Kavinoky Theatre

It was Good as Hell and I Want More! Network at Kav Has Me Ranting!

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When the film Network was released in 1976, I was a freshman in college majoring in communications and was a total news junkie. Cable TV was in its infancy here, the word ‘infotainment’ was unheard of,  and reality TV wasn’t invented yet.  The idea that a network news anchor would be fired, lose his cool on camera, and then morph into a cause celebre who pulled over-the-moon ratings in the hands of a program developer was just a work of fiction from Paddy Chayefsky’s pen (or maybe typewriter. Remember, no computers back then.)

Fast forward to our world of 24 hour information, abbreviated news cycles, countless ways to access information from cable stations to podcasts in the palm of our hands, citizen journalists, and other influencers. How could we have known? And how did we not?

Theatre companion and I agreed that Network on stage at D’Youville Kavinoky Professional Theatre was fascinating, fun, and just a little bit frightening in its prescience.  Lee Hall’s adaptation doesn’t stray far from Chayefsky’s original screenplay. The center of the story is Howard Beale (well played by Peter Palmisano), aging anchorman whose career and ratings are waning.  The reality of the biz means that this gets you fired. Until you are granted one last ‘goodbye’ and you use that moment to make a point with the people….and the ratings shoot up. Would Cronkite have done that? Jennings? Huntley or Brinkley? I think not.  Enter programmer Diana Christensen (Michele Roberts) who sees dollar signs with a side of edgy, exploitative entertainment. She’ll make a ‘new’ star out of Beale by letting him rant nightly on a talk show that falls outside of news. And consider the news of the day at that time:  the lingering impact of 1974’s oil crisis. Patty Hearst and her stint as a domestic terrorist. Those things were shaking up our world with the perfect fodder for Beale’s agita.

Palmisano, Roberts, and their castmates all deliver strong performances and the production itself is very good. Director Loraine O’Donnell created a real media circus on stage that was a blast to watch. Brian Milbrand’s video design (you’re watching a broadcast ‘on stage’ and pushed out on the video screen which gives you a thought-provoking perspective) was its own character and it was fun watching the screen and the stage (or was it the stage and the screen?) in your own frame.

Palmisano’s frantic pacing and yelling and lecturing were all spot on. And yes, I know there was a whole cast on stage, but wow, this his frenetic energy and call to action is what makes the show. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that this adaptation kept one of the most absurd yet saddest moments in the movie, when Diana multi-tasks through perfunctory intimacy with her (married) lover. Roberts did Faye Dunaway proud.

Network is really a treat, and admittedly, I very rarely like movies put on stage. This one was quite special because it was all so unreally real. It’s a fast paced two hours with an intermission, on the air, I mean on stage until May 14. Details and tickets at www.kavinokytheatre.com.

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Misery is a Creepy Good Story at D’Youville Kavinoky

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One of the late singer Helen Reddy’s hits songs (circa 1974) began with the lyrics “Lonely women are the desperate kind.” That’s a good thought to keep when you see Misery on stage now at D’Youville Kavinoky Theatre.

Misery is based on the Stephen King novel which also became a film. The stage adaptation by William Goldman is just as eerie, creepy, and moody as one would expect of a story with King origin, and does a good job keeping you on the proverbial edge of your seat.

Our lonely, desperate, not-exactly a heroine is Annie Wilkes, an ex-nurse who lives alone in a secluded Colorado farm house. She’s the “number one fan” of novelist Paul Sheldon and his historical fiction series about Misery Chastain. Sheldon ironically stays at a nearby inn from time to time, and when Annie is not-so-ironically following him on a mountain road during a snowstorm and he skids off the road, she decides to nurse him back to health. In her home. Without calling for help. And that’s where it all gets weird. Wonderfully, psychologically, and thrillingly weird.

Loraine O’Donnell is Wilkes, Adriano Gatto is Sheldon together (with a couple visits from the Sheriff, played by Steven Brachmann), they take us on a journey of obsession and extreme fan-girl gone mad.

The emotional tone is established by David King’s set. It revolves to show three key spaces in Annie’s home; the bedroom where Paul is locked in; the hallway with a bookshelf tribute to Paul and his Misery books, and Annie’s kitchen. Each space is dreary with time-darkened wallpaper, old furnishings, and dowdy trappings with some religious displays, too. Props to prop designer Donny Woodward for creating a visual atmosphere of sadness from the start. (Shout out to the ‘50s vintage copper Jello molds hanging over the kitchen sink. Dear readers who have visited my home know that mine hang in the pantry.)

