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Running time 1:45 - no intermission
An introspective musical with touches of fantasy
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Storyline: When show-music writer William Finn survived treatment for a potentially fatal brain abnormality, he wrote a musical about a show-music writer who survived treatment for a potentially fatal brain abnormality. With abundant good humor the story which could have been about death becomes a positively joyful life-affirming testament with half a dozen intriguing characters.

Music and lyrics by William Finn. Book by William Finn and James Lapine. Directed by Jeffrey R. Breslow. Choreographed by Shannon Khatcheressian. Music direction by David Rohde. Design: Matt Karner and Dave Kaysen (set) Eric Scerbo (costumes) Kat Brais (hair and makeup) Malca Giblin (properties) Kevin King (lights) Nick Upchurch (sound) Patty Hackett (stage manager). Cast: Tim Adams, Lisa Anne Bailey, Andy Izquierdo, Randall Jones, Ryan Khatcheressian,  Duane Monahan, David M. Mortetti, Katie Pond, Karissa Swanigan, Susanna Todd. Musicians: Dana Gardner, Virginia Gardner, Lora Katz, Scott Richards, David Rohde, Bob Weber.

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Running time 2:45 - one intermission
An earnest performance of a musical masterpiece
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Storyline: An acknowledged masterwork of the musical theater, this "musical thriller" based on a nineteenth-century legend is a unique mixture of melodrama, macabre humor and psychological insight telling the story of a London barber who seeks vengeance for injustices done to him, his wife and their daughter. The revenge goes awry, driving him farther and farther from sanity as he teams up with the ditsy proprietress of a pie shop who sees in the remains of his victims fresh supplies for her meat pies.

Nansel's singing is the strength of the production, but his acting in this very demanding role is creditable as well. He is particularly good at communicating the brooding intensity of Sweeney's instability as the story begins, and then his ever deepening despair. He skips at least one stage of transition, however, when the object of his vengeance escapes his clutches the first time he gets his hands on his throat. Still, the overall descent ever deeper into madness is very well shown. Linda Wells sings the melodies of his counterpart in madness, the pie baker who would find unexpected sources for her supplies. She misses the humor in some of the lyrics however, especially in the early going. By the time of the second act's "By The Sea" she's on track with the humor. Director Patricia Woolsey gives her an assist in this scene with a nifty set of props from saw to hatchet.

With a score that is sung in opera houses as well as in traditional musical theater houses, it can be no surprise that strong voices are required in a large number of roles. The supporting cast here seems to have been selected for vocal prowess and a number of them impress. In addition to Sam Ludwig as the young shill driven crazy by his experiences with the even crazier principals, there are very well sung contributions from a number of notables. Ryan Manning is so smooth as the sailor who once saved Sweeney's life. Laura Wehrmerer has a purity as she sings the lovely material of Sweeney's daughter who so entrances the sailor. Daniel Yeagley can sound demonic as the judge, whose lust initiated the terrors that escalate so dramatically. Malinda Ellerman's hovering soprano establishes the mood of a number of scenes as the poor beggar woman who - well, lets not give it all away.

The greatest hurdle the production faces is the self-imposed difficulty of its set design. The script features scenes in a large number of locations and some of these locations require complicated arrangements. Michael Nansel is credited with scenic design as well as starring as Sweeney. He makes a great deal less of a contribution in this effort, leaving director Patricia Woolsey the unfortunate task of trying to create some sense of immediacy in scenes played at the rear of the stage on an elevated platform that leaves cast members nearly scraping the ceiling. Kensington performs in a former armory that leaves the audience too far removed from the stage to accept such a design, especially when some of the scenes played out at such distance are the ones requiring the most intense suspense. The design also relegates the eight-member orchestra to the wings where their sound is muffled before reaching the ears of the audience.

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by Hugh Wheeler based on the play by Christopher Bond. Directed and choreographed by Patricia Woolsey. Music direction by Rosemary Dyer. Fight choreography by Jim Frank. Design: Michael Nansel (set) , Jenna Ballard, Christine Charboneau and George Lucas (set painting design) Jenna Ballard (properties and set decoration) Eric Scerbo (costumes) Malca Giblin (makeup and hair) Michael Nansel and Kevin Boyce (special effects) Kevin Boyce (lights) Kevin Garrett (sound) Ernie Achenbach (photography) Stefanie Nelson (stage manager). Cast: Bill Brown, Eric Burgan, Nina Clemente or Claire Borthwick, Malinda Ellerman, Aaron Gage, Sarah Hirschman, Cathy Johnston, Harv Lester, Sam Ludwig, Ryan Manning, Michael Nansel, Renée Rabben, James Raby, Erica Suzanne Reinsch, Michael Schlesinger, Lora Sullivan, Laurie Tvedt, Laura Wehrmeyer, Linda Wells, Darryl Yeagley Stephen Yednock.

