Opening Tonight: SOUTH PACIFIC at IWU

Long before Hamilton piled up all those Tony Awards and took home the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, before it started a dizzying war for tickets that fueled scalpers and prompted outrage at its high prices, Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific did it all first. After its Broadway opening in 1949, it ran for five years and 1925 performances, with Tony Awards for Best Musical, director Joshua Logan, its score (Rodgers), libretto (Hammerstein and Logan), producers (Hammerstein, Rodgers, Logan and Leland Hayward) and scenic design (Jo Mielziner) as well as for stars Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza and supporting performers Juanita Hall and Myron McCormick. The original cast recording sold over a million copies.  


South Pacific represented Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical translation of the short stories in John Michener's Tales of the South Pacific. Michener's stories focused on the cultural, financial and military interaction between indigenous peoples, immigrants and the global powers setting up operations on top of them, all things he saw when he himself was stationed in the South Pacific during World War II.

The musical South Pacific offered songs like "Some Enchanted Evening," "Younger Than Springtime," "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair," "There Is Nothing Like a Dame," and "Bali Ha'i," as characters Michener had created fell in love and faced danger against a multicultural backdrop. Its messages of tolerance and acceptance, of looking for understanding instead of hatred, is why South Pacific won its Pulitzer.

For Illinois Wesleyan University's School of Theatre Arts, professor Scott Susong directs a cast that includes Emily Hardesty and Madison Steele rotating in the role of Ensign Nellie Forbush, the cock-eyed optimist from Arkansas with a racist streak hidden under her nurse's uniform, with Timothy P. Foszcz as Emile de Becque, the wealthy planter Nellie falls for. There is, of course, a conflict between them -- the fact that he has two biracial daughters. As Nellie's "carefully taught" prejudice is revealed, the show's themes come into focus.

The other plotline with a culture clashe at its heart features Holden P. Ginn as handsome young American Lieutenant Cable and Megan Lai and Juna Shai alternating as Liat, his local love interest. Paola Lehman and Kira Rangel also alternate as Liat's mother, Bloody Mary, the Tonkinese woman who makes a living selling trinkets and junk to U.S. servicemen, with Connor Wildelka donning the coconut bra of Luther Billis, the rowdy Seabee who always has his eye on the main chance.

South Pacific opens tonight at 8 pm in the Jerome Mirza Theatre at McPherson Hall on Ames Plaza on the IWU campus in Bloomington. Performances continue until the matinee on Sunday, November 19 at 2 pm. For more information on this production, click here or here. For ticket information, call the School of Theatre Arts box office at 309-556-3232 or visit this box office page online.

IWU School of Theatre Arts Announces Mainstage Choices for 2017-18

Illinois Wesleyan University's School of Theatre Arts has announced via Facebook what will be on stage for the mainstage part of their 2017-18 season. No dates yet and the official IWU Theatre page is still showing last year's schedule, but at least we know what we'll seeing if not exactly when. I'm guessing checking back on that page periodically should yield a schedule at some point.

If the order of the photos indicated the order of the shows, first up will be Dancing at Lughnasa, Brian Friel's wistful, haunting memory play set in County Donegal in Ireland in 1936.  The Lughnasa in Dancing at Lughnasa refers to the August harvest festival. The five Mundy sisters are struggling to get by, from the eldest, Kate, a tightly wound schoolteacher, to Christina, the youngest, who has a child but no husband or other means of support. Their lives only get more difficult when their older brother, who'd been a Catholic missionary and chaplain in Africa, returns for unspecified reasons, but has trouble mentally balancing the world he left behind and the one he's reentered. Christina's son Michael is the narrator of the play, standing in for Friel. He appears as an adult to step back into the action of his childhood. Dancing at Lughnasa was first produced at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, thereafter transferring to London, where it won the Olivier Award for Best Play in 1991. On Broadway, it also took the Tony for Best Play, along with awards for director Patrick Mason and Best Featured Actress in a Play for Brid Brennan, who played Agnes, the shy, tentative sister somewhat overshadowed in the middle of the family, in its Dublin, West End and Broadway productions.

Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1949 musical South Pacific comes next in the picture scroll. Everybody knows "Some Enchanted Evening," "Bali Hai" and "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair," right? Based on James Michener's Tales of the South Pacific, this South Pacific features music by Rodgers, lyrics by Hammerstein and book by Joshua Logan, telling the stories of Americans stationed on islands in the Pacific. There's Navy nurse Nellie Forbush, who faces her own prejudices when she falls in love with a French plantation owner named Emile de Becque who has mixed-race children; a squadron of rowdy Seabees led by Luther Bills; and Lieutenant Cable, a forthright young officer in the midst of dangerous missions and a love affair with a native woman. As a child, I remember thinking Nellie was an idiot for her bigotry against two kids who were half-Polynesian, but that's the point of South Pacific, that our prejudices are not innate or logically justifiable but "carefully taught." The original Broadway production won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and piled up ten Tony Awards, including winning Best Musical along with awards for its book, score, director, producer and scenic design, and sweeping the acting categories, with wins for leads Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza, who played Nellie and Emile de Becque, and featured actors Myron McCormick, who played Billis, and Juanita Hall, who played Bloody Mary, the enterprising mother of Cable's beautiful love interest.

