Camelot

Camelot, at Trinity Rep
Gratuitous Violins rating: *** out of ****

It's Sept. 27, 1940, the middle of the Blitz. To escape German bombing raids, 117,000 London residents have taken refuge in tube stations deep underground, including one where a troupe of actors is putting on Camelot.

This is a Camelot that tells the story of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table without castles or medieval costumes. The actors wear 1940s-era street clothes and set designer Eugene Lee has built a dark and dingy train platform cluttered with mismatched furniture. A five-piece band tucked in a corner provides the music.

I have to give artistic director Curt Columbus credit for coming up with a fresh concept for a 50-year-old musical to open Trinity Rep's season.

But I realize Camelot's shortcomings: the plot is a little convoluted and in between the songs the story can drag. It's a 2 hour and 40 minute show and at times, I really felt the length.

Luckily, I enjoyed the performances and the humor that infuses this production.

Stephen Thorne was appealing as King Arthur, a reluctant monarch who establishes the Round Table, with its ideals of honor and justice, "to fight for right, not might." Rebecca Gibel made for a glamorous, self-assured Queen Guenevere and Joe Wilson Jr. was terrific as the charming but pretentious Frenchman Lancelot.

And I've always loved Lerner and Loewe's score: "If Ever I Would Leave You" and "Camelot" are especially beautiful. Wilson was hilarious with "C'est Moi," arriving on a motorbike, bounding into the audience and handing out 8 x 11 glossies of himself.

For Americans, Camelot, which opened on Broadway in 1960 and ran for 873 performances, has become indelibly connected to the presidency of John F. Kennedy.

But the musical is based on T.H. White's The Once and Future King, written between 1938 and 1941. Columbus says White "was using Arthur, Merlyn, Guenevere, and Lancelot as voices of civilization and hope for the continuance of British identity in the face of the German onslaught at the beginning of the Second World War."

That point is brought home through a newsreel featuring British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the WWII-era posters that line the wall of the subway platform, sounds of bombs overhead that occasionally cause plaster to fall from the ceiling.

Despite all that, with one exception I didn't feel much of an emotional tug during Camelot, a sense that this musical was being put on during a terrifying, devastating time. I don't know, maybe in return for giving up the majesty I was expecting a little more Blitz spirit.

The exception was the final scene, which was beautifully staged and had me close to tears. Still even then, hearing Arthur's iconic words I wasn't thinking of the perseverance of the British people but of a young president cut down and a nation plunged into mourning.

Maybe that other connection is simply too ingrained.

Getting excited about The Odd Couple

I'm major-league excited about Trinity Rep's next production, Neil Simon's classic comedy The Odd Couple. My season of Simon was cut short last fall after I saw Brighton Beach Memoirs on Broadway, so this is another chance at bat.

Previews begin April 9 with Brian McEleney as neurotic neatnik Felix Ungar and Fred Sullivan Jr. as slobbish sportswriter Oscar Madison. The Odd Couple runs through May 9.

Here's a clip of artistic director Curt Columbus talking about the play, which was first produced on Broadway in 1965, became a movie in 1968 and a TV series that ran from 1970 to 1975.

In reading it over Columbus, who's directing, says he realized that the play is "a much richer piece about friendship and about masculinity in the mid 20th century in America."



I grew up watching The Odd Couple on TV with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall and Columbus says resident set designer Eugene Lee took that familiarity into account. "It's going to have a really cool 1960s television feel."

In this clip from the Dec. 1 1972, episode Felix and Oscar appear on the game show Password, competing against Betty White, who was married to host Allen Ludden. Watch it to learn something about Abraham Lincoln that I bet you never knew.

The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later

I played a little role in making theatre history last night when I attended a staged reading of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later in Providence, performed by students in the Brown/Trinity Rep MFA program.

This is an epilogue to The Laramie Project, the play that examines the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay student at the University of Wyoming who was tied to a fence, beaten and left to die.

Members of New York's Tectonic Theater Project created that earlier work by going to Laramie and interviewing people with a connection to the case, who knew Shepard, or were just ordinary citizens, gay and straight. In 2008, they returned to Laramie to see what had changed.

The result was The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, presented on the same night - the anniversary of Shepard's death - in 150 venues across the country and around the world. It was incredible to be part of such a unique and powerful experience. The words "theatre community" have never seemed so real.

The 16 actors, dressed in jeans and black shirts, sat on folding chairs arranged in a gently curved semicircle, scripts on music stands in front of them. Sometimes they'd stand while reading their lines, other times they were seated. They all played multiple characters and a narrator introduced them.

