Looking for the whole: Or was it the hole?

Published in the Portland Phoenix

Two souls, split by the gods centuries ago, must find each other to again become one. In Hedwig and the Angry Inch, one of those souls must search through himself, then herself, and ultimately in both to find peace.

Braden Chapman (producer, director, and actor playing Hedwig) and the cast and crew have transformed the ex-parish hall theater of the St. Lawrence into a rock-concert stadium, complete with video projection, two televisions, strobe lights, and a proscenium stage allowing direct contact with the audience. Two members of the crew sit in the front row, cheering and screaming to make the concert illusion more real.

The story is hilariously poignant, about a German boy, Hansel, whose mother flees to East Berlin as the wall goes up, raising him to believe that being powerless is better than being corrupted by power. Hansel seeks his soulmate and finds an American soldier who makes Hansel get a sex change before marriage, Oedipally taking his mother’s name and becoming Hedwig. After moving to America and divorcing, Hedwig becomes a rock star, and takes under her wing a spoiled, super-religious boy who rises to surpass Hedwig in stardom.

This show, a hit musical and movie worldwide, was adapted for Portland audiences, including a dig at Phoenix editor Sam Pfeifle’s music taste and a nod to the constant presence of Bobby Lipps, the St. Lawrence’s "best friend."

A reference to Hedwig’s attorney brings up — you guessed it — Joe Bornstein, including the jarring chord that always follows that name in the TV ads. Portland police chief Mike Chitwood also takes a hit, as Hedwig asks, "Are there no fascists in the audience?" Finding no audience support, she says, "I am sure I saw your police chief out there somewhere."

Chapman carries the show and even added a number of in-character ad-lib sections on opening night. When he slammed a door so hard the exit sign above it fell down, he immediately seized the opportunity to pitch the St. Lawrence’s fund-raising campaign: "They need your money, folks! It’s falling apart!" A German transsexual rocker with that kind of presence-of-mind would be invaluable on the St. Lawrence capital campaign.

And then, realizing that a missing exit sign violated the fire code, Chapman gave a brief safety lecture: "Two lights means ‘exit.’ "

Sadly, and perhaps as a result of on-stage audio monitor problems (the subject of yet another ad-lib) Chapman’s singing is almost completely drowned out by the musicians — particularly drummer Ryan Gill — who pound out their songs like any self-respecting punk band should. After a check of the lyrics online, it is clear my sneaking suspicion was true: Major plot events and character development occur in the songs.

This means the audience must wait through the music, knowing something is missing, and try to catch up when Hedwig speaks again. Perhaps this adaptation, which Chapman has so clearly immersed himself in and made his own, would have been even better if it was "unplugged" in the MTV style.

It is an unapologetic production from its opening words: "Ladies and gentlemen, whether you like it or not — Hedwig!" And as such, it does well, with hilarious costumes (recreated by the costume designer for the show’s 1998 New York debut), outrageous dancing, and thought-provoking questions like "Can two people actually become one, and if it happens on the Autobahn, can we still use the diamond lane?"

The audience is truly a part of this show, as at any rock concert. Chapman startles several people with brief, seated "cameos." He is outrageous and dynamic, making even the act of putting a microphone back on its stand sexual. And he carries off a key moment powerfully, when Hedwig smashes herself with tomatoes (under her shirt as fake breasts), marking herself with a scarlet symbol of betrayal.

As much as Chapman dominates, there is a character who acts as the foil for all of Hedwig’s plans. The barely recognizable Lynne McGhee (in long black wig, with a goatee), plays the Serbian Jew transvestite Yitzak, Hedwig’s second husband, who sings a bitter song of betrayal with sarcasm and power, and generally adds to the amusing mayhem on stage.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Written by John Cameron Mitchell. Music and lyrics by Stephen Trask. Directed by Braden Chapman. With Braden Chapman and Lynne McGhee. By the Glitterati Theatre Company, at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, Portland, through Aug. 3. Call (207) 775-5568.

