Oscar E Moore

In the dark as the actors enter the performance space at Joyce Soho – 155 Mercer Street – you will hear the clicking and clacking of tap shoes.  As the lights go up and the incredibly wonderful black and white video projections by Ron Amato and the delightful and melodic pre-recorded sound track composed by Wayne Barker begin, bringing us back to he hey day of the silent movie era and the mega musicals of MGM, we are immediately drawn into a day in the life of an average Joe, herein named Bob (Ryan Kasprzak – a combination of Chaplain and a hefty Buster Keaton) who works for Fed Ups and seems to be that nice guy that can have everything that can wrong go, go wrong including causing the stock market to crash.

His hero is Superman and he poses heroically every time he attempts to help only to have his intentions go amusingly awry.

In this charming and imaginative 70 minute “Silent Movie” ballet directed by Mark Lonergan with inspired sight gags galore and choreographed by Ray Hessselink who supplies two great tap numbers that book end the show and lots of dance movement in between where the actors get to “act” without a hint of dialogue we are introduced to the people who will have major impact on Bob’s life.

The lovely and plain Vera (a terrific Kelly Sheehan) with her large black rimmed glasses and rabbit teeth looking like Sandy Duncan channeling Carol Burnett is the cleaning lady of the Statue of Liberty’s crown who just happens to dance like a dream.

The villain of the piece is Libby T. Grump (a slick and fearsome Shereen Hickman), an evil real estate maven with a grimace that brings to mind the late and great Leona Helmsley combined with the guile of Cruella de Vil.  She thrives during the crash and has her greedy eyes set on taking over Miss Liberty, owned by a revivalist kind of guy named Dwight (a passionate Mike Kirsch) who promises to “Makeover Your Life” – everyone’s life.

You don’t have to be Einstein to figure out what transpires but it is all done with great style and is lots of fun. 

Especially the two puppet pigeons, Vera toppling off of the Statue of Liberty (which is a brilliantly inspired sight gag) and a lovely dance sequence in Central Park between the unconventional love birds Vera and Bob.

C.K. Edwards, Alike Emerson, David Kremenitzer, Kevin Loreque, Adrienne Reid, Tim Roller, Robin Levine, Britta Whittenberg and Andrew Kruep (Standby for Bob) comprise the Parallel Exit Company and play a slew of characters in “the amazing adventures of an ordinary guy.”

www.parallelexit.com    www.joyce.org

Photo: Jim Moore

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The special effects by Tony Doublin, John Naulin, John Buechler, Tom Devlin & Greg McDougall are the highlight in this uneven, gore filled, newish musical (It’s been running in LA for a while where it has won multiple awards including “Best Blood Effects” and is headed to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) are truly awe inspiring and if you do not want to be splashed by fake blood, vomit and whatever it is that fills the intestines then you better not sit in the “splash zone”  where plastic ponchos are offered to protect in the first four rows at PTC Performance Space where RE-ANIMATOR the musical is playing as part of the NYMF.

It’s based on the 1985 B-cult horror “slash” comedy film – “H.P. Lovecraft’s Re-Animator” that Stuart Gordon directed.  Mr. Gordon now shares billing as co-writer of the book of this musical adaptation with Dennis Paoli and William J. Norris and is its director and co-producer.  Eerie music and some witty lyrics have been supplied by Mark Nutter, adding some operatic overtones to the proceedings with a nod and a wink or ten to Zombies, a severed head singing, a tango and a finale that sounds very much like “My Way”.

THE EVIL DEAD and THE TOXIC AVENGER, two similar musicals in the same genre, did it better their way.  At ninety minutes without intermission RE-ANIMATOR takes a time for it to really take off.  The scenes seem truncated and rarely pay off with the many blackouts that probably work better cinematically than on stage.

No songs are listed.  Something that really irks me.  However, with this show it makes sense as it is almost sung-through sounding at times like a riff on Gilbert and Sullivan, with some jazz and Philip Glass thrown in for good measure.   The music suits the production and is there to support the many wonderful aforementioned “special effects”.

The cast of eleven is uniformly excellent.  Herbert West (a maniacal Graham Skipper) is a medical school nerd who has discovered a glowing green serum that can bring the dead back to life – as first tested on the cat Rufus who belongs to Megan (Rachel Avery) who is the girlfriend of Dan (Chris L. McKenna) and is the daughter of Dean Halsey (George Wendt from “Cheers”).  West moves into Dan’s basement where he “experiments”.

