Yearnings
This dramatic musical,
winner of 8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, is written by Steven Sater and
Duncan Sheik from a play by Frank Wedekind.
It is directed by Melissa Myers, choreographed by Sacred Kaltenthaler and
musical direction by Andrew Bray. It is playing
for one more performance at the Artists Rep space, 1515 SW Morrison St.,
through August 11th (bless Artists Rep for giving them a home for
this production). For further
information, go to their sites at
Be warned from the
outset, this is a very adult show.
“Growing up is hard to do,” as the old song goes and, in this, case,
could be deadly (our current times mirror this somewhat). This story has roots in other musicals like Hair and Rent. And, like those
powerful pieces, there are harsh lessons to be learned.
This tale has a group
of budding, young adults, being raised in a very authoritarian, private school,
somewhere and sometime in Germany. The
teachers (as well as all adult roles, are played by Jessica Hirschhorn and
Heath Hyun Houghton) concentrate on the classic artists of the time, such as
Wagner, Nietzsche, Goethe and Luther and separate the classes by gender. The teens’ parents are equally harsh. No adult influence gives any instructions to
the sexual awakenings the teens will experience, or even how babies are made.
So, left to their own
devices, they must content themselves with pictures from books, stories from
their comrades or relieving the itch with private, sexual fantasies. One young couple, Melchior (Isaiah Rosales)
and Wendla (Sofia Vilches), begin to experience each other in the “biblical
sense” and discover the responsibilities and consequences of such actions.
Another hyper, young
man, Moritz (Paul Harestad) seems unusually disturbed by these feelings and is
both repulsed and attracted to them.
Even his childhood friend, Ilse (Ronni Lee), who has run off to join an
artists’ colony, gives him a glimpse of the freedom and depravities of giving
into these desires. And his father is of
no help in understanding these strange new urges and longings, it was just
something you didn’t talk about.
Some, like Martha (Lauren
Steele), even associate pain and abuse, from her father, with love. And there is even the exploration of gay love
between two young boys. All their
friends are going through similar “awakenings” but with no engine to guide this
runaway train. Without any adult
mentorship, all this dawning of new days in their lives will come to naught,
and even, in some cases, lead to tragic results.
Much like the above
musicals I mentioned, there are no easy answers, just lots of hard
questions. But, in this case it seems,
without positive adult role models and mentorships, some questioning teens will
have rocky adult lives.
And the music/lyrics
(Musical Director, Bray) shadows the story nicely and yet do not overpower it. The choreography (Kaltenthaler), too, in such
expressive number as, “Mama Who Bore Me,” and “Totally Fucked,” is explosive. Houghton and Hirschhorn are powerful in
demanding, multiple roles, oozing a Machiavellian mood everywhere they stepped. The already mentioned leads, as well as the
other students (Celie Straub, Annie Eldridge, Jon Matter, Jerod Packard, Jacob
Skidmore and Isaac O’Farrell) composed an exceptional singing and acting
ensemble, a tribute to the group’s training.
And Myers has done an outstanding job of staging it with the bare
essentials so that the story, characters and music stand out.
I recommend this show
but, as I said, it is very adult in subject matter, so may not be for
everyone. It is reported that the final
show, as was this one, is sold out but sometimes folks don’t show up so you
might give it a try. If you do choose to
go, tell them Dennis sent you.
But, perhaps, the
most important part of this organization, is its purpose. From a personal perspective of a father on
the fruits of its (and OCT’s Young Professionals Company) merits (his daughter,
Haley, a much-touted actor as a teen in Portland) is currently playing Mercutio
in a play at her college and will graduate this year with a theatre degree). Anyway, here is his honest take on the
company, from a personal letter to me:
“…wonderful
alum opportunity Staged! offers its students/graduates. I know Paul Angelo and
our new managing director, Paige Rogers, are already excitedly planning next
year's shows based on the extremely positive feedback the cast and crew have
given them about this experience. Honestly,
I'm just happy to have the chance to share the fruits of this program that was
so important in Haley's trajectory, with you.”
As most people may
know by now, I am a fierce advocate for young people and promoting the advance
of theatre training for them to build confidence, promote teamwork, build
character and awareness, have a safe atmosphere to explore conflicting feelings
and to have the opportunity to step into another person’s shoes and walk around
in them, to see other perspectives on cultures, the world and life,
itself. Staged! is a 10-year-old company
which “…continues to delight audiences by exploring those things that make us
burst into song, focusing on musicals & actors telling stories together
onstage.”
Their mission: “Staged! exists to tell compelling human
stories through song, and to nurture talent both onstage and off. With musical theatre pared down to its to its
essential musical elements—music, story and song—Staged! produces stellar
musical theatre and provides pre-professional training to young people.”
In this extremely explosive
and negative atmosphere that we are currenting existing in, we need future
generations that will have the character and courage to stand up to the strife
and stress of this charged atmosphere and make changes that will help build a
more compassionate society worldwide.
The sidebars are present now, with women forging the path for equality
and respect, and Youth are standing up to the NRA and Congress to curb violence
on the young. What they seek, in part, is
discovering Truth and Honesty and Compromise in building inroads and
relationships, all of which true theatre folk must possess to be Artists. The reason for our existence lies more in the
writings of poets and dreamers, than they do in science and math. Our Essence cannot be quantified. Theatre training (full of explorers of this
sort) is of use, both onstage and in the outside world, make no mistake about
it!
We also need more
organizations that will support places for theatre companies to work, instead
of developers/building owners only being concerned about the almighty buck. Theatre companies are becoming orphans all
the time for this reason but, even as nomads, they will not be ignored.
--DJS
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