rep-east – Page 3 – Observations Along the Road

Feeling Like Pee-Wee Herman

Posted onThursday, June 5, 2014Saturday, June 7, 2014Authorcahwyguy

userpic=repeast I’ve a very protective person. When I have a team that I’m leading and someone on that team is unjustifiably attacked, I get defensive. The same is true for institutions that I care about, such as REP, the Colony, and Cabrillo. Perhaps that is why the incident at Rep East that occurred last Saturday has been bothering me so. I wrote up my feelings in a prior blog post, and have been defending REP on Bitter Lemons (emphasizing always that I’m only a subscriber and patron, no other connection). Still, I’ve been really worried about the REP leadership — particularly O and Mikee — who must be feeling pretty beat up and besieged. They must feel like Pee-Wee Herman felt so many years ago — one incident is magnified to destroy a good reputation. I’m not saying that what happened on the REP side was 100% perfect [ETA: actually, they never got the chance to make it perfect, and it is now clear they would have if informed.], but it is also not the lopsided lapse that the media has been making this out to be. Working in the security field, I know well that incident response is an area often neglected until the first incident occurs; this was a learning experience and not a debacle.

I would like to do something to uplift the spirits of those involved. I created the graphic you see in this post: “I Support the 81”. Post it on Facebook and G+. Tag those you know who still believe in REP, in its mission, and the importance of quality professional theatre in the Northern San Fernando Valley and the Northern part of Los Angeles. Let’s do something to fight the haters out there.

I support the 81.

Attempting to Understand A Bad Situation

Posted onTuesday, June 3, 2014Saturday, June 7, 2014Authorcahwyguy

userpic=repeast As a long-time subscriber and patron of Repertory East Playhouse in Santa Clarita, I’ve always hoped that they would get more attention — I find them a quality theatre that most people don’t know about. Alas, I learned last night that the theatre was suddenly in the news for an incident that happened during the Saturday night performance of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” — an incident that is getting them negative attention from a number of sources. Understandably, the theatre management are quiet — likely due to advice from legal counsel. But the incident, and the reaction to it, is gnawing at my gut (and I can’t have that over lunch), and sometimes the only way to resolve it is to write about it. I should note that I was not present; I was in Hollywood seeing “Zombies from the Beyond“. It’s lunchtime, so here goes…

Here are some stories that I found about what happened:

Actor Fired After Tossing Anti-Gay Heckler From ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ Performance (The Wrap)
Santa Clarita Actor Fired, Show Cancelled After Gay Slurs, Fight During Show (KHTS)
Cat On a Hot Tin Roof Production Canceled After Homophobic Fracas (LA Weekly)
How Would TPLLA Handle Something Like This? [Updated] (Bitter Lemons)
Show Pulled After Actor Jumps Off Stage To Confront ‘Gay Slur’ Heckler (KCBS)
Homophobic Slurs Set Off Audience Member-Actor Altercation in California Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Playbill)
When The Audience Bellows Louder Than Big Daddy (Howard Sherman)

For those in the TL;DR generation, what appears to have happened: During the second act of a performance of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof“, an audience patron who was inebriated became unruly, shouting homosexual slurs at the stage and actors. The actor playing “Big Daddy” stopped the performance, walked off the stage, and physically confronted the unruly and drunk patron. Other audience members separated them and escorted the patron out. The actor was subsequently fired, and another actor walked off in solidarity. The production was cancelled as there was not an alternative actor that could fill in the role on short notice for the remainder of the run. The story made it into the media, and the media, understandably, has run with it.

[Edited to add (ETA) 6/7/14: Later posts by eyewitnesses on Facebook have added the following facts:

“not one actor or audience member came to theatre personnel and compalined about the heckler before or duing intermission” [Barry Agin] In a similar vein, another audience member noted “no one on staff was made aware that there was a problem until it broke out into assault. No cast member, no audience member, no one reported anything being an issue. They were not aware of the problem in spite of the spin to the contrary, the spin that made it sound like bottles were being thrown against the wall and everybody was hootin’ and hollerin’.” [Jeff Johnston] Jeff clarified in another comment regarding the heckler that “Those working there did not visually see him to be over intoxicated in a way that required intervention.” and that credit card receipts showed that he only had two drinks.
“It is a small enough theatre that the stage manager would have heard any “disruptive” comments being made from the tech booth. However, she did not. She is also the type that has no problem removing patrons when an issue is present.” [Tom Lund]
In a past production at the REP, “we had two hecklers in the front row. Several cast members AND patrons alerted management prior to and during intermission. Those audience members were not allowed to return for Act 2. It should also be noted that this was a production where audience interaction was encouraged-however, it was determined that their “interaction” was disruptive to the cast and audience and it was not tolerated. ” [Leslie Berra]
One audience member said: “I have never witnessed such a scary event as this in my life, in any theatre. I could not believe, I was watching an actor in a play, leave character, and jump into the audience and commit in my opinion, assault on a audience member. Now don’t misunderstand me, this audience member probably deserved everything he got, but the Actor handled the situation entirely the wrong way. He, actually incited the audience into a melee, where many other audience members left their seats and started throwing and landing punches, targeted at the particular audience members.” [William Friedman]
After the show, when the actor who had gone in the audience was brought out to discuss things with management, “When the executive Director expressed his disappointment in how he reacted the actor blew up at him screaming expletives in his face on the sidewalk on Main Street to the point that both he and others who witnessed it thought it likely he was going to throw punches at Mike O. He did not but his reaction reinforced their concerns and, even though he had said he was quitting the show, O made it clear he was not welcome back.” This was not an easy decision and “came at considerable cost to The REP. They anticipate losing close to $6,000 dollars from ending the run early, not to mention losing the opportunity to win future patrons who would have seen the show because by all accounts it was phenomenal. Additionally there is the concern of what the revenue impact will be from the negative publicity” [Jeff Johnston]

]

First and foremost, I want to note that I’m only getting my information from these news sources [ETA: and Facebook posts], and my experiences at the theatre itself as a patron since 2005, and a subscriber since 2007. Being an intimate theatre, we have gotten to know the management team quite well — those people being the names you see in the program. We saw the production in question the Saturday night of opening weekend; here’s my writeup. For those unfamiliar with the venue (and it appears, based on the comments, that most of the folks criticizing the place have never stepped into it to see a production), it is an 81-seat black box theatre, with a small bar open before the show and at intermission. Normal staffing during a show includes the house manager (often an intern), someone staffing the bar, and someone in the box office. Usually one of the latter two are either the executive director or the artistic director, although sometimes other commitments precludes their being there (and another member of the board fills in). Based on the Playbill article, both the executive and artistic director were present.

