Ryan Kelly: Reviews

Loss, Impairment, Generosity and Love, With Laughs Intact

Published: July 20, 2008

Oh, the heartbreak when Cogsworth points to his stiff pendulum-clock chest and Lumiere holds out his bulbous candlestick arms as the two servants entreat their master, the Beast, to successfully woo the lovely Belle and break the spell that has kept them imprisoned. And oh, the joy as dancing forks, plates and other household items cavort to the merry tune “Be Our Guest” and later battle furiously against evil forces.

Bruno Bettelheim expounded on the serious nature of fairy tales, and “Beauty and the Beast,” in a delightfully exuberant Gateway Playhouse production in Patchogue, colorfully illustrates the idea that there is meaning behind the whimsy. Without removing an iota of entertainment — the show brims with slapstick and silliness — Dom Ruggiero, the director, has left room for adults (and doubtless many children) to contemplate themes of loss, captivity, impairment, generosity and love. Giddy humor blends with moving moments.

This comes after some initial trepidation that the production may skew a bit too much toward exaggerated children’s-theater acting — which would not be inappropriate for a musical adapted from a 1991 Disney animated film but would leave the show one-dimensional. The second act erases that fear.

After the movie won critical adoration and two Oscars, “Beauty and the Beast,” with its romantic story and lyrical title song, became the first musical that Disney brought to Broadway. It ran from 1994 to 2007. The plot focuses on the bookish and beauteous Belle, who, after rejecting Gaston, her vain suitor, and following her beloved father into a scary forest, becomes a prisoner of the Beast, a prince who has been cursed with ugliness until he can find true love.

Unfortunately, his servants suffer, too, slowly turning into “things,” as they term it with alarm. The story is told through Linda Woolverton’s smooth book and a rich score with memorable music by Alan Menken and clever lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice.

In Gateway’s production, Kelly Tighe’s handsome sets, including ivy-covered cottages and a massive castle, have been lighted by Christopher J. Landy in shades from sunshine bright to ominous dark. Special effects range from projections telling the Beast’s back story to a flurry of rose petals preceding the happy ending.

The puppetry used in a wolf-battling scene is a very nice touch. In a sly nod to that other Disney hit “The Lion King,” four actors wear harnesses with ghostly animal bodies attached, manipulating the forms with poles. Michelle Weber’s sprightly choreography includes a standout synchronized tankard-clinking sequence in a tavern, and Jeff Hoffman leads a lush-sounding orchestra.

The dazzle would mean little, though, without engaging acting and fine singing, and the cast members here seem custom-made for their roles. Ryan Kelly, as Belle, is charmingly high-spirited, sincere and adventurous, while Josh Davis plays the Beast with soulful sadness and comic bashfulness.

They hold their own among a large pool of supporting actors who do their good-natured best to steal the show. My favorite was Michael J. Farina as the sturdy Cogsworth, though David Edwards’s skirt-chasing Lumiere is splashier. Erin Maguire slinks amusingly as the sexy Babette, and Jacque Carnahan’s Wardrobe projects a pleasing daffiness. As the motherly teapot who sings the title song, Susan Bigelow is a comfortable Mrs. Potts. Wearing a wig as pompous as his character, Allan Snyder creates a Gaston worthy of his groupies, identified in the program as “Silly Girls.”

Even at two and three-quarters hours, the show kept young children’s attention. More impressively, it drew in adults who may have started out skeptical that they, too, would be enchanted.

“Beauty and the Beast,” Patchogue Theater for the Performing Arts, 71 East Main Street, through July 26. Information: (888) 484-9669 or www.gatewayplayhouse.com.

'Beauty and the Beast' comes to Gateway's Patchogue Theater

Do you feel the need to travel to Broadway for gorgeous, expensive, eye-catching spectacle? Rest easy and stay local.

The Gateway Playhouse’s current, opulent production at the Patchogue Theatre of the Disney-fied “Beauty and the Beast” is simply breathtaking, in all departments: from the impressive whirling, moving sets and evocative projections of Kelly Tighe, to the colorful, Lewis Carroll-inspired costumes that come from Florida but are “supervised” by Marianne Dominy, to Christopher Landy’s mood enhancing lighting design, to a rich sounding orchestra conducted by Jeff Hoffman, who keeps the show constantly aloft and in motion, to a cast that is top-notch in every aspect—vocally, dramatically, and choreographically.

