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Review: Little Women – The Musical

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Sisters Jo (Julia Bonnett, lower left) and Amy (Karen Woods Hurt) reconcile after the anger between them nearly led to tragedy, while friend Laurie (Ethan Litt) and sister Beth (Betsy Norton) look on in a scene from "Little Women: The Broadway Musical" at the Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre in downtown Carmel. -- Civic Theatre photo
Sisters Jo (Julia Bonnett, lower left) and Amy (Karen Woods Hurt) reconcile after the anger between them nearly led to tragedy, while friend Laurie (Ethan Litt) and sister Beth (Betsy Norton) look on in a scene from “Little Women: The Broadway Musical” at the Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre in downtown Carmel. — Civic Theatre photo

By John Lyle Belden

For anyone who enjoyed – or haven’t read and are curious about – the classic Louisa May Alcott novel, I highly recommend “Little Women: The Broadway Musical” at the Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre through Sept. 26.

The story of the four March sisters coming of age in 1860s Concord, Mass., is told in a nicely-paced play that gives each moment its proper weight, then breezes to the next with the help of a song or two. We meet Jo (Julia Bonnett), the headstrong writer bursting with confident energy; beautiful Meg (Betsy Norton); musical and tragic Beth (Amanda Kennedy); and Amy (Karen Woods Hurt), whose brash immaturity at first makes her the least likable, but results in making her the most complex and interesting of these four characters – a credit to Hurt as well as the musical’s book by Allan Knee. Still, the narrative is from Jo’s point of view, and Bonnett is more than up to the task.

For the rest of the cast: Katie Schuman embodies wise mom Marmee. Dan Scharbrough perfectly balances menace and paternal kindness as gruff Mr. Laurence, who lives next door. Ethan Mathias ably handles the growing conflicting emotions of Professor Bhaer, Jo’s neighbor in New York. Ethan Litt and Justin Klein lend appropriate boyish energies to the roles of Laurie and Brooke, the young men in the girls’ lives. And Vickie Cornelius Phipps is excellent as fussy Aunt March, as well as Mrs. Kirk, Jo and Bhaer’s landlord.

This would be an excellent show for those with “little women” (or men) who could see themselves in the characters. Jo’s enthusiasm, especially, is contagious, perhaps encouraging those who would want to write up some stories themselves. The Tarkington stage is at The Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Carmel. Call 317-843-3800 for tickets.

Lots to celebrate

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Angel Burlesque's ladies look good enough to
Angel Burlesque’s ladies look good enough to “nom-nom-nom” in their Tribute to the Muppets, Friday and Saturday night at the Athenaeum in downtown Indy.

As summer comes to an end, the festivals start piling up in the Indy area.

This weekend features (click links for details):

Meanwhile on stages, shows continue at the Civic Theatre, TOTS, Mud Creek and ATI. The only new feature is the two-day Angel Burlesque Tribute to the Muppets — a show aimed at grown-ups; it ain’t Sesame Street — which looks like it will be fun.

And, if all this wasn’t enough, Saturday is also International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Ahoy!

Have fun!

Back to the routine

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Now that IndyFringe is done and September is here, we’ll resume the weekly look-aheads.

This weekend we have just one stage opening: the two-weekend run of “The Prince and the Pauper” by Center Stage Productions at Southport Presbyterian Church.

There is also an encore performance of an IndyFringe favorite, “Jason Adams is a God Damn Mind Reader,” 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the IndyFringe Theatre, 719 E. St. Clair St. in downtown Indy, by the intersection of Mass Ave., St. Clair and College Ave. If you didn’t see one of the sold-out Fringe performances, and are not offended at the show’s title, then by all means go see this wild mix of comedy and mental magic.

This weekend is also Labor Day, and you can wear your white shoes one more time to Indy LaborFest Saturday in the heart of Downtown Indianapolis for free, all-ages fun.

However you do it, enjoy your weekend!

Fringe review: Not My Baby!

