22 NORTHLAND NEWS May 7,1997 ENTERTAINMENT Otterbein’s ‘Cabaret’ is an impressive production, but misses emotional mark touching. By DENNIS THOMPSON Although a more sinister edge might have added an As Em.st Ludwig, Damon Suburban News Theater Critic interesting depth to hi.s per­ Decker is chillingly ominous. Otterbein College Theatre formance, he is mischievous Marianne Timmons is un­ celebrates a milestone with an wi^h a fluid physicality. abashedly sexy as Fraulein elaborate production of The most fun part of the Kost, the rooming house Cabaret marking their 500th evening is Dysart, Amy boarder who entertains a bevy production. McAlexander and Katie Pees’ of sailors. This is a production that lively and naughty rendition of Romer’s direction is most stunning in the moments that impresses more than it en­ Two Ladies. gages. As Sally Bowles, Emily end each act. Cabaret, set in pre-World Cotton give a vivacious per­ The tableau that ends the first War 11 Berlin, illustrates the REVIEW formance, the most consistent act has the company innocently decadence of Germany in the injection of pure energy in a starting Tomorrow Belonits To days before the Nazis came to production filled with energy. Me and gradually leading it into an unmistakable Nazi mani- ptower. ioned an elegant production. Oddly, by the time she gets festo with Bradshaw and In many ways a sad musi­ to her big number she seems Schneider isolated on one side, cal, Cabaret sets the tone of The attention to detail in the staging of the large cast in the just about spent. Thus, the Bowles and Scultz on the other. a fun, carefree city, then slow­ .song we’ve all been waiting Kit Kat Club scenes is most The final hauntingly dis­ ly shows us the growing threat for, Cabaret, comes off flat. impressive. cordant tableau of the Nazi of the Nazi regime and its But, that should not detract takeover is breathtaking in its , effect on the characters. Stella Kan’s choreography from an otherwise vivid ! There are two intertwining along with Craig Johnson’s power. perfonnance. Both finale’s are theatri­ stories. musical direction, a strong orchestra, and Stephen Mon­ Clifford Bradshaw is the cality at its best, visually strik­ One concerns Cliff Brad­ straight role and Aaron Ramey shaw, a struggling American roe’s vocal direction have cre­ ing and deeply moving. ated robust musical numbers. looks the part with handsome Which highlights a nagging writer, and his relationship young hero type looks. with Sally Bowles, a flam­ From the snazzy, tiered club thought about this production. He has a great singing voice boyant singer with the Kit Kat to a circular staircase, a train These two moments are quite and plays the role earnestly, Club. compartment that folds into gripping, but stand out as the but comes off as stiff. The other involves an old­ the stage to a muted brown exception. er couple, Fraulein Schenider, earthtone apartment, Rob Brent Tomer is sweet and This is a strong, well-paced a boarding house proprietor, Johnson’s multi-leveled set sheepish as Herr Schultz, con­ extravagant production, well- and Herr Schultz, a Jewish design is remarkable. necting well with Heidi Letz- cast and performed. It is pol­ grocer. As the master of ceremo­ mann’s solid performance as ished and professional, lovely Director Dennis Romer, nies, Eric Dysart initially Fraulein Schneider. to listen to and to watch. with extensive creative and appears too youthful in his Their courtship scene when Yet it rarely draws us in emo­ technical support, has fash- manner. he brings her a pineapple is tionally. We watch more with a sense of detached admiration than personal involvement. Otterbein College Theatre's Cabaret continues Thursday through Sunday at 8 p.m. through May 10 at Cowan Hall, 30 S. Grove St., in West­ erville. Tickets are $14 Friday and Saturday and $12 Thurs­ day. For more information call 823- 1109. / (HiftfehinbiisDispiadi Page 7 F