At a very informative talkback afterward, Trinity Repertory Company's artistic director, Curt Columbus, compared the play to Our Town, and I can definitely see the similarity. There's no set or props. What you hear are the words of real people, culled from interviews with the Tectonic members. (Beware, there are spoilers from here on out.)

Laramie residents with no connection to the case were either tired of hearing about the murder or felt that what their community had done to remember Shepard was enough. Some cited a report on ABC's 20/20 that it wasn't a hate crime but a robbery or drug deal gone bad.

The university seemed halfhearted in its response. It's not that they've ignored the murder. We learn that there's a memorial bench to Shepard on campus and more courses on gender identity and a social justice symposium named in his honor.

But members of the university's board of trustees have dragged their feet on offering domestic partner benefits to gay and lesbian employees. They don't seem to understand that treating all of their employees equally, fairly and with dignity would be the best and highest way to honor Matthew Shepard.

The closer you get - we hear from the police who investigated the murder, people who knew Shepard, gay and lesbian citizens of Laramie - you realize the extent to which these wounds are still open and raw.

When I watched the HBO movie based on The Laramie Project, I turned down the volume when Shepard's injuries were described. I just couldn't listen. Last night, I couldn't tune out and I felt like I was going to faint while listening to Darien Johnson, the actor who plays investigator Rob Debree. Reggie Fluty (played by Ruth Coughlin), the now-retired police officer who found Shepard, says, if you'd seen him, you wouldn't doubt that this was a hate crime.

I remembered Jonas Slonaker from the movie talking about how much he loved Wyoming but also the fear that he felt as a gay man after Shepard's murder. Slonaker, played by Will Austin, now has a partner and a job at the university where he's out and accepted. But he's cautious and knows that if he worked somewhere else, it would be different. Every gay person, he says, has to find that safe pocket.

That's not to say there hasn't been progress.

Cathy Connolly, a university professor, was elected in 2008 to the state House of Representatives, becoming Wyoming's first openly gay legislator. In the play's most moving section, Connolly, played by Lauren Lubow, talks about the successful fight to defeat a proposed amendment to the state's constitution defining marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman.

Unexpected support comes from a conservative Republican colleague, Rep. Pat Childers, (played by Tommy Dickie) who discloses during the debate that one of his daughters is a lesbian. "Folks, till my dying breath there isn't anybody in this country who could say that she is a terrible person, or someone that needs to have their rights restricted."

Members of Tectonic also conducted interviews with Shepard's killers, Aaron McKinney, played by Charlie Thurston, and Russell Henderson, played by Tyler Weeks.

McKinney especially is chilling for the casual way in which he speaks about the murder, not really showing any remorse, saying that he doesn't remember much about it. He tells the interviewer that he's been reading up on Nazi Germany and he's very proud of his tattoos, including the swastika, which he reckons might prevent him from visiting Germany if he should ever get out of prison.

We also hear from Judy Shepard, Matthew's mother, (played by Mary C. Davis) who has become a tireless advocate for expanding hate-crimes legislation to include people targeted because of their sexual orientation. The measure, as the play notes, still has not become law. (Although it passed the House last week.)

Shepard says that people ask her why she simply doesn't let her son go, which strikes me as offensive. She responds that it's her way of keeping Matthew alive. Since there are still hate crimes, still people being victimized because of their sexual orientation, of course we need her advocacy. It's a reminder of the terrible human toll of homophobia, of all forms of bigotry.

Kudos to Trinity Rep and the Brown MFA program for presenting this work. Here are the students who participated: Will Austin, Phillipe Bowgen, Tommy Dickie, Brough Hanson, Kevaughn Harvey, Lovell Holder, Darien Johnson, Ricky Oliver, Charlie Thurston, Tyler Weeks, Ruth Coughlin, Mary C. Davis, Mia Ellis, Caroline Kaplan, Alexandra Lawrence and Lauren Lubow. The performance was directed by Shana Gozansky and the stage manager was Tammy Kinney.

The students did a great job in making this work so compelling and I'm looking forward to seeing them onstage in Trinity Rep productions over the next several years.

Welcome, Kevin Spacey

Breaking news via Twitter: Kevin Spacey has wrapped up work in Toronto on the movie Casino Jack and is on his way to Rhode Island - or maybe he's even here already!

When I met Kevin at the stage door after A Moon for the Misbegotten and told him he'd gotten me to come to my very first Broadway show he replied, "Well, welcome." I'm happy to extend a welcome in return to an actor who is talented, dedicated and so gracious to his fans.

Tomorrow night, the Oscar winner, Tony winner and artistic director of London's Old Vic Theatre will receive the 2009 Pell Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts.

The gala event will be held at Pelican Ledge, in Newport, home of the late Rhode Island Sen. Claiborne Pell, and hosted by his widow, Nuala.

