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Floyd Collins Lucky Stiff Godspell
spring 2012 fall 2011 spring 2011
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Lucky Stiff is the wacky musical comedy from the award-winning writing duo of Ahrens and Flaherty (the creative team behind Ragtime, Once on This Island, and Seussical the Musical), based on the book “The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo” by Michael Butterworth.Our play begins in a dull and drab corner of England, where hapless shoe salesman Harry Witherspoon suddenly learns that he has inherited a fortune from his long-lost uncle Tony. He soon finds that there is just one little catch: in order to get the money, he has to take his uncle’s dead body on a last spree to Monte Carlo. Otherwise, all six million dollars goes to the Universal Dogs Home of Brooklyn….. and if there is one thing Harry hates -- it’s dogs!
A cast of unforgettable characters embroiled in a fast-paced, mad-cap adventure -- complete with slam
sources: Allison Olivia Choat, www.wikipedia.com,
www.guidetomusicaltheater.com, www.mtishows.com
www.guidetomusicaltheater.com, www.mtishows.com
Gutsy ‘Godspell’ staging deserves an Amen
By Daniel Gewertz | Sunday, April 10, 2011 | Boston Herald | Art & Culture
When “Godspell” premiered 40 years ago, it felt more like a communal celebration than a piece of commercial theater. It was a uniquely hopeful era when an open-hearted, hippie version of Christian idealism seemed socially relevant. In time, the “Day by Day” wide-eyed hope of “Godspell” seemed more like naive joke than innocent vision.
The new staging of “Godspell,” a single-weekend affair put on by a brand new company at a historic Harvard Square movie-house, doesn’t reinvent the play for our jaded times. It does something harder: It’s a rebirth. Though it’s not a perfect show, it feels like a minor theatrical miracle.
A brand-new company, Moonbox Productions, led by Sharman Altshuler, has, in just a few weeks time, chosen and corralled a charming young cast nearly as talented as they are enthusiastic. Working in the terribly limited confines of the Brattle Theater, the players often jump into the aisles with song.
The only weakness was the Brattle itself. The superb four-piece band was placed, by necessity, in the back of the theater. That made the music too loud, except in the balcony. The Brattle's seating isn't graded for theater, either.
Under director Allison Choat and choreographer Jennifer Condon, the cast of 10 has captured the wit, heart and physical expressiveness needed to turn "Godspell" into both savvy theatrical entertainment and a communal celebration.
The most experienced actor is, appropriately, the charming star, Davron Monroe, playing Jesus. This "Godspell" not only has a black Jesus, but it styles Jesus as a lithe, debonair song-and-dance man, as dashing with a soft-shoe as he is with a parable. The cast has too many strong performers to name, but, as both John the Baptist and Judas, Jim Jordan displays a sophisticated, sensational sense of humor.
Of Mice and Men
Lucky Stiff
