Showing posts with label doug shapiro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label doug shapiro. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
A Zany Christmas Carol In Asbury Park
Two River Times
December 12, 2008
Scene On Stage
A Zany Christmas Carol
In Asbury Park
Check your bah-humbug at the door. . .
By Philip Dorian
And now for something new and different: a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Say what? New and different? There’s one around every corner, isn’t there?
Well, yes, but they’re not like ReVision Theatre’s Scrooge in Rouge, running through December 28 in Asbury Park. And ‘thanks’ are definitely in order for this irreverent and outrageously funny tale of ye olde Scrooge.
What to do when all but three , Lottie Obligato (Linda Marie Larson), Vesta Virile (Katherine Pecevich), and Charlie Schmaltz (Doug Shapiro), to play all 23 roles.
And healthy they are. The three careen through the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future; various Cratchits; numerous Fezziwigs; and assorted other Victorian Londoners. The result is a fast-paced 90 minutes with lively song-and-dance and about a hundred gags that are corny, bawdy or a combination thereof. That nearly all (nobody’s perfect) are laughworthy is a tribute to a performers and to writers Rich Graham (book and lyrics) Jeffery Roberson (additional material) and Yvette Hargis, who is credited with “other interesting bits,” which is the year’s most intriguing credit.
Ms. Pecevich plays Ebeneezer and a couple of other bit parts along the way. She’s as accurate (if offhand) a Scrooge as I’ve seen locally. Out of character, commenting in asides to the audience, she’s a droll delight. (If “walk this way” isn’t among your favorite comic bits, go watch Miracle on 34th Street again.)
Mr. Shapiro’s antic take on Marley’s Ghost is supremely funny, but darned if he doesn’t top himself with his loose-limbed Fezziwig nephew. (His manic cavorting would drive even a kind-hearted uncle away.)
You cannot acquire pinpoint-perfect timing. Like Ms. Larson, you must be born with it. Introducing the show with the wrong author’s name – an excellent joke so obvious I’m surprised I never heard it before – and slipping in and out of a dozen fully realized roles, including a pickle (see it to believe it), she doesn’t miss a beat – of music or comedy.
Musical director Justin Stoney is positioned off to the side with his piano, where he provides faultless accompaniment and an occasional impertinent out-of-the-blue remark, and choreographer Mimi Quillin keeps the flailing arms and legs under control (barely). Costumer Abby Walton deserves co-star status. It’s not just the number – 23 outfits for 23 characters – that impresses. The outlandish styles and even the colors provide a comic context on their own.
The key to staging a deceptively loose show like Scrooge in Rouge lies in balancing control with freedom. Michael Barakiva’s direction is disciplined, but not at the expense of devil-may-care. (His rest-cure is progressing nicely, I hear.)
A song lyric promises “fancy scenery and acting with panache.” Kip marsh’s sets might not be fancy, but you’ll fancy the clever devices that enhance the goings-on. (An upright bed on the back of a door? Why not?) As for panache, “flamboyant confidence of style or manner,” that’s an understatement!
“Scrooge in Rouge” runs through Dec. 28 at the refurbished VFW Hall, 701 Lake Avenue, Asbury Park. Performance are Thurs-Sat at 8 pm (no performance Dec. 25); Sun. at 7 pm; matinees Sat. Dec 27 at 3 pm and Sun. Dec. 28 at 3 pm. For information and tickets ($25 - $35): 732-455-3059 or online at www.revisiontheatre.org.
December 12, 2008
Scene On Stage
A Zany Christmas Carol
In Asbury Park
Check your bah-humbug at the door. . .
By Philip Dorian
And now for something new and different: a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Say what? New and different? There’s one around every corner, isn’t there?
Well, yes, but they’re not like ReVision Theatre’s Scrooge in Rouge, running through December 28 in Asbury Park. And ‘thanks’ are definitely in order for this irreverent and outrageously funny tale of ye olde Scrooge.
What to do when all but three , Lottie Obligato (Linda Marie Larson), Vesta Virile (Katherine Pecevich), and Charlie Schmaltz (Doug Shapiro), to play all 23 roles.
