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A CurtainUp Review
Almost Maine
John Cariani's Play Returns to New York--With the Author On Stage
And, see the northern lights--did you know this?--the northern lights are really the torches that the recently departed carry with them so they can find their way to heaven, and see it takes three days for a soul to make its way home, to heaven, and this is Friday! -- .— Woman in "Her Heart"
If you aren't familiar with this play's incredible journey, here's a quick recap: Almost, Maine, began its life at the Portland Stage Company in Portland, Maine back in 2004 (Maine is Cariani's own home state and the inspirational source for the play). Encouraged by the favorable notices, Cariani wondered if his play might find a larger urban audience, and two years later decided to have a go at New York. Once there, however, while Curtainup's publisher and chief critic liked it, it took a downspin and shuttered at Off Broadway's Daryl Roth Theatre after only a month's run. But, like the mythic Phoenix, Almost, Maine rose from its ashes and went on to a varied life beyond New York. It steadily amassed productions across the country and globe, eventually earning the distinction of being one of the most produced plays around the world. Now under the aegis of the Transport Group, this little engine that could returns to New York in the heart of winter buoyed by the playwright's own presence on stage along with a fine ensemble. Though the creative team is new, the plot is the same, which is why Curtainup's reviews of the play's 2006 New York premiere as well as one of its many regional followups are included below my comments on the version now at the Judson Gym venue. (Click here for the Original Almost Maine review, and click here for the Chester Theater Review ). Before ten minutes elapsed, I succumbed to the charms of the play's surreal snow-covered landscape (set by B Goldmark) and star-spangled skies (lighting by R. Lee Kennedy). In fact, just about anybody who has a beating human heart and blood in his, or her, arteries will find this romantic caper delightful. Obviously, one of the big differences of the show now at the Judson is the new creative team. Cariani is especially winning in a hefty number of Cupid-struck men. There's no doubt that this actor-playwright feels very comfortable with the material (he can probably recite the play forwards and backwards while waiting for the subway). His boyish good looks help him to melt into each of his romantic parts. The rest of the ensemble-Kelly McAndrew, Donna Lynne Champlin, and Kevin Isola hold their own, twinkling in their own orbits as they shift characters (19 in all). Of the two women, McAndrew who plays Ginette in the Prologue and Epilogue which serve as the framing devices for the play has a more prominent acting platform. But when she and Champlin perform together in the female version of "They Fell" (playing in rotation during the run with its male version featuring Cariani and Isola), they make a strong joint showing. Isola has the necessary range to inhabit his five characters, including East, Lendall, Chad, Phil, and Man. Nobody acts with affectation or hams up their part. And it's altogether refreshing, and very in tune with the play's ethos, where people say what they feel. Jack Cummings III directs with a magical touch. The Artistic Director of Transport Group is a long-time collaborator with Cariani and their symbiotic relationship gains new muscle with this stage production. Having recently scored a success at the Pearl Theatre with his direction of Terrence McNally's And Away We Go, Cummings seems to be most at home when he's orchestrating a play that is composed of a series of vignettes that he can turn, presto, into a symphonic whole. No doubt Cummings has good dramatic instincts, and proves by melding 11 skits together that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. When it comes to dialogue, the lovebirds of Almost, Maine wear their heart on their sleeve and most of their utterings are sweet-nothings. Yes, sometimes it can get downright corny. But the saving grace here is that the characters are so likeable in one quirky way or another, that you find yourself pulled into their world and watching how their relationships play out. If you are looking for a good "date" show, Almost, Maine is a good bet. And with Valentine's Day this month, it arrives with excellent timing. Whether you saw its first New York