17 Jan 2006

Revenge of the Nerds: "Grease" at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse

By Mike Schulz
The most telling moment in the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's splendid re-imagining of Grease is a minor one, and - like most of this production's finest moments - nowhere to be found in the original script. (It's actually an invention of director/choreographer Ann Nieman's, designed to cover a scene change.) Danny (Jeremy Jonet) and Cha-Cha (Nicole Polzella) have just won Rydell High's dance competition, yet instead of relishing the victory, Danny runs off to re-claim the heart of his true love, Sandy (Cheryl Hoffman). As the decorations come down and the stragglers depart, Cha-Cha - who has even been rebuffed by the nerdy Eugene (Mark D. Lingenfelter) - finds herself alone, and she takes a beat, gazes at the suddenly meaningless trophy in her hands, and quietly, sadly walks off stage.
17 Jan 2006

A Pleasant-Enough Trek "Through the Woods": "Over the River & Through the Woods" at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre

By Mike Schulz
Joe DiPietro's Over the River & Through the Woods is a charming stage sitcom, and based on a final dress rehearsal held January 10, the production of it that opened the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's 2006 season is perfectly charming, too. The large, invited audience of (mostly) seniors who attended the rehearsal seemed to have a terrific time; the show's punchlines, more often than not, got their laughs, and there was no denying the sweetness of spirit that emanated from the show - if smiles were audible, it would have been deafening in the Barn Theatre.
13 Dec 2005

There's No Business Like Reviewing-the-Shows Business

By Mike Schulz

How wonderful and humbling the last eight months have been.

29 Nov 2005

A Brand-New Take on a Familiar "Carol"

By Mike Schulz
When you hear director Kevin Pieper describe the Quad City Music Guild's production of A Christmas Carol as "a new show to the area," it's easy to be skeptical. Haven't we already seen this holiday chestnut - and in this area, no less - more times than we can count? (Hell, I've been in it twice since 1994.)
29 Nov 2005

Big Rewards in a "Little" Package: "Stuart Little" at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse

By Mike Schulz
Stuart Little, the family musical currently being produced at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, is a near-perfect melding of actors and material, a musical comedy so creative and ebullient that you are instructed to secure tickets even if you don't have any kids on hand to chaperone you. The show has the sweetness of spirit that E.B. White's beloved tale requires, but it's better enjoyed as an ingenious vaudeville entertainment; with little overt plotting to get in the way, Stuart Little gives audiences a bevy of delightful musical and comedy sketches, and even though some of the songs are humdrum, the presentation never is. Circa '21's production isn't just a topnotch family entertainment; it's a topnotch entertainment, period.
22 Nov 2005

Setting Sedaris Straight: My Verona Productions' "The Santaland Diaries"

By Mike Schulz
Adapted from David Sedaris' famed audio presentation and subsequent short story, The Santaland Diaries - the latest endeavor from My Verona Productions, currently playing at Rock Island's ComedySportz venue - is an acting triumph for its star, Adam Lewis. Playing an unmotivated 33-year-old who finds himself - to his abject shame - employed at Macy's as one of Santa's elves, Lewis is spectacular; as he enacts his character's grueling ordeals in a one-man show that's part monologue, part stand-up routine, and part performance-art piece, the actor is thrilling to watch, so brilliantly focused and ceaselessly inventive that he leaves you a bit in awe.
15 Nov 2005

Flying Solo: Adam Michael Lewis in "The Santaland Diaries"

By Mike Schulz
For many stage actors, the chance to perform a one-person show would be a dream come true. For Adam Michael Lewis, this dream has come true, but not, it turns out, for the first time. Or the second. Or even the third.
15 Nov 2005

Circa '21's "Christmas from the Heart" Rates a Holiday Cheer

By Mike Schulz
Christmas from the Heart, which opens the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's 29th season, is a holiday-themed musical revue, and as such, it has a built-in advantage that many stage works don't: Audiences don't make many demands of it. When presented with a piece of this sort - in which the production is essentially an excuse for linking together a diverse group of carols and holiday hits - no one really cares what the story is about or whether the characters have any depth; all we ask is that the numbers are well-sung and that the show maintains a lively pace, and if it's funny or touching or particularly well-designed, those are just added bonuses.
15 Nov 2005

Passable Entertainment, Questionable Education: "The Scottish Play: A Travesty!" at Black Hawk College

By Mike Schulz
I love attending local college and university stage productions, partly because it's such a wonderful reminder of my days as a theatre major - ah, the reassuring familiarity of Augustana College's Potter Hall! - but also because the shows' participants are generally involved with theatre because they truly want to be; with the possible exception of staff members, no one's doing it just for the paycheck. (No one should ever be doing theatre for the paycheck, but that's another issue entirely.)
08 Nov 2005

Making Fiction Out of Fact: New Ground Theatre's "Promise Ring"

By Mike Schulz
It's no newsflash that playwrights often find inspiration in their personal pasts, and use young leading characters as theatrical alter egos; if you want to better understand Tennessee Williams, listen to Tom's monologues in The Glass Menagerie, or watch Edmund's scenes in Long Day's Journey into Night for greater insight into Eugene O'Neill.

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