Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a delightful mix of “Q” from James Bond and family fun. Like successful Disney Feature Movies, this production entertains a wide range of audiences’ ages; it was heartwarming to see multi-generational families waiting in the lobby before the performance. Opening night had a few little glitches, but the Fulton Theater’s version has the capability of competing with any Broadway Family production. Every feature of Chitty Chitty Bang was first rate largely due to the rented props, scenery, and costumes from the national tour. The extra work to be able to do this production like reinforcing the stage was well worth the extra effort.

Recalling the movie of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from many years ago, I would have never connected the James Bond creator and the story. In retrospect, I see all of the connections to the Bond movies and this children’s story. For example, quirky names for characters, the comical spies and a wacky inventor who owns an exceptional car. I can’t forget to mention the appeal of the death defying stunts to get away from the bad guys, the evil Gothic- Bavarian nemeses.

Several dance numbers are worth noting. There were three extremely superb dance numbers- the candy factory scene, the old Einstein looking inventors’ scene, and the spicy Samba dance scene. The costumes, choreography and music lifted the soul and reminded me why I love live stage.

Chemistry makes and breaks Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s entertainment. This production had several well partnered duos with great chemistry including the timing, costumes and story line, and especially that elusive element where you witness one plus one equals more than two. Great dynamic duo performances were enacted by the spies (Andrew Kindig/Randall Frizado), the Baron and Baroness (Rye Mullis/Susan Moniz), and the children Jeremy and Jemima (Reese Sebastian Diaz/Kaitlyn Mueller). You had the Baron in his jack boots while clinging to his teddy bear with his spicy Baroness wife simultaneously trying to seduce him. The Bavarian spies reminded me very much of the beloved Bullwinkle cartoon spies of Boris and Natasha. The Potts children were casted perfectly- their stage abilities were exceptional while still retaining their youthful entrancement of their beloved magical car. The icing on the cake for these great performing duos was the costumes. Both the spies and the royal couple had one adorable costume after another. Every detail of these duos costumes from headpieces to footwear tickled my toes.

With a little tweaking this Fulton Theatre production would be a five star production. If refined, the opening scene would be a spectacular one. The microphone for the Baroness had technical problems at times. It was difficult to understand Grandpa during his solo; if it is purposeful to make Grandpa hard to understand since he is so eccentric, then it needs to be over dramatized. There were a few dropped props and dancers out of step in some of the dance numbers. Another note is that the story line should have been more forthcoming that Mrs. Potts had died; my guest for the evening thought that Mr. Potts was cheating on his wife-not family entertainment worthy at all.

As an audience member of years of Fulton Theatre productions I must say that this year may have been one of the greatest seasons that the Fulton has ever produced. The icing on the cake of Fulton Theatre’s great year is the stage production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Michael Archangel by The Fulton Theatre

Ooh la la! That’s-a-spicy-meatball-a! There should be a Russian phrase like the French or Italian phrases to describe this spicy little number. But all the spiciness and hilarious characters give way to this highly complex, well- developed World Premiere at Lancaster’s Fulton Theatre. This entertaining spicy little number has everything-comedy, drama, parody, controversy, family values, well developed memorable  characters intertwined inside the family business, the mob, love triangle after love triangle, the battle of good and evil (Michael and Porfiry), disappointment, illness, and the cycles of death and birth. Michael Archangel is the perfect meld of complex characters and actors willing to allow these complexities to artfully develop as real life unexpected events and chaos mirror what really happens to our  own lives when an event upends our family. What happens when to the family dynamics when one of our family leaders is no longer able to perform his or her duties? Who steps up? Who shy’s away or perhaps goes into hiding? Who nurtures? Who becomes the major influence on family decision making? The transformation of people due to an event like a major illness, death, or a vanishing of a family member is something we all need to endure at least once in all of our lifetimes. So despite all the hilarity of the Russian mob families in the first act we become mentally connected to the characters during the drama of the second act as we witness the characters’ transformations. This little Fulton Theatre feature is a thoroughly entertaining comedy-drama that is very thought provoking and it reminded me very much of the hit HBO series the Sopranos. The Sopranos and Michael Archangel both successfully feature mob families with great story writing, in depth complexities, colorful characters that were delightful to watch, and great acting.

The Voynitsev’s and the Glagolyev’s know how to throw a party. It is hysterical to watch these Russian families in America throw a Fourth of July party loudly playing Russian pop music, playing chess, and throwing down endless shots of vodka at this gorgeous and very American compound on Long Island beach. We see fake Americanized outfits, hear fake Russian accents, see fake interest in a person of the opposite sex, see fake married flamboyant man hiding his questionable sexuality behind an incredibly sexy wife, and more and more fakeness. We see so many love triangles that you want to say STOP. We see so many secret passions that have been suppressed for years and years. Then we meet Michael, the epitome of the perfect teacher who has this deep desire to be connected to something that is for the greater good of mankind but is unable to find it. All the women flock to Michael lusting for a deep and lifelong connection and seem repulsed by Porfiry who says things like “Man must bully, woman must lie. Rule of nature."

In the end I was very disappointed by the character Michael. At first I disappointed by how the play ended because Michael as a character was not the expected superman to all. But after some thought I realized that Michael’s shortcomings is one of the pivotal lessons of the play. When everything is said and done, it is the person who is really and truly there for you that is the most important thing in life.