Instructor Dr. Hill (a superb Jesse Merlin) is the spookiest character on stage.  He wants the formula and Megan.  One of the most outlandish scenes towards the end of the show has him carrying his head, singing and attempting to devour Megan who is strapped onto a gurney.  It has to be seen to be believed and enjoyed.

Mr. Wendt only blossoms after he has had a lobotomy.  And then he gets to shine.

If blood and guts and gore are your thing by all means check into RE-ANIMATOR the musical.  The special effects really are astonishing, gruesome and very funny. 

www.reanimatorthemusical.com

Photos:  Thomas Hargis

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Joey, Lincoln Center Theater’s War Horse has met his match at the Ice Factory Festival production of MISS LILLY GETS BONED with Harold – an amazing African elephant who has been extremely bad (having killed someone).  Harold is operated by three actors (Brian Belcinski, Adam Blodgett and Aaron McDaniel) to great effect.  It is a master creation of puppet designer and choreographer James Ortiz.

That the play he is featured in, Miss Lilly Gets Boned, by Bekah Brunstetter is equally impressive makes for a unique theatrical experience at the New Ohio Theatre that is fresh voiced, theatrical, extremely satisfying and welcome amid the sea of silly musicals abounding on the fringe festival scene this season.

Sexually repressed Sunday school teacher, Miss Lilly (a remarkable Jessica Dickey who I had seen and admired in THE AMISH PROJECT), remains a virgin at age 31 – keeping herself for a man that she hopes God will send her – frequently requesting such a person in her nightly prayers that are both endearing and funny. For the moment, guilt ridden masturbation is the answer.

One of her students is ten year old Jordan, believably played by David Rosenblatt looking sixteen.  When last I saw and admired him, he was a dog/person in BE THE DOG.  He does an excellent job here, unsuccessfully trying to keep his repressed anger in check regarding the death of his mother by an African elephant – Harold – who is being interviewed by Dr. Vandalla (Sanam Erfani, having the demeanor of a young Audrey Hepburn).  She is speaking with him, trying to understand why he became so violent while attempting to save his life.

When Jordan’s dad Richard (a charming and manly Chris Thorn) arrives to pick his son up, Lilly is immediately uncomfortably infatuated and head over heels crazy for the cad that soon emerges.  But not before she gets boned in a beautifully written and staged seduction in her bedroom.

Her sister Lara (a brazen Liz Wisan) is far more sexually active having gotten HPV, a STD.  She is momentarily “not being a slut” and sublimates by exercising/spinning on her stationary bicycle to burn off her frustration.

Director David F. Chapman keeps everything moving beautifully along between the past and the present with a wonderfully understated sound design by Jill BC Du Boff. 

How this all plays out is unexpectedly shocking, surprisingly moving and bittersweet.

Be careful what you pray for.    www.newohiotheatre.org

A STUDIO 42 and Ice Factory 2012 Production  PHOTOS:  Elizabeth Olson

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There are “fractured fairy tales” and then there is SPOOLIE GIRL – a new split personality musical by Robert W. Atwood (book) and Rosemary Loar (co-book, music, lyrics and vocal arrangements) that simply misfires, not measuring up to its aspirations at the June Havoc Theatre – Abington Theatre Arts Complex. 

Part of the problem with SPOOLIE GIRL is that it doesn’t know who its audience is.  Is it for kids?  For precocious adults?  Or for friends and family?  Most of the time as directed by Karen Carpenter it seems like an elementary school recital.  And clocking in at two hours and two acts it really wears out its welcome early on.

It begins with “Once upon a time…” and ends with “Happily ever after.”  In between we get a lot of lame “fairy” jokes and soft rock songs that go in one ear and out the other.  With the exception of “Bitch Being Beautiful” which is a duet sung by the Fairy Rock Mother (Rosemary Loar) and Catherine Porter (Darla) who is the aunt of our heroine Spoolie Girl (Jennafer Newberry) a teenage orphan from Kenya who has arrived suddenly in her fashionable New York apartment. 

Darla is an absentee aunt more focused on her salon, shoes, shopping and fashion assignments than her niece – who is desperately looking for a real home and in need of a make-over.  Off she is sent to Manuel (German Rodriguez) who has these magic “spoolies” to set her hair in.  Now my mind had wandered off somewhere here so I’m not sure how they immediately give the young girl the ability to hear other people’s thoughts – in song, but they do and she does.

