🎭 The White House is a Farce | “POTUS” @ Geffen Playhouse

Posted onAuthorcahwyguyLeave a comment

POTUS (Geffen Playhouse)The West Wing was never like this. Or, perhaps given some recent presidents, it was — and it was covered up well. After all, I’m sure the White House staff is great at covering up from the gaffes of the President. One thing is definitely for certain—this wasn’t like last week’s train wreck.  For unlike last week where it was clearly a you either loved it or didn’t get it affair (and we weren’t alone on that — Stage and Cinema talked about how the show “devolves into a self-indulgent tangent that meanders without direction”; whereas McNulty at the Times talks about how “irony and egotism are blended like a fine Bordeaux”), POTUS, or more properly POTUS, or Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, currently at the Geffen Playhouse through February 25, was uproariously funny. This is a show well worth seeing.

POTUS tells the story of seven women in the White House, all of whom are working or in the orbit of the President of the United States (POTUS). This POTUS doesn’t correspond to any particular POTUS, although he clearly is an amalgam of quite a few of the recent inhabitants of that position. I can think of certain recent POTUS (POTUSes? POTII?) that were clearly the model for the playwright, Selina Fillinger, although they are never named. But the focus of this story is not the specifics of the man (who is never really seen), but the women behind him and how they deal with the consequences of his actions. These women are: Harriet, his Chief of Staff, Jean, his Press Secretary; Stephanie, his Secretary; Margaret, his wife; Chris, a reporter; and Dusty and Bernadette, two women more in the personal orbit of the man.

The show opens with a SNAFU where the President refers to his wife with a slang term sure to upset … and the situation devolves from there into a broad farce. That this show is a farce means a number of things theatrically. First, it means that the show is not intended to have meaningful character arcs or show character growth (do the characters grow or learn anything in Noises Off or The Play That Goes Wrong?). Second, the character archetypes are painted with a broad, almost caricatureish brush, somewhat stereotypical even. This means that they are clearly not intended to be fully realistic portrayals of real competent women. They are women designed for the comedy  potential of the positions, with certain characteristics overdrawn for the humor. For a farce, one needs to suspend that belief. Farces are rarely realistic.

After all, a President would never fuck up. A President would never call people names. A President would never do things that would insult and offend our allies. A President would never fool around with other women while in office. A President would never have siblings whose behavior would embarrass the office. That would never happen, right? The President’s office would never be a farce, right?

I won’t spoil the plot of this show, as that could rob the show of a lot of the humor (which is in the discovery of just how fucked up this POTUS is). I will say that the cast of the show is remarkable, and are spot-on in terms of both timing and comic characterization. I’m not sure I can single out one performance over any of the others; they were all great. Jennifer Chamber’s direction was impeccably timed (again, something that is key for any farce to succeed), and worked well to bring out humor.

This show is well worth seeing.

A few last notes, before the credits: First, if you choose to park next door in the parking lot  under the Chick-Fil-A, be forewarned. It is a horrid lot, with really tight turns. Do remember to pay at the pay machines before  you go to your car to leave. Make life better for others. It took me a half-hour to clear that lot because of the clueless folks who waited to pay until they were at the gate, and then couldn’t figure out that the credit card goes in a different slot from the ticket. Second, it was really sad to drive up Westwood Blvd to the theatre and see all the empty storefronts. When I went to UCLA in the late 1970s, Westwood was this vibrant student town with quirky shops and great restaurants. It then got mall-ified, and then greedy landlords jacked up rents and priced distinctive shops out. Now it is empty, and doesn’t serve anyone. It’s sad, and the landlords need to realize that it is better to have someone in your storefront paying a moderate something, than an empty storefront with an unrealized potential that may never happen.

POTUS, or Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive. Written by Selina Fillinger. Directed by Jennifer Chambers. Cast: Ito Aghayere Chris; Alexandra Billings Margaret; Lauren Blumenfeld Stephanie; Shannon Cochran Harriet; Celeste Den Jean; Jane Levy Dusty; Deirdre Lovejoy Bernadette. Understudies: Lorene Chesley Margaret / Chris; Joy Donze Stephanie / Dusty / Bernadette; Desirée Mee Jung Jean; Elaine Rivkin Harriet. Production and Creative Team: Brett J. Banakis Set & Video Design; Samantha C. Jones Costume Design; Elizabeth Harper Lighting Design; Lindsay Jones Original Music & Sound Design; Emily Moler Assoc. Director; Julie Ouellette Fight Director; Amanda Rose Villarreal Intimacy Director; Olivia O’Connor Dramaturg; Darlene Miyakawa Production Stage Manager; Colleen Danaher Asst. Stage Manager; Phyllis Schuringa, CSA Casting Director. This is not a tour of the recent Broadway production; it is a local Geffen remounting of the show.

POTUS continues at the Geffen Playhouse through February 25. Tickets are available through the Geffen Playhouse Website; discount tickets are likely available through the usual places. Note that the show has very strong language and themes, and is not for children.

♦ ♦ ♦

Administrivia: I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; Geffen Playhouse (Mini-Subscription); 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming Theatre – Next 90ish Days:

On the Theatrical Horizon:

There are a few shows for which announcements have crossed my transom that may be of interest: The CSUN Theatre Department in Northridge will be doing the Spongebob Musical in April 2024. We really wanted to see this when it was on tour in 2020, but the tour was killed by COVID; we did drive up to Woodland CA to see a friend in a community theatre production of it. It is a great show about science and climate denial. Charles Stewart Howard Playhouse in Woodland Hills will be doing Hands on a Hardbody in May 2024. CSH announced this back in 2020, but it was killed by COVID; I’m glad to see it will be back (and with a friend in the cast, even). Morgan-Wixson Theatre in Santa Monica has announced their Mainstage 2024 Season, and it includes Bat Boy the Musical running Sept 28 through October 18. We saw Bat Boy back when CSUN did it in 2014; it is a wonderful musical about how a society treats outsiders. Conundrum Theatre Company will be doing Urinetown The Musical in mid to late March 2024 at the Broadwater; this is a great musical, but we can’t fit it into the schedule (nor does my wife care to see it again). However, if you haven’t seen it, it is worth seeing.

