TINYARD HILL A FEEL GOOD FOOT STOMPING MUSICAL

l-r May Bell Whitehead (Allison Briner), Russel Kinsley (James Moye), David Kingsley,

(Chris Critelli) and Aileen Garrett (Melissa WolfKlain) in the world premiere of TINYARD HILL at TheatreWorks.

Photo Credit: Tracy Martin

TINYARD HILL: A World Premiere Musical by Tommy Newman and Mark Allen; Directed by Robert Kelley TheatreWorks at Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto, CA. (650) 463-1960 or visit www.theatreworks.org. July 15 - August 16, 2009

TINYARD HILL A FEEL GOOD FOOT STOMPING MUSICAL

Tinyard Hill, a bitter-sweet love story told with country-pop score, is an auspicious start as the centerpiece of TheatreWorks 8^th Annual New Works Festival that will continue through the summer with staged readings of new plays and new musicals. With the economy in partial shambles, our young soldiers fighting and dying in foreign countries and loud rock musicals bombarding our ears, it is a pleasure to attend the world premiere of charming, bitter-sweet tale where love may not conquer all but it sure gives a warm feeling while expressing the futility of war.

Tinyard Hill has had a two-year gestation, partly at TheatreWorks, winning the Frederick Lowe Foundation Award becoming a hit at the National Alliance of Musical Theatre’s Festival of New Musicals. It is a Southern based play with universal appeal without a single “good old boy” character while show casing four true-to-life persons with present desires, future hopes and interpersonal conflicts in rural U.S.A. creating entertaining and philosophical theatre.

The time is 1964 in the small rural town of Tinyard Hill, Georgia, President Kennedy has been assassinated, the Vietnam War is raging and the Gulf Of Tonkin fiasco is soon to begin. Handsome teenager David Kingsley (Chris Critelli), a high school dropout, and his widowed, World War II veteran father Russell, run the 200-year-old local blacksmith shop mainly as a tourist attraction. Ambitious David future hopes hinge on moving into modern times with a refurbishment as a garage and mechanical repair shop. Nearby neighbor May Bell Whitehead (Allison Briner), deserted by her husband, has an unspecified dislike for Russell, who on the contrary is enamored with her. Into this breech enters May’s 18 year old niece Aileen (Melissa Wolfklain) preparing for marriage to a 29 year old New York psychiatrist. Despite May’s futile desperate attempts to keep them apart, love blooms between the youngsters. A draft notice to David is intercepted by Russell and May leading to multiple complications. One of which is the question of how far a father will go to protect his son from the horrors of war.

Yes, the plot is very formulaic but the magnificent staging, good acting and spirited music combine to produce a very strong and enjoyable evening even though you will not leave the theater humming or whistling the songs. Author/orchestrators Tommy Newman and Mark Allen, both raised in Georgia, build the show around a real father and son blacksmiths, with the women based on a “former girlfriend and a collection of southern women”, thus explaining the reality of their characters. Having the good fortune to sit next to the uncle of Tommy Newman, I was informed that changes have been made since its first developmental production by Red Mountain Theatre in Birmingham, Alabama. Specifically, an added final scene had the uncle in tears. Hey, that’s not bad.

The cast features Broadway veteran James Moye (White Christmas, Urinetown and The Full Monty, The Drowsy Chaperone and Little Shop of Horrors) and acclaimed musical actress Allison Briner (Mamma Mia!, Les Miserables, Titanic, Forbidden Broadway and Forbidden Hollywood). Melissa WolfKlain is a local favorite having leading roles in Broadway By The Bay’s Crazy For You, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Singin’ In The Rain. Chris Critelli as the “handsome David Kingsley” physically fits the role with a strong voice and a towering stage presence.

This world premiere has tremendous production values including Robert Kelly’s sensitive direction. Scenic designer Tom Langguth and lighting designer Pamila Gray create a mythical world of Spanish moss draped trees to add depth to the realistic smooth set changes from blacksmith shop, a homey kitchen, church pews and motel room. One would hope that the next stop for Tinyard Hill would be Broadway.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com