Category Archives: Cain Park
Cleveland Loses Beloved Director
Revered director and amazing talent, Paul Gurgol, passed away on March 24 at Cleveland Clinic. He was 55.
I first met Paul at Kalliope Stage, of which he was the founder and Artistic Director. I tried out for their final season in 2007 with what was easily my worst audition of all time. It was, I believe, only my second audition in the area. I had absolutely no experience, no repertoire, and no preparation. It was mortifying. He did not call me back, and was kind enough to have forgotten about the instance when he later cast me in Sweeney Todd at Cain Park in 2010. Later that year, we worked together again at Beck Center for the Arts in My Fair Lady, which was to be his last directorial effort in Cleveland.
He was widely well-known as a talented director and a pioneer in new musical theatre. I knew him as a man who gave me amazing opportunities and who was overly generous to me as an artist and as a friend. Not only did he trust me enough to put me in two of the biggest shows in two of the most respected theatres in town, but he also went out of his way to help me succeed. His recommendation helped get me into the SETC’s.
The most profound example of his generosity towards me has already become one of my go-to stories, and I want to share it here.:
In My Fair Lady, I played Zoltan Karpathy, but since he appears for such a short amount of time, I spent the rest of my time playing various parts in the ensemble. When the time came to block curtain call the week before we opened, Paul told me there was no time for my own bow (he was very meticulous from curtain up to curtain down), but he wanted to recognize me as a stand-out from the rest of the ensemble. I was happy just to stay in the background, but for the final bow Paul insisted that I step forward out of the ensemble line and join hands with Eliza and Pickering for the final bow, so center stage we had Eliza (of course) flanked by Henry Higgins and …me. It’s a seemingly silly little thing, but it meant a lot to me. Every single performance, I was overwhelmed with embarrassment, humility, and gratitude when that moment came. I have carried that feeling with me in every show I’ve done since, and that’s my unique gift from Paul.
I only knew Paul for a short time. That’s one of my stories. Go to Memories of Paul to see many others’.
Donations in his memory are being left to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
You can also read more skilled obituaries here and here.
His absence will be palpable for a long time, by those who knew him and by those who enjoyed his work.
We love you, Paul.
Sweeney Reviewed! (4)
Madness, Mayhem, Murkiness in “Sweeney Todd”
Fran Heller – Cleveland Jewish News
From the opening frenzied moments of “Sweeney Todd” until its bloody, fiery ending, director Paul Gurgol’s compelling production of Stephen Sondheim’s 1979 musical strongly suggests a world teetering on the edge of madness. The story of an avenging, murderous barber is not only Sweeney’s personal vendetta, but a sweeping indictment of a corrupt and unjust society in which Sweeney is as much victim as perpetrator.
Sondheim’s demanding score makes this Grand Guignol operatic masterpiece fiendishly difficult to pull off. Such is the power of Gurgol’s interpretation, which corrals the audience for almost three hours, yet never loses its grip in this superb production.
A perfectly chosen cast, hypnotic staging and wondrous stagecraft, coupled with Sondheim’s ravishing music and biting lyrics, make this a not-to-be missed theatrical event of the season. One minor criticism: The show is almost too loud for the confines of the intimate Alma Theater. Actors’ voices, already strong in their own right, are heavily miked, making them sound like they’re about to burst through the rafters.
The story in brief: A barber named Benjamin Barker was convicted on a trumped-up charge by a crooked and lascivious judge who lusted after Barker’s beautiful wife. The barber was shipped off to Australia but returns to London after 15 years, having escaped and renamed himself Sweeney Todd. Seeking revenge, he finds his helpmate and partner-in-crime in the love-starved widow Mrs. Lovett, whose bakery makes “The Worst Pies in London.” While Todd slits the throats of his enemies, Lovett disposes of the remains by baking them into meat pies.
Sondheim’s musical, with book by Hugh Wheeler, is based on a 1973 play of the same name by Christopher Bond, in which classic 19th-century villain Todd is reinvented as a tragic character driven by vengeance rather than greed.
The star of the show, of course, is Sondheim’s magnificent score, from Gregorian chants and dissonant ballads to melodic love songs and ingenious wordplay. The brilliant music and lyrics, for which Sondheim won a Tony, gets its tuneful due from music director Jodie Ricci and orchestra.
