Mamma Mia! What a Mamma Mia! By Tina Arth

 

Ashley Moore, Jennifer Grimes, and Leslie Inmon

There are many reasons to love Forest Grove’s venerable community theater, Theatre in the Grove, but the one that really stands out to me is that TITG is fully committed to its mission to make theater arts accessible to the broadest possible community. The current production of Mamma Mia! Is a superb example – a crowd-pleasing musical for a wide audience that also gives scores (43 by my count) of stage veterans and newbies the opportunity to participate in the magic of making live theater. The lists of cast, crew, and orchestra include lots of locals, but TITG also takes advantage of talent from all over the Portland metro area (and the occasional exchange student!). Director Dorinda Toner and her production team have taken the unique abilities of this little horde of vocalists, actors, dancers, musicians, and techies, and molded them into a cohesive unit that has the audience singing and dancing (or at least clapping more or less on beat) by the end of Act II.

Although it was a smash hit when first staged in 1999 and remains wildly popular, Playwright Catherine Johnson’s jukebox musical built around the music of ABBA is, IMHO, fatally flawed as dramatic art by the disconnect between the book and the music – there are plot holes wider than the Bermuda Triangle. Remarkably, when produced with unabashed flair and the right sense of humor (and this Mamma Mia! most definitely is) it just doesn’t matter. As long as the orchestra is solid, solos bright, harmonies tight, costumes flamboyant, and dancers enthusiastic, the audience will have as much fun as the performers. It also doesn’t hurt if you like the music of ABBA, but are not so obsessive that occasional changes in lyrics or arrangements ruin the experience. 

In case you don’t know the basic story – Donna is a forty-something woman who has built a taverna on an unnamed Greek island. Daughter Sophie is getting married, and she would like her father to walk her down the aisle – but she doesn’t know who her father is (Donna had a bit of a wild youth, and the dad could be any one of three men). Unbeknownst to her mother, Sophie has invited Bill, Harry, and Sam (the possible sperm donors) to the wedding, thinking that she’ll know which one is really her dad when she meets them. Also on the island? Donna’s two best friends from the good old days, Tanya and Rosie. And of course Sophie’s fiancé Sky and her best friends Ali and Lisa, plus a couple of bartenders and a healthy dose of lively locals. Donna thinks Sophie is too young to marry, and Sophie thinks her mother should perhaps have considered marriage in lieu of promiscuity and the burdens of single parenthood. As they sing and dance their way through some 26 ABBA songs, the cast members work out their problems and (in classic musical comedy fashion) everything comes out just fine.

Theatre in the Grove newcomer Madeline Hui  is simply perfect as Sophie – she is a fine actor, and her lovely soprano voice is flawless from the opening number, “I Have a Dream,” through the celebratory epilogue. The other key role features TITG veteran Jennifer Grimes, a beautiful belter who was born to play this role – she has that brilliant combination of strength and vulnerability essential to the role of Donna, and her hate/love relationship with Sam (played by her husband, James Grimes) gives us the most intense emotional moments in the show.

With such a large cast, I can’t possibly recognize everybody who deserves it – but when you go watch for Donna, Tanya (Ashley Moore), and Rosie (Leslie Inmon) killing it with “Chiquitita” and “Dancing Queen,” the amazing “Super Trouper” (featuring the entire female ensemble), and some truly eye-popping chemistry between Moore and Max Marckel (Pepper) as well as Inmon and Nick Serrone (Bill).  The entire ensemble leaves it all on the stage in the many dance numbers, with a special nod to the younger ensemble members who contribute irresistible, uninhibited, and nonstop joie de vivre.

James Grimes’ set design is attractive and clever, allowing many scene changes with minimal delay. Ward Ramsdell and Sandy Cronin have done a marvelous job with complex lighting design, creating ocean waves, ‘70s disco magic, and a host of other special effects. Chris Byrne tackled the challenging task of costuming a large cast with occasional jumps between the 1970s and 1990s, including some quick-change surprises and some sparkly and truly memorable color combinations. And of course high praise for musical director/conductor Michelle Bahr and her unseen but not unappreciated orchestra as they drive the show from prologue to epilogue.

