Back in the days of the Great Depression, Americans found some relief at the movies, especially when a musical comedy was heading the bill. One of the really big cinematic hits of 1933 was a musical which survived that depression and, in the current “slump,: is still a great way to lift your spirits.

“42^nd Street” is now live and currently on stage at The Barn Theatre in Kalamazoo, Mich., where the all-singing, all-dancing, all-comedy show opened the 2013 season Tuesday evening under the direction of Hans Friederichs.

OK. The dialogue written by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble for the 1980 Tony Award-winning Best Musical (and Tony-winning Best Revival in 2001) is happily as consistently corny as the plot, but the score by Harry Warren and Al Dublin is wonderfully familiar and contains songs that have become a part of the Great American Songbook.

It’s time to suspend disbelief — bigtime!

Maybe you won’t believe that little Peggy Sawyer (Melissa Cotton) from Allentown, Pa., could come to New York and immediately land in the chorus of a new musical “Pretty Lady,” being produced and directed by Broadway legend Julian Marsh (Eric Parker). The show is his chance to overcome a series of flops and he is forced to accept fading diva Dorothy Brock (Penelope Alex) as its leading lady because her boyfriend, Kiddie Kar King Abner Dillon (Roy Brown), is bankrolling the production.

Maybe it seems improbable that Dorothy breaks her ankle the night before opening and Peggy is the only one who can replace her. Can she learn 25 pages of dialogue, 10 dance numbers and six songs in 36 hours? Hey, this is show business. Of course she can!

In the journey from first rehearsal to opening night, The Barn company throws itself — bodies and voices — into the improbable scenario. The result is two hours and 15 minutes (including intermission) of fun, with a good deal of the credit going to Amy Harpenau who not only plays Anytime Annie but is choreographer for the tap numbers that just keep coming and coming and coming. From solo to quartet to entire ensemble, it is the rhythm of tap shoes that sets the pace for “42^nd Street” and, to some degree or other, EVERYBODY TAPS most especially in the glitzy first act finale “We’re In the Money,” the second act show stopper “Lullaby of Broadway” and the all-out title tune. Difficult not to sing along!

Cotton contributes a major share and does it well, not that tap dancing ever looks easy but she makes it look like fun. With her is the show’s co-choreographer, Jamey Grisham, who plays Billy Lawlor, egotistic tenor and self-styled ladies’ man. Two of the production’s show-stopping numbers are in the feet of a quartet of girls — Jillian Weimer, Hannah Eakin, Harpenau and Cotton — who dance to lunch, to the station and to Broadway without missing a beat.

Bethany Edlund and Steven Lee Burright are Maggie Jones and Bert Barry, show writers and comedians. Gregory Thomas Grimes is Andy Lee, the hardworking and frequently frustrated dance director.

The source of his frustration is two fold: the star and the director. Alex, a veteran of many fast-paced Barn farces, is an expert at giving a line just the right twist at just the right time. Her physical comedy is featured perfectly in the feathery fiasco that is the “Shadow Waltz.”

Parker, another Barn veteran, blusters his way through a role that requires going over the top. He has one of the show’s most repeated and most famous lines. Giving Peggy a final pep talk before her hurried debut, he declares “You are going out there a youngster, but you have got to come back a star.”

The only sour note (or notes) in this production come from the pit and the seven piece orchestra under the direction of pianist Matt Shabala. Too frequently too loud and with too many bad notes to make any suggestion of its being well-rehearsed difficult to believe, it is hoped that this group will get it together not only for this show but for the rest of the nearly-all musical season.

“42^nd STREET” plays through June 23 in the theater on M-96 between Galesburg and Augusta. For reservation and performance times, call (269) 731-4121 or visit www.barntheatre.com

The debate between religion and science has never been so hilariously handled as it is in “End Days,” the comedy by Deborah Zoe Laufer which opened Friday evening in South Bend Civic Theatre’s Warner Studio Theatre.

