Theater Review: 'Professor Woland’s Black Magic Rock Show'

Review by Nancy Sasso Janis

The Quinnipiac University Theater Program has taken on the challenge of presenting a developmental workshop production of a brand new musical, “Professor Woland’s Black Magic Rock Show.” The show features original rock music composed by Michael Pemberton, lyrics by Pemberton and his wife Andrea Pemberton, and a book by Jesse Rassmusen and Elizabeth Dinkova. Dinkova directed the talented QU emerging student artists that make up the cast.

The director notes that this rock show was “loosely inspired by a dark Russian love story from the 1920s,” a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov entitled “The Master and Margarita.” Michael Pemberton jumped at the chance to create music for the novel, “excited by the opportunity to express musical voice through these complex characters and their culture.” The composer, a longtime fan of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” began by writing a song about Jesus (“Naked,”) followed by Pilate’s “Bad Job.” In the story, the Devil (in the body of Woland) plays Cupid for the star-crossed lovers.

The creator of the show writes that he “aimed to anchor each song in the characters’ inner conflicts and their reactions to life’s surprising twists of fortune, love, death, heaven and hell.” As the repertoire grew, Pemberton’s band, which grew into an eight-piece rock orchestra, began to perform this collection exclusively across New York City. At a residency at The Slipper Room on the Lower East Side, the band developed and performed a narrated rock concert. Now with Dinkova and Rasmussen leading this adaptation, the Pembertons are fulfilling a dream that they have held for over two decades.

There is a helpful two-sided insert in the printed program that describes the action of the two acts and helps to fill in some of the blanks. Some tenants reminded me of the Broadway musical “Natasha, Pierre, and the Comet of 1912,” “cause it’s a complicated Russian novel,” but (thankfully) everyone does not have “nine different names. So look it up in your program.” Even if we don’t catch every detail of the tale, the musical score drives the emotions of the story home.

Stephen Russo, a junior at the University, covers the roles of the hitman Azazello and Berlioz, the head of the trade union Massolit. Alonna Beard, a freshman, takes on the role of the feline Behemoth and an editor. Quinnipiac senior Alyssa Drumm plays Hella, a female vampire, and Frieda in her first mainstage show on campus. Zach Pereira appears as both the young poet Ivan and Matthew.

Carter Kane plays the valet Koroview and Nikandor in his first Quinnipiac show. Natalie Young, a sophomore, plays the lovely and selfless Margarita, the Master’s mistress, and Yeshua. Harry Rosenay, a sophomore from Orange, plays the roles of Master and Pilate. Rosenay appeared in shows at Amity High School and Center Stage Theatre in Shelton. Senior Sasha Karzhevsky gets to play the title role, the embodiment of Satan, and Stravinsky, a local doctor.

Emily Lutin Fuentes served as both intimacy director and choreographer of the sweet dancing. Abigail Copeland designed the clever set, as well as the props. Luis Garcia designed a host of videos that highlight the action of the story. Lighting designed by Decarolis added appropriate color to the costumes of the era designed by Herin Kaputkin, which include pince-nez vintage eyeglasses for one character.

Liam Bellman-Sharpe was in charge of the sound design for this relatively small space. Andrea Pemberton did all of the graphic design for the show. Jeehyun Rachel Kim was the music director of the band and Jen Sciglibaglio directed the excellent vocals.

Kim conducted the musicians on camera so that the five other musicians, divided by the stage area, would be in sync. Jordan Brint on bass and drummer Michael Spanedda sat next to the wall on stage left, while Hudson Webber on cello, Kim on keyboard, and Clio Janis rocking out on guitar sat along the wall on stage right. Well, my Clio actually played standing up for most of the score. The band sounded amazing, and never overwhelmed the vocals. I loved the eclectic list of musical pieces, which include “Schizophrenia as Predicted,” “The Octopus” and “Forget Me Tango.”

I am grateful to the Quinnipiac Theater Program for allowing me to attend this workshop, for I love being among the first to see a new work, getting in on the ground floor, so to speak. There is a sprinkling of foul language in the script. Performances through Nov. 2 at the Quinnipiac Theater Arts Center in Hamden.

Next up at Quinnipiac will be Chekov’s “The Seagull,” followed by the 2025 New Play Lab, with six new student written and directed plays.

All photos by Emily Fuentes

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theater reviews since 2012 as a way to support local venues, and she posts well over 100 reviews each year. She became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle in 2016. Her contributions of theatrical reviews, previews, and audition notices are posted in the Naugatuck Patch as well as the Patch sites closest to the venue. She is also a feature writer and theater reviewer for the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column IN THE WINGS and theater reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the newspaper.

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