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Running time 1:35 - no intermission
t A  Potomac Stages Pick as a fascinating
 musical dream sequence
 v Includes some sexual material
Click here to buy the Complete works of Poe

Storyline: The writings of Edgar Allan Poe form the basis for a biographical sketch of the troubled poet's life as he pursues prostitutes, seduces and marries a thirteen year old and suffers the visions of both his and her mother in an extended dream sequence set to a haunting musical score.

Composer Matt Conner has produced a score of remarkable consistency. The melodies rise and fall with the rhythm of a heartbeat - a heartfelt and at times heartsick beat that seems so right for the works of Poe. The book by Grace Barnes keeps the ruminations of a deranged mind clear to the audience. There's rarely a point where you don't know just what is going on, even when what is going on isn't particularly sensible. The songs are more than musicalizations of Poe's poems. They constitute a score - interrelated and well integrated into the story being told.

The six most important women in Poe's life are acted/sung by a cast with laudable talents who do very good work. But it is the lone male on the stage who dominates the evening. Director/star Evan Hoffmann begins the evening crouched in a tight spotlight in the delirium of Poe's final moments and rises to each and every challenge the script and score throws at him. He's sad. He's believable. He's impressive and imposing all at once, while slowly deteriorating in Poe's final hours. While his voce seems strained by earlier performances, he rises time and again to hit important notes and carry the music to its peak and the story to its conclusion. He also makes Poe a more understandable and even likeable individual than did Daniel Cooney at Signature. The difference is crucial to the way the character and thus the play about him captures the audience's sympathy.

The physical design of the show is nothing less than superb. A stage raked off to infinity is hedged in by scrim panels that, when lit from behind, reveal the specters of Poe's lost loves. It all comes together at a central portal shaped like a coffin. With Kevin Boyce's atmospheric lighting and Latricia Reichman's spot-on period costumes, the world of Poe is rendered in early-Victorian touches that seem just right.

Music by Matt Conner. Lyrics by Edgar Allan Poe. Book by Grace Barnes. Directed by Evan Hoffman. Music Direction by John LaBonbard. Conducted by Jenny Cartney. Design: Evan Hoffman and Kevin Boyce (set) Latricia Reichman (costumes) Jenna Ballard (properties) Jaclyn Young (hair and makeup) Kevin Boyce (lights) Kevin Garrett (sound) Cynthia Zarcone (photography) Cynthia Zarcone (stage manager). Cast: Caroline Angell, Brianne Cobuzzi, Gilly Conklin, Evan Hoffmann, Margo Seibert, Karissa Swanigan, Jaclyn Young.

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Running time 2:15 – one hilarious intermission
Community theater premiere of this fun filled show
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Storyline: In a time when draught has made private toilets unthinkable and a mega-corporation has a monopoly on pay toilets, a group of underprivileged citizens stage a revolution. They take the evil monopolist's naive daughter hostage, but she ends up as their leader when she recognizes the people's "right to pee."

The main disappointment at the Kensington Armory is the performance space. While amplified, sound quality was poor, and it can take a significant amount of time to train the ear to interpret the words, especially if the tunes are unfamiliar. A lot of over acting also comes with this production, but that is almost to be expected due to the nature of Urinetown. These are the types of problems faced by many community theaters, and the KAT troupe does well adapting to their environment and providing a lot of laughs, though some almost seem to be “inside” jokes shared by the Kensington community.

The makeup might be a little strong for the lighting, and the costumes, while well designed, also seem a little overboard. At times it almost feels like the entire production is as big a joke for the cast on stage as it is entertainment for the audience. It is good to see a company that enjoys their work so much, however a little restraint would go a long way into taking the show from community level to a more polished professional feeling production. This is often a fault of any community show, to make up for a lack of budget they can tend to overuse or overshadow the good features they do have. Urinetown by its nature is overboard and should be played without extra exaggeration.

This production does have a lot going for it. Michael Nansel and Jaclyn Young do well together as Officer Lockstock and Little Sally, sharing jokes about musical theater and their current situation, and Hannah Willman can be forgiven for the ditzy way she plays Hope Cladwell: the part is written that way and needs little extra help, due to the strength of her voice and the pleasure she brings to the stage. The entire company obviously put in extra hours to achieve the success with their dance numbers, credit for which goes to Thalia Kirimlis for achieving a level which, while not outstanding, is far beyond that normally seen from a community company.

