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STAGE salvages ‘Grimm’ choice of play

A review of WJ STAGE’s fall play: The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon
Opening night's narrators, juniors Yuri Sternberg and Sasha Rotton, turn to watch as a wave of confetti is dropped onto the stage. The performance was unusually colorful, complementing its chaotic nature. "I’m really proud of the cast and the way we were able to come together and work towards putting on the show,” Rotton said.
Opening night’s narrators, juniors Yuri Sternberg and Sasha Rotton, turn to watch as a wave of confetti is dropped onto the stage. The performance was unusually colorful, complementing its chaotic nature. “I’m really proud of the cast and the way we were able to come together and work towards putting on the show,” Rotton said.
Liam Barrett
The audience claps as the cast of "The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon" make their final appearance of the evening. "We had some bumps, but people were very good at getting back on their feet," junior Sadie Steenberge, production manager and special effects chief, said.
Synopsis

Lights, camera … crab people? This fall, WJ STAGE performed “The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon,” a show full of comedy, fourth wall breaks and social commentary. As two narrators rush to get through all 209 of the original Brothers Grimm stories, souls are sold, televised fishing contests are held, and princesses go to unwise lengths to secure the love of a not-so-bright prince. The production focuses on classics like “Cinderella,” “Snow White,” and “Sleeping Beauty,” but also incorporates lesser-known stories like “Faithful Johannes.” The tales are intertwined with modern elements, PG-13 details straight from the originals and social commentary on the stereotypes of women in literature. 

While STAGE boasts talented, passionate actors and an impressive crew team that amazed us with “Les Misérables” last year, the choice of play could have been stronger. Some scenes felt overdone or repetitive, which is no fault of STAGE’s own but did detract from the experience. Nevertheless, the “Spectaculathon” was still enjoyable: the execution was solid, there were a number of standout comedic performances, and the crew suffered almost no problems.

The audience claps as the cast of “The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon” make their final appearance of the evening. “We had some bumps, but people were very good at getting back on their feet,” junior Sadie Steenberge, production manager and special effects chief, said. (Rhea Noumair)
Video: Backstage with WJ STAGE

Sophomore Kolton Sidhu, playing The Actor, stares in dismay at the narrators upon learning how complex the scene will be. It involved Sidhu frantically portraying multiple characters of the “Cinderella” tale, including a flock of birds and a one-eyed Scottish bouncer. “I thought it went really well. Every other actor that did the scene with me was very well-prepared and we had just enough time to make sure the scene was perfect before we went on,” Sidhu said.
November 8 Show Review

One of the most notable elements of the “Spectaculathon” was its audience engagement. Specifically, I thought the audience yelling “dun dun dun,” “don’t go in there,” and “ooo,” at designated times struck a great balance of keeping people involved without necessitating too much effort on their part. Seeding the audience with stage members was also smart: sophomore James LaCount’s bellows for the actors to “LOOK BEHIND YOU! HE’S RIGHT THERE!” and rushing up to the stage to behead the wolf — “FINALLY, IT’S MY TURN!” — were extremely entertaining.

In fact, you could hardly ask for a stronger cast. Several prominent figures from “Les Misérables” made triumphant returns on opening night, including sophomore Kolton Sidhu, junior Sasha Rotton and senior Mia Reid. Sidhu played The Actor, an under-appreciated extra who’s thrown into the spotlight when some spoiled meat incapacitates the rest of the actors. Sidhu performs the singularly difficult feat of taking on the roles of Cinderella, her two sisters, her stepmother, a not-so-bright prince, a flock of birds and a Scottish bouncer simultaneously. Her horrified dismay when Narrator 2 describes increasingly complicated scenes is obvious even from the back of the theater, and her frantic scrambling around the stage while portraying the original story is both hilarious and impressive.

The narrators, juniors Yuri Sternberg and Rotton, established a great rapport from the start of the play and kept it going throughout. Their contrasting personalities kept things interesting, and their addressing the audience combined with their casual breaking of the fourth wall was refreshingly unorthodox and generally successful at eliciting chuckles. Lastly, junior Micheal John did a fantastic job, especially given that it was his first performance. He was one of the most expressive actors, and his intentionally excessive reactions suited the play perfectly.

In terms of crew, it seemed like everything went off without a hitch. Lights and audio were solid, and did a great job of conveying both mood and humor. Makeup also had a strong showing, with the devil’s red eyeshadow, horns and jet-black lipstick rendering them suitably demonic. Also, the canine makeup of the wolf, played by senior Nyx Roman, complemented the furry ears, tail and paws nicely. Speaking of which, costumes had their work cut out for them: from witches to princes(ses) to crab people to dwarves, there were more costumes than anyone but STAGE would know what to do with. Happily, they seem to have handled it like professionals: the sheer variety and rapid, often transformative, costume changes were highlights.

