THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 7, 1996 TAG: 9606050141
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater Review
SOURCE: Montague Gammon III
LENGTH: 75 lines
An unmistakably collegiate air, mingling innocence with ambition and ingeniousness with enthusiasm, quite unsurprisingly pervaded the opening night of ``On Broadway'' at Regent University. This was, after all, the first night of the first show of the new, student-run Arts Celebration and Theatre Summer series.
The series, as the project is more briefly called, continues well into August and will include some 17 different productions. Next weekend, a monodrama festival featuring vignettes about ``the battle of the sexes'' will occupy the Regent University stage, to be followed in successive weeks by a comedy coffee house, a evening of ``Praise through the Performing Arts'' and a full-fledged production of Beth Henley's comedy, ``The Miss Firecracker Contest'' for Independence Day.
The organizers chose to kick off their project with this revue, dominated by modern dance interpretations of musical theater songs. There were a few live vocals, but the singers as well as the instrumental accompaniment were usually on tape.
Soloist Sandy Smith acquitted herself quite competently in an a capella rendition of ``Summertime,'' which was itself a courageous undertaking. Smith returned later to display a mature vibrato in ``Human Heart'' from ``Once on This Island.'' Stephen Patch soloed in ``The Music of the Night'' and Catherine Segars presented an enjoyable ``Syncopation Rag'' from the musical adaptation of ``It's a Wonderful Life.''
The choreography tended toward the gestural and familiar. Several segments of the show relied heavily upon dancers in silhouette, lighting in strong primary colors and a copiously used fog machine, all time-honored favorites of youthful stagecraft.
The show hinted at its strong suit in the third number, ``Can't Help Lovin' that Man of Mine,'' and found its voice shortly afterward with ``Cool Rider,'' from the nearly forgotten ``Grease 2.''
Co-director Michelle Hoppe infused her dance solo in the former number, a classic from the venerable ``Showboat,'' with flashes of lightly amusing wit. By the time a motorcycle hood in ``Cool Rider'' made his entrance on a child's tiny bicycle, the audience had been primed for the irreverent humor that marked the best of ``On Broadway.''
In the second act, Bruce Long performed a delightful slapstick-tinged sendup of macho disco in ``Manic,'' one of the pieces ``On Broadway'' borrowed from the movies. ``Wouldn't It Be Loverly'' was cleverly turned into a high spirited fantasy amidst a girls' slumber party.
Among the dancers, Hoppe demonstrated a precise execution and a gracefully efficient use of energy that can only come from wholehearted concentration. Between directing, choreographing, dancing and singing, Hoppe was the pre-eminent influence on the show, though co-director Susan Pang doubtless deserves equal credit. Pang appeared in alternating performances of the show, most prominently as the soloist for ``Give My Life for You'' that was on opening night sung by Catherine Segars.
Setting that song from ``Miss Saigon'' before the ``Showboat'' and ``Porgy and Bess'' excerpts, and sandwiching a piece from ``My Fair Lady'' between one from ``Jekyll and Hyde'' and another from ``Phantom of the Opera,'' provided an overwhelming illustration of the difference between the temporarily popular and the classic.
While ``On Broadway'' reminds one that academic theater exists primarily for the educational benefits it bestows upon its participants, the talented, hard-working students who are responsible of this new series deserve attention and respect. The summer-long project could develop into an important addition to Tidewater's cultural scene. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
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WHEN & WHERE
What: ``On Broadway,'' part of the Arts Celebration and Theatre
Summer Series.
When: A different show runs each week at 8 p.m. Fridays and
Saturdays, and 3 p.m Sundays through Aug. 25.
Where: Regent University .
Tickets: 579-4245. by CNB