reviews-2014 – Page 5 – Observations Along the Road

Getting It Right, For Once

Posted onSunday, July 20, 2014Sunday, July 20, 2014Authorcahwyguy1 Comment

userpic=broadwayla “It’s everything that “Ghost” wasn’t”. This is what I turned and whispered to my wife about 15 minutes into “Once“, the musical we saw yesterday afternoon at the Pantages theatre in Hollywood. Perhaps I should elaborate:

“Ghost” attempted to put a movie on stage; “Once” treated the stage with respect, allowing the audience to create with their imagination, and recognizing it was on stage.
“Ghost” was electric rock, electric images; “Once” was acoustic simplicity.
“Ghost” was theatrical complexity; “Once” could be staged in any theatre, including those without fancy electronics or fly space.
“Ghost” was fancy dancing and ensembles without meaning; “Once” was deep meaning and emotion, without fancy dancing.
“Ghost” was an example of how not to transfer a movie to the stage–it was forced. “Once“, for lack of a better term, was organic. There was no need for the movie (indeed, one review I saw noted that the stage version was better than the movie).
“Ghost” was based on fantasy; “Once” was grounded in reality.
“Ghost” left me blah; I fell in love with “Once“.

One digression before I go on — please note the graphic I used for “Once” (if you are reading this someplace where you don’t see the links and graphics, go to blog.cahighways.org and read the original). I had to create this one — every graphic you typically see shows the New York original cast with Cristin Milioti and Steve Kazee (FB). The touring cast was so good I wanted you to see their faces, so I had to hunt down an image showing Stuart Ward and Dani de Waal. End digression.

I’ll also note going in that I haven’t seen the movie upon which this production was based. I believe that if you have to see the original movie, there’s something wrong with the stage production. Luckily, “Once” stands well on its own (although I”ll note it is about double the length of the movie). The movie was written (and directed) by John Carney; the “stage play” adaptation (e.g., the book for the stage version) was by Enda Walsh. As for the music and lyrics — they are mostly from the movie, and were written by the two leads of the movie: Glen Hansard (FB) and Markéta Irglová (FB). Both Hansard and Irglová are accomplished musicians and have written for the screen; neither has written for the stage. This, actually, works to their advantage: the music in “Once” doesn’t sound like your typical musical music. If anything, it reminded me a bit of “Robber Bridgegroom” for its feel and integration. It worked well.

“Once” signals that it is different from the moment you walk into the theatre. Most shows — you go in, you sit down, the lights dim, the overture starts (if you’re lucky enough to be at a show with an overture), and the story begins. With “Once“, when you walk in the theatre, the first thing you see is people on stage. “Once” takes place in a bar in Dublin, and the stage has been turned into a working bar. If you’re over 21, you can go on stage (bring cash), buy a drink (must be consumed on stage), and experience the bar. Slowly the majority of the cast comes out with their instruments (most cast members play multiple instruments) and an Irish folk music jam session begins. The house lights are up, audience is on stage, and here is the cast just having fun with Irish songs like “On Raglan Road.” It would be lovely to have had an album of that jam session; the music was as good as any concert I’ve heard at McCabes. Slowly the audience filters off stage, and the musicians entice one of the guitar players to play his song. He does — a touching song called “Love”. By this point, the house lights are down, except for one illuminating a girl walking down the aisle onto the stage, listening to the music. She’s onstage by the time she finishes… and the story begins.

“Once” tells the story of an unnamed man (“Guy”) and an unnamed women (“Girl”). The story begins as the guy finishes his song, intending to leave his guitar and his music behind in the bar. The girl, an Czech immigrant, was touched by the song. She asks a number of questions, learning he wrote the song for a girl who recently left him to move to New York. The music and the memories are too painful, so he is giving them up and going back to work in his father’s vacuum shop. Suddenly, the girl has a vacuum to be repaired, and offers to pay him with music. Thus begins a quest from the girl to get the guy back with the ex-girlfriend (while the guy is slowly falling in love with the girl). This includes her introducing the guy to her “family”: her mother, her daughter, and some other Czech immigrant musicians sharing a Dublin apartment. She also arranges a 24 hour recording session so the guy can record his music, travel to New York, get a music contract, and win back his ex-girlfriend. This includes arranging a bank loan (with a banker who is also a musician), and getting the guy comfortable on-stage by having him sing at an “open mic” night. This is when you see that guy is falling for girl. Subsequent scenes deepen that realization — that guy is falling for girl, and that slowly, girl is falling for guy. The guy asks the girl to go to New York with him when he goes. She demurs, as her husband is attempting to reconcile. As the story ends, the guy is heading off to New York to see his ex-, who is willing to give it another try; the girl remains in Dublin, but has the gift of a piano from the guy, who bought it with the money his father gave him to get settled in New York. (Note: You can read a longer synopsis on the wikipedia page)

What’s interesting here is the staging: although there are a number of different locations, almost everything takes place in the bar. Tables are moved together, chairs come in an out, but everything else is … imagination. Even most of the other cast members remain on stage when not their characters; they are on the side as the musicians. This is theatre as it should be (and what the recent monologue night at REP reminded us); actors creating the magic with their performance, not electronics or stagecraft. Some interstitial music starts to be played by the actors, people are moving around, and boom — suddenly — you’re somewhere else. The transformation is amazing to watch. Kudos to the director, John Tiffany (FB), for staying true to the simplicity of the story; and to the “movement” director, Steven Hoggett (FB), for not bringing in traditional dance and choreography. What movement there is seems appropriate — no dance numbers, but rhythmic movements of a folk nature that go with the music. The movement and staging are such that they just seem part of the story, as opposed to stopping the action for a superfluous dance number. As I said, the opposite of “Ghost“.

If I had any criticism of the show, it is that it really doesn’t belong where it is. It works OK in large theatre, but this musical is perfectly suited to the mid-size and small theatres. This would be spectacular at the Colony or Rep East.

The performers are spectacular, which is why I endeavored to find an image showing them. In the lead positions, of course, are “guy” and “girl”. The guy is played by Stuart Ward (FB, TW) (guitar), who plays beautifully, sings beautifully, and conveys a great depth of emotion in his performance. The girl is played by Dani de Waal (FB, TW) (piano). A wonderful musician with a lovely voice, she gives a delightfully quirky performance with her accent and playfulness. The two are believable together, harmonize well together, and just mesh. I’ll note that Ward has an EP out with about 2/3rds of the touring production; it’s quite good.

The remainder of the cast, although they have characters, are more in the background and notable for their wonderful instruments and musicality. The more memorable characters include Billy, the owner of the music store where the girl occasionally plays piano (and who has a crush on the girl); the Bank Manager who doubles as a guitar/cello player; Réza, another Czech immigrant who attempts to seduce Billy, and Ivanka, the girl’s daughter. Before I list the players, I just want to highlight Kolette Tetlow (FB) who played Ivanka: her scenes were few and she played no instrument, but her girlish playfulness still shone through. The cast/musicians were: Raymond Bokhour (FB) (Da, mandolin); Matt DeAngelis (FB) (Švec, guitar, mandolin, banjo, drums, percussion); John Steven Gardner (FB, TW) (Eamon, piano, guitar, percussion, melodica, harmonica, music captain); Donna Garner (FB) (Baruška, accordion, concertina); Evan Harrington (FB) (Billy, guitar, percussion, ukulele); Matt Wolpe (FB) (Emcee, guitar, banjo); Benjamin Magnuson (bank manager, cello, guitar); Alex Nee (FB, TW) (Andrej, electric bass, ukulele, guitar, percussion); Erica Swindell (FB, TW) (Ex-Girlfriend, violin, percussion, dance captain); and Claire Wellin (FB, TW) (Réza, violin). I’d love to see these folks put out an album of Irish music — they were that good.

