Michael Washington

The syncopated story of America

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By John Lyle Belden

In the United States’ current social and political climate, approaching a significant celebration of the Fourth of July, it is fitting that Summer Stock Stage presents “Ragtime.” The epic musical by Terrance McNally with songs by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, based on the E.L. Doctorow novel, was a massive hit and Tony winner both in 1998 and the current revival. With a combined cast, crew, and orchestra nearing around 100 – mostly high school and college students – this exceptional production is directed by SSS Artistic Director Emily Ristine Holloway.

Set around 120 years ago, this is an appropriate tribute to America for many reasons.

It is the story of what was then considered an exemplary family. They are introduced by the observant Little Boy (Adam Palumbo), whose Father (Justus Palumbo) became wealthy enough from fireworks and other paraphernalia of patriotism to travel the world, leaving behind Mother (Allie Niethammer), Mother’s Younger Brother (Collin Alber), and Grandfather (Milo Ellis). Mother and Brother become central characters in the narrative, with Niethammer especially showing strength of voice and her role’s character. With clumsy charm, Alber embodies the American restless spirit, always searching for something he’s not sure of, seeking to give his life meaning. While Mother and Brother have transformative dramatic arcs, Father is stuck in an era he too late realizes has gone, naïvely unaware that his beliefs and attitudes are part of the problem.

It is the story of celebrity. The novel and its adaptations mix real historical figures in with the fictional exemplars of various classes. Many names are still familiar, including J.P. Morgan (Graham Bodkin), Henry Ford (Sam Funk), Booker T. Washington (DeMarae Bradley), and Harry Houdini (Max Frank). We also meet the scandalous vaudeville star Evelyn Nesbit (Olivia Steele); the events surrounding the Girl on the Swing described in “Crime of the Centry” are factual. Steele plays her with confident flair while presenting the ego that would outlast her famous beauty. Another notable personality was anarchist agitator Emma Goldman (Lilah Hern), presented with stubborn bravery, persistently and constantly calling out injustice.

It is the story of unending racial struggle. Aside from Mr. Washington’s righteous pontificating, we are presented with the Harlem community that gathers around pianist Coalhouse Walker Jr. (Michael Washington), master of Ragtime music. He had been a carefree traveling musician but realizes his heart belongs to Sarah (Cori Hughey), who he discovers had given birth to his child. However, she had felt abandoned and betrayed by him, leading to desperate actions that result in her taking shelter in Mother’s home. Coalhouse’s story is the central narrative of the musical – from romance, to confrontation with the bigot Willie Conklin (Simon Allen), to tragedy and dire consequences. Hughey and Michael Washington acquit themselves excellently as Sarah and Coalhouse, bringing on heartfelt tears and rapturous applause. Also notable is Asha Smitherman as the soloist in the haunting rendition of “Till We Reach That Day.”

It is a story of immigrants. We see a number of arrivals with little more than the rags on their backs, exemplified by hopeful Latvian refugee Tateh (Luke Aguilar) and his daughter (Gracie Reckamp). He lays bare the whole newcomer experience – the humor, the horrors, and the spark of inventiveness that finally brings him to his part in the American Dream. Even in moments of despair, he perseveres for his little girl, and we can’t help but want him to succeed. To help escape dire circumstances, we get clever minds-eye cameos by fellow immigrant Houdini.  

Family, celebrity, racial tension, immigration issues – this 1906 story echoes like a 2026 campaign, set to music that was new and uniquely American. We highly recommend seeing this if you can; however, performances this Friday through Sunday (June 26-28) at Schrott Center for the Arts are swiftly selling out.

SSS’s next show is a different musical, still set around the same place and time: Disney’s “Newsies,” an entertaining examination of the 1899 New York Newsboys Strike. Performances are July 15-19, also at the Schrott Center, next door to Clowes Hall on the Butler University Campus (610 W. 46th St., Indianapolis). 

Get information and tickets at summerstockstage.com.   

Nifty ‘nautical nonsense’ by Summer Stock Stage

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By John Lyle Belden

The very concept of “SpongeBob SquarePants” – conflating a living sea sponge with the rectangular kind from your kitchen – alerts you that none of this should be taken seriously (that, and its countless anthropomorphic absurdities).

