Sondheim, Disney, 'Alice' & heroes: 6 shows playing at Cape Cod theaters

Review: “Red Swans”

By Barbara Clark

Written by: Wendy Lement, directed by Nina Schuessler, presented by Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre

What it’s about: “Red Swans” is the true story of an enduring friendship, cemented by the power of art, fostered in an extraordinary time. Two young Jewish women, Lisa and Katja, meet as students at a Berlin art school during World War II, where they’re recruited to a local resistance network. Determined to fight Nazi aggressors, they help to hide escaping Jews and undertake dangerous assignments as couriers of crucial information across Germany’s borders. Surviving the war, they remain lifelong friends, an ocean apart, continuing to create the art that helped them survive the horrors they’ve witnessed.

See it or not: “Red Swans” highlights real-life acts of bravery, often by women, that frequently go unrecorded in accounts of war. It’s also timely, coming at a moment when war atrocities are again in the headlines, coupled with examples of standout sacrifice and conscience.

Highlights: Lement’s world-premiere play never loses sight of its central theme: the capacity of art to sustain and heal, releasing in turn a “reason to stay alive” that enlists both young women despite life-threatening odds. Brittany Rolfs and Leanne McLaughlin are remarkable as the young Lisa Egler and Katja Caselles, who hold hands as they honor their friendship, Lisa declaring: “Without you, without our art, I wouldn’t have survived.”

Interesting fact: Director Nina Schuessler (just-retired company artistic director) is Egler’s real-life daughter. Egler spent much of her later life with her family on Cape Cod, where she continued to create art, sculpture and poetry, much of it growing out of her wartime experiences. Some of that art is projected as a backdrop in the production.

Worth noting: “Red Swans” notably celebrates the joyful side of friendship, as Lisa and Katja somehow remain ebullient and determined in the face of unrelenting danger.

One more thing: Some of the play’s most personal moments are the result of a journal rediscovered by Schuessler in 2020, in which she had recorded memories of that critical time that her mother had shared piecemeal over years.

If you go: 7 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays through May 15 at Cape Cod Theatre Company, 105 Division St., West Harwich. $27 adults, $25 seniors, $15 youth. 508-432-2002, capecodtheatrecompany.org

“Disney’s Beauty and the Beast”

By Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll

Written by: Linda Woolverton, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice; presented by Falmouth Theatre Guild

What it’s about: Belle, who is considered odd by provincial townsfolk because of her love of books and fantasy tales, sets off on her own adventure when she searches for her missing father and is captured and held prisoner by the Beast. He is really a young prince, who is, along with the people in his castle, trapped under the spell of an enchantress, with the curse only broken if he learns to love and be loved in return.

See it or not: Don’t miss this: Director Joan McKenzie-Baird and her actors and crew have made this updated fairy tale come to musical life in an utterly charming, effervescent and joy-filled production for all ages.

Highlights: McKenzie-Baird has perfectly cast top performers, starting with a wow of a return to Cape Cod stages by Meghan Richardson as brave, smart and empathetic Belle. And the talent runs deep, leading with Paul Richardson as an endearing but also sometimes fearsome Beast; Bobby Price as boorishly comical but dangerous bully Gaston; Keirnon McDermott as his hugely entertaining sidekick Le Fou; and Michael Duarte as Belle’s loving and quirky father.

The castle servants are a wonderful, warm and comical team with John Weltman shining as worldly, sentimental candlestick Lumiere (who leads a rousing “Be our Guest” showstopper); Randy Doyle hilarious as the ever-anxious clock Cogsworth; Laura Garner sweet as ever-hopeful teapot Mrs. Potts (offering a lovely title song); plus Jack Baumrind as innocent boy teacup Chip, Jenn Perrault as flirtatious duster Babette, and Rachael Kenneally as proud and helpful wardrobe Mme. de la Grande Bouche. The acting strength extends into the ensemble, including Kevin Kenneally’s creepy asylum keeper Mr. D’Arque, and the three Silly Girls fawning over Gaston’s muscles: Cheri Prescott, Lori Welch Lawson and Victoria Santos.

Worth noting: The stage’s fantasy transformation is impressive, with technical director/set designer Brett Baird’s multiple ambitious and detailed sets looking like pages out of a book thanks to scenic artist Cris Reverdy. Liz Moakley’s costume design is also outstanding, with Belle’s signature yellow gown deservedly eliciting a loud gasp from a little girl sitting in front of me.

Fun facts: The personal relationships off stage include married couples as Belle and the Beast, and as the wardrobe and asylum keeper, plus Weltman being the uncle of young Jack. Ensemble member Tasha Whited brings a Disney connection, having performed at Walt Disney World Resort with Mickey and Minnie Mouse “in a former life.”

One more thing: If you only know the 1991 animated movie, the Broadway stage version has multiple new songs to enjoy, the best of which is “If I Can’t Love Her” that’s the Beast’s Act 1 closer. Paul Richardson nails it, singing in a castle turret that dramatically revolves, one of multiple moving set pieces.

If you go: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays April 29-May 15 at Highfield Theatre, 58 Highfield Drive, Falmouth. Tickets and information: https://falmouththeatreguild.org/.