Also part of the cast, but not on stage at our performance, were Ryan Link (TW) (Emcee, guitar, banjo — except Jul 18-24); Zander Meisner (FB) (Andrej, electric bass, ukulele, guitar, percussion – August 5-10); Estelle Bajou (FB) (u/s Réza, u/s Ex-girlfriend, violin); Stephen McIntyre (FB) (u/s Da, u/s bank manager, u/s Billy, mandolin, cello, guitar, ukulele, percussion); Tiffany Topol (FB, TW) (u/s Girl, piano); Tina Stafford (FB) (u/s Baruška, accordion, concertina).

As I noted, the technical side was brilliant. The scenic and costume design of Bob Crowley worked well — the bar looked like (and apparently was) a working Dublin bar, and the costumes were appropriately folkish. In many cases, they didn’t appear to be costumes at all — these folks looked like musicians. Lighting was by Natasha Katz (FB) and was suitably non-obtrusive. The sound was by Clive Goodwin (FB) and was generally clear, although the generally horrible acoustics of the Pantages tended to muffle the lyrics. Stephen Gabis was the dialect coach, and Liz Caplan Vocal Studios (FB) provided vocal supervision. Rounding out the technical side: Jim Carnahan (Casting), Shaun Peknic (FB) (Associate Director), Yasmine Lee/FB (Associate Movement Director), Jason DeBord (FB) (Resident Music Supervisor), Frank McCullough (Associate Scenic Designer), Peter Hoerburger (Associate Lighting Designer), Alex Hawthorn (Associate Sound Designer), Aurora Productions (Production Management), Daniel S. Rosokoff (Production Stage Manager), E. Cameron Holsinger (FB) (Stage Manager), Aaron Elgart (FB, TW) (Assistant Stage Manager), Chris Danner (Company Manager), and Candace Hemphill (FB) (Assistant Company Manager).

“Once” continues at the Pantages Theatre through August 10. Tickets are available through the Pantages Box Office online, although you can avoid service fees and go to the box office directly. Some dates are 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 two shows: “Bye Bye Birdie” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) on 7/26, followed by the annual Operaworks improv show on 7/27. August starts with “Family Planning” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on 8/2. This is followed by “Buyer and Cellar” at the Mark Taper Forum on 8/9, and “Broadway Bound” at the Odyssey on 8/16 (directed by Jason Alexander). The following weekend we’ll be in Escondido, where there are a number of potential productions… including “Two Gentlemen of Verona” at the Old Globe, and “Pageant” at the Cygnet in Old Town. What they have at the Welk (“Oklahoma“), Patio Theatre (“Fiddler on the Roof“), and Moonlight Stage (“My Fair Lady“) are all retreads. August will end with the aforementioned “An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein” at REP East (FB). I’m just starting to fill out September and October — so far, the plans include “The Great Gatsby” at Repertory East (FB), “What I Learned in Paris” at The Colony Theatre (FB), and “Pippin” at the Pantages (FB). November is also shaping up, with dates held for “Big Fish” at Musical Theatre West (FB), “Handle with Care” at The Colony Theatre (FB), the Nottingham Festival, “Sherlock Holmes and the Suicide Club” at REP East (FB), “Kinky Boots” at the Pantages (FB), and “She Loves Me” at Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim. 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.

A Story from the Past… in the Future

Posted onSunday, July 13, 2014Sunday, July 20, 2014Authorcahwyguy2 Comments

userpic=repeast Back in the year 1610 (or perhaps it was 1611), a fellow by the name of Bill Shakespeare wrote a little play called “The Tempest“. Years later, in 1956, a ground-breaking science fiction film “Forbidden Planet” emerged that drew upon some elements of “The Tempest“. Still later, in the mid-1980s, a production emerged in London that explicitly combined even more elements and characters from “The Tempest” with the basic storyline of “Forbidden Planet“, adding in Iambic Pentameter-ish dialogue from not only The Tempest, but numerous other Shakespeare works. This was intended as a musical, and so it added to this structure numerous rock and roll hits from the 1950s through 1960s, including “Great Balls of Fire”, “Teenager in Love”, “Gloria”, “Shake, Rattle and Roll”, and much more. The resulting musical won the Oliver award in London in 1989 (beating Miss Saigon), and is just about to be revived on the London stage for a 25th Anniversary UK Tour. But you don’t need to go as far a London to see this show; you only need to go a few minutes North of Los Angeles to the community of Newhall in Santa Clarita, where Repertory East Playhouse is presenting the musical “Return to the Forbidden Planet“.

Now, I knew none of this backstory when we got our tickets for this show. We’re season subscribers to REP, and when O announced the season back in late 2013 and I saw this show, I went “huh?”. REP normally has a summer musical, and this didn’t appear to be one. I thought, perhaps, that “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” had stolen the musical space and this was just a simple parody. So I researched the show, picked up the original cast album, and gave it a listen. I was very surprised: here were a number of great songs from the 50s and 60s arranged to tell a science fiction story. I began to look forward to this show.

Then June happened. You may remember the events; some try to forget them. When the dust finally settled, the REP community came out of this stronger than ever, as patrons and actors and the community rallied to demonstrate that this little theatre is important to them. Those that initiated the events came out a bit more tarnished, suffice it to say. The lesson to learn from this is not to take on a theatre that has its ducks in a row, with strong community backing. For me, as a patron and support (and unofficial spokesman), I was thinking — wouldn’t it have been great if REP’s next production was some great drama to which we could invite the critics and blow them away… but we get “Return to the Forbidden Planet“. Last night was our scheduled subscription night, so I went in curious: this was a return to normal operations at REP, and as Stan Freberg once asked, “Will it end on a note of triumph or disaster?”

The answer, of course, is “Either way, Daddy-O, as long as it swings! Scooby Doo!”… and REP came out swinging. This was one of the best REP productions I’ve seen: a combination of live music (a first for any REP musical), great singing, actors who just having fun with their roles (which I always claim ups the amplification — something Ghost needed to learn), and a spectacular set. REP is having fun here, and that fun is shared with the audience. It begins when you enter the theatre and hit the bar — which was serving “Tempest in a Tumbler”. It continued when you entered the auditorium and saw the spaceship set… which when you looked closely integrated car stereos, a Darth Vader Pez dispenser, an early (working) Apple ][C monitor, a radar range, hidden “81”s everywhere, and incredibly hilarious labels on everything. The show begins… not with the usual prerecorded announcement, but with the cast coming out in character to warn against cell phones, demonstrate the exits in the manner of flight attendance, and teach the audience participation cues. The pop culture references began here, and didn’t let down. Hint: Never wear a red shirt on a spaceship bridge and forget to turn off your cell phone. Then the prerecorded narrator announcements come on, and the iambic pentameter begin with the story proper.

At this point, you’re going: OK, now I’m going to get a group telling the traditional Tempest in a science-fiction mileau… but then you notice that the language is conflating many Shakespeare shows, and you start seeing the actors doing 60s songs such as “Wipeout” or “It’s a Man’s World”. You’re not in Kansas anymore.

The story itself, as I noted above, is a mix of the original movie and the Shakespeare play. Here’s the Wikipedia summary, which is succinct enough I really don’t need to edit it further:

The plot follows the crew of a routine survey flight under the command of Captain Tempest. After takeoff, Captain Tempest converses with the ships new Science Officer, who is a woman, and they argue about the importance of men and women on earth. During their argument, the ship gets caught in a meteor shower. The Science Officer suggests that they use the shuttle craft and abandon ship, but Captain Tempest insists on flying through the storm. During the confusion the Science Officer escapes the ship via shuttle craft. Their spaceship is drawn mysteriously to the planet D’Illyria where the crew meet mad scientist Doctor Prospero, who has been marooned on the planet since his wife, and science partner Gloria sent him and their daughter Miranda into space. Doctor Prospero offers to help repair the broken starship and he, his daughter, and their robot Ariel come aboard. The ships cook, Cookie is instantly taken by Miranda’s beauty and falls in love with her, a love he thinks she returns. In fact she has fallen in love with Captain Tempest, against the will of her father. During discussions about locating the missing Science Officer, Ariel reveals information about Doctor Prospero’s new formula ‘X Factor’, which can enhance the brain and mind. After an argument with his daughter over her love for the captain, Doctor Prospero takes the draught of ‘X Factor’. Soon afterwards, the ship is attacked by a foul monster, but during the attack it is revealed that Ariel is in the airlock with the missing Science Officer. To save them both, Captain Tempest orders the airlock opened, which allows the monster to gain access to the ship. During the confusion of the attack it is revealed that the Science Officer is Doctor Prospero’s wife Gloria, who is then taken by the monster, as its tentacles attack the rest of the ship.

