Tag: ict-long-beach

When you think about a musical, you think about a full orchestra (or five to seven instruments masquerading as such). You typically don’t think about a 4-piece bluegrass quartet of piano, bass, fiddle, and banjo/guitar. But bluegress music and an old country spirit is at the heart of the musical “The Robber Bridgegroom“, which we saw last night at ICT-Long Beach (and which closes its run today at 2pm). The ICT production moved “Robber Bridgegroom“, which was on Broadway in the 1970s, to a right-size venue where it works perfectly. Combine that with perfect casting, perfect direction, and perfect music, and you have a delightful evening, once upon a Natchez Trace.

“The Robber Bridgegroom“, based upon a novel by Eudora Welty with book and lyrics by Alfred Uhry (of “Driving Miss Daisy” and “Parade” fame) and music by Robert Waldman, tells the fable of the Robber Bridegroom in 1795 in Rodney’s Landing, Mississippi. It is a fable about, as the song says, “A gent and a robber all in one, A girl who made the moon burn like the sun. A greedy witch, A man that rich. A brain that big, A filthy pig. A talkin’ head.” So let’s meet the characters. The “gent and robber all in one” is Jamie Lockhart, a gentleman robber who is also the bandit of the woods. He charms to get in, and takes what he wants. The girl who made the moon burn like the sun is Rosamond, the beautiful daughter of the “man that rich”, Clemment Musgrove, a wealthy planter, and the step-daughter of the “greedy witch”, Salome, current wife of the planter. Rosamond wants love, and finds it with the bandit of the woods, but doesn’t want to get married to the gentleman her father prefers, Jamie Lockhart, who wants to marry Rosamond not for love, but for the plantation. The “brain that big” refers to the brain the size of a pea belonging to “Goat” the simpleton hired by Salome to kill Rosamond to gain the reward of a suckling pig. The “filthy pig” refers to Little Harp, a thief and robber who travels the country with the talkin’ head of his brother, Big Harp, and who plans to steal both the gold and the girl of the planter. As you can imagine from this cast of characters, we have a backwoods story of greed, love, lust, and desire. Quite a fun tale.

What made this production so great was the combination of great directing by Todd Nielsen and a wonderful ensemble. This greatness starts before the show, where the townspeople (and musicians) wander the audience in character, interacting with the audience and being playful. Goat is out doing magic tricks with a coin. Rosamund is chatting with the front row about her hair. The harps and Jamie are out charming the audience. These people are family from the start, and this is just a friendly storytelling. It is wonderful direction.

The ensemble was also wonderful. From the leads to townsfolk, everyone was great. As Jamie Lockhart, Chad Doreck^æ was a charming rogue, a great singer that exuded charm. His match was Jamison Lingle as Rosamud—beautiful in face, beautiful in voice, and playful. What I particularly appreciated about Lingle was her facial expressions: this was an actor who was just having fun with this character, and that fun was infectious. Michael Stone Forrest^æ played Clemment Musgrove, the planter, and again he was having fun with his role. Salome, his second wife, was played by Sue Goodman^æ. Strong singing voice, and again having fun with the character. If you haven’t figured out by now, what made this entire ensemble special was that they were having fun with each other, fun with their characters, and fun with the audience. No where was this better illustrated than with Adam Wylie^æ‘s Goat, the simpleton who was just having fun enjoying life. As the brigands, Michael Uribes as Little Harp and Tyler Ledon as Big Harp were playful evil: not menacing, but not silly either. The last two characters were catchall roles, but were perhaps the most fun to watch for their facial expressions and side activities: Tatiana Mac as Airie (Goat’s sister) and the Raven, and Teya Patt as Airie and Goat’s mother. These two were in the background, but were so much into their characters that they were the icing on a perfectly constructed production.
[^æ denotes members of  Actors Equity ]

Of course, the musicians weren’t bad either. Under the musical direction of Gerald Sternbach (also on piano), the musicians (also in character and dressed as such) were having fun, and constituted a great bluegress quartet. Working with Sternbach was Roman Selezinka (fiddle), Gary Lee (guitar, banjo), and Brad Babinski (bass). The intricate choreography and movement, including square dancing, was also provided by Todd Nielsen, the director.

