Archive: Arts & Entertainment

A glowing review of a high school musical in a small town newspaper is likely to be taken with a grain of salt.  After all, these are local kids who will be glad of the encouragement, not matter what their performance on stage was really like.  So it should be noted that 1) I am disposed to dislike amateur theater ( I am really grouchy about sitting through mediocre shows), and 2) this really was a remarkable production.  Part of what made this delightful evening of theater so amazing was the book and music, part the kids, and part the adult production staff.


The book is possibly the weakest link, both in the classic 1933 movie and the stage musical.  As much of a cliche as it has become, the story of a chorus girl (Peggy Sawyer, played by Katie Bruno) replacing an established star (Veronica Palladino as Dorothy Brock) at the last moment and becoming a star herself has become an iconic story of the American dream -- anyone can become anything given hard work and being in the right place at the right time.  But what makes the book strong is not so much its through-line as its unbridled optimism and good will.

Even though Peggy is a newcomer to the Broadway scene, the other chorus girls root for her to succeed, first in getting into the chorus, and then making it in the leading role.  Even the cynical producer Julian Marsh (Adam Beckwith) is won over by Peggy, and stands up for the whole company when he argues that if she doesn't go on that everybody will be out of work, devastating because the action takes place at the end of the Great Depression.  And the displaced Brock comes around, making the effort to offer Peggy advice moments before she goes on, despite the fact that Brock thinks Peggy caused her accident and tried to steal her boyfriend Pat Denning (Matt Jones). 


Peggy's optimism and drive win the audience over as well, along with the clear message that Peggy is very good at what she does and has worked hard to become that good.  But in order to convince the audience of that the actress playing her has to be good.  Bruno pulled it off winningly with an un-self conscious performance, strong in character, and a voice that soared.


Which brings us to the music.  There isn't a clunker in the whole show.  Most of the songs including the title number, 'Lullaby of Broadway,' 'Shuffle Off to Buffalo,' 'You're Getting to Be a Habit With Me,' and countless others stand alone as hit songs.  In some ways that puts more pressure on the musical director, because everyone knows what the songs are supposed to sound like.  Under the capable direction of Lorrene Adams, both the pit orchestra and the performers made the songs shine.  You can tell when a performer has conquered a piece to the point where he or she feels comfortable enough to have fun with it.


Adams clearly got to that point herself, and was able to get her musicians and singers to go there with her.  That fun translates to the audience -- it may not be obvious, but that's what makes the difference between being swept up in the music and simply enjoying it.  And it didn't hurt that Bruno and Andy Lockwood (as the male tenor lead Billy Lawlor) have gorgeous singing voices.


Director Cindy Howell is well known in Lansing for getting her student performers to exceed their capabilities, but she outdid herself in 42nd Street.  Commonly high school performers are self-conscious, unable to lose themselves in the characters they play.  That is painful to watch, and the audience is forced into a role of encouraging its children.  But in this production every actor stepped into his or her role and made the audience believe it.  Even if you knew the students it wasn't much of a leap to believe that they inhabited their character's skin.


That confidence in the acting applied pretty much across the board.  It didn't matter if you were watching a lead character or the chorus girls.  Or one who didn't speak: C.J. Griffin as Oscar the Piano Player was fun to watch.  You knew on one level he was faking playing the piano, but he was so invested in it that you suspended disbelief.  He was delightful to watch.

In a show that depends so heavily on dance it didn't hurt that professional choreographer Sarah Fazio was on hand.  But the amount of work the cast did to get to the point where they made the tap dancing seem effortless was a mirror of the Peggy Sawyer character.  Hard work really paid off.  This cast did work hard, with many of the dancers participating in a three week summer tap dance class, and the entire cast rehearsing literally day and night throughout the February school break.


Another element that made the show a success was attention to detail.  About a week before it opened I happened into a rehearsal when Fazio was chiding the cast about a pet peeve, saying that she hates looking at actors who don't know how to bow in a curtain call.  After all the hard work and well earned applause, she argued, it wouldn't do to limply acknowledge the audience.  The result: the curtain call was a spectacular production number in its own right, and the audience left the theater on a high note.

Finally there was the pace.  High school productions are notoriously mediocre in pace, which any Drama 101 teacher will tell you can be death to a show.  But except for a too-long scene change just before the curtain call, this show moved at a clip, never giving the audience a chance to lose the mood as it barrelled to the finale.  And this matters in a show that has so many locations, flipping between production numbers and back stage scenes.  The sets didn't get in the way of the action.  Lighting was well done, and I particularly liked the 'We're In The Money'  head dresses on the chorus girls.


All of this begs the question, how are they going to top this next year?  But I seem to remember asking that question a year ago, and clearly a lot of hard work, dedication, and reaching beyond the boundaries of a typical high school musical paid off.  The only real criticism I have is that four performances may not have been enough.  If you missed Lansing High School's 42nd Street you missed a terrific night at the theater.  Any theater.  I'm not just saying that to encourage the kids.

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