The Babe is Back!!

            The Theater Babe is delighted to be back in the swing of things just as what promises to be a vibrant 2014-15 season begins.  And that caused the Babe to ponder:  What makes a great show?  A subjective question if ever there was one, and yet in reviewing past posts the Babe identified certain themes that reflect at least this reviewer’s perspective of the relative success of any given performance.  So the Theater Babe respectfully submits for your consideration and discussion --  and in no particular order -- her Top Eleven Essentials of Good Theatre.

1)         Is the Show Correctly Cast?

            Any show soars or dives based on its casting – it is the one element that no amount of energy, beautiful costuming or technical brilliance can fix.  Is each actor right for his/her role?  No matter how wonderful a person or how dedicated to the theatre the individual actor may be, if he is miscast for this particular character in this particular show, he is inherently incredible and it detracts from the production as a whole.  And do the characters look right together?  In real life, romance can span decades.  But in some shows, a visibly noticeable age difference may make the plot unbelievable … if not downright creepy.  Similarly, if the script describes a character as a nubile, sweet sixteen year old ingénue, casting an enormously talented but no-longer-teenaged actor in that role creates a credibility problem that no amount of makeup or creative costuming can overcome.

2)         Do We Care About the Characters?

            I don’t have to like your character, but for the show to work I have to care about what happens to you.  As Peter Natale frequently remarks during his stints as House Manager at the Williamsburg Players, we the audience could be anywhere -- but we have chosen to invest our time and money in your show.  And if I’ve chosen to do that, I want to care about what happens to the characters.  Otherwise, really??  What’s the point?

            The Theater Babe has had the pleasure of watching too many splendid performances to list them all here, but of those shows reviewed, perhaps the single best example of an actor delivering a mesmerizing depiction of a thoroughly unlikeable character was Ann Heywood’s La Marquise de Merteuil in Les Liasons Dangereuses at the Little Theatre of Virginia Beach.

3)         Do the Actors Respect the Material?

            The Babe thoroughly embraces Coleridge’s willing suspension of disbelief whenever she steps into a theater, so it is disheartening when an actor fails to do the same.  The best performers  fully commit to the material and make us believe that they believe in whatever it is that drives the characters’ respective stories – whether it’s the perspective of a Founding Father, a belief in voodoo, a quest for the Holy Grail, the unfailing devotion to True Love or a group of ordinary guys' mutual determination to produce a money-making striptease.

            Performers who have achieved that level of excellence in the shows which the Theater Babe has reviewed include (but are by no means limited to) Matthew Friedman’s John Adams in Theatrix’s 1776, Melody Harris’ Candy Lady in The Generic Theatre’s Hoodoo Love, John Cauthen’s King Arthur in Showstoppers’ Spamalot, Andrew Smith’s Hero in Smithfield Little Theatre’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Tony Brach, James Bryan, Paul Costen, AJ Friday, Tim Jarman and Garney Johnson as the dancing steelworkers in Little Theatre of Norfolk’s The Full Monty.

4)         Are the Actors in the Moment?

            Theatre’s big fun – but it’s a LOT of work.  So by the time the show is presented to an audience, the actors have repeated the same lines hundreds, if not thousands, of times.  The most compelling performances are those in which the actors convince us that what they say are thoughts their characters are having at that moment – unique, spontaneous and credible.

            The Babe has reviewed many performers who successfully tackled this essential element.  Particularly memorable were Anna Sosa and Eileen P. Quintin in Actors Repertory Theater’s ‘Night, Mother and Jeff Jones and Sheila Jones in Peninsula Community Theater’s Fences.

5)         Is the Music Worth Hearing?

            Musicals have the obvious added complications of vocals and instrumentals.  Not every talented actor is blessed with a singing voice that should be displayed (except, perhaps, in her own shower).  And not every amazing singer can act his way out of the proverbial wet paper bag.  But in a musical, we want it all – we want to believe in the character and to be blown away by her extraordinary singing voice as she captures the emotional essence of the moment in a few melodic phrases.

            Many shows reviewed by the Babe have met this difficult standard.  Especially noteworthy (all puns intended) was the production of Follies by the Poquoson Island Players.