Second: Broadway Dallas just announced their season. I like to look at the announcements of other “presenting houses” (i.e., regional theatres that specialize in touring productions) to get an idea of what will be coming to Broadway in Hollywood or the Ahmanson. Broadway Dallas’ season included the following shows that haven’t yet been in Los Angeles: Shucked; Back to the Future – The Musical; & Juliet; and Life of Pi. Other shows that I know will be touring are a new remounting of Beauty and the Beast (lukewarm on this, but I’m sure it will be at least an option at Broadway in Hollywood) and the recent production of Parade. According to Playbill and some other sources, other upcoming tour productions (that haven’t been announced for the LA area) are Kimberly Akimbo; the new revival of Sweeny Todd; A Beautiful Noise; Some Like It Hot; and New York, New York. I hope How to Dance in Ohio tours, but perhaps there will be a regional mounting; Harmony should be seen and I also hope it tours, but we saw it in a pre-Broadway version almost 10 years ago.

Share

🎭 A Narcissistic Exercise | “Kate” @ Pasadena Playhouse

Posted onAuthorcahwyguyLeave a comment

Kate (Pasadena Playhouse)Color me unimpressed. Color me confused.

I guess I should have been warned when Kate’s name was everywhere around the theatre, and her image was everywhere, and she was posing the lobby wanting people to ignore her. Her image was all over the men’s room, ferrchristssake. Then there’s her “Statement from the Artist”, which includes this: “The theatre requires a sacred corporal exchange – a sense-based modality of transference that demands physical presence.” WTF?

This was an exercise in a person wanting to be on display, who was seemingly in love with her own image.

On display she was, for 85 long minutes.

Perhaps I wasn’t her audience. Perhaps I just don’t get her humor. There were folks in the audience laughing uproariously. I laughed about 3 times, overall. She reminded me of Conan O’Brien, someone else who I don’t find funny at all. She was all exaggerated facial expressions, self-examination, and pointless dialogue. It is a form of humor I don’t understand.

The NY Times wrote of this show, when it was in New York,

Impatient, stylized, cerebral, Berlant’s comedy has never been for all markets. Nearly a decade ago, my colleague, Jason Zinoman, an early champion, described her as “not to everyone’s taste.” Marc Maron, on a recent episode of the WTF podcast, introduced her this way: “She’s an odd presence. But funny.” Her comedy resembles an infinite recursion, a hall of mirrors in which the reflections rarely flatter.

Note: The NY Times link is one of my “Gift Article” links, so you can read the whole thing. It does a good job of explaining what she is doing, although not everything mentioned is in the Pasadena Playhouse lobby. As they put it:

…she is a comic for all the girls out there who think too much… The confessional solo is a hallowed form downtown; Berlant desecrates it from every side. She plays with its creeds the way that a cat might toy with a mouse — teasing, batting, swiping, mauling. […] how you respond to “Kate” may have to do with how much you enjoy seeing theatrical tropes savaged. … The accents, the miming, the assumption of multiple characters, the buildup to some terrible trauma, all are satirized here.

So I understand now what she was trying to do. It still didn’t land with this audience goer. Listening to some of the folks as we left, we weren’t alone. Yet there were others for who it landed in a way they understood. I just don’t get what they saw.

But there are many things in this world I don’t get. #include <political-reference>

Kate certainly wasn’t for this theatregoer, who tends to prefer traditional stuff. I’m not a standup comedy person (I don’t go to comedy clubs).  I’m not into the avant guard or overly expressionistic comedy. I just don’t know what to make of this, other than it wasn’t something I liked, or would care to see again. Sometimes, theatre hits it out of the park. Sometimes, they get a base hit. Sometimes, they swing and miss, and swing and miss, and swing and miss, and ….

If Kate Berlant and her style is your thing, enjoy. We didn’t.

One additional note: The program for Kate is a similarly narcissistic, with her picture plastered everywhere. Hell, her show starts with the projected background showing links to her Amazon series, and showing her IMDB credits. But the creative team bios? Those are relegated to a QR code. That’s really poor form; a trend I don’t like. Websites go away or are reorganized away; printed program are a record of shows forever. I pay for my tickets; I should get a program with bios. There’s an Equity logo on this show; Equity shouldn’t put up with this. As a side note: The code takes you to https://pasadenaplayhouse.ihub.app/c/kate/feed?postTypeId=whatsNew .

Second note to the Pasadena Playhouse: That’s the other problem with QR codes: You have no idea where you are going — and unless you have your scanner set up to not automatically take you there, they are a cybersecurity nightmare. Well, even if you do, they are, because you can’t assess whether is a website is safe based on a URL alone. You also disenfranchise your audience (in that it is difficult to scan a QR code that is embedded within an online program) , and QR code programs encourage audiences to play with their phones during a show. Traditional printed programs, please.

Warning: There is an intense strobe light sequence in this show. Be forewarned if you insist on going to this show, and you are at all sensitive.

Kate. Runs until February 11. Tickets available through the Pasadena Playhouse, and likely through your favorite discount source.

Cast: Kate Berlant (Kate).

Above the Line Production: Kate Berlant (Writer); Bo Burnham (Director)

Below the Line Production and Creatives: Dots (Scenic Design); Amith Chandrashaker (Lighting Design); Palmer Hefferan (Sound Design); Lindsay Jones (Stage Manager); Brad Enlow (Technical Director / Production Supervisor); Davidson & Choy Publicity (Press), David S. Franklin (Asst. Stage Manager).

