An excellent cast, decent songs and a great idea do not always a musical make. Douglas J. Cohen s The Gig has spent more than twenty years and several chances at some prestigious stopovers before getting to the New York Musical Theatre Festival. The Gig is a musician s version of The Full Monty, only this time the players are middle-aged jazz players who get a shot at working in the Catskills .a chance at being professionals.
Well directed by Igor Goldin, The Gig is based on Frank D.
Gilroy s 1985 movie. Here, used-car salesman Marty (a well played Larry Cahn) has booked his friends and fellow band members a chance to live out their dreams. Marty plays trombone with Arthur (Nick Gaswirth) dentist by day, drums by night; Jack (Kevin Pariseau), the piano player who is fine with being a successful businessman; Gil (Michael Minarik) trumpeter who could go places but is married to his job as a realtor and Aaron (Steve Routman), a music teacher with no talent.
When Georgie (Bruce Sabath) a deli storeowner and their bassist is diagnosed with cancer, Marty recruits professional musician, Marshall (Doug Eskew) to be their new bass player.
Bruce Sabath, Michael Minarik, Nick Gaswirth, Larry Cahn, Kevin Pariseau and Steve Routman. The Gig photo courtesy of Russ Rowland
In the Castkills we meet resort owner Abe (Stephen Berger), waitresses Donna (Dee Roscioli) and Lucy (Kate Fahrner), and the headliner, Miss Ricki Valentine (Donna Vivino). As their dreams become a reality, they learn unfortunately reality is never kind.
Part of the problem here is the miming playing their instruments.
You need real musicians to pull this off. Also the book needs a major overhaul as everything seems contrived. This is again another book, music and lyrics by the same person and again, it does not work.
The best part of this show was the tuneful songs and the terrific acting that kept this piece together.
This musical which ran until July 21, is in its mid-life crisis and it is not striking a chord.
**WikiMusical takes place in Cyberland, complete with Super Mario Brothers. This musical with original music by Trent Jeffors, Frank Ceruzzi and Blake J. Harris is aimed at the tween crowd, is energetically directed by Richard J.
Hinds and musically directed by Sonny Paladino. Boys of all ages are sure to love this tuner. Enter an 80 s Christmas Eve as a young Peter (Noah Marlowe) and his kid brother, Kurt (Lucas Schultz) are gifted with their first computer from Santa (Adam B.
Shapiro). Skip to present day and now Peter (Perry Sherman) and Kurt (Trey Harrington) are estranged. For some reason which I still cannot figure out, Peter and Kurt find themselves trapped inside the cyberworld.
Welcomed by the mascot of the Net, Kitten McMittens (Barry Shafrin), they are rapped into the land of Wikipedia in order to return to reality. Along their journey they meet blogger, Jacqui (Alison Novelli) and Morgan Freeman (Darius Harper), Skeeter the Twitter bird, a geek pining for Princess LOL (Heather Jane Rolff), Jimmy Wales (Bob Walton), Mark Zuckerberg (Michael Mahany) and the diva to end all divas the diva, Spam King/Queen (Brenda Braxton).
You have to love the Internet and know it well to get the jokes. Even though T2C spends a great deal of time on the web, we are not controlled by it or are a troll.
However if you are you can browse over onto the PTC Performance Space on July 26th at 9pm and catch this information highway network.
Peter (Noah Marlowe), Kurt (Lucas Schultz) and Santa (Adam B. Shapiro)
**Cheryl E. Kemeny s Mother Jones Children s Crusade is based on a true story about the plight of child laborers in coalmines and textile mills.
It is very reminiscent of a combination of Newsies and The Molly McGuires. As the show opens we hear Mother Jones, The Miner s Angel, done acapella with an Irish hint. Soon after, we meet Mother Jones (the terrific Lynne Wintersteller) an outspoken woman who has become both Mother and Angel to the women and children the slave owners of the mills care nothing about. When Mother Jones is jailed, a wannabe union organizer Jenny Markem (Lizzie Klemperer) applies to Alexander Gottlieb (Kevin Reed).
As the protesting workers start their strike, a young child is killed by a machine in the factory and a light is shown on the unprotected population of child laborers. A reenactment of Mother Jones 1903 march from the Pennsylvania factory to the home of President Theodore Roosevelt in Oyster Bay, New York ends with the President a no-show.
Robin De Jes s brings comic relief but it is the adorable Grace Matwijec who has the it factor. Directed by Michelle Tattenbaum, she keeps the show moving in the first act but not the second.
The music is winning, the story interesting but the ending leaves you knowing nothing that you didn t know before.
You can catch Mother Jones Children s Crusade at the PTC Performance Space on July 24th at 9pm, July 25th at 5pm and 26th at 2pm.
Lynne Wintersteller as Mother Jones and the adorable Grace Matwijec next to her
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