The Civilians' This Beautiful City

A Center Theater Group presentation co-produced with the Vineyard Theater, New York, of a play with music in two acts by Steven Cosson and Jim Lewis, based on interviews conducted by Emily Ackerman, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Brad Heberlee, Stephen Plunkett, Alison Weller and the authors. Music and lyrics by Michael Friedman. Directed by Cosson.

With: Emily Ackerman, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Brad Heberlee, Brandon Miller, Stephen Plunkett, Alison Weller.

Musical Numbers: "Cowboys," "This Beautiful City," "An Email From Ted," "End Times," "Doubting Thomas," "Demons and Angels," "Freedom," "Take Me There," "The Order of Things," "Another Email From Ted," "Urban Planning," "Pikes Peak."

Evangelism and investigative journalism share a passion to open other people's eyes to "the truth." As such, "This Beautiful City" impresses as a work of religious inquiry and engaged reportage. Steven Cosson and Jim Lewis weave first-person interviews in Christian boomtown Colorado Springs, conducted by theatrical community activists the Civilians, into a fascinating crazy quilt on faith's role in American life. Each side gets intel on its opponents, and some may be moved to question their own assumptions en route.

All agree this is a damn beautiful place, the Rockies' purple majesty ever-present in a relief-map frontcloth and rear projection. After that, secularists and believers part company in a range of opinions the six Civilian witnesses elicited and now perform -- and it's a far broader range than many will anticipate.

"Is there a particular slant you would like to put on?" asks an early born-again interviewee fearing her portrayal as a right-wing whacko. Troupe certainly revels in instances of fundamentalist creepiness, such as an Air Force cadet trio boasting of their officially condoned evangelizing.

Call of a young pastor (Brad Heberlee) to register and vote in Jesus' name is rendered as sleazily seductive, while an alternative newsman (Brandon Miller) gloating over Pastor Ted Haggard's celebrated fall is taken in businesslike stride. Caricature is always applied to the right, whereas the arguments of atheists get a straightforward treatment (and usually the last word).

Yet it would be catastrophically incorrect to paint "This Beautiful City" as a one-sided diatribe, for the respect it shows to evangelists' core beliefs -- or, at least, to the human needs underlying those beliefs -- is downright sublime.

"God is definitely doing something in this city," asserts one radiant resident. As often as not, the play withholds judgment on a young mother (Emily Ackerman) blessing God for ending her meth addiction, or Haggard's pastor son (Stephen Plunkett) explaining the heartfelt lessons to be learned from his father's misdeeds. Those who profess to see a possible accommodation between warring camps are given the most sympathetic hearing.

Michael Friedman's excellent score contributes to the evenhandedness. Wholly capturing the appeal of hard-driving Christian pop ("Take Me There" could become a genre standard), he even more skillfully translates prose emails and spoken monologues into fully shaped songs with build and balance.

It's impossible to imagine Christian revival without its music, and thanks to Friedman, it's easy to understand how music pulls people into pews.

"This Beautiful City" seems to have lost running time since its Louisville and D.C. engagements, but trimming may still help as it travels East to co-producer Vineyard Theater. Though it's nominally structured around the rise and fall of Haggard (purchaser of males and meth), meandering side trips lend an unwelcome stop-and-start quality to act two.

But the visual variety afforded by Jason H. Thompson's projections and David Weiner's shimmering lighting maintains interest, and Neil Patel's 3-D wall of geometric shapes plays host to photos, video clips and ever-shifting color in sync with show's shifting moods.

The key to the Civilians' strategy can be spotted in the morally complex story of Emmanuel Baptist Church, whose pastor outed himself to the congregation's consternation.

Single-handedly, Marsha Stephanie Blake personalizes every side of the show's larger debate: a traditionalist choir member who rejects this "gay stuff"; the disgraced pastor, secure in his new-found pride; and his soft-spoken replacement turning fire-and-brimstone while spouting solid common sense: "Stop looking at other folk to validate you ... If don't nobody lay hands on you, put your hands on your own head. Bless yo'self! Lose some weight! Wash your face! And get movin'!"

As troubled as the Civilians are about faith's incursions on civil liberties, they also admire religion's capacity to get folks to validate themselves and get movin'. Troupe has clearly thought long and hard about these issues, and so will any visitor to "This Beautiful City."