Technically, the production was spot-on. Stephen Gifford‘s set turned the ICT stage into a two-level barn; when augmented with the props from Gordon and Patty Briles, what was created was a flexible space where two chicken coops and a board, plus a quilt, becomes a bed or a table, and a trunk suddenly contains a talking head. Donna Ruzika‘s lighting was effective and non-obtrusive, creating the mood and space without being annoying. Kim DeShazo costumes were reflective of the time, creative, versitile, and all-together just fun to watch. The sound design by Paul Fabre was, for the most part, great… starting with the cricket noises as you walked into the theatre. The only (very slight) flaw, if any, was a little bit of mic problems as the first act started that made things muffled, but that was quickly corrected (mind you, that was the only flaw). The production was produced by caryn desai, the artistic director; Pat Loeb was the production stage manager.

The last peformance of “The Robber Bridegroom” at ICT-Long Beach is today at 2pm; if you read this in time, go see it. Tickets are available online. ICT has annoucned their 2012 season: “God of Carnage” by Yasmina Reza (January 24-February 19); “The Fix” with book and lyrics by John Dempsey and music by Dana P. Rowe (April 24-May 20); “Leading Ladies” by Ken Ludwig (June 5-July 1); “Ghost-Writer” by Michael Hollinger (August 21-September 16); and “Ain’t Misbehavin’“, a musical based on the life and music of Fats Waller (October 9-November 4). We’ll probably go to “God of Carnage“, as we missed it when it was at the Ahmanson, and ICT should do a good job.

Upcoming Theatre, Concerts, and Dance: Next weekend brings “Day Out With Thomas” at Orange Empire (We’re working Veterans Day). Veteran’s Day weekend brings “Sylvia” at the Edgemar Center for Performing Arts in Santa Monica on Saturday 11/12; the following weekend brings “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center on its opening night, November 19. Karen will also be seeing “Riverdance” at the Pantages on November 16. I’m still waiting to ticket “Bring It On” at the Ahmanson (held for November 25, pending ticketing, hottix on sale for our block on November 8). Thanksgiving weekend also brings the last show of the REP season, “The Graduate”, on Saturday November 26. The first weekend of December is lost preparing for ACSAC, although I might squeeze in something on Saturday. The next weekend is busy, with a Mens Club Shabbat in the morning, and “Travels with my Aunt” at the Colony Theatre in the evening. The remainder of December is unscheduled, but I’m sure we’ll fill things in for Winter Break. Of course, there is the de rigueur movie and Chinese food on Christmas day. January, right now, is completely open, although the first show of the REP East season will likely be in there somewhere. As always, open dates are subject to be filled in with productions that have yet to appear on the RADAR of Goldstar or LA Stage Alliance.

Last night, we went to see “Loving Repeating: A Musical of Gertrude Stein” at ICT Long Beach. That is to say, it was in Long Beach that we saw “Loving Repeating at ICT. For the fact is, ICT is doing this wonderful presentation of “Loving Repeating, a musical about Gertrude Stein with music by Stephen Flaherty. Yes, it was in Long Beach, and it was Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, and it was a musical, and it was done by ICT. For in the repeating was the story, and the story, which was about loving, was in the repeating.

Confused yet?

“Loving Repeating is a musical about Gertrude Stein, and it reflects the writing and speaking style of Gertrude Stein, which tended to emphasize the repeating. It was adapted from the writings and works of Gertrude Stein by Frank Galati, and all the words and the lyrics of the musical are by Gertrude Stein. The music is by Stephen Flaherty, and is reminiscent of other works of his such as “Ragtime”, “Seussical”, and “Once on This Island”; that is to say it sounds like Flaherty but is uniquely Stein. The repetition makes the music soothing (for as Noel Paul Stookey once noted, repetition is present as a calming influence) and beautiful. The effect of all of this is to make any scene or segment difficult to understand. Let me clarify by quoting some of the lyrics of the song I’m currently listening to:

They were both gay there
and both working there then
They were in a way
both gay there
Where there were many
cultivating something.
They were were both regular
in being gay there.

