Stratford Successes

Bill Carroll
Special to the Jewish News

T

he Stratford Shakespeare
Festival's two musicals this
season, the more serious
Cabaret and the more frivolous The
Music Man, are as different as the dis-
tance between their settings: Berlin,
Germany, and River City, Iowa.
But the productions are the same
in other respects, with ingenious and
innovative staging, directing and cho-
reography. Amanda Dehnert helms
the more Jewish-themed Cabaret, and
Jewish director Susan Schulman heads
up The Music Man, which she calls
"America's first rap musical."
In the darkly inventive Cabaret,
the creepy Kit Kat Club emcee (Bruce
Dow) — who slithers in and out of
almost every scene — opens the show
with "Wilkommen," followed by the
entrance of the other actors, squashed
together in a large cage. Throughout
the show, actors push or wheel their
own scenery on stage while recit-
ing their lines, and some sit on stage
watching others perform.
In The Music Man's opening scene, a
rhythmic ensemble of salesmen con-
vert their sample cases into
train seats and sing about
their wares while lurching
back and forth to simulate
a train ride into town.
Cabaret, by Jewish songwrit-
ers John Kander and the late Fred
Ebb, describes the rise of Nazism
and accompanying anti-Semitism
in Berlin's pre-Hitler era and is told
through the eyes of Cliff Bradshaw
(Sean Arbuckle), an American writer
who comes to Berlin seeking inspira-
tion. He meets Ernst Ludwig (Cory
O'Brien), a budding Nazi, and has a
love affair with the perky club singer
Sally Bowles (Trish Lindstrom). Fine
support is provided by Nora McLellan
as Fraulein Schneider, Bradshaw's
landlady, who's in love with Jewish
grocer Herr Schultz (Frank Moore).

A Stratford icon, actor
Christopher Plummer, will do
a special one-hour reading
of Canadian Jewish author
Mordecai Richler's classic
children's story (for children
aged 8 and up) Jacob Two-Two
11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 23, at the
festival's Avon Theatre. Plummer
recorded the story in the late
1980s but has never done it live.
Jacob is a little boy who is
forced to say everything twice to
be heard above his older broth-
ers and sisters; when he finds
himself imprisoned by the dread-
ed Hooded Fang, he learns that
small does not mean helpless.
Tickets: $15-$20 for adults,
$8-$12 for children. The perfor-
mance is a benefit to fund a visit
to Stratford by needy students.
(800) 567-1600.

The Music Man is a once-in-a-career
masterpiece that was saved by Jewish
composer Frank Loesser (Guys and
Dolls), who was Meredith Willson's
mentor. Loesser urged Willson
to do a show about his early
life in Iowa, then pushed him
for completion when Willson
became exasperated after
writing almost 50 drafts and 40 songs
over four years; 18 hit songs remained.
Phony Professor Harold Hill
(Jonathan Goad) sells musical
instruments to town folk, but is
challenged by Marian the Librarian
(Leah Oster, who has a superb voice).
Christopher Van Hagen, 10, gets
the biggest applause as her lisping
brother, Winthrop, singing "Gary,
Indiana:' More great support comes
from the blustery Mayor Shinn (Lee
MacDougall); his dippy wife, Eulalie
(Fiona Reid); and wardrobe manager
Anne Moore. ❑

PROCEEDS FROM OPENING NIGHT BENEFIT GILDA'S CLUB METRO DETROIT

Sept 7

Wed/Thurs: 8 p.m. - $15 Fri: 9 p.m.- $20 Sat: 8 p.m. & 10 p.m. - $20
Sun: 4 p.m. & 8 p.m.- $15

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Cabaret continues through Oct. 25 and The Music Man through Nov.1,
at Stratford's Avon Theatre. $20-$109; some discounts available. (800)
567-1600 or www.stratfordshakespearefestival.com .

July 10 200$

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