A DOG STORY @ The Loft at the Davenport’s Black Box

A Dog Story, music and lyrics by Gayla D. Morgan is a new musical comedy about a career-driven lawyer and his quest to marry a woman in less than a month in order to secure a promotion. The plot left much to be desired and the character development was almost remiss throughout the show until its final moments.

The play was performed in the Loft at the Davenport’s Black Box theatre. The set was clever. Designed by Lauren Mills, it featured large white cabinets on either side of the stage whose cubbies were opened to reveal different signs to signify scene changes and storage for characters to interact with. A Dog Story was choreographed by Shannon Lewis and directed by Justin Baldridge.

Roland (David Perlman) is our career-driven lawyer that is unable to make partner at his firm. From faulty logic, Roland realizes that others have been promoted before him because of their recent marriages. The rest of Perlman’s performance was filled with his attempt to pull more depth out of an otherwise shallow character.

Roland’s best friend, Guy (Brian Ray Norris) is a womanizer that, despite being in his late thirties, acts as if he is scarcely eighteen. His lewd comments and aggressive nature toward women did not come across as endearing--his creepiness did not set well with the audience either. Norris was unable to harness many defining moments.

Guy and Roland make a trip out to the Hamptons where Guy believes Roland will find his wife, but he must “get a dog!” first. Shortly after his endeavor of obtaining his new companion, he is in pursuit of Blair (Stefanie Brown), a beautiful hedge fund manager that Roland believes is perfect for him. Brown was captivating when she was on stage.

Lastly, realizing that Blair will never love him if his dog misbehaves, Roland hires MIranda (Lindsie VanWinkle) to train his new puppy. VanWinkle is faced with a more developed character surrounded by thin ones and she does her best to compensate.

A Dog Story did what it could to win the audience with its imaginary dog and shaky premise. The cast lacked chemistry and some of their interactions came across as awkward. The show itself had some special moments, that, as a dog lover, I did appreciate.

Review By: Alex Lipari

Photos By: Jeremy Daniel

Daddy Long Legs @ The Davenport Theatre

Looking to resuscitate long lost feelings of love? Step into the Davenport Theatre, transformed into an intimate parlor, and a postcard will fall out of your program and attached will be a matching pen. After you write a postcard, to your true love of course, it will be stamped and mailed for you at the box office, then the show will begin.

And just like all the great, timeless love stories, Daddy Long Legs begins with a letter.

Megan McGinnis brilliantly portrays Jerusha Abbott, the oldest orphan girl at the John Grier Home. One day, she receives a letter from a cryptic man who came into the orphanage, who she described as tall and lanky like a Daddy Long Legs (get it?). In this letter, he states that he will send her to college but in return, she must write him once a month. Jerusha channels these letters into a personal diary, accounting + itemizing every thing that happens to her at school. Daddy Long Legs, played by Paul Alexander Nolan, begins to fall in love with her and throughout the play, tried to muster the confidence to expose his true identity- her roommate’s uncle. And as you can imagine, his identity is exposed at long last and they are to be wed, as all great, timeless love stories end.

Nolan’s performance is ever so notable because his role is so reactionary to all of Jerusha’s letters. We always know how he is feeling when he is silent, upstage at his desk. And McGinnis? Well, she really WAS Jerusha Abbott. The tears and truth to her each and every letter is reason alone to pick up a ticket.

John Caird’s staging was so simplistically charming- huge trunks all over the downstage playing area that transformed into a bed, a mountain, and storage area for lots and lots of books and letters. You used your imagination just as Jerusha did to muse about what her Daddy Long Legs looked like. 

If you are in search of a charming evening, look no further than the Davenport Theatre and this production of Daddy Long Legs. Not only is it endearing and syrupy sweet, it is a lovely break from the modern world of texts and tweets and may inspire you to write a letter of your own. 

Review By: Brittany Goodwin

Photos By: Jeremy Daniel