CRICKET ON THE HEARTH WORLD PREMIERE ACTORS' SUMMIT November 28, 2003
Original Score by Sebastian Birch, MaryJo Alexander, Director, Designer, Costumer

My first full fledged musical proved to be a fascinating challenge. I had a brilliant cast, handsome staging, phenomenal music, and a shockingly short rehearsal period. Fortunately audiences and critics overlooked some obvious flaws and took this charming little story to their hearts. We're able to keep rewriting during the run, revising the end of the first act, adding a number at the top of II; revamping and rewriting the end of the show, all of which made the show stronger and more audience friendly. As Cleveland sports teams are so fond of saying; "Wait 'til next year!"

REVIEWS:

The Plain Dealer, Tuesday, December 2, 2003

HOLIDAY CHEER STRAIGHT UP OR WITH A TWIST
By Tony Brown, PD Theater Critic

It was a dickens of a weekend as theaters throughout the Cleveland area unleashed their annual flood of Christmas plays.

Three of the most prominent were from Charles Dickens' stories about spiritual impoverishment and redemption.

Great Lakes Theater Festival opened its 15th anniversary production of former artistic director Gerald Freedman's gorgeous 'A Christmas Carol.

For those seeking respite from the omnipresent "Carol," Actors' Summit in Hudson premiered a new adaptation by local actor Wayne Turney of another, less well known of Dickens' Christmas stories, "Cricket on the Hearth." …

Written in 1845, two years after "A Christmas Carol," "Cricket on the Hearth" became the most popular of Dickens' series of "Christmas Books." The warmth of the new musical adaptation atActors' Summit makes clear why: This is an adorable little story.

There are problems with narrative clarity and with oversimplifying the concepts of good and evil, both in the original novella and in this stage adaptation.

But hang in there. Dickens, as brought to the stage by scriptwriter Turney and composer Sebastian Birch, has many rewards.

John Peerybingle, a middle-aged courier, is married to a sweet young woman named Dot. Tackleton, the story's villain, is himself about to marry a woman younger than himself, Dot's friend May Fielding. But May does not love him.

To try to even the score, Tackleton convinces John that Dot is cheating on him. But in fact, Dot is merely arranging for May to marry her tury love, a young man named Edward Plummer, mistakenly believed to be lost in South America.

Edward's father, Caleb, a poor toy-maker, lives in a "cracked nutshell" house with his blind daughter, Bertha, who sews dresses for dolls. They both work for Tackleton, a hard taskmaster.

To make her life easier, Caleb creates an alternate reality for Bertha. In it, he makes Tackleton sound like such a saint that she falls inlove with him and into despair when she learns that he plans to marry another.

Looking like he just walked out of the 19th Century, Turney plays a Dickenslike narrator to help keep straight the tangled threads of this moralistic live story, which resolves itself to everyone's satisfaction.

It is still difficult to keep up with all that is going on, and sometimes the busy score only adds to the confusion instead of helping out.

But thanks to several bright, appropriately chirpy songs, Turney's highly theatrical storytelling device and the generally fine performances (including Turney's as both narrator and Caleb) the show makes the occasional bumpy ride worthwhile.

Actors' Summit artistic director Neil Thackaberry puffs about as a stuffed shirt of a Tackleton. Greg Violand couldn't be more earnest as John, and three promising teenage actresses, Kelly Pekar, Hannah DelMonte and Maggie Morgan, each find delightful moments as (respectively) Dot, Bertha and May.

Where does the Cricket on the hearth fit into it all?

According to the story, the bug symbolizes happiness and good fortune. Despite its weaknesses, "Cricket on the Hearth" has that by the stockingful.

'CRICKET ON THE HEART' IS WORTH THE TRIP
By Robert W. Plyler, THE POST-JOURNAL, Jamestown, NY

HUDSON, OHIO-- When our children were young, we had an annual ritual. Sometime in early December, one parent took the children for a trip of two or three hours, took the children Christmas shopping for the parent who had stayed behind, and delighted them with a holiday performance of some kind.

While they were gone, the other parent decorated the house, wrapped the difficult-to-hide presents, and got some of the holiday duties completed, in relative peace.

On problem we had with this plot was that there tended to be relatively few very popular holiday plays, operas, ballets, etc., and the children were always wanting something new or different.

If you're looking for a nearby but not quite local performance for yourself or your young ones, I have a suggestion.

Actors' Summit, a professional theater company in Hudson, Ohio, about 150 minutes' drive from Jamestown, is presenting a musical interpretation of Charles Dickens' other charming holiday tale: The Cricket on the Hearth.

The plot is relatively simple. Mr. And Mrs. Peerybingle are happily married and the parents of a newborn. The husband is a bit self-conscious that he is so much older than his wife and rather surprised at his degree of happiness.

Each week, the couple pack up a picnic and go to visit an aging neighbor named Caleb, who makes toys for a living, and his sightless young daughter, Bertha.

Caleb works for the Scrooge-like Mr. Tackleton, who treats him cruelly and pays him shamefully. Having decided that Bertha suffers enough by her loss of sight, Caleb tells his daughter that they live in a beautiful home, that his boss is respectful and generous, and that they live a life of wealth and accomplishment, and in her reality, they do so.

