Company - Shoot the Glass Theater

Stephen Sondheim's Company is an ambitious project for a new theater company, and Shoot the Glass Theater is aiming high for their second production. Company is playing through November 20 at the New Century Theatre in Minneapolis

The company has assembled a talented cast, backed up by six on-stage musicians, who provide a full sound of brass, woodwinds, strings, and percussion. The musicians and music director Randy Buikema are right on stage, watching and engaged with the action on stage. As the show progresses, they even interact with the cast, which is kind of fun.

The New Century space is not ideal for a musical, with its shallow thrust stage. Limited set pieces sketch out locations that quickly change. Sometimes, the presentation is a bit too front-forward for the thrust stage, and the view from seats to the side was not the best. Lauri Kraft's choreography worked, but I wish there had been more of it, because the show can be kind of static.

The company of Company

There are a number of good performances here, including Kaitlin Klemencic as Amy, performing perhaps the fastest "Getting Married Today" I've ever seen, which, if you know Company, is impressive.

Ultimately, although there are great songs in the show, it hasn't aged all that well since its 1970 premiere. It's never really clear why all of these people are so enamored of central character Bobby, and it's a pretty homogenous group of straight, (mostly) white people who make you wonder that they don't have any more variety in their social circle.

This production of Company covers the basics, but it made me wish for a stronger vision to bring it into step with modern times.

Buyer & Cellar - Hennepin Theatre Trust at New Century Theater

All photos by George Byron Griffiths

If you are looking for an amusing, humorous, witty, satirical, charming, laugh-inducing show to see some night, then I have a show for you. Did I mention it is funny? Buyer & Cellar, now playing at the New Century Theatre and presented by Hennepin Theatre Trust, is a one-person show about an actor who finds himself working for Barbra Streisand...sort of. The play is written by Jonathan Tolins (who has film/tv experience as well as some Broadway experience) and was inspired by Streisand's book "My Passion for Design." This 2010 book was written by Streisand, with photographs by Streisand and is all about her home in Malibu. The inspirational part is that Streisand has a barn on her property and in the basement of this barn are most (if not all) of her collectibles. However instead of just storing them, she has them set up in various shops - a doll shop, an antique clothing store, a candy store with frozen yogurt and popcorn, etc. THIS fact is what inspired the play Buyer & Cellar. The actual plot of the play is all fiction.

We are brought into Streisand's world as soon as we step into the theatre as the pre-show music is all her. The set is perfect and simple - a blank stage with a backless sofa/bench on one side, and a table and chair on the other. Behind each of these set pieces are screens which have projections of cityscapes (of California, and Malibu) along with photos of the locations the scenes take place. Some of the location photos were taken from Streisand's book (which is featured on the table, along side a glass of water), though some of the projections were blurry giving them a dream-like feel.

Another simple facet of this show is that there is one actor. Now one person shows can be very tricky to pull off. You must have a talented actor who can convincingly play all the parts, but more than that you need an actor who has a voice, energy, and a look that makes the audience want to spend time with them, and who enjoys spending time with them. Sasha Andreev has all of that in spades. Directed by Wendy Knox, Sasha plays at five or six characters. In my mind, there are more because it came across to me that Sasha played a flamboyant actor who sets the stage (reminding us that the mall is truth but the rest is fiction), then this same actor became Alex.

Alex is open and wanting to share his life and bring you along on his journey about working in the mall. Along with Alex, Sasha portrays Barry (Alex's boyfriend) who has a gruff, Fierstein-esque voice, a strong New York accent and rough mannerisms. We meet Sharon, the gum-chewing judgmental manager, along with James Brolin (a perfect interpretation) and finally the lady of the house. Andreev does not impersonate Streisand. As Alex states in the script - there are plenty of Streisand impersonators out there, some of them are even women. Because of that Andreev gives a portrayal of Streisand without impersonation - gestures, the voice, the speech patterns and slight accent, the facial looks that are given...perfection.

I won't give away any story. I will say that the script has a fantastic eye for detail. It is witty, a bit catty, and is funny through out. Jules and I were laughing almost non-stop. The script also makes some great observations on how people think of stars, and how stars think of non-star people. It speaks to the bitterness that can arrive from a tough childhood, as well as diving into some Streisand films and pointing out that they always seem to be about her getting with the person who says she is pretty. Through out the show there was fantastic underscoring made of great orchestral hints of Streisand, yet with no vocals. Musical hints to keep you in the Streisand frame of mind. I felt there was one misstep when the underscore changed to Portishead, however the more I think about it, the more it fit that specific moment. It sticks out because it was so different from the rest of the underscoring.

Needless to say, if one very small underscoring moment is all I can remember that was "negative" - well, who cares. The show did one thing that I love from theater. It makes me interested in going back to watch some Streisand films (and Judy Garland's Summer Stock). It had a wonderful story and message. This intermission-less (100 minute) show is fantastic - script, set, production and most of all the actor. Sasha Andreev is charming, smart, funny, has some incredible moments on stage, and creates magic.

Plays through April 24th, 2016.

The How and the Why - Theatre Unbound at New Century Theatre

Theatre Unbound, according to their website, "delivers thought-provoking live theatre conceived and created by women, providing audiences with engaging, rarely-seen perspectives on issues that are relevant and universal."

Their new production, The How and the Why at the New Century Theatre, continues that mission. Playwright Sarah Treem has created the story of two women of different generations who relate to each other through their respective scientific research.

Zelda (Caroline Kaiser) is a respected evolutionary biologist and the author of the Grandmother Hypothesis, which suggests that menopause evolved in humans so that the elder females could help to care for their children's children. Rachel (Molly Pach) is a doctoral candidate working on her own theory to explain menstruation. Not the "how," she clarifies, as the mechanics are well understood, but the "why" - What could be the scientific reason that it happens as it does in humans?

Caroline Kaiser and Molly Pach
Photo by Richard Fleishman

I won't go into detail, though the show does. These are actual scientific theories which the playwright borrows as a jumping-off point for the characters, who explore women in science, career vs. relationship issues, family connections, and more, It is a lot of ground to cover in two hours (with an intermission), and sometimes the play feels as though it is racing to get all of its ideas presented.

Zelda is on the board of a respected scientific conference, which Rachel applied to and was not accepted. The play starts with their first meeting, and the second act happens a few weeks later, after the conference. This doesn't seem to give the women enough time to develop much of a relationship, and personal revelations seem to be dropped in at regular intervals, whether warranted by the context or not.

Treem's script treats these revelations as surprises, although for the most part, they are overly telegraphed and a bit soap-opera-ish. The idea behind the play is interesting, as is the scientific discussion, but it might have been better served to be less ambitious. Possibly, director Shelli Place and the actors could have elevated the play, but in the end I think it bogged them down.

If you are interested in the science behind the play, there is a wonderful study guide put together by Chicago's TimeLine Theatre for their 2014 production that is a good starting point for further research.