Summer Stock Stage

Summer Stock’s ‘Chill’ a hot ticket

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By John Lyle Belden

Talk about an upgrade – Summer Stock Stage presents a Mainstage young artist production of the Broadway hit “Be More Chill.”

Based on a story genre that dates back to tales of Faust in the 1500s, through to modern musicals like “Damn Yankees” and “Little Shop of Horrors,” filtered through the world of teen movies since the 1980s and contemporary youth culture, this musical by Joe Iconis with book by Joe Tracz, based on the 2004 novel by Ned Vizzini, centers on a “Loser Geek Whatever” high schooler named Jeremy (Gabriel Vernon Nunag) whose father (Drew Kempin) is too depressed to wear pants, his crush Christine (Aubrie-Mei Rubel) doesn’t notice him, and his best friend Michael (Alex Pharo) doesn’t mind also being a dork, because he knows they will eventually be “cool in college.”

But Jeremy won’t wait that long. Even risking further unpopularity by signing up for the school play (the Shakespeare-ish “Midsummer Night-Mare with Zombies” adapted by eager drama teacher Mr. Reyes [Luke Aguilar]) doesn’t help because Christine has friend-zoned him – a combination of her ADD and the attention paid by handsome extracurricular-activity hopper Jake (Kendrell Stiff).

In an odd encounter, the school bully Rich (Maddux Morrison) confesses he is mean because he was instructed to be by his Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor, or Squip, which is a black-market Japanese nano-computer in pill form. Once taken with regular Mountain Dew, its circuitry migrates to the brain and gives your personality – and popularity – a total makeover.

At the local shopping mall, Jeremy finds the dealer and buys, then takes, his own Squip (Piper Murphy), which appears only in his field of vision, looking something like a “Tron” version of Timothee Chalamet with greenish hair. This program immediately takes charge of his shopping decisions and when the popular girls show up, has him acknowledge the “beta,” Brooke (Jilayne Kistner), instead of the alpha, Chloe (Jayla Shedeed), to help set up his ascendance in high school society. As for Michael, the Squip employs an optic-nerve blocker so that the BFF is literally out of sight, out of mind.

The cast also includes Isabella Agresta, and Jenna Rolan as the school gossip. Devan Mathias directs, with music direction by Cameron Tragesser and impressive choreography by Darian Wilson.

The set design by Chyna Mayer includes several screens which at times show video linked from smartphones the actors are holding at the time, giving such moments an authentic feel. Costumes by Tony Sirk include the anime-style green Squip cybersuits as well as the odd outfits used in the school play.

Nunag’s performance is excellent, and Rubel’s adorable, while this musical gives the supporting roles plenty of moments to shine, making Kempin’s Mr. Heere and Kistner’s Brooke characters to feel for, as well as lending Morrison’s bad-boy Rich a more nuanced persona. Then there’s the fact that the big hit song is sung by the neglected best friend – as Pharo nails his rendition of “Michael in the Bathroom.”

Murphy, as the Squip, perfects the Terminator stare and affect with cooly-efficient movement. Her aura of subtle menace compels obedience.

While a fun musical centered on teen angst, this tale of the wish to exchange one’s self for a promised “upgrade” harkens back to ancient roots while becoming only more relevant in the current spread of A.I.

After all, we each now hold a compact supercomputer just inches from our brains every day.

You, too, can “Be More Chill” by avoiding the August heat and seeing this production tonight (as I post this) and Sunday, Aug. 9-10, and Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 14-17, at Schrott Center for the Arts, 610 W. 46th St., Indianapolis (Butler University, next to Clowes Hall). Get info at summerstockstage.com and tickets at butlerartscenter.org.

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

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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.

‘Time to Dance’ with Summer Stock Stage ‘Prom’

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By John Lyle Belden

Indianapolis young artist program Summer Stock Stage opens its 2025 season with “The Prom,” a 2018 Broadway musical loosely based on actual events and still-persistent attitudes. This is an Eclipse production (no relation to the Bloomington company) in which young actors gain professional experience alongside experienced and Equity performers.

New York theatre narcissistic has-beens Barry Glickman (Adam B. Shapiro) and Dee Dee Allen (Lanene Charters) discover their latest musical is such a flop, it will immediately close. Commiserating with friend Angie Dickinson (Alexandria Van Paris), a 20-year veteran who can’t escape the chorus, and unemployed former sitcom star Trent Oliver (Logan Mortier) – who can’t stop talking about attending Juilliard – they decide they need to take on an activist cause to enhance their public profiles. Finding an online story about a prom cancelled because a lesbian student wants to take a girl as her date, inspiration strikes.