Pell sponsored the landmark legislation that established the National Endowments for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1965, and chaired the Senate Education and Arts subcommittee.

Proceeds from the event benefit Providence's Trinity Repertory Company.

And Trinity Rep's artistic director, Curt Columbus, says Kevin "is a natural choice to receive this award because of his commitment to the live theater, the medium of film, and good works around the globe."

Kevin has been a great champion of the performing arts, especially theatre. He's done so much to encourage young people to get involved, both as participants and audience members, through the Old Vic New Voices program and his production company, Trigger Street.

According to the invitation on Trinity Rep's Web site, dress is casual elegance - a description that fits Mr. Spacey to a T.

How a theatre season comes together

All right, my third post about Trinity Repertory Company's upcoming season. That's some kind of record. But I think this is interesting to theatergoers everywhere.

After reading about Trinity Rep's 2009-2010 lineup of plays (and one musical) I wondered how a company goes about deciding what to put on. Well, my question has been answered. The task falls to artistic director Curt Columbus and associate artistic director Craig Watson. Next year's theme is second chances. Here's some of what they had to say:

Twelfth Night
(This is Trinity Rep's annual selection for its education program, Project Discovery Plus, which alternates Shakespeare with classic American plays.)

Curt: "Thousands of students will see it and host our actors in their classroom workshops. I love what it has to say about second chances! The play fits our company extraordinarily well."

Craig: "It's Shakespeare's best comedy, the one I enjoy the most."

Dead Man's Cell Phone
Curt: "Our audiences loved The Clean House, and Sarah [Ruhl] is a Brown alumna and friend. It’s a great complement to Twelfth Night."

Craig: "Sarah’s work has such lyricism, which rhymes well with Shakespeare."

Cabaret
Craig: "It’s a musical that we can do well with our resident company and students. The second chances theme is strong in Cabaret, but in a very different sense."

Curt: "It’s all about the world in motion, and how we make our way in that world with courage."

Shooting Star
Craig: "Shooting Star is one of those plays which was chosen through serendipity. I was reading plays in the days before Christmas, and I read this new two-hander by Steven Dietz and rather liked it, I saw the possibilities."

Curt: "It’s a warmhearted, generous romantic comedy, with very human details.''

The Odd Couple
Curt: "It's just so good. You know, there were lots of raised eyebrows when we announced Our Town three years ago. People said “Oh, I’ve seen that before, in high school.” Maybe The Odd Couple gets even less respect because it’s a comedy."

Craig: "It’s a very thoughtful and well written play. It stands as an American classic, and we’re proud to do it. Particularly because it was NOT an obvious choice for us! It says something that a lot of people may not expect, having experienced only the TV show, several generations removed from the original story."

The Syringa Tree
Craig: "This piece was written by and has been largely performed by Pamela Gien, about her experience growing up under apartheid in South Africa, leaving, and returning to South Africa after liberation. It’s especially attractive to me because I spent a couple of years working in South Africa right after liberation in the mid-1990s. As a nation, it’s a model for change and second chances, and third and fourth chances, which tends to be overlooked on our continent. Aside from all that, it’s just a beautiful piece of writing."

Curt: "It’s a lovely complement to The Odd Couple, strangely enough. The Odd Couple is a really well-made play. The Syringa Tree is almost a poem, sometimes, monologue or choral piece. It resides in the imagination, whereas The Odd Couple provides all the mechanics, if you will, for the thing itself. It’s a terrific balance, a great way to end the season, as Craig says. A beautiful complement to Cabaret, because it speaks about a second chance, when a second chance seemed impossible."

A new award for Kevin's shelf

This is my week for Trinity Rep news.

Oscar winner, Tony winner, artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre in London and Gratuitous Violins favorite Kevin Spacey will accept the 2009 Pell Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts on June 20 in Newport.

Tickets are $500 and $1,000, so I won't be attending. But since I've already met Kevin and gotten his autograph, I'm not too disappointed. I figure he'll be so busy with the big donors that evening, he won't have much time for small talk anyway.

The event is a major fundraiser for Trinity Rep and artistic director Curt Columbus says Kevin "is a natural choice to receive this award because of his commitment to the live theater, the medium of film, and good works around the globe. He is a great director, actor, artistic director, and humanitarian."

This is definitely a well-deserved honor. Kevin has talked often about his love for the theatre, like in this interview:

“You get to come in every day and experiment and then you get a chance to get up every night and work on a different part of your game. I just happen to love the thrill of that - the high-wire act of it and the ritual of it. I love the ritual of coming into the theatre every night and working with the same people, creating a family, because everyone’s up for it.”

