If anything, Broward Center-based Slow Burn Theatre Company knows how to pick their musicals and put on a spectacular show. They chose the perfect opener for their exceptional 15th Anniversary Season in THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK: A Musical Comedy, with book and lyrics by John Dempsey and music by Dana P. Rowe. The musical features a trio of sexy, unfulfilled women who discover their supernatural powers together, claim their right to happiness, then join in extinguishing the evil “influencer” they’d inadvertently conjured up to fulfill their deepest desires.
It’s the perfect revenge fantasy for our female-oppressed society and features Witches!, a Devil! … all just in time for Halloween. Do note: Like Adults-Only Haunted Houses, best leave the little ones at home for this musical. While comic, clever and wonderfully produced, I’d still rate it a hard PG-13 for its adult humor, lasciviousness, and bizarre acts of violence.
We don’t live in a vacuum and I realize the play’s title will likely evoke earlier memories. Some of you may have read John Updike’s far darker 1984 novel that celebrates “female power” and inspired the play’s characters, fictional Rhode Island locale, and plot lines. Next came the 1987 film which departed quite a bit from the book and opened to mixed reviews – despite celebrity roles by Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer.
The musical version of “The Witches of Eastwick” first played London’s West End to more positive reviews in 2000; with some tweaks, it went on to a successful 17-month run. After hopping about internationally, the show landed in Arlington, VA and then Broadway in 2007, where it was subjected to more cuts and rearrangements – resulting in greater accolades. Later touring company productions have tended to add their own stamp to the show, combining elements of Updike’s novel and the film version, but relying primarily on Cameron Macintosh’s original London production and subsequent Broadway success.
Based on 15 years of award-winning recognition, rest assured that Slow Burn’s artistic director and co-founder Patrick Fitzwater – whose sharp and steady eye once again directs this show – has manifested the best possible version of “Witches” for our South Florida premiere. Fitzwater, with executive director/co-founder Matthew Korinko, are forever raising the bar in quality and creativity. (Just when you think they can’t get any better, they surpass themselves again!) Securing producer Cameron Macintosh’s personal blessing to mount this very latest (“almost definitive” version of “Witches”) after a ten-year American absence is quite the coup.
As was having the show’s composer, Dana Rowe, fly in for opening weekend and even headline Sunday’s post-matinee Q&A with the cast. Dana not only revealed that Slow Burn was first to utilize their latest best script (with a more streamlined storyline after upgrades from a recent Stockholm run), he also complimented the company’s uniquely talented cast. So you’re not only hearing raves about this production from one critic, you’re getting it straight from the mouth of the show’s co-creator who’d seen over two decades worth of performances! All I can add is that we can all be grateful to Patrick Fitzwater for never letting go of his long-held dream of staging “Witches”; he’s bewitched appreciative audiences with the results.
While much of the play’s dialog and action are atypical for a musical, Dana also informed us that he purposely harkened back to traditional American musicals for his score – starting with the small New England town’s opening scene. Many of his musical numbers are new to the audience, but practically each one is a showstopper! The curtain rises on adorable, pigtailed Little Girl (Stella Macey) whose bright, clear vocals assert in all innocence, “Eastwick Knows” – as if minding everyone else’s business is an act of caring and protection.
More townspeople (the entire company) soon join in and we get a sense that such “knowing” actually entails gossip and snide comments about anything unconventional. (Little Girl frequently skips onstage to cheerily sing Chicken Little’s foreboding nursery rhyme about the sky falling down. Her fallen soft doll will ultimately be picked up by the witches to serve in a vicious, voodoo-like ceremony.)
Set in the town square, backed by a church steeple on a bright, sunny day (with unobtrusive scenic design by Kelly Tighe, prop design by Patrick Fitzwater, and lighting design by Clifford Spulock), we enjoy a visual feast of middle-class America decked out in 1970s finery (costume design by Rick Pena with wigs by Patrick Fitzwater). A sudden thunderous lightning storm (sound design by Dan Donato and projectionist Kacey Koploff) drowns out the town’s self-appointed “First Lady” Felicia’s parade. In addition to owning the local newspaper, Felicia Gabriel (Britte Steele) dominates The Preservation Society, her husband, and everyone she meets.