or

My wife has a cow as now
My wife has a cow
A love story
My wife has a cow
has a cow as now
A love story
Having, having a cow
A love story
And having a cow now
My wife has a cow
and now
My wife has a cow!!
If you are confused, you’re not alone. “Loving Repeating” is a very strange and beautiful musical, and many in the audience walked away not understanding it at all. But the answer is actually in the pieces and the repetition, and in all the hints about cubism in the art design. This is a musical best approached as a Picasso painting (and Picasso was a contemporary of Stein): you can’t look at it closely and descern a story or a through line, but if you step back and look at the performance as a whole, you come away with the sense of the story, which is the story of Gertrude Stein and her search to find the nature of everyone, how everyone has being and loves and couples, in myriad ways, again and again, repeating the loving. (Yes, the repetition style does start to take over your brain, why do you ask?). This approach to looking at the musical is hinted at early on, when Old and Young Gertrude say: “I began to get enormously interested in hearing how everyone always said the same thing over and over again over and over again with infinite variations but over and over again until finally if you listened with great intensity you could hear it rise and fall and tell that all there was inside them, not so much by the actual words they said or the thoughts they had but the movement of their thoughts and the words enlessly the same and endlessly different.”

It is the movement of these thoughts and words that tells the love story of Stein and Toklas, Husband and Wife in a time where two women were not husband and wife, but these two were. The story begins with their meeting, and though incomprehensible lyric operas and lyrics we see the love grow, with the musical ending with Alice alone, as Stein has passed away. But there is never an explicit telling of their story: it comes through the musical as a sense, not explicit words. Perhaps this is the effect of the music, which is so lyric and beautiful you are instantly lulled into this sense of floating and relaxing. For those who are Ahrens and Flaherty fans, I do recommend the CD.

The production of “Loving Repeating” at ICT was beautifully staged and executed, under the firm directoral hand of caryn desai (sic). The cast featured five women and three men, of which only three were named roles: Old Gertrude, Young Gertrude, and Alice. The rest flowed in an out (as the music flowed), building the pieces of the story around the narrative of the Gertrudes, conducted by the director and the choreography of Heather Castillo.

The acting talent was excellent, conveying the joy of the music and the love that existed between everyone. The older Gertrude Stein was played by Cheryl David^æ, who provided the basic narrative thread of the story. The younger Gertrude Stein, who did more of the singing, was Shannon Warne^æ. We have seen Warne before as Geneveve in the Pasadena Playhouse’s Camelot and as Millie in Cabrillo’s Seven Brides; she has a wonderful singing voice and stage personality. Alice B. Toklas was portrayed by Melissa Lyons Caldretti^æ (who we also saw before at Cabrillo in both Cats and Peter Pan). The mixture of Warne’s and Caldretti’s voices was just magic. Rounding out the cast were Carly Bracco (a graduate of Thousand Oaks High) [Woman #1], Allison Eberly [Woman #2], Leland Burnett [Man #1], Jay Donnell [Man #2], and Tyler Milliron [Man #3]. This ensemble danced and moved well, and the voices blended to perfection. They were just a joy to watch.
[^æ denotes members of  Actors Equity ]

Turning to the technical: Kurt Boetcher designed the simple but beautiful set, which featured branches forming a heart in the background, and a stage platform with modernistic paintings on the ground. The costumes by Kim DeShazo were reflective of the period (the late 1800s and early 1900s), with a wonderful cubist dancing cow. Gordon and Patty Briles, the resident property designers, did a beautiful job of constructing the stage and providing the few props used. The lighting design by Donna Ruzika effectively conveyed the mood of the piece. The sound design by Joseph Slawinski started out clear and strong, but there were odd periods of echo-i-ness in the sound and static, indicating there was some form of transitory problem that was distracting.

The musical team was led by Darryl Archibald, who led the five piece band.

“Loving Repeating” continues at ICT Long Beach through February 13. At the performance we were at, there were lots of empy seats in the Loge. ICT has been putting some performances on Goldstar. Get them if you can; if not, full price isn’t all that bad. But if you like pretty music and don’t mind a story that doesn’t gel in your head until the end—if you enjoy floating on the music and watching beautiful staging, go see it. I’ve got the feeling that this is a musical that grows as you see it more and listen to it more.