‘Cabaret’ puts young cast to the test ■ Theater Revi^K By Scott PhHIps an element of sophistication and a the Kit Kat Club’s Master cf Cere­ Cabaret, Otterbein College Theatre For The Dispatch Weltanschauung ttet is beyond the monies with an intensity more than and Department of Music’s student Otterbein College Theatre’s reach of most undergraduate actors. equaled by his considerable talents production of the Kander and Ebb production of Cabaret is more than Even so, the ensemble does a as a singer and dancer. Dysart musical. Directed by Dennis Romer, fine job with Kander’s score, and just another spring musical. shines in numbers such as Tivo La­ Master of Ceremonies...... Eric Dysart some performances are memorable. The show, which opened at dies and the mammon-worshiping Clifford Bradshaw...... Aaron Ramey At Wednesday’s final dress preview. Cowan Hall last night, marks the Money. Sally Bowles...... Emily Cotton Cotton had some difficulty hitting nationally known theater program’s Stella Kane’s choreography cap­ Fraulein Schneider... Heidi Letzmann 500th pi^uction. the high notes, but she is fetching tures all the sleazy sexuality of the and ofon poignant in her portrayal. Herr Schultz...... Brent Tomer Cabaret is certainly no cakewalk Berlin nightclub scene, and Ruth Ernst Ludwig...... Damon Decker for a college cast Adapted in 1966 by Ramey’s strength is his singing Boyd’s costumes are a tribute to her voice, admirably showcased in Per­ Goose steps and garters author Joe Masteroff, lyricist Fred talents as an artist and designer. Ebb and composer John lender fectly Marvelous and Why Should I Rob Johnson’s set is surprisingly Being presented at 8 tonight and Wo/ce Up? (from John van Druten’s play I Am a flexible, given its use of large pieces. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday — Heidi Letzmann and Brent Camera), the show proves a formid­ ■ The whole of Otterbein’s Ca­ through May 10 — in Cowan Hall, Tomer give competent character able challenge for director Dennis baret may be less than the sum of its 30 S. Grove St., Westerville. tu^ as Clifford’s landlady; Frau- Romer’s ensemble. parts, but the parts that work make Tickets cost $12 and $14. Call 823- lein Schneider, and her Jewish gen- Presented in conjunction with it worth seeing. 1109. tleman-fiiend, Herr Schultz. Otterbein’s Department of Music, Happy 500th, Otterbein. Eric Dysart taddes the role of Cabaret centers on an affair between British chanteuse Sally Bowles (Emily Cotton) and American writer Clifford Bradshaw (Aaron Ramey), two expatriates living amid the socid turmoO of pre-Nazi Berlin. Alternating between scenes at Clifford’s boardinghouse and the no­ torious Kit Kat Club, a popular nightspot. Cabaret darkly contrasts the gloomy realities of late Weimar Germany with the Kit Kat’s frenetic decadence. As the country’s consciousness becomes ever more infected with Nazi ideolo^, Clifford finds it in­ creasingly difficult to remain apoliti­ cal. As the social situation in Berlin disintegrates, so does his relation­ ship with the now-pregnant Sally. Romer does his b^t to convey the sense of impending doom, which must hang in the ether of any suc­ cessful production of Cabaret. In this instance, however, success requires Life missing from this ‘Cabaret’ 1 By Scott Phillips For The Disputch characters is almost nil. ^ ^ I As the enigmatic Emcee, Ashley V The Sound of Music notwith­ Theater review D. Sergent has some good moments, , particularly in Two Ladies, a gleeful standing, Cabaret is almost certainly ■ Gallery Players will present tribute to the delights of a menage a the best musical ever written that Cabaret at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, trois, and If You Could See Her, dur­ has Nazis in it 8 p.m. Saturday. 2:30 p.m. Sunday— ing which he dances with a gorilla in Columbus audiences, however, and 8 p.m. Nov. 6,7:30 p.m. Nov. 14 a burlesque of miscegenation be­ might soon have reason to feel they and 2:30 p.m. Nov. 17—at the Leo tween an Aryan and a Jew. are being Cabaret-eA to death — Ot- Yassenoff Jewish Community But Sergent never goes over the College Theatre performed Center's Roth/Resler Theatre, 1125 top in the way that the role demands, the Tony award-winning show a cou­ College Ave. Tickets cost $18, or $12 ple of years ago. Gallery Players is and he often seems overwhelmed by for members. Call614-231-2731 Musical Director Jeffrey D. Hamm’s staging it now and a Broadway tour­ Ext. 248. ing revival will arrive in 2000. seven-piece band. . But a good restaging of this dis­ Overall, the cast is at its best ’ when they perform as an ensemble, ’ concerting musical — with its deca­ the sexy unmentionables of the Kit dent mise en scene (based on John such as the numbers featuring the Kat chorus to the period street cloth­ Kit Kat Girls or the Emcee and the Van Druten’s I Am a Camera), Fred ing of the club% patrons and Brad­ Ebb’s acerbic lyrics and John waiters’ romantically fascist Tomor­ shaw’s roomii g house acquain­ Kander’s discordant music-hall score row Belongs to Me. tances, are color ully spectacular. In fairness, it should be men­ — is