Narrating this tale is Delta Pink (Lennie Watts) Head Fairy who wants those spoolies back.  The Fairy Rock Mother is the chosen one for the job as it was her mistake that they wound up on our heroine’s head.  If she succeeds her green wings will be exchanged for pink.  Most of the evening is spent with her not being able to do this.  Really exciting stuff.

Rev Roger “Yolanda” Mapes is Eddie – a guy with an invisible dog.  Raissa Katona Bennett plays multiple roles and Conor Mc Intyre is the sobbing son of Fairy Rock Mother.  He becomes a rock star named Frank Frank.

If you want to learn how not to write a musical then by all means visit SPOOLIE GIRL.  Its messages of “finding the beauty in every living thing” and that “beauty is only skin deep” and “home is where the heart is” are fine but you need a well written story and songs to get them across.

www.MidtownFestival.org

www.spooliegirl.com

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Cast photo by Seth Walters

Oh, the glorious sound of words.  The words of James Joyce and his muse/lover and eventual wife as interpreted by the multi talented Jonathan Brielle in his new musical HIMSELF and NORA.  Mr. Brielle has written the book, lyrics and a fine Irish flavored score to this most interesting show.  It is intelligent, humorous, sexy and extremely moving, starring two stars in the making – Matt Bogart and Jessica Burrows.

On a simple and stark set (Michael V. Moore) at The Theatre at St. Clement’s as part of NYMF an Irish wake is being held for the arrogant, abrasive and charming as hell recently departed Mr. Joyce – Himself (a dashing Matt Bogart) and immediately the conflict begins with Nora (a sturdy and feisty Jessica Burrows) viewing his body; setting up their tempestuous relationship which we will follow for three decades.

As they verbally spar with one another, as he ardently gropes under her skirt or she bounces on his lap in ecstasy we see that they are infatuated with one another as he is plagued by an omnipresent priest (Brian Sills).  Himself has met his match.  She is as strong as he is.  But he needs his freedom.  He won’t be tied down.  They make a handsome and passionate couple mostly interested in coupling and writing and speaking, climaxing in “Compatriots in Lust” – just one of the many fine songs on tap.

Throughout the two hour show under the careful and sharp direction of Michael Bush we wonder if he will ever change.  Will they ever marry, if not will he at least be civil and kind with her?  Will Nora stay or leave?  How much of his drinking can she put up with?  Will his monumental tome Ulysses be published?  Will he go blind?  Will he reconcile with his dad John Joyce (a superb David Arthur)? 

HIMSELF and NORA is a touching and thoughtful and theatrical telling of their eternal if rocky love for one another.  There are so many beautiful songs and beautiful moments:

Nora’s decision to “Stand Fast” – The English that Joyce attempts to teach to the Italians of Trieste is amazing as it is amusing – “River Liffey” which is reprised for the unexpected and rousing finale which had the audience begging the actors for another curtain call.

In exile from Ireland often, they wind up in Paris “all expenses paid” to finish and publish Ulysses.  But the now mustached and bow tied Mr. Joyce has to be convinced to let a woman publish it.  Fascinating insights into both their personalities are revealed in Act II with Nora’s brilliant “Without a Man”, Joyce’s “Always in Love” and “Touch Kiss” which will open the tear ducts to flow freely.

The letters they exchange during their separation is a beautiful piece of stagecraft.  But the tragic cum comedy outcome of their two grown bastard children Giorgio (he a drinker-Sills) and Lucia (she a bit crazed-Wing) “The Children of Mister Joyce” is an odd addition.

Setting the periods precisely are the costumes by Sara Jean Tosetti.  Kelli Barclay has created some fine dances that perk up the mood when it has gotten so serious.  The pacing of the show helps tremendously and J.B. Wing manages to make each of her characterizations meaningful.

But it is the glorious words and music of Mr. Brielle that make HIMSELF and NORA so moving, exciting and truly an affair to remember.

www.nymf.org 

www.jonathanbrielle.com/nora.html

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The management of the 45^th Street Theatre should be ashamed for not having repaired their air conditioner where FLAMBE DREAMS is being performed under sweltering conditions.  The heat in the theatre (hot air flowing through the ducts) was unfair to the actors and to the audience attending this new musical as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival.

