Theater review: It's cheer, beer with 'Choir of Man' for Playhouse Square return

After a 15-month COVID-19 hiatus, Playhouse Square, Northeast Ohio's acclaimed theater district, lights up again with an ostensibly "soft" reopening — a pocket-sized powerhouse of a pop revue that's anything but soft. It's that exultation of Gaelic testosterone, "The Choir of Man" — a title no doubt alluding to Isle of Man, the folkloric island nation in the Irish Sea — in a substantial return engagement at the Mimi Ohio Theatre. One might assume from the advertising that the nine chest-thumping, drum-beating musical charmers are stationed in this mock-up of a rather cavernous, bi-level all-purpose Irish pub (well done by designer Oli Townsend) to regale the socially distanced audience with a steady diet of all-time classic beer-swilling ballads of centuries past, interspersed with a few folk-rock pop standards to sooth a broader crowd. It's actually quite the opposite. Instead, we get everything from a cappella to full instrumental covers — yes, the entire group plays the gamut of guitars, drums, horns, banjos and accordions — of hits from Adele to Katy Perry, from a tap-danced Paul Simon's "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover" to spot-on fully harmonized Queen's "Somebody to Love," from Red Hot Chili Peppers to Guns N' Roses. Lest Broadway show-tuners feel left out, there's even "The Impossible Dream" from "Man of La Mancha." The most Irish-feeling number is "Wake Me Up," actually the handiwork of the Swede Avicii. Rather than Emerald-aisle exotica, the aura of the Mimi Ohio Theatre stage is more spiritually connected to virtually any bar down the block in Northeast Ohio. Most of the true evocations of Irish musical lore are dispensed within the preshow riffing, where the tightly clothed, youngish cast members (20s through 30s) flirt with the audience members while literally serving them beer — a practice that delightfully continues throughout the regular performance. Even without the beer, the audience would be inebriated with the talent, well helmed by director Nic Doodson, with able musical assistance from arranger Jack Blume and choreographer Freddie Huddleston. As soon as the music commences, these macho performers dispel any notions of being the Irish answer to something like a fully clothed Thunder from Down Under. For one thing, they are quickly and broadly introduced as personality types — the soulful Casanova, the lovelorn loner, the fighter, etc. — perhaps not necessary, but at least it's the closest the show gets to a semblance of plot. "For this touring company, the cast is not only multitalented, but multiracial, multicultural and multinational (well, "multinational" being just one member hailing across-the-pond from Kansas City, Kansas). Still, there are no women to be found in this emporium of imbibement, evocatively called The Jungle. (In pre-COVID-19 days, various women were invited onto the stage to be serenaded.) But as the friendly narrator (jovially portrayed by Denis Grindel) laments, this drinking institution is part of a dying breed, and it exists outside of day-to-day reality, where even Brexit is never discussed, let alone gender diversity. Nope, it's all cheer, beer and steer, and that's as much as a diverse but beleaguered post-COVID Playhouse Square audience could ever hope for. Contact Howard Gollop at howieeg@hotmail.com. IF YOU GO WHAT: Playhouse Square presents "The Choir Of Man" WHEN: through July 25 (times vary, possible extended run) WHERE: Mimi Ohio Theatre, 1511 Euclid Ave. Cleveland TICKETS: $59 to $79 INFO: (216) 241-6000 or PlayhouseSquare.org