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larryland · 7 years ago

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Ah, where are the Pantos of yesteryear? In this, their 18th season, there are only two active original members of the PantoLoons and while the young performers who have come on board in recent years are fabulous, they have lost track of exactly what they are about.

A British Panto is a very specific form of theatre, and the PantoLoons were founded by a Brit – Judy Staber – who until very recently got playwright’s billing on the shows, even though they were, and still remain, a collaborative effort amongst the Loons. Staber’s oversight ensured that the joie de vivre and lunacy that is a British Panto remained intact in this Americanized version.

That is not to say that this year’s Panto isn’t great good fun, but it hews too close to the plot of the Disney film and doesn’t take some very obvious liberties that would have moved it from spoof to true Panto. In these days of “Fake News” and burgeoning accusations of sexual assault by powerful men there is much political satire to be mined from the story of a woman who loses her voice*.

But for those who love a drag version of a Disney princess, this is the show for you. Sam Reilly is a divine leading lady. He is a truly beautiful Ariel and Joanne Maurer’s costumes greatly aid the illusion of both femininity and fishiness. (All the merfolk except King Triton carry their tales like dress trains, attached to their wrists.) Reilly remembers when he is underwater and when he is on dry land, and swims and swirls across the stage. And he is a powerful singer!

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Mark “Monk” Schane-Lydon has inherited the mantel of Panto Dame from Tom Detwiler and Paul Murphy, and channels his inner Harvey Fierstein to create a deeply villainous Ursula. Again, Maurer has done a bang-up job on the cephalopodian costume. Schane-Lydon has arms to spare! I wish the Loons could have come up with a second evil solo for him later in the show, rather than doing a reprise.

Mark Wilson gets many Trumpian lines as Ariel’s father, King Triton, although no attempt is made to make him look or sound like the sitting President. He and Kathy Lee-Visscher get to play their own gender, while all around them cross dress or play crustaceans. Lee-Visscher plays a new character, Ariel’s Aunt Ethel, sister to her late mother and sister-in-law to Triton. While she enters as Ethel Mermaid she concludes the show as Ethel Merman!

Nothing makes me happier than seeing Sally McCarthy in a trouser role on the Panto stage. As Prince Eric’s valet, Grimsby, she assists new Loon Meaghan Rogers in her first trouser role as Ariel’s beloved. Rogers takes her leading man role very seriously and is quite charming as the Principal Boy. She has a sweet singing voice, but no one belts out a number like McCarthy!

Another newcomer, Emily Spateholts, is a nervous Sebastian. (Isn’t Sebastian a lobster in the Disney film? Spateholts keeps referring to herself as a crab. Either way, I’m allergic.) Maurer has given her appropriately Rastafarian dreadlocks but she fails to maintain a true Caribbean accent. Maurer gamely makes her annual Panto appearance – as Nana, the sweet little granny who is reading us this bedtime story, and briefly as Flounder, in another one of her own fabulous costumes.

Reilly has once again also designed the excellent set, which has his trade mark nooks, crannies, and surprises. Isabel Filkins supports with a fine lighting design.

Catherine Schane-Lydon has taken over as musical director from Paul Leyden. She has been an honorary Loon all the years that her husband has been dragging her to the shows (pun intended) and she has the proper Panto spirit. An especially fun musical moment came from an unexpected chorus of bivalves in a take-off of Elton John’s “Crocodile Rock.” (But if they were annoying him so much, why didn’t King Triton tell them to clam up?)

Lee Visscher and the Loons have managed to squeeze every old wheezy fish pun ever created into their script (turn off your shellphones, just for the halibut!) and the show ends in a proper chase around the theatre. It wouldn’t be the holidays without the Panto, and hopefully next year will see the return of a little more satire. Ah well, they managed to wedge in a joke about the Hudson River!