The choreography, by Michelle Weber, has just the right touch of humor to sometimes relieve the intensity of the rest of the story, particularly in the jolly “Be Our Guest” romp with clashing mugs.

And Dom Ruggiero has once again directed with a feather touch and creative mind that makes all of the extravagant onstage goings-on lighter than air and twice as interesting.

If the Alan Mencken/Howard Ashman/Tim Rice score tends, in the spirit of most Disney formulated scores, to wander a bit, it contains enough show biz knowhow to range from the rafters-rattling (“If I Can’t Love Her”) to the delightfully danceable (“Gaston” and “Be Our Guest”). In fact, “Beauty and the Beast” is one of the Disney factory’s most impressive and touching products, a show that, thank God, soars, and puts the current “The Little Mermaid” in its rightful place—in the deep.

It’s hard to imagine a better cast for this production. Comedy is guaranteed along with musical integrity in Allan Snyder as the combination of the Elvis-Presley and “Grease” reminder and insufferably self-loving Gaston, and his Sancho Panza like sidekick, Lefou, played with comic relish by Jonah Spear. Every time the book by Linda Wolverton threatens to become too involved in the romantic, these two levelers, helped immeasurably by their songs, arrive and relax the audience into guffaws.

Evan Maguire is an adorable pixy as the wackily in love (for the kids) and sexually ambitious (for the adults) Babette, a transformed by magic spell French maid. Ms. Maguire is constantly in motion in several directions as she pursues Davis Edwards, as Lumiere, another of the spell’s transformations. Mr. Edwards, in a role that comes straight from Jean Cocteau’s film of “Beauty and the Beast” illuminates the evening with two hands that are ornate, burning, expressive candles.

As Maurice, Belle’s eccentric and lovable father, Robert Lydiard is treasurable. Balancing his role as comic relief and enabler, and possessed of a fine voice, he is particularly touching in his duet, “No Matter What” with his daughter Belle.

Essentially, though, the focus of “Beauty and the Beast,” true to its title, centers on the characters of Belle and the Beast. As Belle, the beautiful village “strange one” who reads books, Ryan Kelly brings to the proceedings a fine voice and a mischievous personality that results in a mixture that makes her unrelievedly adorable—just the right approach to lift the character from caricature. Her final shared-with-the-audience realization that beauty, after all, comes from within, is done with grace and loveliness, and her scenes with the beast in Act Two are among the most moving in the production.

Josh Davis is, in a word, astounding as the Beast. His voice is thrilling and well deserving of the cheers it elicited from an opening night audience that stopped the show after each of his numbers. But more than this, his character, as is the phantom in “Phantom of the Opera” (which reveals itself as baldly stolen from the original “Beauty and the Beast” legend), is multifaceted.

Tortured and tormented by his own transformation from prince to beast, angry to the point of madness at his plight, yet possessed of a heart that can be touched by beauty and love and yearning, Mr. Davis transmits all of this with a fervor and a sensitivity that touches the heart. His is a masterful portrayal, alone worth the price of admission.

But then again, this production is seamless and first rate, with no weaknesses in any department. The cast is universally dazzling, the production itself as satisfyingly spectacular as a Ziegfeld Follies (which it sometimes, tongue in cheek, imitates) and ultimately worthy of its standing, shouted ovation. The Gateway has outdone itself with this one. It’s difficult to imagine a more successfully opulent and rewardingly tasteful treatment of a Disney property than this.

“Beauty and the Beast” continues at the Patchogue Theatre every night except Monday, and with some extra family-friendly matinees and early performances, through July 26. The box office number is 286-1133.

The Many Joys of Doing It Sinatra’s Way

BY LEE DAVIS

Jun 28, 2007

Calling all nostalgia nuts (like me), or those whose memory stretches back before the Grateful Dead, or anyone with a ripple of romance dancing on the rhythm of his or her heart.

