I Get a Tap Out of Wallkill HS

I have another whirlwind weekend of theatre coming up, and I’ll be sure to be back here with information on what’s certain to be an entertaining and thought provoking couple of shows (including NYU Steinhart’s production of the Leonard Bernstein classic Candide and a new play by bourgeoning pioneers Five Flights Theatre Company). Still, I’d be remiss if I left out the show I saw last weekend at Wallkill High School in upstate New York.

Now, I don’t have any real connection to Wallkill or its students. I’m not from the town, I didn’t attend or work at the school and I did not know anyone in their production of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes. Well, that last part isn’t completely true: my brother, Paul, was the choreographer for this production, which is what brought me to Wallkill in the first place. But I did not feel any real responsibility to the players or staff going in.

Coming out, however, I had a huge grin on my face, the kind that comes from eating something really sticky and sweet or from seeing pure shameless musical comedy. For those of you who don’t know, Anything Goes is one of those pre-Oklahoma musicals that seldom pretends to have much of a plot, and even more seldom that the songs have anything to do with the plot (as a matter of fact, the only plot driven song in the show—an ode to Public Enemy #1—is hardly a minute long). It’s a vehicle for big voices, show-stopping numbers, great comic timing and tapping. Lots and lots of tapping.

To see these young performers dancing their feet off you’d never guess that all but a small handful had never taken a tap lesson before. Perhaps this is nothing more than a vain testament to the talent of the choreographer, my brother. But I truly think that there is little that could have gotten those kids tapping as they were (four of the girls did wings!) if the students themselves did not have the talent to learn and perfect those steps in the few months’ time they had to rehearse.

I must commend director Liz Bailey on her crisp and sophisticated staging of show, and for her educationally sound and experience-savvy policy of employing understudies for all of the major roles. The night I attended, the actress playing Reno Sweeney was too ill to perform. Elise Macur, her understudy, went on at the very last minute (I get the impression she was still zipping up as the overture played) and gave a solid performance in a demanding role made famous by the likes of Ethel Merman and Patti LuPone.

Additional kudos is owed to John Dunigan as Moonface Martin, Public Enemy #13, who managed to steal almost every scene he was in from everyone except for Abe Bliden who managed to hold his own in the role of Sir Evelyn Oakley. Crooners Sara Lobdell and Tyler Keeno, in the roles of the lovers hope Harcourt and Billy Crocker, leant just the right amount of gravity to their renditions of Porter favorites “It’s De-Lovely” and “All Through the Night.”

Good job, Wallkill HS. You’re the top!

Cutting 'Edge' at the Cherry Lane Theatre

Those of us who were in high school on September 11, 2001, remember what it was like to have a wrench thrown into our teenage years. We also remember what it was like to try to have a ‘normal’ high school experience through the code-red drills the rest of our adolescence.

The characters in Edgewise, a new play at the Cherry Lane theatre, do not remember when the world turned upside-down. They have been living through war, panic and air strikes their entire lives. For them, it’s just the world. The play, written by Eliza Clark, takes place in the near future and its characters—high school seniors in the play—are probably in seventh or eighth grade right now.

Marco (Justin Levine), Ruckus (David Gelles-Hurwitz) and Emma (Jessica Howell) all work at Doogle, a hamburger chain. Ruckus has just become manager—because his father is the owner. Marco arrives early, but falls asleep on the job. Emma arrives to find that nothing’s been done. Just an ordinary day in war-ridden New Jersey. That is, until an unidentified stranger in army boots covered in dirt and blood stumbles in and collapses. (We will later learn that this man—played by Jedadiah Schultz—is named Louis.)

So, what to do now? This is the question that playwright Eliza Clark poses to her audience. In war times who can you trust? How can you tell who is the enemy and who is not—especially when the radio just said two soldiers of the enemy are on the loose?

The play offers many different perspectives about war. Ruckus can’t wait to join up. Marco lost his father to a group of traitors. Emma’s mother has just been called up. Louis has seen more than he can bear. And more than that—Louis remembers the way things used to be. All of these stakes and emotions are guided skillfully by director Lila Neugebauer. The staging is daring, often giving us actors’ backs—a Grade A No-No that Neugebauer utilizes with grace and power.

The performances carry great weight and energy in the three protagonists who are diverse characters with a feeling of unified ensemble. Shultz brings the necessary gravity to the piece in his role as an older and wiser soldier who brings not only years, but real life experience. A surprising comic turn comes about half way through with the entrance of Eric Gilde as a seemingly innocent customer. The necessary relief of tension lasts only long enough for us to catch our breath before the action starts up again.

There are a few flaws, I’m sorry to say. They are minor in the grand scheme, but glaring in comparison to the excellence of the rest of the play. Far too often characters would disappear—frequently to the bathroom—for extended periods of time, allowing for expository one-on-one scenes for those still in view. Not a terrible convention if they weren’t gone so long. Too frequently the absences would be longer than one would assume they ought to be, convenient for them and for those still onstage, but odd, especially given the circumstances. The second comes in a specific moment when Emma, just after closely escaping a pair of scissors in her throat, offers her attacker an Advil. The exchange has no clear dramatic purpose and makes the audience wonder just how nice a person can actually be.

Still, the point of the play is vibrantly clear in this energetic and powerful production. Clark gives us a world that is much like our own. The daily lives of these teens are much like every day life now. But the climate is tense. She reminds us that life in a police state is not normal, even for people who grew up with it.

It is not the first play to discuss where we are in danger of heading if we’re not careful. The genius of the play lies in the constant reminder of war’s affect on civilian life. The main cast is comprised of a generation of kids who only know war. Perhaps not quite what Senator McCain had in mind when he proposed that we stay in Iraq for a hundred years.


For more information on Edgewise, go to www.CherryLaneTheatre.org.