The PantoLoons present The Little Mermaid: Beyond the Sea at the Ghent Playhouse from November 24-December 10, 2017. Script and lyrics by Cathy Lee-Visscher and the PantoLoons, directed by Cathy Lee-Visscher, musical direction by Catherine Schane-Lydon, set design by Sam Reilly, costume design by Joanne Maurer, lighting design by Isabel Filkins.

CAST: Al Fresco (Emily Spateholts) as Sebastian; Anita Mandalay (Cathy Lee-Visscher) as Aunt Ethel; Helena Corset (Sally McCarthy) as Grimsby; Howie Izinbed (Meaghan Rogers) as a squid and Prince Eric; Jack A. Ninny (Mark Wilson) as King triton; Kar DeBord (Sam Reilly) as Ariel; Ophelia Tuchus (Mark “Monk” Schane-Lydon) as Ursula; and Sybil McFrey (Joanne Maurer) as Nana and Flounder.

The Ghent Playhouse is located at 6 Town Hall Place in Ghent, NY. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8 pm and Sunday matinees are at 2 pm. Tickets are $22 each, $17 for Members of the Playhouse and $10 for Students with ID. Tickets may be reserved by calling 1-800-838-3006 or going to the website at www.ghentplayhouse.org

*(Dreary Detail: The Little Mermaid has its roots in the ancient Greek legend of Philomela, whose brother-in-law rapes her and then cuts out her tongue to prevent her from revealing his crime.)

REVIEW: The Panto – “The Little Mermaid: Beyond the Sea” Ah, where are the Pantos of yesteryear? In this, their 18th season, there are only two active original members of the PantoLoons and while the young performers who have come on board in recent years are fabulous, they have lost track of exactly what they are about.

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larryland · 8 years ago

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by Barbara Waldinger

According to playwright Samuel D. Hunter, his award-winning play, The Whale, was conceived while he was teaching a course in expository writing to freshmen at Rutgers University. What he learned was that in order to teach students how to write a good essay, he had to teach them not only to think independently but to have empathy. Throughout the play, Charlie, his main character, recites a seemingly short, simple essay about Moby Dick that demonstrates these qualities.

Like Hunter, Charlie teaches writing, hoping to find moments of “naked sincerity” in his students’ work. A morbidly obese man bent on eating himself to death, Charlie seeks a connection with his teenage daughter, whom he hasn’t seen since she was a young child. Having left his family to live with his partner Alan, a Mormon and former student who has since passed away, Charlie begs and bribes his daughter to spend time with him. Rounding out the cast is Liz, Alan’s sister, a nurse who cares for Charlie, Elder Thomas, a young Mormon who claims to have been sent on a mission to northern Idaho, where the play takes place, and Mary, Charlie’s former wife. The visits of each of these characters to Charlie’s home comprise the structure of the play. What do they each want of Charlie? What does he want from them? Why does he choose to end his life? How do they try to stop him? We explore these questions and many more in a play that, despite its premise, offers hope and empathy.

The cast of “The Whale.” Nancy Schaffer (Mary), Sam Therrien (Ellie), Dane Shiner (Elder Thomas), Mark “Monk” Schane-Lydon (Charlie), Meaghan Rogers (Liz) and director Jackie DiGiorgis. Photo: John Kickery/Kickery Kreative Photography.

Mark “Monk” Schane-Lydon gives a beautifully layered performance as Charlie. Kudos to George W. Veale VI who constructed the fat suit worn by this character, which is so realistic that it is painful to watch Charlie try to sit, stand, or move in it. Equally difficult to witness are Charlie’s attempts to overcome chest pains, and eventually to breathe on his own. I found myself taking the deep breaths that Charlie was unable to do during the course of the play.

Mark “Monk” Schane-Lydon as Charlie. Photo John Kickery/Kickery Creative Photography.

Despite the circumstances of Charlie’s situation, he still manages to teach—his online students cannot see him—and struggles to find a way to help them express what they truly feel. A wonderful listener, Charlie, like a therapist, seems to motivate his visitors to confide in him. As delightful as it was to see his beautiful smile in conversation with them, it was heartbreaking to hear him continually apologize, seemingly for his very existence.