Sets, Neil Patel; costumes, Alix Hester; lighting, David Weiner; projections, Jason H. Thompson; choreographer, John Carrafa; music director, Erik James; production stage manager, Hannah Cohen. Opened, reviewed Sept. 28, 2008. Runs through Oct. 26. Running time: 2 HOURS.

Showbiz, Religion & Politix

by Army Archerd

It is a treat to watch theater in the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. It is more of a treat to watch it with Kirk and Anne Douglas--seated in the front row. That's where they always sit. And that's where they applaud generously and visibly. So it was again Sunday night at the bow of ”The Civilians' 'This Beautiful City." We were their guests and seated alongside the appreciative Douglases. And there was much to discuss afterwards at supper since the play reflects the troupe's reflections and reactions to their time spent with the "people of Colorado Springs who participated in the creation of this play. In addition to the various dialogs with the locals from church leader to Park rangers and the flawless electronic stage settings identified the New Life Church and other local (Colorado Springs) locations in timely (and supervigorous) challenges to the legality of church and state. The troupe involved the audience with (invited) audible reactions regularly.

Douglas' pride in the theater was further enjoyed by us as we later talked about yet another presentation on these boards. Kirk told of the success of "13." It was readied for its bow at the Mark Taper after valuable workshop at the Kirk Douglas. It officially opened at the other CTG stage, the Taper) on Jan.7, 2007. The reviews were ecstatic, Variety's Bob Verini called it ”sheer bliss." And now it makes its bow on B'way at the Bernard B. Jacobs, Sunday, Oct.5.

Playwrights enter Kentucky derby 'Becky,' 'City' shine as Humana fest blossoms

by Godon Cox

A blind date gone awry and a town full of evangelical Christians had auds buzzing in Kentucky.

Gina Gionfriddo's "Becky Shaw" and the Civilians' "This Beautiful City" emerged as the productions to watch at the Humana Fest of New American Plays, the annual event at Actors Theater of Louisville that draws legiters from around the country to check out the lineup.

"Becky," which revolves around an attempt to matchmake a merciless money manager and the needy young woman of the title, and "Beautiful City," a docu-play about Colorado Springs, were two of a six-play slate that, unlike the topically minded 2007 fest, skewed heavily toward family drama. Both shows are already headed toward Gotham berths, while others in the lineup are mapping out future lives with varying degrees of certainty.

Fest marks the second time Gionfriddo has been one of Humana's hot properties, following the buzzed-about 2004 preem of her play "After Ashley" (which landed in a starry production at the Vineyard the following year).

In "Becky Shaw," that blind date wreaks havoc in the lives of both the potential couple and the married couple who set them up. The play proves a big, wittily articulate show whose sprawling thematic reach encompasses everything from class and race to the emotional cost of compassion.

Both seriously ambitious and smoothly entertaining, Gionfriddo's sharp and funny script is peopled with full-bodied characters the thesps at Humana palpably enjoyed tackling. David Wilson Barnes, achieving a nuanced brand of ruthlessness as finance guy Max, nabbed the most attention in Peter DuBois' well-acted production.

As the show moves compellingly along, it becomes clear Gionfriddo isn't sure precisely which story she's telling, a flaw that renders the play's final scene unsatisfying. But even if that problem isn't solved in the future by judicious honing, "Becky Shaw" remains a hearty piece of theater. So it's no surprise that producers, both of the commercial and nonprofit variety, are said to be already circling, with a stint in Gotham seemingly assured.

The New York appearance of "This Beautiful City," the latest reality-based offering from the Civilians, is already set: The show will play the Vineyard in early 2009 after a run at Center Theater Group in L.A. Downtown troupe the Civilians already has an Off Broadway following -- their show "Gone Missing" recently ended a commercial run, while another, "Paris Commune," just began perfs at the Public.

After Humana, "Beautiful City" moves to D.C.'s Studio Theater, which co-produced.

With text culled from interviews (shaped into a script by helmer Steve Cosson and Jim Lewis) and mock-Christian rock songs by Michael Friedman, "Beautiful City" looks at the devout populace of Colorado Springs and how they coped with the 2006 scandal involving New Life Church founder Ted Haggard, who exited his post after former hustler Mike Jones charged him with a longstanding sex-and-drugs relationship.

