"One-ery...Two-ery..." at the Grand Theatre

The Daily News ran both a full feature article about Plunge Cabaret's performance and then a review of the opening night performance

REVIEW:
By BONNIJEAN COONEY ADAMS
Daily News Editor

The words of a children’s counting verse provided the thread for a delightful, insightful performance by Plunge! Cabaret artists Tim Coles and Jennifer Rodgers Beach ... at the Grand Theatre in Elizabeth.

Saturday night’s show got the audience thinking about life, choices we’ve made or failed to make, and emphasized that even when something bad happens in life, we still have a choice about what we do to move on.

While that sounds like a heavy message, the medium to deliver it was pure entertainment through “One-ery … Two-ery.”
Rodgers Beach and Coles met while undergrads at Ithaca College in New York. She earned a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance and went on to study opera performance.

Coles, a classically trained pianist, joined her in vocal performance but branched off into music education and has worn many hats as a performer and director.

Their collaboration to form Plunge! Cabaret is a good one, and it is evident the pair has excellent rapport. They combined outstanding vocals and a great sense of comedic timing throughout the two-act show.

With a shelf full of simple props, Rodgers Beach plucked each one carefully to help her illustrate the songs and prose that always returned to the carefully woven theme of choice.

“One-ery, two-ery, ickery, Ann,” Rodgers Beach would recite, before turning to the shelf.

The show began with Rodgers Beach mingling with the audience, asking for help in general about what to do. As people tried to offer a bit of advice for her non-specific request, she made her way to the stage. There, with Coles’ quite considerable skills evident on the piano and as a straight man for her act, she launched into a comedic, melodic account of what it was like studying to be an opera singer, complete with excerpts in several languages.

Although comedic in nature, Rodgers Beach showed off her considerable vocal range before transitioning to more serious material.

Coles also was featured in a Billy Joel “Piano Man” rendition, where he encouraged the audience to sing along.

The music was interspersed with serious readings, with the whole package designed to entertain, yet make the audience think about choices.

A woman’s contributions are pondered in “Just a Housewife,” followed by “Career Medley” by various artists, and building things — structures, relationships, careers — in “The Mason.”

The second act was all about relationships — some that work out well and others less successful, including Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Tell Me on a Sunday” from “Song and Dance” and several Sondheim medleys.

Sunday afternoon’s performance included community outreach events focusing on choices and supporting the work of [a local domestic violence shelter] to raise awareness about domestic abuse.

Through Plunge! Cabaret, Coles and Rodgers Beach have worked with other domestic violence prevention programs and organizations. Additional information about their offerings is available online at www.plungecabaret.com

EXCERPTS FROM PRE-SHOW ARTICLE:
By BONNIJEAN COONEY ADAMS
Daily News Editor

...Drawing from two career paths — one in music and theater and the other in leadership and human development — Meadville native Jennifer Rodgers Beach teams up with Harrison City resident Tim Coles in "One-ery ... Two-ery," a cabaret-type show featuring a wide range of songs from Sondheim to Strauss, described by its authors as "an endearing, humorous, and powerful show about the choices we make and those we are made of."

Rodgers Beach and Coles met while students at Ithaca College in New York, where she earned a bachelor's degree in vocal performance and theater while he majored in vocal performance and music education....

A classically trained pianist and vocalist, Coles has worn numerous hats as a choral music director, actor and producer, including extensive work at First United Methodist Church of Pittsburgh.

Rodgers Beach traveled to the area from Virginia this week and the pair met up with representatives of [a local domestic violence shelter] and Grand Theatre owner Lori Kolodziej to get a look at the theater and talk about their program.

"We were seeking out a venue" — the pair previously performed and conducted workshops for Women's Services Inc. in Meadville through their community work — "and landed here through family connections," Coles explained.

Kolodziej, who donated use of the theater for the benefit, said she was looking for a way to partner with [the community] in the work it does to support individuals and families exposed to relationship abuse.

They all agreed that the key word, whether in the cabaret show or in real-life experience, is "choice."

In "One-ery ... Two-ery," Rodgers Beach plays herself through an eclectic mix of music, conversations and even literature, all taking the audience through a variety of life choices. Her master's degree, by the way, is in opera theater from the University of Maryland, and she also is skilled in period dances, fencing and combat, and was trained in advanced Shakespeare at the Shakespeare Theater in Washington, D.C. So she brings quite a variety to the cabaret.

Coles adds his skills as pianist, vocalist and actor as Rodgers Beach's confidante, foil and straight man during the 90-minute cabaret through a series of up-and-down life experiences in this two-person show.

"It's all about making choices," Rodgers Beach said. "We pull the themes from the show to help people realize they can make choices."

Through the cabaret, the audience is encouraged to plunge into life, weaving through a maze of choices in careers, relationships that come and go and uncovering what is truly worthwhile.

Raising awareness of domestic violence is one of the goals of the program. Audience members may not be directly involved in an abusive relationship, but chances are they know someone who is...

"There's a section in our show where I choose what will happen. Even if it's not a good choice, it still shows there always are choices," Rodgers Beach said.

She explained that, although she was successful in her initial post-college musical ventures and later roles in leadership, consulting and human development, something still seemed missing.

"I found (the success) was not enough," Rodgers Beach said. "I have a passion for music and theater, but I still was looking for another opportunity."

Her first original cabaret debuted at a Women's Work, Women's Words theater series in Washington, D.C., in 2001.

In addition to their shared college experience, Coles said the pair did summer repertoire theater together.

"In 2002, we came back together to do our previous cornerstone show," Coles said. That was revised and (has) evolved into what audiences will experience in Elizabeth.

Looking around the Grand Theatre, Coles and Rodgers Beach were pleased with what they saw, noting that its size makes for an intimate theater experience and enables the performers to really get involved with their audiences.

"We want people to know they are coming to a quirky, funny, hopefully powerful show," Rodgers Beach said.

The pre- and post-show community outreach events, she said, may help nudge someone along in what hopefully will be a comfortable environment that isn't in someone's office or on a living room couch.

Directions to the theater and additional information is available online at www.elizabethgrand.com or by calling 412-384-0504.

Additional information about Plunge!, including a sample video and audio from the show, is available at www.plungecabaret.com.