Bay Street’s ‘Greasepaint’ has extra prop onstage: The script
As the Bay Street Players opened their season this weekend, production manager Nina Vatter saluted the volunteers that keep the Eustis community theater ticking along. “This couldn’t happen without you,” she said in a preshow speech, saving her strongest praise for the volunteer performers.
Vatter’s sentiments were something to keep in mind in the subsequent performance of “The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd.” Unusually — and without explanation — the 1964 musical’s two leading actors, who are volunteering their time, carried and used their scripts onstage.
Andre Provencher read from the script throughout the entire performance, while Kirk Klemash began peeking at his during the second act.
The men play a member of the wealthy class called Sir (Provencher) and a struggling member of limited economic means known as Cocky (Klemash). The name Cocky makes more sense if you know the show originated in England, and Cocky resembles a British cockney in dress and accent — though without the rhyming slang that would baffle American audiences.
Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, who also collaborated on the 1971 “Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” film, devised “Roar of the Greasepaint …” as an allegory for the way the world works — keeping the rich in the money and putting the poor in their place.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, nearly 50 years later, the idea still holds up — with Sir being the epitome of what we now call the “1 percent.” Director Carlos Francisco Asse has designed a gorgeous set. Cocky travels through life on a giant game board — constantly being sent back to start as Sir changes the rules without warning. Ladders reach toward the sky at haphazard angles, but prove treacherous for anyone who tries to climb above their perceived station.
Other technical elements also merit praise: Jon Whiteley’s lighting nicely captures the real-butnot-exactly-real nature of the show. Kat Henwood’s costumes convey social status with a wink. All the visual elements work together well, and Asse uses them to create striking tableaux. In one beautifully staged scene, poor Cocky tries to shelter under a tattered umbrella while Day-Glo confetti “rain” sprinkles down on him.
Nearby, ragged urchins huddle together.
But the visual appeal can’t keep the script use from blunting the show’s impact. How can you sell a story when it’s clear to the audience you don’t know the words? Provencher’s charm peeps through, but the whip-crack pacing of the clever retorts and wordplay is often lost in the reading.
As a stranger — who illustrates a key point about racism that comes through loud and clear — Xavier Crawford delivers a powerful rendition of “Feeling Good,” one of the show’s big hits. (“Who Can I Turn To” being another memorable tune.) And Zoie Mostow is funny as Sir’s brash sidekick.
The chorus of urchins have a lovely vocal blend (Libby Sellers is the production’s music director), and their choreography by Lavonté Rogers brightly adds to the show’s traditional music-hall feel.
But there’s no escaping the disconnect when performers are focusing on printouts rather than the audience.
‘The Roar of the Greasepaint … ’
Length: 2:25, including intermission
COVID-19 precautions: Mandatory masks for audience, distanced seating, actors are unmasked
Where: State Theatre, 109 N. Bay St. in Eustis When: Through Sept. 26 Cost: $11-$25
Info: eustisstatetheatre. org
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