Summer and Smoke by Tennessee Williams Directed by Nancy Sundstrum January 18-19, 24-26, 31, February 1-2
	Matt McCormick's Artistic rendition of the Summer and Smoke Set design

Review by Phil Murphy

Cast List

ALMA as a child..........Maggie McGurn  JOHN as a child..........Madison Ford  REV. WINEMILLER..........Larry Hains  MRS. WINEMILLER..........Denni Don Hunting  ALMA WINEMILLER..........Michelle Perez  JOHN BUCHANAN JR.........Dave Richey  DR. BUCHANAN.............Mike Kelly  ROSA GONZALES............Sherry E McCarty

PAPA GONZALES............Al Lien  NELLIE EWELL.............Amanda Baltrip  MRS. BASSETT.............Mollie Thompson  ROGER DOREMUS............Chris Wendel  MR. KRAMER (ARCHIE)......T.J. Berden ROSEMARY.................Ann Norris Levin VERNA/PEARL...........Jordan Byington DUSTY..................Brad Boese

Production Staff

Rehearsal Pictures

'Summer and Smoke' sizzles on OTP stage
by PHIL MURPHY Special to the Record-Eagle

The third offering of the Old Town Playhouse main stage season, Tennessee Williams' "Summer and-Smoke," burns with the silent intensity of summer heat lightning. 
From the opening moments, we know this is the story of two people and large passions - she of the spirit, he of the flesh. It is the year the Gulf winds were late in coming. One suspects, if the wind did blow, it would ignite these smoldering emotions into brilliant flaming passions. 
"Summer and Smoke". may be Williams' most romantic and lyrical play. First produced in 1947, the production dissatisfied Williams enough that he wrote a major revision, "Eccentricities of a Nightingale," which was finally produced in 1964. 
Nancy Sundstrom, director of this OTP production culls the best from different sources to build her well-conceived, highly atmospheric production, maintaining its integrity throughout. 
The play takes place deep within Dragon Country in a place known as Glorious Hills, a town near the banks of Moon Lake and overlooked by the massive stone effigy - an angel called Eternity. These are places only found deep within the souls of Williams' characters - dark, atmospheric places, where the moon takes the harshness away from rough edged reality.
"Summer and Smoke" is an allegory of the body and soul, of air and earth. It is first and foremost a story about the refined Alma Winemiller, a prim Victorian spinster beneath whose fragile, birdlike exterior seethe untold passions. It is also a story about the Dionysian John Buchanan Jr., the prodigal son who returns to hard-living, wasteful ways as, the lure of Moon Lake proves too tempting. 
The two characters are neighbors. She is air. He is earth. Between them flow the waters, a gulf know as Eternity. The stone effigy is a reminder that time flows incessantly forward: Only in the end do they switch roles, he seeing the importance of the soul and serving others, she discovering her true' sensuality. The horrible irony is that they pass by each other through the heat of summer nights. 
Michelle Perez brings the character of Alma to life. She is the bird in a gilded cage - high- strung, giddy, fragile and alone- her repressed sexuality at war with her own inhibitions. Perez has had her share of major roles over the past few years, including in last year's "The Rainmaker." The role of Alma is her finest portrayal to date. 
She sounds many different vocal notes, trilling her voice and laughter. She is ultimately engaging and her fluttering affectations are charming. She is appropriately pious, and though her Puritanism is a comfortable coat she wears, the audience is drawn to the struggle with her inner passions, barely held in check under the surface. Her climactic resolve is moving and believable. And her final transition in an aching scene with the traveling salesman, portrayed well by T.J. Berden, caps the performance. 
Newcomer Dave Richey is the profligate rogue John Buchanan. .This is Richey's first play and he acquits himself as one far more familiar. with theatrical performance. He slinks across the stage, relaxed in his role of a man hungry for the visceral side of life. He's lustful, at times bawdy, and given to loose work with women of less than stellar moral character, embodied in the character of Rosa, the Mexican girl who works at the, casino above Moon Lake. As Rosa, Sherry McCarty is convincing and very seductive as the woman who tempts and devours Buchanan. 
It is the killing of his father that becomes the turning point for Buchanan. He finally sees in Alma the soul that is missing from his life and the ultimate recognition of his own worth. Richey's performance is quite good and only occasionally uneven. His inexperience typically shows in the few emotionally charged moments when he is alone on stage. 
Denni Hunting as Mrs. Winemiller is a standout. She portrays the loony mother who resorts to kleptomania with hilarious results. Mollie Thompson also does a turn as Mrs. Bassett, the unintentionally mean-spirited friend of Alma. 
Amanda Baltrip. is Nellie, Alma's student turned competition for Buchanan's affections. Al Lien is Papa Gonzales, Rosa's father, a pathetic and dangerous drunk. Mike Kelly plays Dr. Buchanan haughtily and with an, eye toward affectation. Larry Hains is the repressive Rev. Wine miller. And Chris Wendell is Alma's ill-fated suitor Roger Doremus. 
Maggie McGurn as young Alma rounds out the cast, along with Madison Ford as young John. Jordan Byington displays some versatility as both Pearl and Verna. Ann Norris Levine is the besotted Rosemary. Brad Boese is Dusty the bartender at the casino.
 Matt McCormick's fine set is representational, atmospheric, gothic and excellent in its depiction of air, water and earth. It is enhanced by Ron Murden's lighting, which adds to the atmosphere with moonlit ambiance creating pools of light that define place. And Kathy Verstraete's stylish costumes maintain the stringent Victorian lines and muted colors adding to the stifling overall effect. 
"Summer and Smoke" continues at Old Town Playhouse Thursday through Saturday, Jan. 24-26 and Jan. 31-Feb. 2. Tickets are available at the box office or by calling 247-2443 between 4 and 8 p.m.

SUMMER & SMOKE TICKETS ON SALE JANUARY 7

Show Opens Thursday, January 18, Runs through February 2

             TRAVERSE CITY --- Old Town Playhouse welcomes the new year with the classic Tennessee Williams drama Summer and Smoke opening on the mainstage Friday January 18.  Tickets go on sale beginning Monday, January 7, 2002 through the show’s conclusion on Saturday, February 2. 

Often considered one of this famous author’s most highly regarded works, Summer and Smoke follows the relationship between a somewhat puritanical Southern girl and an unpuritanical young doctor in 1916 Mississippi as they deal with divergent attitudes toward life.              The production is directed by OTP veteran Nancy Sundstrom of Traverse City.

The cast is headed by Michelle Perez as Alma Winemiller and Dave Richey as John Buchanan, Jr.  Other cast members include Maggie McGurn, Madison Ford, Larry Hains, Denni Don Hunting, Mike Kelly, Sherry McCarty, Al Lien, Amanda Baltrip, Mollie Thompson, Chris Wendel, T. J. Berden, Ann Norris Levine and Brad Boese.

The show runs January 18 – February 2, 2002.  Show times are Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m.  Tickets are $13.  Thursday performances feature student and senior rate tickets for $11 as well as hearing equipment by the Traverse City Quota Club.  Reservations can be made by calling (231) 947-2443 or visiting the Old Town Playhouse Box Office located at 128 East Eighth Street at Cass in Traverse City.  Box office hours are 4-8 p.m., Mondays through Fridays through the run of the show as well as two hours prior to show times the weekends.

            For more information, contact the Old Town Playhouse business office at (231) 947-2210.

November 5, 6, 7... 7:00pm