Reviews: 'Women ROCK!' 'Pianist of Willesden Lane,' 'Camelot,' on Cape stages

After three hours of “WOMEN ROCK!” at Cotuit Center for the Arts, I felt like going out for a baked apple pancake.

Breakfast, after all, was what we did after ‘last call’ at the clubs or concerts at which I saw many of these women rockers for the first time.

A cast of eight local singers backed by a terrific band brought to life classics from four dozen female artists, from Christina Aguilera and Pat Benatar to Gwen Stefani and Amy Winehouse.

Each performance is dedicated to a Cape Cod woman whose efforts have improved the community. The night we attended, Jeni Wheeler was at a table in the lobby talking about the Family Table Collaborative and greeting people.

The show: “Women ROCK!” is produced by well-known Cape performers Sara Bleything, Lisa Jason (who are both in the revue) and Michael Dunford, who also does musical direction. Videography by Maeve Moriarty shows clips from the original artists overhead and then focuses on the current performers paying tribute to them.

The players: The ensemble — Lily Anderson, Bleything, Emma Fitzpatrick, mom-and-daughter team Lisa and Allie Jason, Elizabeth Moore, Cherilynne Prescott and Misao Koyama — don’t go for perfect imitations of rockers like Janis Joplin and Stevie Nicks, but rather evoke them through their music.

The All-Star Band includes Koyama on keyboards, Shane Fitzgerald on lead guitar, Rich Hill on bass, Dunford on drums, Sam Holmstock on percussion and Sara Degraide on violin. Allie Jason played rhythm guitar when she was not singing.

Highlights and lowlights: This is a great show, with hours of good music and a cast and band camaraderie that is evident. The violin added such emotion. Allie Jason and lead guitarist Fitzgerald played some wonderful exchanges and Fitzgerald played riffs on his own.

At three hours with admission — all songs and very little dialogue — the second act drags a little. But I don’t know what I would try to cut or trim!

One other note: While I loved the interaction between the band and vocalists — a very rock ‘n’ roll kind of thing — the band might want to pull back a little on volume when playing with Bleything, a trained lyric-coloratura soprano who sounded a little drowned-out in some numbers.

Go or no-go: Definitely go. All those rock fantasies are back on stage and you’ll find yourself at least dancing in your seat or maybe playing air guitar.

If you go: Tickets are $45, $43 for seniors and veterans and show time is 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 4 p.m. on Sundays, through Sept. 3, Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Route 28, 508-428-0669.

Gwenn Friss

‘The Pianist of Willesden Lane’ tells true story of acclaimed pianist Lisa Jura

Lisa Jura is one of the thousands of Jewish children rescued by the Kindertransport from the Holocaust and sent to Great Britain between 1938 and 1940. Jura was lucky as her parents could only manage to secure passage to London for one of their three daughters and they picked her due to her musical gifts.

Fourteen-year-old Jura arrived as a refugee child in London and found a place to call home on Willesden Lane with others just like her. But Jura’s story doesn’t end there as she followed her passion, becoming a renowned classical pianist.

Now, her story is being told by her daughter, Mona Golabek, at the Cape Repertory Theater for two weeks only in “The Pianist of Willesden Lane.”

‘The Pianist of Willesden Lane’ tells true story of acclaimed pianist Lisa Jura

Directed and performed by: “The Pianist of Willesden Lane” is an adaptation of the book “The Children of Willesden Lane” by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen. The play is adapted, directed and designed by Hershey Felder. Golabek stars in the lead role of young pianist Lisa Jura (and every other role, it’s a one-woman show.)

What’s it about: Lisa Jura dreams of gracing the stage at Musikverein concert hall in Vienna to play the “Piano Concerto in A Minor” by Edvard Grieg for her debut. Every Friday on her way to piano lesson Jura passes Vienna’s Symphony Hall and imagines what her debut will be like. But one Friday, everything begins to change as the Nazi regime ushers in new ordinances and Jura is told by her professor that it is now illegal to teach a Jewish child. This is where the ripples of change begin in Jura’s life. Set in late 1930s London and Austria “The Pianist of Willesden Lane” follows Jura’s story of survival in a time where nothing is what it used to be.

Highlight of the show: When Jura finds out that her father has secured passage on the Kindertransport for only one of his three girls, she flees the argument between her parents and finds solace at the seat of the family piano. She plays Claude Debussy's “Clair de Lune” a solace for many in the darkest hours. Once Golabek started playing the first notes, the tears welled for the first time and I felt myself forming an understanding with young Lisa Jura.

Piece of advice: Bring tissues and be prepared to be jumping out of your seat for a standing ovation at the end of the show.

