THEATER REVIEW Excerpts | CINDERELLA

Columbus Children’s Theatre’s spring musical is the Rogers and Hammerstein version of CINDERELLA … the production is a charming one with engaging performances, an array of set changes and even some special effects… Director William Goldsmith displays his usual strengths, including physical humor in the crowd scenes. Music director Jeff Hamm leads the six-person orchestra. This is a case of the whole being stronger than the individual parts. There are few stand-out performances here. But it all adds up to a delightfully enjoyable evening.” 
 - Dennis Thompson, SNP Theatre Critic, April 26, 2006

“Antsy children squirming in their seats in anticipation to see CINDERELLA were soon calmed down as a blue velvet curtain rose in a quaint theater. Through May 7, The Columbus Children's Theatre is performing Rodgers and Hammerstein's CINDERELLA at the Columbus Performing Arts Center … The show, which includes a cast of children and adults, had well-crafted sets and beautiful costumes. If a little sibling or cousin, ranging from ages 2 to 9, is in town, this play would be a great activity. It provides innocent fun with wonderful scenery. Everything from the costumes to the stage is colorful. The scenery gives off a fairy tale illusion, helping make the children feel as if they are part of the fairy tale experience. Four-year-old audience member Elizabeth Graff turned to her mother at the conclusion and summed up the show perfectly. ‘I loved it,’ she said.”
  - Dana Fine, OSU Lantern April 25, 2006
 

THEATER REVIEW | HOLES
Solid performances cover gaps in gritty kids' story
Friday, March 17, 2006
Margaret Quamme
FOR THE DISPATCH

        If there's such a thing as an instant classic among children's books, Louis Sachar's Holes would be it. Part adventure story, part fable and part intricate puzzle, it assumes that its readers are intelligent and capable of handling the dangers and violence to which its characters are subjected.

Jake Borelli (left) as "Stanley" and with Chris Nathan, Pat Morris, Warren Johnson and other cast members of "Holes"

        Sachar, who wrote the screenplay for the movie adaptation of the novel, also wrote a play, now competently and thoroughly realized by Columbus Children's Theatre. At a bare 90 minutes, the play doesn't have the room for exposition that a novel offers. It sometimes suffers from a surfeit of plot and leaves a number of loose ends dangling. It switches back and forth through the adventures of four generations of an ill-fated family, and some of its many scenes are so short that the rhythm of the play feels choppy.
       But readers of the book, who will probably be the play's primary audience, will appreciate the faithfulness of the rendering of the novel's plot. The focus of the play is on the struggles of Stanley Yelnats (Jake Borelli) as he attempts to survive his experiences digging holes in the desert at ironically named Camp Green Lake.
       Borelli's Stanley is graced with a winning mixture of enthusiasm and vulnerability. Director Mark Mann gets solid performances from all five of the young men playing Stanley's cabinmates, who jostle and torment each other with believable adolescent bravado. Particular standouts are Chris Nathan, as the taciturn Zero, who gradually emerges from the shadows, and Pat Morris, as Armpit, the natural leader of the group.
       At last night's opening performance, Rachel Gwynn brought real pathos to the role of Kissin' Kate Barlow, while Warren Johnson shone as Sam, the Onion Picker.
       Edith Dinger's imaginative set features a raised platform in which hinged holes can be opened and closed, allowing cast members to pop in and out as the action demands. Pam Bloom's costumes nicely walk the line between realism and comic exaggeration, and Ryan Osborn's stark lighting emphasizes the feeling of a hot desert noon. The less-than-imposing yellow-spotted lizards, however, were a disappointment.
       Parents unfamiliar with the story should know that it includes several violent deaths, as well as some sadistic behavior. This production also features some realistic gunshots. Young children might be confused and frightened by what they see, but older ones will take it all in stride. This rich stew of a story provides plenty of food for thought.

