Hey, pal— feelin’ blue? Don’t know what to do? Hey, pal— I mean you! C’mon and— well…take a barrel over the falls? No job? Cupboard bare? One room, no one there? Hey, pal! Don’t despair! Don’t you want to— go over Niagara on a jet ski? Come on over in your own machine! A brand new musical is taking the scene, and everybody’s got the right to their dreams— even if those dreams involve soaring, or in so many cases, sinking to infamy as they tumble 167 feet over Niagara Falls. Well Played Theater, a new company currently performing in Finksburg, is presenting Niagara a new musical by Thomas Folderauer and Jacob Oswald. With music & lyrics by Folderauer and Book by Folderauer & Oswald, this unique and clever new show takes an impressive look at real life historical people (The Canadian Daredevils) who took the plunge— literally— right over Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side of Niagara. Directed by Kyle Munro with Musical Direction by Kelly Stoneberger and Choreography by Aubrie Dell’Agnese, this intriguing new musical has a world of curiosities just waiting to be discovered.
Well Played Theater, temporarily setup in Finksburg on the “Geckle Farm Theatre” has chosen an outdoor performance space (not uncommon in Maryland during the summer season, particularly so now that the world is re-emerging post-pandemic) and this creates a series of challenges that Director Kyle Munro and Musical Director Kelly Stoneberger readily overcome with their well-seasoned combined theatrical experience. Staring the show earlier in the evening (and ironically timing the show’s closing number, entitled “Sunset” with the actual beginnings of sunset) avoids the trickery phenomenon known as ‘outdoor lighting.’ Set Designer Jim Stoneberger crafts an impressive interior on an outdoor stage, giving the authentic feel of the “Bridge Street Tavern” (a real-life dramaturgical re-interpretation for one of the characters) for both the audience watching and those bar-flies inhabiting the pub. Sound Designers and Engineers Corey and Brady Brown have synced up the microphones and PA system in such a way that naturally augments the robust songs and seem to have done so nearly flawlessly; this is a commendable feat for any community theatre venture, particularly one taking place outdoors.
Musical theatre fanatics will rejoice at all of the clever nods and homages tucked away throughout Niagara, and if you’re a fan of Sondheim, you may even readily recognize librettists Thomas Folderauer & Jacob Oswald’s primary inspiration for the narrative trajectory of their show. Folderauer and Oswald toe the fine line of taking a unique idea, based in historical truth, and turning it into an all-encapsulating musical extravaganza, not dissimilar to Sondheim’s Assassins. But it’s not so similar that one might think all they’ve done is lifted the plot structure and slapped a different series of unique individuals on it; think of Niagara as the formulaic brainchild of Folderauer and Oswald, where Sondheim’s inspirational guidebook was the initial outline for their creativity.
Where the musical becomes slightly problematic, with room to grow, is in its essence. There are plenty of moments where both music, lyrics, and text want to be simultaneously ‘gallows humor’ and reverently sobering. These juxtaposing oppositions tug at one another throughout the performance, creating a small identity war for the show as a whole. The subject matter is dark— people who chose, for a plethora of reasons, to jump, fall, ride, etc., over Niagara Falls. There is no denying that. But there is also a deep, albeit dark, vein of humor running through most of the encounters featured in this production and where Folderauer and Oswald’s book falls short is the intersection of these serious moments and the darkly humorous ones.
Folderauer & Oswald have taken a small collection of stories— nearly a dozen historical individuals— and brought them together in a limbo-esque purgatory, confined to the walls of the aforementioned Bridge Street Tavern. It’s brought to the audiences’ attention straight away that these are shades of people who used to live, or ghosts— if you prefer— of those who experienced the fall of the falls. (There was a moment early on where the potential suspense and mystique of not knowing whether or not these were real people or memories/shades/ghosts of real people felt as if it could have been extended further into the play, but by the time the show concludes, you care far less about whether or not you know right from the start that these are ghosts & echoes.) Everyone has a story; everyone tells a tale, or has their tale told for them by the narrative ring-leader character, Jesse Sharp (who unlike in The Balladeer in Assassins does not have to transform into one of the assassins but starts off his existence as “the guy who went over in his kayak.”)