Mamma Mia! is playing at Theatre in the Grove, 2028 Pacific Avenue, Forest Grove through Sunday, May 1 with performances at 7:30 P.M.  on Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 P.M. on Sundays.

Don’t Hug Me (But DO See Me!)

 

I don’t know how the rest of y’all are faring, but the last few years have offered me more tough moments than were strictly necessary. I am thus abnormally grateful for anything that makes me laugh, and Broadway Rose’s current production of playwright Phil Olson’s Don’t Hug Me (music by Paul Olson) has earned my eternal gratitude and then some. Yes, it’s absurd – a fact openly embraced by director Dan Murphy, who admits that he “thought it was one of the silliest shows I’d ever encountered.” Aside from the always-strong Broadway Rose production standards, the show’s salvation comes from that fine line between “silly” (it most certainly is) and “stupid” (it most certainly is not!). The dialogue and songs are delivered with 100% fidelity to a dense Minnesota/Scandinavian accent, and Olson has peppered the script with scores of increasingly bizarre regional epithets that keep the audience in stitches. 

A brief synopsis: it’s the coldest day of the year in Ely, Minnesota, with a fierce storm blowing outside Gunner and Clara Olson’s struggling little bar, The Bunyan. Sick of the cold, Gunner wants to sell the bar and move to Florida, but Clara is unwilling to give up her love of ice fishing and her past glory as Winter Carnival Bunyan Queen. Waitress Bernice Lundstrom wants to pursue a singing career, but her fiancé Kanute Gunderson forbids it. Enter intrepid salesman Aarvid Gisselsen, dragging a giant karaoke machine that he swears will save the bar and bring romance back into their icy world. Clara, Bernice, and the menfolk sing their way through the karaoke machine’s extensive menu of works by the immortal Sven Yorgensen, including such classics as “I’m A Walleye Woman in a Crappie Town,” “He Wore a Purple Tux,” and my personal favorite, “Little Ernie Eelput” (from Yorgensen’s Peter, Paul and Mary phase). In the end, Gisselsen’s promise comes true, and everybody (well, almost everybody) discovers or rediscovers the love that’s been missing from their lives. 

Each of the five actors brings it all every time they walk on the stage, and each brings something unique. Among the highlights? Watch Kevin-Michael Moore’s face - if competitive girning ever becomes a fad, my money will definitely be on his Gunner character, and he brings to mind the grizzled folksiness of a Gabby Hayes (without the six-shooter). Revel in the tough/tender combination that Elizabeth Young brings to the role of Clara, and the gradual evolution toward confidence in Clara-Liis Hillier’s sweet Bernice as she find her inner diva in a red dress. Poor Peter Liptak (Kanute) is the only unrepentant jerk in the show, but he still charms us with song and dance to balance his blustering Midwestern chauvinism.  The real sleeper is Matthew H. Curl, whose Aarvid is sort of a tentative but persistent Harold Hill – in fact, the show has been described as “Fargo meets The Music Man, without the blood or trombones.” Curl’s “My Smorgasbord of Love” is a real showstopper, and I salute his ability to deliver the song with a straight face.

Unique in my experience with Broadway Rose, Don’t Hug Me uses prerecorded music – more of a challenge for the vocalists, but definitely appropriate to a karaoke-themed musical. Bryan Boyd’s scenic design is delightfully evocative of the time and place, as are Annie Kaiser’s costumes.

Don’t Hug Me is pure schmaltz with a big dose of heart, and it provides a wonderful, if all too brief, refuge from the outside world. Broadway Rose is still checking for proof of vaccination or negative Covid test, so even if masking is now optional I felt quite comfortable joining the opening night audience. There are so many reasons to get your tickets and see this little gem – just do it! Tickets are going fast, especially for the coveted Mother’s Day/closing performance.