BACKSTAGE

• Nothing hurts more than abandonment, so shame on Michael Howard, director of Macbeth by the Stage at Spring Point, for not even showing up the day after the Phoenix panned the show. Was he crying in his beer or looking for a new job? If that’s how he treats his actors, cut him off from both.

• The Food Chain, a farce about society’s idea of beauty, is back at Portland Stage’s Studio Theater from July 25 through July 27, at 8 p.m. Tickets are pay-what-you-can ($15 suggested). Proceeds will improve the Studio Theater space, including comfier seats! The show’s September run was among the Phoenix’s most memorable theatrical moments of 2002.

• The Camden Civic Theatre is accepting play and musical submissions from directors for its 2004 season. For more information, call Ron Hawkes at (207) 239-2092. Deadline is August 8.

Coke bust near S.P. school

Published in the Current and the American Journal

Two 25-year-olds were arrested July 9 on charges of trafficking in cocaine in a home at 566 Ocean Street, just a few doors away from the Hamlin School in South Portland.

A search of the house resulted in the seizure of three handguns, two rifles, a shotgun, several magazines and rounds of ammunition, $8,100 in cash, two scales, seven drug-packaging plastic bags, three tablets of OxyContin “packaged for resale,” methadone and a crack pipe.

The house is “well within the 1,000 feet” drug-free school zone required by state law, said Scott Pelletier, a supervising special agent with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, which conducted a search at the home and arrested the two people living there.

Mark Morin and Cheryl Gallant were arrested and have been charged with felony aggravated trafficking in cocaine-related drugs. Both have posted bail. Their cases will go before a Cumberland County Grand Jury next month, Pelletier said.

Morin and Gallant had left the home as MDEA agents and South Portland police were preparing to enter the home, just before 9:30 p.m., July 9. The pair was driving away in Morin’s Chevrolet Suburban when the vehicle was stopped. They were each found in possession of “an amount of crack cocaine.”

The warrant was served shortly thereafter. Agents had made special arrangements for entering the home unannounced, as they were expecting children to be in the home. “There are children there routinely,” Pelletier said.

There were none, and the kids are now “with their mothers,” Pelletier said.

In late May, an anonymous informant told South Portland Detective Steven Webster, assigned to the MDEA, that Morin was “selling cocaine base in the Greater Portland area,” according to the search warrant filed in Portland District Court.

The informant told him Morin “was known to move frequently” and usually carried a handgun when making drug deals.

On July 2, a second informant told Webster Morin was “selling in excess of one ounce of cocaine base per day” and was also “trading cocaine base for guns.”

The source, who said Morin had recently gotten three friends addicted to cocaine, also told Webster that Morin had an “extremely vicious” pit bull.

It was so vicious, in fact, that a South Portland police officer, investigating an unrelated July 4 complaint that the pit bull had attacked someone, had to shoot at the dog to turn away an attack himself. The shot missed, and the dog was unhurt.

On July 9, the day of residential trash collection in the neighborhood, police searched the trash from 566 Ocean Street and found 11 filters “used when smoking cocaine base or crack cocaine,” 10 plastic bags “commonly used for packaging drugs for sale,” four sandwich bags “that appeared to have cocaine residue” and one of which tested positive for cocaine in a field test, two used hypodermic needles and a plastic crack pipe, according to court documents.

Webster then applied for a search warrant allowing unannounced entry during nighttime hours because, the warrant states, cocaine evidence could be destroyed if the entry was announced, and because of fear Morin “may use deadly or non-deadly force in resistance.”

Guimond appointed new S.P. fire chief

Published in the Current and the American Journal

Kevin Guimond of Cape Elizabeth, a 16-year veteran of the South Portland Fire Department, is the new South Portland fire chief, replacing John True Jr., who retired in April after 10 years in the top slot and 35 years in firefighting.