Let’s get one thing out the way first: homophobic slurs and threats are never appropriate. I think everyone — the actors involved, as well as theatre management — has made that clear. [ETA: Later posts on Facebook have noted that REP presented “The Laramie Project” without incident in 2012 [Erin Rivlin]; here’s my write-up of that show]

So, what should the behavior be of an actor when confronted with an unruly and inebriated patron? How many theatres — especially 99-seat-and-under theatres — have policies covering that situation, and how many have communicated those policies to the actors on stage? Do theatres have an incident response plan for these sorts of problems? My guess (as a subscriber — and a computer security person) — is probably not. These are not threats that are expected in the theatre. They may train the actors on how to evacuate the theatre and maintain calm during a fire or earthquake, but not drunk and unruly patrons. I’ll also note this isn’t a problem in larger theatres, where there is a large staff of ushers and such that can handle things. In a 99-seat-and-under it is the actors, the audience, and the light/sound board operators. Often, the “house manager” is doubling as stage manager and prop handler.

What happened here? As I read it — as a subscriber and patron — an actor stopped the performance, got off the stage, and physically went to the unruly patron to confront them. Much as this sounds good, it was the wrong thing to do. It put not only the actor, but the rest of the audience in danger. [ETA: It also opens up the theatre (which is at its heart a business) up to potential lawsuits from the patron.] The correct thing to do was to stop the performance at the first sign of unruly behavior, send someone out to get management, and calm the situation down until management arrives to address the problem. According to the articles above, that didn’t happen here — the actor took matters into their own hands, and was subsequently terminated seemingly for doing so. [ETA 6/7: In all this time, there has never been an explanation of why the actor chose to go into the audience and not simply stop the show and report the incident.] Was termination the right approach? We can armchair-quarterback the situation, but the truth of the matter is that none of us were there — none of us know the precise reason for the termination. Further, in a situation such as this there are limited options — suspending the actor on a small run such as this is the equivalent of termination; in a 99-and-under theatre, there is no pay to suspend.

All the articles and comments are asking “Where was management?” My guess would be that they were in the front office or cleaning up and may have been unaware of the heckling, and when the situation took place, it occurred too fast to get them. I am sure — because I have gotten to know these people and know they are good in heart and good in intentions — that had they been informed they would have taken care of it effectively. But you cannot address a situation you don’t know about, and it is never stated that management was informed before the actor took action.

[ETA 6/7: It has been noted (see above) that none of the other patrons or actors felt the need to complain to management. Playbill reported that the artistic director (Mikee) had “warned the cast” at intermission. Jeff Johnston, in a comment on Bitter Lemons, clarified that: “I have also spoke with Mikee Schwinn and with the stage manager who both refute and deny the account given by Mr. Lacy of the intermission comments. Both have said that the conversation that was supposedly whispered to Mr. Lacy was actually a conversation that took place near him that he overheard between the 2 of them. The converstaion between them was that they had had very good bar sales for the night, not that the audience was the drunkest they’ve had. Please keep in mind that bar sales being solid for an 81 seat theatre at $8 a drink only require a few more people buying 1 drink than usual and also having a sold out crowd. This was a revenue conversation, not a doom and gloom warning and neither of them were aware at all of any act 1 heckling. This conversation has been embellished along with many other accounts from that camp in order to defend Mr. Lacy’s actions. Please also know that the REP has bar records and his credit card receipt showing that he [the heckler] was served 2 drinks during the evening.”]

I am not someone who believes in harping on what went wrong. There were clearly errors that occurred in this situation. The important question is: What can be learned, and how can this be improved going forward? My suggested take-away from this is as follows: Every theatre should have an incident response plan that covers dealing with unruly patrons, as well as other contingencies, and this needs to be communicated and understood by both theatre operations and actors. This applies not just at REP, but at every small, medium, and large theatre.

A wise kindergarten teacher, for whom I once student taught, used to always say, “The first time you do something, it’s not a mistake.” This was a first time situation in this theatre of dealing with a drunk, obnoxious, and unruly patron (at least I’ve never seen it happen in my 9 years of going to REP productions). It would be a mistake if it happens again, but we can learn from this what the correct action should be.

[ETA 6/7: Based on numerous other comments, it turns out this wasn’t the first time in this theatre they’ve dealt with obnoxious patrons. Every time in the past, however, the situation has been reported to management, who took care of the disruption quietly, expeditiously, and without risk to the audience. A few examples:

“during a performance of ” Great American Trailer Park Musical” at the REP we had two hecklers in the front row. Several cast members AND patrons alerted management prior to and during intermission. Those audience members were not allowed to return for Act 2. It should also be noted that this was a production where audience interaction was encouraged-however, it was determined that their “interaction” was disruptive to the cast and audience and it was not tolerated.” [Leslie Berra]
“During Journey’s End, there were (non-threatening, but distracting) M&Ms that were the culprit of cast distraction. Cast notified management, and THAT was stopped immediately. During Laughter on the 23rd Floor, a door handle came loose and Mikee creeped out, screwdriver in hand, scaling the floor to fix it to ensure that the intended beat would be executed. During Mockingbird, the swing on the porch looked like it was coming loose. The ENTIRE staff was in the wings watching to make sure that it was going to be safe until it could be checked at intermission. ” [Christina Aguilar]

]

Lastly, for those of you thinking of writing off REP because of this: please don’t. The people behind this theatre are good people, and they put on great productions (for which they can’t seem to convince people south of Sherman Way to go see, sigh). In the time I’ve known them, they have always supported, loved, and nurtured their actors… who become part of their family. This incident is truly a blip from which we learn. Go to their next or a future production — the remaining productions in the season are “Return to the Forbidden Planet“, a 1950s and 1960s music-based telling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, “The Great Gatsby“, and “Sherlock Holmes and the Suicide Club“. Get to know the people there, and you’ll see why I feel as I feel.

[ETA 6/7: I’ve encouraged others who were there and others who have worked with REP to share there comments here — to make this a post we can reference to provide a public counter-balance]

[ETA 6/7: A few additional points: There are those that have questioned whether REP had a liquor license. They do. There are those who have questioned whether REP is officially operating under the 99-seat-and-under plan. I’m still investigating that.]

Dysfunctional Families of Cats

Posted onSunday, May 18, 2014Authorcahwyguy

userpic=repeast Dysfunctional families are everywhere you look. They were in the early days of England last week, and they are in the deep south this weekend. This is because functional families are, less face it, boring. Certain they are boring if you are looking to mine some comedy or drama for the stage — this is why some of the best known plays are about dysfunction. As I noted before, this weeks dysfunction was in the deep south, in the classic Tennessee Williams‘ play “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” at REP East (FB) Playhouse in Newhall, California.

