Stage Write

  There are a few Indy performers whose name alone is enough to get me to their show. Ben Asaykwee and Claire Wilcher are two of those actors. They’ve come together for “White City Murder”, an original musical Asaykwee created about the serial killer H.H. Holmes, who made his mark at the Chicago’s World Fair in 1893. To carry off a successful two-person musical conveying a massive amount of historical content, you need the most charismatic performers. I can’t imagine the show without Wilcher and Asaykwee. They swing from playful and campy to melancholy and disturbing in the span of a single song. They share props, trade accents, and use a simple red glove to play dozens of characters without ever making things confusing. The outrageous nature of the show keeps things moving at a brisk pace and it never lags. Most numbers use an audio looping machine to provide harmonies and backdrops. That, along with a piano built into a cabinet on the stage, is all they need to provide music in...

  Clue, the classic whodunit farce, kicks off Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre's 50th anniversary season. The mystery show takes the famous board game and film and turns it into a play. Each character is given a weapon and a motive and the murders begin. Eddie Curry directs the fast-paced production and keeps the actors as close to their movie counterparts as possible.  The cast reads like a who’s who of Beef and Boards' favorites including Suzanne Stark, John Vessels, Deb Wims, David Schmittou, Jeff Stockberger, and Sally Scharbrough. Audiences might also recognize a subdued Ben Asaykwee in a very different role than many of his other productions. Scot Greenwell particularly shines as the timid Mr. Green. For each cast member, the role plays to their individual strengths. Schmittou's impressive monologue explaining each of the crimes at the end is an absolute highlight.  The set is incredibly simple, a turntable with half a dozen doors perfec...

As one might be able to guess from the title, The Mutilated is not a holly jolly Christmas story. The Tennessee Williams play is set in New Orleans and follows two frenemies who cross paths on Christmas Eve. The pair, Trinket and Celeste, are both broken souls with their own secrets. Gigi Jennewein plays Trinket, a wealthy woman with an unknown mutilation. She's fragile and desperate for affection. Celeste is her polar opposite. Played by Beverly Roche, the shoplifting alcoholic is brash and constantly angling to manipulate those around her.  Originally written as a one-act comedy, the show plays more as an ode to loneliness. It’s split by a short intermission and the second act wraps up so quickly that it feels a bit abrupt. The characters feel similar to those found in many of Williams' plays, though the plot doesn't pack as big of a punch in comparison. It's fascinating to see the damaged people trying to find a way forward, but I wish I'd had more time to...

  When the Theatre on the Square closed its doors earlier this year, the perennial fall favorite Cabaret Poe needed to find a new home. The show settled into the fourth floor of Circle Centre Mall. It's an unexpected choice, but they make it work. All the best elements are still there, macabre humor, a trio of cynical performers who share the lead, and a delightful selection of Edgar Allan Poe's work. The result is a production that will apparently work in any performance space.  The staging is simple. There are multi-media screens that fill with sinister silhouettes or scribbles of writing in different scenes. A raised stage in the center works to enhance numbers as the actors strut up and down the stairs in heels and bustles.  Ben Asaykwee, the show's creator, stars in each performance, while the other two roles rotate between four cast members. Julie Lyn Barber and Georgeanna Smith Wade were featured in the show I attended. Asaykwee, as always, is charismatic a...

 And they’re off! The 2014 IndyFringe Festival favorite is back in a full-length format. The Great Bike Race tells the store of the second running of the Tour de France in the most hilarious way possible. It was vicious, with cyclist cheating their way to the finish line, willing to sabotage anyone who crossed their path. The show is done in a series of vignettes that introduce each of the racers separately. The staging is simple. A screen shows the landscape scrolling by as the bikers pass. Each person holds a set of handlebars to indicate their cycle. Frankie Bolda plays the 16-year-old contender Henri Cornet with a wide-eyed innocence. He wants a gentlemanly race, but his competitors are set on playing dirty. He’s an ambitious lad with dreams of Parisian girls meeting him at the finish line and Bolda shines with her earnest portrayal. The main race is between the cut-throat favorites Hippolyte Acoutrier (Paige Scott) and Maurice Garin (Ben Asaykwee). The prideful pai...

When audience members enter the Studio Theat er in the Carmel Center for the Performing Arts they are transported straight into the Kit Kat Klub in 1930s Berlin. Scantily-clad dancers say willkommen as they point you to your seats and the red lights set the mood. Cabaret is on stage now and the timing couldn’t be better.  Cliff (Eric J. Olson) is a young American author who finds his way into the city in the midst of a perpetual celebration.. He meets Sally Bowles (Cynthia Collins), a whirlwind of flirtatious energy and a singer at the Kit Kat Klub. Despite their drastically different temperaments, the two pair off.  Ben Asaykwee is the infamous Emcee and it’s worth hightailing it to Carmel for his performance alone. He steals every scene he’s in with a raised eyebrow and lascivious grin. His performance is more Alan Cumming and less Joel Grey, but with its own unique feel. Whether he’s teasing the dancers on stage or posing with a pineapple, you can’t look away. ...