BERKSHIRE COUNTY, Mass. — In the Berkshires, two theater companies are reaching back to the past to make some telling statements of modern issues.
Barrington Stage Company is offering the Jerry Herman musical “La Cage aux Folles” to open its season. It’s a comic look at a same-sex relationship that becomes endangered when a couple is forced to deny their relationship in order to impress a right-wing politician.
The production which runs through July 6 is what has become a typical Barrington Stage musical production. That means spectacular costumes, exuberant dance numbers and high-quality performances. They are all there in this exciting and most pleasurable production.
However, somewhat diminishing total satisfaction is that despite the phenomenal production numbers, the drama in the show lacks emotional heft. That’s because, at this time, there is not yet a devoted relationship established between Albion and Georges.
Georges is the owner of a nightclub that features drag performers. Albin, his lover of 20 years is a flamboyant star at the club.
When Georges listens to his son, begot from a drunken one-night dalliance, he agrees to leave Albion out of the meeting with the son’s future father-in-law an extremist right-wing politician. Tom Story as Georges fails to show how this hurtful betrayal hurts him as much as it does Albion. This lack of early compassion tempers the affection the two must have for each other.
Yet, if it’s pure entertainment you want, the production is fulfilling. Director Paul McGill and choreographer Mike Donahue just keep topping themselves with the production numbers. Many shows end with a standing ovation. This show deserves one at the end of the first act.
As for individual performances Alex Michaels is fantastic as Albion. He is a delight throughout the show and a major reason you should not hesitate to attend. Adding to the fun is a comically over-the-top performance of Phillip Taratula as the butler/maid, Jacob.
“La Cage aux Folles” is glitzy fun that will have you in awe over the talents of the cast and the cleverness of the drag ensemble. For more information go to barringtonstageco.org
There is nothing frivolous about “Abe Lincoln in Illinois” at Berkshire Theatre Group’s Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It’s a 1938 play that is essentially a pre-presidency biography of Abraham Lincoln. It is, amazingly, enlightening to contemporary audiences.
When the play first appeared in 1938, when Raymond Massey offered a career-defining performance, it used over 80 actors. The 1993 revival with Sam Waterson (of “Law and Order” fame) reduced the cast to about 50. The Berkshire Theatre Group effort, which runs through July 15, has only 11 actors. All are terrific, especially the three who play Lincoln.
Yes, you read right. In this three-act play, Lincoln is played by a different actor in each act. Adding to what appears an overly “woke” sensibility, two are actors of color and the other is a female.
I walked into the Unicorn Theatre on the BTG campus in Stockbridge a skeptic and left an admirer of the vision of director David Auburn. At no time does the production ever impose a revisionist look at Lincoln.
However, you have to be moved when during a Lincoln-Douglas debate you hear a powerful black actor, Robert G. McKay, use Lincoln’s own words to suggest that even though the Negro was not equal to a white man, he still deserved to be treated as a human being and offered the rights given to all in the constitution.
The moment brings clarity, power and shame to both that era and today.
The second act, which deals with Lincoln entering the world of politics, centers on his reluctant relationship with Mary Todd. In this segment Lincoln is played by Kelli Simpkins. Having a female playing a Lincoln who is in turmoil over marrying Mary Todd adds an enigmatic view of both the power and sexual dynamics of the situation.
The opening act has Brandon Dial play Lincoln as an awkward but assured and charming young man who is beginning to form a personality that will define him through life.
There can be no denying that by visiting the ground zero of Black Lives Matter with a mixed-race cast playing historic figures, as well as gender bending characters, forces the audience to realize how far we have come as a society and how much further we have to go. But never is it heavy-handed.
Oddly, if you can put the issues of slavery on the back-burner, the true parallel to today’s world is the potential destruction of the U. S. Constitution. In 1860 it was the looming Civil War, based on the right of states to secede from the Union. Robert Sherwood wrote the play in 1938; at the time he was concerned about the isolationist mood of the country. That was followed by the United States entering World War II to stop fascist regimes from conquering Europe.
When revived in 1993, Waterson claimed that if every time you heard the word slavery in the play, if you substituted dictatorship the play would speak to that specific time. That sentiment is true today.
In this election year, with the future of the Constitution at stake, “Abe Lincoln In Illinois” helps you realize the country is at a crossroads with a nation divided on the future direction of the country. This alone makes “Abe Lincoln in Illinois” a must-see production. For information go to berkshiretheatregroup.org
