I Have Seen The Enemy and It is Us

Review by Joyce Kane

The REP’s current offering, Soldier’s Heart, is a gritty and intense view into the gender differences in the military.  The play opens with a seemingly realistic, well-adjusted single mother preparing for her first deployment to Iraq.  Casey Johnson, a sergeant in the Marine Corps, has her son Sean’s athletic and academic schedule for the ensuing 9 months calendared and cross referenced by month, along with medical records and pre-recorded stories and letters.  In the interchange with her mother, we become aware that perhaps Casey has something to prove.  Her father, an embittered veteran who spent time in Vietnam, came home a changed man.  Both of Casey’s parents used alcohol to assuage the pain of the downward spiral of their relationship.  Her father left Casey his house upon his death 6 months earlier, to her mother’s apparent resentment.  Casey is estranged from Sean’s father, but he shares custody and childcare with Casey and now with her mother.

Marie Elena O'Brien, Jenna Cole

In a rapidly unfolding barrage of videos, we get a glimpse into the horrors of war in Iraq.  There are two women in the company; rather than bonding with each other, Casey and Lance Corporal Hernandez appear to spar, verbally and culturally.  The plight of a female deployed in a foreign country is presented with a raw, matter of fact style.  Personal hygiene and the status of women in Iraq reveal underlying tensions that belie the status of woman in the US.

Michael Fuller, Marie Elena O'Brien

Casey’s return stateside reveals a shattered woman.  She refuses to see her son; she refuses to engage in life.  Her heart has turned from open and accepting to hard and unyielding.  She finds her father’s stash of tequila and liberally partakes to numb her memories of the horrors that she experienced.  She contemplates suicide and disengages from any interpersonal contact.  She can no longer bear to be touched, preferring the isolation of video games and television in which to immerse herself.

Marie Elena O'Brien, Joshua Elijah Reese

Humor relieves some of the dark content.  Kevin, Casey’s ex and "Mr. Analogy", is a spark of reason, appealing to the Casey of old to try to bridge the actions of the mother of his child with this stranger. The secrets of what transpired over the nine months continue to be unraveled and erode our sense of respect and honor for our perceived heroes.

Tammy Ryan

The Studio Theatre of the Pittsburgh Playhouse is the venue for the world premiere of the play, written by Pittsburgher Tammy Ryan and directed by John Amplas.  The staging and lighting are stark and gray, befitting the mood of the work itself and the audience’s reaction.  The use of the same set for both stateside and Iraq was enhanced by the videos projected on the back wall; the videos also served as a flashback mechanism, a graphic demonstration of what Casey encountered in Iraq.

Justin Lonesome, Marie Elena O'Brien

Marie Elena O’Brien is remarkable as Casey Johnson.  The range of emotions that she displays throughout the performance is heart-wrenching.  Joshua Elijah Reese as Kevin is likable; you root for him to be successful in breaking through the shell, helping and supporting Casey in her return to life.  Margie, Casey’s mother, ably portrayed by Jenna Cole, is everywoman, while not perfect, loves her daughter and grandson and tries her best.  Michael Fuller (Captain Baines, Casey’s Commanding Officer), Justin Lonesome (Staff Sergeant Williams), Jaime Slavinsky (Lance Corporal Hernandez), and Sundiata Rice (Sean) round out the small but emotionally powerful cast.  Kudo’s to Rice in his debut as Sean, Casey’s son, who idolizes her and cannot understand their estrangement.  When Casey does not respond to his heartfelt, innocent appeals, we are left to imagine that no one will be able to break through to her.

Casey has seen the enemy…and it is us.

Soldier’s Heart runs through October 13th at the Pittsburgh Playhouse.

Photo Credit for Cast of Soldier's Heart:  Jeff Swensen

Reviewed  on behalf of PositivelyPittsburghLive! Magazine.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

CLO's The Phantom Entertains

The Phantom

The Pittsburgh CLO’s production of Kopit & Yeston’s Phantom combines enough of the drama of the more well-known Andrew Lloyd Webber version of the love story to be reminiscent yet is unique enough in its handling of the story to stand apart.

Based on the Gaston Leroux novel “Le Fantome de L’Opera”, Arthur Kopit’s book and the theater version provides more of a character study into the back story of the why of The Phantom.  In the K&Y version, The Phantom is more humanized and has a name, Erik.  While he skulks backstage, on the catwalk and in the underbelly of the famed Paris Opera House, his character is portrayed with more sensitivity, evoking empathy rather than horror.  His story, revealed in the second act, provides insight into a much more likeable, even playful character.  The K & Y version is essentially more accessible to the audience.

