by
Tony Annicone
Little Rhody Entertainment Writer
The
newly formed theater company, The Ungar/Madison
Production Company in association with The Chariho
Players' first show is a multimedia presentation of
the courtroom drama, "Twelve Angry Men". Director
Ben Barber uses a filmed start to this presentation
by showing the courtroom setting and the judges
orders before the jury deliberates in the live
theatrical presentation. The show is about a 19 year
old man who has just stood trial for the fatal
stabbing of his father. "He doesn't stand a chance"
mutters the guard as the 12 jurors are taken into
the bleak jury room. It looks like an open and shut
case until one of the jurors begins opening the
others' eyes to the facts. "This is a remarkable
thing about democracy," says the foreign born juror,
" that we are notified by mail to come down to this
place and decide on the guilt or innocence of a man;
a man we have not known before. We have nothing to
gain or lose by our verdict. We should not make it a
personal thing." But personal it does become, with
each juror revealing his own character as the
various testimonies are re-examined, the murder
re-enacted and a new murder threat is born before
their eyes. Tempers get short, arguments grow
heated, and the jurors become 12 angry men. Each of
the actors gets a chance to shine in their
individual scenes, keeping the audience's interest
from start to finish and making them witness some
wonderful acting by a cast of mostly young men in
their teens and early twenties.
Ben not only directs the show
but plays Juror # 12. The use of the video in the
court shows what happens before they enter the
stage. The video was edited by Tim Bonner and shown
by Curt Dumas with the additional cast of Vinnie
Lefkowitz as the Judge and Mike Reilly Sr. as the
baliff in the movie. This is Ben's debut as a
director and he captures the drama with some really
good actors in these roles. He builds the tension
and lets it explode, knocking you over with its
intensity. Ben's next project is the new version of
"The Odd Couple" called "Oscar and Felix" and will
be performed in the winter, delivering much laughter
during the bleak wintertime.
The angriest juror # 3 is
played with excellent intensity by Dave DeAlmo who
delivers a powerhouse performance. He shows the
torment of a father who has quarreled with his own
son, bringing his bias to this case and leaves you
in tears at his final decision. Dave is a senior at
Chariho High School and this is an excellent start
to his theatrical career. David DeAngelis , also a
senior at Chariho, plays the dissenting juror # 8 who
gets the others to put on their thinking caps. He
prods and probes each detail of the case, showing
there is a reasonable doubt. His real life father,
David DeAngelis Jr. plays the eldest juror # 9 who
explains the motives of the old man who supposedly
witnessed the suspect fleeing the crime. Another
explosive juror is played by Preston Lawhorne. He is
a prejudiced filled bigot who doesn't believe the
suspect is innocent because people like him lie all
the time, condemning him because he is poor. Paul
Dumas makes his debut in this show and handles
his foreign accent and many lines with ease as he
points out the error of the American's viewpoints.
Mike Reilly is an old hand at theatrical roles,
playing juror # 7 who constantly wears his hat and
is in a hurry to leave because he has tickets to see
"Oklahoma". His experience comes through in his
numerous lines and topnotch line delivery.
The rich businessman juror is
played by Mike Ottaviano who has many lines and
makes them count especially when he admits he is
wrong. Joey Kilcoyne makes his debut in this show as
the juror who keeps time with the second hand on his
watch and who needs to wear his glasses to see the
time, providing a clue to a witnesses testimony. Sam
Major plays the poor juror # 5 who empathizes with
the suspect's upbringing while Josh Redinger plays
juror # 6 who keeps things calm during one of the
crisis in the jury room. Both Sam and Josh are
debuting as actors in this show. The foreman of the
jury is played by Mat Clerrico in his first speaking
part on stage. He keeps control of the jury by
demanding counts and recounts of the verdict of his
fellow jurors.
So for a look at some young actors
making their debut on stage in a well done dramatic
tale, be sure to catch "Twelve Angry Men". If you
miss the show, they have videos of it available so
you can still witness their wonderful work.
TWELVE ANGRY MEN ( 16 -18
September, 2005)
Ungar/Madison Productions, Chariho Junior High
School, Switch Road, Richmond ,RI
1 (401) 742-2236 or
http://ungarmadisonproco.tripod.com/
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