Cathryn Wake Archives - TheaterScene.net

Cathryn Wake

Copperfield! The New Musical

October 31, 2026

While many of Charles Dickens’ novels have been adapted successfully for the musical theater (Oliver! And The Mystery of Edwin Drood are two that come to mind), David Copperfield which clocks in at 870 pages in the Signet edition has defied successful musical adaptation until now. Jeffrey Scharf’s skillful and clever "Copperfield! The New Musical" has streamlined the story so well that it works beautifully as a new musical. With director and choreographer Gabriel Barre, Scharf’s musical version solves many of the problems inherent in such an adaptation. As this bildungsroman (story of growing up) deals with David Copperfield’s earliest days to his second marriage at age 35, two actors are used as David, but cleverly they interact reminding us that the child is father to the man. All of the main characters and events are here except for David’s schoolfriend Tommy Traddles who actually isn’t needed in the retelling. [more]

The Hello Girls

December 12, 2018

One of the beauties of the book by Mills and Reichel is that all of the characters in the large dramatis personae are very well defined and we have no trouble knowing who is who. Reichel’s direction and staging make the characterizations clear and consistent. Fishman’s Grace is efficient, fair-minded and heroic, always coming up with good ideas to make sure that things run more smoothly and we root for her throughout the story. As the assured, ambitious Suzanne, Skyler Volpe is very feisty, witty and acerbic, in the manner of an Eve Arden role. Chanel Karimkhani’s Helen, the farm girl, is constantly getting into trouble, not least of which is her problem being late most of the time and her naïveté and lack of sophistication. As the oldest operator and a married woman, Lili Thomas’ Bertha is a rock of stability when others are falling apart. Cathryn Wake’s very French Louise is a firecracker, always speaking her mind - even if it gets her into trouble. Christine O’Grady’s choreography for the dance hall scenes for the women and the doughboys is redolent of ballroom dances of the period. The show’s one flaw is that there is not enough tension until almost the very end when the war comes a little too close for comfort. [more]