♦ ♦ ♦

Administrivia: I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; Geffen Playhouse (Mini-Subscription); 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming Theatre – Next 90ish Days:

 

Share

🛣 Changes to the California Highway Website covering Nov-Dec 2023

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy2 Comments

It’s time for the last highway page update for 2023. A number of changes here were driven by research for the last two episodes of season 2 of the podcast (which I’m writing right now), as well as from headlines. So, as always, “ready, set, discuss”. I’ll probably start on the next round of updates come Presidents Day in February.

This update covers November and December 2023, and perhaps some of January 2024, depending on how long it takes me to finish the last little bits. Before we dive into the updates to the California Highways site, an update on the California Highways: Route by Route podcast. As always, you can keep up with the show at the podcast’s forever home at https://www.caroutebyroute.org , the show’s page on Spotify for Podcasters, or you can subscribe through your favorite podcaster or via the RSS feeds (CARxR, Spotify for Podcasters) . The following episodes have been posted since the last update:

Turning to the updates to the California Highways pages: Updates were made to the following highways, based on my reading of the (virtual) papers and my research for the podcast in November and December 2023 (which are posted to the roadgeeking category at the “Observations Along The Road” and to the California Highways Facebook group) as well as any backed up email changes. I also reviewed the the AAroads forum (Ꜳ). This resulted in changes on the following routes, with credit as indicated [my research(ℱ), contributions of information or leads (via direct mail or ꜲRoads) from Tom Fearer(2), Plutonic Panda(3). rte66man(4): Route 1(ℱ), Route 2(ℱ), Route 11(ℱ), I-15(ℱ), Route 20(ℱ), Route 24(ℱ), Route 29(ℱ), Route 31(2), Route 33(ℱ), Route 37(ℱ), Route 46(ℱ), Route 64(ℱ), I-80(ℱ), Route 94(2), Route 99(ℱ), US 101(ℱ), Route 117(2), Route 121(ℱ), Route 154(ℱ), Route 160(ℱ), Capitol Southeast Corridor (Route 148)(4), Route 199(ℱ), Route 222(ℱ), Route 258(ℱ), US 399(ℱ), I-405(ℱ), I-580(ℱ), I-710(3).
(Source: private email through 11/23/2023, Highway headline posts through the December Headline post, AARoads through 12/28/2023)

Research for Episodes 2.11 and 2.12 of the podcast, on Route 2, resulted in updates to Route 2, US 66, LRN 61, LRN 162, LRN 165, and LRN 188.

Added links to the Metro Dorothy Payne Grey Transportation Library Primary Resources blog’s series on Past Visions of Los Angeles’ Transportation Future to the History of Southern California Freeway Development page.

Reviewed the Pending Legislation page, based on the California Legislature site, for bills through 2023-12-25. As usual, I recommend to every Californian that they visit the legislative website regularly and see what their legis-critters are doing. As many people are unfamiliar with how the legislature operates (and why there are so many “non-substantive changes” and “gut and amend” bills), I’ve added the legislative calendar to the end of the Pending Legislation page. The State Assembly and Senate are still in their Fall recess, and there are no new bills introduced.

Reviewed the online agenda of the California Coastal Commission. This covered the December meeting. The following items were of interest:

  • 12b. December 2023 Application No. 1-23-0773 (Caltrans, South Broadway Complete Streets, Eureka, US 101)

I checked California Transportation Commission page for the results of the December 2023 meeting of the California Transportation Commission. As always, note that I tend not to track items that do not impact these pages — i.e., pavement rehabilitation or replacement, landscaping, drainage, culverts, roadside facilities, charging stations, or other things that do not impact the routing or history, unless they are really significant. As such, the following items were of interest:

Read More …

Share

🛣 Headlines About California Highways – December 2023

Posted onAuthorcahwyguyLeave a comment

2023 is rapidly coming to a close, and so I wanted to get the December headline post out a little early. The primary reason is that I need to go through the December headlines to finish off the November/December updates to the highway pages. You can expect that post to follow on the heels of this one, pretty shortly. There may also be another podcast episode, but we’re having trouble scheduling the recording session. So it’s more likely you’ll get 2-3 episodes in January to make up for a light December. Next up: The election year of 2024. Oh. Boy.

December was busy, what with the conference in Austin at the beginning of the month, and our daughter coming into town. We got one episode recorded and up — and it was an interesting one, talking all about Big Sur and the impact of highway closures there. We had planned on recording another episode this week, but various issues have delayed that. I hope we’ll be able to record it this weekend, and perhaps I’ll get it edited and up — but who knows. On the positive side, the scripts for the two Route 2 episodes are written and being reviewed. A short break, and then I’ll start researching and writing Season 3, covering Route 3 through Route 7. As always, you can keep up with the show at the podcast’s forever home at https://www.caroutebyroute.org , the show’s page on Spotify for Podcasters, or you can subscribe through your favorite podcaster or via the RSS feeds (CARxR, Spotify for Podcasters) . The following episodes have been posted this month:

  • California Highways: Route by Route logoCA RxR 2.04: Route 1: San Luis Obispo (SLO) and Big Sur.  In Episode 2.04 of California Highways: Route by Route, we continue our exploration of Route 1 by exploring everything about the segment in San Luis Obispo (SLO) County and the portion in Monterey County up through Big Sur until just S of Carmel. This includes the Five Cities (Grover Beach, Pismo Beach, Shell Beach (actually part of Pismo Beach), Arroyo Grande, and Oceano (unincorporated county land serviced by the Oceano Community Services District)), San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, Cayucos, Cambria, and San Simeon, as well as the (in)famous Big Sur. This episode also features an interview with Anneliese Ågren, a resident of Big Sur. As always, we go over the history of this segment of the route, the history of the route through various communities , the freeway plans, discuss relinquishments, names, and some current plans. We also talk about the history of slides on the Sur, and what people should know about the impacts of those slides. Looking forward, episode 2.05 will continue our exploration of Route 1 with the portions in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Mateo county from Carmel through Devil’s Slide (Montara). (Spotify Link)

The updates to California Highways are nearly done; I just need to incorporate this headlines post. Other than that, theatre reviews have started up again. I’ve posted “new style” reviews for A Christmas Story – The Musical at the Ahmanson, and MJ – The Musical at the Pantages, as well as my plan for theatre reviewing going forward in 2024 (which includes a summary of my 2023 shows).

