1960s

Belfry: Story of growing up and growing apart

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By John Lyle Belden

Do you miss your high school days? Or were you thankful to leave them behind?

These questions come to mind as we watch the three ladies of the play “Vanities,” the Off-Broadway hit by Jack Heifner presented by The Belfry Theatre at The Cat in Carmel, directed by Jen Otterman.

The title metaphor dominates the back of the stage: three mirrored dressing tables where the actors finish their makeup and will change wigs between scenes. Rather than spoil the stage “magic,” this provides an element of continuity. We meet three young women from a Texas town in their senior year of high school, fall 1963; as college seniors and sisters at the KKG sorority in 1968; and meeting up as adults in New York in 1974.

Kathy (Ka’Lena Cuevas), head cheerleader and planner of all major social events, practices for that day’s pep rally with squadmates Mary (Becca Bartley) and Joanne (Cara Olson). In this era between Elvis and the Beatles, the girls are very much of their time. Mary relates the degree to which she lets her boyfriend, Jim, touch her, while Joanne declares she would never allow that with her beau, Ted. Meanwhile Kathy is in a chaste-but-serious relationship with steady Gary.

At Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kathy is still an obsessive planner, readying for the Spring rush and dismayed at the quality of freshmen applying for the sorority. Jim and Gary are each history, but Joanne will marry Ted shortly after Commencement. She looks forward to being a housewife as her husband becomes a lawyer, her degree in music almost an accidental thing. Mary is getting a degree in interior design and tickets to Europe, trading life with disapproving parents for a quest to be “the perfect lost person.” Kathy, facing a future for the first time without her best friends, will continue her life of structure and schedule as a teacher.

In a nice NYC garden apartment, Kathy invites her old friends over – Mary from her SoHo art gallery, Joanne from the Connecticut home she shares with her attorney husband and young children. Champaign will flow, as will words and honest feelings.

True to the title, we have three young women who struggle to see outside themselves. Cuevas maintains a calm demeanor with Kathy, guarded and rarely letting on how confident (or not) she really feels, but never aloof. Bartley takes Mary on her arc of rebellion with an anxiety-tempered smile as she experiences all she can, finding everything but fulfillment. Olson embraces Joanne’s embrace of conservative society expectations, keeping her Texas accent and uncomplicated worldview (except for the strain of childrearing) throughout.

While the subject matter gets serious – complete with a couple of well-placed F-bombs – this is generally a comedy, and these besties do bring on quite a few hearty laughs. In all, an entertaining, intriguing look at an era and the women who came of age in it.

Don’t be too proud to see “Vanities,” 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, March 13-15, at The Cat, 254 Veterans Way in downtown Carmel. For tickets visit thecat.biz or thebelfrytheatre.com.

From fake fruit to real feelings: Belfry delivers Simon classic

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By John Lyle Belden

You can’t go wrong with a comedy play by Neil Simon, and The Belfry Theatre presents the one that started his incredible run of Broadway and film hits.

“Come Blow Your Horn” is not a musical, but more about blasting one’s own achievements. In this case 1960s swinging single Alan Baker (Josh Gibson), in a nice Manhattan apartment with constant female companionship. He’s been having fun with aspiring actress Peggy (Adriana Menefee), who stretches being “bad with names” to comic lengths. However, his more regular companion, Connie (Alyssa Lay), has come home from her singing tour early.

Meanwhile, Alan’s younger brother, Buddy (Jeff Haber), has arrived to stay with him, finally escaping living with their parents – neurotic and overbearing Mother (Vickie Phipps), and hot-tempered Father (Chris Otterman), who varies from passive-aggressive to aggressive-aggressive. The family owns a wax-fruit factory where the father employs both sons, though he rails at “the bum” Alan’s slacking.

Alan seeks to make Buddy more irresponsible like him, while, ironically, he finds himself having authentic feelings for Connie. But when the playboy antics get too complex, Father’s reaction could rename this show “Come Blow Your Top.”

This comedy shows hints of Simon’s linguistic mastery and knack for wacky situations that reach perfection in his later shows. On its own merits, it’s wildly enjoyable, and you can tell the cast are having fun with it as well. Gibson is great at projecting cheeky confidence, so is in his element here. Haber delivers a perfect contrast, as a man perpetually unsure of himself. After intermission, the two switch demeanors, adding dimension to their characters, as well as more laughs.