Don’t Hug Me is playing at Broadway Rose’s New Stage, 12850 SW Grant Avenue, Tigard through Sunday, May 8^th.

 

Twilight’s Enigmatic, Timely  Anatomy of Gray

The first time I saw playwright Jim Leonard’s Anatomy of Gray, in 2017, I was intrigued by the play’s multilayered approach but was ultimately able to peg it as a mysterious plague being used as an allegory about the AIDS epidemic. I enjoyed the play’s extensive use of humor to leaven the underlying pain, and harkened back to my emotional response to the early days of AIDS and its impact. However, seeing Twilight Theater Company’s 2022 production was a whole new experience for me. After some reflection I decided that the difference is rooted in my relationship to the two very different “plagues” that have colored my adult life. AIDS? Tragic, upsetting, but essentially separate from my everyday life. Covid-19, on the other hand, has been all too immediate for most of us, and we’ve been denied the dubious comfort of “otherness” about the victims. Even if you’ve seen Anatomy of Gray before, the current production merits a second look.

The show takes place in a slightly surreal world peopled by the nineteenth century townspeople of Gray, Indiana – a place emblematic of the close-minded but self-proclaimed salt of the earth communities that littered a country on the verge of, and fiercely resisting, a vast scientific awakening.  Fifteen year old June Muldoon, whose father suddenly died of a mysterious illness, is lamenting her totally boring life in this boring town; grieving about her father and hoping for a little action, she writes a letter to God asking him to send a doctor to town. A fierce storm arrives, and in blows balloonist Dr. Galen Gray, a beacon of enlightenment from the outside world (and a ray of hope for June).  The xenophobic Pastor Phineas Wingfield is suspicious of the newcomer – Gray is attractive, educated, and modern, but he’s Jewish. When locals begin to sicken and die from inexplicable deadly lesions, many follow the pastor’s lead and blame the newcomer. When lesions are discovered on June’s mom Rebekah, only three people are free of infection – June, Dr. Gray, and a love-struck, soda pop loving young yokel named Homer.  Take my word for it – courtesy of some very crisp writing and some great physical comedy, the show is both more moving and more fun than it sounds!

Director Alicia Turvin has assembled an evenly capable cast, with some real standout performances in lead roles.  As Homer, the simple farm boy who’s loony for June, Ryan Larson is perfectly pathetic, but he earns the audience’s sympathy with his earnest devotion. Arun Kumar is wonderful as the narrow-minded Pastor Wingfield, and he oozes the confidence that can only be found in the truly ignorant. His epic battle with kidney stones is the funniest scene in the play, and he maintains his steadfastly bombastic idiocy throughout.  

Three key actors provide the solid foundation required to tell the story. Noelle Guest is quietly compelling as the widowed Rebekah – she creates a solidly intelligent and grounded character who embraces the pain and love in her life with equal grace.  Cydoni Reyes is a real find as June, and Turvin was lucky to find an adult actor who manages to believably convey the angst, drama, and maddening mood swings of repressed adolescence. Reyes’ June is both precocious and innocent, and charming throughout. Finally, there’s Jon Gennari, who walks a fine line as Dr. Galen Gray, the quintessential outsider. While he is often funny, he never seems to be going for the laugh – he’s so somber, logical, and determined that the audience accepts the absurdity of the situation without question.

I loved the set – rather than trying to create even a semblance of small-town Indiana, Turvin’s design, a simple backdrop of silver/gray panels, allows the actors to easily break the fourth wall. The audience doesn’t need to worry about suspending disbelief, because as soon as Genevieve Larson’s beautifully designed lights go up we know that we are not expected to cling to an illusion of reality.

Twilight’s production of Anatomy of Gray is something of a sleeper. While it’s fun and moving in the moment, it doesn’t yield its full impact right away but grows its impact upon reflection – one of those shows that would be well worth seeing twice.

Anatomy of Gray is playing at Twilight’s Performing Arts Theater, 7515 N. Brandon Avenue, Portland through April 24^th, with performances at 8 pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 3 pm on Sunday.