I wish everyone a happy and healthy 2024. Please spread the word about the California Highways: Route by Route podcast. Review it, rate it, share it. If you’re listening to the early episodes — yes, the sound quality does get better (I’ve learned a lot about audio editing). You’ll find it in your favorite podcatchers; you can also just subscribe to the RSS feed.  If you listen through Spotify or a podcatcher, I may even see the numbers go up. The Spotify RSS feed is here.  Our most played episode is just under 150 listens according to Spotify; for this season, the best is at 71 (Route 1 in LA County). I’d love to see the numbers grow.

Well, you should now be up to date. Here are the headlines that I found about California’s highways for December:

Key

[Ħ Historical information | ＄ Paywalls, ＄＄ really obnoxious paywalls, and ∅ other annoying restrictions. I’m no longer going to list the paper names, as I’m including them in the headlines now. Note: For ＄ paywalls, sometimes the only way is incognito mode, grabbing the text before the paywall shows, and pasting into an editor.]

Highway Headlines

  • Caltrans Announces Public Information Meeting for Proposed State Route 154 and Foxen Canyon Road Intersection Improvements (The Santa Barbara Independent). Caltrans District 5 will hold a Public Information Meeting regarding a proposal to implement improvements at the intersection of State Route 154 and Foxen Canyon Road in Los Olivos. The public is invited to this meeting which will be held in an open house format at the St. Mark’s-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church at 2901 Nojoqui Avenue in Los Olivos on Tuesday December 12th from 6 pm until 8 pm. The public will be able to learn more about this project, view informational displays and ask questions of the project team, including staff from engineering, traffic operations and environmental. Caltrans considered current and future traffic volumes, collision data, and other factors to identify feasible safety enhancements that would address a pattern of collisions at the intersection and support safe and efficient travel for all users now and into the future. The preliminary evaluation indicates that a traffic signal or a roundabout would be feasible alternatives at the intersection. Now that the preliminary evaluation is complete, we will lead a more detailed analysis to identify a preferred solution, and we are looking for public input.
  • Google apologizes for trapping Calif. drivers in the desert (SFGate). Google has apologized for sending a gaggle of Californians on a road to nowhere in the desert as they tried to make their way home from Las Vegas. The apology comes after Shelby Easler went viral on TikTok for documenting her experience after Google Maps promised her family a faster way out than Interstate 15. “The minute we got in the car to leave from Vegas, it popped up on Google Maps as a suggested alternative route to avoid the dust storm,” Easler told SFGATE over Instagram DMs.
  • Toll lanes open on 405 Fwy in Orange County (KTLA). It’s finally here, Orange County. On Friday, new express lanes on the 405 Freeway opened, providing what officials say is a faster option for those willing to pay and less congestion for those who aren’t. “Everyone is going to benefit from this program,” Darrell Johnson, CEO of the Orange County Transportation Authority, told KTLA’s Ginger Chan. “We’re very proud of the work that we’ve done with our partners at Caltrans and all of the cities along the corridor.” The lanes, which span 16 miles from the 605 Freeway at the Los Angeles County line to State Road 73 in Costa Mesa, use electronic tolling, requiring drivers to have a FasTrak transponder.
  • ＄ Mammoth $2 billion 405 Freeway project completes with express lanes opening (Los Angeles Times). The opening of new express lanes on the 405 Freeway in northwest Orange County on Friday marked the final step of a massive $2.16-billion highway improvement project. But in many ways, it also wrapped up one of the region’s last major freeway expansions as transportation officials move toward more sustainable and efficient investments. “The era of the big highway projects are over,” said Marlon Boarnet, an urban planning professor at USC and the director of the METRANS Transportation Consortium. “The big, big highway projects are going to become more rare. … [Future work] is going to become much more part of a more balanced system.”
  • LAFD Finds Nearly 2 Dozen Freeway Underpasses Need Fixing (LAist). In the wake of the 10 Freeway fire, the Los Angeles Fire Department inspected all state-owned freeway underpasses in the city and has identified nearly two dozen properties with violations. LAFD inspectors reviewed 50 underpass properties that are similar to where that massive fire sparked in downtown L.A., and 23 of them were referred to the State Fire Marshal for fire code violations. In addition to fire code issues, inspectors were looking for health and safety code violations. Specifically, LAFD looked at hazardous materials storage that exceeds the state reporting threshold of 55 gallons of liquid, 200 cubic feet of gas, and 500 pounds of a solid. LAFD also kept an eye out for improper storage or use of hazardous materials.
  • Driving on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu is about to change (KTLA). An ambitious multi-million-dollar project begins Monday to improve safety and traffic flow along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, including the area where four Pepperdine University students were killed in a crash in October. As part of the “Traffic Signal Synchronization Project,” crews will install communication lines between existing traffic signals on PCH between John Tyler Drive and Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Officials said this will allow signals to be controlled remotely by Caltrans to lower speeds and reduce congestion.

Read More …

Share

🎭 The Theatre Carol. No, Not THAT Carol

Posted onAuthorcahwyguyLeave a comment

In the seasonally-appropriate classic A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is haunted by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. I, too, am haunted, but by the ghosts of theatre writeups from the past and present… and potentially of the future, if I don’t change things.