THEATER REVIEW Excerpts | LITTLE WOMEN
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Margaret Quamme
FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

“The Columbus Children's Theatre version of Little Women is a Victorian valentine for lovers of the 19th-century novel…",
"…it is faithful to the novel in spirit, plot and language. The casting…",
"…should please devotees of the Louisa May Alcott novel…",
"Beth Triffon was comically feisty and passionate as Jo, the budding writer in the family; and Jessica Zambrotta was poignant as shy, sickly Beth. Anna Higgins, 12, nailed youngest sister Amy's egocentric self-assurance, while Britni Karst embodied a more mature version of the same character…",
"…Carol Grote added a welcome dash of acid to the general sweetness as acerbic Aunt March“
         --Margaret Quamme, Columbus Dispatch, Feb. 11, 2006

THEATER REVIEW | The Forgiving Harvest
Troupe turns farm family's struggles into moving drama
Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2005
By Dennis Thompson
Suburban New Drama Critic

       Columbus Children's Theatre offers Y. York's The Forgiving Harvest, a gentle and subtly moving piece.
       The quick summary is it's about a young girl's life on a farm. The textured summary is: It's a short play that gives you an in-depth sense of all seven of it's characters, each dealing with a range of interlocking issues.
       Mika is a 9-year old girl attached to her pet steer, Sticky, was born the night her mother died. She feels her mother's spirit lives on in the cow, which makes the attachment stronger.

Jake Borelli (left) as "Teddy" and Olivia Sergent (right) as "Mika". Center is "Sticky" puppet handled by Dani Mann.

       Her 15 yr. old brother, Teddy, is anxious to help with the family finances following his mother's death, but his strength is math, and his father feels he's not reach to pitch in.
       Addison, the widower father, is caring but in a detached, stoic way. He takes the family burdens on himself and is only vaguely aware that his children know about the problems, let alone are anxious and ready to help.
       And there are burdens in this play in the form of growing debts and overwork.
       Addison's brother, Ted, who mysteriously left the family years ago, returns to try to help. A neighbor, Mr. Nelson, want to help by buying some of the land, but the stubborn Addison refuses to see this as an option.
       Nelson's obnoxious young son, Great, turns out to be computer savvy and eventually teams with Mika to try to find a solution.
       This is a simple and, in some ways, predictable story. Yet it's also an engrossing and heartwarming story, with characters we grow to care deeply about in a short time.
       Olivia Sergent is natural, vital and eager as Mika. She does a wonderful job of coming across as a simple girl but also displaying the complexity of her feeling and emotions.
       Jake Borelli gives another fine performance as Teddy, displaying sincerity and intelligence. He and Sergent have great brother-sister chemistry.
       Zachary Plank is on-the-mark annoying as Great. He also subtly shows the insecurities behinds the surface with nuance worth of an actor four times his age.
       As Mr. Nelson, Jason Newsome exhibits the naive eagerness of a city boy on the farm, but the character's basic goodness is also obvious. Sean Velie is strong as the grounded, kindly Uncle Ted.

Roddey Nagy (foreground) as "Addison", Jake Borelli (back left) as "Teddy" and Olivia Sergent (back right) as "Mika"

              Roddey Nagy's Addison is gruff, stubborn and practical, embodying a generation of hard-working, stoic fathers. He also reveals a sense of humor, which is all the more winning given his sternness.
       Beth Kattelman has designed a wondrous cow puppet of Sticky with warm and knowing eyes. Danielle Mann inhabits this large puppet, and her performance is so persuasive that she must have spent hours on a farm in preparation.
       Telling an actress she makes a great cow is normally not praise. But it is here, as Mann goes through the gentle swaying, head bobbing, cud chewing and occasional stomp that is so familiar to anyone who has spent more time with cows than just driving past them.
       Carla Chaffin has designed a detailed wooden set that doubles as a barn and farmhouse.
       Director William Goldsmith has chose a play out of them mainstream of children's work, but one close to his heart, as he spent his own childhood on a farm.
       Guided by this familiarity and passion, he has molded an engrossing and entertaining production of a thoughtful and tender play.             Copyright © 2005, Suburban News