“My Way,” the affectionate and sensible revue of 56—count ‘em--56 of Frank Sinatra’s hits, now occupying the stage of the Gateway Playhouse in Bellport in a warm, melodious fashion, is a sure highway to a time long passed, but not regretted.

Four personable singers, a glorious set by Kelly Tighe that evokes every chandelier-and-sconce outfitted night club you ever visited (if you were lucky) or saw in a black and white film from the 1940s (if you have good taste), and lighting with generous grace by Marcia Medeira conspire with a swinging trio led by pianist/musical director Frank Spitznagel to bring back, if not the man, the melodies upon which Ol’ Blue Eyes put his stamp of improvement.

All of this is given a classy look, through the intelligent and inventive choreography of director Keith Andrews, who wraps it all into a dream of a memory. Who could ask for much more than that in these hard-edged, over- amplified times?

Okay: As usual at the Gateway, the sound board operator could use a hearing aid. But after the first deafening moments, it’s possible to accommodate it. Just don’t try to talk to someone after the show until your ears readjust to normal human volume.

And to be absolutely honest, of the four players, only Jay Montgomery and Ryan Kelly find a way to caress and live the lyrics the way The Voice did, and only Jay Montgomery conveys the easy, laid back style and persona of Sinatra. But that doesn’t threaten the fun; it merely accentuates it, for Worth Williams is adorable and Pat McRoberts—though he does oversell on occasion—is an embraceable performer. And when they all join in the spate of close, fourpart harmonies (particularly in “Indian Summer”) they shine brightly.

What’s most important is the nearly constant flow of music, from the opening “Strangers in the Night” to the touching, concluding, “I’ll be Seeing You,” with scores in between. And yes, “New York New York” gets not one, but two billings.

The first act busies itself, for the most part, with early Sinatra, and it’s pleasant and uplifting. But it’s the second act that has the meat and potatoes and martinis and champagne, and the songs of the Sinatra who returned in a kind of triumph after a stint at acting, and after Elvis and his progeny had taken over the teenage pop population who had once drowned out Frank with their unabated screams.

This doesn’t mean that there aren’t rewards aplenty in the first act. Ms. Kelly delivers a smoky “My Funny Valentine” in the show music section; Ms. Williams does a perky “It’s All Right With Me,” and Mr. McRoberts joins Mr. Montgomery for a socko “Summer Wind.” And the company delivery of “All the Way,” which closes the act, is downright thrilling, despite the sappy lyrics about chewing up and spitting out.

Ah, but the second act. Even Marianne Dominy’s costumes, forgettable in the first act, have the right sophisticated touch. And Todd Olson’s very, very slender book, which unfortunately relies heavily on reverent deliveries of Sinatra sayings—which will never threaten those of Oscar Wilde in quotation collections—gets with it with comments on the Sinatra parade of wives and lovers and the omnipresent glass of Jack Daniels.

And here, memories cascade like the beads in the chandeliers. Ms. Kelly’s delivery of “I Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry” is heartrending, followed immediately by Mr. Montgomery, leaning on the bar and crooning “One For My Baby.” Mr. McRoberts eases through “Nice and Easy,” Ms. Williams trills a cheery “You Go to My Head” and the quartet delivers a close harmony, richly hued medley of “Wave,” “Dream” and “Moonlight Serenade.”

The huge number, the one that had the audience swaying and clapping last Friday was ‘That’s Life”, or more accurately, “THAT’S LIFE!” It was the highest spirited outpouring of a bursting bag of melody that also included some memory raising songs that have slipped through the cracks of repetition. “Something Stupid,” for instance. And most of all, to this old nostalgia buff, Gordon Jenkins’s gem that Sinatra recorded in 1965 like nobody else ever did or ever would. The lyrics, feelingly captured by the quartet in Bellport, just keep ringing and ringing: Wonderful words and a melody that fits them as if they were attached at the heart—you remember: “Beautiful girl, walk a little slower when you walk by me Lingering sunset, stay a little longer with the lonely sea… Wandering rainbows, leave a bit of color for my heart to own Stars in the sky, make my wish come true Before the night has flown And let the music play as long as there’s a song to sing Then I will stay younger than spring.” Don’t remember it? Never heard it? Then go to the Gateway, and let “My Way” wash over you for a couple of hours. I guarantee that you’ll be singing it in the car on the way home too.