Meanwhile, at fictional James Madison High School in Edgewater, Indiana, Emma (Mai Caslowitz) finds herself bullied even more than usual as the other students blame her for the prom’s cancellation. Fortunately, Principal Hawkins (Ryan Artzberger) is an ally and working on both a legal remedy and persuading the PTA, led by homophobic president Mrs. Greene (Megan Raymont). That meeting appears to be about to bring about the dance’s reinstatement, when suddenly, our Broadway gang shows up to “help.”

With incurable hams in the land of the tenderloin, we get a lot of laughs and maybe a bit of schadenfreude at watching the New Yorkers fail spectacularly. On the other hand, it’s cruel to Emma, who has enough stress from the fact that her secret girlfriend Alyssa (Jocylon Evans) is Mrs. Greene’s daughter.

Still, there is a lot of heart, hope and energy in this fun musical by Bob Martin, Chad Beguelin and Matthew Sklar, based on a concept by Jack Viertel. This production is directed by SSS Artistic Director Emily Ristine Holloway, expertly managing the comical interventions and put-downs of Hoosier culture while maintaining the humanity of all the characters.

Considering the real-life 2010 incident that inspired the musical happened in Mississippi (complete with prom fake-out and celebrity aid), the show was apparently set in Indiana as a thumb in the eye of then-Vice President Mike Pence. It is good to see local companies take charge of the way Hoosiers are portrayed, even with an honest look at anti-LGBTQ attitudes. Frankly, though I understand the rules regarding scripts, I think it would be best if there were a local (fictional) setting for any conservative state where the musical is staged, lest folks think this is just poking fun at the ignorant people “over there.”

Any concerns about the story are rendered moot by the excellent performances. Charters and Shapiro are delights as well-meaning divas working to get over themselves. Van Paris, “antelope legs” and all, brings the “zazz” throughout. Mortier nimbly plays a goober who seems self-absorbed but wants to just feel appreciated, which comes about in – for him – a surprising way. Local treasure Ben Asaykwee brings his understated charm to the role of Glickman and Allen’s assistant Sheldon. Artzberger is solid as always, and a natural aid in helping the younger stars shine.

As for the youthful roles, Caslowitz gives an award-worthy, relatable, endearing performance, winning our hearts in the songs “Dance With You” and “Unruly Heart.” Evans does a lot with her principal supporting role, especially Alyssa’s signature song.

Excellent work as well by ensemble players Isabella Agresta, Lauren Blackwood, Keilyn Bryant, Izzy Casciani, Noah Greer, Tess Holloway, Seth Jacobsen, Day Johnson, Jilayne Kistner, Reagan Cole Minnette, Maddux Morrison, Martini Olaletan, Jacob Richardon, and Sofia Warren Fitzgerald.

The dancing is also fantastic, choreographed by Sean Aaron Carmon with choreography supervisor Phillip Crawshaw.

One week remains of this spectacle – a sort of “Footloose” for our times – as Summer Stock Stage takes on its new residence at Schrott Center for the Arts at Butler University. Performances are Wednesday through Sunday, with two shows on Saturday, June 4-8. Get tickets at summerstockstage.com or butlerartscenter.org.

SSS Eclipse ‘Lizzie’ a riotous spectacle

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By John Lyle Belden

The Summer Stock Stage Eclipse program (professional, with collegiate performers) presents “Lizzie,” the new musical by Alan Stevens Hewitt and Steven Cheslik-deMeyer, book by Tim Maner, based on the Lizzie Borden legend, presented internationally since its introduction in 2010.

To clarify “musical,” this show is a Riot Grrl-style Punk Rock Opera – modify expectations accordingly and hold on for the ride.* To ask why it’s in this mode is to miss the cultural mystique of Miss Borden. She was already an outsider – unmarried at 30, still living with her controlling father and detested stepmother – when the gruesome events of August 1892 occurred in Fall River, Mass.

“Lizzie Borden took an ax, gave her mother forty whacks; when she saw what she had done, gave her father forty-one!”

Being rich from their penny-pinching parents, Lizzie and sister Emma hired the best possible representation, and with an all-male jury actually working in their favor, got her acquitted at trial. However, historians and even her fandom are fairly certain she did the deed. Still, this is not just a play about getting away with murder.