The story continues with the attack unfolding again, but this time Gloria isn’t kidnapped by the monster, and Ariel the robot is able to attack the monster to make it retreat. After the attack, more is revealed about Doctor Prospero and Gloria’s past. Captain Tempest puts Gloria under ship arrest for her crimes against her husband. She forms a quick alliance with Cookie, whom she persuades to release her and help steal the recipe for Doctor Prospero’s ‘X Factor’ in exchange for helping him win over Miranda’s heart. Gloria talks to Cookie, as Bosun, the ships First Mate, talks to Captain Tempest about how to gain the love of Miranda. It is then revealed when the monster returns that it is created by Doctor Prospero’s mind due to him taking the ‘X Factor’. Gloria tells Doctor Prospero that what she did to him was so that he could keep himself and their daughter safe from the ‘X Factor’. Doctor Prospero has no choice but to leave the ship and sacrifice himself to save the others. Once Doctor Prospero has left, it is then revealed that D’Illyria is nothing other than a figment of Doctor Prospero’s imagination, as it starts to destroy itself once the doctor has died. The ship escapes and when once again in space Gloria blesses the union of Miranda and Captain Tempest, and Cookie is pardoned for his behaviour towards Miranda and Captain Tempest. The show ends with the entire crew safe and well with their Science Officer back and Captain Tempest with a new bride.

As I said above, REP executed this every well. There was strong casting, strong visuals (including great graphics), strong singing, and fun. Credit for this goes to the director, Rick Pratt (FB), who pulled the large cast together and provided a great creative vision for the show (as well as playing keyboard during the show in an outfit that made me think of Paul Revere and the Raiders, with the ruffled dickie). Rereading his bio just now, I should have known we were in for fun — this fellow was a musical director at the Moorpark Melodrama during its heyday in the 1980s. The show was also a family affair, as his wife and son were in the show.

Casting was very strong. My personal favorite, out of all of the cast, was Beth Ann Sweezer (FB) as Ariel the robot. This young lady was out on stage, on roller skates, in a silver skin-tight costume with silver make-up, in a performance that could have easily been very, umm, mechanical. Instead, her face was a joy to behold — expressive, playful, shining — and her movements (especially when you realize this was all done on skates) were fun to watch. That’s acting and dance talent, which was then combined with some wonderful singing (including a wonderful rap performance). Her bio shows we’ve seen her at REP before, and checking out what I wrote, I see she was also my favorite in The Great American Trailer Park Musical. I look forward to seeing her in more REP shows, and hopefully in other productions in Southern California.

Moving from my favorite to the lead positions. As Captain Tempest, Benjamin Patrick Thomas (FB) brought a handsome bravado and a strong singing voice to the leadership of crew of the Starship 81. He handled his numbers, and the iambic pentameter, quite well. As Gloria, the Science Officer, Lori D’itri (FB) brought strong singing chops and dance moves to the role. Lori is another REP musical regular — we saw here in both Trailer Park and The Full Monty, as well as being a Goldie Award winner for her performance in Dixie Swim Club at CTG. The last lead player was Mike Davies as Prospero. Davies handled the role with good singing and lots of humor; I particularly enjoyed his epilogue of “Monster Mash”.

In the middle positions were Connor Pratt/FB as Cookie and Alina Bock (Actor FB, Personal FB) as Miranda. Pratt’s Cookie captured the stoner surfer stereotype quite well, and he sang quite well. What was more surprising for Pratt was that, unlike other actors who faked playing guitars in a scene or two, Pratt actually played his guitar — it was plugged into the sound system, and he had quite a few solos he handled well. Don’t believe me: watch his fingers on both the strings and the frets. Very nice. Bock’s Miranda was beautiful and she had a wonderful singing voice… plus at the end she was dancing in the odd costume out of a Madonna musical in these ridiculously high stilettos. I don’t know how women do it–I don’t think a man could take it.

Rounding out the cast were Tara George as the Navigation Officer, Rodnesha Green (FB, G+) as the Bosun (and vocal director), as Sandra Pratt/FB as the Newscaster (and presumably the opening red-shirt). I was originally unsure about George — I detected some form of accent (later I figured it out as middle-eastern), and she seemed a bit cold. I think that was her character — she sang very strong in her numbers. Pratt was also strong in her numbers, in her interactions with Ariel, and I enjoyed her fiddling with her buttons and switches, as well as her popping of the Valium. Lastly, the third Pratt (Sandra) was strong and fun to watch in the interstitial narrations.

This is the first time, I also get to talk about the on-stage band. After all these years, they finally found a way to get Nanook/FB out of the sound booth: put him onstage with a guitar! He was joined by the director, Rick Pratt (FB), on keyboards; Art Gibson on bass, and David Goldberg on drums. It was truly wonderful to have live music at REP, although it was clear that the band was keeping things a little on the softer side so that they did not overpower that actors. I’m sure that as REP does more live music, they will find the correct balance for the facility. It was a great start.

Choreography was by Kristen Pechacek (FB), who did a great job of making the movement work well on the small REP stage. She also coordinated the movement well for Ariel on roller skates and Miranda’s dancing in the stilettos. It was actually one of the better choreography jobs I’ve seen over the years at REP.

Turning to the technical side of things: The scenic design by Frank Rock/FB and Jeff Hyde/FB, was a hoot (as I noted before). Integrating multiple monitors, a Radarrange, a Mr. Coffee, and Apple ][C (working), and all sorts of knobs and switches — it was just fun to look at for all the little technical details and in-jokes (in particular, note that the transporter has the large label LXXXI, which happens to be the number 81, REP’s theme number). You can see a photo of the set and cast here. These were supported by Marlowe Weisman (FB) and Sandra Pratt/FB did a wonderful job with the props, including a large Darth Vader PEZ dispenser. Tim Christianson/FB‘s lighting was as strong as ever, including some LED strobes I haven’t seen before. Tim also did the wonderful puppet used at the end of act I. The videos designed by the director, Rick Pratt (FB), worked very well. Costume design was by Sandra Pratt/FB, assisted by Flo Loring (FB): the costumes worked well and looked appropriately science-fiction-y. As noted earlier, I particularly liked Ariel (Beth Ann Sweezer)’s robot costume, and Miranda (Alina Bock)’s final costume was a nice homage. Steven “Nanook” Burkholder/FB did sound, as usual; this was the first time I’ve seen wireless mics taped to the actors at the REP; I could hardly notice they were on. Whether this was intentional, or if Nanook is still trying to find the right balance between the band and actors is unknown. Kim Iosue/FB was the stage manager, assisted by Vanessa Reyes. “Return to the Forbidden Planet” was produced by Mikee Schwinn/FB and Ovington Michael Owston (FB).

“Return to the Forbidden Planet” continues at Repertory East (FB)until August 16. Tickets are available through the REP East Online Box Office, as well as through Goldstar. “Planet” will be followed by the limited run “Exit 81” production of “An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein” on the weekends of August 22 and August 30. The next REP full production is “The Great Gatsby“, running September 12 through October 18, 2014.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: Next weekend sees us back at the Pantages (FB) for “Once” on 7/19. The next weekend brings “Bye Bye Birdie” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) on 7/26, hopefully followed by the annual Operaworks improv show on 7/27. August has gotten busy: it starts with “Family Planning” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on 8/2. This is followed by “Buyer and Cellar” at the Mark Taper Forum on 8/9, and “Broadway Bound” at the Odyssey on 8/16 (directed by Jason Alexander). The following weekend we’ll be in Escondido, where there are a number of potential productions… including “Two Gentlemen of Verona” at the Old Globe, and “Pageant” at the Cygnet in Old Town. What they have at the Welk (“Oklahoma“), Patio Theatre (“Fiddler on the Roof“), and Moonlight Stage (“My Fair Lady“) are all retreads. August will end with the aforementioned “An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein” at REP East (FB). I’m just starting to fill out September and October — so far, the plans include “The Great Gatsby” at REP, “What I Learned in Paris” at the Colony, and “Pippin” at the Pantages. 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.