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By Wendy Carson

In “Not My Baby!” by Dreadmelon Productions at the IndyFringe Basile Theatre, A man is on death row for killing a police officer. He and his family are doing everything they can to get his sentence overturned. The twist: The police officer in question was a K-9 who looked like just another dog and was attacking the man’s sister. The simplest solution would be for his sentence to be commuted to life with no parole, but since the Governor is eyeing a run for the Presidency, his “Hard on Crime” platform prevents him from showing any compassion to this man’s plight. While the helplessness of all involved overweighs the plot, the family dynamic is what this show is really about.

G-maw adds some much needed comic relief as the matriarch of the clan. However, the true standout of the bunch is little Adeesa. With her Jester’s hat of a hairstyle and idiot-savant shifts from utter nonsense to brilliant clarity, she provides insight on the true path of salvation for all the characters in this comic drama.

While it’s true that the specter of death and tragedy hangs solidly over everyone, the overall love and hope displayed by this troubled group makes the whole story resonate with everyone. Despite the dour subject matter, there is a good amount of comic relief to prevent the audience from being overwhelmed.

While I will admit that this show had not been one of my first choices to see at the Fringe this year, I am grateful to no end that it made it onto my schedule. I look forward to seeing more productions from this group and expect them all to be gracing more of our community stages in the future.

Fringe review: Mr. Boniface the Wise

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By Wendy Carson

Zany doesn’t even begin to describe the characters in “Mr. Boniface, the Wise,” by KT Peterson, playing in the IndyFringe Basile Theatre. In fact, the titular character, Mr. Boniface — a goat-man who lives in the youngest child’s wallpaper and tells her what to do – is the most normal one on display.

We have: the aforementioned youngest child, Gerty, who may be either schizophrenic or just a clairvoyant genius; Angora, a certified scientific genius, who is so bored with the level of education at her school, she has been expelled for her little pranks against the other students; Inga, their harried, narcoleptic mother who is determined that Angora get back into school so that she can succeed at fulfilling her scientific potential; and Mr. Capshaw, Angora’s science teacher, who is madly in love with her and her brain – so much so, that they plan to fake their own deaths and run of to Wisconsin so that she can be part of a pig-cloning team.

Needless to say, hilarity ensues throughout the show as everyone tries to get what they want, and it seems that only Mr. Boniface will persevere.

While Mr. Boniface’s Presidential bid was never revealed to any of us during the play (the actors are distributing campaign stickers around the festival), I hope to eventually hear more of his platform as he seems to be one of the more reasonable possibilities for the 2016 ticket.

So, for a wacky, fun time enjoy this little insight into a family that will make yours look totally normal.

Fringe review: The Wizer of Odd

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By John Lyle Belden

“The Wizer of Odd,” performed by Gift of Gab productions at Firefighters’ Union Hall, is an interesting modern take on the classic movie (based on the works of L. Frank Baum). Set in the modern day, our young woman is aware of the Oz story, but not that she’s living it. She doesn’t listen to the wisdom of her “scarecrow” friend, tramples the heart of the “Tinman” she encounters and misunderstands the courage of the “lion” who tries to help her. When she finally finds Oz, he does not provide the happy ending she is looking for.

The best aspect of this fable is that, instead of song-and-dance breaks, we get well-crafted hip-hop poetry, very well delivered by a talented local cast. Hopefully this show will return as one of the performances the IndyFringe stages host throughout the year.

Fringe review: Threads

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By John Lyle Belden

Tonya Jone Miller presents “Threads,” the story of her mother, Donna Jean Miller, whose life took her from Indiana to Vietnam in the 1960s and ’70s.

Donna married a sailor, which meant traveling, including to Hawaii, where she studied at the University to become a teacher in the Far East. While her marriage collapsed, she found love with a fellow student, a Vietnamese man. This leads to a teaching job in Saigon in 1968.