Dining Notes: Normally, finding good dining and good parking in downtown Long Beach is a pain. We found the answer. The Long Beach Cafe at 615 Ocean, about 5 minutes from the theatre, has free parking in its own lot. When you combine this with incredibly tasty food and plentiful portions, and you have a winner. We’ll be back.

Upcoming Theatre, Concerts, and Dance: February starts with “Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune” at Repertory East on February 4 (which got a great review), and “Dangerous Beauty” at The Pasadena Playhouse on February 5. The next weekend also brings two shows: “The Marvelous Wonderettes at Cabrillo Music Theatre on February 12, and “Adding Machine: The Musical at The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble on February 13. The third weekend of February is another with two shows: “Rock of Ages at The Pantages Theatre on February 19, and “33 Variations at the Ahmanson Theatre for February 20. February closes with “Moonlight and Magnolias” at The Colony Theatre on February 26. March is also busy. It begins with a Noel Paul Stookey concert at McCabes on March 4. March 5 is the MRJ Regional Man of the Year dinner at TBH. The first two weekends of March are also the Spring Musical, “Evita”, at Van Nuys High School; we’re likely going on Saturday, March 12. Sunday, March 13 is “The Cradle Will Rock” at the Blank Theatre. The weekend of March 19 is currently open, but that probably won’t last for long. Lastly, March 26 brings “The Diary of Anne Frank” at Repertory East. April will bring the Renaissance Faire, “The Producers” at Cabrillo Music Theatre, “The All Night Strut” at the Colony Theatre, and (pending ticketing) Brian Stokes Mitchell at the new Valley Performing Arts Center.

In the classic American story “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, the title character attends his own funeral, just to hear the good things people are saying about him. Death has that interesting effect: we tend to focus about the good of the person. This is especially true in the art world: when an artist dies, no matter his quality, the value of his artworks often go up in value. So, suppose you have a penniless artist and his friends, who owe a lot of money, and they have just come to this realization. What do they do?

The answer is simple: The artist must die. But before you think this is some murder plot, think again. The artist just comes back as his long-lost twin sister. Add to this a classic melodramatic villian (think “Musical of Musical” — “I must have the rent!”), an engenue in love with the artist, the villian in love with the engenue, and a second engenue in love with the artist’s best friend… who thought up the plot. Add to this a man dresses up as a woman, some limberger cheese, and lots of doors, and you have the making of a farce. A very good farce.

I mention this because last night we went to see this farce. The play is called “Is He Dead?”, and was written by an author you might have heard of: Mark Twain. Almost a hundred years ago, he wrote this play, but no one knew about it until it was rediscovered a few years ago and mounted on Broadway to great critical reviews. It is currently having its Los Angeles premier at the International City Theatre in Long Beach.

“Is He Dead?” tells the story of the French artist Jean-Francois Millet (Perry Ojeda^æ), who owes a significant amount of money to Bastien Andre (Steve Marvel^æ). Also owing Andre money is Papa Leroux (Jerry Hoffman^æ), father to the sweetheart of Millet, Marie Leroux (Suzanne Petrela). Neither can pay Andre; in particular, Millet can’t pay because his paintings aren’t selling. Millet’s pupils: Agamemnon “Chicago” Buckner (Brian Stanton), Hans “Dutchy” Von Bismark (Chip Bent), and Phelim O’Shaughnessy (Blake Silver)) come up with an idea: Millet’s paintings will be worth more if Millet is dead. So they invent an unmentionalable disease for Millet to contract and quickly die from, as well as a sister, the widow Daisy Tillou, who is Millet’s identical twin sister. Now, add to this mix Leroux’s other daughter, Cecile Leroux (Jules Hartley), who is in love with “Chicago”, and the two widowed landlady’s of Millet (Madame Bathilde (Terra Shelman) and Madame Caron (Jeanine Anderson)). Stir the mix with a number of love triangles (both Andre and Millet love Marie; both Papa Leroux and Andre love the Widow Tillou). Add misunderstandings and jelousy (Cecile thinks Daisy loves Chicago). Season with dialects and great comic timing, as well as a great supporting performance by Joe Fria^æ as a British art patron (Basil Thorpe), a French detective (Claude Riviere), a servant (Charlie), and the King of France… and you have a very funny farce.