The story is presented nearly all in song by four women: Lizzie (Erin Lambertson), older sister Emma Borden (Cora Kendall), neighbor and close friend Alice Russell (Mai Caslowitz), and the Bordens’ maid Bridget “Maggie” Sullivan (Samantha Ringor). Backing them – literally, seen through the slats of the set by Abigail Wagner that suggests both a simple home and cozy barn – are the band of Ginger Stoltz (keyboard and conductor), Ainsley Paton Stoltz (bass), Kirstin Cutler (drums), Joy Caroline Mills (guitar), Sally McSpadden (guitar and keyboard), and Taylor White (cello and percussion). Direction is by local actor and teaching artist Devan Mathias with musical direction by Ben Rose (who coincidentally has worked at the actual Lizzie Borden House, now a B&B).

Act 1 brings into focus the conditions the Borden sisters were likely living in, and potential motives for what is to come. The tensions weigh on Lizzie and Emma, while a longing grows in Alice; meanwhile, with a dollar from the girls in hand, Maggie is quick to go downtown for the afternoon so she can say she didn’t see a thing someone might be doing.

In Act 2, there is quite a mess – one song is titled, “What the F*** Now, Lizzie?!” – and loosely period costumes give way for something more turn of the Millenium (all designed by Allison Jones) as events take a more modern procedural, crime-of-the-century feel. The number in which Lizzie and Emma make their Kardashian-esque public plea is priceless.

Throughout it all, these ladies rock their hearts out. There are also touching, tender moments, including a song between Lizzie and Alice that recurs in each act, giving two meanings to “Will you lie?” Overall, a bravura performance.

This show brings more of a different perspective to the Borden case and legend than giving any new facts. Events portrayed in any medium are always conjecture and subject to artistic license. Perhaps a good friend “coming to call” could mean more in 1890s New England. Still, the major points follow the story as told elsewhere. This version is very feminist-focused, so one can forgive the downplaying of other problematic aspects such as suspicions cast on local immigrants. On this stage, it’s the grrls’ turn to tell the story – the closest you get to a male presence is Daddy’s body under a sheet.

Four performances remain for “Lizzie,” Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 8-11, at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre, 705 N. Illinois St., Indianapolis. See phoenixtheatre.org for tickets or get info at summerstockstage.com.

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(*“Lizzie” could be compared stylistically to the musical “Six,” but the latter was developed in the U.K. more recently.)

Fall for the charms of SSS ‘Music Man’

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By John Lyle Belden

It’s an often-told story: A stranger comes into a sleepy town and everything changes. However, in this case, that’s the stranger’s plan the whole time.

Summer Stock Stage presents a full production of Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man,” directed by founding artistic director Emily Ristine Holloway. And I do mean “full” – the whole musical on the full-size Ayers Auditorium stage (at Park Tudor School) with orchestra in the back, led by Mike Berg Raunick, and a cast that Holloway tongue-in-cheek calls “seventy-six actors” (a rough count in the program is close to that number). They represent 30 different Indiana schools, she said, mainly teenagers with younger children in age-appropriate roles.

This company gives an exceptional performance throughout, from the overture to the curtain call.

In 1912, “Professor” Harold Hill (Justus Palumbo) arrives in River City, Iowa, a practiced con man posing as a traveling salesman of band instruments and uniforms. The grift involves convincing a town it needs a youth band, selling them everything they need with the promise he’ll organize and teach, but skipping town with the money before giving a single actual lesson.

Iowans aren’t that easy to fool, especially town librarian Marian Paroo (Jilayne Kistner), but Hill accepts the challenge, demonizing the new pool tables downtown and getting everyone singing and dancing as they await the arrival of their instruments. Both Marian and Mayor Shinn (Andrew King) suspect something dishonest is happening, but are swept up in the events of that magical summer. Marion’s shy, lisping little brother Winthrop Paroo (Tad Klovsky) is coming out of his shell; meanwhile, local delinquent Tommy Djilas (Justice Harris) is doing honest work, albeit as Hill’s unwitting accomplice.

But even master manipulator Hill isn’t immune to changing attitudes – or love.

The cast also features Gracie Reckamp as Amaryllis, the girl with a crush on Winthrop; Taylor Smith as Marcellus Washburn, an old friend of Hill’s now in on the scam; Paige Murray as the Mayor’s wife Eulalie, who wishes to be seen as cultured so is easily talked into leading a women’s dance committee; Gabi Bradley as Zaneeta Shin, the Mayor’s daughter who is seeing Tommy; Elizabeth Hutson as Marion and Winthrop’s mother, who takes a shine to Hill from the beginning; Caleb Trinoskey as Charlie Cowell, a crude traveling salesman out to expose Hill; and Martini Otaletan, Jackson Bullock, Thomas Bowling, and Colin Alber as city School Board members who find themselves formed into a pitch-perfect barbershop quartet.