I’ve been attending theatre since 1972, when I saw The Rothschilds at the LA Civic Light Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.  I didn’t start writing things up until I got my Livejournal account. It started out as a few paragraphs when we would go see a show, as a way of encouraging my friends to go to the shows. Over time, the writeups grew — to the point where they were taking me up to 3 hours to write, and the theatres thought I was a theatre critic and would send me press information.

OK, I’ll admit I was flattered by the last part. But I insisted a wasn’t a critic. Just a theatre lover, writing up things to share with my friends. I had no critical training other than attending shows. I was just a cybersecurity guy who liked live theatre. But the time to write up a show after seeing one was growing. It was a lot of work to link to every artist. I couldn’t think of things to say when I was seeing the same show for the fourth or fifth time (The Sound of Music — I’m looking at you).  Weekends also got crazy, with live theatre almost every weekend; and sometimes two shows on a weekend. It was turning my wife off of performances, and I’ll admit it was tiring trying to keep up.

Then COVID hit. We all stopped attending live performance.

As theatre came back, we started attending shows again.  Our initial position going in was: Subscriptions only. This meant our Center Theatre Group, Broadway in Hollywood, Pasadena Playhouse, 5-Star, and Actors Co-Op subscriptions, plus anything interesting at the Soraya. We didn’t go to fringe. This was our plan throughout 2021 and 2022.

I initially did writeups, but my heart was no longer in it. The effort just got to me.

In 2023, we slowly attended a few more shows. We added some Jewish-themed shows with our Live Theatre Group at our synagogue, which I coordinate. But the write-ups didn’t return.

This brings us to 2024. What am I going to do going forward with respect to theatre and writeups? Here’s the plan:

Attendance

  • We plan to continue attending theatre. We subscribe at the Ahmanson, Broadway in Hollywood, 5-Star Theatricals, and the Pasadena Playhouse. I’ve dropped Actor’s Co-op down to the “specific show” level — their return has been show, the shows haven’t grabbed me, and their Christological bent has always bothered me. We’ll still keep an eye on them, as we do most intimate theatre in LA, but I still haven’t found a company that equals the late, lamented, Rep East Playhouse. We’ll be adding specific shows we haven’t seen before and are of interest — I know there are two shows we’re planning to see at the Geffen (POTUS and Fat Ham), and we plan to see 3-4 shows from the Canyon Theatre Guild season. I want to add more non-musical comedies and dramas.
  • We plan to add more live musical performance to the mix. My wife is a bit musical-ed out (I know, how can that be?), so we plan to add more jazz and band pieces, as well as dance and some folk artists. Art is important in your life, no matter the form. For example, we have tickets to Gordon Goodwin and the Big Little Phat Band  at the Kavli at coming up.
  • We haven’t decided yet on Fringe. Part of that depends on our COVID comfort level, and part of that depends on our June schedule. Fringe can be exhausting, and Karen may not have the stamina to Fringe.
  • Some shows won’t be “we” but “me”. In other words, if it is something Karen doesn’t want to see, I won’t be dragging her. Some things she might go see alone as well. This will typically apply to shows outside the subscriptions.

Writeups

  • The writeups, as I did them in the past, probably won’t return. It is a lot of work to do all links to every artist and creative (and it makes Google suspicious of me). Further, I think performers have moved away from the model of having their own websites (although they should) and having FB pages. Now its Instagram this and Tik-tok that and Twitter/X and …. The goal of the linking was to enable people to find artists and connect. I might do it in specific cases.
  • My focus is going to be on observations regarding the story/book, and to highlight specific performances of note. You can use my recent writeups of MJ and A Christmas Story as examples.
  • I reserve the write to skip story analysis, especially for “old chestnuts” that everyone knows but that subscriptions bring us. For example, I know that Peter Pan is upcoming at Broadway in Hollywood, and Sound of Music is on the 5-Star 2024 season. Not much to say about those. Similarly, I may not do a detailed synopsis, but instead may point to one online.
  • The goals of the writeups is to share what I’ve seen, perhaps encourage (or discourage) you from seeing a show, and to share my fun of attending. I don’t want the writeups to feel like a burden.

Lastly, what haven’t I written up. Here’s the theatre we saw since my last summary writeup in May 2023:

  • May 20 | “A New Brain” @ LGBT Center (Celebration). A wonderful intimate production of a show I had heard but never seen. We really enjoyed this.
  • May 27 | “A Soldier’s Play” @ Ahmanson. Deeply moving. A great drama.
  • Jun 10 | “Bernadette Peters in Concert” @ Pasadena Civic (Pasadena Playhouse). For someone her age, a remarkable show. I wish she had done more from Mack and Mabel, but this was a Sondheim Special.
  • Jun 17 | “Tina” @ Pantages / BIH. A biographical jukebox. Strong performances and dance.
  • Jul 1 | “Into the Woods” @ Ahmanson. A spectacular performance, perhaps the best I’ve seen of this Sondheim gem.
  • Jul 15 | “Beetlejuice” @ Pantages / BIH. Quite a fun show, very different than the movie. Enjoyed it quite a bit. No, we didn’t see Lauren Boebert.
  • Jul 22 | “Cinderella” @ 5-Star. Not much to say.
  • Jul 29 | “Stew” @ Pasadena Playhouse. Interesting, but the story had some problems.
  • Aug 6 | “Tevye in New York“. A one-man show, done in a backyard, about the adventures of Tevye after he left Russia. Based directly on the Sholom Aleichem story, not the musical. TAS Live Theatre group.
  • Aug 12 | “Peter Pan Goes Wrong” @ Ahmanson. Side-splittingly hilarious, and Bradley Whitford was remarkable.
  • Aug 19 | “Spongebob Squarepants – The Musical” @ Woodland Opera House. A friend was in this production, so we drove up to Davis for the weekend. I’ve been wanting to see this; it was the first COVID theatre casualty. A wonderful show; see it if you can. Speaking of that, CSUN will be doing Spongebob at the end of April 2024.
  • Sep 9 | “The Sound Inside” @ Pasadena Playhouse. Interesting drama, with an ending I didn’t expect.
  • Oct 14 | “Oliver” @ 5-Star. Sorry to say, but we left after act 1. The show just didn’t grab me; perhaps I wasn’t in the right headspace for it.
  • Nov 4 | “Inherit the Wind” @ Pasadena Playhouse. A strong and very timely production.
  • Nov 11 | “Tom Paxton” @ McCabes. Tom is still one of the best folk singer-songwriters out there. Now with added Don-Juans.
  • Nov 25 | “70 Girls 70” @ Group Rep. A show I’ve been wanting to see forever; the music just makes me happy. Now I can put Boom Diddy Boom in context. But the story is non-sensical. Still, a fun show with fun performances.
  • Dec 16 | “A Christmas Story” @ Ahmanson.
  • Dec 23 | “MJ – The Musical” @ Pantages/BIH

