"Kwame a River 2: The Wrath of Conyers": Detroit Free Press blog on Opening Night of "Kwame a River 2"

Writer hopes new 'Wrath of Conyers' spoof is cathartic for region

Posted August 6, 2009 - 10:05 p.m.

By Ron Dzwonkowski
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Sometimes, reality is so painful all you can do is laugh.

And anyone who has even casually followed the recent problems of Detroit and Michigan surely will at "Kwame a River 2: The Wrath of Conyers," the satire that opened Thursday night at the Andiamo Novi Theater.

"I hope that it's cathartic in a way, that all of us can come together for a while and just laugh at all this stuff," said Marc Warzecha, 32, the Dearborn Heights native who wrote and directed the show as a sequel to his "Kwame a River," which was booked for just three months but ran for seven in the small theater upstairs at the Andiamo restaurant in Novi.

"This is priceless stuff," he said of recent local events. "I wasn't really planning to do a second one but the material was there."

Indeed, some of the best moments in the show, which runs just over an hour, are verbatim recitations of text messages sent by disgraced former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and recreations of actual exchanges between members of the City Council.

The script is intensely local, filled with exaggerated portrayals of characters you'll know from politics and TV that drew howls from the opening night crowd. The all-local cast is talented and energetic. Ava Rodgers is a gifted singer who shows her theatrical chops in a variety of roles in the fast-paced series of sketches. She had people rolling as Martha Reeves, bursting into song at every opportunity.

Jamaal Hines is a particular delight as transplanted Texan Kilpatrick, especially in a bit where he gets advice from competing angels in the form of Kilpatrick's predecessors, Dennis Archer and Coleman Young. You can guess who's got the good and bad suggestions.

There are some flat spots and parts of the opening performance were hampered by uneven vocal volumes that cost the audience some of Warzecha's clever lyrics.

But you'll hang on every line of "Council Love" -- an inspired suggestion of the true relationship between Monica Conyers, the erratic and corrupt former council member, and Ken Cockrel, Jr., whom Conyers once berated publicly as "Shrek" in an outburst that started her on the road to national notoriety.

Amise, who was the "Spirit of Detroit" haunting Kilpatrick in the previous show, owns every scene she's in as Conyers. Jason Echols shows amazing comedy range in parts stretching from council member Kwame Kenyatta to Dr. Phil and Renell Michael White is a particular delight as the aforementioned Mayor Young. Gov. Jennifer Granholm would squirm to see her goody two shoes portrayal by Sharon Brooks, but the audience loved it, which tells you something about Granholm’s image.

The show is not as raunchy as "Kwame a River" but definitely not for the easily offended. The skewering, however, is non-partisan, regional and plays to a lot of stereotypes that only people who live here can truly appreciate. And Warzecha tries to bring us all together at the end with a "Dancing in the Streets" number that calls for new and better relations between "the 313 and the 248."

"It was hard to rhyme 586 and 734," he said. But you get the message.

I'm always glad to see talented, young local artists have a chance to do their stuff for a local audience. But for the sake of our collective future, I really hope this city, state and region can stop generating so much material for Warzecha.

The show is scheduled to run Wednesdays and Sundays at 8 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. For ticket info, call 248-348-4448 or get them through Ticketmaster.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090806/BLOG2504/90806091/

Jennifer Gale (Music Director):

Pianist, Educator, Accompanist. Ms Gale is the Owner/Director of the Mount Clemens Arts Consortium, Inc a Community-style school for the Arts. As a pianist she has performed solo concerts featuring the music of Black composers from around the world. As an educator, she has taught general music courses in public schools and for the Interlochen School of the Arts. She also maintains a studio of private piano students who compete and perform across the state. As an accompanist, she's played over 20 different musicals for community groups and schools in southeast Michigan. Musical Director for Kwame 1

Michael Pollock, Composer

Michael Pollock (composer ): Michael is musical director of The Second City Training Center Los Angeles; he studied at the University of Texas at Austin, Pacific Conservatory of Performing Arts and The Grove School of Music. His credits include The Tonight Show, The Drew Carey Show, Evening at the Improv and ABC’s Emmy Award-winning Tuesdays With Morrie. He plays piano for various show at Disneyland and taught the first master class in musical direction at the Chicago Improv Festival in 2005. Learn more about Michael at www.michaelpollock.com.

Marc Warzecha (Writer/Director)

Marc Warzecha is originally from Metro Detroit, and now lives in Los Angeles where he has recently appeared on MAD TV and Reno 911. Marc served as writer/director for "Kwame a River: The Chronicles of Detorit's Hip Hop Mayor," a 2009 Wilde Award nominee for "Best New Script." He has worked with The Second City as both an actor and director; most recently directing "BarackStars" in at the Woolly Mammoth theatre in Washington, DC. Other directing credits include: "Pratfall of Civilization" (The Second City ETC - Joseph Jefferson nominee: "Best Director"). "War! Now in it's 4th Smash Year!" (Second City Chicago Mainstage- Joseph Jefferson nominee: Best Director, Best Revue, Best Ensemble), "The Not Ready for $3.99 Prime Rib Players" (Second City Las Vegas), "Woodward to your Mutha" and "Ten: The 10 year Anniersary show" (Second City Detroit). Acting credits include six resident stage reviews at the Second City Detroit, "Romeo and Juliet the Musical" at Chicago Shakespeare theatre, and SCC's "An Evening with Martin Short." Marc's work as a satirist has been featured on ABC's "Nightline", Newsweek, and in the Washington Post, and he has been a guest on CNN's "Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer" and NPR's "All Things Considered." Marc is the host "No Waiting with Marc Warzecha," a live talk show that satirizes news and politics, most recently performed at the Comedy Central Stage in Hollywood. Thank you to an excellent cast and crew and to family, friends, and the theatre going community in Detroit whose support made this follow up show possible.