Lay is adorable as usual and shows both her and her performer character’s range in her efforts to get Alan to mature. In roles inspired by Simon’s own parents, Phipps and Otterman shine as the Mom and Dad who seem to never be happy, yet still get across that they love their kids – infuriating as they are. Menefee plays Peggy as more nice than smart, elevating a rather limited role. Katherine Gibson has a memorable cameo as Aunt Gussie.

Veteran director Lori Raffel, who has handled plenty of wackiness in various central Indiana companies, delivers an endearing take on this classic. Performances are Friday through Sunday, Sept. 26-28, at The Switch Theatre, 10029 126th St., Fishers. Info and tickets at thebelfrytheatre.com.

Where a life becomes a legacy: IBTC honors MLK with ‘Mountaintop’

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By John Lyle Belden

I have been to the Lorraine Motel.

The site near downtown Memphis, Tenn., where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, is now a monument and museum. Its façade was restored so that it is frozen in time to April 1968. This exterior, accessible to the public even when the museum is closed, has plaques and media to help visitors understand what happened there.

However, to see inside King’s room, you only need travel as far as Mass. Ave. in downtown Indy, for the Indianapolis Black Theater Company production of “The Mountaintop,” written by Katori Hall, directed by company artistic director Tijideen Rowley.

The audio as you take your seats at the main stage of the District Theatre is of King delivering the speech that gives the play its name. He relates the struggle for civil rights as a long historic journey, and famously likens himself to Moses of the Bible who was allowed to view the Promised Land from atop a mountain, knowing he would not go there himself.

Given what would happen the very next day, this rings prophetic, but King knew that the constant death threats, dissatisfaction within his own movement, and even harassment by the FBI would somehow catch up to him. In supporting a strike by Black sanitation workers and speaking out about Vietnam, as well as years of the work for which we honor him now, he was likely one of the most hated men in America. Perhaps, also, he thought he wouldn’t live naturally long enough to see real progress (could he have made it to 2008?).

Daniel A. Martin takes on King like a bespoke suit, shining with intelligence and charisma, but also just a man, troubles on his mind, who could really use a cigarette. He connects with home by the bedside telephone – after checking it for a bug – to hear the voices of his wife and daughter in Atlanta. Soon after, he is visited by a maid, delivering room service.

The beautiful young woman, Camae, is both deferential to the famous “Preacher King” and a bit sassy, which he can’t help liking. Her speech has an almost comical brokenness, peppered with occasional profanity and words that seem out of place. She is so much more than she seems.

Opening night featured a wonderful performance by Dija Renuka as Camae. Due to an unexpected health issue, her role is now played by prepared understudy Clarissa Michelle. (Standing by to understudy King is Bryan Ball.)

Hall, a Memphis native, gave the play rich details for Rowley and the cast to work with, humanizing a man now considered a saint, even by those who would have opposed him in his era. Martin delivers a genuine performance of a man confronting stages of grief for his life and, he fears, his legacy. Through him we see the toll the work has taken and the need for it to continue.

Serious as it all gets, there are moments of welcome humor, including absurd bits that work in context. Just pull out a stage-fake Pall Mall, and relax. Tomorrow, the baton of his race is in your hand.

Performances of “The Mountaintop” are Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 25-28, at the District, 627 Massachusetts Ave., Indianapolis. (Ball plays King on Thursday.) Get info and tickets at indydistricttheatre.org.

Musical blast from the past by ATI

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By John Lyle Belden

Every era has both its triumphs and struggles; they were also years which those who grew up in tend to remember fondly. For some of us – and many of our parents – that was the 1960s, a time of big changes, big hair, and a lot of great music.

“Beehive: The 60’s Musical” presented by Actors Theatre of Indiana, gives us more than 30 hits from the decade, with emphasis on songs sung by women – from “It’s My Party” to “Me and Bobby McGee.”