Seeming Substance

Posted onSaturday, July 5, 2014Sunday, July 6, 2014Authorcahwyguy

userpic=broadwayla In 1995, a little company called Binary Research introduced a little software program called “Ghost“, which allowed cloning of a disk. This technology, which was based on an earlier movie, was later acquired by Symantec, who turned in into one of the most successful disk cloning programs. It was so successful, in fact, that some theatrical producers in London came along and decided to turn this story about disk cloning into a musical. And thus, “Ghost the Musical” was born. And so, when I heard that a musical about backup software was coming to Los Angeles on tour, the computer security specialist in me just had to see it. As a result, this afternoon saw me at the Pantages seeing “Ghost: The Musical“. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it wasn’t about backup software, but rather a technology-heavy cloning of the 1990 movie starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg. However, it was about cybersecurity — if there is a lesson to be learned from “Ghost: The Musical“, it is to protect your access codes and never to share them.

To be serious for a minute, I actually knew that “Ghost: The Musical” was a stage version of the 1990 movie, which I had never seen. I had heard the cast album from the show and it seemed somewhat reasonable, and it conveyed the story well. So even though it might be a a chick-musical, I decided I should see the story to go with the music. It had only lasted on Broadway for 136 performances, but there are other shows that I like that had flopped on Broadway, so what could go wrong?

As I talked about the show with my wife afterwards, I shared with her a number of conclusions about the show — which I’ll share in a minute. While writing this entry up, I read the Broadway reactions to the show. Turns out my comments (which you’ll see in a few paragraphs) agreed pretty spot-on with the New York critics. Would I recommend this show to others? If you are a fan of the movie, you’ll enjoy it. If you are a fan of quality musicals, you’ll find it average but not a stinker (I’ve seen “Caligula: The Musical“, so I know stinkers). Will it have an amateur afterlife? Alas, it may, but only after a lot of reworking — and like Sam Wheat, it may have more substance in the afterlife than it had when it walked this earth as the real thing.

The story of “Ghost: The Musical” appears to follow the movie plotline pretty closely. Some characters appear to have been eliminated, some scenes reordered, but the basic story is there. Sam, a banker, is in love with Molly, a potter. Sam can’t quite tell Molly he loves her, though. Sam discovers some discrepancies in the accounts he manages. His friend, Carl, offers to investigate, but Sam changes the account codes and tells Carl he’ll investigate himself. That evening, a thug attacks Sam and Molly for Sam’s wallet, and Sam is killed in the struggle. He returns as a ghost, and the rest of the movie, oops, musical is about Sam trying to get in contact with Molly to inform her about his killer and bring him to justice. He does this through a psychic named Oda Mae Brown. Twists and adventures about, and key movie scenes are recreated including the infamous parodied pottery scene, which is very short, seems to add nothing to the story other than the novelty of an actual potters wheel on the Pantages stage. I think you can seen the predictable ending: Sam works with Oda Mae to uncover the real killer (Carl, if you hadn’t guessed), convince Molly that he was really there only in time to complete his task and disappear. Que sloppy and sappy ending.

The story itself wasn’t as bad as I made it out to be. There were some comic moments in the second act that I hadn’t seen coming and were well played. The problem is that it wasn’t musicalized very well. My understanding of musicals is that (a) the music should serve to advance the plot (except for retrospective jukebox musicals), (b) you should walk out with music that you remember, and (c) there should be some form of character growth. This show was the product of Dave Stewart, Glen Ballard (both Music and Lyrics), and Bruce Joel Rubin (Book and Lyrics) (who had done the original screenplay). Translation: You had a story being musicalized by two who were familiar with rock music and not theatrical music, and a theatrical book being done by someone who had only written screenplays. Again I ask, what could go wrong? I mean, there are rock musicians who can write great theatre scores — witness Sir Elton and Cyndi Lauper — and there are screenwriters who can do stories for the stage (look at Aaron Sorkin).

So what could go wrong? The resulting musical had a heavy rock score, which just didn’t fit the story and lent itself to heavily choreographed dance sequences that had nothing to do with the story (making them worse was the fact that the choreography of Ashley Wallen (FB) came across as mechanical and disconnected, instead of integrated and fun). There were internal points that could have been musicalized well — and one or two were — but the songs just never hit home and stuck like a good theatrical song does. My best example of this was song “I’m Outta Here”, which was just pointless.

What about how the story was translated to the stage? A good playwright understands how stage is different — how you have to suggest things and bring the audience into the imagination of the story. The Fantastiks is a great example of that. Here, sad to say, technology was used to create a movie on stage. There was heavy use of projections — both in the background and as a front scrim. These backgrounds had heavy movements and LED acrobatics that essentially put the movie on stage projected, as least in scenic areas. This created a very heavy dependence on technology that I feel hurt the play — it moved the production away from the imagination that the stage requires into the realism of the silver screen. If I want realize, I’ll go to the movies. I go to the theatre because I want actors to create the story out of nothingness. Where should be blame be placed here? Some goes on the screenwriter, oops, playwright. More, I feel goes on the director, Matthew Warchus, who had the charge of taking the vision from paper and putting it on stage (and this gets me worried about Matilda: The Musical, which he also directed). In a good play or musical, the director disappears into the acting — what is on stage seems a natural way to tell the story and the actors tell it. Here the choice to depend so heavily on technology overpowered (just like the musicians overpowered the vocals), making the directorial choices stand out. It will be interesting to see how this musical improves when it moves to the amateur and regional arena, where the technology just won’t be there. Perhaps it will work better then.

That doesn’t mean the musical was horrible, however. The basic illusions, designed by Paul Kieve, were excellent. Even though you knew the actor playing Sam had physical substance, the illusions and choreography of his movements made you believe he couldn’t interact with normal matter. There were little tricks and sequences that just brought that illusion to, so to speak, life. There was also some wonderful interaction with the technical displays that worked extremely well.

Also strong were the lead actors. The two primary leads — Steven Grant Douglas (FB) as Sam Wheat and Katie Postotnik (FB) as Molly Jenson — sang well and had a delightful believable chemistry between them. They were, to put it succinctly, cute together. Douglas created the illusion of being a ghost extremely well, and Postontnik handled the grieving girlfriend well. She even knew how to work the potters wheel (I wonder if that was in the casting requirements, just like Douglas being able to play the guitar). In the third lead position was Carla R. Stewart (FB) as Oda Mae Brown. She handled the comic aspects of the role well, but was overpowered in her main numbers by the orchestra. I fault the sound guy for that (either the orchestra was over-amplified or she was under-mic-ed), and she should as well. When we could hear her voice, it was good.

As for the rest of the cast, well, you really didn’t get to know them well. The few named other characters — Robby Haltiwanger (FB) as Carl Bruner, Fernando Contreras (FB) as Willie Lopez, Brandon Curry (FB) as the Subway Ghost, Evette Marie White (FB) as Clara, Lydia Warr (FB) as Louise, Hana Freeman (FB) as Mrs. Santiago, and Shannan E. Johnson (FB) as Ortisha — have their moments but never become real characters. The closest you come are Carl Bruner and Willie Lopez, but the latter is a stereotypical hispanic thug, and the former is a stereotypical slime banker. As for the ensemble, they basically serve as a glorified dance troupe during scene transitions while the main cast members change or the set changes. I’m not saying that one expects individualization from the ensemble, but you do expect the ensemble to support the story, to play out characters you might never meet, to give some acting behind the dance. I’ve seen this in other large musicals I’ve seen. Here — and again I blame the director and choreographer more than the performers who were just following instructions — we had dance sequences of ghosts, or business people in suits, or people on the street with umbrellas — that were amplified by LED dancers in the background and choreographed with technically precise rock-ish dance moves. It just didn’t work. The ensemble consisted of: Fernando Contreras (FB), Brandon Curry (FB), Hana Freeman (FB), Shannan E. Johnson (FB), Susan Leilani Gearou (FB), Tony Johnson/FB, Beth Stafford Laird (FB), Andrea Laxton (FB), Ben Laxton (FB), Jake Vander Linden (FB), Michael McClure/FB, David Melendez/FB, Jack O’Brien/FB, Maria Cristina Slye (FB), Lydia Warr (FB), Evette Marie White (FB). I’ll also note that this, alas, was a non-equity tour. This is poor form, as tours are hard work, and equity tours provide important protections to actors.