Music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann. Book and lyrics by Greg Kotis. Directed by Craig Pettinati. Choreographed by Thalia Kirimlis. Musical direction by Josh Tuckman.  Design: Matt Karner (set) Kevin Boyce (lights) Kevin Garrett (sound) Eric Scerba and Jaclyn Young (photography) Jenna Ballard (stage manager). Principal cast: Jeff Breslow, Blakeman Brophy, Albert Cola, Gilly Conklin, Malinda Ellerman, Mark Hamberger, Andy Izquierdo, Casey Jones, John Patrick Loughney, Ryan Manning, Katie McManus, Duane Monahan, Michael Nansel, Sam Nystrom, Erica Suzanne Reinsch, Liz Sabin,      Hannah Willman, Jaclyn Young.

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Reviewed March 12
Running time 1:45 - no intermission
A sometimes searing, sometimes humorous portrayal of the misfits who tried to kill Presidents
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Storyline: The stories of the people who assassinated or attempted to assassinate Presidents from Abraham Lincoln through Ronald Reagan, but the focus is on the two most famous, John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald. Much of it is true to the historical record but it culminates in a fascinatingly constructed fantasy scene in which Booth leads the spirits of the assassins in an effort to convince Oswald to assassinate Kennedy, bringing new meaning to the term “JFK assassination conspiracy.”

With the concentration on the connection in the American psyche between the Lincoln and Kennedy assassinations, the roles of Booth and Oswald are the critical lynchpins of a successful production. Here Diego Prieto, with his strong stage presence, anchors the entire piece as Booth, and Andy Izquierdo creates a nice contrast by giving Oswald a touching fragility. The full cast works together well for the larger ensemble numbers such as "Another National Anthem" and "Something Just Broke" which was added after the show's off-Broadway premiere.

Casey Jones is particularly impressive in the role of Sam Byck who tried to commandeer an airplane in order to crash it into the White House to assassinate Richard Nixon. He has no song of his own but he makes the two monologues based on Byck's tape recorded messages to Nixon and Leonard Bernstein equal in dramatic weight to the sung stories of assassins such as Leon Czolgosz who shot William McKinley or Charles Guiteau who shot James Garfield. Jeff Bresslow does a particularly fine job with the song "I Am Going To The Lordy" based on the poem Guiteau wrote the morning of his execution. Among the more contemporary characters, Sam Ludwig is very good as John Hinckley in his duet with Jaclyn Young as "Squeaky" Fromme "Unworthy of Your Love."

Assassins isn't exactly a sung-through musical, but it is so full of music with ten extended songs in its one act that the quality of the singing and the backing of the orchestra is crucial. If the audience is distracted by not-quite-true notes or missed rhythms, there isn't much time to recover momentum. No such distractions occur here. All the vocals are delivered with a fine clarity of enunciation, which is important in any Sondheim song where the lyrics are so finely polished. There is a solid sound from the on-stage orchestra. Of special note is the work of whichever reed player who handles the saxophone behind Ludwig and Young's duet, "Unworthy of Your Love." 

Book by John Weidman. Lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim. Directed by Craig Pettinati. Music direction by Stuart Y. Weich. Choreography by Thalia Kirimlis. Design: Matt Karner (set) Eric Scerbo (costumes) Malca Giblin (makeup and hair) Kevin Boyce (lights) Kevin Garrett (sound) Ernie Achenbach (photography) Jenna Ballard (stage manager). Cast: Jeff Breslow, Robin Covington, Nicole Frattaroli, Stephen Hock, Andy Izquierdo, Casey Jones, Laura Anne Knockenhauer, Sam Ludwig, Shannon Elesa Miller, Brandon Mitchell, Michael Nansel, Kevin O'Reilly, Diego Prieto, Ryan Michael Reynolds, Jack Scheer, Andrea Spitz, Stephen P. Yednock, Jaclyn Young.

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Reviewed December 4
Running time 1:40 - one intermission
Performances at the Gaithersburg Arts Barn
Click here to buy the script

Storyline: At age twenty-five songwriter Jason Robert Brown pulled together sixteen of the songs he had written for various projects (shows, cabaret, concerts) and director Daisy Prince found a common theme to make a show of the pieces. The theme is the moment of decision, the point at which you transition from the old to the new. The change may be geographical, emotional, professional or marital but things are different than they were before.  The result is neither musical play nor revue, it is closer to a theatrical song cycle, a very theatrical song cycle.

