Spotlighters 'A New Brain': All Neurons Firing

SHOW INFORMATION:  Through May 18.  Fri – Sat at 8PM, Sun at 2PM.  Thurs at 8PM, May 15.  Tickets are $18.00.  BWW Readers get $5.00 off per tickets by using code BWW-ANB online or at the box office.  Call 410-752-1225 or go to www.spotlighters.org of tickets and information. 

◊◊◊◊ out of five.  2 hours, 15 minutes, including intermission.  Adult language, sexuality and situations.

The Spotlighters Theatre is the perfect place for odd, quirky little musicals like A New Brain, which opened last night in Baltimore.  For various reasons (some outlined later), this show will likely remain infrequently produced.  But for now, we can be very glad that it has been brought to Charm City in such a well-staged, nicely sung production.

First of all, the creative team is to be commended for taking on such a challenging work.  And they have created a whole production, loose-ends free.  The environmental staging – from the per-curtain hustle and bustle of the cast as hospital workers to the setting (designed by Kurt Thesing) of that hospital which surrounds and envelops the audience – serves this musical well.  Because there are several flights from reality throughout the evening, costume designer Shannon Maddox gets to show off some real creativity beyond hospital gowns and scrubs, including a very touching switch at the end of the play, when the main character is back in the real world.  Fuzz Roark's lighting design also helps create a sterile hospital and creative mood swings as reality ebbs and flows throughout.  Of special note is the work of Michelle Dunkle, musical director, who has, with a few minor exceptions, guided the small company in creating a huge vocal sound.  Ms. Dunkle and her two band mates, Jason Wilson and Ernest Swift also make lovely music that sounds like much more than a three piece combo.

But the big creative star of the evening is director/choreographer David Gregory, who has risen to the show's obvious challenges.  It is no exaggeration to say that of the thirty-five numbers in the show, 95% of them end up being big production numbers.  That Mr. Gregory makes this happen with a cast of ten, a tiny space and hospital equipment everywhere makes his achievement all the more remarkable.  Simply put, I can't imagine the he is anything less than physically and emotionally exhausted at this point.  Hell, it was exhausting to watch!  Early Susan Stroman comes to mind when reflecting on Gregory's energetic choreography.  His use of props and changing perspective is dazzling and endlessly creative.  Not one number (save for a reprise) looks the same.  And the steps are complicated enough to be visually interesting for the audience, but still completely in the cast's more than capable comfort zone.  After you see this show (and you really must) you'll probably never look at a doctor's office or a stack of books in quite the same way.  Directorially, Mr. Gregory also accomplishes much that in lesser hands could have been an over the top mess.  Given that much of the play vacillates between reality and hallucination, the two ends of the spectrum are always crystal clear and occasionally pretty tricky when the two worlds collide.  But, with a keen eye and very specific performances, Gregory and company make this odd show very easy to navigate.  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, he allows each character to be the "type" that the script calls for, but they are never allowed to lapse into gross stereotypes or histrionic acting.  This is no campy melodrama, it is quirky with a heart – something Mr. Gregory and company understand and give themselves to completely.

The cast is uniformly very good; in fact it is one of the tightest ensembles in town in recent memory.  Despite a few vocal lapses into flatness and a few minor pitch issues, the company navigates Finn's excessive wordiness (along with his incessant penchant for melodies that meander like he is just tinkling the keys) extremely well.  And to a person, they all look to be having a wonderful time, which, considering the material and subject matter, is no small feat. 

A quartet of actors makes up a core of small roles, and they do a superb job at defining each.  R. Brett Rohrer is the main character's doctor who hilariously diagnoses the problem is (as you'd expect) unseen until the operation.  Kristen Zwobot, Baltimore's go-to girl for biting sarcasm plays her role of the "mean" nurse with a frightening look of delight in her eye.   The always reliable Troy Hopper brings much snap and pep to his role as the "nice" nurse.  And Chris Rudy, a thoroughly engaging actor no matter where he is on stage, is a hoot as a minister in a Jewish person's room.  His befuddled looks are a stitch.  Mr. Rohrer, Ms. Zwobot, Mr. Hopper and Mr. Rudy also play a variety of other bit parts (including tadpoles!) and do so very well.

Michael Rostek, a nimble actor to be sure, gets to play perhaps the most fun role written in some time – Mr. Bungee, a frog from kiddie TV.  The character itself is a really cool puppet, which Mr. Rosek manipulates with his hands arms and head (yes, I said head).  But it is his delivery and smooth vocal styling that really make his character work.  There is a gleam in his eye that betrays the actor's obvious enjoyment in the role, but that mischievous look also draws us in as willing participants in these strange hallucinations.