Farce is very different than situational comedy. Situational comedy are plays such as “The Odd Couple” (Neal Simon), where the comedy come from the people and their relationships, not just sillyness. Farce is almost sillyness for sillyness’ sake — think “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” or “Noises Off”. There’s timing and doors slamming; there’s misunderstandings and overreactions; there’s dialects and cross-dressing (men as women, women as men). Everything is played for the laugh. Farce also requires spot-on timing. I do have to say that this company was excellent. Ojeda, as Jean-Francois/Daisy, milked the cross-dressing and the kissing for as much as he could get out of it. Marvel played the evil villian well, and Stanton was an excellent schemer. The reactions and timing of the whole cast was just remarkable.

Turning to the technical side: ICT is a thrust stage, almost 3/4 round like the Mark Taper Forum. They had about 1/3 of their seats blocked off. The sets were mostly backdrops: in the first act, they portrayed Millet’s studio; in the second act, the opulant quarters of the Widow Tillou. The sets were designed by Stephen Gifford. The lighting was unnoticable (a good thing): there were no spots or lighting tricks, just overall lighting that established the time of day and mood. The lighting was designed by Bill Georges, assisted by Sean Conlin. The costumes (by Kim DeShazo) and wigs/hair (by Anthony Gagliardi) established the time period well and were quite creative. Props were designed by Patty and Gordon Briles, and included a significant number of reproductions of Millet’s works. Stage management was by Pat Loeb^æ, assisted by Terri Roberts^æ.
[^æ denotes members of  Actors Equity ]

As I noted above, the story was by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens). The manuscript was found by Shelly Fisher Fishkin, who had it adapted for the stage by David Ives. The original production was in 2007 in New York. The readaptation for Long Beach was under the direction of Shashin Desai.

“Is He Dead?” continues at ICT through May 24, 2009. Only Thursday and Friday performances are up on Goldstar. For other performance, contact the box office at (562) 436-4610 or visit the ICT Website.

Upcoming Theatre: Next Friday or Saturday (5/16) at 7:00pm, we’re likely going to the student dance production at Van Nuys HS, for which nsshere will be doing some of the lighting design. Sunday May 17 will be “big” at West Coast Ensemble, to be followed (hopefully) by “The Green Room at Hermosa Beach Playhouse on May 24 @ 7:00pm (pending ticketing). The end of May (May 28, 29, 30) brings “Fiddler on the Roof” at Nobel Middle School, where nsshere is doing the lighting design. June 6 we might go to the last weekend of “Marry Me a Little/The Last 5 Years” at East/West Players. , June 20 @ 8pm is “The Little Foxes” at The Pasadena Playhouse. Lastly, July 11 will bring “Fat Pig” at Repertory East Playhouse. Other shows pending scheduling and ticketing include “Spamalot” at the Ahmanson, Liza Minelli at the Hollywood Bowl, and the “Guys and Dolls” concert at the Hollywood Bowl. I’m also always looking for interesting productions on Goldstar and LA Stage Tix.

I just got back from seeing A Year With Frog and Toad at ICT Long Beach. This is the second production I’ve seen at this theatre, and I am growing more impressed with them at each production. The venue itself is small and has excellent site lines, on par with the Mark Taper Forum. The Artistic Director announced the 2006 season at today’s show: it included Jesus’ Kid Brother (the story of Jesus’ younger brother, Larry… talk about an inferiority complex) and Twentieth Century (but it was unclear if this was the musical version).

