Chuck Larkowski

The Classical Musical Camelot Open Dayton Playhouse Season

September 7, 2016 By Dayton Most Metro

A shot from rehearsal with Chuck Larkowski (left) playing Pellinore and Mark VanLuvender playing King Arthur.

The Dayton Playhouse will open its 2016-2017 season with the classic musical Camelot, book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. According to Dayton Playhouse Board Chair, Brian Sharp, “We are excited to introduce director Ranger Puterbaugh to the Dayton Playhouse audience. We love adding bright, young talent with fresh ideas to our directing pool.” Puterbaugh is a Language Arts teacher and director of the Drama Club at Northmont High School. His recent directing credits include The Addams Family, Moon Over Buffalo, and Children of Eden. Musical director for the production will be Brennan Paulin. Production dates for Camelot are September 16 – October 2 (Fridays through Sundays).

Camelot is the timeless legend of King Arthur brought to the stage. Based on the classic work The Once and Future King, Camelot was a successful Broadway show before being turned into a musical movie in 1967. The story begins with a young Arthur nervous to meet his new wife, Guinevere. Before disappearing forever, Merlin offers some last advice, and Arthur sets out to build the ideal society of knights. With the help of Guinevere, Lancelot, and Pellinore, Arthur begins his quest to establish the Knights of the Round Table. However, it’s not long before old sins and new betrayals threaten to undo all the things they’ve built. This musical blends humor with drama in a wonderful story of chivalry and the legacy we leave behind.

Performances will be September 16 – October 2, 2016. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m. The Dayton Playhouse is located at 1301 E. Siebenthaler Ave, Dayton, Ohio 45414.

Tickets for the production are available at www.daytonplayhouse.com. The cost is $18 for adults and $16 for seniors, students and military. You also have the option to purchase a season pass for all 5 shows of the season for $75 for adults, $70 for students. Group rates are available when purchasing 10 or more tickets.

Season subscriptions may be purchased through the box office, 937-424-8477, which is staffed Mondays, Wednesdays 1:30pm-4:30pm. Messages may be left for the box office at any time and calls will be returned.

The rest of the shows for the season include Neil Simon’s Proposal in November, Xanadu will be this winter, The Women will be a March show and Ragtime will wrap the season in May.

The Dayton Playhouse is a community theatre providing outstanding theatrical productions to Miami Valley audiences of all ages for more than fifty years. The Playhouse is nationally recognized for FutureFest, an annual festival of new plays.

ON STAGE DAYTON REVIEW: The Retreat from Moscow (Dayton Playhouse) – The Thrill is Gone

April 19, 2013 By Russell Florence, Jr. 1 Comment

(l to r): Matthew Lindsay, Chuck Larkowski and Jennifer Lockwood rehearsing The Retreat from Moscow

The Dayton Playhouse marks a refreshing return to serious drama with a beautifully commendable presentation of William Nicholson’s quietly compelling British marital study “The Retreat from Moscow.”

Nominated for three 2004 Tony Awards including Best Play, “Retreat” depicts the heartbreaking disintegration of the 33-year marriage between Edward, a history professor obsessed with Napoleon’s 1812 retreat from Moscow, and Alice, a poetry aficionado unable to cope with reality. Jamie, Edward and Alice’s only child, is predictably caught in the emotional crossfire to assess his parents’ differing viewpoints without taking sides. Nicholson (“Shadowlands”) uses the titular history lesson as a striking metaphor for survival, particularly as Edward chooses to seek love in the arms of another woman while Alice tries her best to simply move on.

Chuck Larkowski is perfectly cast and touching as the meek, wounded Edward who never really felt comfortable with or respected by Alice. There’s no second guessing as to whether or not Edward has reached the point of no return because Larkowski never wavers in the character’s determination or desires. You may not agree with Edward’s infidelity, but there’s no denying the visceral impact stemming from understanding his point of view, which is brilliantly expressed from start to finish. At the same rate, Jennifer Lockwood doesn’t miss a beat as the fiery, bewildered Alice, who feels her marriage is “struggling to be born” after three decades when faced with its demise. Lockwood could have played her juicy, antagonistic role as a relentlessly emotional train wreck, but wisely avoids the sentimental trap. On the contrary, she fills her Alice’s distressing nature with enough underlying resilience to convey the notion that she will not be entirely defeated even as she faces living alone. Lockwood is particularly strong when addressing Alice’s shock of hearing Edward disregard the many years of marriage she helped build. Matthew Lindsay is an amiable Jamie, but could have treated the character’s prized, beloved status in the sight of his parents with more emotive velocity instead of understated indifference.