Have no fear that this is a ponderous philosophical discussion between studious opponents. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the laughs come so quickly and frequently it’s difficult to describe the dysfunctions of the Stein family — and neighbor Nelson Steinberg — as any kind of a debate.

Excepting that the idiosyncrasies of the individuals begin to take on familiar— if not rings, then dingles, as they state/plead/demand attention to views that seem at firsdiametrically opposed but which, by the end (which really is the beginning), seem not so far apart.

The premise is ridiculous but unsettlingly familiar. Sylvia Stein (Andrea Smiddy-Schlagel) is a Jew who has converted and found a personal relationship with Jesus (Arthur Gilchrist). He brings her coffee and chats with her in the living room. She is certain the Rapture is coming soon and is determined to take this saving message not only to husband Arthur (Tucker Curtis) and daughter Rachel (Isabelle Gilchrist) but also to the rest of the unsaved population. To this end, she and Jesus head out daily to distribute pamphlets and recruit possible converts in front of the XXX video store.

Arthur has not been out of his pajamas (or out of the condo) in many, many months. He cannot motivate himself to do anything but sleep and promise to go grocery shopping (or do anything else) “tomorrow.” Meanwhile the cupboards are, literally, empty, a fact which upsets Rachel to no end. She isolates herself from her parents and any peers until a new neighbor, Nelson Steinberg (Avery Worrell), appears at the door dressed as Elvis and bringing a guitar and a song for Rachel.

Nelson is nothing if not persistent and, in the process of talking non-stop, being positive and looking at every suggestion as “fun,” he discovers a bond with Rachel — math and science — most especially the writings of Stephen Hawking (also Arthur Gilchrist). That wheelchair-bound scientist, it seems, chats with Rachel whenever she takes a “smoking” break. The teens bond over Nelson’s knowledge of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna and the Large Hadron Collider, facts which break the ice with the heretofore uninterested Rachel. (OK. I looked them up!)

Nelson is a Catholic turned to Judaism for the stepfather who adopted him. He is studying for his bar mitzvah. His attempts at reciting Torah strike a chord with Arthur, who volunteers to help with pronunciation.

The winds of change are in the air but can Sylvia get/keep the family together, especially now that she has determined the date for the Rapture (“It’s Wednesday”). If she can’t, will she stay with them? And what will happen if it comes? Or…if it doesn’t come?

These are some of the hilariously weighty problems solved or, at least, brought to compromise, in “End Days.”

Director Sara Bartlett has very successfully accomplished a most difficult task for any director — assembling the right cast. Considering that two of the major characters are high school students, this could not have been easy. In Gilchrist and Worrell she hit the jackpot!

The duo (he will be a sophomore and she, a freshman at Clay High School) could not be easier and more believable in their roles. He is the wonderfully annoying nudge who blossoms into a saving grace. She is so determinedly icy that there is no doubt a large fire is simmering just below the problem-filled surface.

Curtis and Smiddy-Schlagel take roles way outside the box and turn them into anybody’s parents. He is ridden with guilt for surviving his 65 employees and she is wracked with fear that she will be unworthy or alone when the end comes. Both are uncomfortably — but undeniably — human.

Arthur Gilchrist goes from Jesus to Hawking with a twist of his hair and a flip of his motorized wheelchair and handles both persona quite well.

No matter how you think it all will end, watching “End Days” will definitely give you hope— and a lot of laughs!

“END DAYS” will be presented Wednesday through Sunday in the Warner Studio Theatre (open seating) at South Bend Civic Theatre, 403 N. Main Street, South Bend. For reservations, call 234-1112 or visit www.sbct.org

Wagon Wheel Theatre opened its 2013 season Wednesday evening with a monster musical aimed at the child in all of us.

“Shrek The Musical” is based on the 2001 Dreamworks film which evolved from William Steig’s 1990 fairytale picture book “Shrek!” There has been little lost in the translations, this one with book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire and music by Jeanine Tesori. The theatrical version, however, leans more obviously on the theme of being yourself and proud of it, no matter what.