mounting, or are meeting it for the first time at the Judson, it is a heart-warming play that can restore your optimism and belief in love, in life, and in second chances. THE CURRENT PRODUCTION NOTES Almost, Maine Written by John Cariani Directed by Jack Cummings III Cast: John Cariani (Pete/Jimmy/Steve/Randy/Dave), Donna Lynne Champlin (Glory/Waitress/Marvalynn/Shelley/Marci/Rhonda), Kevin Isola (East/Lendall/Chad/Phil/Man), Kelly McAndrew (Ginette/Sandrine/Gayle/Deena/Hope). Sets: Sandra Goldmark Costumes: Kathryn Rohe Sound: Walter Trarbach Lighting: R. Lee Kennedy Original Music: Tom Kochan Stage Manager: Theresa Flanagan The Gym at Judson, at 243 Thompson Street (at West 4th Street). Tickets: $49-$65. 866/811-4111 or visit online www.transportgroup.org From 1/21/14; opening 2/04/14; closing 3/2/14. Tuesday through Thursday @ 7pm; Friday @ 8pm; Saturday @ 2pm and 8pm; Sunday @ 3pm. Running time: 2 hours with one 15-minute intermission. Reviewed by Deirdre Donovan based on press performance of 1/30/14 |
By Elyse Sommer
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Almost is inspired by the town I grew up in -- Presque Isle, Maine-- which is some 500 miles north of Boston. . .very far inland, and very far north, where the sky is big, the winters are long, and there's lots of space. . .They call Montana Big Sky Country. Well. . .they haven't seen northern Maine. --- Playwright John Cariani I'm sorry if I made you mad. I don't know what I did wrong. I just gave you a kiss. I mean, just. . .why not give me one back? It's the polite thing to do, you know, get a kiss/give a kiss, very fair. Just. . .give me a kiss, Rhonda. ---Dave, to a gangly, never been kissed co-worker. |
Todd Ceveris & Finnerty Stevens in Almost Maine's "prologue&quo
(Photo: Joan Marcus) |
Justin Hagan & Miriam Shor in Almost Maine's " seeing the thing"
(Photo: Joan Marcus) |
As the citizens of Almost never got around to organizing themselves as a real town eligible to have its name on the state map, the Almostonians we meet seem not to have gotten around to sorting out and expressing their romantic yearnings. When they do, there are no eloquent interchanges. These people's deepest feelings can be located in the emotion fraught silences that punctuate what they say. (Could Harold Pinter have learned his famous pauses during an unpublicized youthful visit to Almost?)
Don't expect steamy sex either. For the folks in Almost a kiss is a big deal and usually has major consequences, and it takes a spurt of courage to land one. This applies even to a wondrously funny yet full of feeling Brokeback Mountain type episode called "they fell" which describes what happens between two long-standing buddies in both the physical and metaphorical sense.
As for the Almostians' hearts, they're broken and mended — in "her heart" quite literally so. There are other "it could only happen in Almost" oddities. "getting it back" involves a woman who packs up the love received over the years in big plastic bags and returns them to her commitment-shy boyfriend, like an unwanted Christmas present. Then there's "where it went" in which a misplaced shoe drops mysteriously from the sky like a shooting star or, in this case, like the misplaced love of the shoe owner and her husband.
If all this sounds a little hokey, it is; yet there's a realness to these stories that keeps them from being cloyingly quaint and sweet. This is due in equal measure to Mr. Cariani's authentic dialogue and the exemplary quartet of actors portraying the twenty characters who people all the vignettes with warmth and understanding, Except for a non-verbal scene Cariani calls an "Interlogue" which features Pete, Todd Ceveris's "prologue" and "epilogue" character, each episode is a duet. Thus Ceveris and Justin Hagen both take turns pairing up with Finnerty Stevens or Miriam Shor. If I had to name a favorite scene it would be "they fell" in which Chad (Hagan) and Randy (Ceveris) discover that they like being with each other better than with girls and, with a few deft strokes make it plain that the love that dare not speak its name is present even in this far north corner of Maine. Even the piece veering closest to tragedy — "story of hope"— has its moment of comic relief.
As with any assemblage of sketches like this, some are better than others and it would be to the benefit of all if Almost, Maine were trimmed here and there so that the whole snowy tapestry could unfold without being interrupted by an intermission.