"Alice in Wonderland"

By Sue Mellen

Written, adapted for the stage and directed by: Bragan Thomas, based on the book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll, presented by The Academy of Performing Arts

What it's about: The most overused word in the English language may well be timeless, but sometimes you just have to use it. So this is the timeless classic about Alice (Xevi Parker), a young British girl who longs to escape from her stuffy and staid environment (where a deck of cards and a boring book are her only diversions) and find adventure. Thanks to the guiding hand of the perennially late and always flustered White Rabbit (Alison Hyder), Alice takes a tumultuous tumble down a rabbit hole. There she finds her way into a mind-bending new reality populated by the likes of a hookah-smoking Caterpillar (Thomas, too), a shape-shifting Cheshire Cat (John O’Meara) who announces his friends call him “Catsanova,” a ghoulishly made-up Cook (Helen Carrier) and of course The Queen of Hearts (Lizzy Smythe). No foray into Wonderland would be complete without her shouts of “Off with their heads!”

See it or not: Thomas and company succeed in creating a production that is a fresh journey into a vibrantly colored dreamland. The writer/director’s vision is a pleasing combo of old and new, with the characters and lines you know by heart wrapped up in modern packaging. This is a piece that plays on two levels, so the kids will love seeing the familiar characters, and you’ll appreciate the subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) humor.

Highlights: Thomas himself is fun as both the enigmatic Caterpillar and fabulously flamboyant King of Hearts. Then there’s a wonderful, campy bit where Bethany Long plays the March Hare as an old-style movie siren, complete with mink stole and Eastern European accent.

Fun fact: Carroll’s classic was originally published in November 1865, with the first theatrical version mounted in London’s West End in 1886. So it’s a real coup for a company to breathe new life into the piece.

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Worth noting: The colors on stage virtually pop, with accoutrements like a brightly colored giant mushroom giving Alice’s dreamland a modern feel. (It’s a far cry from the old pencil sketches you remember from the book your mother read at bedtime.) And Alice’s trip down the rabbit hole is represented by swirling, psychedelic images cast onto a film screen. Brightly colored costumes, ingeniously designed by Karen Hepinstall and Alison Hyder, add to the vibrant feel of the set. For example, the outfits on the little Flamingos (Chiara and Gabby Castro, Meredith Sprague and Hannah Savin) have the feel of pink and sparkly cotton candy.

One more thing: The cast of both veteran performers and youngsters gives the piece a comfortable, family-friendly feel. It is well-suited to the Academy Playhouse, with its intimate arena-style theater.

If you go: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday through May 1 at the Academy Playhouse, 120 Main St., Orleans; $30 adults, $20 under age 16; 508-202-1952, www.academyplayhouse.org.

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See Provincetown plays before they go to Ireland

Provincetown Dramatic Arts will perform one night of “Quickies: 4 Short Plays from Provincetown” before taking the works by Provincetown playwrights to the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival — the company's seventh trip there.

Coming up: Summer plans: Provincetown premieres, CCTP back in Falmouth, more Beach Road music

Plays include “Madame Executrix,” by Doug Asher-Best; “The Black Eye,” by Jim Dalglish; “Look What You Made Me Do,” by Lynda Sturner; and “Pulse” by Margaret Van Sant. The acting company is Joe MacDougall, Vanessa Rose, Ellen Rubenstein, Tia Scalcione, and Tommy Walsh, plus Carol Sherry as technical staff.

The local show will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at The Red Room at Velvet, 258 Commercial St., Provincetown. Tickets: $25. https://bpt.me/5416443, www.ptowndramaticarts.org.

A lot of theater to look forward to

At the end of the week, three plays will open for runs through much of May:

► Eventide Theatre Company will pay tribute to composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim with “Into the Woods,” the 1987 Tony Award-winning source for its “No One Is Alone” theme for the season. The musical, with book by James Lapine, intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales — from Cinderella to Little Red Riding Hood — and explores the consequences of the characters’ wishes and quests.

Shows are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sunday May 5-22; https://www.eventidearts.org/.

► Just in time for summer, Barnstable Comedy Club will present the farce “Sandy Toes and Salty Kisses,” written by Michael Parker and Susan Parker, to close out its 100th season. The setting is the Lovers' Landing Beach Hotel, a popular wedding destination inherited by a woman who finds out that her uncle, the hotel manager, is running a variety of illegal extracurricular activities on the property.

The show opens at 7:30 p.m. May 5, then performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays through May 22 at the club building, 3171 Main St., Barnstable Village. Reservations: 508-362-6333. Information: www.BarnstableComedyClub.org.

► Cotuit Center for the Arts will present the area premiere of Miranda Jonte’s “St. Francis,” about a veterinarian who now runs a dog rescue in California who is about to be forced out by an incoming Starbucks and is desperate to find a new building for her no-kill shelter.

Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays in the Morton and Vivian Sigel Black Box Theater at the center, 4404 Route 28. Tickets and information: https://artsonthecape.org/explore/st-francis.

Contact Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll at kdriscoll@capecodonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @KathiSDCCT.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod theater: Sondheim, Disney & 'Alice' among 6 shows on stages