MARK-EUGENE GARCIA
  • Home
  • NEWS
  • WORKS
    • Eight Tales of Pedro
    • Facing East
    • The Holy Cows
    • Shining In Misery: A KING Sized Parody
    • Standby
    • (un)missed connections
    • WIth Bated Breath
    • Short Works
  • MEDIA
    • Cast Albums
    • Stage Work
    • Screen Work
    • Print Work
    • Event Photos
    • Youtube
  • Resume
    • Acting Resume and Reel
    • Writing Resume
    • IMDB
  • Reviews
    • Acting Reviews and Awards
    • Writing Reviews and Awards
  • Tickets
    • EIGHT TALES OF PEDRO- Queens Theatre
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

News

Sometimes Career Highlights. Sometimes Blog Entries

Review: Talkin' Broadway- Shining in Misery

3/1/2023

0 Comments

 
Shining in Misery, a production of Capital City Theatre directed and choreographed by Donald Garverick, is part of World Premier Wisconsin, a festival of local professional shows. It bodes well for other shows in the festival.

The show begins with the Torrance family from The Shining, Stephen King/Stanley Kubrick's enduring tale of a haunted Overlook Hotel, checking in to the apparently deserted hotel. They are to look after it over the winter. There are Jack, the father (Jonathan Wagner); mother Wendy (Madeline Glenn Thomas); son Danny (Benji Heying); and Nanny Annie (Gail Becker).This musical is so over the top it hurts. The top line is that the family take in the burned-out novelist kidnapped in Misery, King's tale (and Rob Reiner-directed film) of a writer kidnapped by his biggest fan. He (Cody Gerszewski) inhabits Room 217, where Nanny Annie keeps him captive so she can get him to write a new novel in his "Misery" series, which he has abandoned in favor of a new idea, one that doesn't include Annie's favorite character. (He also plays the vampire Barlow, with a pasted-on face and lovely prosthetic fingers.)



Further subplots invade the story: Cujo, The Stand, It, The Shawshank Redemption (whose Andy Dufresne, played by Alex Gossard, implausibly digs a tunnel from Shawshank to the Overlook), Carrie, The Green Mile, Children of the Corn, and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. There's even a brief musical quote from Jesus Christ Superstar. Some of the characters from the other works haunt the hotel and provide great sources of merriment for those King fans who have read all the books or seen the movies.
The actors handle the multiple casting admirably. Alex Gossard plays the killer clown Pennywise from It as well as Andy Dufresne and Malachi, a child of the corn, and Madeline Glenn Thomas plays Wendy Torrance, Rose the Hat, and a Twin (ghost). Danny is haunted by Tony, who inhabits his middle finger and his voice. Only Jack Torrance and Annie don't have to change characters and costumes (Karen Brown-Larimore) at the drop of a hat. Jason Williams brings a vaudeville panache to Dick Halloran, who comes to rescue Danny, as well as Lloyd the spectral bartender and Flagg, a ubiquitous King villain. (Brown-Larimore's costumes work overtime to distinguish the many additional characters played by the overworked ensemble.)

Farce depends partly on slamming doors. The set is important. In this case, Kevin Gawley has built a multilevel, multi-purpose monster that offers levels and escape hatches, symbolizing the multiple psychic threats posed by the Overlook Hotel. The set contains a banal living room on the first floor, but a basement with an impressive boiler and furnace below that, and a hidden escape below that. Above the living room, the front desk doubles as the Torrances' car and Dick's snowmobile. Windows, an elevator (whose indicator is stuck on L), and the front door conceal Room 217, which slides out when needed.
​
The songs are spirited, the miking so heavy that the sound doesn't seem to come from the actors. At 300+ seats, this isn't a huge venue. But the overall impression of the show is a tour-de-force of writing, with performers and technical resources more than up to the challenge. It's a load of fun.
Shining in Misery runs through March 5, 2023, at the Playhouse, Overture Center, 201 State St., Madison WI. For tickets and information, call 608-258-4141 or visit Overture.org. For more information about World Premiere Wisconsin, visit worldpremierewisconsin.com. For more information about Capital City Theatre, see capitalcitytheatre.org.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Mark-Eugene Garcia

    Writer/Actor/Storyteller. Theatre Maker. Husband. Bad Hombre. Cat Taunter.

    Contents

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    October 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    November 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    July 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    December 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    May 2009
    March 2009
    January 2009
    March 2006
    November 2005
    July 2005
    March 2005
    November 2004
    June 2003
    July 2001
    October 2000
    June 2000
    December 1999
    November 1999
    June 1999
    October 1998
    July 1998

    Topics

    All
    Broadway
    Change
    Exercise
    Feeling Good About Yourself
    Happiness
    Helping People
    Inspiring Myself And Others
    Living Life To The Fullest.
    Mindset
    Motivational Interviewing
    Musicals
    Musical Theatre
    Running
    Success
    Theatre
    Weight Loss

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • NEWS
  • WORKS
    • Eight Tales of Pedro
    • Facing East
    • The Holy Cows
    • Shining In Misery: A KING Sized Parody
    • Standby
    • (un)missed connections
    • WIth Bated Breath
    • Short Works
  • MEDIA
    • Cast Albums
    • Stage Work
    • Screen Work
    • Print Work
    • Event Photos
    • Youtube
  • Resume
    • Acting Resume and Reel
    • Writing Resume
    • IMDB
  • Reviews
    • Acting Reviews and Awards
    • Writing Reviews and Awards
  • Tickets
    • EIGHT TALES OF PEDRO- Queens Theatre
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram