THE ONION CELLAR

From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com

Subject: Quicktake - "The Onion Cellar" by Amanda Palmer, Jonathan Marc Sherman, Marcus Stern et al

Date: Wed, Dec 13, 10:20 PM

Quicktake on THE ONION CELLAR

     With a title inspired by a paragraph in chapter 42 of 1999 Nobel Prize winner Gunter Grass' fable "The Tin Drum" and some creative differences during its creation, the American Repertory Theatre opened Amanda Palmer's "The Onion Cellar" in their flexible space at Zero Arrow St. This time this large black box space is set up as a cabaret with tables and a bar along the side serving beer and wine at the usual prices. A large circular array of lights hangs over stage against one wall. Opposite the stage the wall above the audience is covered with memorabilia. The conceit is that "Shmuh's Onion Cellar" is an establishment where patrons chop onions for themselves to release tears they've been holding back. Several interlocking family tales, created with the help of a cast made up from ART veterans and Institute students, are revealed between songs written and musical numbers written and performed by Palmer and her partner, Brian Viglione. The musicians play themselves with younger doubles from the ensemble.

     Both Karen MacDonald and Thomas Derrah appear in dual roles. MacDonald is the Mother of the Girl in Blue, who died in a car crash after her prom. Derrah is a probable Lunatic in a gray suit bound in wide white tape with a phone handset taped to his head. The pair also play the Louvers, a childless older couple from Wisconsin who've driven their RV to Cambridge to visit their nephew who attends Harvard. Jeremy Geidt is the Father quietly drinking himself into oblivion. Remo Airaldi is the MC for the cabaret who tells of his childhood and mimes to an aria sung by Caruso near the end of the show. The program doesn't identify individual roles, but two students appear as both Onion Boy and Mute Girl, two peculiar lovers, as well as the Girl in the Bear Suit and her friend, both of whom tend bar. Kristen Frazier is the daughter. The ensemble includes Claire Elizabeth Davies, Brian Farish, Merrit Janson, and Neil P. Stewart. The final show was directed by Marcus Stern, Associate Director at the ART, who teaches at Harvard, the Institute, and Harvard Extension.

    The 90 minute show is somewhere between a club concert, a theatrical collage, and an incipient rock album. The Dresden Dolls are frequently billed as Brechtian Punk Cabaret, and their often loud alternative rock sound can definitely alienate members of the audience from each other. Earplugs are available on request. Palmer's "Onion Cellar" performed at the opening sets out a premise, but the piece which best catches their essence is "Coin Operated Boy". Her lyrics when audible show flashes of wit. Viglione gets an impressive drum solo late in the show which lasts a bit too long. Of the various routines in the collage, MacDonald and Derrah's "Louvers" are the audience favorites. The show's theme of love and loss, which is of course universal, is only obliquely explored and hardly revelatory. Of the ART's two shows adapted from other mediums currently playing ("Wings of Desire" closes this Sunday), the earnestness of "The Onion Cellar" seems preferable.

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"The Onion Cellar" by Amanda Palmer, Jonathan Marc Sherman, Marcus Stern et al, Dec.9 - Jan. 13

ART in Zero Arrow St.

Arrow & Mass. Ave, Harvard Sq. (617) 547 - 8300
ART