Stumptown Stages
November 2 - December 1, 2007
November 11, 2007
Posted by Followspot
Moving, contemporary, top speed. The spare, mostly unamplified approach effectively showcases pure voice and found object instruments, though several solos are too quiet to be heard. Lots to watch as pace moves ever onwards. There is a hunger to know what these characters will do next. Several great old songs.
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Focusing on the Portland, Oregon theatre scene in precisely 50-word increments. followspot@hotmail.com
19 comments:
I went to opening night. I could tell things were still being put on its feet but I was pleasantly surprised as the show progressed. Maybe that's how it was directed? The cast is phenomenal...ok, the ensemble is phenomenal. Unfortunately I wasn't impressed by either Jesus or Judas. I felt Jesus could have given me a lot more and Judas took the show way to seriously. Don't take this as a bad review, I LOVED THE SHOW! This is what I have been waiting for, Stumptown! I will definitely come back in a few weeks to see how the show naturally progresses. I walked into the theater wondering where the hell the band was and I was very impressed to see the actors pick up all the instruments. Good job Kirk, you cast yet another brilliant show!
"I wasn't impressed by either Jesus or Judas. I felt Jesus could have given me a lot more...."
This is definitely my favorite review quote for the week.
Steve
I saw the Saturday evening show last night. I was impressed by Stumptown Stages' last season with Reefer Madness, Grease, and Floyd Collins. But I can't say that I was impressed when I heard they were going to be doing Godspell. I don't know why that is.
I didn't go into the show expecting to be blown away. In fact, when i got to the theater some of the actor's were already on stage mingling around, playing with instruments, talking, laughing, and such. All of which is fine, but I found one actor in particular to be so over enthusiastic that it was borderline annoying. That was my only real complaint with the show. Well - that and a moment where this same actor "raps."
Aside from all that, I have to say that I had a fantastic time and I enjoyed myself immensley. Overall, this is probably the best musical production currently playing in Portland. I put it a notch or two above Cabaret.
Stumptown still has a couple of kinks to work out (I couldn't hear Judas at all during All For The Best, but that may just have been a mic problem.) but overall they are quickly becoming one of the best companies in Portland.
Talent seems to be consisently good at Stumptown but why do they continually have sound issues? And why is God's name is Hal Logan music directing a show??? He's a drummer who can barely play the piano and is just not qualified...Kirk you can do better than him.
I saw the show on opening weekend and although there were things I enjoyed, there were a few things that bugged me.
Over all, I enjoyed the show. I liked the acoustic or unplugged feel of the show. Most of the performances were strong. I really enjoyed Ben Van Diepen, Rachel Blair, and David Cole. Jesus (Ammon Morris) had some pitch problems but was likable throughout.
One of the things that annoyed me was the sound problem. They used no mics for this show. Other than the hand held mics for 'Grease', I don't think they have ever used personal mics. Stumptown should be use to the problems that come with this space. So why hire performers that can't project in that space. For years theaters never used mics. Most community theatres still don't use body mics. I know it sounds mean but there are plenty of singers out there that have the chops to sing to the back of the house. Two of the actors could not be heard most of the time and should not have been cast. This brings me to my second point.
The musical direction on this show was horrible. There was a simple solution to the sound problem and the musical director dropped the ball. With the instruments being acoustic, the singers should have been reeled in. It would have been a simple fix to teach the chorus to sing like a High school choir. Just teach them to blend and to pull back on their sound. They pretty much were loud throughout the entire show. This would have been an easy way to let your soloists be heard and create a beautiful sound. The right blend would have rang sweetly in that hall.
My last issue was the chaos factor. Sometimes there was just to much chaos/silliness going on. I enjoyed Kirk's staging overall but when things got out of control I would lose my focus. These where the times I found myself flipping through my program or looking around the theater rather than at what was going on on stage. I would lose interest in the show and I would think that would be the last thing you would want your audience to do.
I did this show years ago and was really hoping to enjoy this production. Overall I liked it but I left a little disappointed.
The best thing this show has going is the remarkably talented ASL interpreter, who conveyed a depth of emotion that Jesus and company didn't manage to plumb.
Sorry folks had problems with musical direction for this show, but I've worked with Hal Logan, he's absolutely brilliant, innovative, very, very talented, and a very nice man indeed--a generous and gifted collaborator. I'd hire him again in a heartbeat.