The Annie we meet is bubbly, excited to be caring for her captive idol, and devoted to his recovery. Or not. O’Donnell is the master of this transformation, from eager helpmate to captor….her eyes, her mannerisms, her demeanor shifts and morphs as our story unfolds.  Gatto as Paul does his share of shifting, too, as he regains physical strength and mental wherewithal. And as he heals, the fun begins. He wants to leave. Annie needs him to stay. And she’s determined. The mental calisthenics they play is so creepy good, bewitching almost. Director Brian Cavanagh coaxed power into the restraint here and it’s fine. The most visually arresting scene was as the set rotated counterclockwise as Paul propelled his wheelchair clockwise through the rooms looking for a way out. Gatto choreographed some chilling fight scenes, too, between Annie and Paul and some weapons, too.  

Misery is smart, sad, sharp, and scary. It’s a potent reminder that disappointment and life circumstances can change someone’s heart and soul, perhaps beyond repair, and even pop literature has power when the reader is very fully engaged. D’Youville Kavinoky is telling more than a story here.

Misery is on stage until November 20 and runs a little more than two hours with a 15-minute intermission. I particularly love the printed program and the “stand by” cast (Don Gervasi as Paul, Marie Costa as Annie, Kodi James as the Sheriff.) A good decision on the Kav’s part to have standbys at the ready. Too many productions were truncated or canceled the past couple years and this is a good plan. Book your reservation at http://www.kavinokytheatre.com.

Rock of Ages Still Rocks Today

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Looking for a deeply serious night of thought-provoking theatre? Well, better head to some place other than D’Youville Kavinoky Theatre this month because there it’s all ‘80s rock as the 2022-23 season kicks off with lots of music and even more sequins and spandex.

Rock of Ages had a Los Angeles and off-Broadway run before arriving on the Great White Way in 2009. While nominated for a handful of Tony Awards, it didn’t earn any. Nothing wrong with that: the distinguishing factor in this production is the fun familiarity of the music – all juke box favorites – from icons of ‘80s glam-rock and hair bands.

Kavinoky’s Rock of Ages production is extra fun because – from the get go – seeing a full-out rock band on stage between lots of lights and a neon 97 Rock logo in that gorgeous Edwardian setting is visually startling in a fine way. As the lights go down, the mood is set with 97 Rock’s Carl Russo welcoming you and reminding you to silence your cell phones (‘don’t be douchebag,” he growls). I love it and of course, I double checked my phones.

Then the band kicks in, promising “Nothin’ But a Good  Time” as you “Cum on Feel the Noize.” The thin plot reveals itself pretty quickly, and trust me,  you’ve seen it all before: “Just a small town girl” arrives in LA, suitcase in hand, ready to be an actress. Of course her name is Sherrie, a great set up for some reiterations of “Oh, Sherrie.” (OK, if this was the ‘70s, it would have been Springsteen’s “Sherry Darling,” but I digress.) She meets Drew, an aspiring rocker, who helps her land her waitress gig at the Bourbon Room, a legendary LA music club. Little do they know that a foreign developer wants to level the neighborhood for more modern stores and high rise, and that the LA mayor is seeing dollars signs, and that a hippie chick city planner will go rogue and stage a protest and that a veteran rocker will come between our two rising stars. Yup, it’s a familiar story, or you might say “Here I Go Again.”

In between the tunes you loved when you hair was well sprayed, your clothes were sherbet colored and the plotline you’ve see a bunch of times, this production has an all-star cast of local actors singing like you’ve never heard them before. Seriously, the absolute best part of this production is seeing the actors reaching way out of their usual wheelhouses. Director/choreographer Lynne Kurdziel Formato must have had an absolute blast with this cast.

Dan Urtz is Lonny. the Bourbon Room lackey and the show’s sardonic narrator: he breaks the ‘fourth wall’ to share witty asides to  the audience to keep it all unreally real. Urtz’s breadth as an actor – from Satan-possessed puppeteer in Road Less Traveled Productions’ Hand of God in 2020 to last season’s Cliff in Second Generation Theatre’s Cabaret – is already well-established. This role takes him to new places: totally loveable goofball house-tech guy.

Then there’s Ricky Needham, fresh from MusicalFare’s A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, as aspiring rocker Drew, hittin’ the high notes like nobody’s business.

Bethany Burrows, the winsome mermaid from Second Gen’s Big Fish a few seasons ago, is Sherrie, this show’s version of the ingenue/waitress/Drew’s love interest and she’s a charmer.

What floored me was seeing Anthony Alcocer as Stacee Jax, the rockstar starting his downward spiral. He’s leaving the band that made him a heartthrob and Alcocer brings a real swagger here.  He sings, he growls, he can’t remember names, he’s a riot.

Arin Lee Dandes (last seen at the Kav in Indecent) is Regina the Berkley-educated city planner who plans to protect the City Built on Rock ‘n’ Roll from destruction-by-chain store. Her flouncy gauze skirts and au natural hair are the perfect contrasts against the glitz and glam of the nightclub set.