Our three female leads (the three “witches”) take shelter from the deluge in the living room of Alexandra (Gail Bennett), a recently divorced and promiscuous (“making up for lost time”) artist who specializes in miniature sculptures. She’s joined by her besties – shy and insecure Jane (Leah Sessa), a cello player and teacher; and Sukie (Lindsey Corey), a small-time journalist who works for Felicia, is having an affair with her husband, Clyde (Christopher Dreeson) because “a girl has needs,” and is a secret poet. Lamenting their absent or unfulfilling love life, they peer out the window at a very-in-love young couple made up of Alexandra’s son, Michael (Tony Carrubba), and Felicia’s daughter, Jennifer (Laura Swartzendruber). The women have been drinking and they’re jealous. Jane declares: “When I see someone young and happy like that, I just want to slap them.”
Next thing you know, the gal pals are fantasizing about their ideal man. Each woman adds a quality or particular physical attribute they fancy as they join in “Make Him Mine,” a song that has women in the audience grinning from ear to ear. The singers are blissfully unaware of their “Power of Three” and who they’ve just summoned into their midst. In our midst, they’ve unequivocally confirmed that all three ladies are not only talented actors, but also gifted with incredibly beautiful voices that we can look forward to enjoying throughout the show.
A cold Devil from the underworld – in the form of elegant and self-assured Daryl Van Horne (Philip Bryan) – appears in a puff of smoke. Apparently, he’d paid cash for the old Lenox House, and immediately began renovations by chopping down a small forest of trees that an endangered species of snowy egrets had used for their nests. The natives are in a tizzy over the news of his arrival with the humorous number, “Little Girl/Gossip,” till the man himself comes sauntering boldly over like he owns the place and instantly makes an enemy of egret protector Felicia. She announces, “I AM Eastwick,” and appears to be the only resident immune to his charms. She’s also got a powerful singing voice, matching Daryl’s deep, thundering vocals in “I Love a Little Town.”
But now Daryl’s off to seduce the town’s most eligible women. (Is he aware of their secret powers from the start?) There’s no denying the man’s sexual attraction and prowess as he confidently enters their homes, lives, and souls (yes, bodies too) – one by one. Jane’s up first. We find her practicing chords, in frustration, on her cello. Daryl appears toting a violin for accompaniment, magically provided by his ever-present lackey, Fidel (Jonathan Eisele). Daryl tells Jane, who’d been repeatedly schooled in precision, that she needs to let go and give in to her passions in order to excel as a musician. But first, it seems, she gives in to her passion for this man. He proceeds to play her body like an instrument while the cello’s bow magically plays on by itself, accompanying their insanely wild and lewd “Waiting for the Music to Begin” number.
The devil next drops in on Sukie who’d become increasingly annoyed with hen-pecked Clyde’s lame promises to leave his wife. For a woman who makes her living with words, arousal brings on a major attack of her old childhood stutter. “Words, Words, Words” is a fast-paced, vocal feat that’s also very funny. Especially when Sukie’s so busy trying to “find the words,” she almost seems oblivious to Daryl’s increasingly passionate kisses and makeout moves. But as the song comes to a close, she surrenders completely to his spell as well.
Last up and most resistant (recognizing a seducer when she sees one!) is sculptor Alexandra who’s put off by Daryl’s uninvited intrusion in her studio. Unperturbed, he proceeds to chide her for restricting her talents to “small” figures, challenging her to Think Big. We enjoy “The Eye of the Beholder” and, yes, you guessed it, he’s got her locked in a passionate embrace by the end.
When all three women arrive wearing cute short tennis skirts for a match with Daryl, they immediately realize this “man of their dreams” had screwed them all. They’re initially angry and hurt … but not for long. Daryl knows it would be hard for them to give up the “all manner of man in one man” they’d summoned. When Alexandra says, “We made him ours” they decide “Something” is better than loneliness and take off in unison to his mansion.
What’s next? “Dirty Laundry” (another great company number) gossip among the townsfolk, of course. But taking independent action and, perhaps, also releasing repressed sexual energy, serves to unleash the women’s unique powers. They look forward to Daryl’s tutelage in witchcraft and eagerly study his special book of spells and incantations. He starts them small with parlor tricks like placing items in a container that then appear lodged in their enemy’s (in this case Felicia’s) throat. We see her throwing up balls, cherry pits, a feather, even coins.
(Alexandra), Lindsey Corey (Sukie), and Leah Sessa (Jane) in Slow Burn’s spooktacular
THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK: A Musical Comedy, playing through Nov. 3 at
Broward Center. All photos by Ron Elkman.
