10/13/2011 - West Side Leader
By David Ritchey
“I never thought his music would be that relevant, today.” With these words, a woman expressed her reaction to “Woody Guthrie’s American Song,” which is on stage at Actors’ Summit Theater.
The production follows the history of the United States from the early 1930s, the Great Depression, the dust bowl and record-setting unemployment through World War II, the union movement and the deporting of Mexican nationals. Now, as my fellow audience member said, “I never thought his music would be that relevant, today.”
Guthrie hopped trains and rode as a hobo across this country. He was married three times and fathered eight children.
Peter Glazer (conceived and adapted the script), Jeff Waxman (orchestrations and vocal arrangements) and Michael Anderson (musical direction) helped bring Guthrie’s music to relevance again.
Some of his songs were tied to specific events in this country. For example, he wrote “Grand Coulee Dam” (the building of the dam provided employment for many), “Union Maid” (the union movement in America) and “The Sinking of the Rueben James” (the first American ship sunk by the enemy at the start of World War II).
Other songs dealt with the human condition: “Dust Storm Disaster,” “Dust Bowl Refugee,” “Pastures of Plenty” and “Deportee.”
Glazer held Guthrie’s biggest success, “This Land Is Your Land,” for the end of the show, when the cast invited the audience to sing along.
Director Neil Thackaberry developed an ensemble company without singling out any one performer to be a star. Each of the eight-member company had solos and most played instruments. The cast includes MaryJo Alexander (vocals), Ryan Anderson (vocals, bass, guitar), Scott Davis (vocals, banjo), Sally Groth (vocals, fiddle), Dana Hart (vocals, guitar, mandolin, penny whistle), Mark Leach (vocals, guitar), Emma Pieth (vocals, fiddle, mandolin) and Keith Stevens (vocals).
For the most part, the men in the production are dressed alike: dark pants, dark shirt, a vest and a fedora. They took turns playing Guthrie, sometimes interrupting each other to continue another performer’s line. The women wore dark clothing and seemed to have stepped out of the classic photographs of the dust bowl era.
One of the most interesting cast members is Pieth, a seventh-grader at Miller South School for the Visual and Performing Arts. She plays the violin and sings and holds her own as a musician and actress with the older, more experienced performers. She also was in both summer productions performed by the Ohio Shakespeare Festival at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens.
The adult members of the cast sing and play musical instruments and bring Guthrie’s music to life and relevance on the stage.
This is a sound production, as solid as Guthrie’s music. This production with songs out of the heartland of America deserves the attention of those who like theater, music and who might want to dabble in political science, for this is a political production.
“Woody Guthrie’s American Song” will continue in Actors’ Summit through Oct. 30. Fans of Guthrie’s music should call 330-374-7568 for ticket information.
David Ritchey has a Ph.D. in communications and is a professor of communications at The University of Akron. He is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
