By Dennis Thompson, Theatre Roundtable
Check out the original article here!
At Shadowbox Live’s Killer Blues I shared a table with two women, one had been to Shadowbox before, the other had not. At intermission I heard the veteran tell her friend “they’re usually funnier than this.” I then felt obligated to butt in and explain.
Ok, everyone, pay attention. It may seem confusing as they are all in one spot now but here are the live show differences. The company may be best known for its sketch comedy/rock and roll shows, these are Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. For some time now they have been doing Sunday only musicals and these have expanded to be performed year round. Still Sunday only, currently “Rocky Horror Show.” And I won’t even get into their lunchbox shows, shortened versions of their weekend formats.
But Wednesdays. Wednesdays are smooth. Wednesdays are cool. Wednesdays are a return to their 2Cos Cabaret shows, for those of you who remember their short north theatre of a few years ago. Shorter dramatic pieces, some poetry. Often a longer dramatic piece, longer than weekend visitors are used to. And the music – softer, blues, jazz.
Their first foray into these Wednesday shows is called Killer Blues, after the 45 minute Roy Berkowitz play which dominates act one. But, and not coincidentally, it also is a title that describes the whole evening, particularly the soulful music that plays throughout here.
The Berkowitz play features Julie Klein as Mae, a woman who lives in the subway as she fears life outside. Late one night, into her world comes William, played by Tom Cardinal, seemingly just a man waiting for the train home who doesn’t want to be bothered. But as the train doesn’t come and Mae keeps talking, William eventually gets pulled in and we learn that life for each of them is not what it seems and they may have more in common than they ever could have imagined.
Klein is excellent as Mae, showing her eccentricities yet also her bits of insight in such a way that each seems believable. Cardinal, too, gives us William’s reluctance to get involved then plausibly eases us – and him – into a connection with this woman.
Shadowbox patrons don’t normally need a long attention span and some not used to the old 2Cos format may grow restless. But this is a good choice to start these up again, a simple, moving piece, well played.
There are some knockout musical numbers here, powerful, soulful. Mary Randle belts out Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Cold Shot” as does Klein on Allman Brothers “Stormy Monday” and Nikki Fagin on Bonnie Raitt’s “Love Me Like a Man and Jennifer Hahn with Led Zeppelin’s ‘You Shook Me.” Stephanie Shull’s soulful rendition of Etta James’ “At Last” and Stev Guyer’s “Catfish Blues” and particularly the closing number of Joe Cocker’s “Unchain My Heart” are highlights.
The shorter monologues were the least gripping in the old 2Cos format and that carries over here. Best of this group are the funny ones. Fagin is spot on as a clueless freshman college student angling for a grade change in “For Who the Bell, Like, Tolls” and Randle is equally on as an office worker just on the verge of explosion in “It’s Not Just a Cubicle.” Both these pieces were written by Martha King DeSilva who must be a fun person.
Wednesdays are the softer side of Shadowbox. It’s good to have that back.