Our guides through this time of feminine revolution are six outstanding singers: Rachel Dudt, Riley Francis, Michaela McGarel, Kayla Perry, Kria Rangel, and Abigail Storm, who also acts as host. They are backed by a live band, led by Greg Wolff. The show is directed and choreographed by Carol Worcel.

There are a couple of scenes with direct impersonations of the original singers – done very well – but mostly the emphasis is on heartfelt renditions that sound like we remember coming from our transistor radios. On occasion there may be some audience involvement, such as providing names for “The Name Game,” and throughout we are encouraged to clap and even sing along.

In all, this is just a fun evening of music that still entertains and inspires, even decades later. For the Boomers who remember, or those of other generations who love swinging to the oldies, there are two more weeks of “Beehive,” Wednesday through Sunday, Sept. 10-14 and 17-21, at The Studio Theater of the Allied Solutions Center for The Performing Arts in downtown Carmel. Get info and tickets at atistage.org or thecenterpresents.org.

Mud Creek goes ‘Barefoot’

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By John Lyle Belden

Seeing a comedy by Neil Simon is kind of like treating yourself to a really nice meal. It just feels so good and satisfying. This is certainly true with the highly-quotable silly-even-when-serious fun of “Barefoot in the Park,” presented by Mud Creek Players, directed by Michelle Moore.

In the anything can happen time and place of 1960s New York, newlyweds Paul and Corie Bratter (Matthew Blandford and Piper Williams) move into their first apartment – a fifth-floor walk-up. Corie eagerly awaits a delayed furniture delivery, but the only arrival is the phone company man (Kevin Smith), who feels every step of the five flights (plus stoop). Soon Paul arrives from his job as a lawyer and while his wife giddily accepts their new place, he can’t help but see its many flaws.

Next to ascend the eternal stairs is Corie’s mother, Ethel (Barb Weaver). To see the apartment after it’s furnished, she agrees to return that Friday for dinner.

Paul is also annoyed – while Corie is pleased – to find that their brownstone is full of eccentric tenants, especially their upstairs (attic) neighbor, aging worldly raconteur Victor Velasco (Chris Otterman). Feeling her mom could use some spice in her life, Corie invites him to dinner Friday as well. And that weekend, things get very spicy.

Simon likes to throw together odd couples, and Williams and Blandford portray well their tested love in a comic clash between one who leaps into life and one who prefers to just sit and get some work done. Corie gets almost too manic, yet that overwhelming nature plays into the second-act antics as Paul finds himself literally on the edge. Weaver nicely plays the woman feeling her adventurous years were behind her, finding herself in her wildest one yet. Otterman’s Victor is a gentlemanly force of nature, not so much chewing the scenery as serving it up with the perfect seasoning.

Smith gets to be charming while his AT&T tech catches his breath. In addition, Jackson Hawkins plays the Delivery Man, who not only finally brings furniture at the end of the first scene, but also appears at major scene changes to summon the stage crew – including Alexandra Sarell and stage manager Dallas Ganz – to move things around as needed.

So feast your senses (and “don’t forget to ‘pop’ it!”) at “Barefoot in the Park,” Thursday through Saturday, May 15-17, at Mud Creek Players “Barn,” 9740 E. 86th St., Indianapolis. Get tickets at mudcreekplayers.org.

Footlite: ‘Change’ shines

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By John Lyle Belden

When you are the singular housekeeper working in the basement of a modest home, it can feel like your only friends are the new washer and dryer. The swish-swish of the laundry sings to you, a rhythm matched by the Motown backup singers on the radio.

This is the world of Caroline Thibodeaux in “Caroline, or Change,” presented by Footlite Musicals, directed by Bradley Alan Lowe. It is the Indiana premiere of this 2003 Broadway musical by Tony Kushner, with music by Jeanine Tesori, based on Kushner’s own childhood.

Caroline (Damaris Burgin), a Black single mother in Lake Charles, La., in 1963, is fortunate to have a job working for the Gellman family even though they can’t pay much. Their young son, Noah (Asher Ortman) has taken a liking to her, but mostly her companions are Washing Machine (Anya Andrews), Dryer (Markell Pipkins), and The Radio (Jada Radford, Nia Hughes and Vivian Husband). We also meet personifications of the Bus (Samuel McKanney) that brings her to this neighborhood and the Moon (Angela Manlove) that shines up above. But this is not “Beauty and the Beast” – the feeling is closer to “Driving Miss Daisy” but as a musical is almost entirely sung-through. Consider it like an opera for the domestic servant, with music that includes Gospel, R&B, and Jewish Klezmer refrains.

