your own. To do that, you have to trust your voice, even if it’s safer not to. One trademark of great performances is that the lyrics are just as important as what the voice can do as musical instrument – it must be a challenge to achieve balance, though, and one certainly can’t speak as though it were easy. It’s doubtful this group has had the length of time to polish one production that you’d expect on Broadway, so you can’t fault them for being merely good.

As I say, though, you could tell these are the double football practice tough guys (and gals) of theatre. The dedication was evident.

One final note on Chelsea Mayer (Emma – Jekyll’s fiance). I noticed that when she was focused on a lengthy or detailed number, she really forgot herself (exactly as needed) and lived out the emotional presence of her character. That (again) delightful unselfconsciousness, was purchased with some of what I already mentioned I’d prefer from the female vocals, but I gathered she’s capable of both.

There are too many players, hands, operators, and others to comment in detail upon them all. I saw something to be impressed about in each, however. The play dragged a bit in a couple of areas (that’s the writer, not the troupe’s issue), and I wished they’d have felt free to actually cut or just abbreviate a couple of (more?) numbers, but I’ll go back to see them again with another production.

The campus of NOC looked to share a common ancestry with the layout of OU. The circle drive led us exactly where we expected to go. We’re excited to learn that there are also large scale musical productions going on there, and look forward to visiting again.

Afterward, we ate at Gottigos in Tonkawa (it’s our custom to eat local mom & pop food when we visit another town – and whenever possible in our own). The pizza was a great value. The texture was just right. The crust was a little too artifical-buttery, but it made up for it in overall cheesy deliciousness.

Tonkawa was a quiet, little town, with one police car in front of the station, people who still dress out in cowboy hats and pointy boots on Sunday, a large family picnic happening in the park (in a lot of places, you wonder if the parks ever get used at all), and a lot of trucks in front of the pub. We were glad to enjoy a pleasant drive around downtown before going back.