Jerry Davis

Time to dance again: Footlite presents ‘The Prom’

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By John Lyle Belden

It’s not spring; still, any time is good for recognizing we need to let those around us be their authentic selves. In this spirit comes the latest production of “The Prom” at Footlite Musicals.

This Broadway hit – book by Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin, music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Beguelin, concept by Jack Viertel, inspired by actual 2010 events in Mississippi – is, as I’ve mentioned before, sort of a “Footloose” for our era, with hints of “Cinderella.”

Broadway stars, or at least they used to be, Dee Dee Allen (Karen Frye) and Barry Glickman (Sam Godsey) have their latest show flop so bad, it closes after opening night. Commiserating with their assistant, Sheldon (Isaac Becker-Chamberlin); Angie Dickenson (Abigail Okerson), who has been stuck in the chorus of “Chicago” for years; and unemployed former sitcom star Trent Oliver (Dustin Branum), who constantly mentions attending Julliard; they look for something to improve their public profile.  

In the (fictional) town of Edgewater, Indiana, the High School PTA cancels its Prom after learning student Emma Nolan (Marachey Fowler) plans to bring another girl as her date. While finding herself more bullied than usual, Emma has an ally in the principal, Mr. Hawkins (Shawn Hunt). Together they petition the PTA, led by staunch conservative Mrs. Greene (Katie-Rose Connors), to reconsider. But as they make their case, guess who comes barging in to “save” the day?

The cast also includes Claire Donnelly as Alyssa, Mrs. Greene’s daughter and Emma’s secret girlfriend; Zaylee Jaliwala and Nayima Hall as cheerleaders Kaylee and Shelby; Zaire Gladden-Williams and Conner Becker-Chamberlin as students Nick and Kevin; as well as Kevin Bell, Nate Copleland, Jerry Davis, Nathan DeMyers, Sophie Eastman, Kathleen Fox, Cari Gallagher, Emma Gedig, Josh Hoover, Kerrigan McSweeney, Michael Morrow, Gwendolyn Pickett Kenan, Tinnin, Katie Van Den Heuvel, Jennifer Zotz, and Thomas Zotz.

As events unfold for a teen who just wanted to dance, all characters confront uncomfortable truths, from the New Yorkers’ narcissism to schoolmates’ unquestioned beliefs. The musical was written as taking place in Indiana as a jab at then-Vice President Pence, but having Hoosiers play Hoosiers lends an authentic feel and softens the genuinely funny digs against our state (though the play does make Applebee’s look good).

Frye gloriously goes full diva, reminiscent of Patti LuPone at her most catty, as Dee Dee. Godsey’s Barry is like the sweet hyper child of James Corden and Harvey Fierstein. Donnelly’s dancer, “antelope legs” and all, follows her chorus instincts to help a fellow girl in trouble. Branum makes the most of a unique character with an interesting arc, whose unconventional thinking ends up helping.  Hunt plays Mr. Hawkins steadfast as the fulcrum on which the whole plot turns (I know I said this in a prior review, it still works). Isaac Becker-Chamberlin is charming as the one responsible for wrangling the various celebrity egos.

Connors is daunting as a woman whose mothering instincts have overtaken her compassion. Jerry Beasley, who directed with Claire Slaven, helped guide her actions at the show’s end, which suggest the possibility of healing.

As for the star of the show, Marachey Fowler is amazing! From her first song, she exhibits natural power, control, and stage presence. You can’t help but feel not just for her, but with her, in every scene. We are amazed this is only her second musical, and look forward to seeing whatever she does next.

Donnelly is also excellent, and nails Alyssa’s signature song. Her fellow students also sing well, and wow us with their dancing, choreographed by Thomas Mason.

The orchestra is led by Jeremy Kaylor.

Make a date for “The Prom,” with two more weekends, through Oct 5, at 1847 N. Alabama St., Indianapolis. Get info and tickets at footlite.org.

Footlite gets ‘Kinky’ in the best way

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By John Lyle Belden

With among its many lessons that you should be willing to pull together to try something wild with great potential, the all-volunteer cast and crew of Footlite Musicals present the fun and funny hit, “Kinky Boots.”

With book by Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein and songs by equally iconic Cyndi Lauper (making her the first woman to win a Tony for solo songwriting), the 2013 Broadway musical is adapted from the 2005 British film of the same name, in turn inspired by a true story from the 1990s. Set in that 20-ish year ago era in Northampton, England, a man who has inherited a failing shoe factory seeks to save it by filling an unmet need – sturdy but sexy boots for drag queens.