Noah has his own difficulties, as his mother died and his musician father Stuart (Phil Criswell) is remarried, to close family friend Rose (Emily Mae Gaddy), of which the boy does not approve. Also on hand are his Gellman grandparents (Dan Flahive and Gisele Dollinger).

Caroline rides the homeward bus with fellow domestic Dotty (Zarah Shejule). She shares her small home with daughters Emmie (Kaylee Johnson-Bradley), Jackie (Cairo Graves), and Jo (Praia Graves) – her son is with the Army in Vietnam.

Rose notices that, being a typically careless boy, Noah keeps leaving pocket change in his pants when they go into the laundry. She decides to teach him a lesson by announcing that whatever Caroline finds, she gets to keep. However, the boy then makes a point of leaving nickels, dimes, and quarters to see what happens. As for Caroline, the arrangement doesn’t feel right, but this small “raise” is making a big difference for her girls.

National events are naturally at the edge of this story. They are in a relatively quiet Southern city, but still hear news of JFK as well as the Civil Rights struggle elsewhere – also, the statue of a Confederate “hero” in the center of town has disappeared.

Things get more interesting with the Hannukah visit of Rose’s father. Mr. Stopnick (Graham Brinklow) is a liberal New Yorker who feels for what “Negroes” are going through, but wishes they would take a different approach than that of Martin Luther King Jr.

Performances are wonderful all around. Burgin is endearing yet tough as the title character. The limits of her pride are often tested as dealing with “change,” in any form, makes her stronger. Johnson-Bradley is fierce as Emmie, an impetuous youth finding her voice and place in the world she’s growing into. Ortman’s Noah is a likable kid who makes mistakes but means well, though he learns that not everything you say can be taken back.

The most complex role, next to Caroline, turns out to be Rose. Gaddy plays her as someone who realizes she is the “evil stepmother” in this tale and defies that by showing she does care in her own way. At first homesick for New York, she dedicates herself to the household and family she has chosen, including the boy she hopes one day with love her, and the proud Black woman she tries to understand.

Discover this unconventional look at some interesting people (and appliances). “Caroline, or Change” plays through March 16 at 1847 N. Alabama St., downtown Indianapolis. Get tickets at footlite.org.

‘Four Women’ face horrors with song

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By John Lyle Belden

Oh, “To be Young, Gifted, and Black” – then to have it all be suddenly taken away.

This was the fate of four girls at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, when it was bombed by members of the KKK on Sept. 15, 1963. Among the thousands who were compelled by this incident to take action for Civil Rights was the outspoken Black singer and songwriter Nina Simone.

In “Nina Simone: Four Women,” the play by Christina Ham on the mainstage of the Indiana Repertory Theatre, we see the entertainer at her piano on Sept. 16, struggling to channel her rage into a new song – “an anthem,” she insists – to focus the feelings of all who hear it.

In dark imaginings presented in the exceptional stage design by Regina Garcia, Simone (Akili Mi Mali) is just a few steps from the ruined church floor, with charred pews askew and scattered remnants of toys, before the church’s lone surviving stained-glass window. And she is not there alone. Sarah (Jamecia Bennett), a middle-aged woman in housekeeper’s dress and apron, examines the scene. She recognizes Simone and encourages her to sing a hymn rather than an angry tune with objectionable words. Nicely-dressed Sephronia (Ariel Williams) also appears, ratcheting up the tension even more as she, being lighter-skinned, faces disdain from darker-hued folks – though, as she points out, all the Whites outside see is “another Negro.” Eventually, we meet the fourth woman, Sweet Thing (Precious Omigie), a sex worker holding proud to what dignity she can muster.

Director Austene Van said this encounter with the scene and these three archetypes of Black women of the era help Simone to process this change in her life and career, from singer of popular tunes to an activist with her own emotionally charged songs. With some humor, music including many hits from Simone’s repertoire, and frank discussions, we see the struggle from those who had to live it – and arguably still do.