Under the direction of Scott Michaels, who also is choreographer, the talented cast throws itself energetically into the tale of the swamp-dwelling ogre who winds up with a princess in spite of himself.

There is no question that this production, in addition to the aforementioned talented cast, is helped into the winner’s circle by the amazing outfits designed and built by WW resident costumer Stephen R. Hollenbeck. From the first appearance of young Shrek to the rousing finale in which EVERYONE (and there are many) sings and dances, the outstanding costumes just keep coming.

Almost every ensemble member plays at least two roles and, in the process, dons many outfits. The four principal players — Shrek (Matthew Janisse), Princess Fiona (Alexandra Howley), Donkey (Jared Howelton) and Lord Farquaad (David Schlumpf) — pretty much stick with one costume excepting Farquaad who displays several knightly robes. Around them are Fairytale Creatures, villagers, guards and royal personages and, no matter the on-stage time for each, their ensembles — clothes and wigs — are carefully crafted, down to the last detail.

It must be said, however, that costumes, no matter how excellent, do not a musical make. The entire package must contain actors who can sing and/or singers who can act and an ensemble that can sing and dance. At WW, the entire package is there!

Guess it’s not necessary to say that recreating animated movie characters cannot be the easiest thing in the theatrical world. Especially since most of them have incredibly distinctive voices and bodies. Not to worry. Janisse delivers a wonderfully grumpy ogre, green head, horn-shaped ears and all. His rough insistence on a solitary life obviously hides an unhappy hermit and his big baritone goes from blustery to balmy with ease. Howelton has the daunting task of recreating Eddie Murphy’s Donkey and he rises vigorously to the challenge! At times. his non-stop verbal barrage is very difficult to understand, although I’m not sure total clarity is necessary as there is never a doubt as to his meaning!

Howley creates a strong and feisty Fiona, waiting more and more impatiently for rescue by the “love of her life,” whoever that may be. Her determinedly cheery “Morning Person” is a tribute to all those who wake up laughing and her one-up-ogre/female battle with Shrek (“I Think I Got You”) earned sustained laughter, especially from the younger audience members and definitely not just because of the lyrics but because of two other areas in which they “compete” which have nothing to do with singing.

I have to admit that my very favorite character in this “Shrek” is the teeny, tiny Lord Farquaad, the character I was most certain would not be duplicated with any success, given its vertical challenge. Was I wrong!

From his first entrance “marching” up a WW ramp, Schlumpf was an audience favorite. Snarling or sporting a singularly smarmy smile, he was the villain you love to hate and I, for one, wished the character had more stage time (although I’m not sure his knees could stand it). Crossing his stubby “legs,” shouting orders to his cowering knights and villagers or dreaming up a self-serving plot to capture the crown, he was delightfully evil. His hilariously revealing “Ballad of Farquaad” was a highlight of the second act.

Again, Michaels’ choreography amazes, given the limited area available for dance. He and his dancers turn it into a ballroom or, at least, a studio space. Also again, credit goes to the always-supportive never-overpowering WW orchestra led by conductor Thomas N. Stirling. The multi-location set design by David Lepor and Ray Zupp creates just the right fairy tale feeling, augmented by Sehallah Cristobal’s frequently twinkling lighting design.

And last, but NEVER least, is the big (and I mean BIG) pink dragon, moved into almost-reality by black-clad handlers a la “War Horse.” The Jurassic creature’s vocal prowess is courtesy of Sarah Jackson, seen only as Shrek’s Mama Ogre. It’s appearance is another of the “how do they do that?” moments that happen frequently at the Wheel!

One word of caution: the running time of “Shrek The Musical” is just under three hours.

”SHREK THE MUSICAL” plays tonight and Sunday and Tuesday through Saturday in the theater at 2517 E. Centre Street, Warsaw. For reservations, call 267-8041 or visit www.wagonwheeltheatre.com

The truth is, no one can resist gawking at a disaster, the bloodier the better. We just can’t look away.

