By SHARON EBERSON
You can’t help but notice, the moment Alex Finke makes her entrance, that she appears to be pregnant. It helps to know that the actress is real-life pregnant, which does not have any bearing on her role as French artist Marie-Berthe Cazin. It does, however, add to the feat of flying solo in the enchanting musical In Clay, the 52nd season-opener for City Theatre.
Finke, a Broadway performer in Les Miserables and Come From Away, acknowledged her baby bump with a mere gesture as she entered on Friday, then launched into an ebullient performance bordering on astounding. Her pure vocals eased to the full extent of a wide range, and when she sank to the floor and then rose in one motion to her feet, well, that would fill anyone in the know with admiration.
(Image: Kristi Jan Hoover)
In Clay is a marathon of a 90-minute, straight-through performance, created by the UK’s Rebecca Simmonds (book and lyrics) and Jack Miles (music and lyrics). Played gorgeously by an onstage quartet, the vibrant Parisian jazz score intrinsically evokes the joy of love and artistic creation, and the infuriating frustration of oppression and denied recognition.
The imagined tale of the real-life Marie, a noted potter, painter and sculptor at the turn of the 20th century, finds her both pining for and jealous of another female artist, the celebrated post-impressionist painter and illustrator Henrietta Tirman.
Finke’s performance as Marie, with the occasional flutter as Henrietta and others, takes the audience along for the ride as she discovers her calling as the creator of art “from thin air.”
Her joy at finding her artistic voice is palpable, as is her awakening at basking in the beacon of light that is Henrietta.
The music soared to a crescendo as we witnessed Finke create a pot, starting with the inherent sensuality of working in clay, and leading to the exhilaration of creation. Cheers erupted when she reached into a kiln and triumphantly held the pot aloft.
As the play begins, Marie is a widow, awaiting a visit from Henrietta, and recalling their lives as emerging artists, as well as their rifts and reconciliations.
Songs with titles such as “Love and Work” and “Spark” mark the early days of Marie’s artistic emergence, while titles such as “Fingernails” (marking her work to prove it is her own) and “Empty Letters” reflect her married life with fellow artist Michel Cazin.
While Michel reaps rewards by claiming his wife’s work as his own (this was rumored to be the case in real life), we learn that Henrietta in turns spurns Marie, appalled by her friend’s choices, and encourages her fellow artist to rebel.
Although it is not covered in the course of the play, Marie-Berthe Cazin and Henrietta Tirman would live together for Tirman’s final 13 years. Marie lived on to age 98, in 1971.
The music and songs of In Clay time travel to early days of Parisian cabarets and chansons, cultivated by composer Miles while exploring manouche, a vibrant style of swing that originated in France during the 1930s.
The onstage band is led by keyboardist Matt Herbert, who provided additional music, arrangements and orchestrations for In Clay, joined by Pittsburgh musicians Justin F. Bendel (upright bass), Mila Shadel (guitar), and Stephen Weiss (violin).
In Clay comes to City Theatre from the musical’s American premiere at Signature Theatre of Virginia and director Kimberly Senior, who also directed Little Gem at the South Side theater in 2011. With Finke, Senior is joined by the Signature creative team of scenic designer Tony Cisek, costume designer Shahzrad Mazaheri, and Colin K. Bills.
The set is cluttered with such things as you’d expect to see at a live-in art studio with a working potter’s wheel. The crates and shelves filled with ceramic pieces of various shapes and sizes are provided through a partnership with the Union Project (all are for sale when the show closes).
Finke’s sustained, spirited performance and her pure vocals, along with music that evokes a time and place, are what will stay with me, as much as the story of a resilient woman, determined to pursue art and love on her own terms.
NOTES: Pre-show recorded music comes courtesy of show partners at MCG Jazz. Along with the Union Project, another show partner, Standard Clay of Carnegie, provided 150 pounds of clay that will be used throughout the run of the show, as each night, Marie creates a pot “out of thin air.” … Finke’s understudy, Isabel Mincy, is a Point Park University graduate who was a recent swing in Pittsburgh CLO’s production of Beautiful.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
In Clay opens City Theatre’s 52nd season through October 11, 2026, on the Mainstage, 1300 Bingham Street, South Side. TIckets: https://citytheatrecompany.org/production/106844/in-clay
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