Charlie Price (Alexander Bast) had planned to move to London and take a lucrative marketing job alongside his fiancé Nicola (Nicole Sherlock) but is called back home when his father (Ted Jacobs) passes away. The shoes are well-made, but in a highly competitive market, nobody seems to want them. While seeking to strike a deal with a family friend (Derek Savick-Hesser) Charlie encounters Lola (Kevin Bell), the drag queen star of her own show. He notices her stilettos won’t hold up a man’s body and, after Price & Sons employee Lauren (Mara Fowler) – who secretly has a crush on him – suggests he find “an underserved niche market” to stay in business, gets the idea to make what will be known as Kinky Boots.

Reactions are mixed at the factory, though most buy in as the alternative is unemployment. Factory manager George (Ryan Bridges) is eager and creates a steel-reinforced heel. Foreman Don (Drew Kempin) considers himself a “man’s man” and openly mocks Lola, who is brought on board as designer. In three weeks, there will be a major fashion show in Milan that will make or break the enterprise, as well as the people involved.

We also meet, in the opening number, Charlie and Simon (who will become Lola) as boys, played by Sam Houghland and Ryan Thomas, respectively, as well as Simon’s disapproving father (Jerry Davis).  The cast includes Shari Jacobs, Awbrey Brosseit, Jessica Hackenberg, Logan Laflin, Louis Soria, Ruby Waliser, Jennifer Zotz, and Tom Zotz, who also cameos as Richard, Nicola’s boss.

Lola is backed by her cloud of fabulous Angels, performed by drag artists Conner Becker-Chamberlin, a/k/a Darcy Sparks; Leon Benbow-Blomberg / Miss Dominixxx; Caleb Francis / Penny Loafers; Cameron Grant / Anita Richard; Shawn Hunt / Artemis Da Goddess; Dalen Jordan / Donleigh Delights; Paige Penry / Bella DeBall; and Kenan Tinnin / Body Miss Morphia.

Joyfully directed by Jerry Beasley, we get a (much-needed these days) uplifting story of grit and acceptance. The characters are fairly complex – not just the obvious multitudes in Lola, brought out in glorious voice and expression by Bell. Bast gives us a Charlie who is well-meaning, sometimes off-base, yet easy to root for. Kempin’s Don is mostly bluster, a bloke who literally gets sense knocked into him. Sherlock plays Nicola as one who feels certain of her direction, coming to learn that Charlie doesn’t see success her way. Fowler makes her regular young woman Lauren, who goes from slinging shoes on a factory floor to being “executized” to help make the new line,   appropriately adorable.

Among the volunteers putting this spectacle together are set designers Ted Jacobs and Mary Lich, choreographer Thomas Mason, vocal director Ben Rose, and stage manager Melissa Yurechko. Costumer for the queens is Angel Olivera, assisted by Katie Van Den Heuvel and Michael Morrow. Jeremy Kaylor leads the orchestra.

EDITED TO ADD: Beasley messaged me this – “I would like to add that Claire Olvey Slaven also costumed The Angels as well as assistant directed, and Ben Jones created their hair and makeup look! The Price & Son workers costumes were designed by Edith Burton-Bandy.”

As a counter to current controversies, we get a reminder that for its community Drag is not just a lifestyle, but an essential part of life. Let the spirit of “Kinky Boots” raise you up, and remember: “You can change the world, when you change your mind.”

Performances are Thursdays through Sundays through May 18 at Footlite Musicals, 1847 N. Alabama St., Indianapolis. Get tickets (which have been selling fast) at footlite.org.

Powerful ‘Ragtime’ at Footlite Musicals

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By John Lyle Belden

Since it launched in 1996, Terrance McNally’s musical “Ragtime” — based on the E.L. Doctorow novel — has become an American “Les Mis,” a great sweeping epic of national identity and tragic power. And now it graces the stage of Footlite Musicals.

Set in the first decade of the 20th century, an upper-middle class family in New Rochelle, N.Y. find themselves at the crossroads of a number of intersecting stories, blending historical figures and events with characters who were a reflection of the era in various ways — good and bad. 

One can’t dispute the star power of such roles as ragtime pianist Coalhouse Walker Jr. (Allen Sledge), who faces one racist indignity too many; his tragic girlfriend Sarah (Angela Manlove); extraordinarily kind Mother (Heather Hansen), discovering liberation despite society’s constraints; her headstrong Younger Brother (Jared Gaddis), whose search for meaning takes him to radical extremes; and immigrant Tateh (Daniel Draves), whose artistic soul keeps reaching for the American Dream until he finds it. 