I’ve commented before on the quality of the score. The score was executed by a 14 member orchestra under the direction of Matthew Smedal. Music supervision was by David Holcenberg, and Talitha Fehr was music coordinator. Christopher Nightingale was the musical supervisor, arranger, and orchestrator. The major complaint with the music was that it was overamplified — this is a musical, dammit, not a rock concert!

Turning to the technical and the remainder of the creatives. The set was designed by … hmmm, there’s no credit for a set designer, only an associate scenic designer (Paul Weimer).There is, however, a credit for video and projection design (John Driscoll), as well as an associate (Michael Clark). This says quite a bit — there really was no set design. There were hints of sets — a couch here, a sign there, a refrigerator, a pottery wheel, a desk. The rest was all projections. Although use of projections is understandable in a tour, the sets in this show were so dependent on the projections that the magic of stagecraft was lost. The lighting was designed by Hugh Vanstone, and recreated by Joel Shier. The lighting made heavy use of moving lights and LED lights, constantly rotating into the audience. Remember what I said about this being theatre, not a rock show? This was rock show lighting, and I think it hurt the production. Sound was by Bobby Aitken, and Garth Helm, with assist from the UK’s Simon King. Looking at Aitken’s resume, you can see the problem by now — he is a rock show sound designer, and the musician’s sound overpowered the actors voices. Again, there is no credit for costumes, but there is an associate costume designer (Daryl Stone); hair, wigs, and makeup were by Campbell Young Associates. Both were satisfactory. Rounding out the creative team were Thomas Caruso (Associate Director), Paul Warwick Griffin (Associate Director), Sunny Walters (Associate Choreographer), Ryan P. Murphy (Production Manager), Townsend Teague (General Manager), and Donavan Dolan (Production Stage Manager).

“Ghost: The Musical” continues at the Pantages through July 13. Tickets are available through the Pantages Box Office, as well as through Goldstar.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: Next weekend sees us back in Santa Clarita for “Return to the Forbidden Planet” at REP East (FB) the weekend of 7/12 — the artistic team must have had a ghost advising them, for it was just announced that the Oliver-award-wining Forbidden Planet will be starting a 25th Anniversary Tour. See it now, upclose and personal! That will be followed by “Once” at the Pantages (FB) on 7/19, “Bye Bye Birdie” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) on 7/26, “Family Planning” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on 8/2, and “Buyer and Cellar” at the Mark Taper Forum on 8/9. I’m hoping to follow that with “Broadway Bound” at the Odyssey for 8/16. We then deal with vacations, but I’m eyeing a number of productions in Escondido, including “Two Gentlemen of Verona” at the Old Globe, and “Pageant” at the Cygnet in Old Town. What they have at the Welk (“Oklahoma“), Patio Theatre (“Fiddler on the Roof“), and Moonlight Stage (“My Fair Lady“) are all retreads. Things start to get busy again in September and October, with “The Great Gatsby” at REP, “What I Learned in Paris” at the Colony, and “Pippin” at the Pantages. 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.

Finding a Deeper Meaning in Comedy

Posted onSunday, June 29, 2014Authorcahwyguy

userpic=theatre2 Some people wonder how I pick the shows that we see. The simple answer for non-subscription shows is that I see an interesting description that catches my eye, or it is from an interesting or known author. This, perhaps, I why I don’t go to many clunkers. In the case of last night’s show, back in April I received an announcement about a new comedy called “I’m Not Just a Comic Genius” by the fellow behind “The Rabbi and the Shiksa” about an older man who turned to playwriting after the death of his wife. It was being done at the Secret Rose Theatre, a venue that has put on good productions before, so I decided to fit it into the June schedule. With all the Hollywood Fringe excitement in June, I’ve seen no mention, discussion, or reviews of the show. Hence, I was going into this show cold. Was it a success like the Vibrator play, or a Caligula-level disaster. You’ll have to read on to find out.

“I’m Not Just a Comic Genius” concerns an older man, David Gold, who has recently lost his wife of many years. As the play opens, it is the day of his unveiling. He hasn’t been out of the house for a year, and he’s not about to leave it now. He’s retired from accounting, is not a people person, and just wants to stay home. His daughter, Judith, keeps trying to get him back involved with life. She suggests, based on what her late mother told her, that he go back into writing plays. He grudgingly agrees. What follows is a series of one-act comic plays (really single scenes) interspersed with scenes of Judith and David critiquing them. The comic scenes are broadly funny — there are scenes of a street memorial of a man with multiple lovers, a theatrical critique of a dense author, a sex fantasy with an interesting gimmick, an interesting story about a lemonade stand, an a wonderful parody of a spelling bee. Some made me cringe, but they got stronger as the show went on. This was presumably showing David’s growth as a writer.

At this point, you’re probably going — this is a slight show. It is an excuse to hang a bunch of comedy sketches on a light meaningless framework. That’s certainly what I was thinking about three-quarters of the way into the show. But then the last scene was revealed — a monologue from an older man at the graveside of his parents. This turned the entire play around: it added the necessary drama and pathos; it connected the scenes with father and daughter to show the growth that had been suppressed. In short: it is what made this play work. Reading the few other reviews I could find, that seemed to be a common sentiment.

The author of “I’m Not Just a Comic Genius“, Art Shulman (FB), is a prolific playwright in the Los Angeles area who is perhaps best known for his comedic Jewish plays. He’s also active in the senior playwriting community. Remember what I said about “known quantity” — this is one of them. I would think that many playgoers have an expectation from this author. Underlying everything, I think this play was a commentary about the author himself — I think it was Shulman reminding the audience that he’s not just a comic playwright. He wanted it to be known that there was something serious that he wanted to say as well.

So, now going back to my original question: was this a success or a failure. If you had asked me at intermission, I was leaning towards the failure side (although it was nowhere near the disaster of Caligula: The Musical). But by the end, I had turned around and moved this into the success category. This isn’t a Broadway caliber play, but it is cute and it has a heart. It has some very funny scenes (I particularly enjoyed the Lemonade Stand and Spelling Bee scenes, although the one-word-sex scene was funny as well) and a touching end, and it worth seeing.

The play was directed by Rick Shaw (FB) (jokes from “Adrift in Macao” just entered my head), who creatively used the limited space at the Secret Rose Theatre. It is evident he understands the space well; perhaps this is because he owns the theatre. I’m mentioning the director now, because one of the comic scenes in the first act dealt with the director interacting with the playwright, and commenting about how the director never seems to be in the theatre triad of author / actors / audience. When a show is bad, the director gets the blame; but when the show is good… I’ve noted this problem before: how do you separate the director’s contribution from that of the actor. For this play, I think, the answer is clear: there was some very clever staging and performances that were clearly the director bringing out the best in the actors.

In the lead acting positions were Morry Schorr (FB) as David, and Michele Tannen (FB) as his daughter, Judith. Both are very comfortable with their roles and characters; the personas worked well for them. Their performances were pleasant, with only the occasional line pause. That suffices up to near the end. Schorr’s performance in the graveyard scene was outstanding, and Tannen’s response after that scene was equally strong. Thus, just as with the show itself, the two leads had some surprises up their sleeves. (I’ll also note that I was surprised by the number of costume changes Tannen went through!)