Review Of Sweeney Todd Demon Barber of Fleet Street By Fulton Theatre

Why, why, why would someone do what Sweeney Todd did? I find the need to understand characters like the Phantom, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, or Sweeney Todd. The production could be wildly entertaining with superb costumes, sets, actors, and music but afterwards I feel like something is missing and the entertainment I just enjoyed seemed shallow. When the depths of character plus the story behind the person allows the audience to feel his emotions, his motivations, and to understand his impulsive behavior http://www.thefulton.org/sweeney/the production entertains the intellect, humanizes this extremely unique character, and fulfills the need for closure for the dastardly actions of the character.  Even though the characters like the Phantom or Sweeney Todd are fictional, my mind will not be at ease until I understand this character’s powerful actions and motivations. The decision of the directors to engrain the reasoning of the violent actions of Sweeney Todd in the Fulton’s Theatre production was a great choice. Plus this rendition of Sweeney Todd makes the production more of a tragedy than a horror.

Due to a huge injustice Sweeney Todd returns to London to try to recapture his former life after 15 years. But Sweeney only hears of further injustices suffered by his family members due to the same judge and sidekick that permanently harmed Sweeney. Only when Sweeney reconnects with his beloved barber blades does he start to feel like his old self again. Sweeny lives, eats, and breathes revenge on the judge who dealt one injustice after another on his family. When he cannot reach his target the mounding surge of emotions and unreleased anger is too much for Sweeney and he releases his tensions by other means.

The directors of Sweeney Todd artfully presented this production more like a Dickens’ novel. I saw many parallels to numerous Dickens stories: Victorian London, the numerous injustices of the time period in London, the bullying, the persons in power who abuse their power to control others and their outcomes. Charles Dickens wrote Martin Chuzzlewit two years before the String of Pearls story of Sweeney Todd appeared. Some people feel that the Dickens’s story was the precursor to the String of Pearls story with Sweeney Todd. This production also has a benefactor-another Dickens’s trait. The benefactor supplied the extra actors and orchestra thereby giving the production a deep and haunting resonance and fervor during the crescendo of choruses.

  This Fulton Theatre’s production once again showed the talents of the well oiled machine on Prince Street in Lancaster. The scene, makeup, hair and costume designers transformed the audience to the dismal Victorian time period. The lighting and sound designers showed their trade mark perfect timing and effects. The casting of the actors was perfect – Signore Adolfo Pirelli, the sophisticated Italian Barber and street vendor, Sweeney himself who not only had a great singing voice but a marvelous speaking voice for the role, as well as the other 26 actors. The music direction of the orchestra and the enormous ensemble (each with stupendous individual singing ability) were magnificently coordinated in a reverberating sound that sounded like a 100 vocalists and a 50 piece orchestra.

Five times the large and powerful singing voices of the ensemble sang “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd”. Five times the powerful voices resonated through your bones, shaking your core. This was the benefactor’s greatest gift-the experience of this mighty and powerful ensemble shaking you to your core as you “Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd”.  My recommendation-“Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd”!

http://www.thefulton.org/sweeney/

Review of the 39 Steps By the Fulton Theatre

Did I just see 39 Steps by Alfred Hitchcock or did I just see 39 steps to De-stress your Life at the Fulton Theater a few days ago?

The slapstick version of the classic murder mystery the 39 Steps follows the original story line and is chocked full of the 1930’s flavor of style and entertainment. But there is no need to get intellectually involved like other Hitchcock films. This is pure entertainment and perfect after a stressful work week.

 I was constantly bombarded by the hints of yester year’s style of entertainment…..The Keystone Kops, Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, and Alfred Hitchcock in every fast moving scene. Watching the main character, Richard Hannay, being chased through the Scottish and British country side by the police is like watching Charlie Chaplin from years ago—even though an element was missing you understood the perils of the situation but thoroughly amused by the non-stop antics. Instead of missing sound (Charlie Chaplin movies) you are missing a lot of scenery and props in the case of the Fulton’s version of the 39 Steps. In this case the stark stage with ultra minimal props is like a little kid having the time of his life with a simple large box in which to play. It is much more entertaining to see the actors pretending to be jostled by a fast moving train or car rather than tons of Hollywood effects visually showing you in detail the actors being jostled. It reminds me of the very successful long running gag of the Radio show Fibber McGee and Molly and the opening of the door to the overloaded closet. The exaggerated sound effects of the closet’s contents falling on the actor’s heads conjured up a very vivid scene in the audience’s mind of the hysterically funny moment. The 39 Steps is much like an art piece designed with the Gestalt Theory in mind- whole is more than the sum of its parts and the audiences’ minds filling in the missing pieces. It is like a  striking painting of a tree that is missing a few parts of the tree here and there, but the interesting background, colors, and emphasis make the entire painting  (despite missing pieces of the trunk or other parts of the tree) much more vivid, interesting, and entertaining piece of art. Please excuse my scientific mind to try to explain why this version of 39 Steps works, but the continual references to the 1930’s (slapstick comedy, great comedy teams, entertainment utilizing merger items, the costumes, and so on) plus the uncanny ultra perfect timing of the actors with the special effects make the 39 Steps by the Fulton a very unified but mind appealing performance.

I must mention the anonymous Man 1 and Man 2 from the production. Like the anonymous spies in the 39 Steps, Man 1 and Man 2 do not have names. Instead they play character after character at a dizzy speed that you do not know (borrowing from Abbott and Costello) “Who’s on first”. From their great “spooky” entrance to their last little comedic scene they were like the great comedic teams from yester year ---Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, and so on.