We last saw the Cat in a production at the Neighborhood Playhouse in Palos Verdes in 2009. Back then, I described the play as follows:

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is a Pulitzer-Prize winning play written by Tennessee Williams. It tells the story of a decaying southern family, the Pollitts. The family patriarch (“Big Daddy”) is dying, and his two children are scrambling to get their piece of the substantial wealth, including 28,000 acres of prime land. Well, his children (his two sons Brick and Gooper) aren’t scrambling, but their wives certainly are. They are going at it like, well, cats. In one corner we have Gooper and Mae, and their four (soon to be five) children, including Dixie, Trixie, and Polly. The children are misbehaved, Mae is scheming and gossiping, and Gooper is exploiting legal angles. However, Gooper and Mae have one significant problem: Big Daddy dislikes them intensely (and Big Daddy is a nasty man). In the other corner we have Brick and Maggie. Brick is, to be blunt, a drunk. He drinks and drinks until he feels the click, which takes him away from the world. He does this to escape the loss of his only true friend, Skipper, who drank himself to death after an affair with Maggie (the depth of the relationship is left unsaid, but there are clear implications of something that was unacceptable in 1955). He also drinks to escape Maggie — it is unclear whether he hates her, but he is clearly indifferent to her. Needless to say, they haven’t been having sex or even been civil to each other. Brick has been been rapidly sinking — as the story starts, he had just broken his ankle jumping hurdles while drunk. But Maggie, eager for the inheritance, has been putting on “the face”: there is nothing wrong, there is no drinking problem, and that there might even be a child on the way.

The central theme of this play is a family destroyed by, as Brick puts it, “mendacity”: in other words, this is a family is given to or characterized by deception or falsehood or divergence from absolute truth. In other words: they lie like dogs. Or is that cats? Anyway: Brink lies to Maggie. Maggie lies to Brick. Maggie lies to Big Daddy. Big Mama lies to Big Daddy. Everyone hides everything, unless, of course, it can be used to hurt. This, of course, means they are a typical American family :-), and perhaps this is why this play has resonated so well over the years to become a classic.

Last night, certain undertone struck me differently. First, I got much more of a homosexual vibe from the play. Without changing the word, the nature of Skipper’s repressed homosexuality was clearer, and (in turn) the nature of Bricks reaction to it was stronger. This adds another potential layer to the lies: was Brick lying to himself about his desires. After all, Maggie (who was clearly a sexy young woman) seemed to have to effect on him at all; in the REP production, he even turns away from her in the final scenes. Was Brick moving from his lies to acceptance? That’s unclear.

Last week, when writing about “The Lion in Winter“, I commented that we had a playful of characters sniping at each other, with no growth in the lot of them. This made the play entertaining but unsatisfying. As a result, it is reasonable to ask: was there growth in the characters in Cat? There certainly wasn’t in the secondary characters: Goober, Mae, and Big Mama are unchanged. I do think there was some element of growth in Big Daddy — certainly there was a realization that he was facing death, and that none of his sons was suitable to replace him (hmmm, that sounds just like the conclusion in Lion). Was there growth in Brick? Harder to say, as heavy use of alcohol tends to limit ones ability to grow. I do think that, perhaps, near the end there was a glimmer of realization of his attractions; however, I don’t think it was growth that would stick. The ultimate question is: Did Maggie grow? Certainly the lie about being pregnant was uncharacteristic of her; it is unclear if that lie came from character growth and understanding of her situation, or the needs of the situation.

One thing that hit me during this play was the patriarchal nature of it, which is unsaid. This came from the realization that with all the discussion of passing Big Daddy’s wealth to his sons, there was no mention of passing it to Big Momma and her managing it afterwards. Was this reflective of the attitudes of the 1950s that tended not to view woman as capable of taking over a man’s work? One could imagine very different discussions in such a family today.

In the Rep East production, director Brad Sergi (FB) (assisted by Bill Quinn/FB) did a great job of bringing out touching performances in his actors. Chief among his finds was his cat, Maggie. Maggie was played by Emily Low (FB) in her stage debut (she does have TV experience and it a classic burlesque artist and traditional pin-up model). Low came across as a southern Marilyn Monroe-type: sexy (and knowing it), but equally scheming as well. She was always trying to be one step ahead of everyone else. This is a role that has loads and loads of dialogue (especially in the first act), and Low handled it like a trouper. She was really fun to watch.

As Brick, Anton Troy (FB) had the appropriate glistening sexy hunk vibe. He was constantly drinking during the show, and you could tell from his portrayal that the character was slowly becoming more inebriated. I’m guessing this was performance, as opposed to having actual liquor in the props (but if it was the latter, I feel sorry for his liver at the end of the run). His performance was good, and had some nuances that led to that indeterminate conclusion I mentioned above.

The last of the major characters was John Lacy (FB) as Big Daddy. Lacy provided a great performance, playing it large as is appropriate for Big Daddy. His character perhaps exhibited the largest growth as he learned about and accepted his fate. Lacy provided the appropriate pomposity and captured the largeness of spirit of the man.

Rounding out the cast were Missy Doty (FB) (Big Mama), Barry Agin (FB) (Reverend Tooker), Gabrielle Eubank (FB) (Mae), Anthony Dietel (FB) (Gooper), and Neil Fleischer (Doctor Baugh). All gave good performances and seemed to fit their characters well. Vocal-only performers were Ellie Pearlman, Varuara Ru, Maddex Jehle, and Ivan Ru. I’ll note that REP did a minimal casting; rereading the Neighborhood Playhouse write-up, they actually had house servants and showed Mae’s children.

Turning to the technical creatives. This go around, Mikee Schwinn/FB did the set. It reminded me a bit of the Neighborhood Playhouse set. I particularly liked the large tree painted on the wall — I want one of those somewhere in the house, it was that neat. The remainder of the set was dark red lounges and chairs, and doors and walls and diaphonous curtains. These worked well; I’m less sure if it gave off the deep south vibe that it needed. Cat is one of those plays that deals with the decay of the family; this decay needs to carry to the furnishings. They need to be elegant things that have seen better days. Sound and lighting were by REP regulars Steven “Nanook” Burkholder/FB (sound) and Tim Christianson/FB (lighting), and both were effective. Costuming was by Flo Loring (FB) and Lynn McQuown (FB) and worked well. In particular, Emily Low’s sexy gown showed her, character, off very well; Anton Troy’s towel in the opening scenes did much of the same. Foley Recording was by Dennis Poore. Vicky Lightner/FB was the stage manager. “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” was produced by Mikee Schwinn/FB and Ovington Michael Owston (FB).

