The power of words gleaned in 'Rutka'

By Noah Moore

Photo by Mikki Schaffner

Cincinnati's Playhouse in the Park has a strong pedigree, with Tony Awards and acclaimed productions, like 2006's 'Company.' Just where their world premiere of the new musical, Rutka, falls is still up in the air, flying down like the pages of the titular girl's 1940s diary. Billed as a pre-Broadway premiere, this musical chronicling a girl named Rutka living as a Jew in Hitler-controlled Poland sets its sights high, and even if it may falter at times, is an emotionally-rewarding experience.

Rutka Laskier was born in 1929 just before the onset of World War II, as her entire life gets uprooted and shifted due to Hitler's antisemitic regime. Through the closure of her school and pursuit of love, Rutka kept a diary that not only covers the sociopolitical turmoil, but also teenage feelings of longing and self-discovery. It's this unique perspective that provides the creative vision of this new musical, with a score by Jocelyn McKenzie and Jeremy Lloyd-Styles and book by Neena Beber. The show's naive, yet headstrong lens presents a unique take on the often-told stories of the atrocities of the period, and uses folksy, electric music to tell the story.

Despite the production team's best efforts, the main issues with this production stem from director Wendy C. Goldberg's stagnant staging. The show's emotional resonance and interesting score are lost through characters standing in one place for whole musical numbers and long pauses that make the 2.5-hour production slog at times. There is merit, though, in the framing device of having modern teenagers affected by Rutka's words, which survived despite her fateful end. This was effective most notably at the finale, but the show's opening number with teenagers standing in their own lights, seemingly disconnected, seemed an odd choice.

The score, while unique, is a bit jarring at first, combining such a defining and tragic historical event with music akin to modern blockbusters like Spring Awakening, but I grew to greatly enjoy it as the story unfolded. Beber's book has some knock-out emotional scenes, too often pulled down by the urge to convincingly portray a teenager--the overuse of "adios amigo" as a kitschy teen phrase came off as cringe and ill-placed to me. Again, this doesn't detract from some genuinely moving scenes, such as Stasia teaching Rutka about kissing (with a standout performance by Delaney Brown playing the former).

But the show often loses its focus when it delves into the teenager elements (a core tenet of the show's context), which seem to pale in comparison to the world around them--but maybe that's the point. Nonetheless, the choice of an American accent and such aforementioned lingo akin to Gen Z took me out of the story, at times.

Lana Schwartz, as Rutka, delivers an assuredly strong performance, deftly balancing 14 year-old innocence with the gravitas which sets her character apart. Zoe Siegel, as Rutka's friend Micka, has excellent vocals and a familiarity which helped the world jump off the stage (and they jumped, oh boy, did they jump.) The teenage ensemble not only jumped, but also delivered lived-in performances as both the 1940s Jewish teens and the modern teens discovering Rutka's writings (which was full-circle in a great way).

As Rutka's parents, Yaacov and Dvorah, played skillfully by Ben Cherry (whom I got to see this summer in Ragtime in Ithaca, NY) and Bex Odorisio respectively, shoulder a large burden in this story. I wish the story had included more of their journeys, though I understand the focus being squarely on the teenagers. So much of the story's emotions delve from the separation of friends, that it almost makes the familial unit play second fiddle.

The technical elements, however, were stellar top-to-bottom. With a set askew featuring bricked walls and fly-in scenery, the scenic design by Todd Rosenthal was a well-oiled scenic machine (though, at times, the sets distracted by lowering before the ending of the preceding scene, presumably for time). The costumes by Jen Caprio were luscious and colorful, despite the omnipresence of Doc Marten boots, and complimented each other well.

This brand-new show has a lot of heart in spite of humanity's greatest atrocities, and I commend the production team for their bold and new look at circumstances we may have seen in shows before. Despite my issues with some of the show's meat, the bones are strong and will likely only tighten and strengthen as the show's journey continues. For now, you can enjoy a story with brand-new music and performances that remind you of humanity's worst, and their very best.

Tickets are available now at https://www.cincyplay.com/productions/RUTKA, with the show running through November 10 at Moe and Jack's Place - The Rouse Theatre at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.