PEG O’ MY HEART at the June Havoc Theatre is a delightful, charming 100 year old musical that has more going for it than most of today’s Broadway musicals: HIT SONGS-- including several that still resonate today, including “I’d Rather Be Blue, Thinking Of You,” “Peg O’ My Heart,” “They Go Wild, Simply Wild Over Me,” and “There’s A Broken Heart For Every Light on Broadway.” Original play by J. Hartley Manners, book by Karin Baker, Music by Fred Fisher and lyrics by eight men including Billy Rose, well directed and zippily choreographed by James Gray, with imaginative period costumes by Cathy Parrot. Plot: adorable down-to-Earth Irish girl (beautifully played and sung by Brittney Lee Hamilton) dropped into the household of a snobby English family which includes the terrific Broadway actress/singers Jennifer Smith and Kelly Jeanne Grant. These three women bring the production to the highest level of musical entertainment. Jeremy Benton is a fine leading man— both singing and dancing. Producer Gwen Arment can be proud of this light-hearted, sweet, fun romantic melodrama which raises the level of professionalism in a small theatre.

RICHMOND SHEPARD

Performing Arts INSIDER and lively-arts.com

SILENCE! The Musical, a hilarious satire on the film “Silence of the Lambs” by Jon Kaplan and Al Kaplan (music & lyrics) and Hunter Bell (book), pushes the boundaries of what one can say (or sing) on the stage yea even beyond “The Book of Mormon.” Jenn Harris gives a brilliant comic performance as Clarice Starling, the FBI fledgling, with the sshhushing of “S” sounds like Jodi Foster, the Starling in the movie, and with nuances of expression in which a half-raised eyebrow sets off laughter in the audience. She’s a rare bird, this Starling— totally convincing, totally immersed in her character, yet able to physically convey subtle internal shifts that give us the gift of laughter. Brent Barrett, who plays Hannibal Lecter, is a handsome powerful, dynamic Broadway singer/actor with presence and voice that fill the theatre. Starting with a chorus of lambs who reappear as many other fun characters, and again as lambs (with a full camp sensibility), the show follows the plot points of the movie as Hannibal is recruited to help stop a serial killer who has kidnapped a young girl (played by the terrific Broadway singer Lucia Spina). Set by Scott Pask, lighting by Jeff Croiter and costumes by David Kaley complete the picture perfectly. Add the gorgeous dancer Ashlee Dupré held aloft by Callan Bergmann in a dream-sequence dance that is both physically beautiful and comedic, and we have a fully realized, outrageous, delightful contemporary musical, directed and choreographed with splash, with dash, and with great insight into Comedy by Christopher Catelli, for a today audience not offended by a shocking image or two or word or three.

RICHMOND SHEPARD

Performing Arts INSIDER and lively-arts.com

Terrence McNally’s play MASTER CLASS, ostensibly showing the great singer Maria Callas giving a public demonstration of her teaching three opera hopefulls, gives us one of Broadway’s finest actresses, Tyne Daly, as Callas. She’s funny, egotistical, and sometimes profound, and Daly is splendid in the part. It is nimbly directed by Stephen Wadsworth, with scenic design by Thomas Lynch that takes us a step upward in definition as he creates a concert hall with a minimal insertion. It’s well lighted by David Lander and perfectly costumed by Martin Pakledinaz, and pianist/actor Jeremy Cohen is merely wonderful. Alexandra Silber is cute, girlish, with a really good voice which gets clearer as she is instructed. I felt cheated when she didn’t get to sing the aria through, and show us the final result. Large, strong, Garrett Sorenson is a full opera singer, and his personality quirks are fun. Part of what we, an audience interested in opera, come to MASTER CLASS for is to hear good singing, and Sorenson and the third student (Sierra Boggess) really do get to sing. The beautiful Boggess (voice, physiognomy, costume) is a delightful actress and singer who projects a persona with strength, verve and nerve. For me, this was the show— and a really good one. There are two biographical tangents, an interchange between Callas and Aristotle Onasis in which she plays both parts, and an insertion at the end about the consequences of that relationship, that could be cut from the play. All the rest of it follows the premise of the title. But since this is a revival, it is probably carved in cement as it is, so be patient and have a great time with the rest of it.

RICHMOND SHEPARD

Performing Arts INSIDER and lively-arts.com

Rachel Crothers wrote the play A LITTLE JOURNEY in 1918, and it is set in a Pullman car of a train heading West in 1914. Jonathan Bank’s Mint Theater has created something of a masterpiece in this production in classic three act play form. Passengers from vastly different backgrounds are in transition in their lives— some of them footloose, some fancy-free, some in inner turmoil, and we become involved with their problems as they become involved with each other. The writing is strong and clear, and sprinkled with humor that works today as well as any contemporary comedy; the set design by Roger Janna, utilizing a stage-sized turntable is extraordinary as it becomes a moving train with differentiated sections; costumes by Martha Hally are creatively appropriate with a perfect touch of exaggeration; and best of all is the cast that director Jackson Gay selected: not a weak link— they’re all high-level professionals who become their characters. This is Broadway-level stuff in a small West 43rd Street theatre. The leads, Samantha Soule and McCaleb Burnett shine, especially as she goes through a transition, Rosemary Prinz as a spry deaf old lady is delightful, and Laurie Birmingham’s spoiled snob deserves an award. They’re all terrific. There is a startler at the end of Act 2 that shifts and then drives the rest of the play. It is all meticulous work, with perfect timing, and author and director have a profound understanding of the internal processes in people, and it shows in this production. If you love good Theatre, don’t miss A LITTLE JOURNEY.

RICHMOND SHEPARD

Performing Arts INSIDER and lively-arts.com