Three Pulse’s in one month can cause one’s heart rate to go up. You are reading the theater article of one exhausted dude, my dedicated readers.
Wednesday night, Oct. 22, was opening night for “Seussical!” at MTSU’s Tucker Theatre and the opening of the new 2008 – 2009 season for the Theatre & Dance Department of my old Alma mater.
A sold-out crowd of 936 watched a sterling performance of about 26 actors and a massive amount of theatrical puppets opening night, and it again sold out the following night (this is on a Wednesday and Thursday, folks!) telling the tale of Horton the Elephant and the magical town of Whoville living inside the clover that Horton is so very protective of.
The always wonderful Alli Scott played JoJo, the mini-me in constant contact with Horton, played by newcomer David Lannom. Having always worked backstage until now, Mr. Lannom was terrific as the discombobulated pachyderm, his facial expressions were wondrous, his singing voice perfect, and he never left character no matter what else was happening onstage.
One stroke of genius for director Jette Halladay and co-director Leah Fincher was the insertion of two Cats in the Hat. As one would leave stage left, the other would come on stage right?what beautiful magic for the children of the audience who were awed by the top-hatted felines. The superb acting of Matthew Frazier Smith and Bradley Pennington kept the show moving at a miracle pace with their kitty tails moving like a metronome to the rhythm of the music. I beamed at the funny Tonya Pewitt as Gertrude McFuzz and was impressed with Elizabeth Williams as Mayzie LaBird; as long as I have known Miss Williams, it was the first time I had seen her on stage, and she needs to be entertaining the audience on a more regular basis. The set was colorful, if not a little too Disneyesque, and the play itself was indeed a little too much Disney and not enough Dr. Seuss.
I have always wondered why stage theater musicals make it a habit of playing the music so loud it drowns out the actors attempting to talk or sing. This happens constantly, and it was a problem at this production.
I actually enjoyed the production E. Roy Lee and Jesse Cannady directed at Murfreesboro Center for the Arts last spring better than this show, as the actors in Mr. Lee’s show were younger (thus more in tune with the direction), more relaxed, looser and appeared to be having more fun onstage. One could hear the actors at the Center actually speak and sing. The stage there was more Dr. Seuss inclined and fit well with the cast. But my cat-hat is off to the actors at MTSU, who understand that a person’s a person no matter how small.
A Lot of Woman to Love
Speaking of Murfreesboro actor/director E.Roy Lee: here is a man who is all over the theater map, working with children’s theater at Linebaugh Library, to Patterson Park’s “Honk, Jr.” last month, to directing “Fat Pig” at Murfreesboro Little Theatre this month. Dealing with the ever-present bias, rejection and intimidation we have in life, in “Fat Pig,” the hunky young Tom, played by the awesome Will Snyder, falls out of love with the voluptuous Jeannie, played by Brooklyn Hinson, and falls for the . . . well, librarian who loves to eat and needs two chairs to sit on while doing so.
The always wonderful Dana Richardson, who is back in the ’Boro after some time away, was back onstage to play Helen, and in what was her best performance I have witnessed, this was award status time for her. She was, in two words, great! Bryan M. Booth rounded out the cast as Carter, and Mr. Lee could have picked no better actor to play the ass that Carter was. Mr. Booth can play both ends of the spectrum without a hitch, and this time was no different. The set was very well done, the lighting perfect and I give the production crew accolades. My hat is off again to Lee and co-director Gary Parker for a fine, thought-provoking show.
A Magical Night Out
This is a little out of my theatrical league, but is theatrics just the same: on Oct. 25 I went to the Murfreesboro Center for the Arts to watch more magic . . . and this time it was real magic.
Watching eight of Rutherford County’s best magicians perform at a sold-out house at the Center was a different illusion for me. The International Brotherhood of Magicians Ring 252, The Middle Tennessee Magic Club, was simply awesome with its tricks of the trade, and Murfreesboro’s own Eldridge Alexander, who will be just 19 in December and a recent graduate of Riverdale, MC’d the show with great style and professionalism. This young master has been doing magic for eight years and hopes to go professional with this art. He currently is a freshman at MTSU, majoring in Mass Communication. He will be back at Riverdale with a magic show on Thursday, Nov. 6. By far the youngest on the stage last Saturday night, he worked well with the older masters of magic. I will be doing a story on this group down the road.
Halloween Tales from SPIRIT
The Society of Paranormal Investigations & Research In Tennessee (S.P.I.R.I.T.) will be telling ghost stories tonight, Oct. 30, at the haunted log cabin known as the Murfreesboro Little Theatre, beginning at 7 p.m.; donations will be excepted and forwarded to MLT. After two investigations of the Center for the Arts by S.P.I.R.I.T. and one by the Tennessee Paranormal Society (TPS), TPS will tell of its findings of the haunted Center on Halloween at 7:30 p.m.