Next on the list in Eugene Ionesco's absurdist drama Rhinoceros, wherein the citizens of a French town inexplicably start turning into stampeding rhinoceroses. One by one, they sprout horns and hoofs, as a lone man, Berenger, tries to hold out against the onslaught. Rhinoceros was written in 1959 and is widely regarded as a cautionary tale about how mass movements like Fascism and Nazism can take over and turn people who were once reasonable human beings into fanatical monsters. In other words, it's perfect for our current international political landscape. Although actor/producer/director/mime Jean-Louis Barrault played Berenger in the original French production and Laurence Olivier took the role in London, it was Eli Wallach who made Berrenger (now with an extra R) his own on Broadway, with Zero Mostel as his intellectual friend John (originally Jean) who turned rhino in front of his eyes. In the showier role, Mostel was the one who won the Tony as Best Actor. In the 1973 film, Gene Wilder played a new version of Berenger called Stanley, with Mostel reprising his role.

In a real change of pace from the politically and personally provocative to just plain fun, the last show in IWU's mainstage season is the roller disco musical Xanadu, based on the 1980 film that starred Olivia Newton-John as a Greek muse. On Broadway, Kerry Butler took the Newton-John role, while Cheyenne Jackson played the man she's trying to inspire. Douglas Carter Beane spruced up the book from the film script, adding more mythology and a whole lot of parody to send up the campy movie. Along with the roller skates, songs from the movie like the title song and "All Over the World" came with it from screen to stage, with added hits like "Have You Never Been Mellow?" and ELO's "Strange Magic." Click here to see Jackson, Butler and the rest of the cast perform "Don't Walk Away" on the Tonys.

In case you're wondering, it was Kelli O'Hara who was nominated but did not win the Tony for the 2010 revival of South Pacific, whose poster image you see up top, while Kerry Butler -- the blonde in the poster just above -- was nominated but did not win for Xanadu in 2008.

Watch this space for more details on all these shows as dates are added. Check here for IWU's Laboratory Theatre schedule once that's added.

OKLAHOMA! Sounds Great at ISU's Center for the Performing Arts

After seeing Rodgers' and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, it's tempting to spell it Ooooooooooklahoma. And now that's stuck in your head, isn't it?

That's the thing with Rodgers' and Hammerstein's first collaboration as composer and lyricist. The songs are incredibly catchy. Whether it's "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top," the one about the girl who "Cain't Say No," or the title song that celebrates OK becoming a state, they all stick with you. They're hummable, mummable melodies with bright, snappy little lyrics you can't forget even if you want to. Hammerstein's lyrics push the story forward, while Rodgers' music pushes Hammersein's book and characters along, with "Beautiful Morning" soaring to the skies, "Surrey" clip-clopping like a horse, and "Oklahoma!" running away like, oh, wind sweepin' down the plain. The score defines the world of Oklahoma! It may not be anything like the real Oklahoma in 1906, but it certainly works for this fictional state of mind.

Oklahoma! was a huge hit when it opened on Broadway in 1943 -- it played for over five years and some 2212 performances -- with Agnes De Mille's square-dance-meets-ballet choreography a major piece of its success. If Oklahoma! marked the first time Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the libretto for Richard Rodgers' music, it was also Agnes De Mille's first time choreographing a book musical on Broadway.

The story goes that De Mille insisted on "real" dancers -- from dance companies -- for her inaugural Oklahoma! instead of the usual Broadway chorus boys and girls. For Illinois State University's production, director Richard Corley and choreographer Greg Merriman use their ensemble of singers and actors along with just a few dancers, which means the choreography strays considerably from Agnes De Mille territory. Still, this production's Dream Laurey, Caroline Pilcher, is lovely.

But it's clear that the voices are the strength of this Oklahoma! The players in the main romantic triangle -- Rob Holden as Curly, Ross Kugman as bad guy Jud, and Christie Duffer as Laurey, the girl they both want -- all sing beautifully. Holden sounds terrific on "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "Oklahoma!" and he and Duffer combine perfectly when they sing out the love song "People Will Say."

Kugman not only has the deep, dark tones to make Jud's songs work, but he's a good actor, too. His Jud is more weasel than thug, which may seem different for Oklahoma! purists, but it certainly works within the confines of the ISU production.