Another impressive performance is by Edgar, the Little Boy, who acts as one of the play’s narrators as well as involvement in numerous scenes — a big task for a young actor, which Lincoln Everitt carries out well.

The “real” people in the show include Henry Ford (W. Michael Davidson), J.P. Morgan (Bryan Padgett), Harry Houdini (Josh Cox), and anarchist Emma Goldman (Lauren Laski) — as well as two whom history would remember in completely opposite ways. Evelyn Nesbitt (Hadas Yasmin) was the Kim Kardashian of her time, a style icon with more notoriety than talent, only known now by her inclusion in Doctorow’s book; while civil rights icon Booker T. Washington (Jerry Davis) is widely celebrated to this day.

Directed by Paula Phelan, this production has solid performances throughout, including from characters who don’t come off quite as heroic in the narrative — such as Father (Mitchell Hammersley) who means well, but finds himself distanced from his family (even when he’s with them) and lost in the changing times; and bigoted fireman Willie Conklin (Josh Cornell), the biggest villain of the show.

A last-minute addition to the cast, Truman Peyton charms as little Coalhouse Walker III in the finale.

The split-level set is used to good effect, with excellent light effects and projections to punctuate scenes, and a nice representation of a Model T to drive across the stage. Zak Techiniak directs the live orchestra.

Part of the impact of this very powerful musical story is in the unflinching look at the treatment of minorities of the era, including the use of vicious language, in context. It is disturbing, as it is meant to be — a visceral reminder of how far we have come in a century, yet how close we are to falling back.

Performances run through Oct. 13 at 1847 N. Alabama St.,near downtown Indy. Call 317-926-6630 or visit footlite.org.

Footlite has gay time hamming up ‘Spamalot’

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By John Lyle Belden

Note: This review also appeared in print in The Eagle (formerly The Word), which has its site issues about worked out. John is Associate Editor there.

As fans know, England in the time of King Arthur and Camelot was “a silly place,” as envisioned by Monty Python’s Flying Circus in the 1970s film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”

The silliness has come to the stage of Indy’s Footlite Musicals with its production of “Monty Python’s Spamalot,” the Broadway hit musical “lovingly ripped off from the motion picture” by one of its creators, Eric Idle, who provides a couple of vocal parts for the locals to use in the show.

The plot (such as it is) involves Arthur gathering knights to join him at the Round Table, then getting the call from God to search for the Holy Grail. The stage play uses this to recreate various silly scenes from the film, modified a little, and add more songs – such as the “not dead yet” peasant now gets to sing and dance about not being deceased – as well as a tune from a different Monty Python movie (which Idle wrote and apparently really likes, so there). As the film starred six men who sometimes wore dresses, a female lead was needed for the musical, so the Lady of the Lake (only mentioned in one scene of the movie) comes to life and, naturally, steals her scenes including one in which she complains about not being on stage for a while.

And good news for LGBTQ fans: While the Pythons frequently winked to the audience on gay topics as much as they could get away with in their era, one of the Knights here completely comes out of the castle closet in a rainbow-and-glitter dance number.

The cast all acquit themselves well. Drew Duvall makes a noble Arthur, properly deadpanning his way through the silliness as a British monarch should do. Vince Accetturo makes the perfect counterpoint as the King’s faithful Patsy. A tip of the helm to our knights: Christian Condra as Lancelot, Christopher Jones as Robin, Clint Buechler as Bedevere, Tony Schaab as Galahad and Jerry Davis as Sir Not Appearing (who nonetheless appears in at least two other scenes).

And Rebecca McConnell is wonderful as the Lady of the Lake. The style of this show and character fits her perfectly, and she plays it for all she’s worth.

Since, unlike the movie in which the Pythons just wore different costumes in different scenes, it works better to just cast more actors, we get great support from the ensemble, including Jonathan Young as Dennis’s mother and the Knight of Ni, Curtis Peters as Tim the Enchanter and Lancelot’s servant Concorde, and Mark Cashwell as the “No singing!” father of Prince Herbert – charmingly played by Cody Wence. Sam Surette is still not dead.

Needless to say – though actually I need to say, as this is a review – “Spamalot” is highly entertaining and a treat for fans of British humour, whether you’ve not seen these skits or have them memorized. As the source material was a shoestring film production, don’t expect too much in the way of special effects – though there is a fog machine. The content is roughly PG-13 (a few naughty words and innuendo).

No fish were harmed in the making of this musical. Ni!

Performances are weekends through Dec. 11 at the Hedback Theater, 1847 N. Alabama St., Indianapolis. Call 317-926-6630 or see www.footlite.org.