Tag Archives: Wheaton Drama

Review: Wheaton Drama’s “The 39 Steps”

Leave a reply

Wow… it has been a while since I have done one of these. Looking back on my history it would appear that the last one that I saw was Brightside Theater’s Moonlight and Magnolias, which was done back in early September of… 2013?!?!? Oh my gosh…

So what has kept me from reviewing all the other shows that I have undoubtedly seen since then? A multitude of reasons really:
1) I’m busy… but then again when am I not?
2) I haven’t seen anything on the community theater circuit that went “you have to write about this”… which I suppose isn’t fair since reviews are suppose to be honest opinions of a show.
3) This was beginning to feel like work than fun… but all things that were hobbies eventually become that, no?

Ah well…

Whatever the reason, I am here and I am writing now… and mainly because this show MUST BE SEEN. Don’t believe me? You don’t have to, go and see the show once, and you’ll find yourself wanting to see more because you are sure you…

Ok… wait… slow down here… let’s get through the formalities first and then beyond the break get to the nitty gritty… and there is a lot of nitty gritty here.

Acting: LOVE
Directing: LOVE
Set Design: LOVE
Overall: LOVE

Ok… ready? Here we go…

If you are not familiar with the original film of “The 39 Steps”…

“A man in London tries to help a counterespionage agent. But when the agent is killed and the man stands accused, he must go on the run to both save himself and also stop a spy ring which is trying to steal top secret information.”

So now imagine all the speaking role characters from that film being portrayed by four actors. And ONLY four. From Samuel French:

Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have The 39 Steps, a fast-paced whodunit for anyone who loves the magic of theatre! This 2-time Tony® and Drama Desk Award-winning treat is packed with nonstop laughs, over 150 zany characters (played by a ridiculously talented cast of 4), an on-stage plane crash, handcuffs, missing fingers and some good old-fashioned romance!

In The 39 Steps, a man with a boring life meets a woman with a thick accent who says she’s a spy. When he takes her home, she is murdered. Soon, a mysterious organization called “The 39 Steps” is hot on the man’s trail in a nationwide manhunt that climaxes in a death-defying finale!

Not much different… and yet for someone who has seen the original film… they are differing points in a multitude of things. But to go through that would be dull and boring… so let’s get to the nitty gritty.

Continue reading →

Reflection: Six Months Later…

Leave a reply

Six months…

Six months ago from today I had flown back into the U.S. from what was probably one of the more emotionally draining trips of my life only to see in my “little black [calendar] book” that I had a very busy schedule ahead of me.

So what happened in the six months?

Well at first I was going to list everything major that went on… but then decided that a fair number of what has been going on is a private matter and what I have been doing that was “theatre-related” is more than enough to give a glimpse of how busy my life has been. But then I also thought of all the reasoning about other days or nights of the week that I had free time and decided that a basic breakdown would be a good starting point:

For a quick glimmer of what I mean:
– Weekdays: Day Job (really is that a surprise?)
– Weeknights: Rehearsals, or working late at the Day Job
– Weekends: Family

Now in between all the major things above there are also a series of personal projects and I have been working on, but there is no need to go through those either. So what theatre-related stuff was I working on?

Well…

Continue reading →

Review: Wheaton Drama’s Full Circle

Leave a reply
Show: FULL CIRCLE
By: Erich Maria Remarque
Adapted By: Peter Stone 		Location: Wheaton Drama
Director: Sean Ogren
Assistant Director: Suzanne Ogren

Disclaimer: Before I begin I should warn you that there might be a bit of bias with this particular production from Wheaton Drama… and not in the sense that you may think. For me war dramas are rather difficult for me to look at (let alone be a part of) with any objectivity due to my own personal and familial connections with war. So bear that in mind as you continue onward with this particular post.

So why the disclaimer? Simple, because this was not an easy show to watch for me, nor was it an easy show to think about let alone review.

