Bradenton-area actor sparks "The Buffalo Kings"

   When the world premiere of "The Buffalo Kings" opened at freeFall Theatre in St. Petersburg a few weeks back, two well-known Bradenton-area actors were part of the ensemble cast. Now there's only one, Katherine Michelle Tanner. The other, Jenny Aldrich, had to drop out for some personal reasons.
   The play, by Natalie Symons, has been a huge hit for freeFall. I runs through this weekend, and tickets are reportedly scarce.
   The acting's impressive all around. (Aldrich was replaced by long-time Tampa Bay area favorite Mimi Rice, who stepped in at the last minute and performed one show with script in hand.)

Tanner (left) and Aldrich (right)

   The script, about a family on New York state facing several crises, some of the  everyday variety and others life-shattering, has tons of delicious great moments and some good laughs, but it's unfocused. It's packed with inconsequential subplots (one about a bad hairdo takes up a lot of the 80-minute first act and then is simply dropped) and extraneous characters (one houseguest who nobody can stand has to stay because his car is snowed in, while everyone else seems to come and go at will.) Meanwhile, the most compelling relationship, the one between a teenage boy recovering from a hate crime and his grandfather who's in the early stages of dementia, never gets developed -- and then turns out to be the raison d'etre for the entire story.
    Tanner and the rest of the cast (which also includes the always terrific Brian Shea) make it pretty easy to overlook the script flaws. This is a handsomely mounted and wonderfully acted production of a play that's overflowing with promise but seems not quite finished.
   There are two shows Saturday and one Sunday at freeFall. Tickets are $21-$44. FreeFall is at 6099 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. 727-498-5205, freefalltheatre.com.

"The Birds," "Fiddler" on St. Petersburg stages

   St. Peterburg's two major theater companies are both offering plays based on classic stories that were turned into iconic movies.

"Fiddler" at freeFall

   That's the end of the similarities, though. American Stage's "The Birds" is a bleak mood-piece, loosely based on the Daphne DuMaurier book on which Alfred Hitchcock loosely based a film. It's a rare misfire from Conor McPherson, one of the best contemporary playwrights.
   Meanwhile, freeFall's "Fiddler on the Roof," the iconic musical based on a story by Sholem Aleichem, is a delight, with a revelatory performance by David Mann as Tevye.
   "The Birds" starts off promising something special. Before curtain, the audience sits immersed in Jeffrey W. Dean's ominous set, the interior of house under attack by birds gone wild. Sound designer Todd Olson, who also directed, enhances the mood with distant birds sounds. It's a chilling pre-show. But then...
   Just as show time approaches, the bird sounds silence, and the audience, almost literally captive, is subjected to three long curtain speeches -- two live, once recorded -- that total 15 boring, repetitive minutes of people mostly begging for donations.
   The mood never recovers from those inexcusable infomercials. McPherson's play is alright, but not anywhere near as good as his best works ("Shining City" and "The Seafarer") and it couldn't dig itself out of the hole the curtain speeches dug for it.
   It's the story of disparate people trapped in a house under attack, and doesn't seem to know what it wants to say. Fine performances by Roxanne Fay and Joseph Parra, that phenomenal set and great lighting by Joseph P. Oshry made the evening passable, but nothing more.
   But freeFall's "Fiddler" is a treat. The staging by Eric Davis, the music direction by the great Michael Raabe and, especially, the performance by Mann make the overly familiar 50-year-old musical a treat.  
   Mann takes the role defined by Zero Mostel and Chaim Topol and re-invents it. Tevye's always been a lovable character, but he's usually portrayed as somewhat blubbering, even buffoonish. Mann makes him smart and lets the audience feel a profound level of sympathy for him.   
   The whole production is strong, and it's staged in the round so it the experience is more intimate than what we're accustomed to from musicals.
   "The Birds" runs through Oct. 27 at American Stage, 163 Third St. N., St. Petersburg. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday. $39-$49. 727-893-7529, www.americanstage.org.
   "Fiddler on the Roof" runs through Nov. 3 at freeFall Theatre, 6099 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. 7 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. $29-$39. 727-498-5205, www.freefalltheatre.com.

Sarasota's Tanner wins TTB's Outstanding Actress award

   Sarasota's Katherine Michelle Tanner took home the award for Outstanding Lead Actress, Play at the 2013 Theatre Tampa Bay Awards Monday evening.

Tanner

   Tanner, whose last role around here was in "Time Stands Still" for Banyan Theater, won for her performance in "The Amish Project" at American Stage, in which she played all the characters -- men, women, and children -- in a terse drama based on the real-life slaughter of Amish schoolchildren. "The Amish Project" also won the award for Outstanding Production, Play. Anyone who saw "The Amish Project" would have to agree that Tanner's performance was a huge reason the play excelled. Todd Olson won awards for his direction and sound design for that play also.
   The Theatre Tampa Bay Awards are for professional theaters in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. This year. St. Petersburg theaters dominated. Out of 19 awards, freeFall Theatre shows and artists won 9 and American Stage won 6. A Simple Theatre and St. Petersburg Opera won one each.
   The awards ceremony was held at the Palladium in St. Petersburg.