Stage Review - Harvey (Centerstage Theatre)
Stage Review - Harvey
Presented By: Centerstage Theatre - Federal Way, WA
Show Run: October 04 - October 27, 2024
Date Reviewed: Sunday, October 06, 2024 (Opening Weekend)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
What is normal? When you see someone with traits that don’t readily fit into your preconceived definition of what this “normal” is, does it affect how you treat them? Or if their reality is slightly askew from yours, what impact does that have on your opinion or view of the individual? That’s exactly what Harvey, the 1944 play from writer Mary Chase, endeavors to explore. Elwood P. Dowd is a man, like any other man, well except for the fact that his best friend is an invisible white rabbit who stands north of 6-feet tall. Otherwise Elwood is a man of excess positivity, treating everyone as though they are his friend, never judging and never looking at anyone else as though they are “different”, when in fact it appears in the piece that everyone is so different from him. But what happens when his positivity, and the friendship that he has with Harvey, the name of said white rabbit, starts to impact others in a way that is life altering? Harvey takes what can be described as a Miracle on 34th Street view of Elwood and his relationship with the play’s namesake. Just because others can’t see Harvey, does that really mean he isn’t there? If his impact is felt by others, how can anyone honestly say that Harvey doesn’t exist? The story of Elwood, his rabbit Harvey, his social climbing sister Veta and her young daughter Myrtle, and their attempt to put Elwood into an institution to remove him and his distraction from their lives, is so intriguing and timeless that after it premiered on Broadway in November of 1944 and closed five years later, it was revived there as it was in London’s West End after its opening there in 1949. It’s been made into a feature film and has been the subject of many a regional theatre production, including two in our region, both running simultaneously, in October. Centerstage Theatre, in Federal Way, has chosen Harvey as its opener for the 2024-25 theatre season in a production directed by Vince Brady and featuring Dean Wilson as the ultra-positive Elwood P. Dowd. The show runs on their stage through October 27 and is a fun and lighthearted look at how we view each other in our humanity.
The piece itself plays like a farce, it’s situation a bit fantastical of course and that provides some of the humor, but it’s definitely humor with a heart. And while it plays like a farce, it doesn’t really fit into that category. Most of the comedy is character driven, not through the delivery mechanisms of a traditional farce, so I might call this “farce-adjacent”. Elwood is looked upon by everyone as an outsider, even within his own family, but he doesn’t get it. Everything to him is his own reality and is factual, though it seems he’s the only one who sees it that way. As the play starts, his sister Veta is holding a dinner party in Elwood’s house, the goal being to have daughter Myrtle mingle and meet someone that can help the pair climb in their social standing. There’s something “off” immediately, though, when Myrtle talks about not being able to bring any gentleman callers to the home at night, and of course that’s all about avoiding Elwood, though not Elwood specifically, it’s more Harvey they are concerned about, and how someone talking to a seemingly invisible rabbit would impact how they’re viewed by others. Their frustration grows when it seems like everything just rolls off of Veta’s brother, how his positivity is just pervasive. The play is deeper than that, though, as the audience learns. It really does investigate the idea of normalcy and what happens when the abnormality about which you’ve been judging someone creeps in your own life. The fact that this is done with such humor is really what makes Harvey stand out.
And to pull this off, and another reason I like to call this farce-adjacent, it requires an ensemble that is strong on timing and precise on delivery. The dialogue is quick, there’s a decent amount of motion, and it requires the actors to keep a straight face while they deal with and talk about situations that are designed to draw a laugh. It also requires a fair bit of playing to the invisible. All of these things are necessary for Harvey to work, and all of these are here in spades in the Centerstage presentation. This starts with Dean Wilson as Elwood P. Dowd. Dean nails this role, he’s oozing with positivity, almost to the point he seems naive to everyone else’s opinion of his character, and the way he interacts with his friend, even tracking him across the room as Harvey moves from chair to chair or space to space is very good. The role requires a believability that Harvey exists in space, and it’s up to Dean to provide that, which he does. There’s a little stage magic that helps with that, too, and that comes down to Niclas Olson’s design and Tuppence Cooney’s work in stage management to make that magic. And on the set design, as I look at things with a critical eye, during the Sunday matinee performance I immediately noticed some gaps in joints between some of the walls, and I remember thinking to myself how unlike the quality that I associate with Niclas’ work that is. But when the set changes from Elwood’s drawing room to Dr. Chumley’s Sanitarium, it all makes sense. The closest thing I can compare that transition to is in a film, when a director changes the aspect ratio of a scene from, say, a traditional 4:3 to 16:9, where the screen widens and it feels more like a landscape. It’s quite impressive how a very well appointed drawing room, with its burgundy wallpaper, books organized in a way that shows the space is lived in, and an overall aesthetic that screams of old money can transfer so quickly into a sterile, stark, and functional medical facility. This set is an impressive piece of work, and works wonderfully in a theatre that doesn’t have a ton of wing space for larger set pieces to roll in and out from.
