Fall Theater Preview 2002

In a couple months’ time, any brainy Harvard student will ask himself the following question: “Why see another lame Harry Potter movie when I can go see a fantastic live version of Cabaret?” Our own Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club would agree wholeheartedly, as it unleashes a mind-bending onslaught of fantastic theater this semester. With Fiddler on the Roof, The Balcony and everything in between, it’s guaranteed to be a funny, diverse and tear-jerking season with your favorite Harvard stars. Aspiring actors across campus have already begun physically and mentally preparing for their roles as strippers, kit kat boys, senile grandmothers and more...

The start of the season in the Loeb Experimental Theater (Ex) will see the premiere of a new Harvard-produced dance show, EX-Rated. Featuring a star-studded list of choreographers, including Shelby Braxton-Brooks ’03 and Ryuji Yamaguchi ’03, EX-Rated is destined to be an intense experience. The staff of EX-Rated boasts that the show will include a mix of jazz, ballet, hip-hop, modern, tap, step, break dancing and even gymnastics. Performing in the round (with audience on all four sides of the cast) on Oct. 18-20 and 23-26, EX-Rated will surely make Harvard performance history.

Nearby on the Loeb Mainstage, the surreal world of Jean Genet’s The Balcony will be waxing revolutionary from Oct. 25-Nov. 2. Directed by Andrew Boch ’03, this complex show is a study of confinement and fantasy set in a world seething with illusion. A bizarre, yet undeniably engrossing piece of theater.

If contemporary British theater is your bag, head to the Ex Oct. 31-Nov. 2 for Patrick Marber’s scathing black comedy Closer. But leave your younger siblings home, as Closer just might offend their young ears with its nasty profanity and its pointed take on modern adult relationships. This darkly comic tragedy, directed by Mike Donahue ’05, may become the date show of the season, as countless young lovers reevaluate their relationships after witnessing love and sex, contemporary-style.

Musical lovers have much to write home about with the most anticipated show of the season, Cabaret, on the Loeb Mainstage from Nov. 15-23, directed by Joy Fairfield ’03 and Sabrina Blum ’03. Even for those who saw the Broadway revival 14 times, it will still be worth skipping the Nov. 15 opening of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to make a trip to period Berlin and party with the debaucherous denizens of everyone’s favorite nightclub. Expect a re-imagined production and an immensely talented, gorgeous cast.

Catch Cabaret on its second weekend, however, in order to see Side Man in the Ex Nov. 9-16, produced by Alex Kanter ’05. If you’ve ever wondered about those cool cats responsible for making Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood” the most overplayed high school jazz band song, seeing Side Man is a no-brainer. Warren Leight’s play is a touching look at the effects of the erosion of big-band jazz on its quirky performers. Even if you were beat up in high school for being a band nerd, see this show, because everyone loves that jazz.

But before you go home for Thanksgiving, don’t forget to head back to the Ex for Cradle Will Rock. You’ll likely be thankful for the energetic direction in this “Brechtian labor musical” about unionization in early 20th-century Steeltown, USA, directed by Patrick Hosfield ’05. Think Newsies, minus Disney, Christian Bale and that obnoxious “Seize the Day” song, but with a considerably more punchy and heart-wrenching dose of social commentary. Still frighteningly relevant today, Cradle Will Rock will take over the Ex, promising a healthy dose of T-Day humility.

With all this socially relevant drama, a little unabridled fun is needed. The gem of the season for this kind of relief is Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado. This beloved and immensely popular comic opera concerns the love-struck Nanki-Poo and his disguise as a trombone player to search for the gorgeous Yum-Yum. As to be expected from Gilbert and Sullivan, ridiculous situations ensue. Plus, with the immensely talented team-up of Naomi Straus ’04 and Abigail Joseph ’04 designing the wacky, colorful costumes, expect The Mikado to rock the Agassiz Theater this Dec. 5-14 with some G&S-style flair.

For those who can’t stop watching Kenneth Lonergan’s brilliant film You Can Count on Me, head to the Ex Dec. 5-7 for Lonergan’s Waverly Gallery. Director Rebecca Kastleman ’05 will transform the Ex into a site of intimate family life in this delicate and personal play about one man’s reconstruction of his past and his struggles with identity. Centered around the man’s grandmother’s final days in her East Village art gallery, Waverly is a refreshingly honest and complex piece of theater.

A merry Christmas is impossible, however, without highly experimental theater. This is where Austin Guest ’05 comes in, to direct beckettproseplay, an abstracted and emotive original, partially cast-generated piece that evokes the difficult and beautiful final prose pieces of celebrated playwright Samuel Beckett. Set to perform Dec. 4-14 in the Lowell House Bell Tower Room, beckettproseplay promises a wholly unique experience for Harvard theater. Not to be missed.

Don’t forget about the sex-filled Pippin, either. Like Harry Potter, magic will be in the air during this production, a raucous, flashy musical directed by Jeremy Blocker ’04 and performing in the Ex. The magic runs Dec. 12-15, a wonderfully scandalous gift to students before they take a two-week dive into the Yuletide familial pit.

Unfortunately for theater purists who refuse to miss anything, it doesn’t end there. The Miracle Worker goes up at the Adams Pool in October, Deathtrap is performing in early November at Winthrop House, and Death and the Maiden performs at the Pool in November as well. The Triumph of Camilla is performing at the Fogg Museum Nov. 19-22, and The Heiress (Leverett Old Library) performs in December. If that isn’t enough, make your reading period more enjoyable with The Two-Character Play and Fiddler on the Roof.

This season is sure to be an exciting one for Harvard theater, with enough hilarious sex and serious humor to fill even the largest bordello.