And he'll be in esteemed company. Previous honorees have included Jason Robards, Arthur Miller, Beverly Sills, Stephen Sondheim, Toni Morrison, Robert Redford, Maurice Sendak, Jane Alexander, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, Chita Rivera and Olympia Dukakis.

Trinity Rep's new season: second chances

I love this time of year, when regional theatres announce their shows for the upcoming season. I can only imagine how difficult it must be in this economy to put together a mix of crowd-pleasers and new works that you hope will draw an audience.

Trinity Repertory Company unveiled it's 2009-2010 lineup this week. The theme for the season, according to artistic director Curt Columbus and associate director Craig Watson, is second chances.

Here's what they have to say:

“Starting over and taking up the challenge is something we’re all facing, regardless of ideology,” Watson says. “We wanted a season that people would have fun with – giving us all a second chance, a second wind, with music and laughter,” adds Columbus.

Trinity Rep doesn't usually tackle a lot of musicals, so I'm really looking forward to Kander and Ebb's classic Cabaret. And The Odd Couple, wow. I've seen so many of the movies made from Neil Simon's plays but I've never had a chance to see one on stage. In fact, I only know either of those shows from their film and television incarnations.

I saw Sarah Ruhl's The Clean House a couple years ago and really enjoyed it. She has a good ear for witty dialog and creates some great, quirky characters. I'm hoping Dead Man's Cell Phone will be another insightful look at modern life.

I have to admit that I've never heard of Shooting Star or its playwright, Steven Deitz. But I do love romantic comedies. Likewise, I'm not familiar with Pamela Gien, but the Syringa Tree sounds like a very moving personal story.

As for Twelfth Night, well, after seeing a few of Shakespeare's tragedies in a row, it'll be nice change of pace.

Here's the lineup: (And of course, A Christmas Carol is returning, from Nov. 20 to Dec. 27.)

Cabaret book by Joe Masteroff, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb
September 11 – October 11 in the Chace Theater
Berlin, 1931: music, money, and love are there for the taking. Cliff seeks inspiration for his novel. He finds it in Sally Bowles, the Kit Kat Klub’s chanteuse, who charms him into sharing his apartment. The emcee has not one but two ladies to keep him company. The landlady’s found new love with the grocer. Yet outside the cabaret the world is changing: what's in store for Sally and her friends? Cabaret celebrates the indomitable human spirit.

Shooting Star by Steven Dietz
October 16 – November 22 in the Dowling Theater
A young man and woman fell in love in college, and promised each other they’d change the world. Twenty years later, they meet unexpectedly in a snow-bound airport. Sharing stories deep into the night, they discover who they’ve become as they recall who they were. When morning comes, all flights are cleared for departure – what’s the final destination for these two? The author of God’s Country and Lonely Planet gives us that rare thing: a truly smart romantic comedy.

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
January 29 – March 7 in the Chace Theater
Shipwrecked, orphaned, separated from her twin brother, disguised as a boy in a hostile country – when Viola thinks things can’t get worse, she falls for her new boss, the Duke. He pines for Olivia, who’s sworn off men – till she met Viola’s male alter-ego. Spurned suitors, servants with delusions of grandeur, and Viola’s big, big love for the Duke – it’s a giddy mess that’ll put someone in the madhouse. Shakespeare’s meditation on love and identity is one of his most nuanced – and funniest – comedies.

Dead Man’s Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl
February 19 – March 28 in the Dowling Theater
Why doesn’t he answer that phone?! Jean picks it up, and finds herself holding his legacy in her hand, along with the phone. Think about it: when we leave our bodies, do we live on in our cell phones, iPods, GPS’s, and PDA’s? Do these indispensable tools, these grown-up toys, hold the secrets to the afterlife? From the author of The Clean House, another whimsical comedy about life, death, and love in these modern times – and the connections, real and virtual, holding them together.

The Odd Couple by Neil Simon
April 9 – May 9 in the Chace Theater
Oscar’s wife has left him. Alone in his big apartment on Riverside Drive, his slovenly ways run happily amok. Then, Felix’s wife kicks him out. Concerned about his poker buddy, Oscar takes Felix in, but there’s a problem: Felix is a neat-freak, and his compulsive cleanliness drives Oscar to distraction. What will these woefully, wonderfully mismatched roommates learn from each other? Can they stay together, or is their living situation hopeless? Hilarity ensues in Neil Simon’s beloved touchstone of American comedy.

The Syringa Tree by Pamela Gien
April 30 – May 30 in the Dowling Theater
Growing up under Apartheid, six-year-old Lizzie confronts rules she cannot understand. Why must her nanny keep her daughter hidden? Among twenty-eight characters capturing four generations, she paints an evocative portrait of the abiding love between two families – one black, one white. History’s shocking events unravel, mingled with the resonant rites of passage all families share. As Lizzie comes of age, we experience her sacrifice and liberation, and the bonds which cannot be broken.