The remainder of the ensemble was more of a comic troupe. Although they appeared early on as Judith’s friends, they morphed into a wide variety of characters throughout all the comic scenes. My favorite was Karen Knotts (FB) (daughter of Don), who inherited her father’s gift for comedy. Whether it was as a grieving girlfriend, a theatre moderator, a frigid wife, a deranged blind date, or an 8-year-old lemonade stand operator, Knotts displayed a wonderful versatility, sense of comic timing, and playfulness that just shown through. She was a delight to watch. Duane Taniguchi (FB), was also quite strong, be it as a playwright, a man on a blind date, man buying lemonade, or a spelling bee contestant. Equally strong was Loren Ledesma (FB) in the other female comic roles: the younger grieving girlfriend, the hooker, the woman buying lemonade, or as a deranged spelling bee contestant. Rounding out the comic team was Jerry Weil as, among other things, a director, a cop/father, or the moderator of the spelling bee. These four worked very well together. Alternates were Anthony Marquez (FB) and Lindsay Nesmith (FB), who I don’t believe we saw.

Technically, the production was simple. Chris Winfield (FB)’s set design was simple, yet worked well, to handle all the comic scenes. The sound design by Steve Shaw/FB added the appropriate sound effects. The lighting by Johny Resendiz/FB was relatively naturalistic and unobtrusive. No credits were given for stage management or house management, nor for props or costumes. All seemed to work well, although Knott’s costume in the first few scenes was a bit strange (at least it caught my eye for a reason I couldn’t put a finger on). There was a credit for Kristina Krist for the website design, however.

“I’m Not Just a Comic Genius” continues at the Secret Rose theatre until July 27. Tickets are available through Brown Paper Tickets, and discount tickets are available through Goldstar (and likely other vendors). The show is worth seeing if you are in the mood for a light comedy.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: 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 I’m eyeing a number of productions in Escondido, including “Two Gentlemen of Verona” at the Old Globe, and “Pageant” at the Cygnet in Old Town. What they have at the Welk (“Oklahoma“), Patio Theatre (“Fiddler on the Roof“), and Moonlight Stage (“My Fair Lady“) are all retreads. Things start to get busy again in September and October, with “The Great Gatsby” at REP, “What I Learned in Paris” at the Colony, and “Pippin” at the Pantages. 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.

The Man Behind the Face

Posted onMonday, June 23, 2014Tuesday, June 24, 2014Authorcahwyguy

userpic=pasadena-playhouse Recently, Carla Laemmle died. She was one of the last living links to the first era of motion pictures — the silent movie era. Most of today’s youth can hardly imagine the impact of these short, black and white, soundless (but for a piano accompaniment) images on the screen, but in their day… they defined and created stars. There were romantic and dramatic stars, but some of the best known were the comedians: Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Mabel Norman, Roscoe Arbuckle, and Buster Keaton. Some big stage shows have been made for some — there have been at least two musical version’s of Chaplin’s life story, and Norman’s romance with Mack Sennet was the basis for Mack and Mabel. Others have languished in obscurity. Recently, Sacred Fools Theatre had a well-received production of a play with musical accompaniment about the life of Buster Keaton. This play was written by Vanessa Claire Stewart (FB), as a birthday present for her husband, French Stewart (FB), of 3rd Rock and Mom fame, who has the lead role as Buster Keaton (his idol). For the 2013-2014 season, the Pasadena Playhouse announced a remounting of this show, and it was the only show in their season I found interesting. So guess where I was last night? Yup, we were back at our old haunt, the Pasadena Playhouse, seeing Buster Keaton on screen and stage.

So who is Buster Keaton. Many may remember him from his last role: He played Erroneous in the screen version of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum“. But he is best known for his long string of silent movies with well-timed gags starting in 1917, and he made (on average) at least one movie a year until 1966. But all weren’t successes. He had two unsuccessful marriages and a significant drinking problem that derailed his career in the mid-1930s, and his career limped along until he was rediscovered in the 1950s for the genius that he was. His bio at IMDB makes interesting reading.

“Stoneface” attempts to tell much of Keaton’s life story. It begins with Keaton at his first drug rehab in 1933 when he is with his second wife, Mae. His story is then told in flashbacks: his marriage to Natalie Talmadge (sister of Norma Talmadge), his friendship and professional relationship with Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, his relationship with Joseph Schenck (his producer) and his long line of successful films, the disastrous financial failure of “The General“, the sale of his contract to MGM and his poor relationship with Louis B. Mayer. It also explores his battle with alcoholism, his failure at relationships with his first wife (Natalie) and the loss of his children, and the scandal related to his friend, Roscoe Arbuckle. It shows the period where he had lost his timing and made horrible shorts just to survive. But it also shows his sobering up, his successful relationship with his third (and final) wife, his comeback with Chaplin in 1951’s “Limelight”, and his receiving a special Oscar for his life’s work in comedy. In general, the story worked — although I wish they had mentioned that his final speech actually was at the Oscars, and mentioned his final role in Forum.

The way the production was done was very interesting. There were many scenes that were, essentially, silent movies on stage. There was the occasional projected subtitle, but all the action was silent (often with Keaton’s style of comedy) with piano accompaniment. These scenes were excellent, and Stewart seemed to have quite a bit of fun with them, capturing Keaton’s style quite well. Other scenes were more expositional — conventional scenes in which the story played out. These scenes were a bit more problematic — not because of the writing, but because Stewart seemed a bit off with the occasional line hesitation and restart that impacted his timing. His supporting players, however, were excellent.

This production started at the Sacred Fools Theatre, an under 99-seat venue in Hollywood. At the Playhouse, it was in a 686 seat auditorium. There are those who claim that the production lost something in the transfer to the larger venue. Having not seen it in the smaller venue, I can’t speak to that assessment. I can see, however, how the magic and the performance would have had more oomph in a more intimate venue. I found the production worked at the Playhouse for me; however I think a production like this would be lost at the Ahmanson or Pantages. If it wasn’t for the difficulty in working the scenery, the Colony would be a great venue.

As noted above, French Stewart (FB) had the lead position as Buster Keaton. He captured Keaton’s persona and mannerisms quite well, especially in the silent and physical comedy scenes, but had the occasional line problem in the expositional scenes. Looking at his Facebook, this could be the four-show weekends getting to him; this was near the end of the run. But this does seem to be a character that he really enjoys playing and inhabiting, and it is worth seeing for his performance.

The remaining cast members are strong, but there are some worthy of particular note. Tegan Ashton Cohan (FB), as Natalie Talmadge (as well as part of the ensemble), has an extended sequence with Stewart where she attempts to get him sitting in a chair. The physical comedy in this sequence is spectacular. There is a similar sequence with Daisy Eagan (FB) as Mae Scriven, his second wife. There is also some good physical comedy with Joe Fria (FB) as the young Buster Keaton; Scott Leggett (FB) is great as Roscoe Arbuckle in the opening sequence of Act II. The rest of the actors handle their roles well, and are remarkable in their interactions with the special effects — in particular, the effect of walking behind a screen and suddenly being in the silent movie. Rounding out the cast were Jake Broder (FB) (Joseph Schenck), Rena Strober (FB) (Norma Talmadge / Eleanor Keaton), Pat Towne (FB) (Louis B. Mayer), Conor Duffy (FB) (Edward Sedgwick / George Jessel), and Guy Picot (FB) (Charlie Chaplin).

The production was directed by Jaime Robledo (FB), who was very clever at providing the production a silent-movie feel, including the aforementioned scenes where the actors go behind a screen and are suddenly in the projected image, or longer scenes that are done entirely as silent movies. These were extremely clever and enjoyable. I’ll note the entire production was helped by the great rinky-tinky piano accompaniment of Ryan Johnson (FB).