While the war raged elsewhere, the effects were often felt in the South Vietnamese capital. She deals with teaching while shells crash outside the building, and helping care for orphans who have little hope of survival. Years after her return to the States, with the fall of Saigon imminent, she goes back to make a desperate attempt to go help her boyfriend’s family, in spite of being nine months pregnant (with Tonya).

Miller tells of the threads, figurative and literal, that bind people and lives together, and how we affect one another. We get a fascinating look into a war-torn city, and through Donna’s brother, a glimpse of how war changes those who fight it. The story is non-linear, but easy to follow, as we trace the threads of time back and forth across two decades. Every tale is well told, fascinating and revelatory. We feel through Miller the love for her mother and what she went through and gratitude for the little events that led up to her own creation.

“Threads” unspools at the IndyFringe Basile Theatre.

Fringe review: Kill the Column

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By John Lyle Belden

Written by former Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press columnist Garrett Mathews, “Kill the Column,” presented by mamaproductions on the Theatre on the Square second stage, presents aging veteran columnist Grinder, played by Mark Atchison, who has just been demoted to beat reporter, as the paper will no longer run his column.

In fact, in a reflection of the state of many newspapers today, Grinder isn’t the only person seeing his job picture change. Numerous other staffers have lost their jobs altogether, and from the inside it looks like the paper itself is doomed. One of the few remaining newsroom denizens is Marilou (MaryAnn Mathews), a society writer resigned to adjusting with the changes and enjoying her work while she has it. She even refuses to take the bait when grumpy Grinder gets more surly than usual with her.

After Marilu exits, Mathews returns minutes later as a much different character – one able to help Grinder escape his grind. But the decision will come at a cost, and not just to him.

This twist drives the subject of the decline of newspapering to the background, as the plot is revealed to be more about family, love and what is truly important. So you don’t have to be an ink-stained jaded journalist like me to appreciate this little comic drama with a surprising amount of heart.

By the way, Garret Mathews told me that some of the odd things that Grinder relates happened in his career are based on actual events that happened to Mathews or his journalistic peers. It’s an interesting life, trust me.

Fringe review: Sarge

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By John Lyle Belden

In this one-woman play by Cincinnati’s Clifton Performance Theatre, “Sarge” is the nickname of Dorothy Sandburg, the wife of a popular football coach who is facing allegations of sexual assault by his players and boys who he cared for in his youth foundation.

If this sounds familiar, playwright Kevin Crowley says the plot is based on the recent Penn State scandal. However, the focus is not on the indicted coach but on the woman who stood by him, firmly entrenched in her state of denial. Christine Dye brilliantly plays Dot as a woman who can’t feel anything but devoted to the man who had for decades been the keystone of her world – without him and the myth of his virtue, it all falls apart. And we can’t help but feel her pain and her struggle to maintain her fragile reality in the face of mounting evidence that she is wrong.

This may be the most intense drama of the Fringe. I highly recommend this show, playing at Musician’s Union Hall, but brace yourself for a very dark ride.

Fringe review: Camp Summer Camp

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By John Lyle Belden

Taking on “camp” in more than one sense of the word, Defiance Comedy gathers some wildly-talented local actors and distills memories and movies of summer camps with their horny counselors and creepy killers into “Camp Summer Camp” at Musician’s Union Hall.

It’s summer 1984 at the titular Canadian camp, and the counselors gather: One is determined to “become a man,” but the object of his desire has dedicated her body to Jesus; meanwhile another girl wants to throw herself at him, if she can find her glasses to see whom she is throwing herself at. Another guy isn’t taking it well that he’s not senior counselor, and the new guy from the States is eager to show off his falconry skills. Keeping this all together are the very, very close siblings who run the place, promising a lot fewer fatalities this year.

The antics that ensue are nonstop funny, clobbering cliches and trampling tropes all the way – even adding goofy touches like shouting “Ow! Ow!” when someone resets the cardboard prop “campfire” upright. And, there’s the fun sing-along of the “Camp Summer Camp Summer Camp Song.” You’d best sign up in advance for remaining camp sessions, as a lot of people are dying to get in (or was that get out? Hmm…).