Palumbo and Kistner, both college-bound high school graduates, give professional-level performances as Harold and Marion. He gives Hill suave charisma and endless charm; while she presents as nobody’s fool, while understanding that this “band” may be the best thing to ever happen to this town.

King amuses with his bossy bluster as Mayor Shinn. Murray easily steals scenes as his wife. Hutson’s Mrs. Paroo is a steady presence, an old Irish soul whose only desire is for love to prevail. Klovsky, naturally, charms as Winthrop.

While the songs and story are what makes this musical famous, this production features some incredible dancing, choreographed by Phillip Crawshaw. The big numbers fill the stage with precision and dazzling moves; moments when Tommy and Zaneeta pair up really pop; and the movement and clever use of the books during “Marian the Librarian” are simply stunning.

For anyone who likes “The Music Man,” or is open to it, this brilliant production is a must. Performances are 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 28-30. The Saturday Matinee is a “sensory-friendly” performance for patrons who would be more comfortable with that. Park Tudor is at 7200 N. College Ave., Indianapolis, follow the signs to Ayers Auditorium. Go to summerstockstage.com for tickets.

Dearly beloved, gather for ‘The Wedding Singer’

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By John Lyle Belden

Being a Generation X’er, I get mixed feelings about 1980s nostalgia, but some things catch the kitschy spirit of the decade just right, like the Tony-nominated musical, “The Wedding Singer,” based on the 1998 Adam Sandler film.

Presented by the 21st-century actors of Eclipse, the professional-level program of Summer Stock Stage, “Wedding Singer” is on the main stage of the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre through June 16, directed by Kate Galvin.

In 1985 New Jersey, singer-songwriter Robbie Hart (Alex Pharo) is having modest success leading an in-demand wedding band, Simply Wed, with best friends Sammy (Micah Phillips) on bass and George (Matthew David Conwell) on keytar. Robbie is also looking forward to his own wedding, to Linda (Kha’Lea Wainwright), but things don’t go to plan. Meanwhile, Julia Sullivan (Leela Rothenberg), who with her cousin Holly (Dori Salumurovic) are waitresses at the wedding venue, is getting engaged to rich Wall Street boyfriend Glen Guglia (Jack Ducat). Julia has Robbie promise to sing at her wedding – which he eventually will, but not in the way anyone expected.

The plot hits all the expected beats of a typical rom-com, from the meet-cute all the way through to the “go out and get her!” What’s important is how the story goes from here to there, and all the charming, mildly dramatic, and laugh-out-loud moments along the way.

Pharo takes on this journey well, making Robbie a hero to root for, funny and charming without any of Sandler’s mannerisms so the character stands on its own. Rothenberg makes Julia both noble and sweet, the kind of woman worth going great lengths for. She and Salumurovic have a natural chemistry as well, like they grew up as almost-sisters. Phillips, looking like a mad scientist combined Hall and Oates, and Conwell, a sort of Boy George homage, also make memorable likable characters. Wainwright and Ducat give their roles each a flavor of vanity that befits the era – Glen’s especially, as a “greed is good” trader overflowing with hubris.  

Local stage veteran Devan Mathias steals scenes in roles including Robbie’s grandmother Rosie and Julia’s mother Angie. The supporting ensemble get a lot of time on stage – weddings, a bar mitzvah, at the mall, etc. – so get a lot of moments as well, featuring Isabella Agresta, Kayla Mariah Fifer, Fletcher Hooten, Byron Ledford, Hillary McGuire, and Maddux Morrison (who rocks Fake Billy Idol).

The musical, with book by Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy (from Herlihy’s screenplay), music by Matthew Sklar and lyrics by Beguelin, avoids the endless headaches of song rights by providing originals with the familiar feel of ‘80s hits, from the catchy “It’s Your Wedding Day” to the charm of “Come Out of the Dumpster.”

Galvin is aided by music director Jerico Hughes, choreographer Phillip Crawshaw and stage manager Rebecca Roeber. Embarrassingly accurate fashion and look by Wendy Meaden (costumes) and Andrew Elliot (wigs, hair, and makeup).

Highly entertaining with a story of love lost and found “Right in Front of Your Eyes,” find “The Wedding Singer” tickets at phoenixtheatre.org.