Gordon has three women in his life, and they are as diverse as the actresses playing them.  Anya Randall Nebel practically steals the show as The Homeless Lady.  Is there anything this woman can't do?  I don't think so.  Her biting delivery, jazzy interpretations of her songs and a decided control over her audience (onstage and in the seats) helps Ms. Nebel create one powerhouse, riveting performance.  To discuss much more of her work would give entirely too much away, but she is never less than excellent in a deceptively challenging role.  Gordon's agent, Rhoda, secretly pines for him, even though she knows he is gay, and handles him like any good agent would – a strong, guiding hand, a nagging tone, and an outlook that serves her as much as it does him.  The role is in excellent hands with Tori Katz, who plays each aspect of the character to the hilt, but also in satisfyingly subtle ways.  She sings very well, and is particularly funny in a Chicago knockoff number where she is a ventriloquist dummy.  Finally, Gordon has a mother, played with a certain Jewish mother glee by Elizabeth Hester.  Ms. Hester has a blistering line delivery, and a lovely voice.  Like her other co-stars, she too, is an interesting blend of over the top and endearing subtlety.

Randy Dunkle, as Roger, Gordon's lover, has the unenviable task of playing a character who puts sailing and other personal interests ahead of Gordon, making him, at first none too sympathetic.  He sings the role well, though he occasionally sounds like he has a cold or allergy, and warms up to the part as it becomes more interesting.  One suspects that Mr. Dunkle's interpretation will become more magnetic as the show continues its run, and he relaxes just a tad.

Aside from Mr. Gregory, the obvious star of the evening is Darren McDonnell, usually seen on the boards at both Toby's locations.  It is nice to see him outside his comfort zone and in a show that will likely never see the inside of a dinner theatre.  I said it before when he took over the role of Georges in La Cage aux Folles earlier this ear at the last minute, and I will say it again.  Mr. McDonnell is an excellent actor/performer.  His performance as Gordon requires much of him, and he is more than up to the task.  Aside from a brief moment for one costume change, he never leaves the stage (including being on stage as the audience enters).  He can belt out a tune to be sure, and he also blends wonderfully in.  What makes his performance so endearing is his facial expression which is really mirror to his character's true soul.  Often what is coming out of Gordon's mouth is mock bravery and anger, but what is written all over his face is fear, love and hope.  Mr. McDonnell and several members of this company again show why it is all the more necessary for Baltimore to have its own comprehensive awards and recognition.  That Baltimore doesn't have such a thing in place is shameful.

If there is anything working against this superb production, it is William Finn's book (along with James Lapine) and his unnecessarily dense score.  I suppose that when you are writing an autobiographical show about living through a potentially life-ending aneurism, people around you want to let you say your piece any way you want to, no holds barred.  Of course, that means probably a lot less (if any) editorial work would be done, so that feelings won't be hurt and "How could you know what it feels like? Has it happened to YOU?" conversations can be avoided.  Surely that must be the case with William Finn and his musical, A New Brain.  Already known as a wordy-wordsmith, an everyman's Sondheim, etc., Finn really pours it on thick in this show – nearly a note per syllable, rarely repeating (picture two solid hours of the Witch's Rap in Into the Woods).  His melodies are of-the-moment-catchy but with very few pauses, and one song bleeds (pardon the pun) right into the next one.  The result 35 songs in under 2 hours, verbally dense (to the extreme) and with song styles that cover more territory than Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  To ask an audience to be that engaged is a lot, but reasonable if there were decent pauses or an occasional respite from the mind numbing whir of scenes coming from an engine caught in one hell of a high gear.  Even Stephen Sondheim, arguably the most thought-provoking Broadway composer, knows when to lay off the verbosity and throw the audience a breath-catching bone once in awhile. 

Then, too, there is a surprising lack of story here, which makes everything all the more concentrated.  Gordon is a songwriter unhappy with his day job writing children's TV songs.  His unhappiness continues with a headache diagnosed as an aneurism.  While he waits for his loved ones to arrive, he laments never having written "the song" that will define his career.  He gets treated, pulls through and he's glad he made it.  That's it.  Oh there's the lover (he's gay, natch) who would rather be sailing, the co-worker woman silently in love with her gay friend, and, of course a nagging Jewish mother.  Add a few hospital staff and a wisdom spouting homeless woman (a worn out device if there ever was one), and let all of the supporting characters mention outside conflicts, but make sure they never go anywhere – this is Gordon's/Finn's show, after all – and there you have A New Brain. 

I also suppose that trying to cram every song pastiche and rush of every songwriting thought ever held by a writer fits the desperation of a main character facing a life and death situation, but it sure makes for a lot of program searching to see how long until the end.  It is cleverness at its cleverist, and, boy  it sure knows it is clever.  But the best shows that are almost entirely clever know when to let it go – Xanadu comes in at crisp 90 minutes; Avenue Q engages us with plot twists and multiple storylines and never over does the puppet shtick.  Apparently, disease and self-absorption do not an excellent musical make.  Thankfully, the current production at Spotlighters gets it a close as possible – it adds smarts, nifty staging and a top-notch cast and a decent amount of heart.

PHOTOS by Amy Jones, courtesy of Spotlighters.  TOP to BOTTOM:  The Cast and Crew of A New Brain; Troy Hopper, R. Brett Rohrer and Kristen Zwobot; Darren McDonnell and Chris Rudy; Randy Dunkle and Anya Randall Nebel; Elizabeth Hester; Darren McDonnell and Randy Dunkle.

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