always worth seeing. Unfortunatel r, the performances Set during the death throes of the tioned that the opening-night crowd are disappoint ng. As Bradshaw’s Weimar Republic in-the early 1930s, at the Leo Yassenoff Jewish Commu- i lover, the Britsh chanteuse Sally nity Center rewarded the Cabaret Cabaret offers a metaphor for the Bowles, Steph; aie Raye Lancaster social sickness that left Germany cast with a standing ovation, al­ does not posse: s the required vocal though that particular honorific is so vulnerable to the insidious seduction range, and pote itially show-stopping of National Socialism. overused anymore that it is effective­ tunes such as t le title song Cabaret ly meaningless. Seen through the eyes of Ameri­ and the slyly ^ggestive Don't Tell can writer Clifford Bradshaw (Mark Despite the obvious enthusiasm Mama lose mucSof their punch. of Saturday night’s audience. Gallery Bernhardt), Berlin is a city on the Bernhardt’s | Bradshaw treats Players’ Cabaret came across much brink of political apocalypse. The Bowles more like a college room­ decadent Kit Kat Club seives as a like the chest of a Weimar flapper mate than a lover. As a result, the richly attired but disappointingly microcosm of the greater calamity sexual tension between the ’ two occurring in the streets; it is a place ' where a dissolute and apathetic pub­ lic comes to pick up sexual partners, soak up gratuitously vulgar enter­ tainment and otherwise fiddle while Rome bums. Galleiy Players' Pamela Hill has j directed a revival that is visually handsome but fails to capitalize on ' the rich material afforded by Kander and Ebb. Stephanie R. Gerckens’ set literal­ ly uses the glitzy Kit Kat Club, set on the stage apron, as a frame of refer­ ence for the more quotidian scenes in Bradshaw s boarding house, set through the picture frame of a re­ cessed pro.sc’enium arch. Provided by a commercial cos­ tume company, the costumes, from STILL ON STAGE Otterbein’s‘Cadtaref beats Players’ Excerpts FROM THEATER REVIEWS BY Richard Ades of God, presented by Reality (see Agenda): _ , j Funny. I don’t remember Cabaret “Yes, Michele Cuomo gives a skilled being this raunchy. performance as Agnes, a naive young The dancers certainly didn’t bump Theater nun who’s suspected of secretly giving and grind this provocatively when birth: and then killing the baby. But Players Theatre staged the musical in RICHARD APES Cupmo initially plays Agnes like a 1993. Or maybe it’s just that their cranky little girl, destroying the aura of moves didn’t seem so shocking spiritual mystery.” because they took place at the Riffe After Dysart’s Emcee, the most con­ “And yes, Vicky Welsh Bra^g gives Center instead of in conservative, tee- vincing performance is given by Heidi Let- a great performance as Agnes s mother totaling Westerville. You know how zmann as Cliff s pragmatic, middle-aged superior. But look at the play she s sitcoms never seem so tasteless as landlady. Unfortunately, she also gave wasting the performance on.” when you’re watching them with your the most uneven performance on opening “John Pielmeier’s 1980 drama is parents? Same difference. night, apparently losing her concentration just not a satisfying piece of work.” At any rate, Otterbein’s 500th pro­ during Act II. But when she was good, she Forever Plaid, presented by duction is not only raunchier but bet­ was very good, both speaking and singing CATCO (see Agenda): ter overall than the show that turned numbers such as the pragmatic and ten­ “I’d hoped I could just appreciate the out to be one of Players’ last produc­ Raunchy moves, chilling moments: Emily Cot­ der So What. n u T u classic tunes and just ignore the tions. Director Dennis Romer keeps Aiding the actors’ efforts are Rob John­ lightweight humor in between. What ton and Eric Dysart in Cabaret the tone more consistently dark than son’s handsome, revolving set and Ruth made it impossible was the 'hi:^or’ Ed Graczyk did in ’93. That’s appropri­ Boyd’s witty, dark-toned costumes. didn’t always stay in between.” ate considering the story pirouettes their anti-Semitic ways along with theni. While more consistent performances As their influence grows, not even the Kit “Imagine; You’re all set to enjoy around the rise of Naziism in Berlin, 19z9. would help this Cabaret, I have to admit it Chain Gan^ or Moments to Remember It begins as Cliff> an American novelist, Kat Club can escape the rising tide of prej­ still probably wouldn’t excite me that when you find out you’re expected to arrives in the German