And healthy they are. The three careen through the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future; various Cratchits; numerous Fezziwigs; and assorted other Victorian Londoners. The result is a fast-paced 90 minutes with lively song-and-dance and about a hundred gags that are corny, bawdy or a combination thereof. That nearly all (nobody’s perfect) are laughworthy is a tribute to a performers and to writers Rich Graham (book and lyrics) Jeffery Roberson (additional material) and Yvette Hargis, who is credited with “other interesting bits,” which is the year’s most intriguing credit.
Ms. Pecevich plays Ebeneezer and a couple of other bit parts along the way. She’s as accurate (if offhand) a Scrooge as I’ve seen locally. Out of character, commenting in asides to the audience, she’s a droll delight. (If “walk this way” isn’t among your favorite comic bits, go watch Miracle on 34th Street again.)
Mr. Shapiro’s antic take on Marley’s Ghost is supremely funny, but darned if he doesn’t top himself with his loose-limbed Fezziwig nephew. (His manic cavorting would drive even a kind-hearted uncle away.)
You cannot acquire pinpoint-perfect timing. Like Ms. Larson, you must be born with it. Introducing the show with the wrong author’s name – an excellent joke so obvious I’m surprised I never heard it before – and slipping in and out of a dozen fully realized roles, including a pickle (see it to believe it), she doesn’t miss a beat – of music or comedy.
Musical director Justin Stoney is positioned off to the side with his piano, where he provides faultless accompaniment and an occasional impertinent out-of-the-blue remark, and choreographer Mimi Quillin keeps the flailing arms and legs under control (barely). Costumer Abby Walton deserves co-star status. It’s not just the number – 23 outfits for 23 characters – that impresses. The outlandish styles and even the colors provide a comic context on their own.
The key to staging a deceptively loose show like Scrooge in Rouge lies in balancing control with freedom. Michael Barakiva’s direction is disciplined, but not at the expense of devil-may-care. (His rest-cure is progressing nicely, I hear.)
A song lyric promises “fancy scenery and acting with panache.” Kip marsh’s sets might not be fancy, but you’ll fancy the clever devices that enhance the goings-on. (An upright bed on the back of a door? Why not?) As for panache, “flamboyant confidence of style or manner,” that’s an understatement!
Doug Shapiro, Linda Marie Larson and Katherine Pecevich as three of the 23 characters they play in Scrooge in Rouge.
“Scrooge in Rouge” runs through Dec. 28 at the refurbished VFW Hall, 701 Lake Avenue, Asbury Park. Performance are Thurs-Sat at 8 pm (no performance Dec. 25); Sun. at 7 pm; matinees Sat. Dec 27 at 3 pm and Sun. Dec. 28 at 3 pm. For information and tickets ($25 - $35): 732-455-3059 or online at www.revisiontheatre.org.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Scrooge in Rouge in Asbury Park - Star-Ledger
Actors Doug Shapiro ,Charlie and Katherine Pecevich,who's playing Ebenezer Scrooge under strange circumstances. SCROOGE IN ROUGE is a show where a troupe of British Musical Hall actors intended to put on A CHRSTMAS CAROL -- but then most of the troupe got sick from food poisoning. As a result, this WOMAN, Vesta Virile, must play Scrooge . Asbury Park, NJ 12/2/08 4:15:28 AM NOAH K. MURRAY/THE STAR-LEDGERMonday, November 24, 2008
Press Release: Scrooge in Rouge, an English Music Hall Christmas Carol
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ReVision Theatre in Asbury Park Announces
The East Coast Premiere of
Scrooge in Rouge
An English Music Hall Christmas Carol
3 actors play 23 roles in the fast paced, quick change musical
A Holiday Family Comedy
December 4th-28th
Asbury Park, New Jersey – ReVision Theatre kicks off their 2008–2009 inaugural season with the holiday family musical comedy, Scrooge in Rouge, an English Music Hall Christmas Carol, is a fast paced, quick change musical version of the Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol, set in a Victorian music hall where three actors perform 23 characters. Running December 4th – 28th, ReVision Theatre will present the East Coast Premiere of the show which was created last holiday season in New Orleans. Directed by Michael Barakiva the cast features Linda Marie Larson (Broadway’s Jackie, Deuce, Morning’s at Seven), Katherine Pecevich (National Tour of Annie), and Doug Shapiro. The show is choreographed by Mimi Quillin and music directed by Justin Stoney, who will also be at piano. The creative team includes scenic design by Kip Marsh, costume design by Abby Walton, lighting design by Nick Francone, and sound design by Benjamin Furiga.