Good theatre for less

I don't know how they're able to do it financially, but Providence's Trinity Repertory Company is expanding its discount ticket offerings, making available select seats at every performance - 5,000 in all - for $20 apiece for its four remaining plays of the season.

Here's what Trinity Rep's artistic director, Curt Columbus, said in announcing the program:

“For 45 years, Trinity Rep has been Rhode Island’s theatrical home, and we have always provided great entertainment at a great value. We know that many people in our community are feeling the effects of the economic problems right now, so we created this $20 ticket program to let our friends and neighbors know that an entertaining, enriching night at the theater is still within everyone’s reach."

I'm really hoping that people who haven't been to Trinity for awhile, or maybe have never been, will take advantage of the offer. This is definitely a great time to check out one of the region's finest theatre companies.

Here's the lineup:

A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, the story of an African-American family struggling for a better life in 1950s Chicago: Jan. 30 to March 8

The Secret Rapture, by David Hare, about two sisters who come together to face their differences after their father dies: Feb. 20 to to March 29

The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde, a comedy of manners and mistaken identities: April 10 to May 10

Shapeshifter, by Laura Schellhardt, a world premiere about the legendary tales of mysterious women who come from the sea: May 1 to May 31

The $20 tickets are available for purchase by phone at 401-351-4242 daily between noon and 8 p.m., online at www.trinityrep.com, and in person at the box office at 201 Washington St. in Providence. You can also check out Trinity Rep's other ticket discounts.

The Receptionist

Gratuitous Violins rating: ** out of ****

In Trinity Repertory Company's production of The Receptionist, we get an idea of just how mundane and routine that job can be: answering the phone, zealously guarding office supplies, gossiping with coworkers.

But things aren't what they seem at the drab and dreary Northeast Office of an unnamed concern. (Pay close attention to the prologue by Timothy Crowe, who plays the boss, Edward Raymond, and you'll get some idea.) Adam Bock's dark comedy is an attempt show what nefarious goings on can lie beneath the most ordinary settings.

This is my second time around with The Receptionist, so it's difficult for me to review the play as if I'd never seen it before. And it was a mixed bag - some things I liked better this time around, some things didn't work as well for me.

Seeing the show for a second time definitely helped make the plot more understandable. But it still seems to me like there's too much small talk in The Receptionist, too much waiting around for something to happen. When the tone switches from comedy to something more ominous, it comes kind of abruptly. In the end, the play remains kind of unsatisfying.

Also, honestly, I preferred the cast and some of the costume and set design choices in the production I saw last fall, at the Manhattan Theatre Club.

Okay, I know I'm starting to sound like a theatre snob - well, you know, when I saw it in New York. I know I'm supposed to judge each production on its own merits and really, I did go in with an open mind. The problem is, and I know this is unfair, I've already got a picture in my mind of what these characters should look like and sound like.

In the Trinity Rep production, Janice Duclos plays the title role of receptionist Beverly Wilkins and she's got her hands full. There's Lorraine, the flighty and flirtatious coworker, played by Angela Brazil; Martin Dart, a rather mysterious stranger from the Central Office, played by Timothy John Smith; and her mostly absent boss, Mr. Raymond, who seems to be harboring some qualms about his job.

Bock, who used to work in the theatre's marketing department, wrote the part with Duclos in mind, and it's a great comic role. Duclos is very funny - she's got the office banter down pat, she's overly protective of pens and pencils as if the money for them came out of her own pocket and she's constantly dispensing advice, all the while coping with her own problems at home via a steady stream of personal phone calls.

But while everyone else around me was laughing and nodding their heads in recognition with Duclos' performance, I was thinking about Jayne Houdyshell, who played the role off-Broadway. She was truly inspired, more witty and satirical and totally spot-on. For me, she was the best part of the play. Duclos is very good but she simply couldn't make me forget what Houdyshell did with the role.

And something about Brazil just grated on me although, again, the audience seemed to love her. Brazil's Lorraine is excessively emotional and loud and over the top - a little too theatrical for me. I've seen Brazil give some fine performances but this one just rang false. Plus, William Lane's costume design - short, tight-fitting black skirt, lots of jewelry and a shimmery purple blouse - seemed wrong for this kind of office. (Although it did fit with Brazil's character.)

And in my humble opinion, set designer Eugene Lee has made Beverly's desk too high, so the audience can't see over it. Part of the fun off-Broadway was watching Beverly wipe down her workspace with disinfectant, seeing the pens and pencils and stapler and pads of Post-It notes. When you saw that desk, it really set the scene.

