Reviews: Take a peek at new theater shows now playing on Cape stages

COTUIT ―This is a tale of two Stephens told by a Stephanie who knows them both well.

This is the last weekend to see Stephanie Miele’s “Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz: Two Broadway Giants.”

The one-woman show plays at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with a final performance at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Vivian and Morton Sigel Black Box Theater at Cotuit Center for the Arts. Tickets are pay-what-you-can, from $10 to $50.

Miele, a Falmouth resident who once taught music in Brockton and now tunes pianos for a living, is the ultimate instructor in this two Stephens show ― sort of like watching a dream sequence from the TV show “Glee.”

Miele’s nearly two-hour-long show draws parallels between Sondheim (“Sweeney Todd,” “Into the Woods,” “Company”) and Schwartz (“Wicked,” “Godspell,” “Pippin.” Although born nearly two decades apart, the composers' paths crossed frequently in the rarefied world of Broadway musicals, whether they were competing for the same jobs or urging each other on.

The show: “Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz: Two Broadway Giants”

Written and performed by Stephanie Miele, accompanied by Liesl Crehan on piano and Matt Brown on bass.

Highlights of the show: Crehan and Brown were perfect accompanists — never overwhelming Miele’s delicate soprano voice or galloping ahead. The trio were perfectly paced.

The two Stephens show is a mix of lots of lecturing (36 pages in my notebook) and a song accompanying each story. Miele’s voice and her demeanor are light and airy, like a songbird flying on to the sparsely furnished stage. She must have been a terrific music teacher.

In terms of performance of more than two dozen songs, Miele nails many of them but comes up short on some of the Broadway belters like “The Wizard and I” from “Wicked.” She has some fierce competition in the public’s mind since that role has been played by Idina Menzel and a score of other strong singers.

Noteworthy: Miele is the creator of Broadway tributes "Rodgers, Hart, and Hammerstein" and "Mary and Ethel."

See it or not: See it for the Broadway trivia, with little-known facts coming every 30 seconds and each story sealed with a song.

One more thing: Miele is so well-versed in her subject matter that you will find yourself swept up in her Broadway world.

Gwenn Friss

Joint production is first of what reviewer hopes is many, based on 'Betrayal'

Harold Pinter (1930-2008) was a distinguished British playwright who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005. His plays include “The Birthday Party,” “The Caretaker,” “The Homecoming” and “Betrayal,” which is being put on jointly by Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater Company and Harbor Stage Company.

Pinter was also a screenwriter, director and actor. “Betrayal,” which opened in London, won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Play in 1979. It has been produced in numerous theaters worldwide and has had several productions on Broadway since it opened there in 1980.

"Betrayal" is the first joint venture for Wellfleet's two theater companies: The result is wonderful and makes one hope for more joint ventures in the years to come.

About the show: Harold Pinter’s 1978 play “Betrayal,” a joint production of Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater Company and Harbor Stage Company and directed by Robert Kropf, explores marital infidelity.

What it’s about: Emma is having an affair with Jerry, and to make it worse, Jerry is a close friend of her husband, Robert. Jerry is also married to Judith, so there is another betrayal. As the play evolves more lies and betrayals accumulate.

Highlights of the show: When Emma and Jerry meet for lunch, it all seems so casual as they discuss what’s new in their lives. It has been a long time since they met and they are catching up. She asks about his wife, Judith, and he asks about her husband, Robert, his “oldest friend,” whom he’s known since college days. (Jerry was the best man at Robert and Emma’s wedding.) Jerry recalls their children when they were little. Emma doesn’t remember. “It was such a long time ago.” And the children have grown up. Then the memory of their seven-year affair crops up. “Brilliant …nobody knew.” Not to worry. I am not giving the end away because this is the beginning of the play and the end of the affair.

Pinter’s use of reverse chronology to structure the action as he documents this extra-marital love affair gives you a perspective on how the passion of a new romance loses its excitement as familiarity sets in. After all, seven years.  The two couples in the play are educated, ultra-sophisticated and seemingly beyond morality. They seem to care little about deception, lies and betrayal. Even when Robert, who has had his own affairs, learns about his wife’s, claims, “It’s not very important.” And, he tells Emma, “I always liked him (Jerry) more than I liked you.” So the two men remain friends. It is all okay. No one seems to be judging.

Time passes as the play takes you back in time to the beginning when Jerry declares to Emma: “I’m crazy about you. You overwhelm me.” Although this is the beginning of the affair, Pinter places it at the end of the play. Can you see this as a happy ending, full of promise, or as an embarkation on the road to betrayal, to the lies and deception that have become common in a world of not only personal relationships but political and elsewhere?

As Emma, Brenda Withers, a founding member of Harbor Stage Company, sparkles with an inner glow that breaks out in quick, lustrous smiles and unexpectedly turns into sardonic grins. Does any guilt break through? Jonathan Fielding, also co-founder of the Harbor company, gives a centered performance as the man who has not only deceived his wife but also his best friend. William Zielinski’s portrayal of Robert, cuckolded by his best friend, captures the essence of a man that can stay above it all.