The show was created by a company of actors at the cabaret Le Chat Noir, with book and lyrics by Ricky Graham, additional material by Jeffery Roberson (aka Varla Jean Merman), other interesting bits by Yvette Hargis, and original music composed by Jefferson Turner.
A mixture of Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Noises Off, Scrooge in Rouge is a Victorian-era music hall version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, in which 17 members of the Royal Music Hall 20-Member Variety Players have taken ill from the cast party the night before, leaving only Charlie Schmaltz (Shapiro), an animated character actor; Lottie Obligato (Larson), a bubbly, over-the-hill ingénue; and Vesta Virile (Pecevich), a male impersonating diva, to play and sing all the male and female parts in the show. The Gambit Weekly wrote, “Though we tend to associate this type of gender bending with our confused, postmodern world, it actually has a history on the stage that reaches back to music hall entertainment and beyond.”
Scrooge in Rouge, an English Music Hall Christmas Carol will preview on Thursday, December 4th and open on Friday, December 5th and run through Sunday, December 28. Performance times are: Thursday at 8:00 pm, Friday & Saturday at 8:00 pm, and Sunday at 7:00 pm. Scrooge in Rouge will be performed at the VFW Hall, 701 Lake Avenue, in Asbury Park. ReVision Theatre will be transforming this 100 year old building into a 350 seat theatre. Single adult tickets, priced $35 and $25, and half price tickets for children under 12 are now on sale. Call the ReVision Theatre box office at 732-455-3059 or go on line at www.ReVisionTheatre.org for tickets and information.
ReVision Theatre is a non-profit 501(c)3 professional regional theatre company dedicated to producing invigorating theatre with a fresh new perspective reaching the diverse community of Asbury Park and Monmouth County. ReVision Theatre produces reinventions of previously produced classics, overlooked or forgotten work in a new way, and new work with a fresh voice. The company serves as a home for local artists and writers. ReVision Theatre also believes in the importance of theatre education and teaches children and adult theatre classes. ReVision Theatre produces readings, workshops, cabarets, concerts, and mainstage productions. ReVision Theatre’s 2008-2009 Season includes the new hip hop musical, Kingdom (April 16-May 3), a one night only benefit performance of Steven Brinberg as Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl (July 11), and the blockbuster musical, The Full Monty (August 12-September 6).
Visit www.RevisionTheatre.org or call 732-455-3059 for show calendars and more information.
Fast Facts:
Who: ReVision Theatre
David E. Leidholdt, Thomas Morrissey, and Stephen Bishop Seely
Producing Artistic Directors
PO BOX 973, Asbury Park, New Jersey 07712
What: Scrooge in Rouge, an English Music Hall Christmas Carol
East Coast Premiere
December 4th – 28th, 2008
Book & Lyrics by Ricky Graham
Additional Material by Jeffery Roberson
Other Interesting Bits by Yvette Hargis
Music by Jefferson Turner
Directed by Michael Barakiva
Choreographed by Mimi Quillin
Music Directed by Justin Stoney
Scenic Design by Kip Marsh
Lighting Design by Nick Francone
Sound Design by Benjamin Furiga
Costume Design by Abby Walton
Cast includes Lisa Marie Larson (Lottie), Katherine Pecevich (Vesta), &
Doug Shapiro (Charlie)
When: December 4th – 28th
Thursdays, Fridays, & Saturdays at 8:00 pm
Sundays at 7:00 pm
(No show on Christmas Day)
Friday, December 26th at 8:00 pm
Saturday, December 27th at 3:00 pm & 8:00 pm
Sunday, December 28th at 3:00 pm
Where: VFW Hall
701 Lake Avenue
Asbury Park, New Jersey 07712
Entrance on Bond Street between Lake and Cookman Avenues
How: Buy tickets online at www.ReVisionTheatre.org
Or call 732-455-3059.
Adults $35.00 & $25.00
Children under 12 $17.50 & $12.50
Limited seating is available.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
