Listen to the NPR piece on Usher
The Official Review from the Premiere Production in the DC Capital Fringe Festival, Where Usher the Best Musical Play Award
The Fall of the House of Usher
JULY 13, 2009 BY CAITLIN DEMERLIS
William Reed (Mark Rascati) gently serenades the audience with his melodious voice as the musical opens, only to bring them into a tale of darkness and insanity. Usher weaves together various Edgar Allen Poe pieces, adds well-written music, and guides viewers into the depths of some of Poe’s characters, resulting in a captivating musica l- a must-see for any fans of dark musical theatre.
Usher’s production not only delivers good writing (both the book and the music), but also a strong cast. Rascati entrances theatre-goers with his first phrases, soothing them right before he drags them into the hellish and haunted house of Usher. Upon arriving, we meet both Roderick Usher (C.J. Bergin) and Madeline Usher (Mary Myers), true to Poe’s original characters. Roderick displays an anxious nature by being a bit too intense, yet oddly cheerful, and Madeline juxtaposes his energy with a more uninviting and acerbic style, which later morphs into insanity. At first, Myers seems a bit too caustic, yet this fades as she slowly reveals her character’s growing lunacy. The three characters offer audience members a full range of energy and character traits; William Reed is mellow and curious, which plays well against both Madeline and Roderick. The fourth principle player, Annabel Lee (Carolyn Myers), a character from one of Poe’s poems by the same name, is a beautiful ingénue whom we can easily care for and empathize with.
The script is clearly well crafted, and it is obvious that many hours have gone into the research of Poe’s work and subsequent creation of Usher. Just as notable is the music, played by a charming pit complete with piano, violins, viola, cello, and flute. Composer Michael Johnson merges styles of “Romantic, atonal, folk and Broadway” (as quoted from his Composer’s Notes), resulting in a complex, yet easy-to-listen-to collection of songs.
One unique musical moment involves Roderick performing a newly created piece for his friends, in which actor C.J. Bergin completely enthralls the audience with the brilliancy of a madman while he paints a picture of what he dreams his symphony would sound like. Bergin terrifyingly throws himself full-on into his character, his eyes wide as he frighteningly fantasizes at the piano, while the pit band plays. There are no sung lyrics to the song, but the music itself only adds to the intense moment Roderick has, almost unaware that others are watching. While horrifyingly drawn into Bergin’s moment, I quickly broke away to scan the audience, and noticed that each eye in the sold-out crowd was glued to Bergin’s intensity. My attention was only interrupted briefly when the little girl next to me started crying – yes, Bergin and the music were that intense ( I think I held my breath during most of his episode. I don’t blame the kid).
The production is well directed, thanks to director/writer Brent Cirves. The playing space is a bit tight and awkward, with seating on three sides of the stage, but Cirves stages the play so as to optimize the area he has, paying close attention to where his actors are focused. The transitions between scenes are swift and flawless, moving the musical along at a steady pace.
Poe would be proud of this Gothic musical, true to his original style. It intertwines great literature, a thorough script, intense music, and a strong cast. The combination is a tell-tale for success.
The Official Review from the New York Fringe Festival Production
The Fall of the House of Usher
reviewed by Michael Mraz
Aug 15, 2009
In Brent Cirves's musical adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, there is a song, "Nothing Beautiful Is Simple." It is the mantra of the characters at the center of this dark piece; the Family Usher descends deeper and deeper into darkness and insanity, much like their castle, literally sinking into the ground year after year. Playing a short engagement at the Connelly Theatre at this year's NY Fringe Festival, Cirves's production, with a gorgeous haunting score by Mike Johnson, is a beautiful, complex portrait of love, death, and madness and the people caught in the whirlwind of the House of Usher.
Poe's stories are re-imagined by Cirves through the eye of balladeer William Reed. He recounts memories of his stay at the home of Roderick and Madeline Usher. Reed, a traveling busker, meets and befriends the eccentric prospective composer Roderick on the NYC streets and is taken back to his house. There he meets Roderick's equally peculiar sister, Madeline—who falls instantly in love with William—and Roderick's lady love, Annabel Lee (of Poe's famous poem), whom William begins to fall for.
All share their love of music, holding competitions to compose the best songs, but from the beginning, it is obvious that something dark is amiss. The House of Usher seems to have a magnetic, supernatural pull, compelling its inhabitants to stay. And Madeline and Roderick themselves seem far from normal and are harboring some grisly secrets.
Cirves's script starts out fairly solid and gets deeper and more nuanced as the play progresses. The musical numbers flow nicely with the plot, as song grow more out of the characters actually playing music than the "ordinary people break out in song" approach. Mike Johnson's score actually tends to contradict the title "Nothing Beautiful Is Simple," as many of his best moments in the play come when Reed simply sings while accompanying himself on classical guitar. The reprise of "The Ballad of Annabel Lee" is beautifully composed. Laura Cirves's costumes fit the period well and the set does a great job of representing the cavernous house even with FringeNYC limitations.
The cast is very consistent, all with strong voices and acting chops to match. Particularly standing out is Mark Rascati, playing Reed, who delivers a nice, subtle performance and has a beautiful folk voice to go along with his classical guitar skills. He's a bit inconsistent on his Southern accent but the performance is strong enough that this barely matters. C.J. Bergin and Mary Myers, as Roderick and Madeline respectively, get better and better as their descent to madness deepens.
The Fall of the House of Usher ends up having the feel of a dark fairy tale, told through minstrel's song. Cirves's production is compelling with more than a few nice moments of creepiness and horror injected in. It is both lyrical, yet gruesome; which seems to me like the way Poe would have wanted his vision presented.