“My Way” continues at the Gateway Playhouse in Bellport, 20 minutes west of Westhampton, every night except Monday and in several weekly matinees through July 8. The box office number is 286-1133.

It's not a particularly pretty story, Tennesee Williams "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof." But with mendacity- that means lies and the liars who tell them folks- as its central theme, it's not supposed to be. . .

Not one of the characters is particularly likeable, though one does find herself rooting for Maggie, despite her cattiness and shamelessness. And Ryan Kelly does an admirable job with the character- she has an amazing voice, both softly feminine, and huskily masculine at the same time, and she uses it to her advantage here. Maggie's impassioned speaches and cruel but hilarious remarks (her calling Mae and Gooper's children "no-neck monsters, " for instance) give Kelly a chance to really work that voice. She also uses her quite lovely features to the fulliest, alternating from brazen sexuality to horror to humor to wonder in an instant. . .I think you'll enjoy Miss Maggie the Cat's meow. Even if it isn't always pretty.

Ryan Kelly is a particular revelation as Elsa. (And those of us who can't get enough of this gifted new face should make certian to catch her scene stealing, star-making performance in the upcoming indie film Dorian Blues.) Kelly is charming assured and apprehensive, sometimes in the same moment. Her performance appears effortless, yet she enchants. January LaVoy matches her scene-for-scene. These two need a spin-off!"

It's great to see Kelly, whom we have heard sing many times at Jim Caruso's Cast Party, give a delightfully sexy comic performance as Elsa. Brava!

A romantic relationship story about gay friends in San Francisco, "JOY" offers the most joy in the characterization and portrayal of two lesbians by January LaVoy and Ryan Kelly as Keegan and Elsa. They are delightful and give the show a lift every time they are together on stage. . .LaVoy and Kelly steal the show with their talent and likeability.

The inner strength that LaVoy brings to Keegan is perfectly matched by Ryan Kelly's adorable Elsa, a women whose all business facade can instantly crumble to romanticism.

the hooker with a heart of gold. . .that channels Billie Holiday

Listen to her pitch -perfect renditions of Billie Holiday songs.

David Ippolito, (AKA, That Guitar Man From Central Park), is asking the world famous Sid Bernstein, (the man responsible for bringing the Beatles over to America, and booking them at Carnegie Hall), what he thinks of my singing. David plays Sid two songs, I Can't Wait, & Did You Go An Fall In Love Again, (both beautiful love duets composed by David) off of a rehearsal tape we made together this month.

David: "So What do you think?"

Sid: "I think she's a star, that's absolutely star material."

David: "Yeah she's going to be on stage with me at Merkin Concert Hall."

Sid: "She'll get a standing ovation. She'll get a standing ovation."

David: "You've heard a lot of different women sing that song with me, and you think this one, Ryan really works."

Sid: "Yes, she's going to be a star absolutely, NY kid?

David: "Yeah. A New York kid."

Sid: "What's the most important thing she's done?"

David: "Sing with me! You know I don't know that. She's ----"

Sid: "Ryan Kelly, David, I know you don't care about being a star, you like the life you lead, at central park, which is where we met, and we became friends, and I know you're very happy with your life there, but I have a feeling, in this girl, you're going to be responsible in helping make her a star, she's incredible."

Ryan Kelly, singer and vocal impersonator, summons some "Radiant" predecessors

A Dozen Women In One

Ms Kelly's an anachronism, like Diana Krall and a small number of like minded contemporary women, her musical comfort zone is her grandmother's era --the 1940's and 1950's--heyday of Peggy Lee, Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Patsy Kline.

These singers are the firmament of her upcoming revue, "Radiant Women," although non-singers (Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Ave Gardner, Jaqueline Kennedy and Princess Diana) are welcome too.

The one-woman show's tailored to Ms. Kelly's fairly rare gifts. Anyone who's heard her sing (as Mitzi in "Fiorello" last winter, at The Lake Cafe where she has a semi-permanent engagement, at the annual Staten Island Rotary benefit, or in her Miss Staten Island 2002 appearances), knows her voice doesn't match her looks.