At the present time, January will bring “Kate” at the Pasadena Playhouse, “POTUS” at the Geffen, and “Sukkot” at the Skylight Theatre (The 6th Act). February brings Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet at the Ahmanson, possibly The Marvelous Wonderettes: Dream On at Canyon Theatre Guild, and The Wiz at the Pantages/Broadway in Hollywood.

 

Share

🎭 The Man Behind the Flash | “MJ – The Musical” @ Bway in Hollywood

Posted onAuthorcahwyguyLeave a comment

MJ - The Musical @ Pantages[This is another abbreviated write-up. More on write-ups going forward, as well as a year or more of theatre in review, later this week. Who remembers the line-eater bug these days?]

Last night, we saw “MJ: The Musical” at Broadway in Hollywood/Hollywood Pantages last night. A few observations about the show:

Start by letting this sink into your head: Michael Jackson’s music is oldies music. Remember a few weeks ago I commented, after a visit to a Bob’s Big Boy in Northridge, how their playing music from the 1950s felt off; it was like when I was growing up in the 1970s they were playing music from 1915. The 1950s was oldies music during the 1980s and 1990s. Grease (the movie) came out in 1978. So for kids in the 2020s, music from the early 90s is just about as old. Hence: Michael Jackson is oldies; it is classic pop of today. Watch minds explode.

Going into this show, I was torn. I liked the music of Michael Jackson (although I was never an obsessed fan — I was a different generation). But Michael Jackson has the same problem as Bill Cosby and Woody Allen and so many others: How do you separate the talented artist from the tortured soul who was alleged to (and quite likely did) so many problematic things. Although I have a large collection of Bill Cosby humor albums acquired in the 1960s, I no longer listen to them. I probably won’t until after he dies. I avoid Woody Allen films, as I don’t want to profit the man. Michael Jackson has similar problems, but he is gone. The owners of his music catalog benefit from this show; his children may benefit. A little better, but still a little uncomfortable.

That brings me to the gloved elephant in the room: Does the show address the allegations, or how he died? The answer is that it doesn’t. It’s is set at the time of the start of the Dangerous Tour. There are indications that he’s being hounded by personal questions (that are never stated). There’s brief discussion — but no exploration — of his dependence on pain killers. But that’s about it. I truly debated titling this writeup “Pay no Attention to the Man-Boy Behind The Curtain”, but that would have made the title too long.

So what perception of Jackson comes through? His perfectionism. His dedication to the music and the art. HIs dedication to dance. His putting art above the money, and performance above profit. His desire to do good for others. His shaping through the abuse of his father, Joseph.  As for Jackson’s origin story, well that comes through only superficially. We don’t see the conflicts, if they exist, between his brothers. We learn nothing about the relationship of Jackson and his sisters. We learning nothing about the person that was Michael Jackson; we learn only the image he wanted … sold to the public.

This is not to say that the show was bad. But if you go in expecting to learn something significant about Michael Jackson, you’ll be disappointed. This show, much likes Jackson himself, focuses on the image. “Bad” is only a song. There’s flash and sequins and sparkle and (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain) and music and sub-woofers and dance and dance and dance. It’s a Thiller, where the monsters aren’t real.

The performances were spectacular. The dancing was astounding. The music brought back memories.

But the story was focused on Jackson as the artist, with only glimpses of the person underneath the facade.

As this is an abbreviated writeup, I’m not listing the cast and creatives. Special mention should go to Roman Banks MJ , for his nailing of the sound and movement of Michael Jackson, to Ethan Joseph Little Michael for his powerhouse voice, and to Kellie Drobnick Tour Dancer, who for whatever reason just kept catching my eye.

One additional thought: As I watch productions, I think about what additional life they will have. I can see shows like Come From Away being done at the regional, or even the high school level. I can see revivals and reinterpretations. As for MJ? I can’t see this being done at the High School level — they won’t find students who can do this. At the regional level, perhaps only in select levels. But the production design would be hard to duplicate with the intense projections. Further, duplicating this era at the regional or high school level might be hard, especially props and costumes. This tour might be it. I’d be interested in your thoughts about the the future life of this musical.

MJ: The Musical runs until January 28, 2024 at the Pantages Theatre.

Share

🎭 Guns, Elves, and Christmas | “A Christmas Story” @ Ahmanson

Posted onAuthorcahwyguyLeave a comment

If you noticed, I haven’t been writing theatre reviews of late. My last full review was of Ghosts at the Odyssey Theatre, back in October 2022; there was an explanation why in a post from May 2023. This may be changing — watch for a post before the end of the year. But last night we saw A Christmas Story at the Ahmanson Theatre, and it is just crying out in my head for some … observations. This won’t be a full writeup.

So what did I think of A Christmas Story (book by Joseph Robinette, Music and Lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, based on the motion picture of the same name)? Suffice it to say that I saw this simply because it was part of the Ahmanson season, and once was enough for me. The performances were good, and there were a number of laugh out loud moments, but ultimately it wasn’t timeless. Perhaps this is because I’m not Christian and the nostalgic Christmas has no special place in my heart. But I think there are a number of deeper problems with the show as a whole that I wish to opine about.

