Fresh Loaf

HAND OUTS: Followers beg Jesus (Darius de Haas, center) for healing.

Devout apostles of musical theater should flock to the Alliance Theatre for Jesus Christ Superstar GOSPEL as soon as possible. Watching Darius de Haas’ performance as Jesus, particularly his solo of “Gethsemane,” offers such breathtaking thrills, it’s like being present at the creation.

“Gethsemane” finds Jesus on the eve of his execution, confronting God with fear and rage: “Take this cup away from me.” Anxiety, indignation and other emotions seem to ripple across his features, while he raises a voice that seems capable of shaking heaven’s foundations. It may be a miracle if de Haas can sustain the song’s power throughout the show’s entire run, providing justification to make haste to the Alliance. (more…)

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HUSTLE AND FLOW: Bryan Brendle (left) and Chris Kayser in 'Mauritius'

Actor’s Express’s twisty thriller Mauritius turns on a question of authenticity: Is a pair of rare stamps really worth a seven-figure payout? Theresa Rebeck’s play explores issues of forgery and perceived value, questions that could be applied to Mauritius itself, which initially resembles a facsimile of American Buffalo.

David Mamet’s 1975 classic depicts a trio of losers in a hole-in-the-wall junk shop planning a score around a rare coin. For a while, Mauritius comes across as a Mamet-wannabe with women added to the mix. The play proves truly worthy in its second act, as if the real thing were only disguised as a fake. (more…)

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OVER MY DEAD BODY: Don Finney as Major Powell (left) and Daniel May as Evelyn Farrant

During the most suspenseful moments of Aurora Theatre’s comedy/thriller Corpse!, the audience wonders whether Daniel May will catch himself red-handed.

In Gerald Moon’s play, May plays feuding twins living in London in 1936. Flamboyant Evelyn, an unemployed actor, gets by as a con artist more than a stage artist, while his icy brother Rupert enjoys a huge fortune. Evelyn enlists Major Powell (Don Finney), a petty criminal, in a complex scheme against his brother to coincide with King Edward’s VII’s radio broadcast of his abdication. Tension arises when things go wrong and Evelyn and Rupert appear to be on the verge of confronting each other onstage at least once.

Which is impossible, of course, since May can’t play both roles silmultaneously before our very eyes, and we know it. May creates such distinctly entertaining characterizations, and we grow so engrossed in the first-act plotting, that we half-expect the Aurora production to subvert the laws of physics.

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Earlier this year, 7 Stages‘ first production of Scott Turner Schofield’s one-man show Becoming a Man in 127 Easy Steps sold out two performances on Super Bowl Sunday. That impressive statistic begs the question, what kind of man puts on performance art during the Super Bowl, anyway?

Schofield’s show provides answers that are at once engaging and incomplete. “Becoming” a man may be more of a journey for Schofield than for most guys, as he happens to be an actor, writer and female-to-male transgender person (not necessarily in that order). Becoming a Man offers a playful, kaleidoscopic evening of Schofield’s observations, memories and even some physical acrobatics that correspond to Schofield’s balancing act as he transitions from one gender to the other.

Directed by Steve Bailey, Becoming a Man may be the least visually static one-person show I’ve ever seen. The audience enters the small Back Stage space at 7 Stages to find swaths of white and red fabric dangling in the performance area. We hear Schofield’s recorded voice, see projections of embryonic ultrasound footage and realize that all along, Schofield has been hanging in a fetal position, hidden inside the red fabric. He shifts within the material, partially emerges and “swims” in suspension, while meditating on the in utero causes of transgender issues.

Read the rest of this article here.

(Photo by Elliat Graney-Sauke)

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