Musicals & Shakespeare: 5 ideas for Cape Cod theater shows to watch this week
The summer blitz is over, and some of the outdoor theater stages taken down, but that only means the fall theater season on Cape Cod has just gotten started.
Three shows have already been deemed worth seeking out by our reviewers: "The Last Five Years," an unconventional musical about the start and finish of a couple's romance, by Eventide Theatre Company in Dennis; "Nunsense," a musical with singing and dancing nuns, by the Academy of Performing Arts in Orleans; and the return of Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre's hit revue that offers a night of music by Linda Ronstadt and a tour through her career.
Also new this week is a face and voice familiar to Broadway audiences and Sirius XM radio listeners, and a new perspective on a Shakespeare classic. Take a look and plan your entertainment (and check all COVID-19 requirements):
Review: “The Last Five Years”
Written by: Jason Robert Brown, presented by Eventide Theatre Company
What it’s about: The through-sung musical recounts the giddy joy and glow, then disillusionment and pain of a failed romantic relationship in two chronological directions. Writer Jamie starts from the optimism of love beginning and actress Cathy looks back from the sadness and anger of its end.
See it or not? Director Steve Ross and musical director Kevin Quill create a beautifully rendered, poignant piece that is unconventional and complicated in both storytelling and musical style. Engaging actors Beau Jackett and Rebecca Riley are in top form, though listeners would better enjoy their often fast-paced lyrics if the talented musicians pulled back on volume.
Highlight of the show: Brown is remarkable in how he can tell an entire complex story in the space of a song, and a top example is “The Schmuel Song,” a charming fable wonderfully performed by a confident Jackett.
Fun fact: Brown based the story on his own failed relationship, which seems unexpected considering Jamie ends up being the least sympathetic. Riley and Jackett’s performances are so nuanced that audience loyalties and perspectives shift, but Jamie is ultimately less likable.
Worth noting: While knowing about the dueling chronologies is key going in, the timeline gets somewhat muddled in the middle — perhaps as two different memories of a painful past do.
One more thing: During the 19 months since Eventide last offered live shows, several leading lights of Cape Cod theater have died. Ross dedicated the opening-night show to two of the much-missed: Garry Mitchell and Tim Hystad.
If you go: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 26 at the Dennis Union Church, 713 Main St. Tickets: eventidearts.org. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination and masks required.
Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll
Review: 'MUCH ADO/about nothing'
Adapted from: Shakespeare's play by director Andy Arden-Reese for a joint presentation by Cape Rep Theatre and ÁSA Theatre
What it’s about: This Shakespeare comedy about love and deception affecting two couples is explored from a new, contemporary perspective when the story is guided by heroine Hero (Leanne McLaughlin). She controls the action here rather than, as the program notes typically happen, being “manipulated and commodified by the societal structure that governs the play -- a structure that both objectifies and nullifies women.”
See it or not? The performances and staging are winning, compelling and sometimes very funny, and the fresh take on masculine power is welcome and thought-provoking.
Highlight of the show: Versatile and hugely expressive J M Pina and Ari Leware a dream team as bantering lovers Beatrice and Benedict, then, with a quick character switch, the bumbling law officers Dogberry and Verges.
Fun fact: ASA Theatre stands for “relentless Authenticity, absolute Specificity, reckless Abandon” — the tenets used by the collaborative theater lab to break convention and present a theater piece in an unexpected way.
Worth noting: Arden-Reese’s staging/choreography is inventive throughout, but, for very different reasons, highlights are a masquerade party and a two-sided scene where Beatrice and Benedict are made to overhear false comments about the other’s interest in romance.
One more thing: While the show could be enjoyed by the uninitiated, advanced knowledge of the original play and ASA Theatre’s intent would vastly increase appreciation of the plot/character changes.
If you go: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 15-18 and 2 p.m. Sept. 19 at Cape Rep’s Outdoor Theatre, 3299 Route 6A, Brewster. Tickets: $25; 508-896-1888 or www.caperep.org. Masks are required for those not vaccinated against COVID-19.
Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll
Review: ‘Nunsense’
Written by: Dan Goggin (book, music and lyrics), presented by the Academy of Performing Arts
What it's about: If you went to Catholic school back in the days of Latin Mass and nuns in voluminous black and white habits, then you know them. There’s the (supposedly) stern Mother Superior, the novices full of vinegar, and the classroom queens you always suspected would rather be under a spotlight. Here they are in all their penguin-garbed glory for this ever-popular spoof of life behind the convent walls. The show is a fun- and music-filled romp through life at Mount St. Helen’s School (that’s the first pun), staged as a show the singing sisters are performing to earn a little extra green.
Highlight of the show: It’s the dance numbers. There’s a tap number that’s full of energy and fun. (Picture five nuns you knew back at school, in full uniform and tapping their way across a stage.) It’s especially fun to watch lively Alyssa Freeman (Sister Mary Leo) tap and toe-dance through various numbers.
Fun fact: Goggin developed the concept as a line of greeting cards. Then he developed a cabaret-style show and eventually the full-length musical
Worth noting: There are fun bits of audience participation. It’s easy to pick out the Catholics in the audience; they stand to answer Jen Almeida’s (Sister Amnesia’s) questions.
One more thing: This is the first musical on the venerable Academy stage since August 2019, and it's good to hear music there again.
If you go: 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 19 at the Academy Playhouse, 120 Main St. Orleans; $24 adults, $15 children; 508-202-1952; www.academyplayhouse.org. Masks and distancing are required in the theater.
Sue Mellen
Review: 'Silver Threads'
The show: "Silver Threads: A Rockin’ Tribute to Linda Ronstadt," conceived by Sonia Schonning and Marcia Wytrwal
What it's about: This is a musical tour de force through the long — and surprisingly diverse — career of one of the all-time greats of rock music. Cape-based female vocalists Wytrwal, Sonia Schonning and Sara Sneed take turns as lead singer, backed by a four-piece band led by longtime musical director Robert Wilder.
Highlight of the show: Sneed flawlessly performs “Poor Wandering One” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance.” Ronstadt played Mabel in the classic operetta, in 1980 on Broadway (earning a Tony Award nomination) and in the 1983 film version.
Fun fact: Ronstadt was born in Tucson, which explains the country/western feel to some of her songs.
Worth noting: The long list of songs includes familiar and not-so-familiar Ronstadt numbers, including “When Will I Be Loved,” “Different Drum,” “Hurt So Bad,” and of course “Desperado.”
One more thing: Ronstadt’s father’s background was Mexican, likely contributing to some of her beautifully plaintive Spanish songs. This show includes “Tu Solo Tu” and “Por Un Amor.”
If you go: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10-11, 17-18, 24-25 indoors at Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre, 105 Division St., West Harwich; 508-432-2002 or www.capecodtheatrecompany.org. Masks are required.
Sue Mellen
Christine Pedi in Provincetown
This week's guest for the “Broadway @” series in Provincetown will be actress and Sirius XM radio host Christine Pedi, with Matthew Ward at the piano. Pedi has appeared on Broadway in "Little Me," "Chicago" and "Talk Radio."
Her show will be at 7:30 Sept. 11 at the Art House, 214 Commercial St., Provincetown. Proof of vaccination and masks are required. Tickets and information: https://provincetownarthouse.com/.
Contact Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll at kdriscoll@capecodonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @KathiSDCCT.