Despite the extremely uncomfortable conditions this improbable but highly diverting musical fable is quite entertaining, headed by an extraordinary cast of five who tell the tale of Joe Christiansen (a strong and sincere Jarrod Spector) who dreams of following in his father’s footsteps, that is, to become a Maitre d specializing in desserts flambéed – desserts that caused his father to die tragically in a restaurant fire caused by some burning bananas.

Joe’s overprotective, psychiatrist, pill prescribing mother Elaine (an excellent Catherine Cox bringing to mind the great actress and comedienne Eileen Heckart) tries to prevent his leaving Idaho for NYC but off Joe goes in search of a job as Maitre d.  Mama, only trying to help, keeps tabs on his pill intake via phone.

While filling his mom’s prescription for Prozac at Duane Reade, the “tidy and consistent” Joe meets Gloria (Jillian Louis whose talent ignites on stage a thousand times brighter than the delightful prop desserts) and we immediately know that they are meant for each other.

Joe’s Candide like journey takes him to River’s Holistic Tearoom, Speedy Happy Noodle Shop and Internet Café and eventually Le Cirque.  Along the way he meets Desiree, a hot to trot and very personable prostitute (best friend of Gloria) and Delicious Dish a very modern sexy gal interested only in a guy who is connected and successful.  Both gals are portrayed by J. Elaine Marcos – who is a knockout in the looks and talent departments.

Kevin B. McGlynn plays an assortment of characters deliciously culminating with his weirdly funny song “Some Girls” as River – a past his prime Hippie.

The a bit too long book and very clever lyrics by Matthew Hardy are backed up by some catchy melodies by Randy Klein.  The score is light and witty and certainly has you rooting for Joe and Gloria all the way. 

Catherine Cox wows us with “Elaine’s Confession” / “Letting Go” and Joe’s ballad “My Dream” tugs at the heartstrings while the ultimate tribute to that maligned Garden State – New Jersey “Everything You Longed For” by the radiant Jillian Louis and Company sends us home on a very high and happy note indeed.

Terrific projections by Michael Clark seamlessly take us along on Joe’s journey which is tightly directed by West Hyler.  The brilliant prop desserts are designed by Melpomene Katakalos.  With some cuts – there are a couple of repetitive speed bumps along the way and perhaps getting the show down to 90 minuets without an intermission FLAMBE DREAMS could be a red hot ticket.

www.flambedreams.com

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Where else will you find a love song entitled “Plumbing” sung in a harem in Turkey, accents (French, American, Italian, Greek, German, Russian, British and Turkish) running rampant, a travelogue setting of a stage with steamer trunks and suitcases populated with ingenious props and cost efficient but splashy costumes with spiffy direction of a 1933 musical score with bright and lilting melodies and some very clever words written by none other than Cole Porter?  Minor Cole Porter mind you, but Cole Porter nonetheless.

For all those Cole Porter fanatics this is probably on the top of their must see list. Seldom seen, it was written between Gay Divorce and Anything Goes and doesn’t come close to either one although Mr. Porter fancied this his most sexy and sophisticated score. 

It is now running until July 29^th at The Clurman Theatre – Theatre Row, produced by the Prospect Theater Company who must be congratulated for this daunting and daring undertaking.

They have now joined the ranks of The Mint and TACT and Encores in successfully presenting forgotten but worthwhile shows of a certain age.

This adaptation with a new libretto by Rob Urbinati is based on the original novel by James Laver and the original libretto by Romney Brent. 

Nymph Errant is presented as a vaudeville show with short scenes, satirical barbs and lots of musical numbers where Eve (Jennifer Blood) has just finished Finishing School where she and her chums discuss clothes and men prompted by Miss Pratt (Cady Huffman) – head mistress to “Experiment” – and experiment she does traveling from country to country and from man to man looking for romantic love and not wanting to be taken advantage of until Act II when she’s had enough of nothing and is looking unsuccessfully for the wilder side of sexual love.

Her schoolmates show up in the most unexpected places.  The wealthy American Henrietta (Sara Jayne Blackmore) the very very British Pidge (Laura Cook) the Germanic Bertha (Amy Jo Jackson) and the French mademoiselle Madeline (Aubrey Sinn). 

There is Eve’s Aunt Ermyntrude (Natalie E. Carter) who doubles as Haidee from the deep South and Abe Goldfarb as Pithers, Alexei, Ferdinand and Vassim and the very funny Sorab Wadia as Andre, Heinz, Constantine and Ali – a Eunuch! 