I did take issue with one aspect of the second act revelation of Erik’s story – not the story itself, but on relying on the ballet convention a la “An American in Paris” or “Oklahoma”; it felt a tad trite for my taste, a less than novel treatment to expose how the legend of The Phantom came to be.

Carlotta

Another departure from the more popular ALW version is a broader cast, with effective use of the ensemble, and without the need for the more dramatic special effects that characterize the better known variation.  I found that I preferred it.  The music and lyrics by Maury Yeston, while less recognizable, were still effective to weave the story of the young ingénue, Christine Daee.  Initially relegated to the wardrobe department, she rises to the position of lead under the tutelage of Erik, unbeknownst to the conniving and controlling La Carlotta, the quintessential diva.  Despite her lack of talent, Carlotta (Donna Lynne Champlin) is the feted queen of the Opera House, due solely to her husband’s wealth and the currying of well chosen benefactors who continue to support the opera despite repeated failures of the productions.  This production has a fair bit of humor mixed in the dialogue, giving the audience even more entertainment and causing me to comment at intermission that I preferred it over the noir version that I had seen numerous times.

Christine and The Phantom

The lovely soprano of Erin Mackey as Christina melodiously blends with Ron Bohmer’s (The Phantom) tenor.  Veteran Jaime Ross as Gerard Carriere, the former Opera House manager, is credible as Erik’s mother’s married lover and subsequent protector of Erik.  You feel his emotional tug of war as he at last reveals his parentage and performs the ultimate paternal act in the final scene.

Christine and Philippe

The character of Philippe de Chandon (Bryant Martin) first discovers the talents of Christine and urges her to develop her voice with vocal training.  He becomes smitten with his discovery, leading to a jealous reaction on Erik’s part.  Thus spins the love story between two unlikely characters, the beautiful Christine and the disfigured Erik.

On opening night, the audience responded well to the production, delivering a standing ovation to the cast.  If you get the chance to see this alternate production of the Phantom, do take advantage of the opportunity while it is in town.  The show runs through June 30, 2013 at the Benedum.

Photo Credit:  Matt Polk

Reviewed on behalf of Positively Pittsburgh Live! Magazine by Joyce Kane.  Joyce  is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

RovingPittsburgherReport: Review, Dutch Festival, "Die Space"

by Delana Flowers

DieSpace: A Lively Look At Death

It’s not often that you hear the words “elderly” and “technology” in the same sentence and you never hear “death” and “digital” in so much as the same phrase, unless you attend DieSpace by Pips:lab March 22 through the 24. This production is part of Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Distinctively Dutch Festival.

http://www.dutchperformingarts.com/distinctively-dutch/ 

DieSpace is what you get when you put four creative men from the Netherlands discussing death and aging together with multimedia and audience participation. This production gives a moment of comic relief to the common fears of senior citizens: fear of the unknown afterlife, fear of dying, and fear of technology. DieSpace is MySpace for the dead, complete with a membership fee, music, and video uploads. “We are not going to heaven. We are not going to hell. We are going to upload to DieSpace.”

This performance is a non-intimidating audiovisual tech fest that utilizes music, video and software designed specifically for the show by Pips:lab. The interactive nature of the production makes you forget how morbid the reality of becoming older and dying. It makes the inevitable laughable.

The set, or lack thereof, in a stage less space made for a rather intimate but fun 60 minutes. The space was a simple laboratory of sorts complete with a projection screen, musical instruments, and several laptops among a few other things. The integration of these mediums coupled with the interesting subject matter made a set unnecessary.

Seeing two of the four men dressed as and playing the roles of elderly women was quite striking. I wonder how different the production would be had these roles been played by women.

This was certainly a unique experience in both subject matter and execution. The crowd was fairly young and I couldn’t help but wonder how the 65 and up would react to this production. The young audience present opening night seemed to enjoy the entertainment but without fully understanding the why of it. Without the traditional plot to follow, this was more like experimental theater.

If I ever had a doubt that technology and theater can and should work together, this was an impressive demonstration of the endless possibilities that can result from the meeting of the two.

Pittsburgh Good News Reviewer and Reporter
Delana Flowers

Delana Flowers is a multi-talented creative. She is a Positively Pittsburgh Live reporter, a dynamic vocalist, an amazing Actress, and an independent writer. Delana is owner of Ingenuity by Delana Flowers ©, writing effective copy so you don’t have to. Services include copywriting for newsletters, blogs, ad copy, marketing pieces, articles, reviews, invitations, postcards, flyers and more.