Review: Two Gentlemen of Verona

I might post like three times today, just because so much has happened since I last posted. For this, my first post, I shall review Great Lakes Theater's production of Shakespeare's "Two Gentlemen of Verona."

Great Lakes Theater likes to start their actors on stage while the audience is still trying to get settled and before the opening announcements. I really, really like this type of acting. I think it's a great way to capture the audeinces' attention and it keeps people busy in that half-hour before the play. This production was no exception. There was a little difference, though. This year, they sang.

In fact, during the whole play they were singing. It was like they turned a Shakespeare classic into a musical. The music wasn't original, however; the theater used music by Ingrid Michaelson and Regina Spektor. I am a huge fan of both of those artists so I was thrilled that I got a little concert in addition to the play. I wasn't sure how well the "soundtrack" and the play fit together, though. The acting was superb and the singing was good, too, but together? I'm not so sure.

The company made the play modern with the songs and with the costumes and set pieces. The glass-looking fly-ins for the sets were beautifully crafted and added to the epicness of everything. The forest sets, especially, were perfect for the eerie tone of the scene. The costumes were modern enough, with just a touch here and there of traditional Shakespeare.

All in all, I liked the performance and I encourage everyone in the Cleveland area to take a trip to the Hanna theater to see Great Lake Theater's "Two Gentlemen of Verona."

Good Morning, Baltimore

GAH! My bad. Sorry I didn't post the last two days. I've been really tired (or just lazy, whatever you choose to believe...).

Friday evening, my sister dragged me to go see Barberton High School's performance of Hairspray. Okay, so maybe dragged isn't a good description of what happened; I did really want to see it so I could compare it to Firestone High School's performance three weeks ago. Both high schools did really well, but, in my opinion, Barberton was much better.

Don't get me wrong, I love Firestone and their theater program. Their costumes, sets, and choreography were loads better than Barberton's. But theater isn't just about how showy the production is; theater is about talent, dancing AND singing talent.

Firestone's shining star was Shamara, who played Motormouth Maybelle. She was absolutely, one hundred percent the strongest actress and vocalist in that whole musical. In fact, I'm willing to bet that her performance was Broadway-worthy. Barberton didn't necessarily have a shining star. This was not because nobody was good, but because EVERYBODY was amazing. Some of the noteworthy actors were Austin, who played Tracy; Allyson, who played Penny; Marquis, who played Seaweed; Tyler, who played Corny; and Jessica, who played Amber. They were fantastic (and I'm not just saying that because I know three of them personally).

I understand how frustrating it is that another local high school is doing the same production you are since it happened last year when Walsh also did Wizard of Oz. The thing to remember is that you shouldn't worry whose sets will be better or whose costumes looked professionally done; you SHOULD worry about being more talented than other theater programs. Don't believe any of that crap about it "not being a competition." It so is. Do your best to outdo every other production in your area.