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Eliseo Román, L.E. Barone, Matt McGrath, Sam Heldt, Ellen Harvey, Jorrel Javier and Felicia Finley star in 'Fall Springs' at Barrington Stage Company. Photo by Daniel Rader

Review: 'Fall Springs' is a Musical With a Message

By Nancy SalzGuest Column
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Can a musical comedy convey a serious message?
 
"South Pacific" addresses race relations and WWII while also making us smile with "There's Nothing Like A Dame" and "Honey Bun."

Combining two approaches is the difficult goal of the promising new musical "Fall Springs," which is having its world premiere at the Barrington Stage. And they manage to pull it off. Not perfectly, but well enough to provide a very entertaining evening in the theater.

"Fall Springs" is best described as a serious farce – with the themes of fracking, science versus disbelief,  and age versus youth. Confused? Perhaps this description of the fantasy plot will help.

The tiny town of Fall Springs sits atop earthly springs of essential oils, which are starting to run dry. The head of a local company that makes its money off of the springs, one Beverly Cushman (the very funny Ellen Harvey) wants even more profits and hires a fracking company to pump water into the ground to increase the output of the springs. Cue the earthquakes, which grow larger and more frequent as the show progresses. Boom. Hiss.
And yes, the entire theater does shake. The mayor of the town (a wonderfully smarmy Matt McGrath) insists there's nothing to worry about, but Eloise, his nerdy, scientist daughter, (Alyse Alan Louis, a real find with a great, big voice) has the data to prove otherwise. She talks only in science-speak, but we get her drift.

All of the earthquakes and the quicksand they produce are happening just as the town is about to celebrate its semi-centennial. On the celebration dais are the older generation – who, for reasons unexplained, are all single parents. These include Roberto Mariposa (Eliseo Román) who studied dance his entire life; the mayor; the aforementioned greedy Beverly; and a woman named Veronica Mitford (a sexy Felicia Finley), who, other than being the mother of a more important character, has no role that makes much sense.

The younger generation, in addition to the eyeglass-wearing, blond-with-braids Eloise, are all members of the same rock band. There's the base player, Felix (a tall, thin and truly wonderful Evan Hansen-like teenager complete with striped t-shirt named Sam Heidt), who has trouble finding the courage to ask Eloise out; Cooper Mitford, the drummer in the band, (another wonderfully funny actor and singer named Jorrel Javier) and Vera Mariposa, a lesbian guitar player in a "one lesbian town" (a talented newcomer just out of college named L.E. Barone. she is the only non-equity member of the cast).


Into this mishmash of characters at the end of Act I enters another, Noland Wolanske, a derelict who was a former professor of geology and a now unfunded member of the U.S. Geological Survey. He supports Eloise and her scientific data. (Ken Marks makes the most of this confusing character.)

Eventually the town is about to sink – and Eloise and her data save all the people. I don't want to say anymore and spoil the ending.

Peter Sinn Nachtrieb is responsible for the book and collaborated with the composer on the lyrics. He has written some very funny lines. But the book is still a wee bit confusing. It's hard to know at the start of the "Fall Springs" that the show is a farce, even with the actor's exaggerated movements.

Nikos Tsakalakos composed the music and also wrote the lyrics.  A few of the songs have terrific melodies. "Gimme Science" and "The Base Player's Lament" express character and are both showstoppers. Others have tunes that are somewhat forgettable. But the lyrics! Those are witty and meaningful. If only I could have understood more of them. At times I wished for supertitles. A message to the cast members: Enunciate!

Tim Mackabee is the scenic designer. The town, with its miniature buildings that fall down, is charming. And the mural behind the celebration stage with its drawings if American Indians and the cavalry all surrounded by fracking drills is a real hoot! But the raised Astroturf berm with a rock and well in the center look straight out of a high school production.

Vadim Feichtner is the music supervisor. A five-piece rock band hidden under the stage provides the music. Patrick McCollum choreographed the few dances and moves that work well. Special kudos to Stephen Brackett, the director, who managed to pull together the comedy, the music and the serious message.

Even with its seven years of development and backing of several major theaters in the country, "Fall Springs" still needs some work. That said, it is nevertheless great fun and well worth seeing for the entire family. When it heads to Broadway or Off-Broadway in the near future, you can say "I saw it when..."

"Fall Springs" plays at the Barrington Stage through Aug. 31. Music and Lyrics by Niko Tsakalakos; Book and Lyrics by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb; Directed by Stephen Brackett; Choreographed by Patrick McCollum; Music Supervision  by Vadim Feichtner; Music Direction by Mike Pettry; Scenic Design by Tim Mackabee; Costume Design by Emily Rebholz; Lighting Design by David Lander; Sound Design by Josh Millican. With L. E. Barone, Felicia Finley, Ellen Harvey, Sam Heidt, Jorrel Javier, Alyse Alan Louise, Ken Marks, Matt McGrath, Eliseo Román.

