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Berkeley.patch.com
Febrary 15, 2012
Ragtime Transcends Both Stage and Expectations
By Emily Henry
"Ragtime" is performed on a small stage, with very few props and no scene changes — and yet, the show is epic.
The audience is stunned from the first belting note, through the pitch-perfect harmonies. By the finale, they're on their feet, most smiling contentedly, and others with tear-stained cheeks. The applause rattles the Julia Morgan Theater, and even some of the more bashful cast members.
The pièce de résistance? All the actors and actresses in the production are between the ages of 10 and 21.
Yes, even Luna Lewis, a 10th grader at Berkeley High School who plays leading lady "Sarah" with an exceptional maturity of emotion. Lewis can also carry a beautiful melody.
Misha Riley, a 12th grader at Maybeck High School in Berkeley, is so endearing in his role at the immigrant "Tateh" that he becomes the most empathetic character. Through his deep and earnest performance, with an undercurrent of humor, Riley inspires the audience to relive their own immigrant tales of chasing the American Dream and finding disillusionment and struggle along the way.
Sarah's love interest and the show's leading man, "Colehouse Walker Jr.," is played by 21-year-old Dawon Davis, an Oakland native and former foster youth who makes the stage his home. His commanding presence and rich voice, along with the breadth of his acting abilities, make Davis a must-see performer.
But it is Shelby Stewart, a 12th grade student at Head-Royce school in Oakland, who first captures the audience's attention with her acoustic talents and the sincerity of her performance. Stewart's voice is perfectly powerful, and a sweet, subtle emotion dances on her face in every scene.
"Ragtime," based on E.L. Doctorow's 1975 novel and adapted for stage by playright Terrence McNally, follows the lives of three families in turn-of-the-century America as they struggle to grasp, or hold onto, their American Dream. Director Jennifer Boesing brings the show to life on the Julia Morgan Theater stage, creating space and atmosphere with a dynamic production that transcends the stage.
The show begins with a series of vignettes, capturing the pomp and power of the early 1900s. Soon, a story emerges as the lives of the characters begin to intertwine, forcing them to face the contractions of their time. Wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair must face-off to overcome injustice and transform tragedy to triumph.
As a musical, "Ragtime" offers soulful melodies and feet-tapping tunes, evoking a range of emotions as the audience commiserates and celebrates with the characters on stage. The foundation of the show's musical vibrancy sits below stage, as a live 26-piece orchestra fills the theater with Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens' award-winning music.
"Ragtime" first opened on a Toronto stage in 1996 and went on to win the 1998 Tony Award for Best Score, Best Book and Best Orchestration. The show was revived on Broadway in 2009.
Performances of "Ragtime" continue this week from Thursday, Feb. 16 through Sunday, Feb. 18, with a 7:30 p.m. showtime.
Read or add comments on this review »
What Audience Members are Saying About Ragtime...
This is such an exciting and electrifying show. Every performance in this show is wonderful including every single ensemble member. The director, Jennifer Boesing, elicits a focused and highly tuned performance from each and every performer whether they are a lead or an ensemble actor. The beautiful staging and costumes only add more professionalism to these great performances. I encourage anyone who hasn't seen this show to try get a ticket.The show is a masterpiece!
-Lisl G.
We drove all the way from Placerville just to see "Ragtime," and it was well worth it. Listen to me: go see this show. The talent, professionalism, and dedication of these young people completely blew us away. After the show, we were slack-jawed with amazement at the experience we had just been through. This production of "Ragtime" shook us up, made us laugh, thrilled us, and brought tears to our eyes. Congratulations to every member of the cast for your brilliant performance. We will be back to see your next show.
-L. Aikenhead
WOW! Ragtime was an extremely challenging work.. pulling together such a talented and diverse cast, costuming, orchestrating, and capturing the time… the quality of execution was phenomenal! From the bottom of my heart, thank you and all of the YMTC staff and Board for the vision and dedication which has evolved to become such an enormous treasure for our children and the community at large. BRAVO!!!!!
-D. Mayer
Director Jennifer Boesing's ability to bring artists of that age to life in such a deep and truthful way is quite amazing. The voices, costumes, music (26 piece orchestra apparently!), and the emotion make it an absolutely wonderful theatrical experience. Honestly, it compares with the best of Broadway and professional theater I've ever seen. A must see.
-J. Williams
Berkeley.patch.com
July 18, 2011
What's the Buzz? Jesus Christ Superstar Rocks YMTC
By Emily Henry
With a cast of teenagers and 20-somethings, the classic rock musical comes to life at Berkeley's Youth Musical Theater Company.
Teenagers know drama.
Angst and confusion, friendship and betrayal — these are the rites of passage for young adults. So it's no wonder the youthful cast of Berkeley's latest rock musical empathised with the themes of Jesus Christ Superstar. Unrequited love? Check. Rebellion? Check. Feeling misunderstood? Check.
The trials and tribulations of teenagedomecho onstage until July 30 at the Youth Musical Theater Company (YMTC)'s production of Jesus Christ Superstar. The cast of young adults range in age from 13 to 22 years old.
"[Jesus Christ Superstar] is a very good show to do with young people because it has a quality of adolescent, dramatic, intense energy," said Artistic Director Jennifer Boesing, who moved to Berkeley from Minneapolis 14 years ago to study opera at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. "It's really about friendship and betrayal and loyalty and self-doubt — all these things that are really, really familiar and accessible for teenagers."