However, while the set was sufficient, it was hardly breathtaking. A blocky castle or two, a bed, some trees and tables and a 2D “furnace” was about as much variety as was needed for the scenes, but at times it felt restrictive. Hansel and Gretel “eating the house” consisted of picking a few pieces of candy off a table — not exactly immersive. I don’t expect STAGE to construct an entire fake candy house, but a sheet of painted wood attached to the furnace with candy taped or velcroed to it would have been a step up. Nevertheless, the set pieces were well-designed and colorful, and I really enjoyed the use of the pit. The fishing scene, Hansel’s ill-fated flight, and the raven’s mysterious appearance were all great additions. It’s also worth noting that they had a few weeks less to prepare than in past years.

To summarize, the cast and crew themselves were fabulous. They had clearly put a lot of effort into the play, and its juxtaposition of humor and social critiques was an interesting combination that I hadn’t seen in many STAGE plays before. While I still think another play would have been stronger, STAGE’s passion and effort its members have put in shone through, and I would encourage readers to give it a shot.

Sophomore Kolton Sidhu, playing The Actor, stares in dismay at the narrators upon learning how complex the scene will be. It involved Sidhu frantically portraying multiple characters of the “Cinderella” tale, including a flock of birds and a one-eyed Scottish bouncer. “I thought it went really well. Every other actor that did the scene with me was very well-prepared and we had just enough time to make sure the scene was perfect before we went on,” Sidhu said. (Liam Barrett)
Video: STAGE shares opinions on opening weekend

Sophomore Lior Sterling throws back his head and cackles, brandishing a sword and wearing a dress on top of his suit. He proceeded to stab Witch 2, played by Allisandra Martinez Palma, with enthusiasm.
November 9 Show Review

Saturday’s show opened with the two narrators introducing themselves and the concept of the play. One energetic and expressive, the other cold and calculated: a chaotic start to a chaotic play.

Many cast members played two characters in the play, switching seamlessly between the different roles in between stories. One of the most notable examples was senior Mia Reid who played both Rapunzel and Red Riding Hood. Reid did a great job encapsulating the attitude of an angry teenager who was forced into terrible circumstances. Her interactions with the Prince, played by junior Mason Lee, gave much-needed comedic relief to what would have been awkward and repetitive scenes.

Reid also played Red Riding Hood, which was honestly my favorite story of the play. She was introduced as an innocent girl named Little Red Cap who was on her way to her grandmother’s house to bring her snacks. On the way, she encounters the Big Bad Wolf, played by senior Nyx Roman. In contrast to the original Grimm fairytale, Red takes action and defends herself from the Wolf. At that point, the narrator establishes that although her name is Red Cap, she’s from the hood, adding on to the absurdity of the play.

Another notable actor was sophomore James Ayirebi-Richardson, who played the Frog Prince in the Princess and the Frog act. During this act, audio experienced some technical difficulties, specifically that Richardson’s mic wasn’t turning on. However, I honestly didn’t notice until we were far into the story. Richardson projected his voice so well that it reached me in the back of the auditorium — it was my speech coach’s dream.

Richardson’s counterpart, senior Beatriz Cardoso Amaral Lapa, perfectly encapsulated what would be the normal reaction if someone encountered a talking frog. She played the princess going through a mental breakdown in such a ridiculous manner the audience couldn’t help but chuckle when she sat down, hugged her knees and rocked herself. Cardoso also killed it during the next act, where she played Cinderella. She played the entitled actress role well, frequently breaking the fourth wall to talk to the narrators.

Speaking of narrators, junior Benjamin Kish and senior Mia Halper really held the play together. They provided important information the audience needed to know in order to understand what was going on while interacting with the characters to establish how weird certain parts of the fairy tales are. Halper played Narrator 1 and killed the scattered 30-second recaps of the previously acted scenes. Despite speaking rapidly, almost to the tempo of “Rap God,” Halper had little to no errors and spoke clearly enough for the audience to understand. Kish’s spiel about “The Mouse” had me chuckling, and his attempts to get Lee and Reid to fall in love in the Rapunzel story were a highlight.

On my day, there were two notable cast changes. Sophomore Naama Goldberg and junior Michael John lost their voices, rendering Goldberg unable to perform and forcing John to only play the King role instead of that and the Devil. In their places, freshmen Hazel Opila and Sophia Daniel went on and performed remarkably well. I didn’t even realize they were understudies.