Loraine O’Donnell and Gregory Gjurich are the adults in the room, first as Sherrie’s parents and then as Justice and Hertz respectively. O’Donnell’s rich voice is perfect for these tunes and times. Gjurich is the quintessential comic actor with the dead-on perfect German accent as the bad-guy developer. His son Frantz is played by Jamil Kassem-Lopez to comic perfection. (Wardrobe note: if you’re doing the double Polo shirt thing, the inner collar needs to be popped. Trust me, it’s an ’80s thing. I have pictures.)

Christopher Guilmet (loved him a few seasons ago in the Kav’s Bridges of Madison County) is Dennis, owner of the Bourbon Room and maker of rock stars and memories.

Finally, Lorenzo Shawn Parnell is the money-grubbing mayor, a buxom reporter (I swear I didn’t know it was him), and a boy-band promoter, changing persona as easily as sliding off a pair of jelly sandals.

There’s a great ensemble on stage, too, along with a mighty band led by Allan Paglia. Lots went into the production, too, with Dyan Burlingame’s set, video on three screens by Nick Taboni, lighting by Brian Cavanagh, Andrea Letcher’s dead-on costumes, and Mary McMahon’s hair and makeup. It was full-on immersion and it was fine. I felt 25 all over again.

Admittedly, it’s not my favorite genre, but Rock of Ages is just so much fun, I wondered why the audience wasn’t on its feet and dancing along with the final number. I couldn’t wait to get home and crimp my side ponytail one last time.

Grab your ‘80s boyfriend (sadly, mine was unavailable) and see Rock of Ages. It’s just what we need to release and relax. Rock of Ages runs a full two hours with a 15-intermission. Face masks are required in the theatre-proper where it is sadly still COVID year three 2022. The show runs to September 25. Book your tickets at kavinokytheatre.com, a totally rad website. No $hit.

Facts Are FACTS at Kavinoky

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The Life-Style of a Fact, on stage now at the Kacinoky Theater, is a play based on a series of events that happened one night in Las Vegas. There were lap-dancers, game-playing chickens, and people who are living with depression mentioned in this dramatic story that was based in truth. With facts. And nothing made up at all. Because words matter…and so does the story behind them.

So…what do you think? Pretty intriguing, huh? Except, that paragraph is replete with errors. Starting with the title of the play (actually, The Lifespan of a Fact, and the name of the theatre (D’Youville Kavinoky Theatre), and very brief description of this thought-provoking script, that is based on a book that was written because of an essay that was rejected by one magazine and published after a lengthy review process by another. And it’s billed as a comedy. The real truth of that paragraph was the last sentence: Because words matter…and so does the story behind them.

In brief, real life essayist John D’Agata authored an essay about life in Las Vegas; the center of the piece was a teen who took his life. The other things – the mention of lap-dancers, the chicken playing checkers, and a million little details about appearance and perception – were woven into this work, too. D’Agata was going for a specific rhythm and cadence in his writing, using a numeric count down to emphasize key points while overemphasizing some details and underplaying others, all for the sake of flow and nuance. Was he intentionally bending facts and manipulating what is real? Or was he just cleverly re-arranging ‘truth’ to make reality more readable?

Playwrights Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell, and Gordon Farrell adapted this work from the book co-authored by real-life D’Agata and Jim Fingal about the seven year ordeal of actually bringing the essay to publication. Ironically, it was following some well-publicized articles on fictionalized news and a bit before the advent of what we now call “fake news.”

Director Kyle LoConti and her team did a fine job peeling back the pages of a magazine and revealing the review and publication process. She cast Peter Palmisano as the writer/essayist D’Agata; he’s properly passionate and a wee bit surly about the craft of writing itself. Brian Brown is Fingal, the fledgling fact-checker, an intern looking to prove his worth under a tight deadline. Their exchanges make the show. From Brown’s subtle bits of physical comedy as he struggles to don and doff a backpack that’s heavier than his slight frame, to their verbal dueling, these bits are best. We see Fingal’s determination to be absolute in the pursuit of facts and D’Agata’s desire to weave a compelling story, subtly weighted against a generational conflict. If Brown is tentative and stiff in the first act, he’s fiery in the second act during this war of words. These two are the perfect foils; you sense that a deeper understanding will ultimately develop here, too.

Loraine O’Donnell is the fictional editor, Emily Penrose.  She’s the one who selected Fingal as the fact-checker for this piece and she’s the one who literally breaks up their fight and gets them on the path to publication. O’Donnell plays her with a furrowed brow and no-nonsense air.