The “fifth” woman is music director Morgan E. Stevenson who accompanies on Simone’s piano as needed.

Ni Mali beautifully brings Simone to life, in looks, bearing and voice. The others get to sing as well; Bennett’s bold rendition of “His Eye is On the Sparrow” had inspired reactions from the opening night audience.

As Simone herself might point out, this is about more than her. The girls who died that Sunday are ever in the characters’ minds – unlike the newspapers of the day, they say the victims’ names. The song that emerges from this event, “Mississippi Goddam,” widens the focus from a single city to the entire American South and includes the murder of Medgar Evers that year.

“Nina Simone: Four Women” runs through March 2 at the IRT, 140 W. Washington St. in the heart of downtown Indianapolis. Get info and tickets at irtlive.com.

Waves of laughter at Cryptid’s ‘Beach Party’

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By John Lyle Belden

Let’s take a beachin’ trip back to 1962, as weirdly envisioned in 1987, then done for film in 2000 with actors you may know but the same dude doing the script, for further irreverent treatment by Indy’s Cryptid Entertainment today in “Psycho Beach Party,” directed by Kevin Holladay.

Did you know that Oscar-winning actress Sally Field famously played both beach-chick Gidget and, in a different film, the multiple-personality sufferer Sybil? Not sure why I brought that up…

Anyway, the Off-Broadway hit by Charles Busch sends up the ‘60s Beach films with inspiration from Hitchcock-style horror. Note to the triggered, especially as it is Mental Health Awareness Month, but this also hearkens back to not-that-long-ago when being a total whacko was fair game for comedy. This doesn’t so much mock Dissociative Identity Disorder (which is real, but rare, and caused by deep trauma) so much as the way such conditions were exaggerated for dramatic and comic effect.

In our mythical Malibu, The Great Kanaka (Thomas Sebald) rules the waves, accompanied by college dropout – Psych, of course – Starcat (Suraj Choudhary). Chicklet (Ellie Graves) a girl with small boobs and big dreams, provided she can stay free of her overbearing mother (Andrea Haskett), wants to learn to surf, even if it is a man’s world. Bikini hottie Marvel Ann (Hannah Embree) has her eyes on one of those men, and Chicklet’s bestie Berdine (Ezri Braid-Grizell) has her mind occupied by the great (non-surfing) philosophers. Other surfer dudes are Provoloney (Case Jacobus), Yo-yo (Katie Endres), and Nicky (Kelly Haas).

An incognito movie star, Bettina Barnes (Jessica Hawkins), shows up hoping to get away from the world of schlock films. Meanwhile, Kanaka accidentally discovers that sometimes Chicklet really isn’t herself – and alter ego Ann Bowman (!) kinda turns him on.

Also, there have been bizarre shaving attacks.

Considering that Busch played Chicklet in the original New York production, don’t be surprised that things here get a bit gender-fluid and queer. It just adds to the fun.

The cast all ride the waves of absurdity for all they’re worth. Graves shows entertaining range and talent, so that she could also move on to more dramatic roles (y’know, like Sally Field did). Sebald looks like Indy’s version of Jason Mamoa with all the same fun energy and cool charisma. Choudhary (who was cool with me saying he looks like if Jesus were drawn correctly) charms as well. Embree is cutely committed to her high-class persona. Hawkins has no problem hanging with these characters, taking to being rightly feted like a queen with her court.

What is the secret of Chicklet’s troubled past? Will Provoloney and Yo-Yo admit their feelings? Can I get an invite to the Luau? (The answer to the last one is no, but they did give me a beach ball.)

See the Cryptids without the time restraints of a Fringe show, Thursday through Sunday (two shows on Saturday), May 16-19, at Fonseca Theatre, 2805 W. Michigan St., Indianapolis. Find Cryptid Entertainment on Facebook for info and tickets or try this link.

Take a ride with Civic’s ‘Miss Daisy’

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By John Lyle Belden

Sometimes, it’s nice to have the entertainment equivalent of comfort food.

Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre presents “Driving Miss Daisy,” the Pulitzer-winning play by Alfred Uhry, directed by Civic executive artistic director Michael J. Lasley. It’s a familiar story, thanks to both it being a heartwarming hit that’s easy to stage with three actors, and its adaptation into an Oscar-winning movie.

It also has the familiar feeling from being based on Uhry’s own relatives and including events that occurred in Atlanta in the 1950s and 1960s. The plot’s not complicated: Seventy-two year old Daisy (Ellen Kingston) has crashed her new automobile, and her son Boolie (David Wood) insists she no longer be allowed to drive. She stubbornly refuses to hire a driver, so he does – Hoke (Antoine Demmings), a middle-aged man of varied driving experience. What follows is the growing friendship between the old Jewish woman set in her ways and her Black driver with unflagging good nature and saintlike patience.

What makes this worth your ticket are the performances. Wood keeps Boolie genuine in his love for his mother and respect for Hoke, and his voice maintains a nice Georgia lilt that enhances his moments on the stage.  Kingston embodies Daisy with persistent toughness that never goes bitter, like a beloved grandma.

As for Demmings, his Hoke presents the big smile and easy manner that keeps him in good stead with White folks of that place and time, yet it’s genuine pleasure, not a stereotypical “Uncle” put-on. Still, he is his own capable man, and quick to gently say so if he feels it necessary.

The story flows easily, thanks in part to the scenic and lighting designs of Ryan Koharchik. Jay Hemphill is assistant director, and Nicole Cooper is stage manager.

The ride is not always smooth, but the journey is sentimental, with an interesting view. Come along at the Studio Theater at the Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Carmel, through March 30. Get info and tickets at civictheatre.org or thecenterpresents.org.

CCP: Follow the journey of ‘Violet’

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By John Lyle Belden 

Carmel Community Players brings us its production of the heartwarming and bittersweet musical, “Violet,” which is becoming familiar through its Off-Broadway and Broadway runs as well as fairly recent local productions.

As creators Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley (based on a story by Doris Betts) intended, we are advised that the disfiguring scar on the title character’s face is not visible on the actor, Sarah Marone-Sowers, so that we may choose to see it with our minds’ eye, or opt to see the beauty within. For Violet, it is a curse she carries into adulthood from a years-ago accident with her father and a wayward axe head. At last, in 1964, she has saved enough to take a Greyhound bus from the hills of North Carolina all the way through Tennessee and Arkansas to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where a television preacher works miracles. She reached her hand to the black-and-white screen, but the Lord’s healing somehow did not reach her. Now she believes she will get her new face, direct from the source.

On her travels, she meets a friendly, well-meaning grandmother (Christine Sanserino) and two soldiers, Flick (Onis Dean), a black Sergeant, and Monty (Dominic Piedmonte) a white Corporal. As they ride, she also remembers the past, in flashbacks with Young Violet (Kenzi Stewart) and Dad (Darrin Gowan). Her budding friendship with the G.I.’s is tested in an overnight stay in Memphis, Tenn., leading to an awkward parting in Fort Smith, Ark. (the soldiers to the nearby military post). Next stop: Tulsa and an eye-opening encounter with a very busy Preacher (Scott A. Fleshood).

The cast also includes Jay Becker, Damaris Burgin, Chloe Vann, and Lawrence Wunderlich in various roles, the men (and Fleshood) taking turns as bus driver. Burgin is notable as keeper of a Memphis boarding house and the televangelist’s choir leader. Vann also sings well in the choir and at a Music Hall. Wunderlich is the Preacher’s assistant. Becker plays a rude fry cook.

Marone-Sowers shines as a woman desperately applying blind faith to deep wounds (physical and mental), as does Dean, portraying one who also knew the lifelong pain of others’ judgement, yet found his strength. The high level of talent in Gowan and high school freshman Stewart elevates their characters as more than dramatic device. These strong spirits boldy show their story, following Violet to their necessary encounter on a cathedral stage. Kathleen Horrigan directs.

Especially for anyone who can’t see their own beauty, take a good look at “Violet,” Thursday through Sunday, March 7-9, at the Switch Theatre, located in Ji-Eun Lee Music Academy, 10029 E. 126th St., Suite D, Fishers. Get tickets and info at carmelplayers.org.