SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
Connecticut
DC
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
On TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
Writing for Us
A CurtainUp New Jersey Review
Calvin Berger
|
Of all the organs to be well-endowed. Look at it. First thing I see every morning; first thing everyone sees when they look at me. On the first day of my last year of high school, I know I should be thinking about AP Tests and colleges, but this just feels a lot more important.— Calvin
|
Krystal Joy Brown as Rosanna and Noah Weisberg as Calvin
(Photo: Richard Termine) |
Following workshop productions at Gloucester Stage (Massachusetts) and at Barrington Stage's Musical Theater Lab, Calvin Berger is now having its official regional premiere at the George Street Playhouse. Along the way, Multi Award-winning Kathleen Marshall (The Pajama Game, Wonderful Town) picked up the reins of this promising musical. Working with four endearing and talented young performers and an A team of designers, Marshall has newly conceptualized the musical. That she had Wyner's winning and witty score to work with is no small matter.
No grandiose epic or tragedy afoot here, just a high school somewhere in America where four 17 year-olds, two boys and two girls, are obsessing either alone in their bedrooms at home or with their friends at school over the usual things: image, looks, self-esteem, and, of course, unrequited love.
Calvin (Noah Weisberg), is a very bright student but "not a nerd." He's self-conscious about the size of his nose, which we can see is not really as big as he imagines. He dreams romantically about Rosanna (Krystal Joy Brown), the school's knock-out beauty who would like to be appreciated for being more than the "It-girl." Bret (Dana Steingold), a petite bundle of spunk and sass is distressed at the size of her ass. She also displays an original and delightful taste in fashion and has been Calvin's best friend forever. Unfortunately, she has been unable to get Calvin to notice her romantically. Matt (David Hull), is the new hunk athlete at school with a crush on Rosanna. Because Matt gets tongue-tied and is unable to communicate his feelings to Rosanna, he accepts the help of Calvin, who writes the love poems that Matt recites.
Weisberg makes a big deal about the size of his nose, but we are more impressed with the breadth of his invigorating performance as Calvin. Brown doesn't have to try hard to be a looker but she also dazzles us with her singing voice in her big solo "More Than Meets the Eye." Hull, an ingratiating young performer, has evidently put as much work into making Matt a real charmer as he has in giving his abs a workout. And you can't stop Steingold from putting an extra zing into every scene she is in.
The plot turns predictably on how long can Calvin and Matt keep up their deception, and how will the pairing be resolved? Wyner's melodic pop-rap-rock score is devoted to defining the most agitated states of the characters either singly, in pairs or collectively. "We're the Man" creates an exhilarating sense of solidarity between Calvin and Matt. While highly energized ensemble numbers as "The Fight, " "How Can I Compete With That, " and a reprised "Perfect For You" are audience pleasers, I was most affected by "Mr. Potato Head, " Calvin's poignant ode to his insecurity and Bret's plaintive "Saturday Alone. "
Marshall keeps the teenagers' angst in motion and with an eye for youthful spontaneity. The action moves fluidly in Derek McLane's two tiered setting: The four decorously cluttered bedrooms are above and below are a series of doors that open and allow various small set pieces to glide forward. Aside from the adventurous frocks he made for Bret, costume designer Martin Pakledinaz has given the other teens some spiffy attire. The five musicians under the direction of Aron Accurso gave superb support.
The funny and clever rap enhanced verses that composer Wyner has applied to Calvin Berger may not be as florid as those by Rostand, but what they do is reflect the humor, passions and the pain of youth. Wyner is a new musical theater writer who shows tremendous promise. In contrast to the darker side of teenagers discovering love in Spring Awakening, Calvin Berger is deliberately cheery, wholesome and fun for the whole family. It deserves to have a life considerably longer than the nose on his face.
Rostand's classic story has long been a source for adaptors. Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah starred in the 1987 film comedy that used the basic story as a starting point for a modern take. Musical versions in the past were, however, faithful to the original time and place, including Cyrano de Bergerac by Victor Herbert in 1899, Cyrano in 1973 (as played by Christopher Plummer) and a Dutch import Cyrano: The Musical in 1994.
|
Calvin Berger Music, book and lyrics by Barry Wyner Directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall Cast: Noah Weisberg (Calvin Berger), Dana Steingold (Bret), Krystal Joy Brown (Rosanna), David Hull (Matt) Set Design: Derek McLane Costume Design: Martin Pakledinaz Lighting Design: Howell Binkley Sound Design: Brian Ronan Orchestrations: Douglas Besterman Musical Direction: Aron Accurso Running Time: 2 hours including intermission George Street Playhouse, 9 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ (732) 246 - 7717 Tickets: ($29.50 - $79.50) Previews began 02/10/2010 Opened 02/19/2010 Ends 03/14/2010 Review by Simon Saltzman based on performance 02/19/2010 Act One Songs: Security Meltdown// I Can See Him Now/ Don'tchaThink?/ It Just Wasn't Meant to Happen/ We're the Man!/ Never Know/ Saturday Alone/ More Than Meets the Eye/Act One Finale Act Two Songs: Mr. Potato Head Graduation Day Saturday Alone (reprise) The Fight How Can I Compete With That? Perfect ForYou We're the Man! (reprise) Calm, Cool and Collected Perfect ForYou (reprise) |
|
Subscribe to our FREE email updates with a note from editor Elyse Sommer about additions to the website -- with main page hot links to the latest features posted at our numerous locations. To subscribe,
E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message -- if you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. Visit Curtainup's Blog Annex You can also contact us at Curtainup at Facebook . . . Curtainup at Twitter |
|
REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): >Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email and state if you'd like your comments published in our letters section. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. You can also contact us at Curtainup at Facebook or Curtainup at Twitter and Curtainup's Blog Annex |
South Pacific
In the Heights
Playbill Broadway Yearbook
