Sullivan Rep

REVIEW:  Lavishly dancing through France in Sullivan Rep’s ‘Can-Can’

Posted on by The Sleepless Critic

Freedom through dance is only part of the story in Cole Porter’s Can-Can.

Considered one of Cole Porter’s later musicals, Can-Can debuted in 1953 before being adapted into a 1960 film starring Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine and some of its ideas make it identifiable to its 60s timeframe.  It’s Alright by Me, I Love Paris, and C’est Magnifique are a few of the Cole Porter American Standard songs that are part of the Great American Songbook.

Directed and choreographed by Dan Sullivan with Musical direction by Hollis W. Sullivan, Sullivan Rep continues Can Can live and in person at Mother Brook Arts and Community Center in Dedham, Massachusetts through Saturday, October 11.  The action is not limited to the stage and set up like a dance hall.  It runs approximately three hours with an intermission.  Click here for more information and for tickets.

Carly Evans and Can-Can dancers in Sullivan Rep’s ‘Can-Can’ Photo credit Sullivan Rep

Taking place in Montmartre, France, Carly Evans aptly portrays shrewd and stealthy businesswoman Pistache who knows just how to live under the radar until her girls are caught by the French authorities for lascivious dancing.  The lively dancers coyly perform the satirical number, Maidens Typical of France.

Can-Can features two powerful leads in Carly Evans and Anthony Rinaldi and Dan Sullivan’s flowing, unbridled and meticulous chorography certainly make a great impression.  Anthony Rinaldi is conflicted as Judge Aristide, torn between justice and his growing affection for saucy Pistache.  Rinaldi and Evans make some beautiful music together and are certainly capable of mastering these individuals on the opposite sides of the law.  Evans as Pistache shows off her hardnosed business sense impressively for Never Give Anything Away and Rinaldi soars in the catchy number, It’s Alright with Me.

Anthony Rinaldi and Carly Evans in Sullivan Rep’s ‘Can-Can’ Photo credit Sullivan Rep

Dan Sullivan’s often lavish and splashy 1890s French forward fashion costumes by Judi Olson include bowler hats, lace, velvet, ruffles, saloon-style gowns, bustles, three piece suits, detailed parasols and top hats with Pistache’s elegant emerald green peacock gown as a particular highlight shown later in the production. 

The cast of Sullivan Rep’s ‘Can-Can’ Photo credit to Sullivan Rep

This musical features grand dance numbers that are often flirty and playful even occasionally including a French accordionist.  Can-Can explores love, the nature of dance, societal expectations, censorship, skewed media, the law and the art of being an artist.  A.J. Lyman as Bulgarian sculptor Boris, Andy Ross as Theophile, Ryan Pereira as Hericule, Dom Pappagallo as Etienne, Hannah Shihdanian as Model and Rinaldi as Aristide have a good natured camaraderie and perform a standout number that takes humorous and lighthearted jabs at the nature of being an artist is Never Never Be An Artist.   

Sullivan Rep Can Can Anthony Rinaldi and cast Photo credit Sulivan Rep

Dream Ballet has been popular in grand musicals such as Broadway Melody in Singin’ in the Rain, Louise’s Ballet in Carousel, and The Prologue in West Side Story which usually enhances or advances the plot of the musical.  Though performed with ballet-inspired athletic zeal, Garden of Eden Ballet didn’t seem to advance the plot in a meaningful way other than being controversial during that time.

Sullivan Rep boasts powerful leads, vivacious dance numbers and features elegant attire, yet the musical itself has its setbacks. Clocking in at approximately three hours, some of the musical’s plot points seem filler and unnecessary to the progression of the story and some of the love connections and satirical outcomes didn’t quite make sense such as in If You Loved Me Truly.

Garden of Eden Ballet in Sullivan Rep’s ‘Can-Can’ Photo credit Sullivan Rep

With that in mind, Sullivan Rep vibrantly brings Cole Porter’s Can-Can to life with an enthusiastic cast and memorable music.

Directed and choreographed by Dan Sullivan with Musical direction by Hollis W. Sullivan, Sullivan Rep continues Can-Can live and in person at Mother Brook Arts and Community Center in Dedham, Massachusetts through Saturday, October 11.  Click here for more information and for tickets.