See it or not: There are not enough words in the English language for me to express every reason you need to go see this show. Golabek’s beautiful playing on a Steinway & Sons concert grand piano puts you in a trance and guides you through the turmoil of her mother’s life. I had tears in my eyes for the whole performance.

One more thing: There are so many heartwarming moments in this show, but I have to mention Jura’s preparation for her audition at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Ms. Cohen, her hostel host, calls Jura to her room one day to show her a newspaper clipping advertising the auditions. Lisa is apprehensive about performing, asking why would the academy take her, a Jewish refugee with no teacher. In response to her apprehension, Ms. Cohen creates all-new “chores” for the children of the house, assigning each one of them a different role like calling out keys for Lisa to play scales and playing different notes for Lisa to identify. It’s a beautiful display of how the children of Willesden Lane became a family during a time when they didn’t know if they would have their own after the war.

If you go: “The Pianist of Willesden Lane” will be playing at the Cape Repertory Theater in Brewster until Aug. 27. Tickets range from $25 to $60; showtimes are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.

Frankie Rowley

Lissa deGuzman leads Cape Playhouse's perfect 'Camelot'

“Camelot.”

For more than six decades, since the Lerner and Loewe show first appeared on the Great White Way, that one word has been magic.

It has come to mean paradise, perfection, chivalry and true love, all wrapped up in Merlin’s mysticism.

The Cape Playhouse’s current production captures all that magic in a show that is at once reminiscent of that first long-ago staging, while embracing a simplicity and directness that places it squarely in the modern era. How has the theater managed to create a new-yet-true and modern vision of the Arthurian Paradise Lost? You might call it a little bit of show business magic.

About the production: “Camelot,” book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, music by Frederick Loewe, based on the book “The Once and Future King” by T.H. White, book adapted by David Lee, with new orchestrations by Steve Orich. Directed and choreographed by Josh Walden.

What it's about: The show opens on the young Arthur (Jonathan Burke), who is musing about his impending nuptials in “I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight.” His intended bride, Guinevere (Lissa deGuzman), is soon on the scene, bemoaning her fate as the victim of an arranged (if royal) wedding in “The Simple Joys of Maidenhood.” After a little case of mistaken identity is cleared up, the soon-to-be newlyweds move on to the altar, then to their places on the thrones of the earthly paradise.

From the start, there is a chemistry between the two that is palpable. They capture the simple and sweet perfection of true love — the kind of love in all our dreams. In one scene, Arthur rests his head on Guinevere’s lap as she gently kisses him on the forehead. Perfection.

But all is not to remain idyllic. Soon on the scene is Lancelot (Karl Josef Co), who pompously announces his arrival to take a seat at the round table of knights in “C’est Moi.” The queen and Lance soon fall in love, and we see all the passion and pain that is illicit love. As the passion develops, it is mixed with a little humor as Guenevere enlists the aid of the king’s knights in removing the troubling Lance from the scene. In “Take Me to the Fair,” deGuzman plays the troubled queen with an energy that is both fun and physical.

Highlights of the show: The voices of the three leads are simply magnificent — strong and resonant — with Broadway veteran deGuzman probably the standout. In an impressive display, she hits and holds any number of hard-to-reach notes. And the seven-piece orchestra (directed by Dan Pardo) does justice to Orich’s new orchestration of the classic Loewe score.

And — not to belabor the point, but — the simple perfection of the chemistry between the three leads stirs emotion throughout.

Worth noting: While we’re on the subject of simplicity, the set was the ultimate in minimalism, with a huge tree covered in hundreds of frothy blossoms being the center of attention.

Go or no go: Go for a reimagined trip down memory lane or for a look at the simple sweetness of love and romance.

One more thing: The show’s casting is refreshingly inclusive, with, for example, Antonia Vivino playing both a reveler and a young boy, Tom of Warwick.

Interesting fact: In the original 1960 Broadway production, King Arthur was played by Richard Burton, Guenevere by Julie Andrews and Lancelot by Robert Goulet.

If you go: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday through Aug. 19, with additional shows at 2 p.m. Thursday and Saturday; then 7:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 21-26, with additional 2 p.m. shows Wednesday and Thursday. Tickets range from $51 to $101, with an additional $3.50 fee. Cape Playhouse, 820 Main St., Dennis, 508-385-3911.

Sue Mellen

'Singin' in the Rain' closes College Light Opera season with sunshine

Pardon me? I didn’t hear you because like most folks who saw College Light Opera Company’s last show of the season Tuesday, I’m “Singin’ in the rain, just singin’ in the rain, what a glorious feeling, I’m happy again.”

If CLOC’s production of the Gene Kelly classic doesn’t put a spring in your step, I don’t know what will.