Director Dodie Lockwood, providing a seamlessly fluid experience with a slightly haunting allure and a few genuine moments of levity, never allows her cast to leave the stage. Her wonderfully astute decision effectively magnetizes the family dynamics at hand with inescapably palpable potency.

“The Retreat from Moscow” continues through April 21 at the Dayton Playhouse, 1301 E. Siebenthaler Ave., Dayton. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Act One: 65 minutes; Act Two: 50 minutes. Tickets are $17 for adults and $15for seniors and students. Call (937) 424-8477 or visit www.daytonplayhouse.org.

ON STAGE DAYTON REVIEW: Ghosts (Dayton Theatre Guild) – Sins of the Father in a Filthy House

January 25, 2013 By Russell Florence, Jr. Leave a Comment

Lisa Howard-Welch (standing background), Jared Mola (seated) and Angela Timpone (standing foreground) in Ghosts. Photo by Craig Roberts

The moody, methodical landscape of Henrik Ibsen’s controversial and engrossing 1881 drama “Ghosts,” a blistering commentary on Victorian morality, strikingly resonates in a well-acted and attractively designed production at the Dayton Theatre Guild.

Set in late 19th century Norway, the aptly titled “Ghosts,” originally banned for religious purposes, meticulously uncovers the substantial loathing and pain permeating within an emotionally scarred family splintered by history and lies. Throughout three acts, compelling matters of adultery, authority, lunacy, marriage, money, parenting, principles and status are expertly intertwined, arising with contemporary relevance without feeling stodgy under the delicate, introspective direction of Matthew Smith.

The firm, formidable Lisa Howard-Welch wonderfully captures the antipathy and heartbreak within Mrs. Helene Alving, who remains appalled by the reprehensible behavior of her philandering late husband Captain Alving. Embracing Ibsen’s thought-provoking language to scintillating effect, Howard-Welch initially captivates when Helene, torn between duty and truth, reveals the cruel depths of her marital woes to the startlingly out of touch Pastor Manders (a marvelously bewildered, gently commanding Chuck Larkowski). All the same, her deeply emotional scenes opposite the terrifically passionate Jared Mola as Helene’s sickly son Osvald are equally potent, especially as Osvald erupts into fits of rage and succumbs to his illness which Helene can hardly bear. In fact, Howard-Welch and Mola’s palpable connection contains Oedipal overtones that speak volumes about the problematic bond their characters have created to masquerade reality.

Additionally, Angela Timpone offers a tenderly understated portrayal of Regine Engstrand, Helene’s dutiful, buxom maid who catches the attention of Osvald and, to a lesser, humorous degree, Pastor Manders. Regine, an innocent victim of circumstance typifying how past mistakes destroy the future, desires Osvald but cannot truly win his heart due to Captain Alving’s secret sin from long ago. Dave Nickel is appropriately earthy and vociferous as Jakob Engstrand, Regine’s overbearing father.

Josh Hollister’s lovely, multi-level set, complete with multiple chandeliers and particularly slanted windows astutely suggesting the household’s lopsided nature, is evocatively lit by John Falkenbach. Robin Farinet and Carol Finley supply fine, authentically detailed costumes. Michael Boyd’s effective sound design is also a plus.

According to Pastor Manders, “A wife cannot sit in judgment of her husband.” If that line made you cringe or laugh, take time to immerse yourself in Helene’s complex world of Victorian womanhood. You’ll be grateful society has come a long way in 132 years.

“Ghosts” continues through Jan. 27 at the Dayton Theatre Guild, 430 Wayne Ave., Dayton. Performances are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Act One: 50 minutes; Act Two: 40 minutes; Act Three: 25 minutes. There are two intermissions. Tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for seniors and $11 for students. For tickets or more information, call (937) 278-5993 or visit http://daytontheatreguild.org