Summer Stock ‘Chorus’ dances into our hearts

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(This production is by Summer Stock Stage Mainstage, not its Eclipse program as originally stated in this review.)

By Wendy Carson

This summer has been very special for John and myself. We have both had two productions of our favorite musicals staged (“Godspell” for him and “A Chorus Line” for me). I am especially delighted at the fact that each production of my fave was so vastly different, so if you saw Footlite’s, “A Chorus Line,” you really need to check out the version produced by Summer Stock Stage’s Mainstage company as well.

Director/choreographer Andrew Winans and co-director Emily Ristine Holloway bring us a longer presentation that includes more of the original script and heavily highlights the dancing abilities of each of the actors. A Tony and Pulitzer-winning “sensation” in 1975, the plot revolves around the various characters desperately vying for a job in a new show, bringing the tales of why and how each one became a dancer as well as why they continue to pursue this path as a career.

Nowhere are these skills better highlighted than in the two solo dance numbers.

Mike (Jacob Richardson) bounds out of the gate with his spectacular version of “I Can Do That” explaining how he took over his sister’s place in dance class, giving us tap, jazz, and acrobatic moves that wow the whole audience.

Anna Seitz brings the sad desperation of past Broadway featured dancer Cassie’s attempt to get a job no matter how demeaning. Her performance makes her dance during “The Music and the Mirror” seem effortless despite the fact it is one of the most complex and physically taxing numbers in this show.

Ivan Figuerora as Paul has the lone soliloquy and brings every bit of the emotional rawness of the story of his journey to becoming a man who is fully comfortable in his own body and soul.

Destinee Rodriguez as Diana, not only saps every drop of sorrowful beauty of the show’s one breakout hit, “What I Did For Love,” but also shows the struggles all students (performers or not) can face against a headstrong and uncaring teacher in “Nothing.”

“At the Ballet” highlights the desolate family lives and strong singing abilities of three of our characters: Savannah McClure as Shelia whose father’s distance is overcome by finding self-esteem through dance. Savannah McCarthy is Bebe, whose lack of physical beauty is at odds with her talent. Tess Holloway’s spectacularly voices Maggie who overcomes her father’s desertion by finding solace in the arms of dance partners.

While each cast member gets an individual moment to shine, their skill as dancing in a cohesive unit might be overlooked but is a far more difficult skill than one might expect. They include Fiona Curtis as Val, Hillary McGuire as Judy, Nina Abel as Connie, Keira Himes as Kristine, Clive Guidry as Al, Fletcher Hooten as Richie, Collin Alber as Mark, Cory Wilcher as Bobby, Keilyn Bryant as Don, and AJ Thomas as Greg.

Matthew Conwell, as Zach, the director/choreographer with their fate in his hands, and Justice Harris as Larry, his assistant, show such command of the dance steps you can believe their characters came up with them.

As I have said with every other production of the show, I would honestly attend every single performance if I could. Sadly, there are only two more opportunities for you to experience it: tonight and Sunday (July 29-30) at the Ayres auditorium of Park Tudor High School, 7200 N. College, Indianapolis (note there are street construction closures on College in the Broad Ripple area, south of Park Tudor). For tickets, visit summerstockstage.com.

Eclipse presents exceptional ‘Cabaret’

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By Wendy Carson

When most people think of the musical, “Cabaret,” they consider Sally Bowles to be the main character. However, this is really the story of the writer, Clifford Bradshaw, and his quest to write a novel. It is, after all, based on semi-autobiographical stories by an actual writer living in 1930s Berlin.  

Yet, as crafted by Joe Masteroff (with songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb), it is actually the Emcee who is the storyteller and master manipulator of the entire plot. We see him pulling the strings, putting all of the pieces into play, joyously watching the outcomes, and savagely commenting on it all through song. This has never been so utterly clear as it is in Eclipse’s current production.

From the first second he takes the stage, Matthew Conwell’s presence as our host enthralls. We can’t help but obey his every command. Fortunately for the rest of the cast, he directs us all to pay attention to the other performers who are equally outstanding.

The Kit Kat Girls: Rosie (Reagan Cole Minnette), Lulu (Peyton Wright), Frenchie (Cora Lucas), Texas (Julia Murphy), Fritzie (Lizzie Mowry), and Helga (Emily Lynn Thomas), are all at the top of their game. Their dexterity, balance, and skill bringing life to Alexandria Van Paris’s choreography (which in some cases would make even Fosse impressed) shows that they are all destined for promising stage careers if they choose to pursue them. They also bring a hint of joy to the jaded seediness of their roles.