In the end, is literary non-fiction held to the same standard as journalism when it comes to the fine points of accuracy? That’s the point this trio appears to ponder in the enigmatic closing moment, which reminds me of the final scene of Aaron Sorkin’s The Farnsworth Invention from Kavinoky’s 2009 season.

The Lifespan of a Fact runs two hours with a 15-minute intermission until June 26. Mask wearing is still required to keep us all safe and healthy. Visit http://www.kavinokytheatre.com for tickets and details.

D’Youville Kavinoky Play Looks at Addiction and Recovery

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“It’s the nouns you have to look out for…the people, places, and things…,” is a poignant line in People, Places, and Things, on stage now to May 22 at the D’Youville Kavinoky Theatre. This is a powerful story about addiction and recovery, the death-defying lows and the terrifying highs that are part of this very human condition.

You’re used to seeing a few serious, soulful dramas every year in this lovely space. You’ve probably seen plenty of plays and movies where someone is drinking or using. Chances are someone in your family or circle of loved ones is struggling with something similar. But you’ve probably never seen a production that is so intense, so gripping, and so well executed as this. Director Kate Mallinson and the cast with Aleks Malejs in the lead role put their hearts into this and it shows in every word and movement. And no, I’m not overselling this. Duncan MacMillan’s play is remarkable and this cast and crew elevated this work to become an experience.

Malejs is Emma, an actor who – in the opening scene – loses focus on-stage during a production of Chekhov’s The Seagull. A series of flashbacks show snippets of her life, dancing, clubbing, using…until she crashes and checks into rehab. There she’s haunted by images of herself (Mallinson created some special stage magic here) as she’s trying to control the uncontrollable state of her being. She falters, fails, tries again. It’s not a cliché to say that she triumphs in the end: every day is a new challenge, a new struggle on the road to sobriety.

This is raw, exquisite work by Malejs, who by day in her ‘real life’ is a Peer Specialist for Save the Michaels of the World, Inc. She has lived experience and she brings that to her performance tenfold. She’s not some doddering drunk or strung out junky: her character is complex, endearing, frustrating. She’s alone with her acting career where she’s surrounded by characters and and offstage, she’s haunted by familial pain. Those two halves make a very troubling, human whole. Maureen Ann Porter is the center’s doctor, therapist, and later Emma’s mum. She trebly ironic here: in one character she’s understanding and supportive. In another role she’s wary, tired, and bitterly disappointed. It’s a wonder to see Porter shift like this. Gregory Gjurich, one of the region’s most versatile comedic actors, is Emma’s dad and a variety of ensemble roles where his skill for drama is mesmerizing. He preaches his addiction to heroin with the passion of clergyman. (There are glimmers of humor sprinkled in the script. After a twisted and prayerful monologue, Emma is encouraged to say “amen,” she’s hesitant until she’s reminded that it’s like hitting ‘send’ on an email. In another exchange with the same peer counselor, she scoffs “are all your references from cartoons? Read a book!”) Ah, humanity. Ben Michael Moran, Gabriella McKinley, Diane DiBernardo, Dylan Zalikowski, Afrim Gjonbalaj, Christopher Guilmet, and Michele Roberts effortlessly slide in and out of their ensemble roles gracefully. You do get the sense that this ensemble – in real life – connected perhaps through common bonds or their actor’s empathy. As the cast when they chant “don’t come back” as their fellow clients leave rehab, there is strength and hope in their sincerity.

David King designed a deceptively simple set that frames the stage action as well as it does the projection crafted by Nicholas Taboni. Through Taboni’s choices, Brian Cavanagh’s lighting, and Geoffrey Tocin’s sound, we are in Emma’s psyche as it sorts through layers of images and influences. Diane Almeter Jones and Amber Greer and Andrea Letcher round out the team with props and costumes that knit the visual experience together so well.

D’Youville Kavinoky waited a few years for this one (thank you, COVID), and perhaps that has added to its relevance. The isolation and fear of COVID is making us more aware of mental health diagnoses and addiction struggles. Executive Artistic Director Loraine O’Donnell made some very thoughtful programming choices by inviting area behavioral health agencies to share information on Thursday evenings and participate in a post-show talk-back. She also suspended sales of alcoholic beverages on Thursday nights, too.

COVID has truncated the show’s run, so make ticket arrangements now at kavinokytheatre.com. The show runs for two hours with a 20-minute intermission. Bright lights and some strobes may be uncomfortable for some audience members. Trigger warning:  smoking, drug use, alcohol references, and suicidal ideations are prevalent. Help and hope is just a click away:

Save the Michaels of the World, Inc.

Spectrum Health and Human Services

Horizon Health Services

Evergreen Health

BestSelf Behavioral Health

Make Haste to D’Youville Kavinoky

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To paraphrase Jane Austen, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that productions at D’Youville Kavinoky Professional Theatre are gorgeously staged and thoroughly enjoyable.”

