‘Chorus Line’ tops playhouse season

Tom Titus

Editors note: This is the first in a series of two columns

reviewing the year 2002 in Huntington Beach theater.

Having now viewed an entire year’s worth of live theater in

Huntington Beach for the first time in a decade, it’s time to look

back on the local stage scene and bring some deserving productions

and performances downstage for a year end encore.

This column will examine the season that just ended at the

Huntington Beach Playhouse, while next week’s missive will review the

highlights of the theater programs at Golden West College and the

Huntington Beach High School’s Academy for the Performing Arts.

Musical theater set the performance standard at the Huntington

Beach Playhouse in 2002, as a pair of well-crafted singing and

dancing shows forged their way to the top of the list, ranking first

and second on a list of six (the year’s closing production, “The

Foreigner,” is ineligible for consideration because of this

columnist’s directorial hand in bringing that show to the stage.)

The playhouse mounted some impressive productions during 2002, but

none was more impressive than its season opener, “A Chorus Line.” To

quote from this column’s review, “Director-choreographer Michael

Lopez, backed by musical director Bill Wolfe, gives us the best of

all three factors -- dancing, singing and acting -- in an outstanding

ensemble effort.”

No. 2 on the playhouse’s hit parade was another revival, “Fiddler

on the Roof,” directed by Marla Gam-Hudson, who, quoting again,

“employs the combined talents of a large and versatile cast to create

some memorable moments in this highly familiar musical.”

Third place honors go to the playhouse’s summer “Shakespeare in

the Park” production of “Henry IV, Part 1,” directed by Wendi de

Barros who, I wrote, “moves the often-cumbersome play through its

paces with alacrity. Inventive bits of comic business keep the

long-winded portions palatable, leading to a breath-catching skirmish

on the battlefield.”

This play also produced the standout performance by an actor for

the 2002 season in Paul Burt, who, as Falstaff, “renders a powerfully

comic character. It’s a masterful performance from an actor who seems

to be born for the assignment.”

Runners-up for individual actor honors at the Huntington Beach

Playhouse this year were Christian Morgan as Sir Thomas More in “A

Man for All Seasons” and Tim Nowicki, who played Tevye in “Fiddler on

the Roof.” Special mention also must be accorded Kurt Finney, who

stepped into a leading role on short notice and did an admirable job

in “No Sex, Please, We’re British.”

The best actress honor could have been split between two ladies in

the same production, but the winner by a nose is Sharie Nitkin as

Diana Morales in “A Chorus Line.” Nitkin, as a Puerto Rican dancer

with an attitude who hits both comic and dramatic high notes,

delivered the most memorable performance by an actress at the

playhouse in 2002.

Close behind was Leah Seminario as Cassie in the same production.

Her solo dance in “The Music and the Mirror” radiates her passion and

determination. Blossom Benedict as Hodel in “Fiddler” earned

inclusion in the top threesome.

It’s difficult to write this wrap-up of the Huntington Beach

Playhouse without mentioning “The Foreigner,” of which I am

enormously proud. Simply stated, this was one of the finest casts

I’ve worked with in 34 years as a director.

The college and high school ranks also did themselves proud in

Huntington Beach during 2002. Next week’s column will look back at

the Golden West and Academy of the Performing Arts achievements for

the year.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.