Except for me, director Curt Columbus (who's also Trinity Rep's artistic director) and the playwright, I doubt anyone who goes to see The Receptionist will have seen the New York production. So I realize that a lot of my criticism is moot.

There is a lot of humor and the subject is thought provoking. Someone seeing The Receptionist for the first time may enjoy it more than I did. I just wish Bock had given us a little more to chew on in terms of what this office really was all about.

The Dreams of Antigone

Gratuitous Violins rating: **** out of ****

When should justice be tempered with mercy? Is it permissible to disobey a law that you believe is immoral and would you risk your life to do so? And is your obligation to your family inviolable? Those are some of the provocative questions at the heart of a new version of Sophocles' classic tragedy Antigone.

I'm rusty on my Greek mythology so I was concerned that I'd be a little lost during Trinity Repertory Company's production of The Dreams of Antigone, which runs through Oct. 26. But I needn't have worried. Artistic Director Curt Columbus has composed a modern retelling of an ancient story about morality and authority that under Brian McEleney's direction is clear and crisp and compelling. It was one of the most intense 90 minutes I've spent in the theatre this year.

The story opens at the end of a civil war in the Greek city of Thebes. After the expulsion of their father, King Oedipus, Polyneices and Eteocles are supposed to rule jointly, alternating years in power. But when Eteocles refuses to give up authority after the first year, his brother goes to war against him and they are both killed in battle.

Creon, their uncle, becomes king and declares that Polyneices is a traitor. He orders that his body be left on the battlefield, unburied, to rot. Anyone who disobeys that order will be put to death. Antigone, Polyneices' sister, defies her uncle's decree and buries her brother's body.

What happens next is a test of wills between the two - between Creon's demand that Antigone respect his authority and the rule of law and Antigone's assertion that the law is unjust and she has the right to disobey it, along with a moral obligation to give her brother a proper burial.

Columbus penned The Dreams of Antigone in collaboration with Trinity Rep's resident acting company. A few of the lines did strike me as a little heavy-handed in the way they tried to make a connection to the current political situation. But overall, I thought the play was very powerful and the language was completely accessible.

The Dreams of Antigone is staged in a way that gives you a lot to look at. Tristan Jeffers' set, with work benches and sections of Greek columns strewn about, evokes an ancient amphitheatre under construction. Polyneices and Eteocles do battle on raised platforms that are wheeled around the stage. And John Ambrosone's lighting shifts with the mood - dark in the beginning as Creon is working the crowd into a frenzy, then brilliant and bright at the end as the results of his actions become clear.

But I think what this production does so well is illuminate the issues that are at the heart of the story. As Creon and Antigone, Fred Sullivan Jr. and Rachael Warren give wonderfully complex, nuanced performances that could have degenerated into stereotypes - the ruthless dictator and the stark-raving madwoman.

Sullivan's Creon is a forceful king but not a tyrant. He does genuinely seem to believe that Polyneices is a traitor who gets what he deserves. He's willing to forgive Antigone the first time she defies him, but when she does it a second time, he has to act against her. He's trying to hold his kingdom together and cannot afford to look weak. In Sullivan's portrayal, I didn't get the sense that he took any joy in punishing Antigone.

Warren's face is just etched with grief over the death of her brother and anger that his body is unburied. Over the course of the play she becomes even more resolute in her convictions. No matter what Polyneices has done, he is still her brother. And that loyalty, that sense of love and moral obligation, trumps everything, to the point where she risks her life.

Ismene, Antigone's sister, played by Angela Brazil, and her fiance, Haemon, played by Stephen Thorne, who is Creon's son, give anguished performances as two people who are at their wit's end over her intransigence. Ismene desperately and unsuccessfully tries to get her sister to listen to reason. Haemon and his mother, Eurydice, played by Phyllis Kay, courageously take on the king to persuade him to spare Antigone's life.

In the beginning, I did side a bit with Creon. After all, wasn't Polyneices a traitor? Didn't his actions cause the deaths of innocent people? Maybe his body should be left out in a field to rot. But in the end, what would it accomplish? Would it act as a deterrence to others who might be plotting a revolt? Maybe. But I wondered whether Creon's decree, which he calls a matter of justice, was really just a way of giving in to the popular desire for revenge.

One of the most interesting aspects of the play is how Creon misjudges the shift in public mood. His anger at Antigone's defiance clouds his judgment. It's not about Polyneices anymore or what he did, it's about what the king has done.