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar debuted on Broadway 40 years ago, and is based loosely on the life of Jesus with a focus on the treacherous disciple, Judas Iscariot. Since its original run in 1971, the show has continued to be a popular asset to musical theater, winning numerous awards and inspiring a host of interpretations from stage to screen. But a young cast brings something new, according to Boesing.
"There's an incredibly exciting energy that comes with a young cast doing the show that wouldn't happen in the same way with adults," said Boesing, who added that the audience "will be really blown away by the caliber of talent on stage."
The cast includes young adult singer-actors from Berkeley, including Luna Lewis as Mary. The lead character — Jesus — is played by a Pinole native, Andrew Humann.
A young cast, however, by no means makes for a rookie show, according to Boesing.
"The level of production value and the performances themselves are stellar," said Boesing. "We really set out to have a very professional environment."
A crew of professional artists worked on the production, including designers and directors, as well as a rock band. "It enables the young people to do what they do best," said Boesing. "We really give them a high bar."
Despite the limiting 100-seat capacity at YMTC, Jesus Christ Superstar opened to a packed house Saturday night (Jul. 15). Opening night sold out, and the first performance of Jesus Christ Superstar ended with a standing ovation. The show will span 13 performances — the longest run the YMTC has done for any of its shows so far — with its final show on July 30.
"What's exciting to me about this show is I think we're going to get an audience of people who just love Jesus Christ Superstar," said Boesing, who remembers listening to the original album back in the '70s.
Despite being a product of the hippy generation, Jesus Christ Superstar seems to still resonates with modern youth.
"When we held auditions it was amazing to me how many young people knew about it and were really into it," said Boesing. "I think it's the drama of it, the intensity and the angst of the relationship between Jesus and Judas. It's really adolescent — in the good sense of the word."
j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California
February 26, 2010
Young Cast in Berkeley Tackles Anti-Semitism in 'Parade'
By Emma Silvers
From the good-natured sounds of giggling and after-school gossip at Berkeley’s Julia Morgan Theater, one wouldn’t have guessed that the cast of “Parade” was arriving to rehearse a very serious production: the true story of a 1913 Georgia trial in which Jewish factory manager Leo Frank was wrongfully convicted and hanged for the rape and murder of a 13-year-old employee.
“We have become known for picking intense work,” said Jennifer Boesing, the artistic director of the Youth Musical Theatre Company. “Our mission is about creating professional, exciting theater that allows kids to perform at a really high level, more than doing family entertainment.” Read more »
Oakland Tribune / Contra Costa Times
Breaking a Leg in Berkeley
By Damin Esper
Jennifer Boesing is doing the theatrical equivalent of herding cats. The Artistic Director at Berkeley's Youth Musical Theater Company has a room full of teenage actors and two and a half weeks to go before opening night.
"Remember, it's not slow motion," she commands as the ensemble sings its way offstage during one number. "Spread out on the stage. Bend down, pick up something. Look around for something."
During another number, Boesing is trying to stagger the entrances of all the families in the YMTC production of "The Mothers of Ludlow," a world premiere musical that debuts July 16. She tells each group which measure of the music to come in on, and the kids furiously scribble notes in their three-ring binders. Read more »
KPFA Radio
KPFA's 'Open Air' featuring "The Mothers of Ludlow". Listen to the interview »
Berkeley High Jacket
February 26, 2010
YMTC Puts on Another Great Youth Performance
By Marnina Wlrtschafter & Kyla Mathis-Angress
Combine a campy score and script with a slew of talented actors in a large mixing bowl. Add a dose of absurdity and a few sexual innuendos that will flyover the heads of younger audience members. Top it off with flamboyant wigs, a colorful set, and a full pit orchestra. Blend until smooth and enjoy this Youth Musical Theater Company production of Once Upon a Mattress, a hilarious take on Hans Christian Anderson's "The Princess and the Pea."
Once your eyes adjust to the neon color scheme, you can immerse yourself in this medieval queendom. Power-hungry Queen Aggravaine goes to great lengths to keep her naive son, Prince Dauntless the Drab (played by BHS sophomore Alex Senauke), from finding a true princess to marry. As long as Dauntless stays single, not one person under the Queen's rule can marry. Sir Harry, in a terrific performance by BHS senior Kaiso Hill, goes on a quest to find a princess for Dauntless, in order to marry his own love...
Berkeley Daily Planet
July 30, 2009
‘Les Miz’ Brims with Youthful Excitement at Julia Morgan
By Ken Bullock Special to the Planet
Whether it’s toiling in a chain gang, getting pickpocketed in a lowlife inn or fighting with hopeless courage on a Parisian barricade, the swirling onstage action and musical fanfare of Les Miserables would keep any company of actors and techs busy with the breakneck scene changes alone—much less a troupe of aspiring teenage performing artists, who take on the singing, dancing, emoting roles of principal and supporting characters, besides making up the ever-changing, ever-active chorus.
But backed by a full orchestra, 15 musicians under the familiar hand of Dave Malloy (Shotgun Players, Ten Red Hen, CalShakes), the players of Youth Musical Theater Company trouped through the tumultuous epic that frames both inspirational and love stories, learning about becoming an ensemble in the process, perhaps the greatest triumph any band of actors can experience—to be a company... Read More »