Well, that’s what this affirmed Janeite thinks about Kate Hamill’s adaptation of the iconic novel Pride & Prejudice on stage now to March 27.

While Hamill took some liberties, they were noble and with purpose to advance the storyline admirably for the stage. Director Kristen Tripp Kelley is no stranger to Austen or Hamill: back in 2019, she was a Dashwood sister in Irish Classical Theatre Company’s production of Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. She also cast S&S alumni Ben Michael Moran and Renee Landrigan and they were fine choices indeed.

If you yawned through your high school assignment to read the book –  only to delight in the British TV series in 1995 (two words: Colin Firth) – which prompted you to read the book again and love every smartly crafted sentence, you will enjoy it all again on stage. Yes, it’s abbreviated but the most delicious moments are here. Moran is wonderfully smug as Mr. Darcy, the proud man who’s in want of a wife who is not his cousin. Landrigan is double cast as Lydia, the silly youngest sister of the Bennet clan and the haughty Lady Catherine DeBourgh. There’s other clever double, n’igh triple, casting here, too. Lissette is both the winsome Jane Bennet and Miss DeBourgh (under layers of black lace). Diane DeBernardo is the easily vexed Mrs. Bennet and the drole servant. Chris Brandjes is the calm father Mr. Bennet and the eager-to-marry Charlotte Lucas. Jake Albarella is Darcy’s best friend Mr. Bingley and Bennet sister Mary. Jake Hayes brings it as creepy Mr. Collins, slightly dodgy Mr. Wickham and Miss Bingley. Yes, there’s some fine gender-bending here and these three actors carry it off superbly. Lest we forget the equally proud Elizabeth Bennet, charmingly played by Gabriella McKinley.  

The whole experience is Regency literature come to life. David King’s set is elegant and complements without competing with theatre’s design. Lindsay Salamone’s costumes are exquisite with rich colors and textures you can see at the back of the house. Robert Cooke choreographs some lovely reels and other period dances to contemporary music played in an early 19th century style. Yes, Journey never sounded so prim and proper. The musicians aren’t identified in the program, but this touch was a delightful aural surprise.   

Even if you don’t lock into the plot (in brief, girls must marry well to save the family’s fate and it’s a mother’s duty make perfect matches her full time raison d’etre), there’s a lot to enjoy here, particularly Albarella, Hayes, and Brandjes in their multiple roles. After missing so much live theatre the past couple years, it’s just good to relax and laugh in this luscious house again.

Pride & Prejudice runs about two hours with a 15-minute intermission. Find details and tickets at www.kavinokytheatre.com.

“Indecent” is Sublime at Kavinoky

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In 1906, Warsaw was a city in revolution. The Imperial Russian Army was terrorizing workers.  The city was in recession, a harbinger of things to come. Despite this grim reality, its Jewish community was creating art and celebrating its culture. Playwright  Sholem Asch was staring taboos  in the face with a provocative play of love, defiance, and unbridled sensuality. His ‘God of Vengeance’ told  the story of illicit love between a prostitute and the virginal young daughter of a brothel owner. It shocked the establishment, and enthralled a tailor who made it his life’s work to bring the production to the great capitals of Europe and then to New York where it met its demise.

This is the story within the story of “Indecent,” beautifully constructed by Paula Vogel and elegantly staged at Kavinoky Theatre now to March 29. Presented in collaboration with the Jewish Repertory of WNY, this marks the first theatre company partnership for the Kavinoky, and this is a perfect match stylistically and metaphorically, too.

In brief, this performance is stunning. The cast of 12 takes on multiple roles that make the experience even more robust than it is. Each character carries his own dignity in humbling, strong ways throughout the story that spans more than 50 years and many locations. In a blink, lives change as society struggles along.

Director Kristen Tripp Kelley uses every inch of Kavinoky’s space, from the wings to the house itself; the audience is literally wrapped in this performance. Set designer extraordinaire David King created a multi-layered canvas that transformed the Kav’s stage to the worn and weary European stage houses and war-torn buildings where Jewish culture was kept in secret.  Diane Almeter Jones did magical things with simple props; suitcases were vessels for travel that also became table supports and sign holders. The metaphors aren’t lost, they’re center stage. She dressed the set with scarves that wrapped, concealed, and transformed the actors. Brian Milbrand’s projections used a timeline in English and Yiddish that helped the audience keep pace with change in venue and the span of time. The silent movie-style narration on the projection is engaging, too. All these elements worked silently and seamlessly.

