By Dale King
The Delray Square Performing Arts Center has been no stranger to taking risks.
It had no qualms about presenting The Life, a gritty, gutsy tale of life on the streets in Times Square circa the 1980s. Ditto for Piaf, the just-concluded story of the famed French chanteuse whose morality was questionable, and taste for booze and pills obvious.
Now Shenandoah is playing at the cinema-turned-theater in the Delray Square Plaza. A musical — the score is by Gary Geld, the lyrics by Peter Udell — set in the Civil War era, the show doesn’t often see the light of kliegs, despite its bouncy tunes, fancy dance steps and heroic message.
Since it premiered on Broadway in 1975, was revived in 1989 and showed up again at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., in 2006 with actor Scott Bakula in the lead, Shenandoah has earned mixed reviews and given mixed messages to audiences.
But Delray Square’s production is very satisfying. Waldman, whose seasoned professionalism has been showcased since the troupe first poked its head up a decade ago at the old Atlantis Playhouse in Lake Worth, is exceptionally intense as Charlie Anderson. A widower and Virginia farmer, his frequent visits to talk to his late wife Martha at her gravesite give some hint to the depth of his love and devotion. Still, he is quick to raise his fist or pull a gun in defense of his six sons and a daughter.
Shenandoah spreads Charlie’s life before the audience, but doesn’t answer every question. With the Civil War raging, Charlie is steadfastly against joining up – or letting any of his kids get involved in “someone else’s war.” It’s not clear if his defiance is anti-war sentiment or just familial fealty. It doesn’t really matter. Charlie does things his way. He either wins or suffers the consequences, and isn’t afraid to admit his errors.
The plot is multi-faceted, but focuses on Charlie’s search for his son, Robert (Jonathan Eisele), who is captured by Union soldiers. As a result, the family patriarch sets out to find him. In the process, he locates Sam (Derik Lawson), husband of his daughter Jenny (Eliana Ghen), who was also nabbed by Union forces. He only has a moment to revel before other woes befall him.
This production shows steady growth at the venue Waldman and partner Jamison Troutman are reviving as a live playhouse. It still suffers the woes of an unsteady sound system and the lack of a backstage. But for Shenandoah, the budget for sets and costumes seems to have increased. And the sound is more often than not easy on the ears.
Waldman has corralled some excellent actor/singers. Elijah Word, the tall, talented guy who scored so well in Sounds of Simon and The Life, is excellent as Charlie’s son, James. Victoria Lauzun, star of Piaf, brings her stunning voice back to the stage as James’ wife, Anne. Choreographer Ben Solmor has concocted some great dance steps which, combined with the music, make for good entertainment.
But Shenandoah isn’t always fun-filled. Some songs are bouncy, others sad, and the play’s message tends toward sorrow, though the ending is uplifting. The audience can go from foot-tapping to weeping in a moment.
Perhaps the catchiest song is “Next to Lovin’ (I Like Fightin’),” with Charlie’s boys, Eisele, Word, Holden Amory, Abel Cain and Mark Hernandez dancing up a storm to Solmor’s steps.
“We Make a Beautiful Pair” and “Violets and Silver bells” provides an aw-shucks background to the wedding of Sam and Jenny. He is immediately conscripted into the Confederate Army. “It’s a Boy” is actually a misnamed tune for the birth of Anne’s child, a girl. The nuptials are preceded by a “Daddy’s Little Girl”-style song, “The Pickers are Coming,” voiced with a tinge of tears by Waldman.
The tune, “Why am I Me?” questions why someone like Robert, who is white, and Gabriel (Caleb Harmon), who is black, must think they are different when they are really the same. It’s one of the show’s only dips into the racial divide.
The opening song, “Raise the Flag of Dixie,” actually brings in troops from both sides of the Mason-Dixon. Act II opens with “Freedom,” a song variously interpreted to refer to physical and spiritual conditions. Charlie and Jenny get to offer “Papa’s Gonna Make It Right” in separate renditions that present different meanings.
Vickie Anderson is assistant director and helps Solmor with choreography along with Jonathan Eisele. The set, perhaps Delray Square’s best to date, is the work of Alex Fine, Jacob Grant, Richard Forbes and Jonathan Eisele. Waldman and Fine have the lights working just right to evoke various emotions.
Shenandoah is playing through March 1 at the Delray Square Performing Arts Center, 4809 West Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. For tickets, call 561-880-0319 or visit www.DelraySquareArts.com.