Stage Write

 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...

If you’re already a fan of Monty Python, then seeing the current production of Spamalot at the Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre should be a no-brainer. For the rest of the theatre-going crowd don’t go to this musical expecting life-altering drama or lyrics filled with lines of wisdom. This is pure entertainment and it’s done so well. With numbers like, “The Song That Goes Like This” and “The Fisch Schlapping Song” it’s clear the show is focused on fun.    Robert Koharchik does an incredible job with the set. He recreates the Monty Python scenes from the French castle to the Camelot casino perfectly. The high tower windows on either side of the stage worked particularly well. A few awards for the show:   Best Dance Moves: Sir Robin Best Insults: The French Best Hair: Sir Dennis Galahad Best Use of Coconuts: Patsy  Best Jazz Hands: Sir Lancelot  Best Dramatic Performance: Tim the Enchanter  Just sit back and revel in the absurdity of the ...

“I'm just a sweet transvestite, from Transexual, Transylvania,” if you don’t immediately recognize those lyrics than this probably isn’t the show for you. This cult classic, the basis for the 1975 film, has a strange story. A young couple find themselves stranded when their car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. They end up at the home of Dr. Frank-N-Furter and their bizarre night gets even weirder as they meet his devoted crew of miscreants. The elegant Athenaeum theatre is an oddly fitting setting for the musical. The set included a full catwalk and scaffolding that allows the cast to take advantage of the whole stage. There were some occasional audio issues and moments when the music overwhelmed the actors’ voices, but it was a minor issue. Zach Rosing Productions did an excellent job casting actors who were willing to throw themselves full force into the roles. Without their enthusiasm the show could have easily fallen flat, but instead the whole audience cau...

Les Misérables has seen a resurgence in the past couple years. The popular musical, which tells the story of a convict who finds redemption, has been everywhere from Broadway to the Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre and is now on stage at the Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre. Yet despite being around for decades, there are still audience members at each performance seeing the show for the first time. It is with those individuals in mind that I recommend this production. Anyone who has seen the show many times will inevitably compare it, which makes it easy to pick out the flaws, but those seeing it for the first time will be swept away by the huge cast and the sheer scope of the story. The production’s minimalist set makes use of lighting over set pieces. The lighting design, by Ryan Koharchik, balances some tricky moments when one cast member is performing at the front of the stage and the set is being shuffled for the next scene in the back. The result is relatively smooth transit...

A one-man show of The Iliad doesn’t sound too promising to most people. The epic story of the Trojan War simplified into a show with a single cast member sounds almost impossible. And yet the Indiana Repertory Theatre’s current Upperstage production blows audiences away. An Iliad features Henry Woronicz in a tour-de-force performance. He is poet and player, warrior and widow all at the same time. He begins with the Greek language, naming cities and battles, but he quickly connects with the audience bringing the reality of war home to them. In modern day clothes he walks the littered alleyway in a big city reminiscing about the Greeks and Trojans. If the show was performed by a less talented actor it could easily have stalled-out, losing peoples’ attention in a sea of unfamiliar Greek words. Instead it’s mesmerizing in its complexity, maintaining a comedic edge despite the serious material. The play is based on the Iliad, but it rises above being a retelling of the well-k...