Russ Borski’s tiered setting of Mrs. Lovett’s pie shop, Sweeney’s barbershop, and other domiciles keeps the action flowing seamlessly. Borski’s lighting alternately bathes the stage in smoky gray or blood-soaked hues of red. Richard Ingraham’s musical interludes heighten the Gothic melodrama. Terry Pieritz’s costumes personify the disparity between the haves and the have-nots.
In the dynamite opening titular ballad, the well-honed ensemble, which serve as a Greek chorus, first appear as lunatics in an asylum, setting the stage for the grisly story that follows. Their running narrative is visually enhanced by characters simultaneously miming the action in silhouette throughout the show. It’s a clever touch.
Benjamin Czarnota is brilliant as the haunted, half-crazed Sweeney Todd, whose fixed stare and cold, lifeless eyes suggest a man possessed by demons. Czarnota’s operatic training and experience lift his tormented character and the musical to unparalleled heights. No less captivating is New York actress Patty Lohr (a Baldwin-Wallace music theater graduate) as the amoral, love-starved Mrs. Lovett, with a hopeful eye on more than her baking.
“A Little Priest,” the priceless comedic duet between Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett, is an hilariously satiric number in which the entrepreneurial shop owner conjures a recipe for meat pies, using lawyers, the clergy and especially politicians as choice ingredients. The salty lyrics about “who gets eaten” and “who gets eat” is a sardonic commentary on our own time.
Tenor Chris McCarrell and beautiful soprano Valerie Reaper are perfectly matched as the young lovers Anthony Hope and Johanna, Sweeney’s daughter and the evil Judge’s captive ward. Anthony’s love song “Johanna” and their love duet “Kiss Me” are vocal highlights.
Versatile Nick Koesters is suitably malevolent as the depraved Judge Turpin, who lusts after his young charge. Oily Bob Russell is excellent as the Judge’s slimy henchman, The Beadle. John Paul Boukis is flamboyant and a bit ridiculous as the pseudo-Italian barber and Irish charlatan Signor Pirelli. Max Joseph plays Pirelli’s hapless apprentice Tobias Ragg, who finds a mother figure in Mrs. Lovett. A crazed Aimee Collier is perfect as the demented Beggar Woman with a mysterious past.
There’s lots of blood spurting in this gory tale (more humorous than scary in effect), and parental discretion is advised.
Sweeney Reviewed! (3)
A Little Off the Top
Great Voices Keep Sweeney Todd Spurting at Cain Park
Christine Howey – Cleveland Scene Magazine
If you think summertime is all about sunshine, lollipops, and lighthearted musicals, and if that gives you a bad case of the sugar shakes, Cain Park’s production of Sweeney Todd is a sure cure.
This bloody and brooding venture into the mind of a mad barber in the bowels of London is like being handed a cup of three-day-old coffee grounds and lemon peels. But an engrossing score by Stephen Sondheim lifts it out of the muck, and the book by Hugh Wheeler spins plenty of thrills.
In this production, the singers give Sondheim’s muscular music its due under the musical direction of Jodie Ricci, with some stellar work by the featured players. Unfortunately, an acting void at the center and volume issues tend to soften scenes that should gleam and glisten.
Subtitled “The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” Sweeney Todd tells the story of a barber who was unjustly imprisoned by the vile Judge Turpin. When Sweeney is released, he finds out that his wife apparently killed herself, and his daughter Johanna is living with the judge who sentenced him. Turpin intends to marry the girl as soon as possible, even though she has fallen for Sweeney’s pal, young Anthony Hope.
Nursing a violent payback jones, Sweeney meets up with Mrs. Lovett, who makes the worst meat pies in town. They eventually join forces, with Sweeney setting up shop above her maggoty cafe. As Sweeney begins to slice his patrons’ throats, lying in wait for the judge, Mrs. Lovett dices his cadavers into tummy-pleasin’ people pies.
This is a daunting work and, as directed by Paul Gurgol, it gets many things absolutely right. Russ Borski’s menacing set, props, and lighting and Terry Pieritz’s spot-on costumes add verisimilitude.