You'd expect a girl like her to have a sweet chirpy soprano. But Miss Kelly's voice is someplace else entirely. It's deep and smart, more like a martini than a decaf latte, all foam.

But lucky girl, it's a flexible instrument too. She can do uncanny vocal impersonations of completely disparate singers.

Last week, she took a breath and "became" Nell Carter, Judy Garland, and Billie Holliday successively.

How will the show tie these mostly unrelated women together? Ms. Kelly's found a way.

"I'm really good at continuity," she said.

MYRIAD WOMEN
For example, a "Roman Holiday" monologue might lead (via Audrey Hepburn) to composer Henry Mancini to director Billie Wilder who cast Marilyn Monroe in "Seven Year Itch" and "Some Like It Hot."

"Radiant Women" will also allow Ms. Kelly to be herself, perhaps the most complicated challenge of all.

Ms. Kelly majored in acting and musical theatre at Carnegie Mellon (where she also performed with the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera). She reads music and writes songs -- music and lyrics.

ORIGINAL MUSIC
Her "Boy & Girl," a romantic postmortem, is on her demo, a live recording of a recent, well-received Birdland gig. It holds its own next to such near-peerless standards like "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To," "Speak Low" and "You Took Advantage of Me."

Ms. Kelly recently made her film debut in "Dorian Blues," a project that took the audience choice award at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose.

Her ideal plan for the near future?
"More film," she said last week. "And some Shakespeare.

She has a song, no, two songs (one is a cappella!) and two dance numbers. And she gets to kiss a pretty girl. Twice. No wonder Ryan Kelly is calling her part in a new comedy that opens tonight "the best role I have ever had."

The singer/actress, a former Miss Staten Island, is making her off-Broadway debut as Elsa in "Joy," a six seven-character piece with music written by San Francisco-based writer John Fisher. It describes a year in the love lives of three young couples on a college campus in the Bay area.

The show, which had a successful run last season at the Producers Club, stars Ben Curtis, the young actor who was the hyper-talkative "Dell Dude" a few years ago and starred last season in an off-Broadway revival of "The Indian Wants The Bronx." Mark Hartman, its music director, is moonlighting from "Avenue Q."

As Elsa, Ms. Ryan is one-half of the show's lipstick lesbian lovebirds (lipstick lesbians are gay women who like make-up, high heels and girly get-ups). But Ms. Kelly was playing a different sort of lesbian several months ago at a reading in Montclair, N.J., when she met James DeForte, the choreographer of "Joy."

For the reading, she played "a hard-boiled, raging lesbian. . .who was spilling stuff and breaking things," Ms. Kelly recalled. Several months later, when the original actress left the cast, DeForte thought of her for the lovely, soft-spoken and non-angry Elsa.

He called to see if she was interested in reading. She auditioned, did well, got called back, read again, sang again, and got the job.

Then, with a little more than a week before previews, she had to learn her lines, the blocking, and the choreography. Fortunately, she already knew the songs, "Lets Face The Music And Dance" and "Someone To Watch Over Me."

At the moment, she's tickled about "Joy."
"I get to be funny. I get to sing, be crazy, and be pretty. I get to do some Parker Posey dance moves! How often does that happen?"

PERSONALITY PROFILE
RYAN KELLY
2002 Miss Staten Island is singer,
actor, songwriter

If multi-talented performer Ryan Kelly were an athlete, she'd be described as a triple-threat, at the very least. Chosen Miss Staten Island in 2002, Ryan is a singer-actor-songwriter, who's acted, sung, and danced on the Island and off-Broadway stages in musicals, comedies and dramas; played and sung original songs at such venues as The Bitter End, choreographed shows, and appeared on TV's "All My Children."

Q: You entertain in so many mediums. What do you enjoy?

A: I like teaching voice, a nice sort of collaboration. When students "get it", their eyes flicker and they go, "ohhhhh." Very cool. I like a straight-acting role-- and beating everybody else out to get it. You have to be competitive.

Q: What else do you do for amusement?

