Looking back at the summer’s offerings on stage, there are so many wonderful shows that it’s hard to focus on just a few. This summer has yielded a bumper crop of superb productions spread across four counties, so I hope you’ve had a chance to see some wonderful work yourselves.
Special shout-outs are due to some very talented performers, directors, playwrights and production teams. Jay Sefton and his autobiographical solo show, “Unreconciled,” brought audiences to their feet with an electrifying performance at the Academy of Music. “Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer” at Chester Theatre Company gave Shannon Lamb the opportunity to channel the life of the woman who famously said, “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Ms. Lamb acted and sang, accompanied by Kevin Sharpe, and told the remarkable story of one woman’s determination to make a better world.
Valley stalwart Silverthorne Theater Company in Greenfield produced two outstanding plays performed before sold-out houses that featured exceptional performers and directors: “Sanctuary City” and “Deep Blue Sound.” And at Mount Holyoke, summer theater returned after 25 years, though not in the old tent so many of us remember from the days when Mount Holyoke was the location of one of the last one-week stock companies in the country. While this year’s season included only two shows, “Murder on the Orient Express” and “The 39 Steps,” kudos to the entire production team and to the cast of each, who effectively transformed a dance studio into a theater with some of the most affordable prices in the region.
The “Singular Sensation” in the category of Broadway-level musicals goes to Barrington Stage Company’s “A Chorus Line.” Director Alan Paul found the essence of this show in the quiet desperation that underscores the lives of performers who, like the athletes they are, commit themselves to doing the best they can in one of the most competitive fields imaginable. The ensemble kicks high, sings out and transforms from individuals who each have their own story into a cohesive group that dazzles the audience. Every performer whose story is told emerges from a personal history that shows what happens when creative people “dig right down to the bottom of their souls” and try to give their very best, day after day. There’s something extraordinarily cathartic in watching how desire, talent, drive and fate determine the direction of our lives, and in an era in which we wonder whether life is ever fair or not, “A Chorus Line” is still relevant.
The show appeared on Broadway in 1974 and won a Pulitzer Prize and nine Tony Awards. The content came from interviews with dancers who told their life stories to the award-winning director and choreographer Michael Bennett and writers James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante. Original music was by Marvin Hamlisch, and lyrics by Edward Kleban. In the Barrington Stage production, choreographer Parker Esse re-created the original dance sequences, but to my eyes, this cast kicked a little higher and worked a little harder to show how, when everything comes down to the audition, it’s not just talent and stamina — it’s who you become as you follow your dream. I couldn’t help but wonder if my memory of the Broadway show had faded, but in a venue the size of Barrington’s Boyd-Quinson Theater, where you can see the desperation in the eyes of the performers and actually hear them pant with exhaustion (don’t worry — it’s part of the show), I realized I have now lived enough of my life to empathize with what youthful dreams become when you’re willing to pay the price. Congratulations, BSC, for hitting every step and every note in “A Chorus Line” just right.
How old do you have to be to be (or not to be) a fan of Shakespeare?
Every summer you can find plenty of Shakespeare’s work. Some companies do it for fun or to explore a new way to interpret the texts, but many enjoy the universal truths inherent in the stories themselves. Of course, if theater — and Shakespeare — are to survive, younger audiences have to explore the Bard’s work, too.
Months ago, I knew I wanted to find shows that were targeted to young(er) audiences. I felt certain one of the shows would come from Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, where telling the tales is the company’s raison d’être.
This year (and several past years), Shakespeare & Co. joined forces with a professional circus troupe called Spirit of the Circus to offer family-friendly shows. Performers created a mash-up of top-notch circus acts with a smattering of “The Tempest.” A high-wire act, balancing, strength, juggling and even a clown and some audience participation turned the one-hour performance into a festival of suspense and fun that enchanted kids as young as 3 or 4, as well as a lot of parents and grandparents who seemed as transfixed as the youngest children.
Where were Shakespeare’s characters? Caliban, introduced by Prospero as “a savage and deformed slave,” literally slithered slowly from the upper catwalk to the stage, head first, twisting and contorting his body to the music. A clown served as the ringmaster (think of Shakespeare’s fools), and the inevitable romance between Ferdinand and Miranda took place above the stage on two rings upon which the performers demonstrated strength, beauty and passion. Energized by such a creative show, I looked forward to another, updated telling of a Shakespearean tale.
Breakdancing and the Bard
The same week, I traveled to Hartford Stage to see this year’s offering of “Breakdancing Shakespeare,” sponsored by Hartford Stage’s summer program for teens. In this production, “Romeo and Juliet” played in an urban setting where, instead of violence, much of the family fury was transferred to dance.
The performers knew the lines, even though the show had been whittled down to incorporate music and dance. While many of the lines were lost (young performers notoriously have trouble projecting their voices), the story came across. The dancing was superb, and there were many gifted teens who could do the jumps, flips, Bronx Steps, shuffles, helicopter moves, windmills (and more).
Just about the time I was wondering how many young kids in the packed house were learning anything about Shakespeare, “Romeo” drank the poison and delivered the line: “I die.” At that moment, a young voice from the back of the theater plaintively cried out, “Oh, nooooooo!”
Finally, I had my answer — you can be any age to enjoy Shakespeare. Maybe that’s why he’s still popular after 700 years. Apparently, introducing children to Shakespeare pays off!
Coming this fall
Conflict, conscience and community will be featured in Historic Northampton’s “Hull-Hawley Plays,” two original 45-minute plays featuring figures from Revolutionary-era Northampton and running Sept. 17 to Oct. 4. The first is Betel Arnold’s “The Widow’s Land,” about Bathsheba Hull, a formerly enslaved Black woman who owned land on an island in the Mill River. The second is Harley Erdman’s “Hold These Truths,” about Joseph Hawley, a patriot burdened by “melancholy,” facing his attendance at the Continental Congress and the gut-wrenching decision to send John Adams in his place.
Former Communication Professor Jarice Hanson writes, performs and reviews theater throughout the region. “Theater Matters” combines reviews and social critiqueof a wide variety of performances in the Valley and environs.