REVIEW:  Domestic bliss takes a spooky turn in Sullivan Rep’s immersive ‘Blithe Spirit’

Posted on by The Sleepless Critic

It is much more interesting to feel part of the dinner party.

Surrounded by a glowing fireplace and mantel, a grandfather clock, a vintage piano, stained glass doors and a Victrola inside a cozy living room, Sullivan Rep truly sets the stage for an immersive experience.   As house guests, audience members are strategically placed without a bad seat in the house to become an intimate observer in this enclosed space.

In light of the 125th anniversary of Noel Coward’s plays directed by Dan Sullivan, Sullivan Rep performed Noel Coward’s haunting comedy Blithe Spirit live and in person from October 16 through October 26 live and in person at the Women’s Club of Newton Highlands in Newton, Massachusetts.  The three act production was 2 hours and 40 minutes with an 20 minute intermission.  Click here for more information and for more on Sullivan Rep’s future events.

of Sullivan Rep’s ‘Blithe Spirit’ Photo credit to Sullivan Rep

Though Blithe Spirit is partially an otherworldly experience, it is also a comedy on marriage and much more.  Set in the early 1940’s, Robert Orzalli as novelist Charles and Melissa Paz as Ruth are a well to do married couple who decide to hold a dinner party with guests Brian Higgins as dubious Dr. Bradman and Carly Evans as distinctively merry Mrs. Bradman and a séance featuring Catherine Lee Christie as medium Madame Acarti.  The two couples are skeptical and consider it entertainment until something goes eerily awry.

Brian Higgins, Melissa Paz, Catherine Lee, Robert Orzalli and Carly Evans in Sullivan Rep’s ‘Blithe Spirit’ Photo credit to Sullivan Rep

Blithe Spirit is helmed by a supremely capable cast.  With an eccentric and enthusiastic delivery selectively rolling her R’s in a singsong lilt, Catherine Lee is a captivating scene stealer as Madame Acarti.  In bright purple stockings and distinct boots, Lee humorously and masterfully encapsulates Madame Acarti infusing her subtle and unique idiosyncrasies into her daily mannerisms.  A particularly fascinating highlight is Lee’s kicks and peculiar dances as she attempts to tap into the spirit world.

Catherine Lee as Madame Acardi in Sullivan Rep’s ‘Blithe Spirit’ Photo credit to Sullivan Rep

Robert Orzalli as sophisticated intellectual Charles shares an elusive tension with his new wife Ruth portrayed by Melissa Paz.  They seem a happy couple and supremely cordial at first, but the mood becomes strained when Ruth asks Charles about his late wife.  Logical, matter of fact and persistent, Paz also depicts Ruth with an underlying anxiety in her demure mannerisms as Charles evaluates his late wife mostly on her flaws. 

Robert Orzalli in Sullivan Rep’s ‘Blithe Spirit’ Photo credit to Sullivan Rep

In silver from head to toe in Bridget Sullivan’s amazing hair and makeup design, Janis Hudson portrays youthful, spontaneous, and confident Elvira, Charles’s late first wife.  Noel Coward’s dialogue can be complicated to pull off because it often contains overlapping and parallel conversations.  To see these separate relationships and snappy conversations so distinctly articulated with sharp comedic timing especially between Orzalli, Paz, and Hudson is quite a feat.  Ozalli’s Charles is refined, a bit narcissistic and is quite enjoying the attention while comically navigating these conversations.  Blithe Spirit is about domestic bliss and dysfunction simultaneously and it is both fascinating and amusing to see how this trio pushes each other’s buttons and sparks fly in such an intimate setting.

Silk gowns and gloves, tuxedos, pearls, and diamonds are just a part of the Dan Sullivan’s primarily elegant costume design. Paul Roach’s sound design features popular music of the time and a key component in some of the production’s clever special effects with Eric Fox’s mood infused lighting.

Melissa Paz and Robert Orzalli in Sullivan Rep’s ‘Blithe Spirit’ Photo credit to Sullivan Rep

Blithe Spirit is a bit lengthy, but the suspense certainly builds in a darkly comical way and contains a few powerful twists and lasting observations about love and marriage before it brings this production to its wild conclusion. 

Sullivan Rep performed Noel Coward’s haunting comedy Blithe Spirit live and in person from October 16 through October 26 live and in person at the Women’s Club of Newton Highlands in Newton, Massachusetts.  Click here for more information and for more on Sullivan Rep’s future events.