A: I go to the thea-tuh. I write songs-- sort of Joni Mitchell meets Billy Joel meets American standards-- and I can listen 80 times to one song, just for nuances, such as "Angel Eyes." Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan are my vocal Idols.

Q: Watch TV?

"Grey's Anatomy", "Seinfeld." Old movies: "His Girl Friday," "Bridge on the River Kwai," anything by Billy Wilder, ("Sunset Boulevard", "Some Like it Hot"). "There's no Business Like Show Business." Recently Irving Berlin films ("Easter Parade", "White Christmas") to get the flavor, because I was choreographing a Berlin revue ("The Melody Lingers On") at Snug Harbor. I like to surround myself with whatever genre I'm working on.

Q: Which genre do you prefer?

A: I'd like to switch mediums-- films, plays, combination of singing, dramatic acting, dancing...

Q: Favorite Foods?

A: Salmon, brown rice, pizza, chocolate ice cream, Cheerios, chocolate soy milk, milk, sushi.

Q: How did being Miss Staten Island help you?

A: I made a lot of friends, in many areas, met some really nice girls. Connected me back up with Staten Island. I had just come home from college, and was out of the loop. It's a great scholarship opportunity for women. The money has to go for schooling, and I was able to pay back all my college loans.

Q: What's the value of such competitions?

A: It helped me become a better public speaker and faster thinker, forced me to read more news, introduced me to the Alzheimer's support system here on Staten Island. The pageant makes you strong, gets you conected, enables you to put things in perspective.

Q: Is it essentially a beauty contest?

A: Definitely not. The most important part of the pageant is an off-stage interview by seven judges firing all kinds of questions. It's like applying for a job. Sept. 11 was heavily in the news then, so that was a big subject in my interview. You have to talk about something close to you. My platform was Alzheimer's disease, which my grandfather has, so I was very interested in it. Then come the talent, casual wear, evening gown competitions. My most dreaded was the swimsuit. It's one thing if you're playing a part and you're scantily clad. I would rather the whole audience was wearing swimsuits.

Q: How did you do?

A: At the local level, I won the swimsuit competition. Also, awards for interview, talent (I sang "I Will Always Love You") and public relations.

Q: Ideal day for you?

A: One or two auditions in the morning, then a really good chat with one of the agents I'm freelancing with, who tells me I'm being called in for a project. Coming home, it's not too foggy on the ferry, and getting a message that I just booked a singing gig, or just going to a rehearsal.

Q: Childhood Ambition:

A: For a while, I wanted to be a doctor, a genetic engineer and, if not for show business, I'd be a doctor now. Science is my other love. I always won science fairs. When I had to explain a science club project, to me it was like an acting piece, a monologue.

Q: Did you perform as a youngster?

A: They'd put me on a table and have me entertain... I've never been shy. In high school, I was one of three freshman allowed to act in the first show in the fall. One year, I didn't do the show because I got an off-Broadway part.

Q: Major influences?

A: My dad, who has his own decorating business with my mom as his partner. He taught me to be your own boss, make you own rules. He's a good writer, hysterically funny. I got my gift for impressions from him and my maternal grandmother, and acting from my mom, an actress who just re-created a role in "Gypsy" after 25 years. Also, two teachers -- in high school, the late Salvatore Eretto, and in college, Victoria Santa Cruz, who taught, "Just live in the moment." She'd say, "You're not put on this earth to be an actor or singer or dancer; you're meant for something more important."

Q: What are some roles you've enjoyed?

A: Lead singer (and choreographer), "Cole" Genevieve in "The Baker's Wife" (directed by Geoffry Hitch, who directed me as Maggie in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof this summer); Elsa in "Joy" off-Broadway; Tiffany in film "Dorian Blues"; Young Phyllis in "Follies" (a show I always wanted to play); Tricia in "A Chorus Line" (with many from the Broadway cast.)

Q: If you could be anyone, who'd it be?

A: Marlene Dietrich-- for her long career, talent and beauty.

Q: Pet peeves?

A: People who just sing or act without being connected to the material.

Q: Advice to aspiring performers?

A: Have a thick skin but be vulnerable in the craft.