The Rink
The Cape Playhouse
July 3-July 15th, 2006
REVIEWS FROM THE RINK at The Cape Playhouse
Boston Globe Review
STAGE REVIEW
Once more around 'The Rink,' with feeling
· DENNIS -- Nothing says nostalgia like an old-fashioned roller-skating rink, right? So you might guess that ``The Rink" -- a lesser-known 1984 Kander/Ebb musical, enjoying a rare revival at the Cape Playhouse -- would tend toward the schmaltzy. Nothing could be further from the truth.
· Newly tweaked by playwright Terrence McNally, the script is surprisingly gritty, and more timeless than retro. It's as striking as a slap in the face -- of which the feuding dyad in question, played to perfection by Broadway stars Leslie Uggams and Janet Metz, exchange a matching pair. A heartrending undercurrent begins to insinuate itself into the women's amusingly fractious interactions. That bittersweet thread persists right through to the gentle shocker of an ending.
Along the way we get to savor soul-baring solos by the two women -- phenomenal singers both -- and comic numbers by ``The Wreckers," a corps of six talented men who fill out all the other roles (some of them female). When's the last time you saw a production number involving power tools? There's even a caroming ballet performed on roller skates.
Director Michael Unger (who's
married to Metz) has delivered a musical with quirky, captivating charm that is
reminiscent of the debut of ``The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at
Barrington Stage two summers ago, which he also helmed. That offbeat phenomenon
quickly found a home on Broadway. This show has the potential to make a
comparable leap.
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
TheatreMania Review
Cape Cod
The
RinkIn its current production at the Cape Playhouse, the 1984 musical The Rink proves to be as durable as a mirror ball. All you have to do is pull it out, dust it off, and it's ready to scintillate anew. Even if you saw the original Broadway production, you'll find this new version -- revised by its original librettist, Terrence McNally, and starring Leslie Uggams and Janet Metz -- to be fresh and arresting. In fact, if there's any fairness in the world, this show will eventually find its way back to Broadway.
Putting race aside, it's tough to imagine better casting than Uggams as Anna as a tough old survivor who's cruel and callous to her vagabond daughter Angel (Metz).
The show is packed with a slew of delightful Kander and Ebb songs, starting with Anna's "Chief Cook and Bottle Washer" -- during which Uggams initiates a death grip on the audience's attention -- and continuing straight through to Angel's "All the Children in a Row," a poignant anthem to the gradual disillusionment of the 1970s and a touching farewell to all the rosy pictures we must leave behind with childhood. Again and again, Metz masterfully builds her story songs so that you're drawn along on the journey. And while the hippie era is hard to recapture with any degree of authenticity, both Kander's music and Ebb's lyrics succeed in summoning, without glitz or bitterness, the fading of the flower children.
It takes considerable legerdemain to balance a story of family dysfunction with the periodic upbeat numbers that a musical needs to stay afloat. Fortunately, director Michael Unger never lets the pace flag or the tone go maudlin. The show's "sour" quality reads today as refreshingly astringent, and McNally's dialogue has lost none of its power to shock or move us. So do what you can to catch this stellar production of The Rink during its short run.
Broadway World.com Review
The venerable Leslie Uggams is the star of this production and she wastes no time before showing us how deserving she is of having her name above the title. From the moment she makes her entrance, to her first song “Chief Cook and Bottle Washer,” and whenever she is onstage, she commands our attention. She is, quite simply, a pro. Just as I was catching my breath from Ms. Uggams’ opening number, along came Janet Metz for a duet with her which exhibited her own very powerful pipes.
To a man, this is a talented ensemble of actors who can sing and dance (and skate) more than a little bit and hold their own in the company of Leslie Uggams and Janet Metz.
To be sitting in an old summer church refurbished as a playhouse, watching a freshly rewritten show with a mature and experienced star, one can have some hope for the possibility of resurrecting the skate palace, repairing a rent relationship, and learning how to move forward.
Cape Cod Today Review
Skate through the
musical on eight wheels
By Libby Hughes
The
Cape Playhouse in Dennis pulled Terence McNally’s “The Rink” out of
mothballs to give it a fresh new look—shorter and tighter than its Broadway run
in 1984. The New York Times’ critic at the time, Frank Rich, said in ’84 that
the show went on “forever
and a day.” Guess what, Mr. Rich? It goes on for two hours without anyone
yawning. So, put that in your pen and rewrite the review in 2006!
Playwright Terence McNally and composer John Kander had been present at
rehearsals to give “The Rink” a modern facelift. They were updating some of the
lines and making timely cuts. It paid off for a sharper production and put the
Playhouse in the role of premiere.
Leslie Uggams delivers the goods vocally and artistically. Janet Metz, as Angel
the daughter, has a dynamite voice that can hold a note till the cows come
home. She has crafted many nuances, creating an interesting and multi-faceted
portrayal of the daughter. We see her as five, twelve, and sixteen.
Director Michael Unger takes a real bite out of the word “challenge.” The Cape
Playhouse has a small stage and he maneuvered the actors amazingly.