BY RICK PENDER

Photo By Buffy Hanna

E. Faye Butler (left) and Ta'Rea Campbell sing in New Voice Theater's one-night production of The Gospel According to Fishman. Composer Richard Oberacker is at the piano.

As Cincinnati's new theater season edges ever closer -- it kicks off Sept. 3 with Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati's production of NITE CLUB CONFIDENTIAL starring local professional and Tony nominee PAM MYERS -- the word "new" has taken on greater meaning. New Edgecliff Theatre and New Gate Celtic Theatre already offer productions. This summer things have become even "newer" with the arrival of NEW STAGE COLLECTIVE and NEW VOICE THEATER. They take very different approaches, but each represents an exciting addition to local stages. I had the chance to see them both at work in early August. New Stage (NSC) is a "collective" of Cincinnati-area college students who are producing ambitious, less often seen works. I caught the first of two performances of Stephen Sondheim's MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG on Aug. 8. It's a challenging show: Sondheim's music is not for faint-hearted performers, but these kids -- only two members of the cast were more than 21 -- were undaunted by "Old Friends," "Not A Day Goes By" and "Our Time," tunes full of complex harmonies and tricky lyrics. Joshua T. Steele, Aaron Morris and Julie Wacksman were excellent in the lead roles, young performers with real stage presence and the acting skills required to create characters. Merrily is a tough show: It starts in 1976 then proceeds back in time to 1957 -- a progression that requires characters to become younger. Most of the cast was pretty young to begin with, so this effect didn't come through, which diminished the irony of the tale of a good friendship that has unraveled in the face of fame and success: In the hands of breathless and excited performers, it was more about the glories of show biz. I suppose irony requires maturity, but I certainly enjoyed how director Alan Patrick Kenny used his performers to bring the story to life, working at a level comparable to the best community theaters in Cincinnati. Before most participants head back to college this fall, NSC will offer the regional premiere of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years, at Wyoming Fine Arts Center on Aug. 27 and 29. Info: www.nsc.no-ip.org/nsc/ ...

On Aug. 11, I attended my next "new" production -- a one-night presentation of THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO FISHMAN, by New Voice Theater (NVT). The musical is the creation of Cincinnati native RICHARD OBERACKER and his fellow CCM grad, Michael Lazar. Oberacker, now musical director for the touring company of The Lion King, has partnered with NVT's leadership, including director Skip Fenker. A decade ago Oberacker, then a CCM drama student, and Fenker founded Aurelia Theatricals to present inventive new musicals at Gabriel's Corner in Over-the-Rhine. Today NVT aspires to do the same, but at a professional level, likely using the Aronoff Center's Fifth Third Bank Theater as its base. Instead of the black box theater, Fishman was presented to a sizeable audience in the Aronoff's Jarson-Kaplan Theater. Oberacker took his Monday night off from Lion King (in Cleveland this month) to provide passionate piano accompaniment. He brought along bass player David Romano and assistant music director David Kreppel. For the story of a young Jewish composer in 1963 who finds himself writing tunes for a Gospel singer, Fenker landed local actor Ian Dahlman who played the role with earnest humor and a voice to match. Oberacker's connections landed E. Faye Butler as the kick-ass Gospel vocalist and Ta'Rea Campbell as her protégée (she's been touring in Aida as the title character). Butler and Campbell played the roles in the show's 2002 world premiere at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Va., and both were nominated for the D.C. area's Helen Hayes Awards. Kreppel conducted a powerful 10-voice Gospel choir assembled by the Cincinnati Black Theatre Company. NVT shows tremendous promise if they sustain the level of professional quality evident on Aug. 11. The plan to launch a full season a year from now. Additional benefit performances are planned in the months ahead: They will be worth attending. Info: www.newvoicecincy.com

E-mail Rick Pender

Printer-friendly version

more...

personals | cover | news | columns | music | movies | arts | dining | listings | classifieds | mediakit | promotions | home

The Church of Baseball
Baseball memorabilia is woven into our national identity

SSinNOVAtion
Alternative art space celebrates its second anniversary

Fine Tuning
The Pops park along the great outdoors

Articulations: Inside Artists' Heads
Carissa Barnard

Groove Tube: On Your TV
Court TV fires off a Smoking Gun

Calendar Listings

	Join the CityBeat Mailing List
	» JOIN NOW