Director Gabriel Barre has worked most effectively with the designers to create the atmosphere of a tiny town where moving South for easier living doesn't mean Florida but Vermont. Whatever Almost, Maine's life span at the Daryl Roth will be, it's sure to have a healthy after life in small regional theaters where it could even be done with just two actors. For now, sophisticated New Yorkers may find this endearing little show just the ticket for escaping from cell phones and city tensions to a world where a kiss is not just still a kiss but a life changing big deal.
Chester Theater Review
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I'm sorry if I made you mad. I don't know what I did wrong. I just gave you a kiss. I mean, just. . .why not give me one back? It's the polite thing to do, you know, get a kiss/give a kiss, very fair. Just. . .give me a kiss, Rhonda. —Dave
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Manon Halliburton and Paden Fallis
( Photo: Rick Teller) |
Sure, it was hokey and unapolegetically quirky, but the authentic realness of these stories and the dialogue that was genuinely down east without being overcooked avoided the pitfall of making Almost, Maine too cloyingly quaint. While this wasn't a show with the legs to carry it to Broadway, my prediction that it would have a life beyond that New York production in many regional theaters is already coming true.
The production now at the Chester Theater is already the play's second in the Berkshires (it was produced at the Theater Barn in New Lebanon last summer). Happily, director Chuck Hudson has collaborated effectively with the designers to create the atmosphere of a small Maine town and guided his quartet of thespians to bring the needed warmth, humor and understanding to their multiple roles, this is a feather in this increasingly popular little theater's feather-studded cap.
The notes in the script in my New York press kit mentioned that Almost, Maine could be done with just two actors. However, while the Chester Theater began its life focusing on two-person plays, the company has expanded its vision so their production again enjoys the variety provided by a cast of four. Since they apply to the current director's, actors' and designers' work, the comments that follow are pretty much a repeat of the story highlights and observations made after my first encounter with Mr. Cariani's Almostians .
We're again taken to a Friday night in the middle of winter in Maine. Such nights can get pretty cold and snowy, but happy and not so happy romances seem as abundant as the stars twinkling in the deep blue sky that overarches the play's eleven vignettes. As groups of stars form constellations, so these brief episodes are connected by time and place (each occurs on in and around Almost at 9pm). The bracing hopefulness of these episodes is another unifying element.
As the citizens of Almost never got around to organizing themselves as a real town eligible to have its name on the state map, the Almostonians we meet seem not to have gotten around to sorting out and expressing their romantic yearnings. When they do, there are no eloquent interchanges. These people's deepest feelings can be located in the emotion fraught silences that punctuate what they say. (Could Harold Pinter have learned his famous pauses during an unpublicized youthful visit to Almost?)
As I said previously, don't expect steamy sex. For the folks in Almost a kiss is a big deal and usually has major consequences, and it takes a spurt of courage to land one. This applies even to a wondrously funny yet full of feeling Brokeback Mountain type episode which describes what happens between two long-standing buddies have a face to face moment with the love that for them still dare not speak its name.
As for the Almostians' hearts, they're broken and mended — literally and metaphorically, as when .a woman who packs up the love received over the years in big plastic bags and returns them to her commitment-shy boyfriend, like an unwanted Christmas present. Then there's a scene when a misplaced shoe drops mysteriously from the sky like a shooting star or, in this case, like the misplaced love of the shoe owner and her husband.
While some of the humorous scenes border on slapstick, it all adds up to a bracing, hopefulness and authenticity, enhanced by the actors' handling of their from four to six. As long as I'm quibbling, the scenery changes could be a bit shorter and smoother, but this is offset by the way the various duets are interspersed with a silent interlogue that grows increasingly hilarious.
As with any assemblage of sketches like this, some are better than others and I feel now, as I did two years ago, that Almost, Maine would be even better if trimmed here and there so that the whole snowy tapestry could unfold without being interrupted by an intermission. Still, the Chester audience at the matinee I attended was never restless and responded with raucaus laughter to the humor, adding their own interlogues of applause. Clearly, whether you see it in summer or winter, this endearing little show is just the ticket for escaping from economic and political tensions to a world where a kiss is not just still a kiss but a life changing big deal.
The Chester production ran from July 16 to July 27, 2008
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