The show is warm, romantic and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. The tap-dancing is terrific and the voices are great – both the voices that are supposed to be good and the one that is supposed to be painfully bad!

The chemistry is perfect between Sam Joseph as leading man Don Lockwood (the heartthrob role Kelly played in the 1952 movie on which the 1985 musical is based) and Kylee Brown as love interest Kathy Seldon. The feeling of young people in love with their careers and each is so wonderful you wish you could bottle it.

Molly Sturgeon is terrific as the self-centered bad girl, Lina Lamont, and Adam Forward as Don Lockwood’s accompanist/sidekick Cosmo dances better on one leg than most do on two.

The show: “Singin’ in the Rain,” original choreography by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen; screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green; songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed. CLOC stage direction Jen Delac, music direction Griffin Strout.

What it’s about: Don and Lina are Hollywood’s leading couple in the public’s eye but when the talkies replace silent film, Lina, despite voice lessons, is unable to sing or even speak pleasantly. Stage actress Kathy Seldon, she of the golden pipes, ends up dubbing Lina’s voice in her first talkie, saving the day and getting involved with leading man Don. But jealous Lina looks to get even and…I won’t spoil the end.

Highlights and lowlights: The number “Moses Supposes,” based on a series of tongue twisters, is hilarious – not only for its perfect diction but the physical comedy that looks easy but is anything but.

Lina, alone in her dressing room, is wonderful in “What’s Wrong With Me?” – funny, touching and plotting all at the same time.

Joseph, in Kelly’s iconic scene, singing “Singin’ in the Rain” after he walks Seldon home. There is a light pole but the actor just leans on it rather than swinging from it as Kelly does.

The perfect joy of Seldon, Lockwood and Forward as a trio of friends singing and dancing to “Good Morning” in the wee hours and Orlando Montalvo Avalo’s uncredited 60-second appearance as a cop on the beat.

The only lowlight in this utterly delightful production is that, like many romantic musicals, it drags a bit, especially in the first act. I wouldn’t want to see any major cuts, but maybe just a trim-and-tighten, for example, cutting Lina’s three hilarious bows to two.

Go or no-go? Do you need to ask?

If you go: This is the last weekly show from College Light Opera Company, 58 Highfield Drive. The show is 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, through Saturday, Aug. 19. Tickets, at $40, can be purchased online at collegelightoperacompany.com or by calling the box office, 508-548-0668, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

Gwenn Friss

'Finding Nemo Jr.' is a fun family tale

The blockbuster and beloved children's movie is swimming to the stage as a fantastic children's play “Finding Nemo Jr.” All the memorable scenes are covered in this underwater production that you won’t want to miss. Whether it’s teaching kids there’s a method to a parent's madness, the development of trust, or for all of us with a “little fin” to just keep swimming.  “Finding Nemo” has been a staple in family households since its release in 2003 and rightfully so.

The show: “Finding Nemo Jr.” written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, adapted by Lindsay Anderson, directed by Tristan DiVincenzo, presented by Cape Cod Theatre Company Harwich Junior Theatre.

What it's about: Down in the deep blue sea this clownfish family is devastated when Nemo's mother Coral dies. Nemo and his father Marlin must navigate the big sea together. Riddled with fear of anything happening to his son, Marlin is overprotective. This causes Nemo to venture off and be captured in a net. Marlin in a state of panic bumps into the energetically forgetful blue tang fish named Dory. The two set off to find Nemo, meanwhile, Nemo gets trapped in a dental office fish tank. With the help of some friends along the way and avoiding catastrophes, Marlin and Nemo are on a race to get back to each other. In the end, they find more than just each other. They learn the valuable lesson of trusting each other.

Highlights of the show: If Dory were a person, she would be Gracie O’Leary because she nailed it. Her upbeat personality, facial expressions, and even her “swimming” technique were exceptional until the very end. Ari Lew, as Marlin, was certainly the emotional core of the production, you can tell his whole heart was on that stage.

Should you see it? Absolutely. If you’re a Finding Nemo fan, this is a must-see production. All the characters we know and love are center stage. The cast truly made it an unforgettable night.

Worth noting: The jellyfish habitat illuminates the stage magically. One of my favorite scenes from the movie was represented beautifully. My four-year-old son described it as “cool.”

One more thing: The theater was often very dark to give the underwater feeling as spotlights illuminated the stage perfectly.

Fun fact: Finding Nemo earned $940.4 million at the box office in 2003 and became an instant sensation. It was the highest-grossing film until “Toy Story 3,” was released in 2010. Yet, “Finding Dory” was released in 2016 and earned a whopping $1.029 billion.

