Displaying items by tag: Molly Lecaptain

A wondrous evening of sonorous music awaits you at The Bridges of Madison County. The story was also a 1995 film (Clint Eastwood directed and starred opposite Meryl Streep, who won an Oscar) then was translated into this Broadway musical in 2012 - all based on Robert Waller’s blockbuster 1992 romantic novel – 60 million copies sold worldwide.  

For this show, directed by Fred Anzevino, Theo Ubique’s cozy new cabaret playhouse on Howard Street gives us an unimaginably intimate performance. It is like a jewel box setting for a chamber opera, and features the immensely talented Kelli Harrington - a Broadway bel canto if ever there were one.  

The tale is really a reverie on romantic love, and paths not taken, as the married but lonely Italian-American, Francesca (Harrington) questions her life as an Iowa farm wife with two teenaged children. Her considerate, dutiful but uninspiring husband Bud brought her home as a war bride from a devastated Naples to his Madison County farm – a place as foreign to her roots and soul as the other side of the moon.

While Bud (Carl Herzog) is away at the Iowa State Fair with their teenagers Michael (Christopher Ratliff) and Carolyn (Peyton Shaffer), a National Geographic photographer, Robert Kincaid (Tommy Thurston) rings Francesca’s doorbell seeking directions. It turns out he has recently photographed Naples and happens to bring the issue featuring his photographs of her lost home. This helps triggers a torrid, four-day affair.

The drama unfolds at a leisurely pace. It is a low-key tale of self-reflection, befitting the emotional struggles of the Robert and Francesa as they weigh running away together. Just this side of becoming saccarine, The Bridges of Madison County's underlying story appealed to men and women, as does this show. It analyzes the values of duty and commitment, and where lies the duty of the chivalrous Robert Kincaid and the ultimately faithful Francesa. The lovely, harmonic music by Jason Robert Brown is more tone poems than Broadway numbers - perfectly suited to the remarkable Kelli Harrington, who teaches voice and has a string of Jeff Award honors.

In a class all by herself, Harrington sings and evokes in parallel, like a fine diva – an arched eyebrow, a furtive look, shaking her locks – it’s really quite stunning to witness. The elegant chamber music ensemble led by Jeremy Ramey emphasizes cello, violin, and keyboard. Francesca’s role dominates the musical minutes, with Robert as her partner in emotional upheaval countering with a comparably challenging song book. Tommy Thurston acquits himself admirably, in a complex role. 

Among the standouts were Shaffer and Ratcliff as completely convincing teens who sing wonderfully; and Molly LeCaptain as Robert’s ex Marian (she also plays Francesca’s sister Chiara) – backing herself beautifully on guitar in a solo. Plaudits to Kate Harris, whose performance I loved as neighbor Marge, always supportive, not too intrusive, who lives a parallel life of love and loss. Harris has a wonderful stage delivery, and played so realistically a woman aging over the years.

This is my second show at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, and because I like the space so much I am tempted to see everything this season. Theo Ubique allows you to order dinner in advance, and the  performers serve before curtain and during. Or you can do as I did and sit in a bar stool and run a tab (no serving during the show itself, of course.) I have two related suggestions: for ticket buyers, because the theater has no lobby, you can’t be seated after curtain. (I learned that when I was a few minutes late for a performance. So be early.) The other suggestion I have is for a minor adjustment to the sound system, which is really pretty good. It could just be my ears, but certain upper vocal ranges seemed constrained.

Recommended See The Bridges of Madison County through April 21, 2019 at Theo Ubique, 721 Howard Street, Evanston.

*Extended through May 5th

If you’ve followed Netflix’s big 2016 hit Stranger Things, this play will make all kinds of sense. You’ll get the jokes, the 80’s references and will easily follow the story line. If you haven’t seen the series, it would be recommended that you do before checking out Random Acts and Greenhouse Theater’s collaboration, Strangest Things! The Musical. 

Spoofing one of the most talked about sci-fi series to hit the airwaves over the past few years, Strangest Things! follows the disappearance of Will Byers, a young boy in Hawkins, Indiana. Set in the 1980’s, his mother Joyce Byers, brother Johnathan and a group of Will’s friends search everywhere to no avail, eventually enlisting the help of Police Chief, David Harbour. When a young girl known as “Eleven” appears from seemingly nowhere dressed in only a hospital gown, it is soon discovered she has psychokinetic abilities and things start to get weird. 

Befriended by Will’s friends, Eleven is able to contact Will from the other side and it becomes apparent that things are not at all what they seem. Joyce believes Will is contacting her from another dimension, his energy channeled through the radio and a string of Christmas lights, confident he is alive but trapped in another world. Of course, this sounds crazy – or is it? And with every good sci-fi thriller there needs to be a villain, so it’s soon discovered an experimental laboratory, led by scientist Martin Brenner, may have a hand in Will’s disappearance. Suspicious, the snooping begins and the plot gets deeper and deeper as the story progresses.  

The series won its popularity not only with its engaging storyline, but with the heavy use of 80’s music and sound effects, making it prime parody material.

That’s where Strangest Things! comes in. 

While Strangest Things! The Musical hits on some of the 80’s silliness and occasionally finds success in its over-the-top lampooning of the series’ characters, it struggles to hold onto its momentum. Taking popular 80’s hits like “Xanadu”, “I’m A Virgin”, “Sweet Dreams” and “Don’t Stop Believin’”, writers Bryan Renaud and Emily Schmidt change the lyrics to accommodate the storyline in the play. While the lyrics are, at times, funny, the execution falls a bit flat, the harmonies weak and the vocals often lacking strength, excluding Molly Lecaptain as “Juice” (Joyce) Byers who can flat out belt. We almost wonder if the play would have been better without the musical numbers, the dialogue exchanges drawing the most laughs along with the character exaggerations of each.

Lecaptain does a good job in taking on Winona Ryders’ character, over-amplifying her panic-stricken, bewildered and frenzied traits at just the right intensity, while Kevin O’Connell as “Sheriff Hopper” (Police Chief David Harbour) also takes his role and runs with it. Will’s best friend Mike is played by Jenna Fawcett, who doesn’t have to do much more than wear a goofy wig to get a chuckle but also delivers plenty of funny lines and loopy expressions. Older brother “Johnathan” is played by Ben F. Locke, who doubles as hunky high school heart throb Steve. Locke’s performance offers some of the best camp-dom in the musical, leaving more “Johnathan” scenes to be highly desired. Their comedic ability is only limited by the play’s script.

The play starts strong as we meet our characters the first time around (especially “Barb” played by Christian Sibert), but the humor becomes predictable, the character’s freshness soon overplayed and the jokes often coming off as contrived or overdone, a perfect example being Hopper’s mention of T.J. Hooker – which was funny – until he points out to the audience that we should laugh because he made an obscure 80’s reference. We know.    

If you enjoyed the Netflix series, there might be just enough in Strangest Things! to like despite its many missed opportunities for witty, comedic growth. The idea is there but the play could use a reworking to give its audience the most bang for their buck.            

Lukewarm, the play has severe hits and misses, some jokes really creative while others falling flat. As a whole, the story might be a bit tough to piece together without having seen the series, as it is presented somewhat scattered without full explanation, so again, it is recommended you watch Stranger Things first.  

Strangest Things! The Musical is being performed at Greenhouse Theater Center through May 13th. For more information on this production, visit www.greenhousetheater.org.

*This show has now been extended through July 8th.