But you likely know this, as the Nickelodeon animated series created by Stephen Hillenberg and voiced by comedian Tom Kenny has been entertaining children and childish adults for decades. Unsurprisingly, it also spawned a stage musical, now presented by the teen performer program of Summer Stock Stage at Schrott Center for the Arts on the Butler University campus, directed and choreographed by Jerico and Jonnie Hughes.

But can the quality silliness of the half-hour toon be sustained for two full acts of live theatre? To quote the familiar TV opening sequence: “Aye, Aye, Captain!”

However, Patchy the Pirate (Lucas Heiden) isn’t really needed for this show, despite how much he tries to get involved. With the traditional voiceover of a faux Cousteau, and the help of a just slightly off-stage foley artist (Ethan Cantrell), we meet our principal players: SpongeBob (Jaivean Wilson), Patrick (Taylor Smith), Squidward (Michael Washington), Sandy (Ariyana Johnson), Mr. Krabs (Simon Allen), his daughter Pearl (Madison Fleener), and Krabs’ devious rival Plankton (Lewis Claxon), accompanied by devoted AI partner Karen (Gracie Navarro).

The denizens of Bikini Bottom are played by Paige Murray (Mayor), Claire Kashman (Mrs. Puff), Ehren Knerr (Johnny the Bartender), Graham Bodkin (Perch Perkins), Eli Neal (Old Man Jenkins), Dexter Smith (Larry the Lobster), and Elijah Britt, Evan Cohen, Elowyn Dunn, Nayima Hall, Justice Harris, Eleanor Hendrickson, Seraphim Holmes, Shaleigh Hreskowsky, Henry Kirk, Jyone Kneeland, Isiah Littell, Collin McCune, Robert Newton, Quinn Potter, Vaben Sanders, Olivia Steele, and Keliyah Vincent.

Our tropical undersea village is shaken – literally – by the news that nearby volcano Mt. Humungous is about to erupt. Sandy – a genius inventor, as one would expect from a squirrel capable of living under the ocean – wants to tinker a way to stop the disaster. Plankton, on the other hand, persuades everyone that evacuation is the best option (which he will exploit in his newest evil scheme). Either way, they have until sundown of the next day, emphasized by a countdown clock projected above the stage, before their homes are destroyed.

What follows include a Krabs cash-grab; a benefit concert with The Electric Skates (Little, Steele, and Dexter Smith), with Squidward trying to work in his “Tentacle Spectacle;” Patrick receiving the cult-like devotion of a school of sardines; a Pirate musical number; SpongeBob’s climb to deliver Sandy’s Eruptor Interrupter; and general paranoia and mayhem, with boisterous gloating by Plankton.

This comes with plot-advancing pop songs by various artists including Jonathan Coulton, David Bowie with Brian Eno, Plain White T’s, T.I., Panic! At the Disco, Alex Ebert, Cyndi Lauper with Rob Hyman, Yolanda Adams, The Flaming Lips, Sara Bareilles, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry; Lady Antebellum, John Legend, They Might Be Giants, and Kenny with Andy Paley, as well as the SpongeBob Theme Song by Hillenburg, Derek Drymon, Mark Harrison and Blaise Smith.

One practically magical aspect of this production, which speaks to the talents of the cast, is that they so perfectly embody the spirit of their familiar characters, they “look” the part with just a few visual cues in hair and wardrobe, avoiding distracting and cumbersome outer costumes. Wilson practically glows with SpongeBob’s perpetual boyish optimism, Johnson with Sandy’s pragmatic can-do attitude. Taylor Smith’s Patrick nimbly employs voice and expression to capture the essence of his low-brains/high-loyalty personality. Likewise, Allen is spot-on in nailing the craven capitalist Krabs. With Fleener’s portrayal of Pearl, we see the show’s emphasis on her being a mildly spoiled teenage girl more than being a young whale. Washington expertly portrays Squidward in double-legged trousers with natural ease, including a dance with tentacle taps.

This approach to costuming especially works for Plankton; Claxon sometimes puppets his near-microscopic self, and his flashy green outfit with a (coincidental?) resemblance to Marvel’s Loki helps hint at his cooly sinister intent.

The overall style, from the musical’s book by Kyle Jarrow to the Hughes’s approach and cast and crew’s all-in energy give us a kids show that embraces that part in all of us that wants a fun time and adventure with characters who feel like friends.