Clocking in at 2½ hours, the production could use some trimming and focusing. But the material is fascinating and the excellent cast, many of whom conducted the original interviews, effortlessly transforms into a persuasive array of Colorado Springs inhabitants.

Best title of the fest goes to "Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom," Jennifer Haley's tale of a survival horror vidgame that gradually takes over the lives of the families in a well-off subdivision. Playing like a nifty episode of "The Twilight Zone," the story builds to an affectingly gruesome finale, and director Kip Fagan creates a clever stage language for the moments when two realities, virtual and actual, overlap.

With its small-scale tech demands and four-person ensemble, "Neighborhood" seems a likely candidate for legit troupes hoping to benefit from the play's youthful, tech-savvy appeal.

Also tapping Humana's familial drama vein were Lee Blessing's "Great Falls" and Carly Mensch's "All Hail Hurricane Gordo."

"Great Falls," about a man's attempts to connect with his teen stepdaughter during a road trip, has its irritating fillips -- the two-hander's characters are named Monkey Man and Bitch -- but is enough of a traditional character-driven drama that the show could easily get some regional play. No future productions have been set, although another Blessing play, "Body of Water," will bow Off Broadway at Primary Stages in September.

Many legiters were turned off by "Gordo," a manic depiction of a mentally unstable young man and the uptight brother who cares for him. But Mensch, a young scribe still in Juilliard's graduate playwriting program, has some momentum going: Her play "Len, Asleep in Vinyl" gets a run at Second Stage Uptown this summer.

Of all the Humana shows, Marc Bamuthi Joseph's "the break/s" has its future most clearly laid out for it. Dynamically performed by Joseph, the legit-dance-spoken word piece about hip-hop, racial identity and a breakup has more than a year of arthouse appearances ahead of it, including stints at the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis this month, the Spoleto Fest in May and the Kennedy Center and Gotham's Skirball Center in September.

This Beautiful City

by Paul Harris

A Studio Theater presentation, in association with Actors Theater of Louisville and the Civilians, of a musical in two acts by Steven Cosson and Jim Lewis, with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman. Directed by Cosson. Musical staging, Chase Brock.

With: Emily Ackerman, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Aysan Celik, Matthew Dellapina, Brad Heberlee, Stephen Plunkett.

The latest docu-theater project to emerge from the inventive minds of the Off Broadway company the Civilians is a treatment of the evangelical Christian movement headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo. Following initial exposure earlier this year at the Actors Theater of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays, "This Beautiful City" officially premieres at D.C.'s Studio Theater in a lively production that gently skewers the religious right.

Part of a Studio Theater initiative to help develop and produce new works, the play with music follows the April debut, in a developmental production at the Public Theater, of "Paris Commune" and last year's Off Broadway hit "Gone Missing." "This Beautiful City" is scheduled to play the Kirk Douglas Theater in Los Angeles this fall and New York's Vineyard Theater next year.

Given the evangelical movement's much-publicized penchant for preaching forgiveness while practicing hardball politics, along with the personal failings of prominent movement leaders, the company could easily have delivered a partisan broadside about hypocrisy. The Civilians instead took a higher road that addresses the transgressions within a more balanced context.

Following the method of past productions, director Steven Cosson and the six-person troupe traveled to Colorado Springs in 2006 to conduct interviews and pursue research. They met with numerous members of the flock, from the die-hard to the disillusioned, along with church leaders and others.

The exercise occurred during a particularly calamitous period for evangelicals and the "beautiful city" of Colorado Springs. The Air Force Academy had previously erupted with scandals involving sexual harassment and religious discrimination, while Ted Haggard, the powerful founder of the New Life mega-church, had just been "outed" for improprieties involving prostitution and drug use. Meanwhile, area churches had become embroiled in political causes involving gay marriage, blurring the lines between church and state.

Perspectives on these and other issues are earnestly revealed from interview transcripts woven into a seamless collage interspersed with a blend of cowboy and religious rock tunes by Michael Friedman -- highlighted by act two's rousing "Take Me There" and the irreverent "E-mail From Ted Haggard." The sincerely performed and unrelated monologues collectively depict a powerful social and political force.

