WILLIAMSVILLE — A mainstay in the Rock River Players’ winter cabarets for the last several years is stepping forward to direct a new show, the Summer Musical Theater Revue.
About three years ago, Walter Cramer of Marlboro retired and had more time to spend in the community. A notice about the cabaret in an RRP newsletter caught his eye. He auditioned for the annual show and became connected to the group.
Over the years, Cramer noticed a lack of musicals in the region.
“They’re just too complicated to do,” he said. “They’re really expensive to do, if you do them right. They take up a lot of rehearsal time and you need a lot of resources. You need a lot of people.”
Cramer has experience directing six to eight shows featuring songs from musicals, including one with the Friends of Music at Guilford in the 1990s. Some have stuck to a theme.
In January, the RRP Board selected Cramer’s proposal for the Summer Musical Theater Revue. He said he “mapped out” several songs he wanted for the show.
“The only theme is even if they’re from a popular show, they’re not the ones that you necessarily remember,” he said. “You don’t go home humming them. Some of them you do. Some of them are beautiful.”
The production features a “dynamic collection of songs from the Broadway canon,” according to an event announcement, including “timeless classics to contemporary gems.” A rendition of “Our Children” from “Ragtime: The Musical,” Cramer said as an example, “is to die for.”
Performances at Williamsville Hall are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. July 17, 18, 24 and 25, and 2 p.m. July 19 and 27. Seating is cabaret-style at small tables. Admission is on a sliding scale of $15 to $25, however, no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Tickets are available at the door or at rockriverplayers.org.
Cramer said the idea is “to showcase the music and the exceptional talent of local performers,” using limited rehearsal time, sets and costuming. Ten singers will be backed by music director Dan DeWalt on piano.
“My experience with similar programs as an undergraduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, as a staff member at a special residential community at Indiana University, and with a Friends of Guilford production in the 1990s, among others — and the positive reception these received — gave me the confidence that this could be successful here,” Cramer said in the announcement.
Summer Musical Theater Revue brings a professional “Encores at City Center” feel to Vermont, Cramer said. That show began in New York City in 1994 as a way “to celebrate and preserve the legacy of American musical theater by staging concert versions of rarely revived Broadway classics,” according to the announcement.
The RRP program highlights work by legendary composers such as Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jonathan Larson. Featured numbers are from popular shows such as “West Side Story,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” and “Company,” and some lesser-known such as “Destry Rides Again” and “Finding Neverland.”
Each tune will be briefly introduced to provide theatrical context for the audience, according to the announcement.
Amy Donahue, RRP artistic director, is producer. Jess Guerrero is technical director. The cast includes Jonathan Benney, Walter Cramer, Susan Boyd Joyce, Addie Mahdavi, Addison Rice, Sea Rios, Jeff Seabaugh, Laura Stickle, Gwyneth Thomson and Marilyn Tullgren.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.reformer.com ’