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” continues at Rep East until June 14. Tickets are available through the REP Online Box office. Discount tickets may be available through Goldstar.

[Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience. I’ve been attending live theatre in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted. I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.]

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: Next weekend brings the musical “Lil Abner” at LA City College (directed by Bruce Kimmel, with choreography by Kay Cole). The last weekend of May is an offbeat parody musical: “Zombies from the Beyond” at the Lex Theatre. June is also busy. It starts with a CDF Conference for Karen while I see “The Fantastiks” at Good People Theatre (FB). We lose the following weekend to a Bat Mitzvah. The remainder of the month brings “Stoneface: The Rise and Fall of Buster Keaton” at the Pasadena Playhouse (FB) on June 22, and “I’m Not Just a Comic Genius” at Secret Rose (FB) on June 27. July will be busy: “Ghost” at the Pantages (FB) on 7/5, “Return to the Forbidden Planet” at REP East (FB) the weekend of 7/12, “Once” at the Pantages (FB) on 7/19, “Bye Bye Birdie” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) on 7/26, and “Family Planning” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on 8/2. August then remains quiet as we work around vacations and such, but things start to get busy again in September and October. More on that later. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

Rocking Out

Posted onSunday, April 20, 2014Monday, April 21, 2014Authorcahwyguy

userpic=repeast Last night, we went to go see “A Night at the Rock Opera” at REP East (FB), so I’m guessing you’re expecting the traditional write-up/review. But you’re not going to get it. There are a few reasons. First, there were no handouts, so I have no cast list to credit, nor a song list (or should I say “set list”) to give. Secondly, this was a fundraising benefit — so you don’t expect quite the same level as a well-established book show. Thirdly, we’ve got company coming over this evening, and I’ve already lost 6 hours to a headache. So, instead, a few observations.

The cast was made up of a REP regulars, from what I could tell. Going just from tagging on Facebook, the performers included: Ginhee Eng, Lori D’Itri, George Chavez, Sarah Krieg, Tom Lund, Beth Ann, Sarah Stoddard, Coastal Eddie, Nikki Berra, Casey Christianson, Kelly Bader, Amber Schwinn, Erin Rivlin, Leslie Berra, Jill Kocalis Scott, and Bob Berra. All were good singers — a few had particularly strong rocker voices (you can hear the difference). You can see a picture of the cast here.
The performances were very strong. Good voice, lots of energy, and you can tell they were having fun. That’s always key to me — if the folks on stage are having fun, the audience has fun.
The selection of songs was a wide mix, and I could recognize most of the shows: Jesus Christ Superstar, The Who’s Tommy, Mamma Mia, Hair, Little Shop, All Shook Up, We Will Rock You, Hairspray, Footloose, Return to Forbidden Planet, Spring Awakening, Next to Normal. Posts indicated there were songs from Rock of Ages (which I expected), but I don’t recall hearing anything from that show. There were also a few shows I expected to be in the mix but that weren’t: Grease, American Idiot, Marvellous Wonderettes, Backbeat. I also wish that more songs from certain shows were included — particularly more from Next to Normal (I love “My Psychopharmacologist and I”, but “I’m Alive” would have been great), Hairspray (“Mama I’m A Big Girl Now”), Spring Awakening (“The Bitch of Living” and “Totally Fucked”), and Rent (“La Vie Boheme”). But there’s only so much time. Part of the problem with song selection is defining just what is “rock” and what characterizes it. Especially for music from the early 1960s, the line isn’t always clear. This affects some of the songs from Hairspray, Little Shop, and All Shook Up. Arguably, more of the headbanging stuff was what I expected. But then again — this is a concert, I had fun, and all the songs were good.
I was thinking, when they were performing Bohemian Rhapsody, that they really need to listen to the Big Daddy version. It’s on an unreleased album that was available only as a Kickstarter premium. However, I have it, and would be glad to play it for them. Just imaging Bohemian Rhapsody with “Shaboom, Shaboom”.
In general, the theme of the costuming was … black. Black dresses (of many forms, all long), and most of the guys went for the black on black look (black suit, black shirt, black tie). Some of selections worked; some worked spectacularly well, and a few less so. For women, the black dress has always been a classic; I’m guessing the black-on-black look for guys is in now (I never grew up with it). I’ll have to try it. Do you think I could rock brown-on-brown?
In some ways, the concert was sad. There were middle aged and up performers on stage, and the audience was filled with middle-age and such (including me) rocking out. Since when did Rock become the music of the older generation (I remember making this observation when we saw “Rock of Ages”)? Gee, I’m getting old. Excuse me while I go shoo someone off my lawn.
The show got me thinking — could someone make a jukebox musical out of rock musicals (especially original songs for rock musicals — otherwise it gets too meta). It could be an interesting commentary on the evolution of theatrical music from the traditional era of Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: The last weekend of April will bring Noel Paul Stookey at McCabes, as well as the Southern California Renaissance Faire. May brings “The Lion in Winter” at The Colony Theatre (FB), and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” at REP East (FB), as well as “Hairspray” at Nobel Middle School. I may also be scheduling “Porgy and Bess” at the Ahmanson. June is mostly open pending scheduling of an MRJ meeting, but I will try to fit in as much of the Hollywood Fringe Festival as I can. July will be busy: “Ghost” at the Pantages (FB) on 7/5, “Return to the Forbidden Planet” at REP East (FB) the weekend of 7/12, “Once” at the Pantages (FB) on 7/19, “Bye Bye Birdie” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) on 7/26, and “Family Planning” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on 8/2. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

I Got The Blues

Posted onSunday, March 9, 2014Authorcahwyguy

userpic=repeast Recently, we lost one of the world’s great comics, Sid Caesar. Sid Caeser was known for “Your Show of Shows“, which is where some of the best comedy writers in the world got their start. One of these writers was Neil “Doc” Simon, who at one time was one of the most popular comedy playwrights writing for Broadway. Perhaps you’ve heard of “The Odd Couple“? But Neil Simon seems forgotten these days; you rarely hear of his plays and shows. Luckily, small theatre companies love his work because it is still funny and still speaks to people. Of course, I’m talking about this because last night we were at Repertory East Playhouse (FB) in Newhall (Santa Clarita) to see on of Neil’s plays, “Biloxi Blues“.