The Kit Kat Boys, Bobby (Isaiah Hastings) and Victor (Jet Terry) are both athletic and charismatic to the point of making you sad that the script doesn’t offer them more stage time.

Cynthia Kauffman gives Sally Bowles a happier outlook. She keeps her character intentionally ignorant to anything around her that is not currently making her happy and promoting her career.

Donathan Arnold’s turn as Clifford Bradshaw makes the character as All-American as apple pie, while reminding us that apples can be tart, rotten, sweet and that all recipes have secret ingredients within them. Being an African American makes casting sense, as in the era Black ex-pats often found Europe more welcoming than back home. And he does seem to enjoy Germany – until he doesn’t.

Judy Fitzgerald and Charles Goad truly break your heart as Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz, a couple so hopelessly in love but still wary of the dangers arising around them.

Mowry’s delightful turn as the dedicated “lover” of sailors, Fraulein Kost, helps bring some much-needed humor into much of the storyline outside of The Kit Kat Club. But her true loyalties are no laughing matter.

Scott Van Wye pours on the charm as the mysterious Ernst Ludwig. We almost don’t mind the true nature of his “work,” until it’s literally on his sleeve.

Eclipse is a program of Summer Stock Stage that gives the alumni of the youth program a chance to be part of a professional production. They not only learn from experienced director Carlos Medina Maldonado but also by working alongside Equity actors Fitzgerald (co-founder of Actors Theatre of Indiana) and Goad.

While I do admit that this musical is one of my all-time favorites, this production makes me feel like I have never actually seen it before. If I could, I would gladly watch every performance.

You can see it Thursday through Sunday, June 9-12, at the Phoenix Theatre, 705 N. Illinois, Indianapolis. Find info and tickets at phoenixtheatre.org.

Discover the beauty of ‘Violet’

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By John Lyle Belden

The musical “Violet” touches on many themes: blind faith, being blinded by faith, the importance of our appearance to ourselves and others, and the necessity to forgive — both others and ourselves. Eclipse productions, a program of Summer Stock Stage, brings all these aspects beautifully into focus in its production of “Violet” at the Phoenix Theatre, through June 15.

In 1964, Violet, a young woman from rural Spruce Pine, North Carolina., travels by bus to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to find a television preacher who conducts televised faith healings. She hopes to finally be rid of a disfiguring facial scar she got from an accident with a wayward ax blade. On the way, she rides with two soldiers on their way to Ft. Smith, Arkansas (nearby Fort Chaffee, to be accurate, but this isn’t mentioned), the last stop before Tulsa.

Along the way, Violet (Elizabeth Hutson) gets to know Flick (Mark Maxwell), a black Sargeant, and Monty (John Collins), a white Corporal, as they get a measure of her and appreciate the woman behind the face. She also meets characters such as a well-meaning old lady (Amanda Boldt) and the driver (Carlos Medina Maldonado), as well Almeta (Chase Infiniti), who runs a boarding house in Memphis, and isn’t comfortable with white folks in her rooms. During this journey, we can see in her memory a younger Violet (Leah Broderick) and her father (Eric J. Olson), who as a widower tries to do as well as he can for his daughter, while enduring a river of deep regrets.

The cast also includes Terrence Lambert, Lily Wessel, and Gabriel Herzog in various roles. At the Tulsa church studio, we meet Maldonado as the preacher with a choir led by Infiniti as featured singer, Lula.

Most of the ensemble are Summer Stock Stage alumni, young adults given an opportunity to show the skills they attained through years in the youth program as well as high school and university; thus we have fresh faces performing like old pros alongside veteran actors Olson and Maldonado.

Hutson is exceptional, her star shining through the plain hair and clothes, helping us to see the scar burned into her psyche even though (as is commonly done in this production) it is not visible on her face. Maxwell and Collins flesh out their characters solidly, and Infiniti gets to show off her powerful voice.

The simple set suggesting an old country church, by designer Geoffrey Ehrendreich, is adorned with mirrors hanging high above it, the shadow of the center one looming in the background as a metaphorical tombstone. Music direction and costumes are by Jeanne Bowling, with a backstage band conducted by pianist Nathan Perry. Eclipse Artistic Director and show producer Emily Ristine Holloway directs.

This beautiful work is playing on the Russell main stage at the Phoenix, 705 N. Illinois St., downtown Indianapolis. Get info and tickets at www.SummerStockStage.com or PhoenixTheatre.org.