There’s one more:  the young love interest Oliver/Ben (Andrew Brewer – straight from Indiana making his NYC debut.  This guy has good looks, a strong presence and a sweet tenor absolutely right for the period ballads he sings (including Plumbing).  I didn’t think young men sang like this anymore.  Good for him.  A pleasure to hear.  Cole Porter would have immediately taken him under his wing.

So sit back and be prepared for the unexpected and a fun if uneven time.  It’s extremely entertaining despite the convoluted plot which skips and sings along with great finesse directed by Will Pomerantz who has made some excellent and amusing choices with his cast.

Eve even visits a Nudist Camp.  Done with great taste and tongue in cheek the nudists sing a cappella a la nature – undressed to the nines by the gifted designer Whitney Locher.  Eve eventually finds true romantic love with her boy next door and together they sing the lovely “How Could We Be Wrong.”

Cady Huffman also shines with her other characterizations – Clarissa a past her prime prostitute, Mrs. Bamberg a brash American who has taken over a Palazzo in Venice and Professor Krauthammer on the Isle of Lesbos.

There’s something for everyone here and you might even see where future writers borrowed from Porter’s wealth of material: The Boyfriend, Cabaret, Nine, Candide and Hello Again.

The onstage band is terrific, missing not a beat and keeping the theatre filled with some wonderful tunes with their delightfully witty lyrics.

www.ProspectTheater.org

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The ninth annual New York Musical Theatre Festival is off to a shaky start.  He’s Not Himself, after eleven drafts, is just not ready.  Chosen to be part of The Festival’s Next Link Project it is missing more than a few links.

It is being produced by NYMF and Aron Lewis Productions – a company that for the past twelve years has produced high school musicals.  He’s Not Himself falls right into that amateurish category.

As silly plots go this one is a doozie.  And that’s not a compliment.  Gaining ridiculous momentum as it reaches its Pink Panther, Marx Brothers, Three Stooges like climax in Act II – the actual robbery of a “famous diamond” in some museum, in a city like New York that is being robbed by the characters created by Marc Silverberg who is the culprit responsible for the book, lyrics and music and who also portrays Benny the Banker.

Our Walter Mitty/John Ritter type hero Gene (Keith Panzarella) writes parking tickets for a living sharing his bed with his Teddy Bear.  He is nice but inept, living an ordinary life.  He wants to go on an adventure just like his gangster movie heroes – a dream he shares with his love interest – security guard Kay McAdams (Taylor Sorice) who tries unsuccessfully to show him the ropes of being courageous and unafraid.  But it’s a knock on his head that does the trick – changing him instantly into Teddy the Bear – tough guy extraordinaire.  Over and over again as he hits his head or has it whacked, his split personality confusing all those around him.

Bonnie James (Carly Voigt) a hot, sexy, ditzy dame is the sister of Benny the Banker and his cohort.  She has a couple of nice specialty songs, wears a terrific red hat and is the highlight of an otherwise unfocused new musical.

He’s Not Himself is set in the 40’s and so we have as our narrator Detective Tom Vito (Dexter Thomas-Payne) who speaks in film noir-ish, mangled clichéd dialogue (example:  barking up the wrong bush…).

The jaunty score sounds more like it belongs in 1950’s Grease than in this late 1940’s show.  There is a lot of physical slapstick humor directed by Michael Pantone.

Mr. Silverberg has lots of ideas – some of which are good – floating around without successfully coming together.  Perhaps some additional drafts will be forthcoming.

Nothing is as painful as seeing excellent actors performing mediocre material as if it were brilliant.  He’s Not Himself needs lots of work.

www.nymf.org/hesnothimself PTC Performance Space 555 W 42 St.  Photos:  Dan Wilburn

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All those feisty female dinosaurs over at the SOHO Playhouse on Vandam Street are working their tails off as well as that other body part that is specifically male (something about frog DNA) in this new musical spoof TRIASSIC PARQ running through August 5^th.

The SOHO Playhouse has been transformed into a theme park ride – all green and creepy (great scenic design by Caite Hevner) with sounds of the lab born animals ever present (Carl Casella & Christopher Cronin) as we begin our journey…

There are some seats on the stage.  One is designated the “Splash Zone” for obvious reasons.  The hard working and extremely talented actors, all seven, mingle with those on stage in their fabulous dino-wear costumes by Dina Perez and bathed in glorious lighting effects by Jen Schriever.

