BWW Reviews: TOPDOG/UNDERDOG at Everyman is Mesmerizing

The Everyman Theatre and Center Stage are both presenting Pulitzer Prize winning plays at the same time. While the Everyman is presenting TOPDOG/UNDERDOG by Suzan-Lori Parks, Center Stage has CLYBOURNE PARK by Bruce Norris as part of the RAISIN CYCLE.

And coincidentally, the two actors appearing at the Everyman, Eric Berryman and Kenyatta Rogers, actually appeared in the Everyman production of RAISIN IN THE SUN a few years ago.

Both theaters should be selling-out performances due to two phenomenal plays and two fabulous casts. What a great time to be a theater-goer.

I have only one complaint about TOPDOG/UNDERDOG and that's the title. I remember seeing ads for the show when it was on Broadway and wondered what the heck was this about. How about THE BROTHERS BOOTH AND LINCOLN or just plain THE BROTHERS? The title deals with the fact that Booth is in fact "the underdog" and his brother is the "topdog". It is Booth's quest to be the "topdog".

Whatever the play is called, it certainly deserves your attention. Do not miss this inspiring production under the incredible direction of Jennifer L. Nelson who weaves her magic with two very accomplished actors. She also directed the wonderful that Everyman production of THE RAISIN IN THE SUN.

Everyman's Artistic Director Vince Lancisi was surprised that the show has never played Baltimore though it did play about ten years ago at Washington's Studio Theatre.

The two person play chronicles the lives of two African-American brothers who cope with women, work, poverty, gambling, booze, racism, and being abandoned by their parents when they were very young . It will be remembered by everyone who sees it due to the performances of both Eric Berryman (who plays the younger brother Booth) and Kenyatia Rogers (who plays Lincoln). Their parents named them Booth and Lincoln as a joke.

The play opens in a dilapidated rooming house where Booth lives which has no sink nor a toilet. They're down the hall. He's practicing a card game with three cards called the three card monte. The game goes back to the 1500's but got its name from a legitimate Mexican card game from the 1830's. In Britain it's called "Find the Lady" and in France it's called "Bonneteau".

Booth is alone and making believe he's doing the card trick on the streets with a crowd of people surrounding him but it's clear, he needs much more practice.

Lincoln quietly enters Booth's apartment wearing a black frock, stove-top hat, black beard and white face straight from his day job as a Lincoln impersonator at a carnival arcade where patrons pay to make believe they are John Wilkes Booth assassinating Lincoln. Booth is startled and takes his gun from the back of his belt thinking he's being invaded.

Lincoln is now sleeping on a lazy-boy chair after being kicked out of his apartment by his wife. His income pays the rent and the booze and the Chinese food and little else.

Booth was only 16 when his parents abandoned him and his brother and basically brought Booth up. He used to be a marvel at three card monte. It is obvious Booth idolizes his older brother and is envious of his ability to hold down a job.

Booth is an expert shop-lifter and succeeds at not only arriving wearing an entire wardrobe for himself, but an entire wardrobe for his brother! Three cheers for his dresser (which is coming next year to Everyman).

While Lincoln has been married, Booth has a girl-friend and the failure of that relationship is not easily accepted .

You will laugh a lot at times but the sadness of their existence permeates the evening. While the ending may seem inevitable, it still is shocking.

James Fouchard is responsible for the superb set. The flat is exacting what the play calls for. What Fouchard adds is the top of the set is a broken facade of an old theater and the sides of the stage reveal one side a portrait of Abraham Lincoln and the other, a Black man revealing a card. When the lights surrounding these two portraits are lighted, the effect is to remind one of the actual Ford's Theatre in Washington where the actual Lincoln was shot by Booth.

Colin K. Bills does the terrific lighting and Levonne Lindsay is responsible for the costumes. Where did she find those suits??

On May 16 following the 7:30 performance, there will be "Post-Show Talk Back Discussion" with the actors.

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG continues until May 19. For tickets, call 410-752-2208 or visit www.everymantheatre.org.

The Back Story on Rick Beatty, Three-Card Monte Consultant

On page 19 of the program, Rick Beatty is listed as the Three-Card Monte consultant. I got a chance to meet Beatty just before the show began and he whispered in my ear, "See those cards on the set, those are mine."

I was curious how this happened.

Well, about 10 years ago, Beatty was in a magic shop in DC and performing the 3 card monte trick at Al's Magic Shop. Stan Cohen, the owner's son got excited and told Beatty a theater may be able to use him. And that's how Beatty got the gig at the Studio Theatre as the 3 card monte consultant.

When Everyman's Kyle Prue (Director of Production) was looking for a 3 card monte expert, he came across Beatty's name. When told he did the same job at the Studio, Prue was sold after a meeting with Beatty with the actors and Director Nelson and her production staff. Beatty began the meeting doing some magic tricks and then taught Berryman and Rogers the correct way to do the 3 card monty. He made sure the actors got all the rhythm and cadence of tossing the cards in the 1 2 3 pattern and taught them the philosophy of the game. He emphasized the game is 100% crooked.

I asked Beatty how he got involved in magic and the story is quite interesting. His Dad was a member of the Baltimore Colts Marching Band and after they beat the Giants in 1958 in Yankee Stadium for the NFL championship, on their way home to Baltimore, his parents stopped in Atlantic City to celebrate. At the tender age of 4, Beatty observed a card-trick on the boardwalk and became hooked.

He's been a performer his whole life and is hoping this gig at the Everyman can lead to more work. After the show, a group of patrons watched him in amazement perform his tricks.

If you are interested, you can reach Rick at 443-4846-9111 or email him at the legendary420@yahoo.com. You can also visit www.rickbeatty.magicblogspot.com.

Everyman's Kyle Prue to perform Baltimore Choral Arts Society Sunday, May 5, 2013

Actor Kyle Prue joins Tom Hall and the chorus from the Baltimore Choral Arts Society for a look at how music and works interact to transform great poetry into musical masterpieces on Sunday, May 5, 2013 at the Grace United Methodist Church, 5407 N. Charles St. in Baltimore.

For information, call 410-523-7070 or visit www.baltimorechoralarts.org.

cgshubow@broadwayworld.com

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