Bringing a variety of musical styles to the production, Thomas Folderauer has gorgeous compositions, which are both unique and bare echoes of Jason Robert Brown, Jonathan Larson, Steven Sondheim, and other great musical theatre composers who have paved the way before him. Folderauer imbues quite a few numbers with a ‘watery’ vibe, for a lack of a better term as nautical doesn’t feel quite right. There are often piano solos featured at the lead-out of one number or the interstitial between numbers that have an aquatic and serene quality to them. Showcasing his versatility, we get shanties, ballads, and even a skeezy jazz number— “Made My Livin’”— all of which come together in this eclectic hodgepodge not unlike the array of quirks found in the featured characters. Here again, in Folderauer’s music and lyrics are where some of the troubled tensions of the show arise. “Forget Me Not”, a ballad-esque number performed by the Charles Stephens character (played by Ethan Brown), has the potential to be deeply moving and equally irreverent (think “Tell Her I Love Her” from Urinetown, disturbing, depressing, and hilarious) but it arrives very early in the musical’s progression and the audience hasn’t had a chance to get their bearings and truly get a feel for where this musical hangs its emotional hat. “Jet-Ski”, on the other hand, as performed by the Robert Overacker character (as played by Elle Gilbert) is clearly meant to be a hilarious send-up, even if the result is one dead falls-plunger.
Folderauer and Oswald put their brilliance on display frequently throughout the production. Calling the chorus (which is everyone when they’re not singing or speaking as their assigned character) the “Daredevils” and including little carefully nuanced musical-theatre easter eggs liberally throughout the production are just two such examples. It isn’t easy to give real-life historical characters the justice the deserve while making them their own creation for the structure of their show that is one place where Folderauer and Oswald do find an exacting balance. At this performance (and perhaps the duration of the run) the role of the sleezy charlatan, Jean Lussier (originally played by Alex Rosinski) is bore up by director Kyle Munro. Every bit as unctuous as the lyrics and text would apply, Munro has the audience loving to hate Jean Lussier, especially during the penultimate number “Encore”, which features Munro channeling his best Lin-Manuel Miranda in an “angels vs devils” shout out where he and Red Hill Sr. (Jacob Miller) duke out advice to second-time-jumper, Kirk Jones (Samuel Boggs.)
There are other points of intrigue that times feel underdeveloped or unclear. “Hold On”, the story belonging to the Nathan Boya character, is bittersweet in sound and verve, but the lyrics don’t clearly explain what exactly his reasoning was for going over the falls. They’re cleverly convoluted, but perhaps too cleverly, not giving enough clarity for all of the beautiful musical Folderauer has composed here. “Jet-Ski”, while truly hilarious, feels like 100% filler (which might even feel purposeful if there was a massive scenic change or costume/character shift on either side of it), though is still arguably worth including if for nothing but the nonsensical levity it brings. Ultimately Folderauer and Oswald have a fascinating thing going and it has a great deal of potential to grow into something that is currently impressive but could be truly remarkable.
While a show about fall-jumpers and Canadian Devils may not seem like it would have much room for dancing, Choreographer Aubrie Dell’Agnese finds a few moments where movement matches the flow of music, and graciously incorporates some simple routines. There is a lot of drunken-shanty style dancing happening at the top of the second act and the amount of choreographed movement that goes into the “Jet-Ski” number is to be applauded. Dell’Agnese doubles up as Sunny, a turtle-companion to George Stathakis, and she performs a beautiful series of interpretive ballet moves (as the turtle) during the “Stathakis Suite.”
The show is chock-a-block with talent, and given the overall youthful age of casting, is a pleasant and welcoming surprise. Musical Director Kelly Stoneberger brings this cast of a banker’s dozen together to create unified sounds, beautiful, blended harmonies, and powerful caries of emotions with great consistency all throughout the performance. When the “Daredevils” are functioning as chorus and ensemble it is as impressive as when they each take their turns to step out and perform a solo or a duet. Some provide great physicality— like Samuel Boggs in his self-determined physical marching during “Climbing The Mountain” (and all the heightened facial expressions and physicality he presents after the truth of his story is revealed in “Encore”)— while others provide great character work, like Kyle Munro as the class-A Swindler, peddling his number “Made My Livin’” like any snake-oil salesman worth their salt.