Other than the above disclaimer what other strikes was there in regards to this show? Well by virtue that I knew a fair number of the cast by either reputation, having worked with them before, or having seen them in other productions I already knew walking in what they could bring to the table.

Take all that together in consideration and my expectations for this production and for the players in it and they are much higher than the norm for a community theatre production.

So how did “Full Circle” from the cast and crew at Wheaton Drama fare?
Acting: Love
Set Design: Love
Staging: Love
Directing: Love
Overall: Like
Wait… wuh? Well allow me to explain… eventually.

This was a very moving, very emotionally charged show. There is a lot going on when it comes to the human condition that will touch (and possibly provoke) the audience in different ways. Because this production is set in the point of view of the citizens / common man who don’t typically see the actual warfare, but are victims of the raids / bombings / etc… it open a window into the lives of these people in ways that media never could.

These are the people that didn’t ask for war, didn’t ask to hide in bunkers as the sky showers with explosive devices. These are not the people that want to stay inside earlier and earlier everyday because it is too dangerous to walk out on the streets. These are not the people that wanted their lives to be disrupted or asked to live in constant fear and paranoia as to who is a friend / family / foe. But… to even understand any of the above… this is a production that must be seen. Because honestly, nothing I can say would do this production justice, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try.

What really set the stage from the get-go was the director’s (Sean Ogren) intention of making sure that everyone spoke with an (authentic as possible) accent, be it German or Russian… depending on their character. While most everyone did a respectable job, I felt that Lauren Filip – who portrayed the sometimes oblivious, sometimes annoying, and but 100% self-indulgent Grete – was the most authentic.

Don’t ask me why, seeing as my own accent (Asian or otherwise) do need work… but Lauren’s German accent felt and sounded the most realistic and natural as if she spoke German regularly.

Another aspect of the production that was above and beyond was the set design and scenic art as done by R J Ogren. He truly knocked it out of the park from the skyline of the near-ruins of Berlin, to the feel of the inside of the apartment.

But you’re not here to read about the accents/dialects or the set/scenic design… you really want to know about the show don’t you? Well if the above scorecard isn’t enough…

Continue reading →

Reflection: My love/hate relationship with war dramas

Leave a reply

I have a love / hate relationship with war dramas. I love them because I could relate to them… I hate them because I could relate to them.

Confused?

Well to start, later this week I will be going to see the Opening Night of “Full Circle” out in Wheaton Drama. Typically because of my bias towards war dramas I wouldn’t go, but since so many people I know personally were a part of the production, it would be a shame not to go.

So as is typically for me I started thinking of how to start my inevitable post of my thoughts of this particular show when it dawned on me…

I would not be able to create a completely unbiased opinion about a war drama. There is simply no way. It is not possible…

Why is that?

Because I am too close. Sure I may be a generation off, but by all respects I am technically too close to the emotions and lasting effects of what a war can do to a family, to a person, to a community that my expections for a war drama on stage (and don’t get me started about films) are crazy.

Continue reading →

Review: Wheaton Drama’s It’s a Wonderful Life Radio Show

Leave a reply
Show: IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE RADIO SHOW
Produced by: 		Location: Wheaton Drama
Director: Sean Ogren

Earlier in December of 2012, a friend of mine and I went to Wheaton Drama to see a bunch of our friends in the holiday radio show “It’s a Wonderful Life”. When I say “a bunch” I mean I knew a fair number of the case right of the bat… (I know that is considered par for the course for me). Anyway what is different about this particular radio show was the addition of a children’s dance troupe from Geneva.

Before I move on here were some first impressions:
Acting: like
Singing: like
Choreography: meh
Staging: like
Sound Effects: love

One of the first things I noticed is that while the audience was trickling into the theatre, various members of the cast were already fully in character, interacting with the audience. It was strange having this sense of being transported into a different decade completely and feeling a sense of being part of the live audience for such a production.

Off to the side of the stage was a couple of tables that were set up for what it would appear to be the “sound effects” guys for the production. Helmed by R J Ogren and Peter Lemongelli, I knew instinctively that we were in for a real treat.