Aside from Dean’s excellent work as Elwood P. Down, the ensemble is well outfitted with talented actors and very good performances. Sally Brady is Veta Louise Simmons and Cassie Jo Fastabend is her daughter Myrtle Mae. Sally and Cassie Jo not only manage their individual characters well, Veta is the social climbing matriarch, while Myrtle is the daughter in which Veta is placing all of her hopes for a rung up on the ladder, the two of them are so good together. Sally’s Veta is the one leading the charge to get Elwood placed into the sanitarium, she just can’t deal with how he and his friend affect her standing, but when things get tangled and confused at the hospital, Sally’s ability to drive the situational humor is on full display and her timing when Veta interrupts every conversation in which Elwood is about to talk about Harvey is impeccable. At the same time, Cassie Jo’s Myrtle is a great spoiled and sullen daughter, convinced that there’s no way she’ll be able to find a man as long as Harvey is around. It’s also with these two characters where costume designer Krista Lynn Blonski shines as well. Myrtle’s clothing is period accurate and well accessorized, and a special shout out goes to the color coordination of Myrtle’s glasses, that in each case perfectly match her ensemble, the dress for the Act 1 dinner party and the blouse combination with polka dot pants and a matching scarf later on. The costuming extends to the other characters as well, Dale Bowers’ Judge Gaffney, the family lawyer, wears knickers and argyle socks, looking the part of the counselor who spends a decent amount of time on the golf course. Dale has a smaller part than many of the other cast members, though he joins a group of supporting characters that are all important in the storytelling despite their limited time on stage, including family friend and socialite Ethel Chauvenet (Carrie Sleeper-Bowers), Betty Chumley (Pat Sibley), wife of Dr. Chumley, and cabbie E.J. Lofgren, but like everyone in this group, his performance when he is on stage is strong.
The hospital staff is also well outfitted, donning costumes that include a classic nurse’s uniform worn by Nurse Kelly (Karina Becker), as well as the suits and coats that adorn both Dr. Sanderson (Tim Takechi), his boss Dr. Chumley (W. Scott Pinkston), and orderly Duane Wilson (Charlie Stevens). And I’ll tell you, I love the casting and the performances of the team at the sanitarium. Karina’s Nurse Kelly and Tim’s Dr. Sanderson have an….interesting relationship in that there’s more to it than either seems willing to admit, or give into. And on the topic of Dr. Sanderson, the first doctor that Elwood and Veta see at the facility, this may be my favorite role I’ve seen Tim take on over the past few years, and he’s played a number of different character types. His knack for humor through expression here is phenomenal, and he really owns this role. I especially like the way he and Sally’s Veta work together. Nurse Kelly, meanwhile is sexy and a bit bashful, but also skillful at managing the office. Karina is good, but she’s at her best in her playful interactions with Tim’s Dr. Sanderson. Finally, there is Dr. Chumley, head doctor at his sanitarium and more worried about the administration of his hospital than any particular patient, though his introduction to Elwood, and Harvey, most certainly tests that. This is such a well cast show and I love W. Scott Pinkston as Dr. Chumley, a bit gruff at first, but the way he portrays the changes meeting Elwood, and also Harvey, have on him is tremendous. Chumley is a character that evolves through the story, and W. Scott’s performance matches that evolution step for step.
Rounding out the creative team, under Vince Brady’s excellent direction, is Niclas doing double-duty, designing the set along with being responsible for the lighting. Sound on Stage award winner Chelsea “Mo” Moniz did the sound design for Harvey, and when I say that sound and lights are there, but don’t really stand out, I mean that in the best possible way. When a design does what it should, when lights are subtle, or when sounds occur at the right times, that fact alone is a testament to its quality, and each design element, whether it stands out like the set or the costuming, or is more subtle like the lights or sound, comes together to provide a tapestry that stands as an excellent backdrop for the authentically human story that Harvey is.
What is normal? How do we define that, and how do we react when we come across someone who doesn’t fit into our predefined box? That is what Harvey, a human story about a man and his rabbit, and the family to which he is a burden, endeavors to answer. The Centerstage production of Harvey is presented with an ensemble cast that delivers this farce-adjacent story with humor and heart, and a vision from Director Vince Brady that underpins the humanity of this timeless tale.
The Centerstage Theatre production of Harvey runs on stage through October 27. For more information, including tickets, visit https://centerstagetheatre.com/.
Photo credit: Michelle Smith Lewis