John Ramseyer and Lauren Pfieffer also sound great as the secondary couple, aw-shucks cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious girlfriend Ado Annie, and Nico Tangorra takes the acting honors on the night with his version of peddler Ali Hakim, another of Ado Annie's admirers. Although the original Ali Hakim, a veteran of Yiddish theater named Joseph Buloff, looked a bit like Chico Marx in the role, Tangorra has Groucho's cigar mixed with Charlie Chaplin's bowler hat. Oddly enough, that turns him into a mini Ernie Kovacs, which is a very interesting take on Ali Hakim. Kovackian or not, Tangorra navigates the comedy, as well as Hakim's trunk full of trinkets, like a champ.

Scenic designer Thad Hallstein provides a handsome barn to frame the action, with lots of worn wood and a few hanging quilts -- and real-live, on-stage surrey! -- while costume designer Amy Cain adds an impressive array of boots, hats and dresses in subdued tones from maroon to pale yellow, with a pop of color in a bright orange jacket for Ado Annie. 

ISU's Center for the Performing Arts was packed on opening night, so you would be well advised to get your tickets now. Performances of Oklahoma! continue through February 27.

OKLAHOMA!
Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II
Based on the play Green Grow the Lilacs by Lynn Riggs
Original dances by Agnes De Mille

The School of Theatre and Dance at Illinois State University
Center for the Performing Arts

Director: Richard Corley
Music Director/Conductor: Glenn Bock
Scenic Designer: Thad Hallstein
Costume Designer: Amy Cain
ighting Designer: Mark Maruschak
Sound Designer: Shannon O'Neill
Hair and Makeup Designer: Shelby Brand
Choreographer: Greg Merriman
Fight Director: Paul Dennhardt
Chorus Master: Dennis Gotkowski
Vocal Coach: Justin Vickers
Stage Manager: Thomas P. Moster

Cast: Rob Holden, Christie Duffer, Lauren Sheffey, John Ramseyer, Lauren Pfeiffer, Nico Tangorra, Ross Kugman, Haley Camire, Thomas Bailey, Scott Guererro, Mitchell Schaeflein, Gabriela Rivera, Monica Hamilton, Theresa Moen, Christina Duris, Eric Trumpet, Kelsey Bunner, Kyle Ayers, Nick Spindler, Nick Lindmark, Josh Gouskos, Jeff Wright, Kevin Alleman, Samantha Barnewolt, Caroline Pilcher, Tess Losada, Emily Kuether, Brooke Kirschsieper.

Remaining Performances: February 23 and 27 and March 2 at 7:30 pm; February 24 at 2 pm

Running time: 3:05, including one 15-minute intermission

For ticket information, click here.

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For my own amusement, I have added a picture of the Oklahoma! trifecta I reviewed in the early 90s. I think there was actually one more, but I don't have a program for that one. Oklahoma! remains the one show I asked my editor not to assign me because of the four I saw and reviewed in such quick succession.

Casting Announced for OKLAHOMA at ISU

With auditions for next semester's productions still on-going, Illinois State University's Department of Theatre and Dance has finished casting for its version of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma!  ISU's production of Oklahoma! will brings all its cowboys and farmers to the Center for the Performing Arts in performances from February 22 to March 2, 2013.

Richard Corley, who directed last semester's Anon(ymous), takes the reins of Oklahoma! with Robbie Holden as Curly, the cowboy with the lovely locks who likes to sing about the bright golden haze on the meadow and those fetching surreys with the fringe on top. Laurey, the object of Curly's affections, will be played by Christie Duffer, while Lauren Sheffey will portray Laurey's Aunt Eller, and Ross Kugman will take on bad guy Judd Fry.

In terms of the subplot/second love triangle, Lauren Pfeiffer, who appeared in Mother Courage earlier this year and the Electra that went to Chicago, will play Ado Annie, the girl who cain't say no, with John Ramseyer as Will Parker, her cowboy beau, and Nico Tangorra, fresh off Noises Off, as peddler Ali Hakim, the other man in Ado Annie's life.

Tickets for ISU's Oklahoma! are already available, and it's probably not a bad idea to get them now if you're interested. It promises to be a hot item since ISU doesn't often choose this kind of material.

A Mix of Old and (Sort of) New in ISU's 2012-13 Season

Illinois State University's School of Theatre has announced the line-up for its 2012-13 season, with lots of classics, a few newer pieces, and a mix of styles and moods. Dates and details (like who's directing what) will be filled in later, but for now, this is what ISU actors and audiences have to look forward to in the next school year.

