Theatre

The Tales of Hoffman is an opera based around the love life of the well known poet Hoffmann.  It starts off in a tavern during the intermission of an opera that Hoffmann is attending himself.  In this tavern, Hoffmann (Aaron Mor) tells the stories of his first three loves to his fellow drinkers.  Throughout the stories his friend Nicklausse (Marina Tricarico) accompanies him, attempting to keep him out of trouble.  He first falls in love with a wind up doll named Olympia (Jane Coons).  By putting on a pair of magical classes, he is tricked into believing she is a live human and when she sings her mechanical song, he is overjoyed.  His second love is Antonia (Ariel Heller-Sabet), a repressed singer due her father’s unwillingness to hear her voice.  She isn’t allowed to sing because her father believes this is what truly killed her mother.  Upon singing, a curse is put upon her by Dr. Miracle (AJ Malakoff) and she dies.  Hoffmann’s final love is with a temptress Giulietta (Karen Notovitz) who through seducing him to sing with her steals Hoffmann’s reflection in a magical mirror.  Overall, the opera wasn’t the best I’ve seen.  Some of the stories, such as the Giulietta’s, were a bit confusing.  The music wasn’t something you’d remember after the curtains fell.  The voices and talent were amazing, nonetheless.

The Tales of Hoffmann
Great Neck South High School
March 25, 2011

Marina B. Nebro

The original debut of Dracula was in 1977 staring the dreamy Frank Langella.  It was a wonderful play adaption of the book written by Bram Stoker.  Due to the vampire fad of the 21^st century caused by books like Twilight and Vampire Diaries, Dracula was brought back to the stage, hoping for lively audiences awaiting a sexy Count Dracula.

Girls wooing over Edward Cullen or Stefan Salvatore would be disappointed with this performance.  Count Dracula, played by Michel Altieri, was not dreamy or sexy.  His strong Italian accent (this was his American debut) was distracting, along with his bad wig.  The chemistry between the Count and Lucy (Emily Bridges) was lacking, not quite climaxing at a final scene where he finally bites her.  Comparing it to the previous showing in 1977, there was no erotic scene on a bed, but rather a hokey waltz that looked a bit sloppy ending with Dracula ripping his shirt off to expose his chest. Continue reading →

One of many Cirque du Soleil performances, Wintuk is probably not the best.  Being my first, I didn’t have many expectations.  The beginning dragged a bit, but picked up soon afterwards.  The music wasn’t memorable either.  It seemed to cater to children more than adult audience.  Among my favorite acts were the tight rope walker and the hula-hoop girl.  It was nerve racking watching the tight rope walker; the string he was walking on moved so much and he didn’t screw up once!  Watching the hula-hoop girl was really cool too because as she added more hoops, she turned into a gyrating cylinder. The juggler dropped some balls and didn’t impress me too much.  I probably didn’t like it as much as other theatre outings, because I’m not a big circus person.  Overall, it was an okay experience and I loved how in the end we were showered with paper snowflakes.

Wintuk
Madison Square Garden
November 21, 2010

Marina B. Nebro

The story of the Phantom of the Opera is one that is well known.  The musical or operetta was written by the well known Andrew Lloyd Webber and is even currently on Broadway.  However this review is of the production at Great Neck South High School,  one of the first schools to receive the rights to use the script in a high school performance.  This show is known for its intense music: high soprano and powerful singing in general.

Karen Notovitz, a sophomore, played the role of Christine Daae.  This part requires a strong soprano voice, as is heard in the song “The Phantom of the Opera”, a duet between Christine and the Phantom.  She replaces Carlotta Giudicelli (Jane Coons) as the head soprano of the opera house.  Jane was amazing as Carlotta.  The role required comedic acting and Jane (my childhood friend since the age of 10 months!) was perfect for the job.  Her use of a strong Italian accent and strong Italian personality was spot on.  The phantom was played by Aaron Mor, who I have written about before in the last GNSHS performance of Gianni Schicchi.  Though his voice was amplified for effect, his voice was magnificent for his part.  His speaking voice was deep and mysterious, a perfect fit for his character.  Michael Levinson played Raoul, the love interest of Christine Daae.  He too had a lovely voice and pulled off his character amazingly. Continue reading →

In the Heights is a musical about the people living in the Washington Heights area of New York City.  The play’s advertising says that Jordin Sparks of American Idol would be playing the part of Nina, but she wasn’t there the day we went.  Most of the cast during this performance was understudies.  I believe that the absence of Jordin made the production stronger because there was no distraction from the music, story, and set on a “celebrity”. Continue reading →

The Pitmen Painters is based on a book by William Feaver about a group of miners in the northern part of England who happen to become renowned artists.  The book is based on true events, making the story line even more moving.  These miners from Ashington are part of a little association that brings them education after a hard day underground.  They hired a man named Robert Lyon to teach them about art, and later, through many classes and exercises, became well known for their artistic capabilities. Continue reading →

Rock of Ages is a cliché musical based on the music of the ‘80s.  It is about a boy named Drew (Joey Taranto) and a girl named Sherrie (Emily Padgett).  Funny enough, Drew comes from Detroit, Michigan while Sherrie comes from a small town somewhere in the country (…sound familiar?).  Drew works at a bar in the city with the owner Dennis (Adam Dannheisser) and Lonny (Jay Klaitz).  Lonny is the narrator of the story.  He tells predictable jokes that are easy to laugh at.  Continue reading →

American Idiot is a musical/rock-opera based on Green Day’s hit album “American Idiot”.  It follows three friends in their early 20’s as they want to break free of conformity and leave their too comfortable home town.  All they do, day in and day out, is sit on the sofa, drink beer, and talk shit about everyone else.  Right when Johnny (John Gallagher), Will (Michael Esper), and Tunny (Stark Sands) plan on leaving, Will finds out that his girlfriend is pregnant.  He is forced to stay home with her while his two friends go on into the big city.  What seems to be an exciting adventure turns out for the worst.  Tunny gets tired of doing nothing in the city and decides to join the army, leaving Johnny all by himself.  Originally believing he’d become a famous musician, Johnny finds life difficult away from his hometown.  He meets a girl (Christina Sajous) that he likes and they start a relationship.  Everything goes downhill for him once he’s overcome by a heroin addiction.  His relationship is broken up, he’s left with no money, and we can see the evil addicted side of him, St. Jimmy (Tony Vincent), come out to play. Continue reading →

After an exhausting day as a tourist in England, it was enjoyable and relaxing to go see a musical.  The theatre was located a street away from the Park Plaza Victoria Hotel, making it very convenient.  Getting tickets last minute for London theatre is very difficult, so it’d be recommended to get them ahead of time.  We got “box tickets” though we were in a makeshift box.  Leaning over the railing during the first half was a bit difficult but didn’t take away from the experience. Continue reading →

The 39 Steps is an Alfred Hitchcock comedy that I saw in celebration of the birthday of my mom (50 years) and my grandpa.  Going into it, I wasn’t sure what the play was going to be about.  All I was told was that it was a “who dunnit” type of thing.  Basically, the play is about an English bachelor, Richard Hannay (John Behlmann), who runs into a lot of trouble.  A girl named Annabella Schmidt (Kate MacCluggage, who also plays multiple roles) gets stabbed in his apartment and he’s on the run to find some mysterious man in Scotland.  Throughout the entire play, the authorities are on the lookout for this man who they believe is Annabella’s murderer. Continue reading →