Stage Write

This week I attended the 50th performance of the Indy Actors' Playground. This little gem of an event is held on the third Monday of every month at Indy Reads Books. Fantastic Indianapolis actors get to pick a play and do a live reading. The only requirement is that it is a professional play that has already been produced (not a new work) and that it hasn’t been produced in Indianapolis any time recently (and isn’t in an upcoming season).   This gives actors the chance to select shows they’ve always wanted to do. The play isn't announced until the show begins. People attending don’t know what they are about to see. This means that the actors don’t have to worry about whether or not it’s an easy production to market. There are no sets, no costumes, and no elaborate lighting effects. It’s just a simple stage with folding chairs. The actors sit a few feet away from the audience members and read directly from the scripts. The amazing thing is that with excellent acto...

Like so many others, I grew up watching Disney’s The Little Mermaid. The lyrics of those songs are ingrained on my brain to this day. So seeing Broadway Across America’s current production of the story is bittersweet. It was fun to revisit the characters, but it was impossible not to compare the musical with the movie as I watched. The show contains quite a few new numbers, but not a single one is a stand out. Instead they feel like efforts to kill time in between the recognizable songs from the movie. “Daddy’s Little Angel” is particularly cringe-worthy. “Positoovity” is another example; Scuttle the seagull didn’t need his own number. Even when the audience is treated to “Under the Sea” and “Part of your World” they fall a bit flat. It’s not the singing that’s off, but the production as a whole. Though the lead, Diana Huey, can belt out her parts beautifully, it’s hard to concentrate on her singing as she shimmies her way around the stage “swimming” through the set. The ...