Word: manuelian
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...nightclub--dim lights, thick smoke, and swinging music. But they missed the intimacy of a nightclub-sized area; the Loeb stage is pretty forbidding, especially when it's set up as a proscenium instead of the modified theater-in-the-round Loeb directors often choose. Michael Der Manuelian, Ellington's director, didn't even try to protect his performers against the mainstage's tendency to dwarf actors. They sometimes looked a little lost; Ellington at Eight could have far better succeeded in a far smaller theater...
...cast generally asserted their characters better than the men--it was easier to remember them from one number to the next. But, merged into a company, as at the beginning and end of the show, it was the performers' collective energy and not their individuality that shone. Der Manuelian made "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" both the opening and closing number. It served well--the chorus has an unforgettable tune, and "doo-wah, doo-wah"s, too. Another group number, "Ring Dem Bells," smartly choreographed and lively, gave Joe Orlando...
...House shows would be hard pressed to come up with leads as good as this supporting cast: Shipley Munson and David Frutkoff form a fine duo as Nathan's sidekicks, and their rendition of the title song is as good as any. Among the others, Jim Mulqueeny, Michael der Manuelian, Kerry Konrad and Marc Johnson strut their stuff with authority...
...clone" scene in Act II was equally memorable). And while all of the actors did creditable jobs within the horrible confines of the format, there were a number of unquestionable standouts (at least in Act I): Shipley Munson as the aforementioned squeakyvoiced space-person named Xeno Phobia, Michael Der Manuelian as the slick and sleazy Otto Beolaw, Stephen Hayes as the seductive and slinky Giovanna Dance, and Willy Falk (Betty Won't--get it??)--my personal favorite--as the wacky robot R2E2. (To those actors who undoubtedly stood out in Act II: I offer my apologies for not having stuck...
While Stephen Hayes plays Jesus with straight-faced gentleness (aside from a few Groucho Marx imitations), other members of the ensemble excel at comic vignettes. Mary Soloschin is very funny as a frenetic old miser who heaps up his wealth in storehouses, Michael der Manuelian captures in excruciating grimaces the plight of a parched seed, and Don Marocchio's impersonation of our former president is painfully accurate. Manulis' directorial coup, however, is his dramatization of the parable of the prodigal son, which features strippers enticing the prodigal to the strains of "Hey, Big Spender" and the amazing vocal contortions...