Robert Kropf, artistic director of Harbor Stage Company, directs with a keen awareness of Pinter’s naturalistic dialogue.

The set design by WHAT’s producing artistic director Christopher Ostrom is simple, consisting of two white chairs and a spiral staircase (symbolizing the ups and downs of relationships?) against the changing color of the background neatly recording time moving backward.

Go or no go: This collaboration of the two Wellfleet companies with an important Pinter play hopefully signals a new cooperation that will stage other theatrical productions with the same professionalism and commitment to bring quality, thoughtful plays to Cape audiences. Be there at this first occasion.

Interesting fact: The play was inspired by Pinter’s own extramarital affair. The collaboration between the two theaters, as Kropf writes in a press release, has been a long time coming. WHAT’s producing artistic director Ostrom adds that bringing together the two theaters “has fulfilled a long-held dream.”

If you go: 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, though Oct. 14. Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, 2357 Route 6, Wellfleet, 508-349-9428; www:what.org; tickets: $40 with discounts for seniors, and $15 for students.

Debbie Forman

Eventide Theatre Company in Dennis is no stranger to staging fine, often edgy theater, and the company has burnished its reputation for fine drama by opening the fall season with “next to normal,” an emotive, unique Broadway rock musical that scored three Tony Awards and the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Director Steve Ross, who brought Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird” to Cape audiences in 2019, has once again brought a powerful theater experience to the Gertrude Lawrence Stage.

Using the show’s dynamic pop-rock score, “next to normal” (lowercased only for Eventide's production) plays to a gamut of emotions, addressing the contemporary and urgent issue of mental illness as a suburban mom struggles with bipolar disorder and its ripple effects throughout her family.

In bestowing its award, the Pulitzer Board called it a show that dramatically “expands the scope of subject matter for musicals." And how.

Name of show: “next to normal”

Written by:  Book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, music by Tom Kitt, directed by Steve Ross, musical direction by Pam Wannie, performed by Eventide Theatre Company.

What it’s about: Growing helplessness and frustration are captured in this drama of one family trying to come to terms with mom Diana’s increasing disorientation and depression, which has deepened even after her psychiatrist has numbed her with multiple treatments and drug “therapy.” Hallucinatory encounters with her son, Gabe, who died years ago in childhood, give his memory a tight hold on her, as the play explores family interactions, especially with husband Dan, who denies his own grief in order to preserve a pretense of stability.

The play delves into issues that resonate: what are we willing to sacrifice, in order to maintain a semblance of “normality” and return things to “the way they were before” ... and what was that way, anyway? The characters explore just what they may need to surrender in order to move forward with their lives from old ways of reacting.

See it or not: Think this is no material for a musical? Astoundingly, it all works. And it would be hard to find a better combination of talent and voices to perform this gritty, vibrant score. The talented cast of Jodi Edwards (Diana), Peter Cook (Dan), Wil Moser (Gabe), Merritt Willcox (Natalie), Mickey Olson (Henry) and Beau Jackett (Drs. Fine/Madden) all perform superb, raise-the-roof vocals, and yet each voice blends with the rest in ensemble numbers, each empowering the others. As Diana, Edwards bears the brunt of much of the action, and her voice is both soaring and sublime.

Highlights: There are spoken lines, but much of the drama is sung, and the rock score is original, intense and moving, enhanced by choreography and staging.  The pit musicians, led by Pam Wannie, take center stage here, as piano, cello, drums, guitar, bass and violin perform in silhouette on stage throughout. Besides its drama, the play has great scenes of humor: Dr. Madden’s hidden rock star persona emerges as he meets his patient. And there’s a neat twist to an old musical chestnut when the ensemble shares that “these are a few of my favorite pills.” On the tearjerker side, one of the show’s most moving moments is an Act II duet where Diana and Natalie finally connect for the first time as mother and daughter.

Interesting mini-facts: Edwards and Cook are real-life partners. ... Merritt, a senior at Falmouth High School, has an amazing voice and presence. ... And once, long ago (nearly a decade), we saw youngster Wil Moser emerge from Ugly Duckling status in “Honk!” at Harwich Junior Theater. Did he ever.

Worth noting: It’s one of the best things about live theater ― each show is unique, and special, performed for each member of the audience to take in and process. “next to normal” gives each watcher a chance to weave through its events and come to their own conclusions about how this family can move on with their lives.

If you go:  Performances of “next to normal” are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with 4 p.m. matinees on Sundays, through Oct. 8, with an additional performance at 7:30 Thursday, Sept. 28, on the Gertrude Lawrence Stage at Dennis Union Church, 713 Main St., Dennis. $35. Box office: 508-233-2148; more information and tickets at www.eventide.org/.

Barbara Clark

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Reviews: 'Betrayal,' 'next to normal' find success on Cape Cod stages