This is one show where the technical makes the show. The scenic design of Joel Daavid (FB) was spectacular and truly brought the silent film era of the 1920s to life. This resurrection of the period was aided and abeted by the costumes of Jessica Olson (FB) and the wigs of Jessica Mills (FB). As for the lighting, Jeremy Pivnick (FB) did some things I’ve never seen before, including a moving light on a track in the upper fly space that itself had a moving mirror. The sound by the wonderful Cricket S. Myers (FB) was mostly wonderful — in particular the silent movie projector sound during the projections. However, the music behind Keaton and Arbuckle in the bar scenes was just loud enough to be distracting — in fact, I thought it might be coming from the bar outside. As noted before, projections make this show, and much of the credit goes to Ben Rock (FB) and Anthony Backman (FB) and technical director Brad Enlow. Mike Mahaffey (FB) was the fight director. Susie Walsh was the production stage manager; Hethyr “Red” Verhoef was the stage manager, and Kristen Hammack/FB was the company manager.

“Stoneface: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Buster Keaton” continues at the Pasadena Playhouse (FB) through June 29. Tickets are available through the Playhouse box office, and discount tickets are available through Goldstar.

The Pasadena Playhouse is promoting their 2014-2015 season, but I’m not biting. The season consists of a variation of “Kiss Me Kate” transporting to the mileau of black vaudeville of the early 20th century (umm, no); “Stop Kiss” by Diana Son, a holiday Panto of Sleeping Beauty, “Two for the Seesaw” by William Gibson, “Pygmalion” by George Bernard Shaw, and Sheldon’s favorite show, “TBD”, which he does every season. Of these, the only one interesting me is “Two for the Seesaw“, and that’s primarily because it is the closest I’ll ever come to seeing the musical “Seesaw“, which was based on that play.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: We finish off June with “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 I’m eyeing a number of productions in Escondido, including “Two Gentlemen of Verona” at the Old Globe, and “Pageant” at the Cygnet in Old Town. What they have at the Welk (“Oklahoma“), Patio Theatre (“Fiddler on the Roof“), and Moonlight Stage (“My Fair Lady“) are all retreads. Things start to get busy again in September and October, with “The Great Gatsby” at REP, “What I Learned in Paris” at the Colony, and “Pippin” at the Pantages. 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.

Out on a Limb to Help a Friend

Posted onSunday, June 22, 2014Authorcahwyguy

Solopalooza (REP) userpic=repeast Experimental theatre. If you have been reading our theatre adventures, you know this is something that we don’t normally attend. But when a fundraiser was announced for the Repertory East Playhouse (REP) after the recent debacle, I was in—no questions asked. So last night we were back at REP for “Solo-Palooza“, which was a collection of 10-20 minute monologues by theatre students from College of the Canyons that left me astounded at the level of talent and the passion of the students, as well as being pleased that REP was coming out of this stronger, with a greater commitment to do great theatre from both the staff and the community.

Let’s start with the REP aspect first. For those unfamiliar with the story, during the run of REP’s previous show, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a patron got inebriated and started making audible anti-gay slurs during the second act. The actor playing Big Daddy reacted to these jeers not by requesting action from management, but by going into the audience and physically confronting the patron. The patron was ejected, the actor was fired (for creating legal risk for the theatre), another actor quit in support, the remainder of the run was cancelled due to the loss of actors, the issue hit the news and went viral on the Internet with a version of the story tilted towards the actor, and the theatre took a financial and publicity hit. Within a week of the incident, the show showed up with a benefit performance at another venue, with most of the actors, directed by the fellow in the audience who took the story to the media. Supporters of the theatre began speaking up when staff couldn’t, and fundraisers were organized to make up for the loss of ticket income from the production. Such is the love that this theatre engenders in the local community and the community of the people that know the theatre that they want this institution to survive. T-Shirts were sold, and two shows were organized to provide support. One of those shows was this show; the next is a stand-up comedy night next week. Of course, the best way to ensure the survival of the REP is to introduce new audiences to their quality and integrity. When you buy a ticket to their next show, Return to the Forbidden Planet, buy an extra ticket and bring a friend to the theatre.

Next, let’s turn to the show itself. What is Solo-Palooza? Solo-Palooza is a product of the “Theatre 195: Solo Performance” class at the College of the Canyons. In this program, students from the class present original solo performance pieces that have been curated with COC theatre instructor and Solopalooza director Susan Hinshaw (FB) to be both socially provocative and highly entertaining. Over the years, Solo-Palooza has been performed at both COC and at REP; REP has been a strong supporter of the program. The most recent Solo-Palooza before this one was in early June at COC, and featured shows about “broken families, drug addiction, bullies, cheerleaders, being an outsider, being a twin, and an obsessive compulsive”. It was mentioned at the beginning of last night’s show that COC wanted to return the support to REP, and they proposed this special Solo-Palooza performance, with all the proceeds going to REP.

Last night’s performance featured nine selections from longer solo performance pieces. All were great; the weakest one in my eyes was at the 90% level, and the weakness was due less to the performance and more due to the resonance of the subject matter. The performances were at a level very different than I seen in normal scripted shows. I don’t mean this in a bad way: these performances were uniformly excellent and creative, drawing the audience to see multiple characters and multiple personas in a single individual with minimal props. This is why I referred to experimental theatre above — this was true “acting” from the heart and soul. It was remarkable. Let’s look at my remembrances of the individual pieces in the show:

“Copy and Paste” (Ashley Rasch/FB). This was a story about a girl growing up with her identical twin sister. I was astounded with the enthusiasm and energy Rasch brought to the piece — she was flying everywhere and becoming different characters and ages, and was just astounding and funny and delightful to watch.
“On the Outside Looking In” (Tyler Menjivar/FB). This was a story about growing up gay and trying to find your way as an outsider. One of the most interesting portions of the piece had to do with messages that we send–Menjivar related about hearing his parents talk about the fact that it was perfectly fine to be gay…. as long it wasn’t a friend, neighbor, or a family member. I was impressed by the emotion behind this story, and the physicality of the piece (Menjivar was pushed by … himself … on to the floor hard a number of times).
“Nine Dresses” (Renee Poignard/FB). This was ultimately a story about a girls relationship to her mother who passed away too soon, and how that relationship was triggered by memories, odors, and actions. A touching and humorous piece.
“Wrong Channel” (Jordan Haro (FB)). This was the piece that resonated with me the least. It was about a young man who learned his life lessons from television. There was a lot of patter about shows — especially kids cartoons — and the lessons they teach. Many of these were kids shows from the late 1990s that I never watched, and so the connections and in-jokes just missed me. The audience did appreciate, however, his performance of the theme from Speed Racer.
“Fat Bottomed Girl” (Heather Frame (FB)). This was perhaps the piece that resonated the most with us — it was a monologue about a woman and her struggle with weight, with an addition to eating and of using food for comfort and nurture. This is something that my wife has struggled with, and even I’m having trouble with it (I’m finding it hard to lose weight). A really good and well-performed piece from the heart.
“My Girl” (Joe Prata/FB). This was a piece I wasn’t sure I was going to like — it was a (hopefully fictional) talk by a man who murdered his wife with malace aforethought, after murdering her lover, and going on to kill more. At its heart, though, it was a story about a man’s relationship with his daughter, and the aftermath of a bad divorce. Although the presentation only gave one side of the story (part of the problem that was there in the original REP incident), it provided an odd understanding of an evil act. Very well performed.
“Straight Lines, Full Circle” (Clare Tompkins-Cook/FB). Another piece about growing up, this time from the young lady who was serving as the host for the evening’s performances. It was about a girl’s hatred of pain and blood, and how the pain of her life and fighting at home led her to cutting — experiencing pain to awakeness from the numbness that life had brought to her. Tompkins-Cook portrayed a number of characters and emotions, and was just fascinating to watch.
“Silence is Loud” (Kelsey Kosskove/FB). This was a story about a young woman dealing with the draw of silence on her life. Kosskove had a dancer’s body and dancer’s moves, and these highlighted this interesting piece. This was the piece that connected with my wife the least, for whatever reason.
“Three Men” (Judge Boothby/FB). Boothby protrayed three angry men: a janitor talking to a student, a son talking to his father, and a third one I can’t remember. What I found interesting here — even more than the strong performances themselves — was the reaction to them from the other actors on the side of the stage. I also loved how Boothby just inhabited and transformed into each difference character. It was remarkable to see.