They include a revival meeting at the Revolution House of Prayer, personal reflections from a New Life Church parishioner, criticism from a self-appointed "church kicker" opponent, as well as insight into the movement's vast social networks. "We hope that righteousness reigns in this city," moralizes one stalwart.

Brad Heberlee is enjoyable as a charismatic New Life preacher who sidesteps the media's barbs and exhorts the congregation to vote against same-sex marriage. Marsha Stephanie Blake portrays a devout member of the troubled Emmanuel Baptist Church who assumes the pulpit following its own pastor's wayward behavior. Stephen Plunkett is effective as the energetic youth group leader as well as Haggard's much-troubled son.

The show is performed on a bare stage in front of a screen depicting an aerial view of Colorado Springs at the feet of the snow-capped Rockies. Two smaller screens left and right capture other video clips and slides.

It's safe to say evangelicals won't be terribly amused by the portrayal. But it all adds up to a generally humorous peek into the powerful church movement, although not an especially enlightening or compelling one. Running at two hours-plus, the show would benefit from some editing to strike some redundant perspectives.

Set and projections, Debra Booth; costumes, Lorraine Venberg; lighting, Michael Giannitti; sound, Erik Trester. Opened, reviewed, June 15, 2008. Runs through July 6. Running time: 2 HOURS, 15 MIN.

Civilians take unique approach

Auds find Off Broadway company's 'Missing'

by Sam Thielman

NEW YORK -- Steve Cosson likes to be surprised, especially when he's working on a show.

"It's what makes it exciting," says the artistic director of rising Off Broadway theater company the Civilians. "I want to find out what we don't know already, and a great way to do that is to go out into the world and just sit down and listen."

As Cosson describes it, the Civilians' approach to making theater sounds an awful lot like journalism: The entire troupe travels far and wide researching a piece around a given subject, conducting interviews and comparing notes along the way, sometimes for years. It may sound like an arduous process for director Cosson and writer-composer Michael Friedman (Cosson admits that a single show can run "a couple hundred thousand dollars" to research and produce), but it's paid off in spades for the company.

The Civilians have been around since 2001, but it wasn't until last year's "Gone Missing" that the company landed a breakout hit. The trim 80-minute process-driven show was about lost things, from car keys to Atlantis. After being workshopped and vetted everywhere but Atlantis, the show was originally scheduled for a six-week run from mid-June at Off Broadway's Barrow Street Theater. But it opened to such positive word of mouth and enthusiastic reviews that six weeks turned into six months, extending into January.

The company has always depended heavily on grant money to cover travel costs, and since a critical mass of people checked out "Gone Missing," there are now enough grants and donations for the Civilians to stretch a little, including a three-week stint at the Sundance Theater Lab and $150,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation's prestigious NYC Cultural Innovation Fund.

"They brought together a small panel to choose these," says Cosson, sounding a little thunderstruck. "The other grantees were like, Carnegie Hall, and then us."

Part of the attraction may have been that the Civilians are premiering not one but two shows this season. "This Beautiful City" just bowed at the Humana Festival and is headed to D.C.'s Studio Theater June 11, and "Paris Commune" opens at the Public Theater on April 4. Both shows have been in development for years ("Paris Commune" had its first workshop in 2003), and the coincidence of nearly simultaneous productions has raised the Civilians' profile even further.

Then there is the group's subject matter: Cosson, Friedman and their cast were in Colorado Springs interviewing for "This Beautiful City," which explores evangelical Christianity, just as New Life Church pastor Ted Haggard shocked his congregation by admitting to an affair with a male prostitute. It's hard to imagine a scandal that would allow the group a clearer window into the hidden parts of the community they were investigating -- one of those surprises that so fascinate Cosson.

"When we started our project, Ted Haggard had a lot of stature as an evangelical leader," says Cosson. "The city is about 500,000 people, and it grew a lot over the period of time we spent there. We went in not expecting it to be a story with anything particularly dramatic in it."

"Paris Commune" is a much different story. For one thing, the show takes place in the past, and the company had to radically adjust its methodology in order to create it. For another, it's one of the longest-gestating projects in the Civilians' history.