Brown writes intensely personal, highly dramatic songs. They range from country-ish story songs to gospel tinged wails and from pop colored romps to solo pieces of either concentrated personal revelation or slightly off beat comedy. There’s a pregnant woman’s expression of wonder at creation, the story of a would-be basketball star aching to escape the dead-end world of failure, the lament of a couple who broke up only to find their separate ways led nowhere, and even the hopes and fears for the future that weigh heavily on the explorers sailing to find a new world in 1492 and the flag maker creating the banner for a new nation in 1775. Each song is musically distinctive and dramatically effective.

Under director Diego Prieto the theme of "the moment of decision" is nowhere apparent, making the opening lines ("Its about one moment. The moment before it all becomes clear. That one moment you start to believe there's nothing to fear.") meaningless pretty poetry rather than a statement of revelation. He moves his cast around the stage in the kind of "use all the ice" blocking that makes points in figure skating but seems artificial and mechanical in a theater.

The cast members all bring talents to the session but the intense intimacy of this lovely small theater and the proximity of the small stage tends to expose their weaknesses as well. Ryan Manning makes great eye contact with the audience space but has a tendency to go flat. Malinda Lee Ellerman can really hit the notes and she handles patter lyrics very well, but at least as directed, could get little of the humor out of "Just One Step" because she never seemed to look down from the ledge on which she was supposed to be singing. Similarly, Patti Papworth sells the song but not the humor in the comedy number "Surabaya Santa," which, on the night we attended, didn't get one laugh. She was marvelous, however, on "Stars and Moon" as was Karissa Swanigan on the moving "Christmas Lullaby." James Gardiner has clean, clear enunciation but tends to switch into falsetto on the higher notes. Chris Wilson really communicates the meaning of his lyrics but he, too, has difficulty reaching the high notes. As an ensemble, the glances between them seem directed, the exchanges of smiles seem awkward and the lyrics that constitute their conversations seem recited rather than spontaneous. As a result, the evening has a number of good moments but it never comes together as more than just a series of songs, earnestly delivered.

Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. Directed by Diego Prieto. Musical direction by John La Bombard.  Design: Diego Prieto and Andrew Conway (set and lights) Lacey Finkner (stage manager). Cast: Malinda Lee Ellerman, James Gardiner, Ryan Manning, Patti Papworth, Karissa Swanigan, Christopher Wilson.

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Reviewed May 1
Running time 1 hour 30 minutes

Storyline: In this autobiographical musical, Jonathan Larson is approaching his thirtieth birthday and hasn't yet made his mark in musical theater. He hears the biological clock of the youth culture ("never trust anybody over thirty") ticking away in his brain as he approaches that fateful birthday, but he's also about to have a workshop performance of his first musical. To make the time even more momentous, his girlfriend wants to move out of New York and his best friend is diagnosed with AIDS.

The show is a sort of posthumous autobiography. Larson wrote most of the material when he was, himself, an aspiring theater composer approaching his thirtieth birthday without having had any success. He sang the material in what he called a rock-monologue as a single in clubs in New York. Later, he put it away while he concentrated on writing the show that made his reputation - the rock musical Rent which opened on Broadway in 1996 and is still playing after more than 3,000 performances. It earned him the Tony Award for Best Musical and Best Score and then the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Larson didn't live to see the success, however. He died just before Rent opened. In 2001,Victoria Leacock, Robyn Goodment and Scott Schwartz took Larson's "rock monologue" and converted it into the three-performer, one act piece it is today.

Will Hayden, who has extensive credits in Potomac Region community theater groups, makes his Kensington Arts Theatre debut as Jonathan. His vocals are strong and clean, giving equal weight to the rock-influenced melodies that Jonathan Larson specialized in and the simple but effective lyrics that carry a good deal of the storytelling duties of the show. He is thoroughly at ease on the small stage at the Kensington Town Center. This is not so for Amy K Cropper who plays all the supporting female roles nor for Aaron Reeder who handles all the male ones. Cropper is a hoot, however, in the tongue-tripping duet with Hayden, "Therapy," and Reeder seems to loose himself in the lyrics of "Real Life."

The excellent set puts the piano/organ/guitar/percussion group on stage behind strategically placed windows that work as baffles to help in the balance between band and vocals while each of the three cast members are fully miked in the search for a contemporary rock feel. However, the three seem to have selected different mikes or mounts resulting in a difference of audio quality between them that hinders the blend in the duets and trios. This, too, may improve as the run continues.