capital and is udice and intimidation. much. After seeing Bob Fosse’s brilliant It’s when the action wanders into the laugh because a quartet member has immediately befriended by Ludwig, a 1972 film interpretation, the 1966 Tony club that Otterbein’s production is at its screwed up his dance steps. AndJ-t smuggler, and Sally Bowles, a singer at winner just seems too dated and imper­ best. That’s partly because of the deli­ wasn’t that funny the first time." the tacky Kit Kat Club. Sally and Cliff are sonal to be as chilling as it should be. ciously slutty Kit Kat Girls but mostly The Road to Mecca presented by soon setting up housekeeping with finan­ Besides, both times I’ve seen Cabaret on cial help from Ludwig. because of Eric Dysart’s amazing perfor­ Red Herring (see Agenda); mance as the Emcee. Singing, dancing the stage, the most chilling moment was an . “South Africa’s now-dismantled sys­ But before Cliff can surrender himselt unintentional one. It cEime after the to domestic bliss, signs of gathering and grinning with feline mischievousness, tem of racial oppression still haunts Emcee’s dance with an ape in a tutu a this fact-based story.” storms appear. 'The Nazis are beginning he’s a nonstop marvel. hilarious number in the Otterbein version. 'The scenes outside the club sometimes “Since her husband died ye^ ago, their drive to take over Germany, towing The pas de deux ends with an anti- work and other times don’t. Blame, in Helen has spent her days putting Semitic punch line, meant to show that part, a couple of actors whose effective­ together a fanciful version of Mecca out- Nazi prejudices are beginning to seep into sideher house. Nowshe’sbeingpres- INFO ness varies from scene to scene. the Kit Kat Club. But at each production I Aaron Ramey is always low-key likable sured to move into a senior citizens saw, the audience greeted the insult with Olterbein College Theatre will present Coborefat as Cliff, but Emily Cotton plays Sally too home run by the local church.” laughter rather than a gasp. 8 p.m. today through Saturday in Cowan Hall, 30 over-the-top to win the audience’s sympa­ “The play and the production are Either the Emcee needs to try a differ­ S. Grove St., Westerville. Running time: 2-1 /2 thy. As a singer. Cotton shines brightly just good enough to hold our attention ^ during her naughty delivery of Don t Tell ent delivery of the line, or audiences while leaving our emotions untouched.” hours in two acts. Tickets are $ 12 today, $14 Fri­ should be required to revisit Schindler’s Mama but later fails to generate sparks day and Saturday. 823-1109. List before coming to the theater. with the show’s title number. OHIO news bureau INC. CLEVELAND, OHIO 44115 216/241-0675

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nr.T-2B-99 Nonnal people and insane times are more interesting

seem to like C.b.r.t a little more Schelb and Dianna Ball avoid 3tereot;^e8 tally or emotionally disturbed. Rebecca I seem to like Cabaret a little more _8 a smuggler with questionable politics begins by describing an old lover who was every time I see it. Maybe that’s because abusive and later recalls scenes that are each production I see is a little better than and a prostitute who becomes Cliffs neighbor. odd and increasingly horrifying. Yet it’s the one that preceded it. not clear whether any of her memories are nt.tj^rhein College staged a lively Over at the Kit Kat Klub, Equity actor real. Cabaret in 1997. though it wasn't good RICHARD ADES Ashley Sergent earns his pay by creating an Emcee who sings and dances enter­ David Fawcett is less successful as enough to change my opinion that Bob Devlin, who at times appears to be Fosse's "2 film adaptation is superior to tainingly while allowing us a glimpse of which places most of the non-Kit Kat the humanity under the greasepaint. In Rebecca's therapist. The man attempts to the theatrical original. draw her out, but it quickly becomes Now, after seeing Gallery Players’ pro­ action on a mini-stage in the middle of the fact, one of the subtle charms of Hill’s pro­ club. This underscores the Kit Kat's con­ duction is that all of the club s .staff mem­ apparent that he's not approaching the duction at the Leo Yassenoff -Jewish Com­ task as an objective healer. The main munity Center, 1 still think Fosse’s ver-_ nection to the outside world, which bers—Emcee. waiters and Kit Kit Girls— becomes all too clear as the plot unfolds. are recognizably human. It’s one more roblem with Fawcett's approach is that sion is best. But I do