One day, the wicked Tackleton takes Mr. Peerybingle aside and tells him he's seen Mrs. Peerybingle having frequent private talks with a handsome young stranger. Crushed, the husband considers everything from revenge to divorce.

Naturally, this being a charming Dickens' holiday story, all turns out to be innocent and happy, and the penny-pinching employer learns the evil of his ways.

Turney's book is easy to understand and moves along smartly. Since Dickens' wonderful pictures of steaming dinners and beautiful clothes are part of his magic, Turney himself plays Dickens, narrating the author's wonderful words from upstage right.

The music is by Sebastian Anthony Birch, and is most reminiscent of the music of Stephen Sondheim's shows.

It's very good by musical theory and keyed to the rises and lowerings of the spoken voice, making it easy to understand the words.

The problem is that it isn't something one could hum along until one has heard it several times, and it doesn't lift the spirits as more jolly holiday fare can do. There was also something of a problem balancing the recorded accompaniment with the live singing.

All of the singers in the cast are very talented. The sets and costumes are simple, but moe than adequate and often charming.

It's new and ultimately uplifting, easy to reach on major highways down to the last five miles. Allow me to recommend it to you.

The Cricket on the Hearth continues through Dec. 21 at Actors' Summit, 86 Owen Brown Street, in Hudson, Ohio. You may phone for reservations or information at (330)342-0800.

`Cricket on Hearth' is chirping with joy
Actors' Summit offers a merry performance of Charles Dickens play
By Kerry Clawson, Beacon Journal staff writer

With all the tradition surrounding A Christmas Carol, many folks may not be familiar with what has been described as Charles Dickens' own favorite Christmas story -- The Cricket on the Hearth.

Dickens' lovely little novella plays out on the Actors' Summit stage this holiday season, adapted by Cleveland-area playwright and Renaissance man Wayne Turney. A frequent performer with Actors' Summit, Turney has adapted Oedipus and Tartuffe for previous productions at the professional Hudson theater.

The Cricket on the Hearth, a welcome new offering amid Northeast Ohio's holiday fare, is much sweeter and lighter than A Christmas Carol. In the hands of Actors' Summit's skilled group of actors, the story never becomes sickeningly sweet. Even actor Thomas Cummings carries off ``chirruping'' like a cricket without seeming silly.

This story of hearth and home has a simple message: Love is found at home. The magical creature of the cricket -- which presides over all domestic tranquility -- is a symbol of God.
Wonderful performances are provided by darling actresses Kelly Pekar -- who plays the irresistible little young mother Dot -- and Hannah DelMonte as the kind-hearted blind girl, Bertha.
Pekar has a surprisingly mature singing voice and excellent acting ability for a high school senior. DelMonte, also a high school senior, has a splendid voice, too. Both have done professional work throughout Northeast Ohio.

Most of the show's humor stems from Neil Thackaberry as the gruff toy seller Tackleton, and Wayne Turney as the merry, eccentric toy maker Caleb.

Thackaberry is almost violently grumpy as his Scrooge-like character. And Turney, who has written the book and lyrics for this show, switches expertly between playing Dickens and Caleb.
This is a delightful holiday story. To use the words of author Turney, Dickens' ``enchanting language'' rings forth on the Actors' Summit stage.

The problem with this show is the difficult, digitally recorded score. It's often so complex, the accompaniment leaves several cast members out on a limb, searching for their pitches.
The score is a major project composed by Kent State University Stark Campus professor Sebastian Birch just for this world premiere musical. But even singers like Greg Violand (John), who has sung with the Cleveland Opera, had trouble opening night adapting to its complexities. The accompaniment includes flute, oboe, strings, piano and more. The loveliest Christmas sounds of all, used throughout most of the tunes, are bells.

At times, the recorded accompaniment overpowers the singing onstage and the incongruity is painfully obvious. In other songs, the lyrics are repetitive and the pieces drag on for too long.
Some of the tunes have three or four melodies going at once, making the piece sound like something from an operetta. But these arrangements aren't sung accurately enough for the lyrics to be easily understood and enjoyable.

Because the music isn't the strongest part of this show, it would have been better to keep the songs simpler and fewer. One can only hope that the coordination between the singing and recorded accompaniment will gel better as the run of The Cricket on the Hearth continues.
The only singers who didn't have any trouble with pitch opening night were Pekar and DelMonte. Musical highlights included a sweet love ballad between Dot and John, When I See You Look at Me, and the cast's oddly jolly Oxymoronic Paradox about the toy seller who hates children. This song fleshes out Tackleton's Scrooge-like character well before we've met him

Also wonderful is No Higher Calling, a sweet duet between Caleb and Bertha that extols the joys of creating toys that make little ones smile.

Despite some of this show's musical weaknesses, The Cricket on the Hearth is a merry performance that's worth seeing. The story includes several satisfying revelations as well as one very well-constructed surprise, guaranteed to instill wonder.

Theater critic Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or at kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.