But it’s the cast constantly moving (carefully choreographed by Lynne Kurdziel Formato) cast against a vintage screen backdrop that was tasked to tell Vogel’s intense adaptation. Jordan Levin (last seen as Leo Frank in “Parade”last season at ART of WNY, another intense performance) is on fire as Lemml, the tailor-turned stage manager. His cast mates shine in their multiple roles. Arin Lee Dandes, Aleks Malejs, Adam Yellen, Peter Palmisano, Debbie Pappas Sham, Saul Elkin, and Matt Witten flex as ‘Vengeance’ cast members and others who  are both beguiled and outraged by immorality and expressions of love. The musicians are on stage, too, and weave into the cast as well. Watch the arch of violinist Maggie Zindle’s brow as the works her way around the stage, and the playfulness Megan Callahan has in toodling  klezmer tunes on her clarinet. Musical director Joseph Donohue III doubles as the accordionist, and Bassist Benjamin Levitt rounds out the sound.

There are some gorgeous moments here; some repeat for effect, like when fine ash falls from under actors’ coat sleeves in key sequences, and a soft fall of rain welcomes spring and a new day.

Good things happen when the right partners come together in strength and shared vision. The Kav and and JRT prove this, on stage and off. The Kav’s Executive Artistic Director Loraine O’Donnell and JRT’s founder Saul Elkin set the bar a little higher for theatre company collaboration with this one.

Before the show, O’Donnell previewed the Kav’s 41st season. Two musicals (“Something Rotten” and “Rock of Ages” ) light up the season. The British mystery “The Woman in Black” returns to this stage. The classic “Pride and Prejudice” will take a new spin (if you liked Irish Classical Theatre Company’s treatment of “Sense and Sensibility” last season, this adaptation was penned by the same playwright), and “People, Places, and Things, a powerful story about addiction closes out the 2021 season. O’Donnell knows how to keep an audience engaged while taking some calculated chances, too. All good.

“Indecent” runs 95 minutes without intermission and is onstage until March 29. Find tickets and details here.

“The Bridges of Madison County” Cross Love and Infidelity

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Pamela Mangus, Karen Harty, Arin Dandes, Robert Cooke, Chris Guilmet, Michele Marie Roberts, Ian Hayes, Kelly Copps, Paul Maisano, Ben Moran, Laryssa Petryshyn. Photo by Gene Witkowski

“The Bridges of Madison County,” making its regional premiere at the Kavinoky Theatre now until February 2, is lush with outstanding vocal performance and imagery. It will also spark some interesting conversation with your theatre companion of choice…and maybe some self-reflection, too.  Infidelity is wrong, but where is your heart’s desire? Friends who keep your secrets and spouses who button up their feelings: are they loving and loyal or living a lie? Yup, it’s an interesting night at the theatre.

Full disclosure: when “The Bridges of Madison County” was the novella everyone  was reading in 1992, I wasn’t impressed.  A decade-ish later, when it was made into a movie, I had to see it because of Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood, but once again…nothin’. When I heard it was being made into a musical, I may have rolled me eyes in a ‘not again’ moment. And then I heard Jason Robert Brown’s haunting, elegant score. Gorgeous.

 Kav’s production completely swept away me across that Iowa plain. This production is the epitome of romance, conflict, love, and loss, anchored by that stunning score and the incredible artistry of our local actors.

In an Midwestern corn kernel, this is a love story between Francesca, a World War II war bride from Italy who married American soldier Bud and moved to his Iowa farm, and Robert, a no-rest-in-his-soul traveling photographer from National Geographic magazine. He’s passing through town on assignment to photograph those ironic covered bridges.  In a “in all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she has to come in to mine” sort of moment, Robert ambles up Francesca’s driveway for directions. Sparks fly: Francesca’s husband and two kids are away showing cattle at a competition (spoiler alert, Stevie the steer nails it), and with only two nosy neighbors to spy and speculate, Francesca and Robert share stories, meals, a bed, their secret passions.

Yes, we’ve seen this plot before in several variations. “Same Time, Next Year” is appointment infidelity. “Brief Encounter” (or “Still Life” on stage) is love on a train. But “Bridges” has a different feel, deeper nuance. What if the stranger holds some clandestine key to pure happiness?

Michele Marie Roberts is stunning as Francesca. She opens the show with her brave anticipation in “To Build a Home,” leaving war-torn Naples, familial competition with her sister, and the broken dreams of lost love, to journey to America.  Husband Bud is Christopher Guilmet,  a soldier turned farmer who knew Francesca was “Something From a Dream” the moment he saw her.  SUNY Fredonia junior Ian Hayes is son Michael (so good when college students stretch into professional roles with a cast of new mentors), and everyone’s favorite child-adult actor Arin Dandes grows into teen-hood as daughter Carolyn. Steve Copps is the lanky, sexy, man with the camera, Robert Kincaid. A loner, a vegetarian where meat-eaters roam freely, he’s recently returned from Italy and has stories to share with Francesca as they drive to the bridge he couldn’t find on a map. And share an impromptu dinner. And grow into a four-day intensity they didn’t expect.

