The Flowertown Players Open Their Grounbreaking Performance Of Rent-A Portrayal Of Love And Loss

The Flowertown Players sailed into unfamiliar waters Friday night with the opening of their
presentation of the rock musical Rent and navigated their ship successfully into the Port of Phenomenal.

Whether you agree or disagree with the moral implications of the play, it dives into the harsh and heartbreaking realities a group of struggling-to-find their-way-in-life young musicians and artists are forced to deal with while living in New York City's Lower East Side during the thriving days of Alphabet City and the Bohemian lifestyle. The harsh reality of struggling with the lack of money just to pay rent and the heartbreaking reality of finding love in the face of the AIDS virus. It was a world Johnathan Larson, writer of music and lyrics, was familiar with and that is what it is all about.

Congratulations to the director(Mark Gorman) who, for this ground breaking step by the Flowertown Players, pulled together from the available pool of talented local actors and actresses a cast that realistically mirrored the raw passion of the original play's characters and presented a vocally powerful performance.

The complicated choreography of the play, from my point of view, was executed flawlessly, especially during the scene of the party at the Life Café - my favorite. I liked the bare bones look of the background and the different colors from the lighting accentuated the atmosphere on stage.

The live musical ensemble, which I believe to be the foundation of a musical like this, was burdened with a heavy responsibility. If they make a mistake, the whole flow of the play could be in jeopardy. But they did not miss a beat and greatly attributed in a large way to the play's successful opening night.

I first met Cody Smith back when he played the vicious villain in Wait Until Dark and his acting impressed me. Then I saw him play Danny in Grease where I experienced his vocal skills for the first time and I thought he was great. But as the struggling musician trying to find that one inspirational song, Cody(Roger) blew the roof off the house with his explosive vocals. Andrew Turnball as Mark was equally strong and harmonized well with Cody. Equal to the task was Giulia Marie Dalbec(Mimi), Michelle Smith(Maureen), Jason Marion(hauntingly believable as Angel), Kevin J. Thorn(Collins), Alexandria Rashanko(Joanne), and Tyler Reed(Benny).

There were many highlights to speak of and in the end drew a resounding standing ovation. Here are a few of my picks. The tender but hesitant exchange between Roger and Mimi in Light My Candle was beautifully portrayed by Guilia Marie and Cody. You could feel the intensity of the emotions build as the scene progressed toward the climatic reluctant rejection. Guilia Marie additionally executed a superb dance routine when the beautiful Mimi attempted to seduce Roger in Out Tonight. Michelle drew a huge applause from the audience with her humorous and provocative performance of Over the Moon. The entire cast was riotously outstanding when all the friends gathered at the tables to celebrate their Bohemian lifestyle.

Commendations to JC Conway, Heather Pallay and staff for boldly going where you hadn't gone before. You have set the bar high with this one. It will be a tough act to follow, but I have confidence you will meet the challenge.

Purchase tickets for the next performances.

The Specter Of Change Arrives In Summerville Once Again-A Welcomed Visit

Change has been a persuasive specter in Summerville, appearing at times in different forms and making its presence felt over the passing years. Transformation, metamorphosis, development, modification, transition, contraction, refinement, destruction and reconstruction are just some of its hauntings. Sometimes visitations have been spontaneous and sometimes coerced, sometimes unwanted and sometimes welcomed.

This specter of change has returned to Summerville recently, but this visitation has been coerced. And if your powers of observation are acute, you would have perceived its presence downtown, taking the form of reconstruction.

Our community theater is getting a long needed facelift with a new marquee as the primary feature. This will be the third marquee since the theater was first built around 1935. The second marquee change took place during its much needed renovation when the theater became the home for the Flowertown Players around 1976. The new marquee will be a return to the look and feel of the original with some slight differences.

As part of the change, the brick flower boxes have been removed and needed repairs to the masonry are being addressed. If everything goes according to plan, the new marquee will make its debut within the next two weeks - just in time for the Flowertown Players next production of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama winning musical Rent.

Rent, music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson, is based loosely on Giacomo Puccini's opera "La bohème." The off-Broadway show debuted exactly 100 years after Puccini's opera of 1896. On Broadway, it had a 12-year run of 5,123 performances and became the ninth longest-running Broadway show at the time. The production grossed over $280 million.

With their presentation of Rent, the Flowertown Players will be venturing into uncharted waters - it deals in adult rated material. The setting of the play is in New York City's Lower East Side during the thriving days of Bohemian Alphabet City, the artsy avant-garde neighborhood of marginalized artists, writers, journalists, musicians, and actors of Manhattan. Bohemianism was the practice of an unconventional lifestyle and Bohemians were associated with anti-establishment political or social viewpoints, which often were expressed by artists, writers, journalists, musicians, and actors through free love, frugality, and voluntary poverty.

This production of Rent follows a year in the life of a group of these impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive in that Lower East Side environment of New York City - falling in love, finding their voice and living for today. The cast consists of 20 of our locally dedicated actors.

On my recent visit to the James F. Dean Theatre, I got a preview of the near-completed set and a peek at Mark Gorman, Artistic Director of South of Broadway Theatre Company, and JC Conway working through procedures involved in setting the final mix of the scripts lighting cues. The play will open Friday, January 17th. I look forward to seeing some of you then and everyone else stay-tuned for my after-opening night review.