Music, lyrics and book by Jonathan Larson. Directed by Craig Pettinati. Music Direction by Doe B. Kim. Choreography by Paula Phipps.  Design: Matt Karner (set and lights) Elizabeth French (properties) Meredith Harmon (makeup, hair) Kirk Andersen (sound)  Craig Pettinati (costumes). Cast: Amy K. Cropper,  Will Hayden, Aaron Reeder.

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Reviewed March 7
Running time 1 hour 50 minutes
t Potomac Stages Pick

Storyline: At age twenty-five songwriter Jason Robert Brown pulled together sixteen of the songs he had written for various projects (shows, cabaret, concerts) and director Daisy Prince found a common theme to make a show of the pieces. The theme is the moment of decision, the point at which you transition from the old to the new. The change may be geographical, emotional, professional or marital but things are different than they were before.  The result is neither musical play nor revue, it is closer to a theatrical song cycle, a very theatrical song cycle.

Brown writes intensely personal, highly dramatic songs. They range from country-ish story songs to gospel tinged wails and from pop colored romps to solo pieces of either concentrated personal revelation or slightly off beat comedy. There’s a pregnant woman’s expression of wonder at creation, the story of a would-be basketball star aching to escape the dead-end world of failure, the lament of a couple who broke up only to find their separate ways led nowhere, and even the hopes and fears for the future that weigh heavily on the explorers sailing to find a new world in 1492 and the flagmaker creating the banner for a new nation in 1775. Each song is musically distinctive and dramatically effective.

The problem of coming up with a single set on which to stage such diverse scenes seems to have stimulated designers Emi Nakatsagawa and Jordan S. Potash. They came up with a New York-ish skyline roof top of platforms that can change with a few steps of the cast or swing of a hinge. Director Michael Pranikoff uses this flexibility well as he moves his cast about to create combinations or to separate a solo. Danika Kirstin Ingle has two major opportunities and pulls off one of them marvelously. Her chair routine for the full cast is big, bold and creative. Her routine for the basketball number, however, couldn’t mask the lack of comfort among the cast with even the small balls they were given since they would be less prone to drops.

That cast is a treasure trove of probable future musical theater notables. The three women bring strong, soaring voices to solo work and the ability to blend smoothly for larger numbers. CJ Allyn delivers the folk flavored cabaret number “Stars and the Moon” with the clarity of an early Joan Baez while Michelle Simon makes “I’m Not Afraid of Anything” a personal revelation. Wendy Baird sells the two big darkly comedic cabaret numbers – a jilted wife on a ledge threatening to take “Just One Step” to end it all and the fed up wife of that seasonal slob Santa. The three men raise their voices to the rafters as well. Steven Block anchors the shows sound with his gospel wail and Michael Hadary blending marvelously with Allyn on the breaking up was a mistake song “I’d Give It All For You.” Jason Misner seemed to have brought his fan club from his youth theater Bound4Broadway and they went wild with real justification when he popped open a beer at the reference to opening the floodgates in “She Cries” and again when he delivered the entire hyper-dramatic raving of “King of the World” in a straight jacket. Backing the cast was the marvelously solid sound of Music Director Willis Rosenfeld on lead keyboard with his brother Joe on drums. All of this, with the vocals coming through their father Marty Rosenfeld’s sound system created an impressive dynamic impact.

Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. Conceived by Daisy Prince. Directed by Michael Pranikoff. Music Direction by Willis Rosenfeld. Choreographed by Danika Kirstin Ingle. Design: Emi Nakatsagawa and Jordan S. Potash (set) Jamie Blake (properties) Joe Connor (lights) Marty Rosenfeld (sound) Michael Dumlao (photography) Tanya Howard (stage manager). Cast: CJ Allyn, Wendy Baird, Steven Block, Michael Hadary, Jason Misner, Michelle Simon.

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Reviewed November 1, 2002
Running time 2 hours 40 minutes

Music by Henry Kreiger. Book and Lyrics Bill Russell. Directed by Craig Pettinati. Choreographed by Anita Durall Anderson. Artistic/Vocal Direction by Victor Vail. Music Direction by Diego Prieto. Design: Craig Pettinati and Victor Vail (set) Sandy Eggleston, APril Biechler and Tricia Weiler (costumes) Joe Connor (lights) Kirk Andersen (sound). Cast: Katie Walsh, Cynthia E. Russel, Christopher Furry, Mtthew A. Anderson, Aaron Reeder, Diego Prieto.