This production “The SpongeBob Musical” only has the one weekend: If you see this right after we post, perhaps you can make it to the Saturday or Sunday (July 26-27) performances at Schrott, 610 W. 46th St., Indianapolis (next to Clowes). Info and tickets at summerstockstage.com.

Legends reimagined make one ‘hell’ of a show

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

By John Lyle Belden

Having read it, and heard the recordings, I knew as soon as I saw it that “Hadestown” by Anïas Mitchell would become one of my favorite musicals, and Summer Stock Stage has launched a truly outstanding production.

Do not presume, being the “Teen Edition,” that this is a lesser version. The entire Tony- and Grammy-winning play is intact, with only subtle differences (such as sung keys) for younger performers. Director (and SSS founder) Emily Ristine Holloway noted that students from more than 50 Indiana high schools auditioned. Thus, we get a crème de la crème of young talent.

The source material is an “old song” that dates at least to Ancient Greece, as Mitchell painstakingly blended the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice with the relationship between Hades (god of the Underworld) and Persephone (goddess of Spring) and some very current issues. (Note: The songs were mostly written before “the wall” became a politically-loaded topic; though with its timeliness, it serves as the musical’s centerpiece.)

As hard times come in every era, the messenger god Hermes (Michael Washington) is host of a grungy Depression-era jazz club that looks like an abandoned factory, relating to all a time “of gods and men” with a literal Greek Chorus, the Fates (Noelle Duncan, Meadow Harbert, and Lucy Lindner) to help tell the tale.

“The road to Hell is a railroad track,” Hermes intones, and arriving on its train is Persephone (Isabella Simonsen) to set things blooming again after spending half the year – actually more this time – with husband Hades (Eli Spurgeon). Meanwhile, Orpheus (Preston Angus), mortal but the son of a Muse, making him supernaturally gifted at music, is working on a song he believes will set the cycle of seasons right again. He looks up from his work to see the beautiful mortal Eurydice (Belle K. Iseminger), young but world-weary, seeking comfort. He works his charms on her; they fall in love and are happy – until Hades arrives to take Persephone away for an even longer winter. Dark times strain the young couple until they each end up in Hadestown, “way down under the ground,” for a literally epic showdown between man and god.

It’s tough to describe the sheer power and feeling of the songs and the manner in which they propel this familiar-yet-new plot. I can only hope you can experience it yourselves.

Simonsen is divine as Persephone, while adding the grit of a goddess that has grown tired and unsettled by what has happened, her connection to nature offended by what ironically Hades says he did for her. For his part Spurgeon digs into Hades’ bartitone range to deliver his own divine authority – but there is something more, something uncertain, which he employs to make the character more dangerous.

Iseminger has the lauded natural beauty of Eurydice, backing it up with a firm grasp on her troubled character – even when that person feels unsure – and as good a voice a true mortal can conjure. No key change was necessary for Angus, our Orpheus, as he sweetly hits the lilting notes necessary for his “Epic,” presenting a believable mastery of this and all his songs.

The Fates are wonderfully harmonious and integral, more like a part of the story than commenting bystanders. Washington as Hermes is the quintessential Master of Ceremonies, making his presence firmly felt while never overshadowing other characters as events play out.

Scenes are completed by a large ensemble. Vocally, they are more than background, including amplifying Orpheus’ power in “Come Home With Me,” making plain their Underworld pain to “keep your head low,” and engaging a sort of call-and-response in “If It’s True.” They also show off the fine choreography of Phillip Crawshaw. These players include: Evan Mayer, Maria Beck, Jacob Brewer, Jackson Bullock, Lily Carlstedt, Ivan Figueroa, Max Frank, Sam Funk, Justice Harris, Liv Keslin, Ehren Knerr, Kynden Luster, Morgan Naas, Robert Newton, Sylvi Phillips, Quinn Potter, Jackie Quadrini, Mia Rettig, Haven Sanders, Asha Smitherman, Anna St. Andrè, Alyssa Vasquez, Thomas Whitten, Maggie Webber, and Ethan Wood.

Mythology for a new century, expertly presented – performances of “Hadestown: Teen Edition” are limited, today through Sunday (June 26-29) at Schott Center for the Arts, 610 W. 46th St., Indianapolis (next to Clowes Memorial Hall on the Butler University campus). Additional tickets have been made available but are selling fast. Visit summerstockstage.com for details.