Lee Seymour, our droll narrator, is Morgan Freeman or is it Samuel L. Jackson?  It is in the Parq that we meet muscular Mama (Wade McCollum) with a fine Shakespearian baritone.  His little miracle “young and hungry for truth” is portrayed by the gifted Alex Wyse a guy with a fantastic voice and presence.  It’s his birthday as he sings “It’s a Beautiful Day to Be a Woman.”

T-Rex 1 (a mighty Shelley Thomas) is best friends with T-Rex2 – actually more than best friends – ummm…the multi talented and very funny Claire Neumann (loved her in The Spidey Project!) who grows an unexpected dong which she is allergic to, causing all sorts of commotion within the community.   They have the finest song in the show – a duet “Love Me Like Before”.

There is a Mime-a-saurus (Brandon Espinoza).  Why a mime?  Your guess is as good as mine.  But Mr. Espinoza can certainly communicate.

The extraordinary Lindsay Nicole Chambers – “the exiled one” (late of the late Lysistrata Jones where she truly impressed) does likewise in this shambles of a so-called spoof which is sporadically amusing with a mediocre rock score that serves the plot as such but won’t be remembered long for its melodies or lyrics – although TRIASSIC PARQ was voted best musical in the FringeNYC 2010.

Winning performances and some clever choreography by Kyle Mullins try to lift this musical above its crude, penis hose and pussy humor which is college frat at best.  It has been directed by Marshall Pailet who also wrote the music and book and lyrics along with Bryce Norbitz and Stephen Wargo.  Destiny conceived this family.

Director’s note:  Intended to be cute and funny reads “Sometimes it’s difficult for me to properly see the fruits of my labors, an oversized beret obstructs my left eye, and an undersized monocle the right.”  That explains everything.

Drinks are available for this 90 minute show.  Have a double.

www.triassicparq.com    Photo:  Carol Rosegg

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Are you a puzzle fanatic?  Do you like a good psychological mystery play?  Will five excellent actors start those grey cells in your brain working overtime?  Then 7^th Monarch written by Jim Henry should please you to no end.  It’s at the Acorn on Theatre Row – produced by the Somerled Charitable Foundation.

Beautifully staged and directed by Scott C. Embler, 7^th Monarch appears as if it’s a movie unfolding before our eyes.  The set design by Shoko Kambara is full of surprises.  I suppose they both collaborated closely on its design and function.  It keeps you interested and wondering as the many details of this puzzling tale are revealed.  

While dealing with a dysfunctional family and their secrets, 7^th Monarch is one of a kind and unlike any play I’ve seen for a long time.  Very much like the compelling and strange psychological novels of Georges Simenon, where one story is just the tip of the iceberg to what the real story is about, leaving us enough leeway to fill in the missing pieces when necessary.

Not all of the family is present.  Only Miriam Hemmerick (a fantastic Gretchen Hall) is at home.  She’s a childlike genius who can scan a newspaper and retain all with her amazing memory.  There are countless neat piles of these old newspapers and mirrors are covered with clippings in her Indiana residence circa 1991 when Raina Briar (a nicely textured Leslie Hendrix) comes a calling.  She is a criminal investigator with the Social Security Office.  Miriam has been signing her parent’s checks for a while now and she is being accused of fraud, explaining that her parents “flew away in a comet.”

Miriam wears a space helmet and rides a pink bicycle.  She is hyper.  She has a passion for all things pertaining to astronauts and NASA and Tang and pot pies and crossword puzzles (there is one included in the program) and the number 43.  She has obviously gone through some traumatic experience as we eventually discover.

Soon to be retired detective Leo Garnes (Michael Cullen) and looking to be re-elected Judge Kenneth Sharpe (Michael Rupert) and the young Public Defender Grey Collins (Matthew Humphreys) become involved in the case each with their own modus operandi, resulting in direct conflict.

But it is Raina’s fragile relationship with Miriam that is at the heart of the drama.  How these two completely different women begin to understand one another, trust one another so as to reveal their hurtful secrets to one another is extremely compelling theatre.

Appropriate lighting design by D.M. Wood and sound design and composition by David Pinkard add to the creepy, melancholy and ominous events taking place in the “Twilight Zone House”.

There is much going on in 7^th Monarch so listen closely and carefully. 

www.7thMonarch.com  Photos:  Carol Rosegg

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