Local productions stole the
show from big troupes
By
JEFFREY BRUNER
REGISTER THEATER CRITIC
December 26, 2004
Des Moines theater companies were willing to take
chances this year even if the big national groups mainly played it safe.
Ironic, don't you think, for a place those East and West Coast types still
peg (falsely) as a flyover city too provincial to support anything other
than the latest Andrew Lloyd Webber or Disney production.
Drama Workshop pulled off - in the middle of summer no less - a splendid
version of the British musical "Blood Brothers" that showcased the great
voices of Lenny Houts and Richard L. Richards.
Provocative doesn't even begin to describe StageWest's production "The
Goat or, Who Is Sylvia?" Kim Grimaldi and Tom Geraty delivered powerhouse
performances in Edward Albee's shocking deconstruction of the modern
marriage. A second revival of "Hair" proved even more timely than
StageWest's 2000 production.
The Vaudeville Mews continued to ramp up its offerings with solid takes on
classics like David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross" and Sam Shepard's "True
West." Fort Dodge native Michael Cassady brought back his amazing one-man
show "Catalpa" and John Robinson took another caustic run at "The
Santaland Diaries."
In the one-woman department, Kathy Cogan blessed
us with the national premiere of "Vatican II: What the Hell Happened?" at
the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines. Let's pray she comes back in a
year so we can see how the show has evolved.
The big touring shows mostly met expectations but the final two - "The
Producers" and "Chicago" - were the ones that really dazzled. Jon Secada
was lukewarm in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and those
kids in "Rent" never quite lived up to the show's own mythology.
"Fame -The Musical" was a pleasant surprise,
popping with an expected vitality and creativity.
Another delightful surprise? The Des Moines Playhouse took a well-worn
classic like "Hello, Dolly!" and turned it into a real charmer that was
lively and fresh. Jim Benda, Emily Bida and Lenny Houts were wonderful.
Nothing at the Temple for Performing Arts has quite matched the incredible
run of "Triple Espresso" but the pleasant, charming revue "I Love You,
You're Perfect, Now Change" had a healthy stay. "Menopause the Musical"
has turned into a bona-fide smash and is set to run through at least the
end of January - how audiences accept cast changes will determine whether
the show about "the change" stretches into spring.
The saddest theater news this year happened
off-stage when the Ingersoll Dinner Theater succumbed to financial
pressures and closed after a 28-year run. Charles Carnes and his Purple
Cow Players served a niche in the theater community that could cause some
patrons to step away from the theater instead of sampling what everyone
else has to offer. |