If you go: Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre, 105 Division St, West Harwich, Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m. until Aug. 26. Tickets, $35 adults, $18 under 21, can be purchased at capecodtheatrecompany.org or call the box office, 508-432-2002.

Ambermae Rivard

'The Thin Place' explores fine line between life and death

WELLFLEET ― What is real? Where is the intersection between what we want to be real and what actually is real? That’s the supposition behind “The Thin Place,” a horror-drama that is creepy yet so compelling there’s no turning away from the stage action. Written by Lucas Hnath and directed by Jeff Zinn, “The Thin Place” refers to the place where “the line between this world and some other world is very thin.” The intimate setting at Wellfleet’s Harbor Stage Company is perfect for this discussion of death and deception that might make you scared of the dark.

The show: “The Thin Place," written by: Lucas Hnath, directed by Jeff Zinn, Harbor Stage Company

What it’s about: Hilda is disarmingly pleasant. She’s all smiles and is giddy with remembrance and recognition. She imagines she sees her dead grandmother, or the essence of her, in the face of an audience member. She’s trying to connect with her grandmother, to be reassured and to be loved as she once felt. She has her doubts about the validity of what she sees and hears, and for good reason. There’s some strange stuff happening in her life that can’t be rationally explained. Whether Hilda herself is rational or not is debatable but she certainly is a charmer. Hilda finds Linda, a supposedly bona-fide medium, who channels her grandmother. Their relationship goes way beyond client and consultant and where they end up remains a question long after the lights go down.

Highlight of the show: This is a twisty tale that takes the normal, comfortable and expected flow of human interaction and turns it on its head. The anxiety of what’s going to happen juxtaposed with red lighting in darkness, screams, groans and creaks is effective and scary without going too far. It’s not a nail-biter but it sure is fun to be scared and to figure out when you should be. The content of this play is a little like being grabbed from behind in the safety of a fully lighted room and not having any idea of what’s behind you doing the grabbing.

Fun fact: Playwright Lucas Hnath has had a lifelong fascination with magic, enchantment and illusions from his experiences with Disney World and a Megachurch he and his mother attended in his childhood. His interests led him to explore the techniques of modern-day spiritualists and how both they and their clients were striving for the same thing: “the suspension of disbelief.”

See It or not: What actually happens here? “The Thin Place” is a contemplative, unsettling romp that’s difficult if not impossible to tease out. If you’ve had a good experience with a medium, this play might make you question everything about it. Or not. Is the medium, once called a spiritualist, giving real information? Or are they just good guessers? Linda, the spiritualist, played by D’Arcy Dersham, claims to hear what’s in people’s minds on the one hand, but on the other, she admits that she mostly guesses and lets her clients fill in the blanks. Linda’s client Hilda, played by Stacy Fischer, sees that her revered guide isn’t going to lead her to the clarity she seeks and for that, a nasty surprise awaits. This show will mess with your head and as long as you find that fun, while observed from a safe distance, this is an excellent use of your time.

Worth noting: Dersham, as Linda, seems to have a pull on everyone around her and it’s unclear just how deep her relationships go with her two closest friends, Hilda and Brenda Wither’s Sylvia. Dersham is like the sun and the other characters, including Jerry, played by Robert Kropf, revolve around her like planets in orbit or maybe space junk on a collision course. Her English accent is excellent and supports her disarmingly lovable, approachable, attractive and believable persona. But is she what she seems? She has a nasty way of destabilizing her friends and making them doubt themselves and it’s an eye-opener to watch that destructive behavior. Kropf’s Jerry is no angel either and his conniving gossiping seems to prove highly destructive.

One more thing: The show is about an hour and a half long with no intermission. There’s no obvious place in the dialogue to put one because it’s intense and fascinating ― like listening to a conversation that’s so engrossing that leaving the room for any reason would be considered a great loss. You’ll delight in these characters and then second-guess them, and as you feel yourself take sides, you’ll likely second-guess yourself. “The Thin Place” is an irresistible trip ― a little like riding a roller coaster as it ambles to the topmost height of the rails and starts down, whether you are ready or not. And what you’ll see flying by can be summed up by Fischer’s character, Hilda. “It’s so easy to make yourself see what you want to see,” she says. “It means we’re all right.”

If you go: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 5 p.m. Sundays, through Sept. 3. No performance Aug. 25. The Harbor Stage Company, 15 Kendrick Ave, Wellfleet. Tickets $25 or Pay-What-You-Can Friday on Aug. 18. Box office: 508-349-6800 or info@harborstage.org

Shannon Goheen

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Reviews: 'Finding Nemo,' 'Camelot,' 'Women ROCK!' 'Willesden Lane'