Roberts and Copps capture something here. Their voices in their duets are impeccably matched – note for note – with clarity, with passion, with wonder. The audience feels this, too: the moment of their first kiss, the sold-out theatre on opening night was absolutely quiet.  Even in my seat, in the back of the balcony…you heard their kiss.

It’s the music that makes this production. Allan Paglia is the lead pianist and conductor of Brown’s signature keyboard/violin/viola/cello ensemble.  Brown’s style (“Parade” and “The Last Five Years”) manages to be spare and lush at the same time. With voices as rich as Roberts’ and Copps’ the cello and viola in particular support their sound beautifully. I’ve heard both actors in their many roles through the years, but Paglia (and vocal coach Michael Hooker) brought out something in their voices. Powerful, wistful, hard to describe, as accomplished singer/actors, Roberts and Copps found something new here.

The show is more than romance between two: there’s plenty of funny scenes with Pamela Rose Mangus and Paul Maisano as the neighbor couple.  They both get their turn at song, too, Mangus with “Get Closer,” a perfect ‘60s slow dance tune, and  Maisano with the good ol’ country gospel “When I’m Gone.”

Another showstopper is ensemble member/choreographer Kelly Copps’ flashback appearance as Robert’s first wife. “Another Life” applies Brown’s style to a Joni Mitchell-esque story song. This Copps is in magnificent voice in this quick moment.

Like we’ve seen in other Kav musicals, the ensemble is full of some of the region’s finest actors, moving set pieces and adding voice and movement to key moments.

The other ‘star’ is the video and photos captured by Brian Milbrand: he and director Loraine O’Donnell with S. Copps and Roberts traveled to Iowa to pose at the storied bridge and other locations. This element that the Kav is elevating to higher art form grows on me each time I see it so artfully done on this stage. It complemented Dyan Burlingame’s set nicely.

Director O’Donnell and her team has a stellar cast and fabulous music here. If the script and story are still only so-so, the Kav cast and crew soar above it to create a great escape to a place where time can stand still for a moment and where “love is always better.”

Tickets will fly for this one: visit kavinokytheatre.com to secure your tickets. Running time is a little over two hours with a 15-minute intermission to fan yourself and splash cold water on your face. (Yes, the show is that hot.) For more information, click here.

State Grant Supports Kavinoky Improvements

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The Kavinoky Theatre received a special 40th anniversary present:  a $145,000 grant awarded from New York state’s Regional Economic Development Council (REDC).

The grant will fund some capital improvements for the theatre, including a Broadway-style covered entryway, new theatre seats, and an updated projection system.

“We are thrilled to receive this award,” said Loraine O’Donnell, executive artistic director of the

theatre. “This grant will breathe new life into the theatre and provide our audience with an

even more enjoyable experience. The awning will make our guests feel like they are taking in a show in New York City and the projection equipment will enhance future productions.”

Senator Tim Kennedy, a D’Youville College alumnus (Kavinoky is the 250-seat jewel of D’Youville’s urban campus) said, “This state investment will support Kavinoky Theatre’s mission to foster creativity and offer Western New Yorkers immersive experiences into all genre of theatre. By supporting the Theatre’s efforts to preserve the Kavinoky’s charm, we’re ensuring that this City of Buffalo icon will continue to inspire future artists, actors, and writers for generations to come.”

Senator Kennedy’s family is no stranger to the Kav: his cousin, Kevin Kennedy is a local actor who most recently in the Kav’s production of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Of the 54 grants awarded to Erie County organizations in this funding cycle, this was one of two in the arts and cultural facilities improvement program. All told,  $67.3 million was awarded to 109 different projects in Western New York.

REDC grants support organizations and programs that help boost our regional economy and began in 2011 as a centerpiece of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s s strategy to jumpstart the economy and create jobs.

The state’s investment in the Kav is another demonstration of the power of the arts to be an economic driver. In The Arts and Economic Prosperity Report “The Arts Mean Business” prepared by ASI of WNY, it showed arts and culture sector is a$352.1 million industry and generates$40.3 million in local and state government revenue.

 “This grant from the Regional Economic Development Council will allow The Kavinoky Theatre to continue to play an essential role in Buffalo’s vibrant arts community, as it has for the past 40 years,” said Pamela Say, vice president of institutional advancement at D’Youville.

The Kav’s next production – “The Bridges of Madison County” – opens Friday, January 10. Based on Robert James Waller’s 1992 novel, it was adapted for the screen and later for the stage in 2014 with a sumptuous score by Jason Robert Brown. The Kav’s production features Michele Marie Roberts, Steve Copps. Tickets and details at http://www.kavionkytheatre.com.