The narrative burden of the production rests primarily on Jesse Sharp (Roman Adolfs.) Creating this bold persona as he takes up the role of ‘narrative tour-guide’ for those mere mortals unfamiliar with the ultimate peril of the various Daredevils, Adolfs gives us all the laughs and more sobering moments, mostly balanced throughout the performance. When he gets his own solo, “Raincheck”, Adolfs lends clear emotional expression to that song. A great many of the songs feature high-octane emotions— anger, anguish, fear, longing and desperation, as well as all-consuming sorrow— and a great many of the cast do a great job and bringing these emotions to the forefront of their vocal performances. Ethan Brown, Thomas Folderauer, and Collin Graham do this as Charles Stephens, George Stathakis, and Nathan Boya respectively in their respective solo songs— “Forget Me Not”, “Stathakis Suite”, and “Hold On.” Liam Duckworth, as Red. Hill Jr., also does this in his duet, “Not My Own”, a song coupled with the sensational vocal prowess of Jacob Miller as Red Hill Sr.
In one of the most stylistically versatile numbers of the show, “The First Trip” (which in reality should have been called “Queen of the Mist”) Annie Edson Taylor (Faith Folderauer) delivers a hauntingly eerie rendition of ‘falls shanty’ that captivates the audience with all of its lyrical nuance and musical transitions. Bobby Leach (Spencer J Teal) is, by comparison one of the most versatile players on the stage. With a beautiful voice that transports emotions clearly out to the audience all across the farm field, he takes up the role of cantankerous barman, desperate human, and overall enigmatic lost soul. It is fascinating to watch the subtle transitions Teal presents in Bobby Leach’s skin during “Leach’s Lament”, “Raincheck”, and “Leach’s Reprise.”
Vocally sublime, Lilian Stoneberger (whose musical character credit consists of ‘Female Vocalist’…which is a shortcoming on Folderauer & Oswald’s part, as the show even references her as ‘mother of the falls’ at the end, and in an earlier dialogue-only scene, she plays ‘mother’ of Red Hill Jr.) is charged with the perilous task of alighting a spirit in the audience at the top of the second act. Maintaining interest in a brand new musical is a difficult feat on its own, especially after the intermission (let’s not even mention the oppressive humidity and boiling heat!); but this is the time when the average musical theatergoer is craving a familiar tune, an iconic scene, a recognizable— something. And Stoneberger delivers all of that with her hypnotic siren sound, even though the musical is brand new and the character wasn’t apparently even worth naming. “Lelawala”, it could be argued, is the show-stopping number, not only because it has everyone engaging in a spirit-lifting chant, but because Stoneberger’s voice is that sublime glass of crystal clear ice water, soaring through those soprano notes with perfect pitch that feels so good you might be convinced you were sitting in an air-conditioned theatre hearing one of your favorite tunes. Stoneberger becomes this enticing, enchanting, albeit platonic, narrative figure (think the narrator from Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, whose one true love is telling Joseph’s story) in this truly mesmerizing musical number, which invites the audience to experience the beauty and wonder of Niagara Falls (rather than the tragedy and thrill that we’ve been seeing in the show up until this point). The number is even accompanied by some delightful xylophone/glockenspiel sounds that make it the perfect song in the show.
The eyes don’t lie; they never do— Niagara is a cleverly composed and intriguing new musical with a world of possibilities ahead of it and you won’t want to throw away your shot by not being in the field where it first happened this summer. Say goodbye to reality and welcome to the obscene, (and maybe bring your own barrel) for Well Played Theater’s inaugural production.
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes with one intermission
Niagara plays through July 25, 2021 with Well Played Theater at Geckle Farm Theatre— 820 Ridge Road in Finksburg, MD. Tickets are available for purchase at the door or in advance online.
Niagara takes place in an open farm field, your own blanket, or low-rise lawn-chair/camping tent, as well as sunscreen and bug-spray are recommended. Water and other concessions are available for purchase on-site. (Barrels, Rubberspheres, and other fall-overing devices not included or recommended.)