No Splatworks you don't the get the last word on this. Hal Logan is nice man but not a music director. He needs to stick with the drums..brilliant, inovative? Let's save those kind of superlative for Hal Prince or Terrance McNally. Please go back to your crack pipe
If you want to discuss this privately, anonymous person, e-mail me directly at splatterson@mindspring.com. Otherwise, if you're going to criticize someone by name (two people, actually), you should have the common courtesy to reveal your own. Otherwise, your credibility, much less your intentions (and courage) are in question. I stick with what I've said: I've worked with Hal several times on completely different projects. He was always great. He always surprised me. I heartily recommend him.
And that's opium pipe, thank you very much. (Crack! How so declasse!)
Steve Patterson
I have to poke in as sound designer on the show and address issues brought up. First off, there are eight mics in use. These are flown from the grid and focused across the performance space. Are they obvious in the front rows? No, nor should any mic ever be. But the further back in the house one goes, the more obvious their presence becomes. The idea is to balance the sound evenly throughout, and the IFCC is essentially a 110-seat black box. As to using body mics? I wouldn't use them given the physicality of this show. The likelihood of their breaking on a nightly basis is a very real consideration, and it would be irresponsible to take that risk. If we rented, no one would ever rent to us again, and if we purchased, the sound budget alone would run into the thousands. Should I give one or two actors body mics and not the rest? No, because it would set them apart from the rest of the cast and ruin the point of the ensemble.
Does the cast do well considering unavoidable limitations? Absolutely. Stumptown has a very strong cast, and Kirk and Janet's direction takes advantage of all the actors' strengths. Sure, night by night there will be discrepancies. That's theatre. I performed and designed "Godspell" under the direction of original cast member Gilmer McCormick in 1997, and I think ours works better for a contemporary audience.
Please feel free to comment as you will.
Please - comments that attack, demean etc. will be deleted.
Let's raise the bar.
wow, it's amazing that a play about jesus and the book of matthew could spark such horrid behavior.
it's apparent that this play cannot muster any other
constructive dialogue. i, too , was extremely disappointed. the chaos overwhelmed everything for me. a play that grew out of an organic, student project needs a company of actors who really are attuned to each other. they need to listen, hear, feel, give, take and breathe together. this cast has not acomplished this. and for that reason words are lost, soloists are swallowed by ensemble and instuments. rhythm's of the entire show are lost in an abyss of actors and direction that don't really understand it. if this production were stronger, i think the dialogue on this blog would be more constructive . i don't feel it was stumptown's best effort, and certainlly not a "notch or two above cabaret"!! in my opinion that's like comparing apples to onions.
I returned from this evening's performance of Godspell, having mixed expectations based on reviews I have read in local media. It occurred to me by the song "Day By Day" that the Willamette Week's Ben Waterhouse has done a disservice both to this production and his paper's readership at large. Arguably a modern classic, Godspell is timeless in the way theatre should be: it speaks to the eternal human condition. It would be assumed that a reviewer would have at least basic knowledge of such a play before attending. The point that Mr. Waterhouse makes about this show being "raucous and frenetic," intending criticism, demonstrate his lack of knowledge of the show and its history. As a longtime fan, it did move me to tears at the end. It does surprise me that the Willamette Week would publish a review as naive as Mr. Waterhouse's. One hopes they would have hired someone with a background in theatre and its repertoire. My intent for this commentary is not to be negative, but for the sake of witnessing a powerful theatre experience, please discard the Willamette Week's review entirely.
I have seen fifteen productions of Godspell, and Mouser's interpretation is among the closest to the original script I have yet attended. Whether or not Tebelak intended it to be timeless, the play works and will continue to be effective as long as we "have ears to hear." It is adaptable to any size of performance space, and Stumptown Stages' choice of the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center couldn't be more perfect. The single quibble I have with the interpretation is the use of more stage lighting than called for in the script, yet Mouser's design still fits. The set dressing is sparse and effective, and costumes amply reflect the characters wearing them. By and large, the characters inhabiting this stage could very likely be met the next time you're on the Max or walking in downtown Portland. This is the core of Godspell: they are everyday people telling a timeless story.
From my experience with the play, the audience's reaction prove that Mouser's adaptation is exquisite. We laughed, we leaned in, we were engaged. We all know how the story ends, yet it still comes as a shock. I would have liked to hear more electric guitar and bass during the crucifixion, but the approach is spot-on. The first act is supposed to be fun and light-hearted, and the over-the-top silliness is exactly what makes the lessons work and get under the skin. A standout lesson was the "prodigal son," done gangland style. From Ben Van Diepen's opening accordion riff from "The Godfather" to Courtney Watson's fatted calf being shot by servant Rachel Blair, it'll make you laugh out of your seat. It's this degree of humor that makes the second act so powerful.