Creon loses the backing of the army and the common citizens of Thebes. An aide, played by Joe Wilson Jr., tells him bluntly that the soldiers are afraid Creon's action may some day come back to haunt them. And when a cook in the royal household, played by Kelly Seigh, speaks movingly of her own husband, whose body was simply thrown in a mass grave, she summons up a great deal of sympathy for Antigone.

At first I thought, maybe Antigone was being unreasonable and selfish. The more sure of herself she seems, the more she also seems unhinged. She can't see what this crusade is doing to everyone around her. At one point, her stubbornness causes the city to lose a much-needed shipment of grain. Was that right? She put her feelings over the needs of everyone else. Finally, would her brother want her to sacrifice her life?

Eventually, though, Antigone's devotion to her brother won me over. No matter what he'd done, I understood that he was still her flesh and blood and in Warren's mesmerizing performance, I could see how painful this was for her. This was a matter of honor and familial obligation toward the boy who used to carry her on his shoulders to school, after all. And she truly believes that Creon's decree is unjust.

In the end, Creon relents, but it's too late, he's angered the army, the people, and the gods. His hesitancy in agreeing to an act of mercy that most likely would have cost him nothing ends up costing him everything.

Paris by Night

Gratuitous Violins rating: *** out of ****

In Paris by Night, a new musical at Trinity Repertory Company, a trio of G.I.s arrive in the French capital in 1960 from their base in Germany on a three-day leave. Two of them end up falling for Marie, a nightclub singer, and the third finds himself drawn to a black American expatriate named Sam, who works as a tattoo artist.

That they find romance is not unusual. Americans have been coming to Paris and falling in love for a long time - or at least as long as movies have been made. The twist corrects an omission that Curt Columbus, who wrote the book and lyrics, says has bothered him ever since he was a boy in a small town in Pennsylvania "who was sure that no one loved like he did."

As he grew up, coming out to himself and others as a gay man, Columbus looked for images and role models in fiction and nonfiction. "But when I looked to my beloved musicals, I saw no evidence that people like me existed." He couldn't find a single musical that had, at its center, the story of two men falling in love. So, he decided to write one that would pay homage to another one of his obsessions: movies set in Paris.

The result, Paris by Night, is a sweet love story with engaging characters and some romantic, jazz-influenced music from Columbus and composers Amy Warren and Andre Pluess. (Warren is currently appearing in the acclaimed off-Broadway musical Adding Machine). The set, by Tony-winner Eugene Lee, evokes Paris - the parks, street life, cafes and dark, smoky nightclubs. Paris by Night opens with a scene that, like much of the musical, seems very cinematic. As Sam, a wonderful Joe Wilson Jr. sings "City of Night" while we watch Paris wake up - waiters set up tables at a cafe, an artist sets up his easel.

Sam has come to Paris from San Francisco after a relationship that ended unhappily. He's reunited with a college professor, an older gay man named Harry, played with a comic touch by Stephen Berenson, who acts as a kind of mentor. Sam has easily fallen into the routine of life in Paris, finding more acceptance as a black, gay man. He's also a strong, self-assured, somewhat solitary character who's given up hope that there's someone special for him in this world.

But when a young soldier and boxer named Buck wanders into Sam's tattoo parlor, there's an instant connection between the two. Buck, played by James Royce Edwards is so appealing - a West Virginia kid, wide-eyed and eager as a puppy, excited to be in Paris for the first time. Buck is so appreciative when Sam, realizing that he's staying in a fleabag, invites him to use the spare room in his apartment. At first, we're not sure how Buck feels about Sam - whether he sees him as anything more than a new friend. But it's clear they're growing closer.

It's nice to see the relationship between the two men unfold. There's a very funny musical number, "The Art of Le Cafe," where proprietor Henriette, played by Janice Duclos, initiates Buck into this key element of Parisian society as Sam looks on. When the two men climb the Eiffel Tower, Buck grabs the hand of the height-phobic Sam.

Buck's military buddies are the boorish, racist, homophobic Frank, from North Carolina, played by Mauro Hantman, and the sweet, considerate jazz fan Patrick, who hails from Chicago, played by Stephen Thorne. They're both in love with Rachael Warren's Marie, a warm-hearted chanteuse with a captivating voice, although Frank has the upper hand.

While Hantman and Thorne are very convincing, Frank is a little bit stereotypical as the racist ugly American. (In fact, Columbus gets in a few jabs about the difference between the French and Americans. Apparently, we shout too much.) Also, it's a little hard to figure out why Marie is attracted to Frank. But she believes that he loves her, and dreams that he'll marry her and bring her to the United States.

