Bravura performance elevates new theater’s opening show

Tony BrownPlain Dealer Theater Critic

HUDSON—The occasion: Actors Summit christened its new theater in a warehouse on the outskirts of the downtown residential section of this quaint Summit County town.

The vehicle: "The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd," an oddball 1960s attempt at existentialist musical theater, opened in the company’s versatile "black box" performance space this weekend.

The best reason to go: As Sir, the rules-changing symbol of the ruling classes who cheats poor Cocky out of crumbs of bread, Wayne Turney transforms every giggle, every supercilious glance, every husky note into a carefully placed building block in a truly monumental and sinister performance.

All in all, it’s a happy event for Actors’ Summit, a small professional company that was started three years ago and has been looking for a home ever since.

The new theater has limitations, including a noisy ventilation system and a lack of overhead space from which to fly in scenery. But it can be configured in any number of permutations to match a director’s vision.

Appropriate set

For "Roar," director Neil Thackaberry arranges the audience on three sides of set designer Robert Stegmiller’s simple series of platforms and steps. It’s a rather bleak, bare-bones affair, appropriate to the stalwart morals of the material.

First performed in England before coming to Broadway in 1965, "Roar" is an attempt by actor-writer Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse (who had earlier collaborated on "Stop the World, I Want to Get Off") to marry the pessimistic existentialism of Samuel Beckett with the melodies of traditional musical theater.

Playing their worldly board game, sir and Cocky resemble not only Vladmir and Estragon in "Waiting for Godot," but they also have much in common with Beckett’s whip-snapping Pozzo and slave Lucky in the same play. And there are references to Broadway musicals, most obviously to "Fiddler on the Roof" and "My Fair Lady."

Today the show is largely a curiosity, an archaeological artifact, a relic. With its Everyman themes, it anticipates the far more popular "Pippin" and "Godspell." The same sort of Brechtian burlesque at work in "Roar" can be seen now in the Broadway musical "Urinetown."

Turney, his baritone booming, his shirt stuffed and his beady eyes peering out over the top of reading glasses, immediately establishes himself as the ringmaster of this little circus act and doesn’t flag a whit as the symbolism grows heavier than greasepaint.

Top performance

This is a master-class on playing the conniving villain, not with a dark sneer, but with a light and sardonic laugh. It’s the caliber of performance one would expect to find at Cleveland Play House, where Turney was a member of the ensemble for many years.

As Turney’s foil, Play House and Great Lakes Theater Festival veteran Greg Violand stretches his face into grimaces of pain as a captivatingly Chaplinesque Cocky. But some of the upper ranges of the Act 1-closing "Who Can I turn to" are just beyond his vocal abilities.

Darryl Miller, a music-education undergrad at Kent State University, makes a brief but indelible impression in his one song, "Feeling Good" as the Black (originally The Negro) who helps liberate Cocky. Kari Kandel leads the urchin chorus and appears as Sir’s sexual plaything. And, just as Newley both directed and appeared as Cocky in his own show, so Actors’ Summit founder and artistic director Thackaberry stomps about in an unbilled cameo.

"Roar of the Greasepaint" is a silly but entertaining bit of slightly out-of-date frippery. Its hearty theatricality, made even heartier by Turney’s bravura performance, makes for a fun and fitting opening of a new theater.

Playhouse, Actors' Summit Debut New Stages With Different Results
Times Newspapers - October 1, 2001
By Roy Berko

The Cleveland Play House and Actors' Summit both opened their 2001 seasons in new facilities. CPH, America's first permanently established professional theatre company, presented Frank Langella's CYRANO on its Baxter Stage, while Actor's Summit, which has been searching for a permanent home for many seasons, has established itself in downtown Hudson. Their opening production is THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT THE SMELL OF THE CROWD. Both facilities feature thrust stages in which the audience encloses the action on three sides. The similarities between the facilities and the productions ends there.

Ironically, the much less funded Actors' Summit has the more audience pleasing facility and a better opening production.

The Baxter's 300-seat facility is supposed to provide an intimate setting where no audience member is more than 8 rows from the stage. . . .

The Actors' Summit facility is much more pleasant. It's more intimate..150 seats, and there are at leas! t two aisles for easy access to seats for each section. An added attraction is the theatre's connection to an antiques mall which is open before curtain and at intermission. Free parking is immediately adjacent to the theatre.

ROAR ENCHANTS AT ACTORS' SUMMIT

On the other hand, THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT THE SMELL OF THE CROWD glistens. One of the two smash hits penned by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newl! ey (the other is STOP THE WORLD, I WANT TO GET OFF), the seldom-done show takes a special set of leading actors to make it come to life. And, in Wayne Turney and Greg Violand, the theatre has found the perfect duo.

Written in the mid-60s the story centers on the lead characters playing the Game of Life and asks the question "is the game played on stage actually a metaphor for real life, or, is it really just a game?" It does so with humor, pathos, and a combination of enchantment and drama. The wondrous score includes "On a Wonderful Day Like Today" which receives a rousing production number, "Where Would You Be Without Me," "My First Love Song," and "Nothing Can Stop Me Now." The most famous song from the show is the poignant "Who Can I Turn To."

Wayne Turney, who plays Sir, the game's rule setter, is well known to area audiences. He was a long time member of the Cleveland Play House's acting company. He is nothing short of perfect as Sir. The twinkle in his eye, his ability to pull the audience in through direct comments, winks and smiles, makes Sir live. He has a pleasant singing voice and commands the stage.

Greg Violand is his equal. Violand, who has made a career out of playing leading men in such local productions as SIDE SHOW, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC and THE MUSIC MAN transforms himself into a pathetic, almost comic character as the taken-advantage-of Cocky. He is the perfect Hardy to Turney's Laurel. Each of his vocal solos was met with strong audience applause.

Special attention must be give to C. J. Bonde, Lora Eves, Caitlin Morris, Jason Brown, Dale Kennedy and Eryn Murman, the youngsters playing the Urchins. Often children on stage are puppet-like. These kids, under the adept direction of Neil Thackaberry, are wonderful. Also wonderful was Sasha Thackaberry's choreography which was both intricate and creative. Darryl Miller's brief appearance as The Black was highlighted by a powerful rendition of "Feeling Good."

Praise also to musical director Evie Morris and set and lighting designer Robert Stegmiller. One suggestion. The orchestra, which does an excellent job of backing up rather than drowning out the singers, should have been listed by name in the program credits.

THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT THE SMELL OF THE CROWD, Actors' Summit version, is a delightful, entertaining, enchanting evening of theatre. What a way to premiere a new home!