Anyway… returning to Frog and Toad. For those unfamiliar with play, it is based on the series of children’s books by Arnold Lobel. From beginning to end, from the coming of spring (and the end of Toad and Frog’s winter hibernation) to the next spring, when the birds fly back from their warm winter quarters, “Frog and Toad’ tells the story of two wonderful friends, Frog and Toad. They live down the road from each other in nearly identical houses and are close friends, so close that they share each other’s dream during their long winter nap. They spend their waking year sharing simple adventures: flying a kite, swimming in the pond, baking cookies, meeting with their friends in the neighborhood. They were written at the first grade level, and formed into a musical that went as far as being nominated for multiple Tony awards. It is less a continuous storyline (except for the Snail delivering the mail, a running (so to speak) gag), as opposed to a series of vignettes that demonstrate the deep and abiding friendship between the two.

The production starred Gary Cearlock as Frog, Danny Stiles as Toad, Elizabeth Brackenbury as (Bird, Turtle, Mouse, Squirrel, Mole, and Mother Frog), Jennifer Clinton as (Bird, Mouse, Squirrel, Young Frog, and Mole), and Jeffrey Landman as (Bird, Snail, Lizard, Father Frog, and Mole). Music and Lyrics were by Robert Reale and Willie Reale.

I found the show excellent. The actors playing Frog and Toad had (in my opinion) real chemistry. Even more amazing were the actors playing multiple roles, in particular Jeffrey Landman as Snail (who really went postal in the role).

What did the reviews say? The Press-Telegram noted it is “full of the kind of theatrical magic, endearing performances and clever effects that will charm adults as well as children.” As for the lead performers, they noted that “Cearlock’s Frog is a creature of gentle pleasures and gentle ways.” and Stiles Toad is played “with a physical abandon that is a hilarious contrast to Frog’s simplicity.” They single out for mention Snail, whom Frog commissions to deliver a letter to Toad. They noted “Kids in the audience loved it as Landman moved in tiny steps across the stage, hurrying to deliver the letter he was carrying (he takes pretty much the entire play to get from one house to the other).”

The Los Angeles Times noted it more as a kids show. They felt that it was “missing the resonances that would recommend the show to adults sans kids in tow.” They also saw weak chemistry between the leads (I disagree, but perhaps they grew into it as the show has progressed).

The Daily Breeze also disagreed with the Times, noting “ultimately, is designed to appeal to a young audience… but parents will find plenty to enjoy, and they will appreciate what these thoughtful stories teach their children.” As for the actors, they noted “Cearlock and Stiles have genuine chemistry as good friends, and their harmonies are pleasing. Brackenbury and Clinton are solid singers. Landman, particularly in his performance as Snail, has wonderful comic timing.”

Lastly, kudos to both the costume designer and the band, who were both marvelous.

Next up: Tea at Five at the Pasadena Playhouse, starring Kate Mulgrew.

[Crossposted to cahwyguy and socal_theatre]

I just got back from seeing A Year With Frog and Toad at ICT Long Beach. This is the second production I’ve seen at this theatre, and I am growing more impressed with them at each production. The venue itself is small and has excellent site lines, on par with the Mark Taper Forum. The Artistic Director announced the 2006 season at today’s show: it included Jesus’ Kid Brother (the story of Jesus’ younger brother, Larry… talk about an inferiority complex) and Twentieth Century (but it was unclear if this was the musical version).

Anyway… returning to Frog and Toad. For those unfamiliar with play, it is based on the series of children’s books by Arnold Lobel. From beginning to end, from the coming of spring (and the end of Toad and Frog’s winter hibernation) to the next spring, when the birds fly back from their warm winter quarters, “Frog and Toad’ tells the story of two wonderful friends, Frog and Toad. They live down the road from each other in nearly identical houses and are close friends, so close that they share each other’s dream during their long winter nap. They spend their waking year sharing simple adventures: flying a kite, swimming in the pond, baking cookies, meeting with their friends in the neighborhood. They were written at the first grade level, and formed into a musical that went as far as being nominated for multiple Tony awards. It is less a continuous storyline (except for the Snail delivering the mail, a running (so to speak) gag), as opposed to a series of vignettes that demonstrate the deep and abiding friendship between the two.

