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Gypsy - Review of MPA Production
By Lisa Millegan, Modesto Bee Arts Writer
The musical Gypsy tells the real-life story of burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee, but the real star of the show is her mother, Rose.
Pushy, demanding and determined to succeed at any cost, Rose stops at nothing to ensure that her children achieve show business success.
Its a hugely demanding role requiring the performer to show every emotion from elation to anger, as well as sing half the songs.
Grace Lieberman, who plays the part in Modesto Performing Arts season-opening production, can handle the acting challenges, but unfortunately doesnt have the vocal chops. Her voice sounded so hoarse and strained at Sunday afternoons opening performance that you sometimes worried she was going to lose it altogether.
At 74, shes really too old for the part in the early scenes, Roses daughters are supposed to be in elementary school but the audience loved her for her chutzpah and gave her a warm standing ovation. She was able to make Rose sympathetic by revealing the tender heart under her tough exterior.
The musical, which debuted in 1959, is a masterpiece, offering more depth than most Broadway fare. Arthur Laurents book contains no heroes or villains, just fallible people trying to make the best decisions they can.
Jule Stynes score is exuberant, and Stephen Sondheims lyrics are witty and creative.
The show opens in the early 1920s with, Gypsy born Louise and her sister June later the movie actress June Havoc auditioning for a vaudeville production.
Rose eventually gets them their own act and the family travels around the country from theater to theater with their mothers friendly boyfriend, Herbie, acting as their agent. By the 1930s, both June and Gypsy have ventured out on their own with Gypsy making a name for herself as a striptease artist.
MPAs staging, directed and designed by Paul Tischer, is a big production with a cast of about 35, two animals (a dog and a lamb), a professional quality 17-piece orchestra (led by Darrel Lingenfelter), and several well-crafted sets ranging from dingy dressing rooms, hotels and train stations to an inviting Chinese restaurant.
Diverse costumes, provided by Darlene Garcia, include a two-person cow suit and sleek evening gowns with feathery boas.
Chelsea Costa is an ideal Gypsy, credibly transforming from an ignored ugly duckling to a gorgeous celebrity. With her sweet voice and charm, you wish she were onstage more. Ray Rustigians Herbie is relentlessly devoted to Rose and her daughters, making you feel for him when Rose refuses to become his wife.
In the number You Gotta Get A Gimmick, Maureen Whitaker, Teresa Berry and Debra Araujo humorously show how butterfly wings, a trumpet and electric lights can liven up a strip act.
Young Kaylie Dowd performs splits and cartwheels and sings beautifully as Baby June. Matthew Powell taps his way into our hearts in All I Need is The Girl as Tulsa, although hes about two decades too old to play the role.
Debbie Holtzclaw was responsible for the engaging choreography.
There were no discernible sound problems in the opening performance, a welcome change from last summer.
MPA's Staging of Scarlet Pimpernel
by Lisa Millegan, Modesto Bee
Its the French Revolution and thousands of innocents are facing execution.
A British aristocrat and his friends come to the rescue, concealing their activities by pretending to be fashion-obsessed dandies. Their adventures drive The Scarlet Pimpernel, a lavish musical that opened Sunday afternoon at the Modesto High School auditorium.
Modesto Performing Arts director Paul Tischer has given us a visually exquisite staging complete with lace-trimmed, glittery costumes, a guillotine and stunning sets of shady gardens, a mansion and a palace.
The three leads Jeremy Stolle, Roem Baur and Nicole Fernandes-Cole all are powerhouse vocalists and fine actors, with good looks to boot.
The show itself, written by Nan Knighton (book and lyrics) and Frank Wildhorn (music) and based on Baroness Orczys 1905 novel, is a silly piece of fluff with emotional ballads sugary enough to promote tooth decay. Its difficult to follow the convoluted story, especially in the beginning, so be sure to read the synopsis included in the program.
Like Superman and Zorro, Sir Percy Blakeney (Stolle) is a hero with a dual identity. When he is performing feats of bravery in France, he is known only by his calling card featuring the Scarlet Pimpernel, the flower on his family crest.
Back home in England, he and his cohorts flounce around and prattle on about the latest styles in order to throw villainous French police official Chauvelin (Baur) off their tracks.
Meanwhile, Sir Percy hasnt revealed his activities to his French actress wife, Marguerite (Fernandes-Cole) because he fears that she is collaborating with Chauvelin, who also happens to be her former lover.
Stolle, a Modesto High graduate now based in New York and the only Actors Equity Association member in the cast, shines in all his many solos and generates lots of laughs when he is playing the fop. But it was sometimes difficult to understand him because of his affected British accent. It might help if his mike was turned up louder.
Baur, who played a Civil War corporal in MPAs Shenandoah last summer, has the best voice of the three leads a high compliment in this bunch and gives you goose pimples in his dark anthem, Falcon in the Dive. He has a commanding, virile presence, whether hes barking out orders or lusting after Marguerite.
Fernandes-Cole, a Modesto High graduate now based in Los Angeles, has performed with the Los Angeles Opera and it shows. She handles the highest notes with little strain. However, she occasionally is drowned out by the orchestra.
The 17-piece ensemble, led by musical director Matthew Cover, sounds polished and well rehearsed. The large supporting cast, which numbers around 45, offers competent support. Nick Cole, Fernandes-Coles husband, choreographed the exciting sword fights.
Tischer designed the fantastic sets and dynamic lighting, which include nice details like the sun shining through an upper window of a dark dungeon. Modesto Performing Arts rented the costumes for $10,000 from a Southern California company.
Its too bad the story is so weak. As one example of a problem, if Blakeney wants to go incognito, why is he using his family crest as his symbol? When you add it all up, this is a first-rate production of a second-rate show.
Note to parents: the show has some mild gore (heads roll) and is not recommended for young children.
Paul F. Tischer Theatre Named
Modesto Bee, August 08, 2007
Modesto High Schools auditorium will be renamed the Paul F. Tischer Theatre, the Modesto City Schools Board has decided in a unanimous vote.
Tischer has taught at the school 43 years and is the founding director of Modesto Performing Arts, which performs most of its shows in the Modesto High auditorium. Formerly called Modesto Youth Theater, the 40-year-old company recently staged The Music Man. Tischer will be honored with a plaque before the Sept. 22 evening performance of Modesto Performing Arts next show Peter Pan.
Modesto Performing Arts recently honored Tischer with a 40th-anniversary celebration at the State Theatre, where past performers will sang numbers from the musicals in which they starred. Some of those former Modesto stars have gone onto professional acting careers.
"That has been the most rewarding thing for me," Tischer told The Bee in May. "Knowing that people who are professional actors got their start with us."
Every summer, MPA produces two musicals, and Tischer strives to give the productions a level of quality that audiences would expect to see in a big city, or even on Broadway. MPA typically hires professional actors to play some lead roles.
In 2003, MPA received a number of awards from the Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance for its production of "42nd Street," including best community-theater musical and best choreography.
Tischer started Modesto Youth Theater to give local high school students and graduates something to do over the summer. As time passed, he began to include older actors to be age-appropriate for their parts and changed the name to Modesto Performing Arts.