The Umbrella Stage Company

REVIEW:  The Umbrella Stage Company delivers a bright and uplifting ‘Hairspray’

Posted on by The Sleepless Critic

If only we can all possess Tracy Turnblad’s unwavering optimism and enjoy this much dancing everyday in our own lives, the world may be a little happier.

‘I’ll eat some breakfast and change the world’ is just one of the self-assured declarations that Nora Sullivan makes as tenacious during Good Morning Baltimore while dreaming about dancing on television in 1962 Maryland. Sullivan was also Tracy in Sullivan Rep’s Hairspray last year. 

With glowing, innovative and multi-color television screens and a sparkling curtain in the background, The Umbrella Stage Company lights up The Corny Collins Show’s vinyl record dance floor with catchy beats and a spirited groove in Hairspray: The Broadway Musical, an upbeat 60s romantic musical comedy sure to brighten anyone’s spirits.

The cast of HAIRSPRAY, feat. Lisa Kate Joyce* as Amber Von Tussle, Joshua LaPierre as Corny Collins, and Nick Corsi as Link Larkin Photo by Jim Sabitus *indicates a member of AEA

Boasting exuberant direction and choreography by Najee A. Brown and Jordan Oczkowski’s uplifting music direction, Umbrella Stage Company Hairspray: The Broadway Musical live and in person at the Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, Massachusetts through Sunday, May 17.  This engaging musical comedy delivers bold comical innuendos and runs approximately two hours with one intermission.  Click here for more information and for tickets.

Featuring a large and lively cast, Hairspray has always been an upbeat satire which infuses important messages about body positivity, bullying and racism with a hopeful and bubbly lead that believes anything is possible.  I had a marvelous time and could not help bopping my head several times to the musical’s joyous beat.  Hairspray picks up right away in constant motion as scenes unfold simultaneously on Cameron McEachern’s dual level set.  For example, Good Morning Baltimore unfolds with infectious rhythms and clever staging as Maggie Cavanaugh as Tracy’s best friend Penny and Tracy pour over an authentic retro television set alongside what they are seeing on the screen.

The cast of HAIRSPRAY, feat. Christian David* as Seaweed J. Stubbs in HAIRSPRAY at The Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, MA. Photo by Jim Sabitus.
*indicates a member of AEA

 Big and fluffy standout wigs by Cara Guappone tower over vivid 60s costumes in flowing crinoline with colorful patterns including polka dots, florals, plaids and shimmering gold lamé by Emerald City Theatricals. 

Another highlight is demonstrated in Big Doll House which elevates the comedy and the chemistry between the actors and teen rebellion takes charge as Cavanaugh’s Penny, Lisa Kate Joyce as Amber Von Tussle and Sullivan’s Tracy sound off in vivid intricate lighting by SeifAllah Salotto-Cristobal and sparkling harmony for Mama I’m a Big Girl Now.

Nick Corsi and Nora Sullivan in HAIRSPRAY at The Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, MA. Photo by Jim Sabitus.

Tracy dreams of performing on Baltimore’s teen dance TV show The Corny Collins Show and winning the heart of Link Larkin, a council member and heartthrob singer exhibiting the dreamy excitability of falling in love with Brown’s 360 degree choreography in I Can Hear the Bells.  Sullivan’s jovial performance exudes charm and an imaginative turn of phrase as Tracy’s pretty vocals expel spontaneous shrieks and endearing chuckles during various parts of the production. 

Sullivan’s Tracy gets into ambitious teen high jinks and Maggie Cavanaugh as best friend Penny is gleefully along for the ride.  Boasting hints of Elvis croons and inflections, Nick Corsi portrays heartthrob Link with a mix of openness and charisma while sharing some amusing scenes with Tracy especially for the endearing ballad, It Takes Two.  Christian David is easygoing and suave delivering smooth and distinctive vocals as Seaweed J Stubbs, especially for the catchy number Run and Tell That. With a broad and winsome smile, Joshua Lapierre as Corny Collins certainly lives up to Corny’s name and is shows off his sharp comedic chops while cutting a rug in Nicest Kids in Town. 

Aimee Doherty, Lisa Kate Joyce and the cast of HAIRSPRAY at The Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, MA. Photo by Jim Sabitus.

Brutal, poised and snarky, villainy lives in Aimee Doherty who revels in her role as Velma Von Tussle bathed in ruthless red lighting.  Lisa Kate Joyce as Velma’s coiffed and obnoxious daughter Amber Von Tussle is an appropriate mini-me striding onstage with a flashy smile.  The duo makes an impressively egotistical, calculating, manipulative and often unhinged pair.  Only second to an array of comical tantrums bellowed on a staircase, Joyce is brashly pitch perfect when she exclaims, ‘What happened to the bland and spineless guy I fell in love with?’  Joyce also delivers sharp comedic timing and over the top vocals for Cooties.

Robert Saoud infuses dry humor and a dazzled smile as Tracy’s once aspiring designer mother Edna and Chip Phillips lovably depict Tracy’s plucky and optimistic inventor father Wilbur for a humorous rendition of You’re Timeless to Me. 

Robert Saoud* and Nora Sullivan as Edna and Tracy Turnblad and cast in HAIRSPRAY at The Umbrella Arts Center.
Photo by Jim Sabitus.
*indicates a member of AEA

Whether delivering the playful and bluesy Big Blonde and Beautiful or a moving rendition of I Know Where I’ve Been, Barbara Pierre offers frank, unflappable and soaring vocals as Motormouth Maybelle.  Whether depicting a principal at the end of his proverbial rope, a wild bailiff, gym teacher, a camera shy advertiser or taking control of a TV shoot, Nick Miller and Meryl Galaid manage to make each of their multiple roles amusingly memorable.