Deputy Chief Miles Haskell has been acting chief in the interim and will continue as deputy chief. City Manager Jeff Jordan said 11 people applied for the job, mostly from Greater Portland, with “a handful” from within the South Portland Fire Department.

One of those was Westbrook Fire Chief Gary Littlefield, who told this newspaper he had interviewed for the job.

Jordan called Guimond, 36, who up until now was a lieutenant with the department, “a real bright guy” with a lot of experience. He is a paramedic level instructor who “has really been a part of a lot of major decisions” in the department, including the West End Fire Station committee and the decision to consolidate fire and police dispatching, Jordan said.

Guimond found out about his new job Friday afternoon and was “excited” about the decision. He wants to “continue the path we’re on,” with cross training to give firefighters other skills, including emergency medicine and hazardous materials handling.

He said he is interested in the department’s conversation about sharing services with Cape Elizabeth, but “it’s got to be the right fit.”

“Our call companies are running really well,” Guimond said. One way to improve them could be to share staff. “Neither community has enough call staff,” he said.

Guimond, who also is a part-time paramedic with the Cape Elizabeth Rescue, could be a good candidate to bridge any gaps between the departments, which already share an extensive mutual-aid agreement.

He will “take a little break” from his work in Cape Elizabeth to focus on his new job, but hopes to be able to be involved there.

Lightning strikes: Energetic performances Grease Arundel Barn's wheels

Published in the Portland Phoenix

Starting with a back-flipping entrance by Danny Zuko (Brad Bass), Grease is off to a dynamic run at the Arundel Barn Playhouse. The cast clearly has fun, and the excitement is contagious as cast and audience together relive senior year at Rydell High.

The show revisits the days when kids could make zip guns in school, restroom machines sold four condoms for a quarter, and enlisting in the military didn’t qualify you for welfare. This is a ’50s piece, and there is a desire to remain true to the original, but given the number of young children in the audience, having characters even fake smoking seems questionable.

It is a fun play about life in high school, with some important lessons for those who wish to hear: Peer pressure is compelling, being true to yourself is better than being a tease, ridicule hurts, and dropping out of school is a bad idea.

Perhaps, though, the biggest lesson of an adult production of Grease are the contrasts between it and the more common high-school performances based on the same script. Miss Lynch (Mary Jo Keffer) is an excellent tipsy teacher, raising a glass each time she appears on stage. DJ Vince Fontaine (Jim Appleby) is a leering and lecherous older man, who makes out at the prom just like any of the students. Appleby also plays the Teen Angel, who delivers a stern and dark lecture for wayward youth.

And an entire song is restored from the original, one usually not seen in high school: Roger (Daniel Petrotta) sings the hilarious love ballad " Mooning, " which is either about staring at the evening sky or showing off young bare bottoms in public.

It is in " Mooning " and many of the other songs that the choreography really shows what Grease is about. There is flirty touching and peeking, as well as strong grinding and suggestive body language no principal would permit in the auditorium.

The girls, led by Ellen Domingos (as Betty Rizzo) and Kendra Doyle (as Sandy Dumbrowski), dance and sing their hearts out. The Burger Palace Boys dance, too, in a macho style that at times includes push-ups. Ryland Shelton (as Sonny) is the smoothest mover, but Bass (as Danny) is the star of these dance numbers, performing Elvis moves and a twisting round-off across the entire stage.

On opening night Bass literally danced his pants off at the prom, splitting the crotch of his trousers from stem to stern in a display that cracked up the entire cast as well as the audience. Admirably, the cast covered the situation while remaining in character, and had the presence of mind to let the moment ride, stopping the show as everyone — Bass included — collapsed laughing.

Petrotta (as Roger) retained the composure to ad-lib as the scene ended: Dancing with his sweetheart and " making conversation " the way awkward teens will, he said, " I split my pants one time, but not in front of an audience. "

It is truly a musical, with good harmony and a great three-piece band including two local students, Asher Platts from USM and Michael Whiston from Kennebunk High School. In a theater with no amplification, they made music that was easy to hear but did not overpower the singing, except when the singers’ voices themselves were especially weak (most notably Douglas Ullman Jr. as Doody, who just plain could not be heard). Again Bass stole the show with an excellent range and strong voice that conveyed those most high school of emotions: angst, unrequited love, and hope.

