While the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 dramatically changed the face of commercial aviation (making it possible to fly nonstop to destinations in Europe and Asia from airline hubs scattered throughout the United States), the American musical theatre has long taken advantage of our nation's geography with impressive results.
With Tin Pan Alley and Broadway serving as the breeding ground for many musical comedies, the number of shows that take place in New York City should come as no surprise. In alphabetical order, they include A Chorus Line, Annie, Bajour, Company, Do Re Mi, Fiorello! Follies, 42nd Street, Funny Girl,
Golden Boy, The Goodbye Girl, Guys and Dolls, Hello, Dolly! How Now, Dow Jones, How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, I Can Get It For You Wholesale, I Had A Ball, In The Heights, The Life, Mame, New Girl In Town, Newsies, On The Town, The Producers, Promises, Promises, Rags, Ragtime, Seesaw, The Saint of Bleecker Street, Skyscraper, Street Scene, Subways Are For Sleeping, Sweet Charity, Sweet Smell of Success, Tenderloin, Up in Central Park, West Side Story, and Wonderful Town.
So much for New York City. Most musicals set on the West Coast (City of Angels, Fade Out-Fade In, Flower Drum Song, Mack & Mabel, The Most Happy Fella, Paint Your Wagon, Pipe Dream, and Sunset Boulevard) take place in California, with Gypsy starting off in Seattle before touring the vaudeville circuit. Regional America gets its fair share of musical stories as well:
- New England is the setting for Carousel, Take Me Along, and Tuck Everlasting.
- The Mid-Atlantic states claim High Button Shoes, Steel Pier, and No, No, Nanette (New Jersey), 1776, Fun Home, and Plain and Fancy (Pennsylvania), Kiss Me, Kate and Hairspray (Baltimore), Damn Yankees (Washington, D.C.), and Shenandoah (Virginia).
- The South plays host to The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Caroline, or Change, Finian's Rainbow, L'il Abner, Memphis, Porgy and Bess, and Purlie.
- The Midwest hosts Big River, Bye Bye Birdie, Chicago, Dreamgirls, Girlfriend, Meet Me In St. Louis, The Music Man, Oklahoma! Pal Joey, Raisin, Show Boat, St. Louis Woman, and State Fair while the West follows the life of The Unsinkable Molly Brown in Colorado and Golden Rainbow in Las Vegas.
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TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is staging the West Coast premiere of Mark Twain's River of Song, a new work by people who have had a long association with the company. Although this play had its world premiere at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre in January 2019, TWSV’s production marks the premiere of a new, fuller version of the piece. As the company's artistic director, Robert Kelley, explains:“When I heard last January that old friends Randy Myler and Dan Wheetman were at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre working on a cabaret show about Mark Twain and his world on the Mississippi in the 1850s, I called immediately. The two writers and composers had brought TheatreWorks their hit Broadway show It Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues in 2009. An exhilarating exploration of the roots of the blues, it soared on our stage and was a hit all over again Then in 2015, we joined them in the coal mines of Appalachia for Fire on the Mountain, a poignant and moving musical celebration of a region and time in America that few of us knew much about. Their blend of live onstage music and engaging human drama enthralled all of us once again. But now they were taking on an American icon, a giant, and I was eager to find out why. This River of Song celebrates the cultural and musical language of our past even as it captures the voice, inspiration, and humor of an American original who knew our potential and our prejudices only too well.”
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| Dan Hiatt as Mark Twain in a scene from Mark Twain's River of Song (Photo by: Kevin Berne) |
“As it turns out, they were both Twain fans, every bit as devoted as I was. Independently, both had done pieces based on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – and so had TheatreWorks, three times! We produced the musical Downriver in 1982, and two productions of the Broadway smash Big River in 1990 and 2012. Myler and Wheetman were looking for a place to expand and develop their three-man cabaret show into something new, adding three more characters, more Mark Twain, and more songs to define a full riverboat journey down the Mississippi from far North to deep South. It would explore the pilots and gamblers, farm wives and field hands, lumberjacks and boatmen who made the riverbanks their home. When I heard the beautiful original songs that Wheetman had composed to enrich a wealth of period pieces, I knew this would be a perfect addition to Theatreworks’ landmark 50th season, summing up our longtime fascination with America’s history and music.”
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| Valisia LeKae and Rondrell McCormick in a scene from Mark Twain's River of Song (Photo by: Kevin Berne) |
With costumes by Jill C. Bowers, lighting by Steven B. Mannshardt, and sound design by Jeff Mockus, this handsome production struck a special chord with me. As a life-long fan of steamships and ocean liners, I have always loved the depictions of Mississippi riverboats. Thanks to the scenic and media design by David Lee Cuthbert, much of the evening included a slide show of riverboats along the Mississippi during the 19th century.
With Dan Hiatt delivering a sweetly crotchety and philosophical impersonation of Mark Twain, the show rambles through 11 newly composed songs as well as 11 traditional numbers such as "Crow Black Chicken," "Big Boat's Up the River," "Shanty Boys," "Markin' on the Twine," and "Follow the Drinkin' Gourd."