have a new apprecia­ e overdoes the man’s manipulative tion of the stage show’s emotional poten­ The most obvious shortcoming of the way that Hill re-creates an insane E production is that Mark Bernhardt and moment in history without turning the nature, making him a cardboard cad. tial, along with a renewed appreciation of Pinter's play is on the surface a portrait director Pamela Hill’s talent. Stephanie Raye Lancaster develop little participants into mindless robots. chemistry as Cliff and Sally, who become This is not a perfect Cabaret. The of a male-female power struggle in which Hill—the guiding light behind sevei^ the woman has ceded all her advantages local triumphs, including last year’s Fid- a couple soon after they meet. Both char­ absence of sparks between Cliff and Sally acters are a bit bland, particularly Lan­ weakens the finale. <\l30, fans of Fosse s except the ability to ignore hard ques­ dleron iheKoo/'atthe Yassenoff—turns tions. As the woman tells her story, it then the musical into a coherent portrait of a caster’s Sally, though the actress does dis­ brilliant choreography will probably be play a singing voice that’s strong enough ^ disappointed by the simple dancing they offers up images that could be taken from city declining its way toward Naziism. the Holocaust. Since, however, the woman Productions of Cabaret often empha­ to do a decent job on such John Kander- see here. Fred Ebb tunes as the title song and Don't Nevertheless, Hill and her cast and is too young to have experienced that__ size the decadence of pre-World War II tragedy, the source of her ■‘memories' Berlin, as symbolized by the sleazy Kit Tell Mama. crew have succeeded in filling Berlin with Making up for the weakness of the real people, and in doing so they’ve made remains unknown. Kat Klub where American writer Cliff While Pinter’s plays often leave first meets singer Sally Bowles. The mes­ show’s younger couple, Dianna Ball and the danger that approaches the city a^ Rich Unger are marvelous as Cliffs wid­ source of honest, heartfelt grief. That s threads hanging out, his better works cre­ sage seems to be that sexual amorality is ate situations that seem emotionally com­ setting the stage for Hitler's brand of owed landlady and her suitor, a Jewish something not even Fosse could pull off. fruit vendor named Schultz. The two play plete. That can't be said for Ashes to political immorality. Ashes. Hill’s production, however, has a differ­ their parts just right, handling the comic scenes without veering into cuteness, and IfthisWomenatPlayproductionis ^ ent feel that is probably more historically So what’s the answer? worthwhile, it’s mainly due to Stanlake’s accurate. Her Kit Kat Klub is less glitzy the dramatic scenes without wading into sentimentality. Women at Play has taken on a Harold assured performance as a woman suffer­ than it’s usually portrayed, while the ing from demons that remain unknowable. boarding house where Clifford takes up In important supporting roles, Jon Pinter play of uneven worth and staged it residence is borderline decrepit. Could it with uneven results. be that poverty, rather than sin. is what INFO Deftly directed by Katherine Burkman leaves Cabarefs Berlin open to Hitler’s at a pace that makes room for the trade­ INFO message of hate? Considering the action Gal»y v4 CoborW iKfough Nor, 7 rt mark Pinter pauses, Ashes to Ashes is Women ot Ploy will present Aj/tes to Ai/ies of 8 takes place at the beginning of the Great i»leoYoM«noffi»wiiliCo«»TMiifyC«rter,n25Col- at least diverting. After it’s over, though, p.m. todoyondSoturJoyand2p.m. Sundoyolihe Depression (1929-30), it’s an easy theory Ugt Ai^. on 7:30 p.iTL TKondoyi, 8 p.m. S* you wonder if you haven't been presented Ohio Stott Universtfy Hillel Center. 40 E. 1Ave. to buy. urdoy> and 2:30 p.m. Sundayt Running tinw: 2 hoon, 35 with a puzzle that annoyingly has no solu­ Running time: 50 minutes. Tickets ore $10, $5 lor stu­ A major contribution to the cohesive­ mirwtw linduding intormisMon). fidwharsSlS, $16lw tion. dents seniors. Volet parking ovoiloWe. 457-6580. ness of Hill's production is made by scnion, $5lDrsludeni>. 237-5223, ExI 2d0. Christy Stanlake is masterful as k Stephanie Gerckens’s scenic design. Rebecca, a woman who seems to be men- OHIO NEWS BUREAU INC. CLEVELAND, OHIO 44115 216/241-0675