At long last: To Kill a Mockingbird at Kavinoky Theatre

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“To Kill A Mockingbird” plays at The Kavinoky Theatre until December 8.

It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.

Some may think it’s also a sin to script-tamper with a Pulitzer Prize winning novel’s oft-staged theatrical adaptation, but that’s exactly what Aaron Sorkin did in his 2018 adaption of To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s currently playing on Broadway and in a unique twist of fate, it’s also on stage at Kavinoky Theatre to December 8.

. . . this cast shines like the Alabama moon at its brightest.

If you missed the story last season, the Kav was all set to stage the 1963 Harper Lee-approved adaptation. Kavinoky’s Executive Artistic Director Loraine O’Donnell had what she thought was the iron-clad permission to open the show, despite the opening of its new Broadway adaptation. Due to some legal squabbling between Lee’s estate and the Broadway producer, O’Donnell received a ‘cease and desist’ order within days of opening night, which even made it to the front page of The New York Times. Because, as the adage decrees, ”the show must go on” O’Donnell, Production Stage Manager Norm Sham, and Director Kyle LoConti and the cast quickly, agilely and expertly mounted a stunning version of George Orwell’s 1984 in just 19 days. Within a couple weeks, the Broadway producer had a change of heart and offered O’Donnell the opportunity to add the Sorkin adaptation to the theatre’s 40th anniversary season.

To Kill a Mockingbird’s strong story, beloved space in American literature, and compelling messages prevail. Sorkin’s staging is different from the ‘original’ stage version that closed Studio Arena Theatre’s 2008 (and final) season.  There’s an adjusted point of view here that actually brings even more relevance to 2019 audiences in a sad and compelling way. It’s very worthy, and the Kavinoky cast  members– mostly the same as last season, minus the children – are powerful in their roles.

Sorkin gives a stronger voice to some key characters which add new depth to the story. The family housekeeper Calpurnia is –in the 1930s southern tradition – a black woman who has served this family for decades. Because Lee wrote this in the late 1950s, (before the Civil Rights Movement) her head would have bowed and her comments were to herself. This Calpurnia shares her point of view clearly and it’s not lost on her employer Atticus Finch. Sorkin brings a different sensibility to Tom Robinson, the wrongly accused black man, too.  Sorkin has nuanced Atticus; he’s still his children’s hero but his very human flaws reflect other conflicts.

Under LoConti’s direction, this cast shines like the Alabama moon at its brightest. While this reviewer is not a fan of adult actors portraying children, Aleks Malejs as Scout, Michael Seitz as Jem, and Jacob Albarella as Dill are feisty and fidgety perfection. Malejs in particular dug deep into her inner child to surface the body language and affectations of a six-year-old tomboy. Albarella is charmingly irritating as Dill, the neighbor’s nephew. Watch his expressive face as he admits some painful truths of his childhood. Chris Avery as Atticus Finch is stalwart, kind, and seeks the justice that needs to be served from a world that hasn’t quite gotten over the Civil War, 70 years prior. Sorkin/Avery’s Finch isn’t an ideologue, per se, although you sense from him a yearning for something more. He has his match in Shanntina Moore as Calpurnia. Moore’s Calpurnia has a dignity that makes me want to know more about this character’s story than anyone else. When Scout’s later monologue talks about law school, who was her exemplar?: her father and his law career or Calpurnia and her need for social justice? Robyn Baun’s performance as Mayella Ewell was captivating; she turned from defensive, to fearful, to ‘don’t tread on me’ daughter of the true south effortlessly. She was the teenage victim of abuse whose hand was forced to lie about what happened in her home. She nails it.

There are wonderful pops of Sorkin dialogue sprinkled throughout, particularly some of Judge Taylor’s waggish remarks expertly delivered by Peter Palmisano. Kevin Kennedy as the southern sheriff Heck Tate and Xavier Harris as the accused Tom Robinson, David Lundy has landowner Link Dees, and John Profeta as Boo Radley delivered solid performances. It was Patrick Moltrane as Mayella’s drunk and angry pappy that makes you remember what a scared and scarred society this small southern town really was.

My one disappointment was the constant movement of set pieces. Last season’s set looked solid and stunning in the style of the Kav’s resident set designer David King. King also is credited with this set design of elements moved about by the actors themselves on a fully lit stage; this was loud and at times frenetic.

O’Donnell said on opening night that ticket sales are very brisk with several shows approaching sell out status. Get online now and book your seats: you won’t be disappointed.

To Kill a Mockingbird runs a little over two hours with a 15 minute intermission until December  8. Visit www.kavinokytheatre.com for details and tickets.