“Biloxi Blues” is the middle play in Simon’s so-called Eugene Trilogy — a set of three plays all about Eugene Morris Jerome (who represents Neil Simon when he was younger). The plays are “Brighton Beach Memoirs“, “Biloxi Blues“, and “Broadway Bound“, and I originally saw all three of these plays when they were first produced at the Ahmanson Theatre here in Los Angeles. Trilogies, or even larger forms of multi-play groups (such as the August Wilson’s “Pittsburg Cycle”) are very rare in theatre; forced sequels to plays and musicals typically fail big time (cough, “Bring Back Birdie”, cough, “Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public”, cough, “Annie 2: Miss Hannigan’s Revenge”). “Biloxi Blues“, in my eyes, suffers from a common trilogy problem — as the middle of the story, it has no beginning and end of its own per se; it seems to be engineered more to move the main character from one spot and story in his life to another spot and another story to be told. Indeed, if you look at the character arc for Eugene in Biloxi Blues, you’ll see very little change and growth in Eugene’s character through the story: at the beginning his is a writer observing and chronicling his world, and at the end of the story, Eugune is still a writer observing and chronicling his world. You want character growth for Eugene, you need to look at “Brighton Beach” and “Broadway Bound“. So what is Biloxi Blues really about?

“Biloxi Blues” tells the story of Eugene’s foray into the Armed Services — his stint of basic training at Keesler Field, now Keesler Air Force Base, in Biloxi, Mississippi. As the story opens, we meet Eugene and most of his squad-mates (Roy Slridge, Don Carney, Joseph Wykowski, and Arnold Epstein) on their way to Biloxi from in-processing at Ft. Dix in New Jersey. When the story ends, it is with these same squad-mates in the same rail-car on their way back to the east coast to be shipped to the battle theatre. The character growth in the story is not that of Eugene Jerome, or even that of most of the squad; Biloxi Blues is really about what basic training brought out in Arnold Epstein.

When the squad arrives in Biloxi, they first meet their training sergeant, Merwin J. Toomey. Toomey is cut from the character cloth of sadistic basic training sgts. who mold their men from individuals into killing machines, and from day 1 (day 0 if you are a C programmer) he has met his challenge in Epstein. All of the other squad members eventually give into to Toomey’s discipline, but Epstein stands his ground and does things his own way. Through the play, you see the method in Epstein’s madness; by the end, you see the final showdown between Toomey and Epstein and learn the eventual victor in the battle. Along the way to this battle, Eugene is constantly commenting and quipping on the army. There are also various vignettes showing life in the squad, and we get to see how Eugene has some milestones in his life — his first forey with a professional prostitute (Rowena), and his first forey into love with a girl he meets at a USO dance (Daisy Hannigan). But these events change Eugene very little — he remains the observer on the side. But they provide the humor that powers the play. This play is really about Epstein and Toomey.

So, ultimately, is the story good and satisfying? That’s a hard question to answer. It certainly is funny, although some aspects that weren’t a problem in the mid-1980s when this was written seem archaic today (such as the attitude of the army towards homosexuals during WWII). The battle between Epstein and Toomey is interesting to watch (especially its eventual climax). The rest of it is more a series of incidents observed with humor and only partially filling. It’s a good comedy, but not one of Simon’s greatest comedies.

Director Mark Kaplan (FB) and co-director Kimbyrly M. Valis (FB) bring out some great performances in the acting team. Leading that team is Craig Jorczak (FB) as Eugene Morris Jerome. Jorczak has Eugene’s accent down, and has the observer disconnection well. He reminded me quite a bit of the original performers in this role, and that’s a good thing.

The main focus of this show, however, is the battle between Bear Manescalchi (FB)’s Arnold Epstein and Daniel R. Wolfe (FB)’s Sgt. Merwin J. Toomey. Wolfe’s Toomey brought out the right level of sadism and dominance, and Manescalchi’s Epstein had the required inner strength of stubbornly oppose him. This was brought to a head in the final scene between the two of them, where you got to see how Toomey’s training seemingly won out, but how Epstein’s inner strength of character ultimately won in the end. Very well acted.

Rounding out the squad were Daniel Lupa-Chazan (Roy Selridge), Alex Genther (FB) (James Hennesey), Darryn Gibbons (FB) (Dan Carney), and Ben Hopkins/FB (Joseph Wykowski). Hopkins’ Wykowski was very strong — you could easily see how this man was more muscle than brain (in contrast to Eugene and Arnold) — and Hopkins’ played him quite well. Another squad standout was Genther’s Hennesey. We meet Hennesey at camp, and the incidents around him serve less to grow his character as to provide opportunities for Epstein to grow and surprise. Still, Genther captured the gentleness and nature of the character well. Lupa-Chazan’s Selridge and Gibbon’s Carney were a little less stand-out-y as characters, but I think that is more the nature of how they were written in the squad, as opposed to their performances.

The remaining cast members were Alli Kelly (FB) (Daisy Hannigan) and Kimberly Patterson (FB) (Rowena). Patterson’s chacter, the well-worn prostitute, Rowena, appeared only in one scene can captured her well. More touching was Kelly’s Hannigan as the girl Eugene falls in love with — she brought a delightful tenderness and sweetness to the role.

Turning to the technical side: No credit is provided for the set, which served its function well to establish the Army barracks nature. The costumes were designed by Tonya Nelson (FB), assisted by Beth Ann/FB; Phil Wey/FB served as Historical Military Consultant and Stylist. It is here that I noted the only problems with the show. Although Wey got the treatment of the ties correct and the military positioning correct, the uniforms struck me as wrong from when I first saw them. Why? They were lacking the normal accoutrements one sees in Army uniforms — US insignias, soldier’s names. I initially thought they were also missing rank insignias as well, but the lowest level does not have any. Sound and lighting were by REP regulars Steven “Nanook” Burkholder/FB (sound) and Tim Christianson/FB (lighting), and both were effective. J. T. Centonze (FB) was the stage manager. Biloxi Blues was produced by Mikee Schwinn/FB and Ovington Michael Owston (FB).

“Biloxi Blues” continues at Repertory East Playhouse (FB) until April 5. Tickets are available through the REP Online Box office, as well as through Goldstar. As with all REP productions, it is well done and worth seeing. REP also announced a fundraising concert on April 18-19: “A Night At The Rock Opera”. For tickets, contact Repertory East Playhouse (FB).