Naomi Iizuka

This fall, they'll start with the newest play, Naomi Iizuka's "Anon(ymous)" from 2006, in the Center for the Performing Arts. "Anon(ymous)" is a poetic, surreal exploration of Homer's "Odyssey" played across the scarred landscape of immigration in America. Iizuka's version of Odysseus is a rootless wanderer, a boy named Anon, who comes from somewhere "far away from here," searching for his mother, the Penelope of the story, who toils at a sweatshop somewhere in the US, fending off the advances of her creepy boss. Along his journey, Anon runs into characters who roughly correspond to the ones in the Odyssey, so, instead of a Cyclops, he has to fight to escape from a one-eyed psychopathic butcher wielding a big cleaver, and the nymph Calysto is now a snotty rich girl who tries to entice him with Skittles and Kit Kats. So far away from where he started, our immigrant Anon dreams of finding his mother and finally ending up someplace that feels like home.

After that, it's Rebecca Gilman's 1998 play, "The Glory of Living," which deals with the dark underbelly and the damaged, criminal children of America's Deep South. In the play, Lisa, the teenage daughter of a "drunk whore," is picked up and pulled along into a life of abuse and murder by Clint, her rapist boyfriend. She finally has a twinge of conscience -- maybe -- and leaves tips for the police about all what she and Clint have done, with the play then moving to how the criminal court system deals with each of them. The issues here are crime, punishment, morality, emotional instability, and what happens to unformed, abandoned children who never grow up, with plenty of blame to chew on. "The Glory of Living," set to play in Centennial West 207, received the ATCA Osborn Award for the Best New Play of 1998, and was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Then it will be Bertold Brecht's "Mother Courage and Her Children," widely considered to be among the best anti-war plays ever written, in Westhoff Theatre. Brecht wrote the play in Germany in 1939, as Hitler and the Nazi movement were creating a climate of violence and privation not unlike the wartime setting in the play. Mother Courage is a tough "canteen woman," a kind of peddlar who pulls a cart, trading and selling goods to soldiers. She continually tries and continually fails to balance turning a profit with keeping her children safe amidst the strife of war.

"The Cherry Orchard," Chekhov's bittersweet look at the fading fortunes of the aristocracy and the rise of a middle class composed of former serfs in turn-of-the-20th-century Russia, will follow in CW 207. As the play opens, Madame Ranevskaya returns to the country estate she can no longer afford, not understanding that her home, her orchards, and the entire way of life she's used to, must make way in changing times. Chekhov supposedly thought "The Cherry Orchard" was a comedy, but there is a lot of loss and sadness to deal with in this quiet, pensive play about the futility of standing still when the world keeps moving.

Michael Frayn's "Noises Off" is a completely different sort of piece, a backstage (and front-stage) farce about a hapless road company of washed-up or never-were players just trying to get the doors slammed and the sardines brought on and off at the right moments. "Noise Off" happens to be absolutely hilarious in the right hands (I've seen it sublime and I've seen it wretched, depending on the production) and it also give its scenic designer the chance to do a full, two-story house (or "posset mill") set that spins around at intermission. ISU has slated this one for the CPA, which is a step in the right direction.

Elmer Rice

In spring, ISU's sights will turn to "The Adding Machine." There is a recent musical version, but I'm assuming they'll be doing the 1923 play by Elmer Rice of "Street Scene" fame. Both versions deal with the same basic idea, about a man named Zero who is just a cog in a big company, an accountant, until he is replaced by an adding machine. This drama, headed for the CPA, is about man vs. machine, the worker vs. the nameless, faceless corporation, and the loss of humanity in an industrial vacuum.

That will be followed by "J.B.," the 1958 Archibald MacLeish drama that tells the story of Job, the man in the Bible visited upon by so many troubles. MacLeish put his play in free verse and set it in a circus tent, with a balloon seller and a popcorn guy standing in for God and Satan. And it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1959. "J.B." will pitch its tent inside Westhoff Theatre.

"Tales of the Lost Formicans," another surreal piece, comes next, with performances set for CW 207. Oddly enough, it was last performed at ISU in their 1994-95 season, along with "Noises Off" and one year after "The Adding Machine." Some plays never go out of style, I guess. In any event, Constance Congdon's "Tales of the Lost Formicans" was a 1989 Humana Festival play, with a clever, fresh and decidedly odd take on how aliens might try to fit together the pieces of 20th century life by looking at one "normal" family dealing with Alzheimers, a messy marital break, and a foul-mouthed, unhappy teenager. Congdon's voice is unlike anybody else's, and it's good to see one of her plays back in rotation.

That leaves just Rodgers' and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!" and Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" to round out the year for ISU Theatre. "Oklahoma!" will go up in the CPA, naturally, with "Midsummer" in Westhoff, finishing up in time for ISU personnel to concentrate on the 2013 Illinois Shakespeare Festival.

ISU School of Theatre has listed its new season here, with promises of more details to come later. So far, it's looking like a pretty cool and quite eclectic season.