“SEE ROCK CITY & Other Destinations”
A Musical Tour with Heart, Humor & Beach Chairs!
Just when we thought there weren’t any new mousetraps, along come Adam Mathias (book & lyrics), Brad Alexander (music) and Jack Cummings III clever direction of The Transport Group’s (www.transportgroup.org ) latest and intriguing offering “See Rock City & Other Destinations.” Don’t expect to walk into a theatre and take your seat. Instead be prepared to watch the remarkably talented cast of seven, who play double roles, disentangle the piled up beach and sand chairs leaning against a scaffold to create seating in an otherwise empty space!
Reminiscent of Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks,” the first vignette takes place in a diner (a string of fluorescent lights across the floor) as Jess (Bryce Ryness) a lonely, searching young man, powerfully sings “See Rock City” to Dodi (Mamie Parris), the waitress who asks where he’s going. Taking only some pie, she joins him in his travels, having never been anywhere but the small town in which she lives. Their heartfelt duet “Mile After Mile” is a contradiction in its meaning to each of them as Jess searches for a connection somewhere.
Stories and lives unfold as the various characters travel the highways and by-ways of life.
Evan (Stanley Bahorek) plants himself and his video camera at Walker Air Force Base in Roswell, N.M. waiting for UFOs while serenading with “We Are Not Alone.” The Alamo is the place where Grampy (Ryan Hilliard) and his deceased wife met and heard “the voice” over 60 years ago. He is wheelchair bound, suffering from a stroke and can barely speak, but grand-daughter Lauren (Sally Wilfert) brings him to the same spot each year on the occasion of their anniversary meeting so he can speak to his dearly beloved wife. “I Remember Everything and More” could be a song out of the Great American Songbook of passionate emotions. Afraid Lauren will never connect to anyone, Dempsey (Jonathan Hammond), a caring local lawyer looking for a mate, sits nearby and love blooms.
When three sisters (Donna Lynne Champlin, Mamie Parris & Sally Wilfert) sail to Glacier Bay, Alaska to empty their daddy’s ashes in the sea, humorous family dynamics prevail as personalities collide and they become kids again singing their childhood song “Three Fair Queens of the North Are We.” Cutter (Ryness) and Rick (Bahorek) are high school kids who cut school to take the Q Train to Coney Island where they explore not only the Freak & Spook Shows but their sexuality and freedom in one of the funniest and physical numbers “You Are My Bitch.”
Ms. Champlin, in wedding gown, is the passionate bride Kate afraid of marriage. She goes off on a tour with creepy guide (Hammond) in “Niagara Falls” and must decide if the “leap” is worth going over the edge in a tearful “What Am I Afraid Of.”
Dialogue is quick paced and witty throughout. The short stories define the plight of humanity and individual struggles with loneliness, love, loss and fear. In this sparse setting, the creative lighting design by R.Lee Kennedy is simply yet skillfully deployed creating moods with flashlights, lights on wheels and fluorescent strips. Dane Laffrey created the set and character specific costuming. The hard working cast is accompanied by a four piece band. The production is staged at The Duke on West 42nd Street, NYC.
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