Sam Therrien is the costume designer and plays Charlie’s daughter, Ellie. I could not wait to see the outrageous costumes she chose for herself in each of her scenes. With her Goth look, torn stockings, half-shaven head and heavy makeup, she is the epitome of a rebellious teenager, who repeatedly gets into trouble and fails all her subjects. Terribly cruel and contemptuous of her father, she not only demands to get paid for her time, but also that Charlie write her essays for class. Her valley-girl monotone and constant cell phone use belie the anger and emotional turmoil raging inside of her. I was impressed by the development of her character throughout the play, especially in her scene with Dane Shiner as Elder Thomas. It was here that the two young people established a true connection.

Elder Thomas is not all that he seems. Complex and troubled, the characters shed their outer layer in the course of the play, as they reach out to connect on a deeper level. We too find ourselves rejecting our first impressions as we develop empathy for these human beings and their suffering. Although Shiner presents a wonderfully comic persona in his early scenes (he certainly makes the most of that bicycle helmet), it was when he revealed his true self to Ellie and later to Charlie that I fully appreciated his performance.

Meaghan Rogers as Liz and Mark “Monk” Schane-Lydon. Photo John Kickery/Kickery Kreative Photography.

Dane Shiner as Elder Thomas and Sam Therrien as Ellie. John Kickery/Kickery Kreative Photography.

Liz, a nurse who cannot save her patient because he refuses to allow her to take him to a hospital, is played convincingly by Meaghan Rogers. We witness how deeply she cares for him and feel her frustration in every scene. But her moving monologue about her brother Alan was the highlight of her performance for me.

Nancy Schaffer, a Town Players Co-Treasurer making her acting debut with the group, plays Charlie’s ex-wife, Mary, who, despite all that we hear about her anger and resentment towards him, finally shows her lasting feelings for him.

When I entered the theatre, I was happily surprised to see the platform stage and the bright lighting. It was the first time I had seen a proscenium at the Whitney Center. Also impressive was Ryan Cavanaugh’s extensive set as well as props by Thomas Suski and Gabby West, including a refrigerator, a stove, television, couch, chairs, thousands of books and trash as far as the eye could see. However, as the play progressed, I found that because Charlie used a walker, a wheelchair, a computer, an oxygen tank and various other medical supplies, the set became too crowded. During the disruptive blackouts after every scene, I was distracted by the movement of set pieces on or off the stage, which temporarily broke the illusion that we were indeed in Charlie’s place.

The director, Jackie DeGiorgis, opened the evening in comic mode. Dressed as a doctor complete with stethoscope, she ushered us into an imaginary hospital, mentioning the bedpan shortage by way of letting us know where the bathrooms were located, and indicating that there would be an intermission, by referring to the “visiting hours” during which we could buy candy in the gift shop. It was a wonderfully inventive beginning and signaled that the play would have its light moments. She elicited heartfelt performances from the actors and helped us to enter the world of this lovely and touching play.

The Town Players of Pittsfield present The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter at the Whitney Center for the Arts, 42 Wendell Avenue in Pittsfield, MA, March 17-26, 2o17. Director: Jackie DeGiorgis; Scenic Designer: Ryan Cavanaugh; Lighting Designer: Rob Dumais; Costume Designer: George Veale (fat suit) and Sam Therrien; Sound Designer: John Fletcher; Stage Manager: Gabby West. Cast: Mark “Monk” Schane-Lydon (Charlie), Dane Shiner (Elder Thomas), Meaghan Rogers (Liz), Sam Therrien (Ellie), and Nancy Schaffer (Mary). The show runs 2 hours 20 minutes with one intermission. The audience is advised that there are adult situations and language.

REVIEW: Town Players’ “The Whale” – Fishing for Human Connections by Barbara Waldinger According to playwright Samuel D. Hunter, his award-winning play, The Whale, was conceived while he was teaching a course in expository writing to freshmen at Rutgers University.

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