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MRY~l-97 Designer takes fresh a to each show By Mkhael Chossberg, the director.” Lhspalch Theater Critic Boyd designed about 100 costumes for Otterbein’s WWkommen ... bienvenue 1.. welcome „ __ 36-member cast Most were made fiom scratch under colorful world of costume designer liuth Boyd. the supervision of Mard Hain in Otterbein’s costume shop, but the Tyrolean dresses, lederfmsen and a fur coat Boyd is celebrating her 25th year as a designer by were borrowed finm Boyd’s 1993 CabareL costuming Cabaret, which opens toni^t as a collabora­ tion of Qtterfaein College’s Theater and Music depart­ Details, details ments. Over the years, Boyd has learned to pay attention to “A costume designer is not in the fashion business,” the details “that make it so correct” sakl Boyd, who has designed more than 100 shows for In Cabaret, theatergoers should keep their eyes Players Theatre»Columbu^ Otterbein, Theatre Lancas­ peeled for ^oves with sequins, hats with fringe and ter, the Susan Van Pelt Dance E ______jackets with multicolored wool cuffs. semble and Phoenix Theatre ■ Otterbein College’s nieater and “I very much enjoy putting in a children’s troupe. Mnsic departments will present added detos that only the most “Some shows need to be Cabaret at 7:30 tonight, 8 p.m. knowledgeable or the sharpest eyes fill — but Cabaret mainly needs to Friday and Saturday and 2 p.ni. will notice,” Boyd said. decadent and shocking,” she said. Sund^ — through May 10 — in For singer Sally Bowles, Boyd Ruth Boyd Set in and around Berlin’s Cowan HaU, 30 S. Grove St, Wes­ fashioned a purse out of a velvet terville. Tic^ts cost $12 and $14. ish Kit Kat Club in the early 1930i scarf. “Sally is a free ^artt, so you composer John Kander and lyri, CaU 823-1109. can add s^ tn-ho’ street dothes Boyd honed her craft Fred Ebb’s Tony-wnning musical “ that other people might not wear.” drama places a seedy show-biz milieu and doomed Boyd views the costumer’s job as hdpng to fulfill on the Players team romance against the sinister rise of Adolf Hitler’s the director’s vision. For this Cabaret, she worked Costume designer Ruth Boydl National Sooalist Party. closely with Romer, choreographer Stella Hiatt Kane praises Ed Graczyk as her mentor. “Except for the waiters’ bright-red jackets, there and lighting designer Dana White. Of Boyd’s fct 50 or so shows, are no bright colors in the show,” Boyd said. She and Boyd added “all sorts of hidden pockets” to Bowles' most were staged by now-defunct director Dennis Romer agreed on a darker color scheme Money dress “so she’ll be able to have money wherever Players Theatre Columbus under, blending burgundies, gold^ deep greens and blacks. Stella wants her to put it in and take it out” Graczyk’s staging or artistic direc­ tion. Boyd admires Cabaret more than some musicals White vetoed only one of Boyd’s suggested colors — “Ed taught me to see things because “it’s not ail glitz, fun and games.” “a weird shade of green” — because it faded too much from a stage, and not be afraid of She also appreciates the opportunity to mbc “show” under the lights. putting patterns together as tex­ clothes and period street clothes. Among Boyd’s recent credits: Otterbein’s Six De­ ture,” Boyd said. “You can use your imagination more in Cabaret grees of Separation, Picasso Does My Maps and The Her first show was a 1972 because you can try things that people would not World Goes Round and Phoenix’s Winnie the Pooh. Players Club production of Toys in ordinarily wear,” she said. Little Women and YeUaw Dog. the Attk, stamng Bette Spiro, Boyd has costumed Cabaret before — for Players in During the past year, Boyd has become Phoenix’s Strouss and .Jackie Bates. ^ a jittering 1993 production in the Riffe Center’s Cs^itol regular costume designer. She likes children’s produc­ Among her favorite Players’ de- Theatre — but she refuses to repeat herself. tions because they usually allow much bolder use of ; signs: To Kill a Mockinylnrd, Angel, color. and three of Graczyk’s original “That was a brighter, glitzier show, somewhat different in approach; to is darker.” Boyd, who began sewing as a little girl, still is works; A Couniry Christmas Carol, attract^ by the colors and textures of costumes — and A Murder of Ctvws and the 1976 “When I costume a show a second time, I want it not the deeper, “more jeweled” the tone, the better. premiere and 1991 revival of Came only to look different, but also to be an improvement over Back to the 5 (X Dime, Jimmy Dean, my former work. ... I want the costumes to do a better “Unless it’s called for,” she said, “I’m not ordinarily ^Jimmy Dean. job of serving the overall concept of the playwright and a pastel person.”