6)       Do the Costume, Lighting and Set Designs Enhance the Storyline?

             As any seasoned theater-goer knows, there are shows memorable simply for their special effects and/or extraordinary costumes.  Whether those things actually help to tell the story is not necessarily the same thing. 

And in a related issue ….

7)         Do the Technical Aspects of the Show Work?

            Due to the very nature of live theatre, the performers typically are the focus of attention in any review.  But if the technical aspects of the production don’t work then we cannot see or hear, much less appreciate, the performers’ efforts.  There are countless details that fall in this category, including, but not limited to:  Are the actors properly lit?  Are they adequately amplified?  Are the set changes smooth and efficient?

            The difficult truth of this category is that when done exceptionally well, the technical aspects of the show are invisible.  It is only when there are technical problems that this behind-the-scenes portion of any production becomes apparent, much less memorable.

            Accordingly, the Babe takes this opportunity to congratulate – and to thank – all of the very many individuals, too numerous to list, who have participated behind the scenes in the many productions she has reviewed.  Your hard – although mostly invisible – work is appreciated beyond words.

8)         Is the Production Balanced?

            This category covers a wide variety of issues, individual and collective.  Does any one actor overpower the rest to the detriment of the production as a whole?  Do all of the many elements – performance, lighting, set design, sound quality, costumes, tonality, accompaniment, etc., etc., etc. – work together, each complementing the other?

            Of the many, many talented actors the Theater Babe has had the pleasure of reviewing, particularly noteworthy for his ability to take his prodigious talent and utilize it for the benefit of the show as a whole rather than utilizing it as a vehicle to garner individual personal acclaim was David B. Springstead, Sr.’s Benjamin Franklin in Showstoppers’ 1776.

9)         Is the Show Well-Directed?

            This is a tough – yet indubitably essential – element to quantify.  Perhaps at its core, good direction is about making the right choices.  From selecting the production team to casting the actors, to envisioning blocking that makes full use of the set, to knowing when to impose his/her will upon those actors and when to let them find their own interpretations … it is an incredibly fulfilling but inexplicably difficult job that is the pivot around which the entire production turns.

            This region is too blessed with gifted directors for the Babe to single out any one individual.  Instead, she thanks all of you who have ushered your visions from script to stage and looks forward to many more to come.

10)       Does the Production Take Risks?

            Part of the thrill of live theatre is its newness; in the best productions each performance, no matter how frequently the show has been rehearsed or presented, brings a touch of something fresh and unique.  Sometimes it is in the choice of material itself.  Sometimes it is in the tech – for example, a lighting design that enhances different elements and brings unusual emphasis to a single facet of a performance.  Sometimes it is in the casting.  And sometimes it is in a faithful representation of a classic brought to life by finding fresh ways to bring inalienable truisms to a new audience.

            Of the shows reviewed by the Theater Babe, those that most exemplify this element were Panglossian Productions’ Private Eyes and Williamsburg Players’ presentation of Jesus Christ Superstar in which director Jeffrey Corriveau made the uncommon decision to cast Nerissa Thompson in the role of Simon.

 

And last, but in no way least, are the interlocking issues of

11)       Does the Show Have Energy and Is It Well-Paced? 

            The Theater Babe restricts her reviews to community theatre.  By definition, therefore, that means that each and every person involved in the production is a volunteer – plagued by pesky personal issues such as getting to our paying jobs on time in the morning no matter how late we were at the theater the night before.  But whatever the demands on our personal time, a successful production demands that we set our personal stressors aside and somehow channel that energy into a passionate performance.

            That passion takes a wide variety of forms.  It can be, but is not necessarily, frenetic energy that leaps off the stage, grabs the audience by the throat and yanks us into the drama.  It might be an incredible dance number that makes even those of us who possess two left feet believe – if only for a moment – that we, too, could hop into the ensemble and join in.  Or it might be a quiet intensity that commands our attention and respect.  But regardless of the myriad forms that passion may take, it is not lifeless.  It is not rote repetition of lines memorized but not felt.  It is the successful process of taking characters that at first existed only in the mind of the playwright and bringing them to life – if only for a moment.

© 2014 Hampton Roads Theater Babe.  All rights reserved.