Word: morland
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...local textile mills and, once in a while, politics. Most of the whites at the cafe describe themselves as evangelical Christians who support a strong military and a balanced budget. A real Reaganite bunch? Think again. "I don't always like the Democrats who run for President," says Bill Morland, 36, a burly telephone lineman, "but it was pretty clear to me from the get-go that Ronald Reagan was out to make the rich folks richer...
Company is the story of Robert (Mark Morland), a single man amidst the five couples who are his best friends and who compete for his attention as they try to marry him off. Director Betsy King is expert, coordinating several simultaneous actions on stage. The stage itself, for instance, contains four or five different apartment interiors at all times...
...Morland plays the leading role with a casual coordination and energetic stage presence approaching that of Dick Van Dyke at his best moments, leading the rest of the cast in the opening song. "Company." At the end of the musical, in the full company number, "Being Alive," he radiates, making meaningful and heartfelt a song that teeters on the brink of pure schmaltz. He is also competent delivering comic spoken lines, "smiling even as he dies from drinking boiled orange juice," for example. His solo numbers, however, while still satisfactory, are a little hoarse by Saturday's late performance...
...choral backup, swells the musical numbers and fills in the gaps with an unflagging stream of beautiful singing. Equally indefatigable was the professional performance of Laurence Sobel on the piano, with Rich Dikeman on an electric keyboard that provided ice-skating-rink music to humorous effect. Led by Morland, the cast rejuvenates for the last song, "Company," and launches a high-energy, Broadway-type finale to a 100-percent fun show...
...emperor: his physical authority and voice really hold the stage. As Catherine, Pippins's final love. Susan Power conveys warms and sincerity, and on the opposite end of the scale. Ann Henry's Fastrada captures well the brashly devious and comic nature of her role Mark Morland (as Lewis) and Celia Jaffe (as Berthe, Pippin's aunt) are also very funny, and all the Players perform effectively...