In featured roles, John Paul Boukis humorously feasts on the scenery as rival barber Pirelli, and Nick Koesters avoids channeling Snidely Whiplash as he crafts a quietly sinister Judge Turpin. Bob Russell, as the slimy Beadle, is a cockroach in suit and spats, and Amiee Collier is a scummy mess as the beggar crone with a secret. There are no higher compliments.
The problem comes with the actor in the title role. As Sweeney, Benjamin Czarnota sings like an angel, albeit a scruffy and homicidal one. But he overacts from the neck up and underacts from the neck down, displaying too many grimaces and icy stares while leaving his body in neutral. By not fully animating Sweeney, we are left with scenes that feel flabby instead of fierce, particularly when he is cutting throats in his barbershop-cum-abattoir.
Although she also sings well, this vacuum leaves Patty Lohr as Mrs. Lovett less to work with in her many scenes with Sweeney. As their assistant Tobias, Max Joseph is suitably naive but doesn’t quite have the voice for “Not While I’m Around.” Chris McCarrell and Valerie Reaper, as the lovestruck Anthony and Johanna, croon sweetly.
Even though too many lyrics and laugh lines are drowned out by an overly loud orchestra, this Sweeney is at times a feast for the eyes and ears. It just has a bit less Sweeney than it should.
Sweeney Reviewed! (2)
Sweeney Todd Makes the Cut at Cain Park
Kate Miller – Cleveland Performing Arts Examiner
If you only see ONE theater production in Cleveland this summer, see Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at Cain Park! Running through June 27th, 2010 in the Alma Theater, this production features smart staging, awesome effects, and a cast that will blow you away.
While this production is directed by Paul Gurgol and musical direction by Jodie Ricci, Sweeney originally opened on Broadway in 1979 and ran for 557 performances. This musical thriller, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, follows title character Sweeney Todd on a journey of revenge against the people who destroyed his life.
After being sent away for a crime he did not commit, Benjamin Barker returns to the city of London and takes the name of Sweeney Todd (played by Benjamin Czarnota). While plotting against corrupt Judge Turpin (Nick Koesters) and The Beadle (Bob Russell), he sets up a barber shop to hatch his plan above the pie shop of Mrs. Lovett (Patty Lohr), and the city starts to bleed. Unintentionally weaved into the plan are Sweeney’s long-lost daughter Johanna (Valerie Reaper), his former shipmate and friend Anthony (Chris McCarrell), a young pie shop assistant named Toby (Max Joseph), and a mysterious Beggar Woman (Amiee Collier). And how does Sweeney’s barber chair make the pie shop more profitable in all of this? Let’s just say the answer may be deliciously hard for the audience to swallow!
The music of Sondheim is not easy, but the cast powers through it with confidence and passion. “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” is sung so fully and rich that the opening number will give you goose bumps. Benjamin Czarnota is a frightful and compelling Sweeney Todd, soaring through each number – “My Friends” and the duet “Pretty Women” with Judge Turpin (Koesters) were especially memorable. Patty Lohr’s versions of “Wait” and “By the Sea” are quirky and on-character. Both Chris McCarrell and Valerie Reaper hit their marks as young lovers in their charming rendition of “Kiss Me”. And although the character of Pirelli is not one of my favorites, I was both surprised and delighted by John Paul Boukis’ performance of “The Contest”. All cast members (whether principle or ensemble) shined vocally. This is truly a talented group.
The production staff did a great job with all technical aspects of the show. Costume designer Terry Pieritz, dialect coach Beth McGee, set/lighting designer Russ Borski, and sound designer Richard Ingraham all took us to London and kept us in the magic of the show.
Cain Park’s production of Sweeney Todd is definitely a “cut” above. The show runs through June 27th, 2010.
Pictures – Sweeney Todd
A few production photos courtesy of Roger Mastroianni
For an awesome slideshow with sound bytes from our production, visit here!
The Contest
(From left to right) Max Joseph as Tobias, John Paul Boukis as Pirelli, and Trey Gilpin as the unfortunate subject
Closing Ballad
Full Company
Fogg’s Asylum
Trey Gilpin, Chris McCarrell, and Ensemble
Sweeney Reviewed
Music Drowns out Well-Conceived SWEENEY TODD at Cain Park
‘SWEENEY TODD,’ the 1979 Tony Award winning musical, that has music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler (‘A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC,’ ‘CANDIDE.’ ‘PACIFIC OVERTURES,’ ‘MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS’), is now on stage in Cain Park’s intimate Alma Theatre. It is based on Christopher Bonds’ 1973 play of the same name.
