PICT’s dreamy ‘Midsummer’; CLO’s ‘Book of Merman’; and ‘The Last Word’
Light-hearted and lovely, PICT Classic Theatre’s take on “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is, in a word, dreamy.
That’s too simplistic a reaction to the production of the epic Shakespearean rom-com. This is the Bard at his most playful and accessible, as he lures the foolish mortals of Athens into the woods for some passing strange encounters with fairies and a puckish sprite.
The presentation of this midwinter “Midsummer” is anything but simple. To mention the set first is not to diminish the acting company but to say how much is owed to the effect of light and white, along with graceful movement.
The new adaptation by Alan Stanford owes a chunk of its allure to lighting designer Kevin A. Truax, scenic designer Domenico LaGamba and costume designer Zoe Baltimore and their team, which has created worlds with a white platform and four hollow fabric pillars. To represent the city, they are often glaringly monochromatic, but in the forest, floor and fabric are sprayed with whimsical, pale pastel patterns of green and blue. The effect is ethereal and eerie in a most pleasing way.
It’s a fitting setting for Shakespeare’s Valentine to silly love stories and a finger wag at staunch morality laws. You will recognize some lines along the way: “Lord, what fools these mortals be,” by the sprite Puck to Oberon, king of the fairies, was met with a few “ahs” on opening night Saturday, as if to say, “Ah, that’s where it comes from!”
Pittsburgh CAPA senior Jacob Epstein is a fine Puck in both movement and delivery. His actions, and a case of mistaken identity, set off a wild ride for a few unsuspecting humans and one fairy queen.
Stanford’s gently told version of the play, with Shakespeare’s language intact, opens with Hipolyta (Shammen McCune) seemingly happy about her upcoming nuptials to the conquering Theseus (Allan Snyder). That quickly turns to flashes of anger as the king is asked to intervene in a dispute: Egeus (James FitzGerald) wants his daughter Hermia (Saige Smith) to marry Demetrius (David Toole), but her heart belongs to Lysander (Ryan Patrick Kearney). Egeus demands Hermia do his bidding or face the legal consequences: death, or a nun’s life for her.
Hermia — played by Smith as an entitled Regina George type — and lovestruck Lysander instead scheme to meet in the forest and run away to safety. They confide in Helene (Zoe Abuyuan, a New Yorker making a most welcome Pittsburgh debut), who loves Demetrius and sees herself through other’s eyes: inferior when she is unloved, and worthy only when she is adored.
Other balls in the air for the juggling Bard include a comical troupe preparing a play for the royal wedding, led by Peter Quince (FitzGerald again) and Martin
Giles as the clownish Nick Bottom. The latter is destined for an, um, ass-inine transformation, along with the enchanted love of Titania, queen of the fairies.
You see, Titania and King Oberon (McCune and Snyder again) have had a disagreement, but Oberon is scheming to get his way ... In brief, the mismatched and should-be lovers are all caught up in meddling and misunderstandings that will, as the tale hurtles to a finish, end well.
Each player in PICT’s talented cast gets a chance to shine, with most in multiple roles. The comedy is played broadly and at times bombastically, but there is no language barrier between the uninitiated and Shakespeare’s intent. The show works its magic, so that when Kearney’s Lysander observes, “The course of true love never did run smooth,” every head has the urge to nod in agreement.
Through Feb. 29 at Fred Rogers Studio, WQED, 4802 Fifth Ave., Oakland. Tickets: $15-$48; www.picttheatre.org or 412-562-6000.
‘The Book of Merman,’ CLO Cabaret
Mix a test of faith for Mormon missionaries with a blast from musicals past, tee it all up with a punny title and take a swing with three triple-threat actors, and you have “The Book of Merman,” an appealing musical comedy for the nostalgic at heart.
The hit show “The Book of Mormon” sent two young men to a poverty-stricken Ugandan village for big, bawdy musical numbers. “The Book of Merman” sends its elders to the door of Ethel Merman, the stage-and-screen belter who died in 1984, but who somehow has been resurrected — or has she?
The CLO Cabaret show boasts Christine Laitta as Merman, looking, acting and singing every bit the diva we know from “Anything Goes,” “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “Gypsy” and “Annie Get Your Gun.” She also lived large in her personal life, including her famously short marriage to Ernest Borgnine.
It’s all covered in “The Book of Merman,” the show that couples the star with two conflicted Mormons — Jerreme Rodriguez and Quinn Patrick Shannon — who arrive at her door in need of a jolt of hope.
From the first “Good Day” by Rodriguez and Shannon — think “Book of Mormon’s” opening “Hello” number — you have some idea of where these two may be headed. Laitta’s Merman is more of a mystery. The actress happens to be a favorite of Shannon’s Elder Schumway, who knows Merman is gone, yet here she is ... and he is willing to believe. Rodriguez’s Elder Braithwaite is more the straight-and-narrow guy, but his own aspirations are about to come bubbling to the surface.
Songs with titles such as “Be a Merman” and “Better Than You” are rarely quite as clever as, say, “Forbidden Broadway’s” biting parodies, but they are elevated by endearing performances. Music director Robert Neumeyer on piano and Brian Wolfe on drums provide big-sound support of the actors, seemingly in constant motion on a well-appointed set by Tony Ferrieri.
“The Book of Merman” left me longing for the real thing — songs from the singer’s vast catalog and a “Book of Mormon” tune or two. Yet the 90 minutes fly by with no intermission, with credit due to the charm and flair of a trio of Pittsburgh actors.
Greer Cabaret, Downtown, through March 8. $26.25-$56.25 (depending on dates and times), www.pittsburghclo.org or 412-456-6666.
‘Quentin Crisp: The Last Word’
Here is a final word on the one-man show that ended its debut run last week. Cowriter Brian Edward thoroughly channeled the raconteur, frequent talk-show guest and author of “The Naked Civil Servant,” who died in 1999 at age 90. Edward, a Crisp-ophile, crafted the piece — using the subject’s own words — with estate executor and writer Phillip Ward and director Spencer Whale. The play was most effective in the second half of the piece, as Edward’s Crisp, less formal and more reflective, looks back with insight and regrets. While overlong at nearly two hours with an intermission, “The Last Word” was revelatory and entertaining, about a life lived in an eccentric bubble that has now been burst. I look forward to tracing its journey from here to wherever it lands next.
Also playing: ‘Too Heavy for Your Pocket’,” New Horizon Theater at Falk School, 4060 Allequippa St., Oakland, through Feb. 23. $12-$20; newhorizontheater.org or 412-431-0773. Read Christopher Rawson’s review at www.post-gazette.com/ae/theater-dance