This is why we review so many shows at so many theatres throughout the Potomac region - to find these gems and spread the word. The Bay Theatre Company is offering a fabulous production of a surprisingly little known gem of musical theater in its seventy-seat theater. It captures the imagination, warms the heart and sends you out with that satisfied feeling that is uniqueto the magic of live musical theater. The orchestra accompaniment isn't live - its recorded. But they didn't have room for an orchestra in the hall anyways, and it is so well done that it is neither a distraction or a dissapointment. The cast is strong where it needs to be strong and the musical values are impressive. The piece, a musical that premiered in 2002 at the Lincoln Center in New York where it won the Outer Critics Circle award for outstanding Off-Broadway musical, is a warm hearted story of acceptance with a delightful score by Flaherty and Ahrens.
Storyline: In Dublin in the Spring of 1964, a solitary and reserved ticket taker on the local bus lives for the poetry of Oscar Wilde and the theater group at his Catholic Church where he directs the annual production. This year he wants to mount Wilde's Salome but he needs both a leading lady and a leading man. A new rider on the bus, a lovely young woman, seems just right for the part of Salome and the bus driver could well be the right man for the play. His sister, with whom he lives, sees in the woman a chance to get him wed at last althought he has eyes not for her but for the driver. With the inspiration ofWilde's own passions, he comes to know that all you can do in life is "Love The One You Love."
In 2002 the team of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (Once on This Island, Seussical) reunited with book writer Terrence McNally (Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Full Monty) with whom they had written what many feel is the last great musical of the twentieth century, Ragtime. Unlike that sprawling, multi-story masterpiece, however, this time they were working on a slender, tender story that required the lightest of touches and an underlying openness of spirit. One of the delightful things about Flaherty and Ahrens' work is that it always is such a good match for the story they are telling. The songs here are a match to the intimate scale of the story with a genuine touch of the Irish in the music and a lilt to the lyrics. McNally's book tells its story within the framework of a play being put on by the church theater group, which works very well for a small troupe like the Bay, and in telling the story, hits both the humor and the humanity inherent in the tale. It isn't difficult to believe that the work is from the pen of the man who wrote both Love! Valor! Compassion! and Frankie and Johnnie in the Claire de Lune.
Karl Kippola gives a sensitive performance in which his singing is as strong as his acting (or is it the other way around?) in the central role, and he is backed by some sterling support. The clear voice and youthful presence of Judson Davis is a good match for his bus driver. Gillian Shelly is refreshingly straight forward as his sister, capturing both her love and her frustration over her brother's life. She teams with Kim-Scott Miller for the comic "Books," one of the highlights of the show. Miller doubles as her suitor, the butcher who fancies himself the star of the church theater group, and as Oscar Wilde himself. Each of the members of the church group double in order to perform the piece with a cast of just ten. It had fifteen in its New York premiere.
The program gives no credit for set design, instead there is a credit for set consultation by nationally known Potomac region regular James Kronzer. However the process went, the result is a very effective use of space creating each of the locales required with just a few straight chairs, a table and a platform. The Bay performs in a space in the basement of an office building with no flies, no proscenium and no wings, but they manage here to create a world for the story that is inviting and effective. Irene Sitoski's lighting is amazingly evocative given the constraints she is working under. With very few lights and practically no space, she manages to create day and night atmospheres with bright spaces for big numbers and tight spotlights for introspective solos. The voices of the cast fill the space nicely with each solo delivered cleanly and just enough Irish brogue to be believable but not so much as to distract or keep the audience from understanding every word.
Music by Stephen Flaherty. Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. Book by Terrence McNally. Based on the film, screenplay by Barry Devlin. Directed by Lucinda Merry-Browne. Music direction by Anita O'Connor. Choreography by Jen Kohlhafer. Design: James Kronzer (set consultant) Carrie Gross (costumes) Jo Ann Gidos (properties) Irene Sitoski (lights) Tupper Stevens (stage manager). Cast: Debbie Barber-Eaton, Judson Davis, Kathryn Falcone, Zehra Fazal, Erin Kennedy, Karl Kippola, Kim-Scott Miller, Gillian Shelly, Gregory Stuart, Joe Thornhill.