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| 2Co's Christmas show mixes bitter with sweet | ||
| Richard Ades, Theater Critic, The Other Paper, Nov. 28,2002 | ||
|
This
year's holiday show at 2Co's Cabaret keeps everything short and sweet.
Or better yet, short and bittersweet. Christmas
at 2Co's skips the one act play that usually anchors the cabaret's
shows. Instead, it fills the evening with monologues, poetry and songs. Some
of the offerings are old and some are new, and most are slightly tinged
with blue. That's appropriate in a holiday season that never quite lives
up to its promise of peace and joy. Leading
off the monologues is one of the welcome repeats from past 2Co's and
Shadowbox Cabaret shows, The
Innkeeper. Adapted from Dina Donohue's Trouble
at the Inn, it's a woman's account of the Christmas pageant that was
derailed by her mentally slow brother. Bevin
Lynch turns in a pleasant narration of the story which will remind some
of Barbara Robinson's The
Best Christmas Pageant
Ever. An
even more welcome repeat is Merry
Christmas, Miss Pettigrew, adapted from T.R. Pearson's A
Short History of a Small Place, Steve Guyer is charmingly down home
as a man remembering yet another pageant that went awry. It
should be noted that in these two monologues, Lynch and Guyer are
replaced by Alex Beekman and Chris Lynch, respectively, at some
performances. The
most intense of the monologues is Three
Grunts Lost, adapted from Michael W. Rodriguez's short story. It's
about three scared Marines who stumble across an unfamiliar Vietnamese
village on Christmas Eve. The ending isn't complex enough to be as
rewarding as it might be, but Joe Lorenzo tells the tale with
hard-bitten authority. In
a comic vein, Tom Cardinal is hilarious in Jeff Goode's Hollywood,
about upwardly mobile reindeer who played Prancer on the big screen.
Cardinal's fey portrayal is as funny as Goode's jokes about ambitions
and jealousies in the movie industry.
Also
funny, in a similarly bitchy kind of way, is Theona's
Theatre Corner, Pam Callahan stars in the piece, which Julie Klein
adapted from a David Sedaris monologue. It's about a theatre critic who
trashes school Christmas pageants on the theory that; "If there's a
cancer, it's best to treat it early." The
musically portion of the program evoke several versions of the Christmas
spirit, including sad but sweet (Silver
Lining, sung by Kori Billiat); cynical (I
Believe in Father Christmas, sung by Carrie Lynn McDonald);
boisterous (Merry Christmas Baby, sung blues-style by Billiat); angry (Father
Christmas, sung punk-style by Callahan); and playful (Skating
Away, sung by Cardinal). These are just some of the highlights in a
strong evening of music. Amazing
solo licks by keyboardist Chris Ciampa and guitarist Matthew Hahn add to
the fun, especially in Run Run
Rudolph. |
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| Cabaret warms holiday season | ||
| Michael Grossberg, Theater Critic, The Columbus Dispatch, Nov. 22,2002 | ||
|
2Co's
Cabaret captures the holiday spirit with Christmas at 2Co's. The
well-chosen stories and songs brim with holiday emotions, with an apt
emphasis on the fondly nostalgic and the amusingly sentimental. All
of the playlets and poems are monologues, allowing individual talents to
shine. Among
the best at Wednesday's opening: Steve Guyer (Merry Christmas, Miss
Pettigrew), Matthew Hahn (Dear Ed), Gail Richardson (Just the Two of Us
and Back Home With Us for Christmas) and Ann L. Miller (Christmas
Morning). Guyer
adopts a convincing rural accent for Merry Christmas, Miss Pettigrew, a
charming story about a church pageant that goes awry. The farcical plot
evokes a well-oiled Rube Goldberg machine, one accident leading to
another. Guyer,
expert at delivering wry stories with a down-home charm, will play his
rare stage role only for a week, then In
one of his best roles, Hahn finds the joy and anguish in childhood and
fatherhood. His double-edged story powerfully communicates the tragedy
of love unexpressed and the triumph of love recalled. Richardson
scores in two brief roles, confirming her ability to generate humor and
personality via textured understatement. In
Bill Allan's Back Home (a monologue in which she'll alternate with
Rebecca Gentile), Richardson lovingly evokes the "frosted fruits,''
"promiscuous lights'' and other "Christmas frippery'' of a
bustling department store in December. In
Two, she talks so convincingly to her husband about Christmas memories
and desires that one almost imagines his presence onstage. Miller
brings a subtle splendor and thoughtful spirituality to Morning, a
philosophical excerpt from Richard Paul Evans' The First Gift of
Christmas. Hollywood,
flamboyantly delivered by Cardinal, is the funniest monologue. He plays
a fey and tipsy reindeer (Prancer), transplanted to the cynical world of
show business. Some
poems don't transfer well to the stage. Despite Carrie Lynn McDonald's
strenuous efforts, Christ Climbed Down doesn't really work, perhaps
partly because Lawrence Ferlinghetti's 1950s attack on holiday
commercialism now seems outdated and false. The
troupe has developed a topnotch crew of mostly female singers, from
McDonald (plangent in Please Come Home for Christmas and 2,000 Miles) to
Pam Callahan (Father Christmas) and Cardinal (Have Yourself a Merry
Little Christmas). But
2Co's new standout singer is clearly Kori Billiat, such a jazzy and
sultry belter that she earned spontaneous applause for Merry Christmas,
Baby. Billiat, also stellar in Silver Lining with Callahan, may be the
company's happiest holiday gift to its growing audiences. 2Co's deft variety show deserves to be recommended for the broadest possible audience, but it can't without a few minor changes. If only the rare (and mostly gratuitous) profanity is cut, then this Christmas could fulfill its delightful promise. |
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