This may be one of the reasons audiences are fascinated by the incredibly dysfunctional interactions of the Westons of Pawhuska, Okla., the extended family in Tracy Letts’ Tony Award/Pulitzer Prize-winning play “August: Osage County” which opened Friday evening in South Bend Civic Theatre’s Wilson Mainstage Auditorium.

As the 31/2 hour drama (or comedy, could not decide which was more prevalent) unfolds, I kept hoping that the next character to enter set designer David Chudzynski’s amazing two-story house (plus front porch and attic) would have a least one redeeming quality.

No such luck.

The fairly mild atmosphere of the prologue during which Weston patriarch Beverly (Paul Hanft) interviews prospective live-in cook/caregiver Johnna Monevata (Lisa Blodgett), disappears quickly as the poet/professor lists his wife’s prescription drugs of choice — “Valium, Vicadin, Darvon, Darvocet, Percodan, Percocet, Xanax for fun, Oxycontin in a pinch, Black Mollies and Dilaudid.”

“She takes pills,” he says, explaining their “marital contract,” “and I drink.”

That’s putting it mildly.

Immediately after that, Beverly disappears, an act which leads to the family gathering and results, after the official report of his drowning, in a wake to end all wakes.

Gathering around mother Violet (Mary Toll) are daughters Barbara (Lucinda Moriarty), Ivy (Julie Hoven) and Karen (Seyhan Kilic); Barbara’s husband Bill Fordham (Mark Moriarty) and their daughter Jean, 14 (Stacie Jensen); Karen’s fiancé Steve Heidebrecht (Scot Shepley); Violet’s sister Mattie Fae Aiken (Leigh Taylor) and her husband Charlie (Douglas Streich) and son Little Charles (Scott Jackson). Sheriff Don Gilbeau (Brian Kozlowski), a former beau of Barbara’s, delivers the fatal news.

Each of the individuals, married or single and hoping, is battling his/her own set of demons but no one delivers lethal barbs with such intentionally destructive accuracy as the deliberately evil Violet. She targets everyone. No one escapes. She delights in taking out her own misery on everyone around her. Even the lack of air-conditioning is explained by Beverly who tells Johnna “My wife is cold-blooded and not just in the metaphorical sense.”

The comparison to a deadly reptile is well taken.

Alcoholism, drug addiction, adultery and sexual deviation are all just below the surface. As Violet continues to pick away at hidden secrets, all eventually come to light, and no one takes greater delight in revealing them than the lethal mater familias!

It is difficult to believe that anyone would submit to Violet’s poisonous diatribes but it is more than difficult to look away as, one by one, she destroys every chance of relationships with — and for — her daughters and, eventually, for herself. At the last, no one in the audience has a shred of sympathy.

As noted earlier, Chudzinski has put the high and wide proscenium to excellent use. Aided by Kevin Dreyer’s lighting design, it provides the perfect background for the many moods that emerge amid the stifling heat of Oklahoma in August.

Outstanding in director Aaron Nichols excellent cast are Taylor as the domineering Mattie Fae, Streich as her peace-at-(almost)all-costs husband, Jackson as their spineless son and Hoven as his too-close-for-comfort lover. They are uncomfortably believable as are the real-life-married Moriartys playing the secretly-separated Fordhams and Jensen as their 14-going-on-25 pot-smoking daughter. Shepley’s oily outsider is skin-crawling making Kilic’s refusal to accept his obvious reality understandably heartbreaking.

The source of all their neuroses is Violet. As played by Toll, she is always in “attack mode” and appallingly indifferent to the chaos she creates and the heartbreak she deliberately inflicts.

Looking back as the final darkness descends, one can only echo Barbara’s statement to Jean: “Thank God we can’t tell the future. We’d never get out of bed.”

“AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY” plays at 7:30 p.m. today through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday in the theater at 403 N. Main Street, South Bend. For reservations, call 234-1112 or visit www.sbct.org.