This was the first time I've been to one of Stumptown Stages' musicals, and if the quality is any indication of their past or future work, I'm buying season tickets. They truly are one of the leading lights of Portland theater.
I sat in about the sixth row, having arrived a little later than I usually do, on the second night of the run. The play started out with some promise—that opening number is always affecting—but rapidly degenerated into a miasma of unintelligible noise. Actually, "powerful" isn't a bad word to describe it. The only lyrics I could make out were solos by Judas and Jesus. Many of the choral numbers were drowned out by off-time hammering on plastic buckets. The "rapped" bit was embarrassing in a way that can only be achieved by white actors attempting to convey the anger of mid-90s gangsta rap but unable to deliver any more than a pale imitation of the Sugarhill Gang (why is there one of these terrible things in half the musicals I see lately?) Then someone started in on GOB Bluth's chicken dance from Arrested Development.
There were some good performances in this Godspell, and the finale was very moving. Ammon Morris was likable enough. I think I understand what Mouser was going for with the concept, but as a whole the production varied between frustratingly unintelligible and overtly annoying, and I know that I'm not the only person who thought so.
To my recollection, there were two instances of rapping, and only three choral numbers out of twelve used the buckets you speak of. It appeared to me the rapping was done for comic effect, not anger in any conceivable way. I think this is where you're missing the point of the play, Mr. Waterhouse. The first act is supposed to be fun and "childlike," if I recall my script well.
While I appreciate your responding, I think the purpose of the play has been lost on you. I've seen it performed in all sorts of ways, from heavy-handed, Wagnerian overkill, to having all characters (including Jesus) as very young children. Of course you're not the only one to have a fairly strong negative reaction. What I'd think Stumptown Stages would be happy about is that you had a strong reaction. Nothing kills a play so much as indifference. For the record, other than comments I've seen on Followpsot (which appears to be a public-bashing forum no matter what the performance), most people I've heard from love this show. You can tell it in their voice and the look in their eyes.
Then again, you and I went to different performances, so maybe things were less cohesive earlier in the run.
>Samantha
This back and forth is pretty usual. But I have to say that I am in total agreement with Mr Waterhouse. I can't believe someone counted the numbers with the buckets, but I had a huge, visceral reaction to the darn buckets. There were 2 plastic bucket/drums being banged on with drumsticks. And they were so annoying and ear threateningly loud, that it only took one number to put me off. Then they were banged on thru the whole curtain call. No, i understand, the need for play and childlike-ness etc, but it just didn't seem crafted well enough to serve the story. As for hearing people who "love the show", I have heard from many who were disappointed . This just must be one of those love it or hate it shows.
Samantha,
Even something done for comic affect can still be done bad and come off not funny. I have done this show and have seen many productions and I agree with Mr. Waterhouse. Trust me when I say that I make most of my money in this town being silly and over the top and this was, at times, to much for me. Please don't think I say these things as an actor who tried out and didn't get cast. I am currently in another show being directed by Mr. Mouser. Anyone I have talked to about this show agrees that it got out of control and that that does nothing to propel the story along or drive the point home. I do consider this musical touching and moving and so much chaos does not do it justice. Apperently you and I have talked to different people about this show.
As for the sound issue, I am not a big fan of body mics. and any sound person knows that hanging or area mics only amplify what ever sound the actors produce. It is up to the actor to produce the right sound. That where the musical director comes in. Floyd Collins had some beautiful musical moments to it and that was because the musical director knew how to pull these out of the actors. I know many of the cast of 'Godspell' and know they can do much better. The tone was hard and timbre was mushy. There was only loud with no other dynamics. Most of the warmth and emotion of the arrangements and lyrics was lost because of the musical direction. I am sure Hal Logan is a nice person who is "absolutely brilliant, innovative, very, very talented" and my have some great things to brag about, but this would not be one of them.
Although I have very little musical training, I have been blessed with a good ear and have picked up enough along the way to know the best way to handle that space. If I could figure it out, than why couldn't he.
Sorry if this bothers anyone.
Thanks,
James Wesley Peppers
James--
Thanks for the measured and thoughtful comments regarding this show...and for signing your name; your kind of write-up stands in contrast with the one I took exception to, which felt more like a personal attack (on a good guy).
Apparently the show has sound mix problems. I never experienced similar problems working with Hal, so I wanted to add my perspective. Every show is a different beast with different variables, and only the folks intimately involved in a production know exactly what's happened or what kind of challenges they've had to deal with. The rest of us just have to guess based on our experience.
Steve
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