It tells the story of Benjamin Barker, aka Sweeney Todd, who returns to London from Australia after spending fifteen years in prison on false charges. When he learns from his former landlady, Mrs. Lovett, that his wife poisoned herself after being raped by the Judge who wrongly imprisoned him and who took Barker’s daughter to be his ward, Barker, as Todd, vows revenge. The plot, full of twists, turns, gore and more gore, is not the stuff from which musicals are usually crafted.
The score, which contains some of Sondheim’s most memorable music, includes “Johanna,” “Pretty Woman,” the repulsively hysterical “A Little Priest,” and the brilliant, “Not While I’m Around.”
Cain Park’s small Alma Theatre creates problems for staging the play. ‘SWEENEY TODD’ is not an intimate play. It is bigger, much bigger than life itself. Many special effects are needed to make the visual images real. It also is not an easy space for a musical. Since it is basically open aired, the vocal sounds often float out into trees and open spaces and the sounds of the street sometimes invade the performance space. The speaker system is far above the heads of the audience, making hollow spaces in the first half dozen rows, even though the cast wears microphones. The humidity also absorbs the sounds.
In such a setting, a musical director must be careful to tone down the orchestra. Unfortunately, Jodie Ricci does not take into consideration that her orchestra is not the center of the universe, the words to the songs are, and her having the instruments playing at full blast drowns out the voices. Since Sondheim’s vocals carry the meaning of the play, this leaves the audience frustrated in trying to grasp the ideas.
Ricci’s lack of control of the musical sounds basically ruins a focused directing job by Paul Gurgol and mars the strong singing abilities of the cast.
Since the play’s style is based on the French Grand Guiginol melodramatic structure , which centers on a violent plot and terrifying stage effects, consistent melodrama is needed. If this is done, the visual horror of the play subsides and almost a humorous reaction results from the violence. Unfortunately, there is some inconsistency on the cast’s part in whether the play is realistic or melodramatic.
Benjamin Czarnota is properly brooding as the bloodthirsty-for-revenge Sweeney Todd. He has an excellent singing voice. He often makes distracting facial expressions and, like many in the cast, seems so concerned about his British accent, that some of his lines are unintelligible.
Valerie Reaper sings well and physically fits the role of Johanna, Todd’s long lost daughter. Chris McCarrell also sings well, but does not have the physical presence needed as Anthony Hope, Johanna’s suitor and savior.
Nick Koesters’ is lecher-right as Judge Turpin, the deviant official who sentenced Todd to exile and has taken Joanna to be his ward. He is evil incarnate.
Patty Lohr lacks the underlying humor often present in Mrs. Lovett, who lusts after Todd, but she is consistent in her characterization.
Bob Russell does a good job developing The Beadle, a pompous public official. Max Joseph adequately develops the role of Tobias, a waif who is taken in by Mrs. Lovett and Todd. Unfortunately, his version of the beautiful and haunting “Not While I’m Around” lacks concept. He sings words, not meanings.
Aimee Collier clearly develops the pathetic Beggar Woman.
Strong points of the production include the opening number, “Pretty Woman,” “Epiphany, and “The Letter.” “Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir” and “A Little Priest” needed to be much more fun.
Russ Borski’s set and lighting designs are excellent.
CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: If an effort is made to tone down the orchestra so that the words to the numerous songs could be clearly heard, Cain Park’s ‘SWEENEY TODD’ could be a positive experience. As is, unless you already know the score, you won’t grasp much of the meaning in spite of some good acting and singing.
Sweeney Reviewed (5)!
Cain Park’s Sweeney Todd Scores Big as Entire Cast Leaves Everything on Stage
Cain Park’s production of the musical, “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” is a complex, dark undertaking. The show’s musical dissonance and quick word streams punctuate the stomach-turning, intense, adult subject matter. But every piece is in place and “Sweeney Todd” is an exceptionally strong show.
Sweeney Todd (Benjamin Czarnota) is a barber returned to London’s Fleet Street after being transported to Australia on false charges by the corrupt Judge Turpin (Nick Koesters). The judge had sent Todd away because he wanted Todd’s wife, Lucy, and the judge rapes her when she stays loyal to Todd after his imprisonment.