  • As noted, I’m not a Christmas person, and generally not a Christmas musical person. My favorite is still A Mulholland Christmas Carol, which I saw back in December 2012. More recently, I really enjoyed the version of A Christmas Carol that the Ahmanson did back in December 2021 with Bradley Whitford. But most Christmas musicals I can take or leave, and most fall into the leave category. White Christmas and Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas (soon at Broadway in Hollywood) — I’m looking at you. There are various reasons for this indifference, but it generally falls down to the fact that nostalgia falls flat with me. This harkening back to snow, and hearth, and gifts, and the magic of Christmas pass evokes little. It seems to miss the point of the holiday.
  • There is one modern Christmas musical I do like: Elf, which I last saw at the Canyon Theatre Guild in December 2019, and is currently running there through Dec 23 2023. Elf is filled with joy and exuberance; and it has memorable and hummable songs that you can enjoy hearing out of the context of the story. It is a movie that called out for musicalization; there were elements of the story where you could easily see the characters bursting out into song. I contrast that with A Christmas Story, where you ask yourself: Why? The movie itself was fine as a nostalgia piece, but the scenes and incidents didn’t cry out “make me a musical”. In many ways, the Christmas Story musical was more a series of vignettes than a significant story with a through line, and characters that grew and changed over the story. I’ll gladly see Elf again; for A Christmas Story, once was enough.
  • Another problem with A Christmas Story: The Musical is its setting. The audience for which 1940s Indiana has any meaning is rapidly dying away. Literally. The adults from the 1940s are dead; the kids from the 1940s will be within the next 5-10 years. The time and places, and the memories from this story will be increasingly foreign to Gen X, Y, and Z. What are department stores? I thought Santas were in shopping malls, and toys were at Walmart? What are these mail-in contests? There is just increasingly little that will invoke memories. That will limit the stage life of this musical, which will be propped up by endless showings of the movie. Other Christmas stories of this time period: It’s a Wonderful Life  or White Christmas, have more staying power because they don’t play on nostalgia (and let’s not mention Here’s Love, which is just a musicalized Miracle on 34th Street).
  • Additionally, there is the issue of the object at the center of A Christmas Story: The Musical: A gun, specifically a Red Ryder BB Gun. which you can still get today. Only in America would you have a musical celebrating a gun; perhaps that makes this musical play better in those parts of America that yearn for a return to 1950s America, 1950s values, and a culture where guns are a part of life. Yes, we know phrases like that are dog whistles today, and I’m sure those notions weren’t in the mind of Jean Shepard when he wrote the original short stories, or in the minds of the movie makers. Yet themes get perverted by our times — and I feel this theme won’t resonate long term with the youth of today.
  • Where does the notion of bribing children for being good all year come from? Was it added to Christmas by the parent’s lobby? It’s certainly not in Christian theology as I understand it, where the reward for being good is an eternity in Heaven with Jesus, not Tinker-Toys. Is this notion the Protestant equivalent of Yom Kippur, given that they did away with Catholic Confession? These are the thoughts that go through my head during a Christmas musical.
  • The musical captures all the major stories and points of the movie: all those scenes you remember. But with the musical, you ask yourself: Why was this included? What do these scenes due to advance the story or grow the characters? Story-wise, you could drop the flagpole scene, or all the hullaballoo about “A Major Award”, and the story would progress equally well. Again, this shows why this was not a movie that called out to be a musical; or if it was to become one, it needed radical rethinking to build it into a proper musical book of its own. Buddy the Elf had a journey. DId Ralphie?
  • This is not to say the show was bad. There were some laugh out loud moments — in particular, the dogs (Reba and Jethro) with the turkey. The tap numbers were spectacular (and special kudos to Addalie Burns for the tap specialty.  I enjoyed the Christmas dinner scene. The performances were strong, and it looks like the show (which is a tour) cast locally (although the “tour” seemingly had only one stop, and appears to be a remounting of the 2021 tour for Los Angeles). I noticed quite a few local cast, with draws from past 5-Star Theatrical, MTW, McCoy Rigby, Actors Co-Op, and such productions.  But it was ultimately “donuts for dinner” (a phrase from [Title of Show], referring to something that seems like a good idea at the time, but is filled with sugar and in the end leaves you hungry).

Should you go see A Christmas Story: The Musical? I think it depends on your views on Christmas, and Christmas nostalgia for Christmas in 1940s white-break America — the land of Hallmark and Great American TV Movies. Once was enough for me.

Don’t be surprised if I have thoughts next week, when we see MJ – The Musical. Going in: I can easily see why one would want to build a jukebox musical out of the MIchael Jackson catalog. But given Jackson’s personal history, I find the notion of the biographical approach (and one that really only presents the good) to be puzzling. He’s gone, and the funds support his kids, and the song rights holders (i.e., Sony, if I recall correctly), so it is less cringe-worthy than buying a new Bill Cosby album, but still… Next week, we shall see.

You can also expect a post before the end of the year regarding theatre reviews going forward. Yes, I’ve been attending theatre through 2022 and 2023 — just not writing about it. The old-style reviews took just too much work (even this one took a couple of hours). I’m debating picking up the review mantle again, but they won’t be as detailed. At least that’s the intent, but who knows with the way I write.

Share

🛣 Headlines About California Highways – November 2023

Posted onAuthorcahwyguyLeave a comment

November. The month where you start to get sick of pumpkin spice, and wonder why they are playing December holiday music so frippen early. Or is it just me. But one more month, and 2023 2023 will be in the history books. Then comes the election year of 2024. Oh. Boy.

