Cara Olson

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.

Westfield takes on beloved comedy

PWJW_Indy Reviews, Stage , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

By John Lyle Belden

As it’s been said, classics are classic for a reason. From time to time, community theatres bring out the hilarious antics of the eccentric extended Sycamore family in Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman’s comedy, “You Can’t Take It With You.” This week, the invitation is extended by Main Street Productions of Westfield.

Sweet twenty-year-old Alice Sycamore (Hannah Partridge) is in love with her boss, Anthony Kirby (Aaron Budde), a young executive thanks to his chief executive father (David Dessauer). Tony and Alice want to get married, but she’s afraid the Kirbys couldn’t deal with her family – father Paul Sycamore (James Semmelroth Darnell) makes fireworks in the basement with the help of Mr. DePinna (Eric Bowman), who came to deliver ice years ago and never left; mother Penny Sycamore (Carrie Reiberg) writes melodramatic unfinished plays on a typewriter that just showed up on their doorstep; sister Essie (Cara Olson) makes candy “Love Dreams” daily but really wants to dance (though she’s awful at it), while her husband Ed Carmichael (Noah Shepard) plays the xylophone and obsessively prints cards, menus, and papers with whatever sounds interesting to him; finally, grandfather Martin Vanderhof (John Welch) does whatever he likes because he walked away from his downtown office decades ago and never looked back.

Their maid Rheba (Sophie Liese) is a so-so cook but very understanding and fits right in this household, along with her Irish boyfriend Donald (Austin Uebelhor), who helps when he can, as long as it doesn’t jeopardize his “relief” payments. Russian expat Boris Kolenkhov (Louis Cavallari) tries in vain to teach Essie ballet; this being 1938, he still remembers his homeland before the Soviets and knows exiled nobility including The Grand Duchess Olga Katrina (Miki Mathioudakis). We also meet inebriated actress Gay Wellington (Susan Hill), who isn’t related or a resident, yet adds to the chaos in her own way.

There are also appearances by Tony’s father and mother (Renee Whiten Lopez), as well as Tom Smith as nosy government agents, along with Aaron Ploof and Emma Fox.

For those unfamiliar, yes, it’s a lot. But there is subtle method to this madness in a funny fable about love, acceptance, and truly living out the pursuit of happiness.

Under director Nicole Amsler, everyone gets their moments to shine. Darnell plays Paul as single-minded, trusting the others to do what’s needed, yet amiable when not downstairs. Bowman gives DePinna a sense of joy that reveals a man who would much rather play with fire than work with ice. Reiberg’s Penny is the kind of unassuming person whom whatever she is doing at the moment is right thing, and you can’t help but agree. Shepard and Olson as Ed and Essie seem to not be the sharpest knives in the block, yet come across as charmingly naïve, never stupid. Cavallari brings big energy to his role, making Kolenkhov feel like just one of the family.

Partridge nimbly plays Alice’s struggle to maintain normalcy while still loving her family. Budde, for his part, gives Tony a growing admiration for the freedom that the household represents.

As the patriarch, Welch lends a subtle gravitas to Grandpa. He has his quirks – like keeping snakes – but is as down-to-earth a character one could find. When he says grace in his unique way during the mealtime scenes, you can’t help but feel welcome at his table.

Be their guest this Thursday through Sunday, June 6-9, at the Basile Westfield Playhouse, 220 N. Union St. Get tickets at westfieldplayhouse.org.