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| Rondrell McCormick, Valisia LeKae, and Chico Street Man in a scene from Mark Twain's River of Song (Photo by: Kevin Berne) |
TWSV's five-actor musical ensemble includes Valisia LeKae, Tony Marcus, Rondrell McCormick, Chic Street Man, and Dan Wheetman, with Act I primarily focused on Twain's impressions of river life (both as a youth and, later, as a riverboat pilot). Act II spends more time on the relationship between Huckleberry Finn and his friend, Jim, as they float down the Mississippi on a raft.
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| Rondrell McCormick (Jim) and Valisia LeKae (Huckleberry Finn) in a scene from Mark Twin's River of Song (Photo by: Kevin Berne) |
What began as a cabaret act has evolved into a 90-minute, two-act nostalgic journey through 19th-century Americana. It's a cozy, and richly enjoyable evening of musical edutainment that should do well on the regional theatre and university circuits.
Performances of Mark Twain's River of Song continue through October 27 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts (click here for tickets). Here's the trailer:
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Bright Star (with book, music, and lyrics by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell) offers audiences a refreshing new story with a Biblical parallel that sends people home from the theatre with contented smiles on their faces. Based on a true story, its protagonist is Alice Murphy (Danielle DeBow) who, as a rowdy teenager, got knocked up by her boyfriend, carried the pregnancy to term, and then had her baby forcefully taken away from her by the legal maneuvering of her boyfriend's arrogant father (the Mayor of Zebulon) and her own hyper-religious father. |
| Danielle DeBow stars as Alice Murphy in Bright Star (Photo by: Ben Krantz Studio) |
The musical received its world premiere from the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego on September 28, 2014 followed by a brief run at the Kennedy Center in December of 2015 prior to opening on Broadway on March 24, 2016 at the Cort Theatre, where it ran for 109 performances. Throughout its development phase, early reports indicated that, during workshops and pre-Broadway tryouts, the show seemed very much like a labor of love. With its folksy score, Bright Star appeals to audiences with simple, believable strokes as its story unravels through a series of flashbacks.
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| Danielle DeBow as Alice Murphy and Michael Scott Wells as Jimmy Ray Dobbs in a scene from Bright Star (Photo by: Ben Krantz Studio) |
I first saw this musical when the national tour stopped at the 1,667-seat Curran Theatre in San Francisco. Though I found the show quite charming, I was curious to see how it would fare in a smaller theatre. With productions being mounted this fall in Palo Alto, El Cerrito, and Fullerton (as well as numerous theatres around the country), I was grateful for a chance to revisit Bright Star at the Contra Costa Civic Theatre (which is celebrating its 60th anniversary).
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| Keith Jefferds (Daddy Cane) and Lucas Kiehn-Thilman (Billy Cane) in a scene from Bright Star (Photo by: Ben Krantz Studio) |
Working on a unit set designed by Kuo-Hao Lo (with costumes by Mackenzie Laurel Orvis and lighting by Courtney Johnson), director Marilyn Langbehn and choreographer Allison Paraiso Silicani have sculpted Bright Star into a powerful love story darkened by the aggressive moves of misguided fathers whose greed and religiosity smother any concern for their children's happiness. The show takes its time letting the audience in on its story's secrets until it can, at long last, reach a happy ending.
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| Danielle DeBow stars as Alice Murphy in Bright Star (Photo by: Ben Krantz Studio) |
Even though I'm not someone who listens to a lot of bluegrass music, it's difficult not to be charmed by much of the score to Bright Star, which includes such powerful songs as "A Man's Gotta Do," "I Had A Vision," and "Firmer Hand/Do Right."
While the musical provides a showcase for the impressive musical and dramatic talents of Danielle DeBow, she gets strong support from Michael Scott Wells as her first love (Jimmy Ray Dobbs) and Lucas Kiehn-Thilman as Billy Cane, the young soldier whose path crosses Alice's later in life. As Alice's two employees, Jordan Smith shines as Darryl Ames with Tosca Maltzman as Lucy Grant (Darryl's endearing female sidekick).
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| Jordan Smith (Daryl Ames) and Tosca Maltzman (Lucy Grant) in a scene from Bright Star (Photo by: Ben Krantz Studio) |
With orchestrations by August Eriksmoen and sound design by Michael Kelly, supporting members of the cast include Russ Whismore and Shay Oglesby-Smith as Alice's parents, a bullish Paul Plain as Mayor Josiah Dobbs, Keith Jefferds as the man who helped raise Billy, and Alexa Haynes as Billy's closest friend (and eventual bride) in Hayes Creek.
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| Lucas Kiehn-Thilman (Billy Cane) and Alexa Haynes (Margo Crawford) in a scene from Bright Star (Photo by: Ben Krantz Studio) |
Not only does Bright Star begin by telling its audience that it has a story to tell, the musical's creative team does a splendid job of delivering the goods with remarkable fluidity. More than many new works, this show aces a crucial test of stageworthiness by making sure that its audience cares about its characters (an achievement that is easier said than done).
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| Michael Scott Wells (Jimmy Ray Dobbs) and Danielle DeBow (Alice Murphy) in a scene from Bright Star (Photo by: Ben Krantz Studio) |
Seen in a much smaller theatre than the Curran, the intimacy of Bright Star's story shines strong, backed by a musical score of immense appeal. It's a show that grows on you with repeated viewing. I'm happy to report that the folks at CCCT did it proud.
Performances of Bright Star continue at the Contra Costa Civic Theatre through October 27 (click here for tickets).
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