The lights and sound were on point during this performance as well. The colors alternated between red when someone died and blue, which was used in serious situations to highlight a soliloquy. My favorite part was when Snow White and her evil stepmother competed in a fashion show to determine “who is the fairest of them all.” The lights flashed all colors of the rainbow, complemented by a disco ball. The audio was also reliably good and the wacky sound effects, for example, a loud splat when Hanzel jumped into the pit, definitely made things more entertaining.

While the show wasn’t my favorite, it wasn’t anything WJ STAGE couldn’t pull off. The talented cast and crew really held it together and made what would have been a dreadful experience an enjoyable one.

Sophomore Lior Sterling throws back his head and cackles, brandishing a sword and wearing a dress on top of his suit. He proceeded to stab Witch 2, played by Allisandra Martinez Palma, with enthusiasm. (Liam Barrett)
Photo Gallery
  • Senior Mia Reid, playing Little Red, adopts a ponderous pose as senior Mia Halper, playing Narrator 1, addresses the audience. Reid was a prominent member of “Les Misérables” last year, and for “The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon” also played Rapunzel and the Queen.

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  • After shooting Pinkie Plie the unicorn, played by junior Ace Andrews-Shigaki, freshman Mateo Adum, playing Johannes, holds his hands to his mouth in horror. The scene was accompanied by a loud gunshot, which was one of many modern elements mixed with the stories.

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  • Senior Beatriz Cardoso, playing Cinderella, holds a dramatic pose as crew members move set pieces behind her. Despite having a few weeks less time to prepare than in past years, crew was able to construct a number of detailed set pieces, including the fireplace visible behind Cardoso.

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  • Junior Michael John closes his eyes as he waits for the finishing touches to be put on his makeup. “We don’t have to know the significance of every character, but we have to know how they’re portrayed. The Devil in this show was portrayed as arrogant and full of himself, so we did makeup that made him look more put together, versus for a witch, we would make her look kind of ugly. You have to portray a character very obviously,” sophomore Abigail Freidlin, makeup co-crew chief, said.

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  • Senior Beatriz Cardoso, playing the Princess, has a mental breakdown after encountering a talking frog. “I like doing the two different characters, and I’m getting into some mentality right as I go on with how I would be feeling as an actor doing this character? What are you supposed to be feeling right before you go on?” Cardoso said.

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  • Senior Mia Reid, playing Rapunzel, argues with junior Mason Lee, playing Prince 2. Despite the narrators’ best efforts, the pair stubbornly refused to fall in love at first sight.

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  • Senior Nyx Roman, playing the Wolf, pleads with senior Mia Reid, playing Little Red, not to kill her. Roman was later ‘gutted’ by sophomore James LaCount, playing the Wood Cutter, who leapt from his seat in the audience section and sprinted to the stage amid laughter.

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  • Senior Beatriz Cardoso, playing the Princess, leans in to kiss sophomore James Ayirebi-Richardson, playing the Frog Prince. Cardoso would later return as Cinderella, and join sophomore Kolton Sidhu, playing the Actor, in one of the most memorable scenes in the play. “I love Cinderella’s part of the show, it’s the funniest part to me,” junior Sadie Steenberge, production manager and special effects chief, said.

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  • Junior Michael John, playing King 2, and senior Mia Reid, playing the Queen, hold hands. Because John also played the Devil earlier in the performance, he had to have his makeup removed and reapplied between appearances. “We were much better prepared,” sophomore Abigail Freidlin, makeup co-crew chief, said. “Me and my co-crew chief had some things we really wanted to change this year, and we wanted to make sure we were ready to adapt.”

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  • Sophomore Naama Goldberg, playing the Fishergirl, pauses fishing to glance over at junior Yuri Sternberg, playing Narrator 2. Goldberg played several roles in “The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon,” including Witch 1 and the Girl. “I do background stories for my characters,” Goldberg said. “I sit down with a notebook and I write what I think their backgrounds would be, and that helps me.”

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  • Junior Michael John, playing King 2, laughs and waves his hand dismissively at the idea that any other servant could be as good as Johannes, played by freshman Mateo Adum. John played both the Devil and King 2 on Friday, but was forced to play just the latter on Saturday due to vocal issues while an understudy played the Devil. “A lot of times understudies had to go on and they were really good,” sophomore Naama Goldberg, cast member, said.

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  • Sophomore Kolton Sidhu hugs STAGE alum Ryan Autenrieth fiercely. Autenrieth came back to WJ to watch the first play of the year and support his friends, and was met with cheers. “I feel like most of my friends I’ve made are through STAGE because you spend so much time with everyone, so there really is a big community of everyone knowing everyone,” junior Sadie Steenberge, production manager and special effects chief, said.

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