After Friday night’s performance of “Exposed!” at the Cascade Theatre, I visited Dance Project director James Santos backstage. Without going into great detail, let’s just say his feet were incredibly bruised and sore. I can’t believe he dances so well on them.
Dancing barefoot is the rule for a lot of the dance used in this show. I’m sure there are some other sore feet among the talented performers around Santos.
Photo by Michael Burke
I was thoroughly entertained by this latest production by The Dance Project. The dancing and choreography were top notch (as usual) as the show utilized music from “Hair,” “West Side Story,” “Mamma Mia” and more.
Santos always creates stellar dance numbers, but I was equally impressed with the choreography of Jana Parker, who designed the lovely segments “Imagine” and “Beautiful Day,” and Marissa Kinneavy, who did “One Night Only.”
Santos, Parker and Kinneavy are also strong and elegant dancers, and it’s fun to watch them perform. But then again, so is the entire cast: Tiffany Rodrigues, Leaha Hernandez, Elleri Bernardino, Brian Catanio, Louie Licon, Kristi Sarcinella, Shawntel VanBoekel, Randy McHone, Rhonda Payne, Ashley Adishian, Sarah Leavers, Colleen Stankey and Delphine Delcros.
I thought the lighting design by Louis Hudson was especially imaginative in this show: the colors and the way the spots flooded the stage, the movie camera beam over the audience’s heads, the disco lights, everything. And costume designer Cindy Sumsion continues to hit high marks with everything the performers are adorned in — ’60s hippie garb, shimmery dresses, the late ’50s designs from “West Side Story.”
The dance numbers were broken up by the singing ensemble of Romney Clements, Jana Leard, Lisa Redden and Mike Powell. Each is a strong individual vocalist and they really shined together when they combined their voices in harmony. Credit vocal coach Trish Spinner for her work with this group.
“America” from “West Side Story” was probably my favorite among the numbers they did.
Words I would use to describe the show would include: Fun, energetic, elegant, physical, sexy, atmospheric, creative.
I would have liked to have seen the Cascade a little more full on Friday night, because I think this show deserves a big crowd.
The proof for me is I’d love to see it again. The show continues at 7 p.m. Friday (April 3), and 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday (April 4). Tickets are $10-$25 and available at the Cascade Theatre box office (243-8877) or online.
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On Saturday I caught the Riverfront Playhouse production of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None,” which features a strong cast, including folks like Susan Daugherty, Tom Kirschman and Ben Van Sickle.
First off, this show is a huge challenge: It’s a big ensemble with a lot of actors on stage at the same time, it calls for British accents, and the time period is about a century ago. Many of the actors have to articulate back stories. There’s a lot of information to digest in the mystery, directed by Maria Spencer-Drake.
Some of the flow of action felt a bit chunky. Maybe some of that awkwardness came from the blocking of the play. I also think in a show like this, the characters have to be really well defined, and the exchanges between them need to be pretty crisp. When those elements don’t happen, the show will drag as it did at times on Saturday.
That said, this cast isn’t far away from having a strong show on its hands. There are some excellent bits of acting going on.
Part of the cast of “And Then There Were None.”
Kirschman, as William Blore, was captivating throughout, never dropping his character for a moment. Daugherty always nails characters like the stiff, angry Emily Brent. I loved Deon Pollett’s perfectly believable General Mackenzie.
Kudos to Tess O’Connell, who also stayed in character well as Vera Claythorne and had an expressive, warm presence on stage. Van Sickle and Beverlyann Samuel fit well into their roles as guesthouse servants.
The others in the cast (Cannon Knapp as Capt. Lombard, Jorge Arguello as Judge Wargrave, Colin Peacock Jr. as Dr. Amstrong, and Matthew Wells as Anthony Marston) certainly had their moments as well. So now it becomes a matter of blending it all together with just a bit more cohesiveness.
The set, with windows exposing a veranda, is excellent and effective. The technical cues were pretty spot on, although there were some sounds like thunder that got clipped off too quickly.
The way the guests start disappearing in conjunction with a nursery rhyme is a clever plot device by Agatha Christie. It’s a play worth doing, and I’d be interested to see how this show develops through the remainder of its run.
It continues at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights through April 18. There are also 2 p.m. Sunday matinees (but not on closing weekend). For more information, click here.