Tags: Barrington Stage,   

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Crosby/Conte Statement of Interest Gets OK From Council

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Architect Carl Franceschi and Superintendent Joseph Curtis address the City Council on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With the approval of all necessary bodies, the school district will submit a statement of interest for a combined build on the site of Crosby Elementary School.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave Superintendent Joseph Curtis the green light for the SOI to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 12.

"The statement I would make is we should have learned by our mistakes in the past," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"Twenty years ago, we could have built a wastewater treatment plant a lot cheaper than we could a couple of years ago and we can wait 10 years and get in line to build a new school or we can start now and, hopefully, when we get into that process and be able to do it cheaper then we can do a decade from now."

The proposal rebuilds Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities, as both have outdated campuses, insufficient layouts, and need significant repair. A rough timeline shows a feasibility study in 2026 with design and construction ranging from 2027 to 2028.

Following the SOI, the next step would be a feasibility study to determine the specific needs and parameters of the project, costing about $1.5 million and partially covered by the state. There is a potential for 80 percent reimbursement through the MSBA, who will decide on the project by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, city officials took a tour of both schools — some were shocked at the conditions students are learning in.

Silvio O. Conte Community School, built in 1974, is a 69,500 square foot open-concept facility that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s but the quad classroom layout poses educational and security risks.  John C. Crosby Elementary School, built in 1962, is about 69,800 square feet and was built as a junior high school so several aspects had to be adapted for elementary use.

Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said the walkthrough was "striking" at points, particularly at Conte, and had her thinking there was no way she would want her child educated there. She recognized that not everyone has the ability to choose where their child goes to school and "we need to do better."

"The two facilities that we are looking at I think are a great place to start," she said.

"As the Ward 6 councilor, this is where my residents and my students are going to school so selfishly yes, I want to see this project happen but looking at how we are educating Pittsfield students, this is going to give us a big bang for our buck and it's going to help improve the educational experience of a vast group of students in our city."

During the tour, Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, saw where it could be difficult to pay attention in an open classroom with so much going on and imagined the struggle for students.

Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said, "we cannot afford not to do this" because the city needs schools that people want their children to attend.

"I know that every financial decision we make is tough but we have to figure this out. If the roof on your house were crumbling in, you'd have to figure it out and that's where we're at and we can't afford to wait any longer," she said.

"We can't afford for the sake of the children going to our schools, for the sake of our city that we want to see grow so we have to build a city where people want to go."

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso, who served on the School Building Needs Commission for about 18 years, pointed out that the panel identified a need to address Conte in 2008.

Curtis addressed questions about the fate of Conte if the build were to happen, explaining that it could be kept as an active space for community use, house the Eagle Academy or the Adult Learning Center, or house the central offices.

School attendance zones are a point of discussion for the entire school district and for this project.

"At one time I think we had 36 school buildings and now we have essentially 12 and then it would go down again but in a thoughtful way," Curtis said.

Currently, eight attendance zones designate where a student will go to elementary school. Part of the vision is to collapse those zones into three with hopes of building a plan that incorporates partner schools in each attendance zone.

"I think that going from eight schools to three would be easier to maintain and I think it would make more sense but in order to get there we will have to build these buildings and we will have to spend money," Kavey said, hoping that the city would receive the 80 percent reimbursement it is vying for.

This plan for West Street, which is subject to change, has the potential to house grades pre-kindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another with both having their own identities and administrations. 

The districtwide vision for middle school students is to divide all students into a grade five and six school and a grade seven and eight school to ensure equity.

"The vagueness of what that looks like is worrisome to some folks that I have talked to," Lampiasi said.

Curtis emphasized that these changes would have to be voted on by the School Committee and include public input.

"We've talked about it conceptually just to illustrate a possible grade span allocation," he said. "No decisions have been made at all by the School Committee, even the grade-span proposals."

School Committee Chair William Cameron said it is civic duty of the committee and council to move forward with the SOI.
 
He explained that when seven of the city's schools were renovated in the late 1990s, the community schools were only 25 years old and Crosby was 35 years old.  The commonwealth did not deem them to be sorely in need of renovation or replacement.
 
"Now 25 years later, Crosby is physically decrepit and an eyesore. It houses students ages three to 11 in a facility meant for use by teenagers,"
 
"Conte and Morningside opened in the mid-1970s. They were built as then state-of-the-art schools featuring large elongated rectangles of open instructional space. Over almost half a century, these physical arrangements have proven to be inadequate for teaching core academic skills effectively to students, many of whom need extra services and a distraction-free environment if they are to realize their full academic potential."
 
He said  the proposal addresses a serious problem in the "economically poorest, most ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse area" of the city.
 
Cameron added that these facilities have been deemed unsatisfactory and need to be replaced as part of the project to reimagine how the city can best meet the educational needs of its students.  He said it is the local government's job to move this project forward to ensure that children learn in an environment that is conducive to their thriving academically.
 
"The process of meeting this responsibility needs to begin here tonight," he said.
 
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