Meat pie shop-owner Mrs. Lovett (Patty Lohr) tells Todd that his daughter, Johanna (Valerie Reaper), is now a ward of Judge Turpin. Todd seeks revenge for his wife, who he hears has died while he was away, and for Johanna. Lovett, who has fallen for Todd, tells him to bide his time and “let it brew.”
As Todd turns mad (“They all deserve to die”/ “I will have salvation”), Todd and Lovett conspire to kill the judge and Beadle Bamford (Bob Russell) and begin to kill others, turning the bodies into meat pies for Mrs. Lovett’s shop.
Todd has a roof-shaking voice, an amazing vocal power that he controls masterfully. Lohr infuses her pie-selling widow with practicality, honesty and charity while also serving as the major comic relief in a show filled with grisly crimes. Her wonderful series of jokes about the way humans of different professions taste in “A Little Priest” lightens the show.
Reaper has an enchanting voice as she sings, “If I cannot fly, let me sing” while waiting to escape the judge’s clutches. She beams, even while caged like Rapunzel at her balcony. Her ardent suitor, Anthony Hope (Chris McCarrell), woos her from the moment he sees her.
The ensemble shows its vocal chops, especially in the “Wigmaker Sequence,” a difficult piece to master. Every last prostitute, thief and street urchin in Cain Park’s “Sweeney Todd” leaves it all on stage at the end of the night. Notable performances also include John Paul Boukis as the campy shyster Pirelli, Koesters’ creepy hypocrite judge and versatile Aimee Collier as the mad Beggar Woman.
Russ Borski, the artistic director, scenic and lighting designer, matches the gritty, bleak world of the script with an equally stark, black set featuring steam grates, two levels and five windows showing silhouettes of the characters behind. The two levels are dictated by the locations of the shops in the script, and by themes, such as the haves and the have-nots, and the theme of rising against injustice.
Ample stage space allows Director Paul Gurgol to showcase the actors in a variety of scenes, from subtle humor to deep personal pain with intense singing and emotions concentrated in their faces, with intricately choreographed movements.
The show is both intense and subtle in this wonderful incarnation. It is definitely a musical for grownups, though.
The musical is based on the story by Hugh Wheeler, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, from an adaptation by Christopher Bond.
“Sweeney Todd” runs through July 27, at 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Cain Park’s Alma Theater, Cleveland Heights. For tickets, call the Cain Park ticket office at (216) 371-3000 or visit cainpark.com.
Sweeney Todd opens at Cain Park
Cain Park presents Sweeney Todd – the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Hugh Wheeler
Director: Paul Gurgol
Music Director: Jodi Ricci
Preview Thursday, June 10, 2010 – 7:00pm
$15 all tickets, no additional discounts
June 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, and 26 – 7:00pm
$22 center / $20 sides in advance ($24/$22 day of show)
MATINEES June 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, and 27 – 2:00pm
$15 all tickets, no additional discounts
at the Alma Theater at Cain Park
14591 Superior Road at Lee
Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118
For reservations, call (216)371-5000 or go to ticketmaster.com
Brief Synopsis:
After fifteen hard years of exile for a crime he did not commit, Benjamin Barker, now Sweeney Todd, returns to London with shipmate Anthony to find his wife dead and his daughter, Johanna, in the hands of the evil Judge Turpin. Vowing revenge, Todd goes on a murderous rampage. He opens a barbershop where he lures his victims before casually ending their lives with a flick of his razor. His co-conspirator and downstairs neighbor, Mrs. Lovett, then bakes them into meat pies. …It’s a comedy.
Cast:
Sweeney Todd – Benjamin Czarnota
Mrs. Lovett – Patty Lohr
Johanna – Valerie Reaper
Anthony – Chris McCarrell
Judge Turpin – Nick Koesters
Beadle Bamford – Bob Russell
Beggar Woman – Amiee Collier
Tobias Ragg – Max Joseph
Aldolpho Pirelli – John Paul Boukis
Jonas Fogg – Trey Gilpin
Ensemble -
Aaron Dunn
Megan Elk
Heather Jane Farr
Lydia Hall
Codie Higer
Boe Wank