The production starred Gary Cearlock as Frog, Danny Stiles as Toad, Elizabeth Brackenbury as (Bird, Turtle, Mouse, Squirrel, Mole, and Mother Frog), Jennifer Clinton as (Bird, Mouse, Squirrel, Young Frog, and Mole), and Jeffrey Landman as (Bird, Snail, Lizard, Father Frog, and Mole). Music and Lyrics were by Robert Reale and Willie Reale.

I found the show excellent. The actors playing Frog and Toad had (in my opinion) real chemistry. Even more amazing were the actors playing multiple roles, in particular Jeffrey Landman as Snail (who really went postal in the role).

What did the reviews say? The Press-Telegram noted it is “full of the kind of theatrical magic, endearing performances and clever effects that will charm adults as well as children.” As for the lead performers, they noted that “Cearlock’s Frog is a creature of gentle pleasures and gentle ways.” and Stiles Toad is played “with a physical abandon that is a hilarious contrast to Frog’s simplicity.” They single out for mention Snail, whom Frog commissions to deliver a letter to Toad. They noted “Kids in the audience loved it as Landman moved in tiny steps across the stage, hurrying to deliver the letter he was carrying (he takes pretty much the entire play to get from one house to the other).”

The Los Angeles Times noted it more as a kids show. They felt that it was “missing the resonances that would recommend the show to adults sans kids in tow.” They also saw weak chemistry between the leads (I disagree, but perhaps they grew into it as the show has progressed).

The Daily Breeze also disagreed with the Times, noting “ultimately, is designed to appeal to a young audience… but parents will find plenty to enjoy, and they will appreciate what these thoughtful stories teach their children.” As for the actors, they noted “Cearlock and Stiles have genuine chemistry as good friends, and their harmonies are pleasing. Brackenbury and Clinton are solid singers. Landman, particularly in his performance as Snail, has wonderful comic timing.”

Lastly, kudos to both the costume designer and the band, who were both marvelous.

Next up: Tea at Five at the Pasadena Playhouse, starring Kate Mulgrew.

[Crossposted to cahwyguy and socal_theatre]

Note: This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by California Highway Guy. You may comment either here or there (where there are comment(s)).

Last night gf_guruilla, ellipticcurve, S&F and I went to go see “Once On This Island” at the International City Theatre in Long Beach.

The evening started out poorly, as S&F was in a mood from being overtired. This mood spread to gf_guruilla, so that part wasn’t pretty. We all got dressed up (my wife was beautiful in a black velvet outfit; ellipticcurve was also lovely in a blue flowing dress; I wore my usual slacks, brown oxford cloth, tie and sportjacket, and S&F had one black pants and a nice red and black top… alas, in the craziness, we didn’t get pictures). However, although all of us were dressed up, we couldn’t get into a nice place for dinner. They all had wait times of 45 to 90 minutes. Later, we discovered why: The Reggae festival was in Long Beach the same weekend. Crowds, crowds.

On to the show. This was our first time at ICT, and we were impressed. The theatre is on the size of the Mark Taper Forum, with good sight lines throughout. As for the production: this was the second non-preview performance, and there were some kinks. Although the acting was marvolous (the entire ensemble was great), the sound was less than purpose. I don’t know if it was bad quality mikes or bad speakers, but things sounded speaker-ish, which is not what you want. You want to hear the actors, not the speakers.

For those not familiar with the story, here’s how ICT describes it: When peasant girl Ti Moune falls in love with wealthy landowner Daniel, the supernatural interference of four powerful deities catapults the star-crossed lovers into a fantastic swirling odyssey. Filled with hypnotic dancing, brilliant colors and beguiling music with a calypso beat, its infectious spirit and Caribbean charm are an uplifting tropical breeze that’s guaranteed to refresh! This enchanting tropical tale of romance, loss and redemption includes the songs: One Small Girl, Waiting for Life, The Human Heart, Pray, Mama Will Provide and Forever Yours.

I love the music to this show, especially the song Mama Will Provide. It is just a very uplifting show (and I could swear that the authors later reused music from this in Seussical). As I said above, the singing was great (and I got a chance to point out to Nicole that one of the singers was a UC Davis grad!)

Our next show is in early March: Annie Get Your Gun at CMT. Until then, I guess we’ll just be doing what comes naturally.