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: The weekend of March 16 brings Purim Schpiels, with Sunday afternoon bringing “Inherit the Wind” at the Grove Theatre Center (FB) in Burbank. March 22 brings “Harmony” at The Ahmanson Theatre (FB), followed by “Author, Author: An Evening with Sholom Aleichem” at the Santa Monica Playhouse (FB) on March 23. The last weekend of March is open, and will likely stay that way as we’ll be exhausted. April starts with “In The Heights” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) on April 5, and should also bring “Tallest Tree” at the Mark Taper Forum, as well as the Southern California Renaissance Faire. April may also bring “My Name is Asher Lev” at the Fountain Theatre (FB) (as this runs through April 19). Current planning for May shows “The Lion in Winter” at The Colony Theatre (FB), and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” at REP East (FB). As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

Thinking About Relationships

Posted onSunday, January 26, 2014Authorcahwyguy

userpic=repeast This is a relationship weekend. I talked about congregational relationships Friday night at the Men’s Club Shabbat; I’ve been thinking about our theatre subscription relationships with Cabrillo; and last night I saw a musical (“I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change“) that focuses on relationships. To be precise, I saw a musical about relationships for the second time — for back in 2006, we had just discovered Repertory East Playhouse (FB). The second production we ever saw there, in March 2006, was “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change“, and it cemented our relationship with this theatre as a place we wanted to be. [I’ll note that back in 2006, “I Love You…” was followed shortly thereafter by “Forever Plaid” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB); and this year, we’re seeing “Forever Plaid” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) two weeks after “I Love You…“. Aren’t coincidences grand?]

“I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” (book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro (FB), music by Jimmy Roberts (FB)) is a series of vignettes that, over the course of the show, trace relationships from the first date to senior-citizen relationships. Starting with the dating process, we see the trials and tribulations of trying to find the right person, and the seemingly endless progression of wrong people that are tried and discarded along the way. Essentially, the entire first act is focused on this search, concluding with the wedding vows. Along the way, the continual questions seems to be: “Why am I doing this?” and “What am I getting into?”. The second act focuses on the post-marriage relationships: the problems of the bridesmaid, how marriage and children affect the relationship. Most importantly, the second act focuses on the maturation of relationships — moving away from the frenzied desire to find perfection in a partner to the acceptance of what real love is and the value of companionship.

The musical has no continuing characters, and there is not a traditional storyline. The four actors (two men, two women) portray a variety of characters over the various scenes, with the focus being the message and not the growth of any individual character. Even though I’ve seen the show before and am well acquainted with the music, I still found myself being touched by the story. I think this is because that, as you move through life, different scenes reach out to you in different ways. Back in 2006, I resonated more with the “Marriage Tango” and the “Highway of Love” songs; today, I’m more in the “Shouldn’t I Be Less In Love With You” area. I think everyone will find something that resonates with them in this musical. That was certainly true if you listened to the audience reaction to this: although there was continual laughter, you could tell from where the laughter was that difference scenes were speaking to different people.

The performers in this show: Stephanie Fredricks (FB) (Woman I), Renee Cohen (FB) (Woman 2), Tim Hearl (FB) (Man 1), and Jason Peter Kennedy (FB) (Man 2), were very strong. I was blown away by the power in the singing voices of both Stephanie and Renee; the songs for the men didn’t provide as much opportunity for power, but their voices were equally pleasant. I still have some particular numbers in this show that I absolutely love — my favorite being “Always a Bridesmaid”. I’m pleased to say that Stephanie Fredricks (FB) hit it out of the park with that number, giving an absolutely spot-on performance on top of the song. Brava! Another other notable vocal performance was in “Single Man Drought”.

But in addition to the singing, I just loved the performances themselves. They were touching, comic, and just a delight to watch. I particularly remember the gentle interaction between the actors in “Shouldn’t I Be Less In Love With You?” (there was just some small facial gestures and movements that just made this scene perfect), the touching nature of “I Can Live With That”, the comic use of the bear in “The Baby Song”, the humorous charactures in “A Stud and a Baby” and “Hey There Single Gal”. In general — this is just a fun show, with great performance and very tender movements.

“I Love You…” was directed by Richard Van Slyke (FB), with vocal direction by Virginia Stewart (FB). Choreography was by Samantha Whidby (FB). As always, I can never separate where the director ends and the actor begins, which typically means that both are strong. This directoral team brought out strong performances in the actors that were believable and touching, and yet still conveyed the fun that the actors were having with the role. As I noted before, the singing was very good, and the movement was effective for the REP space. The main drawback was that the music was recorded (my write-up in 2006 shows they had a keyboard player back then). I still prefer live music, and I hope that one day in the future REP can figure out how to work their limited space to add live music to the mix.

No credit is provided for the set design, which was very simple (a number of risers, some partially outlined framed spaces) but which worked very well for this show. Costumes were designed by Erin Rivlin (FB) and worked reasonably well (although the wedding dress could use a little adjustment). As always, the lighting design was by Tim Christianson/FB, and the sound design was by Steven “Nanook” Burkholder/FB. J. T. Centonze (FB) (in his utilikilt) was the stage manager and coordinated the props. Print and video designs were by Mikee Schwinn/FB. “I Love You…” was produced by Ovington Michael Owston (FB).

“I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” continues at Repertory East Playhouse (FB) through February 15. It is well worth seeing. Tickets are available through the REP Online Box office, and may be available from Goldstar (be careful not to confuse it with the production in North Hollywood at Crown City, which closes this week) and the 25Score Card. I’ll note that REP appears to have a new domain name, the-rep.org, but it just seems to redirect to the main site, repeastplayhouse.org.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: Next weekend takes us to Downtown LA, where we’re seeing “Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike” at the Mark Taper Forum. February 8 will bring “Forever Plaid” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). The following weekend brings Lysistrata Jones at The Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim on February 16. The next weekend, February 22, is currently open — I’m hoping to get tickets for “Discord: The Gospel According to Jefferson, Dickens, and Tolstoy” (LA Stage Tix) at the No Ho Arts Center; other possibilities are “On The Money” at the Victory Theatre Center (FB); “Above the Fold” at the Pasadena Playhouse (FB); or “My Name is Asher Lev” at the Fountain Theatre (FB) (as this runs through April 19, this might be good for mid-March or April), or something else that hasn’t caught my attention yet. I may wait to see what else shows up on Goldstar. The last day of February sees us in Studio City at Two Roads Theatre for Tom Stoppard’s “The Real Thing“, followed the next evening by the MRJ Regional Man of the Year dinner at Temple Beth Hillel. March theatre starts with “Sex and Education” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on March 8. (this might be good for March 16); The weekend of March 16 brings Purim Schpiels, with Sunday afternoon bringing “Inherit the Wind” at the Grove Theatre Center (FB) in Burbank. March 22 is being held for “Harmony” at The Ahmanson Theatre (FB). March concludes with “Biloxi Blues” at REP East (FB) on March 29. April will start with “In The Heights” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) on April 5, and should also bring “Tallest Tree” at the Mark Taper Forum, as well as the Southern California Renaissance Faire. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, Musicals in LA and LA Stage Times, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

Relationships in Therapy

Posted onSunday, November 24, 2013Wednesday, December 4, 2013Authorcahwyguy2 Comments

userpic=repeast This has been a busy live entertainment weekend: a folksinging legend Friday night, the Virgin Mary and a miracle this afternoon, and sandwiched between them: a nebbish New Yorker trying to find a relationship. Specifically, last night we were in Newhall for the final show in Repertory East’s 9th season: “Woody Allen’s ”Play It Again, Sam” “.