November saw us recording two more episodes of the podcast; of these, one has been released and one is waiting to be edited. I may edit it during the Annual Computer Security Conference (ACSAC) next week, or it may be delayed a bit more. The Route 1 scripts are written; Route 2 will be written between Christmas and New Years.  As always, you can keep up with the show at the podcast’s forever home at https://www.caroutebyroute.org , the show’s page on Spotify for Podcasters, or you can subscribe through your favorite podcaster or via the RSS feeds (CARxR, Spotify for Podcasters) . The following episodes have been posted this month:

  • California Highways: Route by Route logoCARxR 2.03: Route 1 – Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.  In Episode 2.03 of California Highways: Route by Route, we continue our exploration of Route 1 by exploring everything about the segment in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, from Solromar / Malibu at the edge of Ventura County to near Guadalupe in Santa Barbara County. We’ll go over the history of this segment of the route, the history of the route through various communities including Malibu, Oxnard, Ventura, Lompoc/Vandenberg and Orcutt. We’ll go over the freeway plans, discuss relinquishments, names, and some current plans. (Spotify Link)

Additionally, the Updates to California Highways for September and October are now posted to the California Highways site. I’ll be working on the next round of updates between Christmas and New Years. Lastly, for those that use iPod Classics, I’ve figured out (finally) how to mirror my iTunes Library to my Android phone. Might not be a big deal to you, but it is to me.

One last plug: For those in the cybersecurity field: Registration for the Annual Computer Security Conference open, but you only have two days. We start in Austin on Sunday.

Well, you should now be up to date. Here are the headlines that I found about California’s highways for November:

Key

[Ħ Historical information | ＄ Paywalls, ＄＄ really obnoxious paywalls, and ∅ other annoying restrictions. I’m no longer going to list the paper names, as I’m including them in the headlines now. Note: For ＄ paywalls, sometimes the only way is incognito mode, grabbing the text before the paywall shows, and pasting into an editor.]

Highway Headlines

  • ＄ Napa Silverado Trail roundabout project moving forward (Napa Valley Register). Napa city officials have given staff the go-ahead on project approval and environmental evaluation for a roundabout project that will eventually replace a traffic-clogging five-way intersection east of downtown. The project to replace the current crossing with two roundabouts linking the Silverado Trail, Third Street, Coombsville Road and East Avenue won City Council approval in 2017, but has been slow to get off the ground. A partnership between the city and Caltrans, the project was slated for a 2022 groundbreaking and 2024 completion, but work was delayed in 2021. The city’s public works director, Julie Lucido, said at the time that funding took longer than the city and state expected, in part because the price increased from the original projection of $8.2 million to between $11 million and $20 million.
  • Past Visions of Los Angeles’ Transportation Future: 1940s (Metro’s Primary Resources). The last 100 years of transit and transportation planning in Los Angeles hold stories full of challenges and opportunities, successes and failures, and some surprises, little known “firsts,” and enduring urban legends. We are taking a look back — decade by decade — at key resources from our collection to contextualize the seminal traffic, transit, and transportation plans for the region in order to provide greater understanding of how we arrived where we are today. The economic uncertainty of the 1930s gave way to a decade marked by a Second World War and continued rapid growth of Los Angeles. Military bases and ports serving the Pacific Theater in WWII, along with a burgeoning aerospace industry, primed Los Angeles for further growth — and all the planning, construction, operations and consequences that come with it. Following the conceptualization of the “freeway” as a new type of parkway in 1933, the opening of the region’s first “freeway” (the Arroyo Seco Parkway) in 1939 set the stage for a decade of numerous, extensive studies and plans for a highway network serving the rapidly growing and densifying County. One early effort was the July, 1941 Report on the Feasibility of a Freeway Along the Channel of the Los Angeles River from the San Fernando Valley to the Los Angeles – Long Beach Harbors.
  • What the Golden Gate Is (Finally) Doing About Suicides (The New York Times (shared)). It was May 27, 1937, the opening day for a stunning new suspension bridge across a gap in the California coastline known as the Golden Gate. Before cars were allowed on the crossing, an estimated 200,000 people celebrated between the bridge’s four-foot-high rails, more than 200 feet above the water. Doris Madden, 11, was there with her parents. It was one of her favorite days of her childhood, a story she told until the end of her life. About 78 years later, in 2015, Madden’s 15-year-old grandson, Jesse Madden-Fong, was dropped off at his high school in San Francisco.
  • Metro, Caltrans Announce I-5 Full Closure in Santa Clarita (SCVNews.com). The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the California Department of Transportation will fully close both northbound and southbound directions of Interstate 5 Golden State Freeway from the State Route 14 Antelope Valley Freeway to Calgrove Boulevard 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 4 to 8 a.m., Sunday, Nov. 5, to demolish the Weldon Canyon Road bridge. Motorists should expect delays and consider taking alternate routes during these closure periods.
  • Projects Chosen for Climate Adaptation Funding (Streetsblog California). California Transportation Commission staff recommended fifteen projects to receive $309.2 million from the Local Transportation Climate Adaptation Program (LTCAP). The program was created in 2022 in response to concerns about the vulnerability of transportation to climate hazards including sea level rise, flooding, fire, and the like. The money comes from California – $148 million, allocated under S.B. 198 – and the federal PROTECT formula program established under IIJA. That program, Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT), provides another $252.4 million over five years.
  • Construction Confusion: Drivers encounter multiple projects on Sacramento freeways (Fox 40). If you had to use a movie title to describe Sacramento freeway construction, you might call it “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” The Caltrans website lists three dozen current projects at various stages in District 3, which includes much of the Sacramento region. Many of the projects involve freeway widening and repaving. That describes what is happening on Interstate 80 over the Yolo Causeway between Davis and Sacramento: a $280 million project with a target finish date of December 2027. There is also a $39 million dollar widening project along Interstate 5 in Sacramento from Arena Boulevard to the Yolo County line, scheduled for a summer 2025 completion.

Read More …

Share