Nora Sullivan and the full cast of in HAIRSPRAY at The Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, MA. Photo by Jim Sabitus.

No time but now to see Hairspray:  The Broadway Musical continuing live and in person at Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, Massachusetts through Sunday, May 17.  Click here for more information and for tickets.

REVIEW:  Witness the quiet beauty inside The Umbrella Stage Company’s stirring ‘The Spitfire Grill’

Posted on by The Sleepless Critic

From Liza Giangrande’s first few haunting verses sung as Percy as her eyes brim with tears, it is easy to see that The Spitfire Grill is going to be something special.

Liza Giangrande as Percy. Photo by Jim Sabitus

According to the Bible, Gilead is a mountainous region east of the Jordan River and considered a place of asylum and refuge.  After spending five years in prison, Percy places her hopes in the remote and mysterious town of Gilead, Wisconsin, but its residents find it a ghost town suited only as a place for leaving.  However, Gilead may still have a few surprises in store.

Based on the 1996 film by Lee David Zlotoff, warmly directed by Ilyse Robbins, and with haunting music direction by Jack Cline, The Spitfire Grill musical continues live and in person at Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, Massachusetts through Sunday, May 18.  This production is approximately two hours with one intermission.  Click here for more information and for tickets.

Kerry A. Dowling* as Hannah, Sean Donnelly as Joe and Liza Giangrande as Percy. Photo by Jim Sabitus

Blending acoustic and fiddle-infused melodies from an intimate band conducted by James Haupt, The Spitfire Grill boasts a wide range of driving folk rhythms such as Shoot the Moon, swift catchy melodies such as Out of the Frying Pan and luminous harmonies in Colors of Paradise.

Costumer Kelly Baker captures a deep woods ambiance in earth tones and layered clothing, denim, flannels and hiking boots. Karen Perlow’s haunting and revelatory lighting brings stirring character to enigmatic Gilead.  Prison bar shadows, a gleaming moon, twilight skies, soft glowing lanterns and prism shaped forest patterns illuminate Janie E. Howland’s dual level rustic wooden Spitfire Grill diner complete with a cozy kitchen and scattered appliances, living room, dining space and a faded staircase leading up to the bedrooms.  This set has worn character detailed in its red faded Spitfire Grill sign. 

Liza Giangrande as Percy, Christie Lee as Effy, and Kerry A. Dowling* as Hannah. *Indicates a member of Actors Equity Association. Photo by Jim Sabitus

Featuring a powerful cast, The Spitfire Grill is a well paced musical that exudes a quiet beauty focusing on ordinary people with haunting regrets longing for a new start.  Everyone knows everyone which is quite advantageous for Catherine Lee Christie as nosy town gossip Effy who is always starved for news as demonstrated in Somethings Cooking.  Though Christie’s Effy could seem malicious, her incorrigible curiosity and humorous know-it-all demeanor seems to stem from boredom imagining Gilead as an exciting town. 

Liza Giangrande as Percy, Kerry A. Dowling* as Hannah, and Shonna McEachern* as Shelby. *Indicates a member of Actors Equity Association. Photo by Jim Sabitus

Kerry A. Dowling depicts practical and business minded Spitfire Grill owner Hannah who hires Percy to tend to the kitchen.  Course, frank yet introverted, Hannah has a secret from her past she has kept for years.  Hannah has been struggling to sell The Spitfire Grill for a decade, but Percy may have come up with a new way to lure buyers Hannah’s way.  Dowling’s Hannah and Giagrande establish a genuine rapport while they both quietly carry burdens from their past. 

A charismatic actress with a dynamite vocal range, Liza Giangrande is brilliant as relentlessly hopeful Percy who is determined to reestablish herself as demonstrated in the sneakily and humorously frazzled number Out of the Frying Pan, emphasized with some impressive vocal gymnastics.  However, Giangrande is simply riveting for the revelatory number Sunrise/Shine.

Shonna McEachern* as Shelby, Liza Giangrande as Percy, and Kerry A. Dowling* as Hannah. *Indicates a member of Actors Equity Association. Photo by Jim Sabitus

Giangrande develops a sweet rapport with Shonna McEachern as Shelby delivering soaring harmony for Colors of Paradise.  McEachern has a lovely vocal range and offers a stirring rendition of Wildbird.    Giangrande’s Percy is under Sean Donnelly’s parole supervision as Sheriff Joe Sutter who has his own dreams beyond the wide woods of Gilead.

Anthony Pires, Jr. delves into the role of discouraged and traditional Caleb who feels aimless and frustrated with his life longing to get a foothold as demonstrated in a potent rendition of Digging Stone while Cristhian Mancinas-Garcia is memorable as The Visitor.

Shonna McEachern* as Shelby, Liza Giangrande as Percy and Anthony Pires, Jr. as Caleb. Photo by Jim Sabitus

The Spitfire Grill tackles loneliness and isolation, but also has its share of memorably heartwarming, frank and comical moments.  Steeped in quiet beauty, it is an uplifting musical that captures hope and meaning while shedding light in the darkest of places.

The Spitfire Grill musical continues live and in person at Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, Massachusetts through Sunday, May 18.  Click here for more information and for tickets.