Displaying items by tag: Watson Swift

With a powerful script by Jim Cartwright and knockout performances by every cast member, Filament Theatre’s “The Rise and Fall of Little Voice’” is a must-see. Set in the 1960s at a seaside village in northern England, this play about a young woman, LV (Emjoy Gavino), sequestered upstairs in her tidy bedroom, listening to her late father’s voluminous LP vinyl collection of popular chanteuses of the era that were his favorites of his—Edith Piaf, Shirley Bassey, Judy Garland and others.

Downstairs her mother, Marti Hoff (Alexandra Main), a raging alcoholic, usually wearing last night’s heavy makeup and jewelry, flails through the chaotic mess, screaming up the stairs for LV to turn it down, then collapsing on the cluttered couch. The dilapidated domicile features sketchy electrical, which frequently shorts out in showers of sparks. Yet when the power goes down, the music continues and we are treated to a revelation: LV can perfectly mimic the divas she has listened to for hours. And let me say you will be blown away by Emjoy Gavino’s singing.

Central to the achievement, or any performance of this script, is the musical capabilities of LV. How there can be found actors like Gavino who can act, and mimic perfectly a range of divas—her Billy Holiday is unbelievably convincing—well this is the magical mystery of theater and what separates us spectators from those conjuring the spectacle on the other side of the footlights. (Vocal consultant is Jessie Oliver.)

(from left) Ben Veatch, Alexandra Main. Watson Swift, Julia Rowley and Emjoy Gavino

Directed impeccably by Devon de Mayo and Peter G. Anderson, Gift Theatre has mined “The Rise and Fall of Little Voice” for all its dramatic worth. Largely a story of unresolved grief, and how in this case that grief is addressed, is the core of the play. It's a bit like a mash-up of "Glass Menagerie" and :Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf." As Marti Hoff, Main launches into Cartwright’s soliloquies for a very unhappy person, making them soar compellingly, and in convincing Northern British dialect. (Kudos to Dialect Coach Adam Goldstein.) As the villain of this drama, Main’s performance as Hoff earns our sympathy even as we despise her behavior.

(from left) Emjoy Gavino and Martel Manning

LV’s escape from this toxic environment comes through the offices of telephone installer Billy (Martel Manning), a suitor whose bashful advances are a perfect match for the reticent LV (it stands for Little Voice). Manning’s performance is nuanced and compelling.

Emjoy Gavino in Gift Theatre's 'The Rise and Fall of Little Voice' at Filament Theatre

Two larger-than-life characters also figure large in the action: the stage promoter Ray Say (Ben Veath) and the impresario Mr. Boo (Watson Swift), who each turn in outstanding performances. These two engineer a public performance by LV at a local club, and it's a smash—but it causes LV to crash emotionally.

We mustn’t overlook Sadie May (Julia Rowley), Marti Hoff's silently slavish drinking and dancing buddy. Rowley captures the essence of a character living vicariously through another.

From set design (Hannah Clark), costumes (kClare McKelaston) props (Lily Anna Berman), this production of “The Rise and Fall of Little Voice” will bring you on your feet cheering. Running through October 15 at Filament Theatre, 4101 N. Milwaukee in Chicago, it comes highly recommended. Reach the box office here.