“Play It Again, Sam“, before it was the 1972 film, was a 1969 Broadway comedy by Woody Allen. The story is basically the same, although it takes place in New York. Allan Felix, a nervous nebbish New Yorker who watches and writes about film for a living, has just been dumped by his wife, Nancy. Linda, the wife of Allan’s best friend Dick, keeps trying to fix Allan up with various friends. Nothing works, because Allan is so scared of women that the persona he adopts overdoes it and scares them away. It doesn’t help that he still hasn’t let go of the memory of his ex-wife (who keeps belittling him in his mind), and imagines romances as if life was Casablanca — to the point of taking relationship advice from an imaginary Bogart. In the process of trying to find the right girl, Allan keeps spending time with Linda. Linda, in turn, becomes charmed with Allan’s real persona; this is helped by the fact that Dick is too focused on business (a running joke is that he is constantly calling his office to leave the number he is at — ah, pre-cell-phone days). Eventually, Linda and Allan fall for each other. Will she have an affair and leave Dick? C’mon, this is Woody Allen, so you likely can guess the answer. At the end of the play, a neighbor comes over, and she and Allan seem to hit it off.

There are some comedy styles that you either love or are just lukewarm towards. Jerry Lewis is one of them. Woody Allen is another. Some love Allen’s nebbish New Yorker persona (very often, New Yorkers themselves). Others don’t see the appeal in the style. Alas, I’m in the latter camp — the only Allen movie I’ve liked at all was Annie Hall, and that was a bit more Los Angeles based. I’m just not into the self-deprecating, down-on-yourself annoying persona that Allen adopts. So the story here did not grab me as others might. This is not a fault of REP, for there are many that love Woody Allen. It also doesn’t help that I’m not a big movie fan — in particular, I’m not a big Bogart fan, and have never seen Casablanca. There were likely numerous movie references to films from that ever that went completely past me. Still, there were humorous points in the play and the acting kept me entertained. More on that in a minute.

One major problem with the play is that it reflects a very warped attitude towards women — one that is uncomfortable today, but was all too prevalent when the play was written. This can be seen in the continual advice from Bogart to slap women around. It can be seen in Allan’s focus on finding a women primarily for the sex. Where it is most troubling is in the scene where Allan and Linda discuss the possibility of rape, and Allen (the author) puts words in Linda’s mouth about potentially wanting rape, if it was with the right man. This is absolutely the wrong message to be sending (and it may be a subconscious reflection of Woody Allen’s attitude towards women, as seen in his subsequent relationships).

When you get past the Woody Allen character, there are a number of things to like about this play. It does send a good message about the façades we put up scaring away people: often, we put on a persona about the people we think we want, and this scares away the people we need. That’s a good message to be sending. It also sends a message about what an over-focus on business and being connected can do to a relationship. We see this in the relationship between Dick and Linda, who are growing apart because of Dick’s over-focus on work and under-focus on his wife. By the end of the play, Dick has been reminded of the importance of Linda in his life, and that his sole attention cannot be work, work, work.

Then there is the “movie message.” Allan Felix is a man who lives and breathes old movies: he writes about them, he watches them, he memorizes them. They are his obsession, and in many ways they drive his perception of what a man should be and how a man should behave. This is seen through the focus on Bogart, through the movie posters, through the melodramatic ways Allan fantasizes that situations will play out. This is ultimately exposed as being unhealthy — what is healthy is to just be yourself and to attract people through you.

Patrick Rogers (FB), as Allan Felix, does a good job of channeling Woody Allen — he captures the neurotic behavior, the voice, and the mannerisms quite well. Performance-wise, he nails it. In fact, he captures it so well that — if you’re like me and not a fan of the Allen persona — you can’t see what women would like about this man. However, if you can get past the Woody Allen schtick, he does have a number of funny lines. Allen (the author) does know how to write good jokes, and you’ll find yourself laughing at them even if the persona annoys you.

Another wonderful performance — perhaps even stronger performance — was given by Jessica Kaye Temple (FB) as Linda Christie. She was sweet, she was cute, she was playful, she was sexy in a 1960s-repressed way, … she was just a delight to watch. Your eye was drawn to her whenever she was one the stage. We’ve seen her before on the REP stage, and it is just a joy to see her again. Playing her husband, Dick, was Gregor Manns (FB). Manns gave a good performance as the man more focused on business; however, the attempt at modern casting was a bit jarring in the historical period of the show. It ended up working because of Manns’ skills.

Rounding out the cast were Bonnie He (FB) [Dream Sharon, Barbara], Lara Hughes (FB) [Nancy, Gina], Jason J. Lewis (FB) [Humphrey Bogart], and Kaitie Ty Warren (FB) [Sharon, Vanessa, Go-Go, Intell’l Girl]. A few notes here. Lewis channeled Bogart very well — or to be more accurate — he presented the expected caricature of Bogart, as the actor was probably not always his Casablanca persona. He, although not on stage much, is always fun to watch. I have to wonder if the ending of the play involving her was tacked on — according to Wikipedia it was not in the movie version, and it just felt too conveniently “feel good”. Ah well, it was early Woody Allen.

For the most part, the direction by Marlowe Weisman (FB) (assisted by Janice Crow-Christensen/FB) was good. There were a few pronunciations that weren’t New York (I caught chiropodist, which is not pronounced like chiro-practor, and our friends caught another)… but in general the movement, positioning, and mannerisms worked well.

The technical team was a little bit different this time. Sets were designed by Madison Orgill (FB), with properties by Danielle Honeyman/FB. These worked very well at establishing the place — I appreciated the period magazines, as well as the period Lays potato chip bag. Additional props were by Amy Ganyo. Costumes were designed by Janet McAnany/FB, and (at least to my eye) seemed appropriately period. As always, the lighting design was by Tim Christianson/FB, and the sound design was by Steven “Nanook” Burkholder/FB. Taylor Kozlowski/FB was the stage manager, and Marie-Claire Erdynast/FB was the production stage manager. The show was produced by Mikee Schwinn/FB and Ovington Michael Owston/FB.

“Woody Allen’s ”Play It Again, Sam” ” continues at Repertory East Playhouse through December 14. Tickets are available through the REP Online Box Office. They are also available through Goldstar Events, as well as other discount venues. REP has also announced their 10th season: “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” (January 17-February 15, 2014); “Biloxi Blues” (March 7-April 5, 2014); “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (May 16-June 14, 2014); “Return to the Forbidden Planet (A Jukebox Musical)” (July 11-August 16, 2014); “The Great Gatsby” (September 12-October 18, 2014), and “Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club” (November 14-December 13, 2014). Season tickets are also available starting at $120 for all six shows (adult; senior/students $110).