"We'll leave it alone for a year, year-and-a-half, even, and then we'll get funding to do a two-week workshop at the Public," says Cosson. The show takes place in the then-vacant palace in Paris during the Revolution of 1871. It's a difficult piece according to its director ("one of the hardest things you could write a play about"), but it's finally coming to fruition with the help of the Public's LAB series, which is dedicated to giving full (if basic) productions to raw work.

There's still more from these guys: Friedman is writing the music and co-writing lyrics for Playwrights Horizon's "Saved," a high-profile Off Broadway tuner adaptation of the satirical indie film, while on the overflowing back burner there are two more shows, one musical about urban development in Brooklyn and one retelling of the Gilgamesh epic.

At the end of the day, though, the Civilians are less interested in getting into more and bigger theaters and more interested in changing what goes on inside the theaters they're already inhabiting.

"One of the big ideas I had when I started the Civilians was to break out of all the niches we create for theater to live in," Cosson enthuses. "I like the idea that you won't necessarily know what you're going to get."

What's on Off Broadway

Doomsayers aside, there's life in Off Broadway yet

by Mark Blankenship

NEW YORK -- In Gotham, the only legit tradition more universal than predicting Tony winners is trying to pinpoint the date theater will die forever. Since Broadway receipts have been healthy of late, the dire warnings have shifted to Off Broadway, where the current wisdom is that countless stages will soon be dark unless someone replaces recently closed moneymakers like "Jewtopia" and "Slava's Snowshow."

But despite the dread prophecies, salvation may not be hard to find. A sizable number of emerging Off and Off Off Broadway companies are showing signs of serious longevity.

Take the Keen Company, known for sensitively interpreting older work. Group spent six years downtown before landing a permanent home this season at midtown's Theater Row complex. The highly visible digs increased awareness of a well-received revival of 1950s melodrama "Tea and Sympathy" and a lyrical adaptation of Thornton Wilder's novel "Theophilus North." The latter will continue to boost Keen's notoriety when it remounts this summer at Vermont's Dorset Theater Festival, also headed by Keen a.d. Carl Forsman.

The Transport Group has had similar luck with forgotten chestnuts, generating buzz for its innovative spin on sixth season closer, William Inge's "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs." Equally experimental originals, like 2005 musical "The Audience," have nabbed awards-season attention for masterfully using heightened images and movement.

On the other side of town, Classical Theater of Harlem has only been around since 1999, but it has sent several Shakespeare productions on national tours. Plus, the company's aggressively physical aesthetic and ethnically diverse casting have wooed many patrons above 125th Street to see heady classics from Genet, Ionesco and Beckett.

CTH's 2004 revival of tuner "Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death" led to a short commercial run Off-Broadway, pegging them as a company with heavyweight potential.

The Civilians might also become major players. Since 2001, the theater has produced original musicals from historical documents and personal interviews conducted by company members. Their reputation has spread to London -- where Soho Theater mounted philosophical comedy "(I Am) Nobody's Lunch" -- and Washington, D.C., where Studio Theater will preem religious-themed "This Beautiful City" in 2008.

The troupe's major Gotham moment arrives on June 14, when "Gone Missing" makes its commercial bow at Barrow Street Theater. A meditative tuner that features the words of real New Yorkers contemplating loss, the show could push the Civilians to a new professional peak while possibly convincing legiters that there's still life in Off Broadway yet.

Civilians get commerical run 'Gone Missing' set for Barrow Street Theater

by Gordon Cox

Downtown docu-legit troupe The Civilians gets its first commercial Off Broadway run with a return of its show "Gone Missing," set for a summer engagement at the Barrow Street Theater.

Company has attracted attention for productions, often with musical numbers, based on research and interviews about a particular topic. Shows include "The Ladies," "(I Am) Nobody's Lunch" and "Canard, Canard, Goose?"

"Missing," whose earliest incarnation was performed in late 2001, tackles the subject of loss by chronicling the stories of lost objects along with those of the people, such as a cop or a pet psychic, who find them. Created collaboratively with the company, the show is directed by Civilians founder Steve Cosson. Composer-lyricist Michael Friedman provides the songs.

Scott Morfee, who programs the Barrow Street, and Tom Wirtshafter produce the show at the theater, where "No Child..." shutters June 3 before launching its tour.

"Missing" begins previews June 14 for a June 24 opening.