Review: BROADWAY AT THE GOOD Brings Cheer to the Season

Portland's Good Theater performs its annual musical revue, Broadway at the Good Theater this weekend, bringing warmth, cheer, and an array of musical treats to mark the holiday season. Conceived, written, and directed by Brian P. Allen, this year's two hours of song and dance was devoted to the musicals of the 1970s.

Over the years, Allen has honed to perfection format for these delightful ensemble performances, and this latest creation is no exception. The cast of sixteen, featuring local artists and guest performers Kenita R. Miller and Daniel PatRick Smith, make their way through the decade with selections from hit musicals such as Company, Follies, Sweeney Todd, Grease, The Wiz, Annie, A Chorus Line, and Jesus Christ Superstar, as well as lesser known gems from show like The Grass Harp, Ballroom, and The Magic Show, among others. Allen sequences the narrative with a lean, but witty arc, balancing mood and tempi with skill. Staging is fluid and economical, with the focus on a cabaret style of individual characterful interpretations.

The cast is comprised of singing actors who can deliver text and create situation, while knowing how to style a sonG. Allen has wisely selected a range of musical voices and styles to allow him to cover the material best. The male ensemble features the silky voiced Peter Allen, the droll Glenn Anderson, the exuberant rock singing Steve Leighton, the boyishly charming Conor Martin, and the lovely tenor of Jeff Christmas, with young Halim Moldaver singing several parts for child characters. The women's contingent boasts the sweet sopranos of Marissa Sheltra Brown and Meredith Lamothe, the strong interpretive skills and rage of Jen Means, Lynne McGhee, and Jennifer Manzi MacLeod, and Amy Roche, the masterful delivery and acting of songs as scenes by Laura Houck, the rousing sound of Shannon Thurston. Soloist Kenita R. Miller, returning for her fourth engagement here, uses her smoky, sultry, vibrantly colored timbre to make highlights of songs like "What Christmas Means to Me," "Keepin' Out of Mischief," "Lion Tamer," and soulful rendition of "God bless the Children" and "What I Did for Love." Daniel PatRick Smith in his Good debut brings, a strong mellifluous voice and a charismatic stage presence to the comic "Beauty That Drives Men Mad," "Hey There Good Times," and "Lovers on Christmas Eve," concluding with a shining rendition of "I Won't Send Roses."

The musical direction, as it is each year, is in the able hands of Victoria Stubbs, who created the arrangements, and leads the excellent band - Bill Manning (percussion), David Emma (bass), Wade Johnston (guitar) - from the piano. As always in the intimate space at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, it is a pleasure to hear the music performed without amplification.

The Good's production team does justice to the evening with attractive décor by Justin Cote, atmospheric lighting by Iain Odlin, and effective work by Technical Director Craig Robinson and Stage Manager Michael Lynch.

As with everything this remarkable little company produces, the audience can look forward to an evening of enchantment. In a holiday theatrical season that sometimes offers familiar titles over and over again, it is always a thrill to come to the Good Theater for this revue and leave surprised and exhilarated by the originality of the show!

Photos courtesy of the Good Theater

Broadway at the Good Theater runs from November 30-December 4, 2016 at The Good Theater, 76 Congress Street, Portland, ME www.goodtheater.com 207885-5883.

The next production is A.R. Gurney's Love Letters from January 4- February 25, 2016.

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