The radio program was hosted by Randy Knott (also known as Count Carl-Magnus in VTG’s A Little Night Music) who was cracking jokes towards the audience and the sound effect guys. However, who really stole the pre-show was Steve Schroeder and his antics of dinging a bell and pointing randomly “and you get wings” *ding* “and you get wings” *ding* “and you get wings”… well you get the idea. That damn guy keeps stealing the show no matter where he is at… but I digress.

Continue reading →

Review: Wheaton Drama’s Broadway Ballot (Act Two only!)

Show: BROADWAY BALLOT Location: Wheaton Drama
Director: Craig Gustafson

After my whirlwind weekend getaway up north in Minocqua, Wisconsin… I drove straight south back home and realized that if I pushed it, I would make it to see a few of my theatre friends at their Broadway Ballot. Granted I ended up missing the first Act (which had a few shows that I really wanted to see) but seeing the second act provided songs from shows that I am not typically a fan of, but now I would be kind of curious to see.

Below are all the songs that were featured in the second act of the Broadway Ballot at Wheaton Drama. What Wheaton Drama did was put on a kind of revue of a vast variety of Broadway songs from a variety of musicals and asked the audience to decide which shows they would love to see or not care to see at all. Then these ballots are tabulated and presented to the Wheaton Drama monthly meeting and from there they may use the data to decide what musicals to present for future seasons.

Regardless if the data would be used or not, in the end it was a fun revue / production and it helped bring in donations and dollars to the theatre group for their future productions. So all in all a win-win situation for an outsider looking in (aka myself).

From what I understand from those that were part of the production there were twenty-two performers who were singing twenty-six songs and they only had eleven rehearsals to do it. Now coming from someone that has been thrown into the thick of things a week before Opening weekends (including Shakespeare)… I can honestly say that I was expecting nothing less than fun, laughter, and entertainment and this group definitely delivered.

Taking a look at the official Ballot the revue is comprised of songs taken from a vast variety of shows: traditional and non-traditional, well and lesser known. A nice mixed bag with something for everyone to enjoy.
Continue reading →

Personal Endeavors: Stage Musical “Wish List”

Leave a reply

Ask any actor/actress that enjoys being a part of theatre, chances are they probably have a short list of shows and/or roles they’d love to play. I’m no different despite this being more of a hobby for me than anything. Although I don’t have a stage play short list (I am usually game to most anything) I do have a musical theatre short list… two of those musicals I have either already done or am doing, so what do I have left?

Well let’s start with what I have already done:
– City of Angels
Yes, I was even willing to grow a beard for a show. =) I loved the musical: City of Angels ever since I first heard “The Tennis Song”, so when I read up on the synopsis of the show and started listening to more of the music I knew that this was a production I just HAD to be a part of. Little did I know what the director at Theatre-on-the-Hill had in store for me…

City of Angels is NOT based off the Nicholas Cage movie of the same name. Instead it is about a writer whose is hired to adapt a popular book of his for the big screen. As we follow the writer go through the perils of working in Hollywood we are also watching scenes from his movie unfold concurrently. Changes he has made in the script are seen live on the stage as it happens.

What I love about this particular show is how two seemingly separate storylines are intertwined. There are particular moments in the shows where you see only one story or the other, and sometimes you see them both happening concurrently. Sure it forces you to think more than the average show, but once you get it, it makes the whole thing even funnier and worthwhile.

There was one conversation I had with a friend whose career is in the performing arts and we agreed that if someone is truly serious about acting and performing they better damn well be willing to make a fool of themself on stage. Pride, image, ego, etc goes right out the door, there is simply no room for it. If you’re not willing to “look ugly” on stage, then you’re not really serious about acting.

I swallowed my pride for my art and to this day people still remember that role. That’s making an impression. People don’t always remember the leads or the straight forward roles, they tend to remember the crazy, off beat, quirky characters. Plus you have fun along the way. =)

Continue reading →