It is also a play, however, with character development and spoken performances throughout. A choice to have simultaneous and separate scenes from time to time showed the distance — despite interrelations — between the characters, and putting Miss Lynch and Vince Fontaine on as side shows during scene changes kept the action moving well.

The set was also cleverly simple yet versatile, going from high-school auditorium stage to playground to cafeteria and then the larger-than-life car, Greased Lightning.

In one sense, it is easy to play to a stereotype, but clearly these actors take their work seriously. Most are based in New York and were cast during auditions there. It is the sign of an excellent director that the actors have fun on stage, and enjoy the disco ball as much as the audience.

Grease
Written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Directed and choreographed by Robert Jay Cronin. With Brad Bass and Kendra Doyle. At the Arundel Barn Playhouse, in Arundel, through July 19. Call (207) 985-5552.

BACKSTAGE

• What’s better than an outdoor performance of Hair? One at a field named for the Hindu word meaning " I salute your inner spirit. " Peace and Love Productions is putting on the show at Namaste Field in Acton, each weekend from July 12 through August 10. Profits support charities Peace Action Maine and MoveOn.org. Call (207) 490-1210. (Leave the kids home: Hair contains nudity, strong language, and unkempt manes.)

• Generic Theater opens the Players’ Ring’s summer late-night series July 11 through 13. These shows are late — starting at 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and Sunday at 9:30 p.m. One play is Skillful Maneuvers by Dover native Mark Towle, following a detective examining a tornado-wrecked crime scene. A monologue, written and performed by Portsmouth’s Roland Goodbody, looks back 30 years at a chance encounter with a Woman on a Train.

Voters will decide GAN

Published in the American Journal

A Scarborough-wide petition drive has gathered enough signatures to force a referendum vote on the Great American Neighborhood contract zone passed June 19 by the Town Council.

The election is expected to be set for July 29, though the formal scheduling will not occur until the July 16 council meeting, which will also include a public hearing on the 397-unit, cluster housing project in Dunstan.

Because of the high school construction, polls will be at Wentworth Intermediate School.

Those opposed to the project, calling themselves NoGAN, needed to get 2,014 signatures of registered voters on a petition requesting a referendum on the project, now called Dunstan Crossing. The deadline was July 9, but things went very quickly.

“We had 2,400 (signatures) in the first six days,” said organizer Deb Greenwich. Knowing that some would be invalidated because the signers were not registered Scarborough voters, organizers kept the drive going, and turned in a total of 3,370 signatures as of the American Journal’s deadline. More were expected.

Town Clerk Yolande Justice and her staff validated only the minimum number, confirming Tuesday afternoon that there were enough.

“We’ve really pulled the town people together,” said organizer Lisa Douglas. “We like our town being a town and don’t want it to be a miniurban area.”

To make the referendum valid, 2,014 voters must turn out to actually vote. To that end, Douglas, Greenwich and others will be calling people who signed the petition, to remind them of the date and location of the election.

A“yes” vote on the ballot question upholds the council’s decision to allow the project, and a “no” vote overturns it.

GAN Developer Elliott Chamberlain said Tuesday, “I’m not totally shocked,” about the number of signatures gathered, but added he doesn’t think that every signature represents a “no” vote.

Asked how he was going to respond to the referendum, Chamberlain said, “I don’t really have any defined plans. I’ve never been through this process.”

Justice is already seeking election clerks to work July 29, expecting the election to be scheduled for that date.

The large “vote here” banner normally hanging over Gorham Road outside the high school on voting days will be hung up at the tennis courts near the entrance to Wentworth, to remind passers-by that voting is going on.