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: This afternoon brings the rescheduled “Miracle on S. Division Street” at the Colony Theatre (FB). Thanksgiving weekend brings “Falling“ at Rogue Machine on Sat November 30, and may also bring the concert “There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays” at REP East (FB) on Sunday December 1 [I’m unsure about this — on the one hand, it supports REP East… but on the other hand, it’s Christmas music]. December will start with “The Little Mermaid” at Nobel Middle School on Friday, December 6. We then leave for New Orleans and the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC). When we return we have an interesting play, “Sherlock Through the Looking Glass“, at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble (FB). December, as currently scheduled for theatre, concludes with “Peter and the Starcatcher” at The Ahmanson Theatre (FB). Of course, there will be the traditional movie and Chinese Food on Christmas Day — right now, the two movie possibilities are “Saving Mr. Banks” opening December 13 (meaning we can use group discount tickets), or “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” opening December 25. None of the other December releases look worth the money (I’d rather see “August: Osage County” on the stage, thankyouverymuch). Looking into January…. nothing is currently scheduled, but it will likely bring “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change“, which is the first show of the REP East (FB) season, running 1/17 through 2/15/2014… and the end of the month will bring “Forever Plaid” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). Of course, we look forward to seeing you at ACSAC for the wonderful training opportunities there. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, Musicals in LA and LA Stage Times, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

Savages Under the Surface

Posted onSunday, September 29, 2013Authorcahwyguy

userpic=repeast Back in Spring 2011, we missed seeing the New York cast of “God of Carnage” at the Ahmanson. We finally saw “God of Carnage” at ICT in February 2012. At that time, I thought it would be a great production for REP East (FB). Luckily, the artistic director must have read my mind, because it was selected for the 2013 season. Last night we were up at REP to see their production, and I’m pleased to say they’ve done their usual excellent job with it.

“God of Carnage” tells the story of two parental couples who are brought together because their pre-teen children had a schoolyard brawl–specifically, Benjamin Raleigh had used a stick to hit Henry Novak and knock out two of his teeth (injuring the nerve of one of them) [later we learn this occurred because Henry refused to let Benjamin join his “gang” and called him names]. That evening, the parents of Henry (Veronica and Michael Novak) invite Benjamin’s parents (Annette and Alan Raleigh) over to discuss the matter, and to get their son to apologize personally to Henry. As the evening goes on, the parents civil discussion becomes significantly less civilized (especially after Annette vomits over the coffee table), and the veneer that the parents wear becomes ripped off. I could probably describe more, but is really best to watch and see the gory details as these to parents become children and brawl in the fancy living room.

As I was thinking about the show afterwards (as I’m familiar with the book), I was trying to think about what set the REP production apart from the ICT production a year ago. I think the answer is the direction. One thing I noticed — much more than at ICT — was the use of pauses, timing, and facial expressions. You learned so much more about the reactions of these parents from their responses and their body language on top of the written script. Watching Annette’s roiling stomach convulsing you believed in the visceral reaction she was having; Veronica’s reaction was written all over her face. The men’s body language showed their indifference to the whole mess… until it didn’t. Very very well performed and well directed.

With a small cast like this it is hard to single out any particular performance as all were excellent. The hosting parents — Veronica and Michael — were portrayed by Heidi Appe (FB) and Dennis Hadley (FB). The hosted parents — Annette and Alan — were portrayed by Leslie Connelly (FB) and Mark Kaplan (FB). All four were believable, funny, had strong stage presence, and were inhabiting their roles. So much so, in fact, that you believed Connelly was really sick when she vomited, that Kaplan was really more interested in the phone, that Hadley really was a Neanderthal under the surface, and that Appe truly could not stand the artificiality of the other couple. The acting team was directed by Ovington Michael Owston (FB), assisted by Kimbyrly M. Valis (FB).

“God of Carnage” was written by Yasmina Reza and translated by Christopher Hampton.

Turning to the technical. The elegant set was designed by Ovington Michael Owston (FB), and was expertly lit by Tim Christianson/FB. Sound design was by the REP resident sound designer Steven “Nanook” Burkholder/FB and was generally good. Two minor sound comments — the volume of the Pandora radio that plays before the show was a little high, making conversation difficult, and the directionality of the cell phone sound effect was a little disconcerting sitting in the front (although the only way around that would be a small speaker — or second cellphone — in the actor’s pocket). Print design was by the sleep-deprived Mikee Schwinn/FB, and J. T. Centonze (FB) (in his utilikilt) was the stage manager.

“God of Carnage” continues at REP East (FB) in Newhall until October 18, 2013. Tickets are available through the REP Online Box office; discount tickets are available through Goldstar, as well as special discounts for readers of Bitter Lemons (and speaking of Bitter Lemons, they have a Kickstarter that needs support). Next up at REP East is “Play It Again, Sam“, running from November 15, 2013 through December 14, 2013. REP has announced their 2014 season (their 10th), which consists of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change“, Neil Simon’s “Biloxi Blues“, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof“, “Return to Forbidden Planet“, “The Great Gatsby“, and “Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club“. Dates for these productions have not been announced.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: Theatre in October starts on the 5th with “Breath and Imagination” at the Colony Theatre (FB). The second week of October sees me at the West Coast Premier of “Burnt Street Boys“ at the Third Street Theatre (FB). The third week of October is being held for the production of “Carrie – The Musical” (FB) by Transfer Theatre, but tickets are not yet on sale (and it is increasingly looking like this production will now be in 2014). October ends with the Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) production of “Kiss Me Kate” (October 26). November starts with “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” at Actors Rep of Simi (FB). That will be followed by a visit with Thomas the Tank Engine when we volunteer at OERM over Veterans Day. The third week will be theatre-ish, as we attend ARTS’s Nottingham Village (FB) (a one-weekend ren-faire-ish market — tickets are now on sale). One of those weekends we’re also likely to see a Trollplayers (FB) production of Steven Schwartz’s “Children of Eden” (which runs November 8-17) [Trollplayers is the community theatre group at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Northridge]. The weekend before Thanksgiving will bring Tom Paxton (FB) in concert at McCabes Santa Monica (FB) as well as “Play It Again Sam” at REP East (FB). The last weekend of November brings a rescheduled “Miracle on S. Division Street” at the Colony Theatre (FB). December is mostly open, but should bring “The Little Mermaid” at Nobel Middle School, and “Peter and the Starcatcher” at The Ahmanson Theatre. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, Musicals in LA and LA Stage Times, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.