Under the direction of Birgitta Victorson, all of these stories unfold slowly, with emotion, sensitivity and humor. There's a great musical number, "American Man," in which Thorne's Patrick expertly channels Gene Kelly - doing a cartwheel, leaping on a bench, as he serenades Marie. The first act ends with a tender, passionate kiss between Buck and Sam - the kiss that I imagine Curt Columbus longed to see in all those old movie musicals. But that quiet, touching moment is shattered by the arrival of Frank, Patrick and Marie. Their relationship appears doomed.

Unfortunately, I didn't find Act II of Paris by Night quite as satisfying emotionally - at least until the end. The soldiers have all returned to Germany, and I really missed the interaction between them and Sam and Marie. The burgeoning love, the tension, the comic elements of three Americans in Paris, are what made the first part so enjoyable. Much of Act II is about Sam pining for Buck, and Marie and Harry trying to convince him that he should start living again. It just got a little repetitive and didn't quite have the same energy.

As Act II opens, Buck is back in Germany, facing off against a circle of boxers. After seeing him in his uniform, it was kind of strange to find Edwards in boxing trunks and high-top sneakers. In fact, the whole scene seemed a bit strange. Then, there's Marie's dance routine in a nightclub, "Yankee Rhythm," that was interesting to watch, although I couldn't figure out why it was there exactly, other than as an homage to Bob Fosse.

But things pick up, and Paris by Night, regains its spark, when Buck returns to the city for a boxing match, accompanied by Frank and Patrick. Although I hate boxing, it was pretty interesting to watch the stylized staged fighting. Plus, the bigoted, bullying Frank gets his comeuppance in a way that's very satisfying, even if it usually only happens in movies. It's a scene designed to elicit a cheer from the audience, and one that Columbus must have taken great delight in writing.

And well, if you love musicals and Paris the way Curt Columbus does, the ending probably won't come as a complete surprise. After all, they don't call it the City of Love for nothing.

A new season

I couldn't believe it when I read about next season's lineup at Trinity Repertory Company, which was announced this week by artistic director Curt Columbus, pictured above.

On the schedule for Dec. 5 to Jan. 11 is a play by Adam Bock, The Receptionist. Given that I haven't been a regular theatergoer for very long, what are the chances that they'd pick a play I've seen? I took in The Receptionist last fall at the Manhattan Theatre Club. I didn't realize this, but Bock has an MFA from Brown University and worked for Trinity for awhile, so I guess it makes sense.

I have to admit I didn't absolutely love The Receptionist. It was good, but it just seemed somewhat underdeveloped. The story of the mysterious goings on at the Northeast office of an unnamed company was a little vague. I got impatient with all the small talk. The resolution wasn't quite satisfying, and I left the theater a bit confused about what it all meant.

But Bock has written some great characters and injected lots of humor. It'll probably remind you of some offices you've worked in. I loved Jayne Houdyshell's wonderfully funny yet spot-on performance in the title role. I said in my review: "She's efficient, overprotective of office supplies, motherly, humorous and has plenty of advice to dispense, whether you want it or not."

I'm looking forward to giving The Receptionist a second chance. Hopefully, I'll gain a deeper appreciation for the play. I'll be able to pick up on all the little clues I missed the first time around. And the best thing about Trinity's staging is I'll be able to go to the talkback afterward and say in by best theater-snob voice: "Well, when I saw it in New York ...."

From what I've seen, Columbus puts together a good mixture of classics and new works. And Trinity always manages to put its own spin on the classics. Our Town, from a couple seasons back, is a great example. While it was pretty traditional, there was also a little something that made it unique: in this case, a two-level stage that allowed the audience to watch the actors get ready for the performance.

This is Columbus' third season at the helm. He came to Providence from Chicago's esteemed Steppenwolf Theatre Company. My regular trips to Trinity coincided with his arrival, so I feel like there's a special connection between the two of us. He hosted the talkback held after the first show I saw at Trinity in decades: Hamlet. (And yes, someone at the session did preface their comments by saying, "When I saw it in New York.")

Columbus likes to arrange his lineup around a theme. Next season, it's personal change. Associate Director Craig Watson says: "We wanted to look at plays that spoke about hope, and all the possibilities hope can bring."

One of the shows I'm most looking forward to seeing in the new season is A Raisin in the Sun, which runs from Jan. 30 to March 8. I just watched it on ABC last month, with Phylicia Rashad and Audra McDonald reprising their Tony-winning roles from the Broadway revival. They were just terrific, so compelling and believable. I think the play, about an African-American family in Chicago in the 1950s and their dreams of a better life, has great resonance today.

Raisin will be the centerpiece of Trinity's Project Discovery Plus program, which brings students to the theater and cast members to schools for workshops with students. "These themes of race and class really resonate with students who live in our cities," Watson said. "They’re dealing with these issues on a daily basis."