The production was produced by Clare Tompkins-Cook/FB and Erin Cholakian/FB, with REP regular Taylor Kozlowski/FB serving as house manager, lighting, and sound tech. David Stears/FB was the event coordinator.

There was only one performance of this piece. You shoulda been there supporting the REP. You’ll just have to come to their next show.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: Tonight sees us back at our old haunt, the Pasadena Playhouse (FB), for “Stoneface: The Rise and Fall of Buster Keaton”. We finish off June with “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 I’m eyeing a number of productions in Escondido, including “Two Gentlemen of Verona” at the Old Globe, and “Pageant” at the Cygnet in Old Town. What they have at the Welk (“Oklahoma“), Patio Theatre (“Fiddler on the Roof“), and Moonlight Stage (“My Fair Lady“) are all retreads. Things start to get busy again in September and October, with “The Great Gatsby” at REP, “What I Learned in Paris” at the Colony, and “Pippin” at the Pantages. 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.

A Night to Remember

Posted onTuesday, June 17, 2014Sunday, December 28, 2014Authorcahwyguy1 Comment

Theodore Bikel's 90th userpic=folk-guitar If you haven’t figured it out by now, I like Tom Paxton and Peter, Paul, and Mary. I’ve loved folk music all my life. So when Tom Paxton (or his proxy) posted on Facebook that Tom was participating in a special celebration of Theodore Bikel‘s 90th birthday at a theatre in Beverly Hills, I was intrigued. When I later learned that the program would include Peter Yarrow and Arlo Guthrie would be on the bill… and that tickets were on Goldstar… I was sold (even though it was a Monday night). So last night, after a long weekend, saw us in Beverly Hills for a even longer night — celebrating the legacy of 90 years of Theodore Bikel.

Now, if you are not familiar with Theodore Bikel… read his biography! Bikel has been a movie, TV, and a theatre actor for years. He was Tevye in Fiddler, the Captain in the original stage Sound of Music, and has had many more roles. He’s also been at the forefront of the battle to save Jews in the Soviet Union, fighting for the poor and oppressed, …. including many actors while he’s helmed the Actors Fund and Actors Equity. This is a man beloved by all. Most people — including me — have a number of his Jewish and Yiddish folk music records.

The show itself was spectacular. The master of ceremonies was Ed Asner, who was more crotchety than usual. The musical acts were varied: each group performed 2-3 songs. The acts included:

Cantor Mike Stein and the Rolling Steins, who performed an odd yodeling number.
Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, a Grammy award winning folk music duo who I know from Woodsongs.
Frank London and Lorin Sklamberg from the Klezmatics
Artie Butler, a famous composer I’ve never heard of.
Craig Taubman, a modern Jewish music composer.
The aforementioned Tom Paxton, Peter Yarrow, and Arlo Guthrie
Alberto Mizrahi and John Bilezikjian, a famous hazzan from Chicago and his accompanist on a bazouki or perhaps an Oud.
Merima Ključo, a concert accordianist.
The LIFE Choir, a gospel choir

Combine this with an audience featuring notable actors and actors organization executives, and you could just feel the power in the room.

I didn’t try to write a set list, but here is some of what I remember:

Tom Paxton did “How Beautiful Upon the Mountain” and “Thank You for the Honor of Your Company”, two very appropriate songs.
Peter Yarrow seemed a bit out of it except when he was singing. He did “Puff the Magic Dragon”, and this inspired everyone on stage to pick up their instruments and join him. A real neat jam session. He also did “Light One Candle”.
Arlo Guthrie did two compositions from his father, including (if I recall correctly), “This Land is Your Land”.
Mizrahi and Bikel did an absolutely stunning duo. The two of them can sing.
Bikel also did a spectacular duo with the accordionist.

The evening concluded with everyone joining in “We Shall Overcome”. It was truly a memorable evening — well worth staying up for.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: This coming weekend brings Solopalooza, a fund raiser for REP East on Saturday night, followed by “Stoneface: The Rise and Fall of Buster Keaton” at the Pasadena Playhouse (FB) on Sunday. The last weekend in June brings “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 I’m eyeing a number of productions in Escondido, including “Two Gentlemen of Verona” at the Old Globe, and “Pageant” at the Cygnet in Old Town. What they have at the Welk (“Oklahoma“), Patio Theatre (“Fiddler on the Roof“), and Moonlight Stage (“My Fair Lady“) are all retreads. Things start to get busy again in September and October, with “The Great Gatsby” at REP, “What I Learned in Paris” at the Colony, and “Pippin” at the Pantages. 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.

A Simple But Timeless Story

Posted onSunday, June 8, 2014Friday, April 10, 2015Authorcahwyguy

userpic=theatre_tickets If you’re old, like me, you remember the days when music from the theatre moved onto the pop charts. One song that was very popular in the 1960s was “Try to Remember”. You might recall the song: “Try to remember the kind of September / When life was slow and oh, so mellow. / Try to remember the kind of September / When grass was green and grain was yellow. / Try to remember the kind of September / When you were a tender and callow fellow. / Try to remember, and if you remember, / Then follow…”

Many years later, I learned that this song was from one of the longest running off-Broadway musicals, “The Fantastiks“, with book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt. It opened shortly after I was born in 1960, ran for 42 years, closed in 2002, was revived off-Broadway in 2006, and is currently on Broadway. Sheeese! It’s as old as I am! I first saw the show in Los Angeles in 2012 at Theatre West, and fell in love with its simplicity and its message. There is a reason this show lasts. This year, while perusing the schedule for the Hollywood Fringe Festival, I discovered that Good People Theatre Co, who had done such a great job last year on “A Man of No Importance“, was doing “The Fantastiks“. Naturally, I figured out how to squeeze it into my schedule — which is why I was in Hollywood this afternoon. [I’ll note that the Marketing person, Kimberly Fox, did provide me with a press kit, for which I’m honored and surprise, as I’m not really a press person]

I took a look at my 2012 synopsis of the show, and I liked what I wrote. Here it is again (the show didn’t change 🙂 ). It started by noting the show is framed by the aforementioned “Time to Remember”.

Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh, so mellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain was yellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When you were a tender and callow fellow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow.

Try to remember when life was so tender
That no one wept except the willow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That dreams were kept beside your pillow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That love was an ember about to billow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow.

These two verses set you up for the story, which is a timeless story of love supposedly being told by a traveling group of actors. The story concerns two families: Bellomy and his 16 year old daughter Luisa, and Hucklebee and his 20 year old son, Matt. The fathers would like their children to fall in love and marry, but children never do what their parents tell them to do. So they concoct a feud between the families, and build a wall between their houses to drive the children together. To seal the deal, they hire a gallant young actor, El Gallo, to abduct the daughter (in the original version, this was referred to in the traditional sense as “rape”, but that word is no longer P/C) and permit the son to rescue her. This he does in the light of the moon, with the help of two actors, Henry and Mortimer. By the end of Act I, the lovers are together, and the fathers are happy. A perfect picture.

But what seems perfect in the moonlight often looks different in the bright sun. Act II brings the sun. El Gallo presents his bill, and the children learn of the deception. They decide they no longer are in love, and each goes their separate ways. Matt goes out into the world, where he learns the realities. Luisa has a fantasy romance with El Gallo, where they preview a series of romantic adventures through a mask of unreality, while in the background Matt is being abused and beaten by Henry and Mortimer portraying a series of unpleasant employers. Meanwhile, the parents bemoan that children are unlike gardens: with gardens, you “plant a radish, get a radish”, but with children, you never know what you are going to get. Matt eventually returns, and falls back in love with Luisa, this time for real.

Deep in December, it’s nice to remember,
Although you know the snow will follow.
Deep in December, it’s nice to remember,
Without a hurt the heart is hollow.
Deep in December, it’s nice to remember,
The fire of September that made us mellow.
Deep in December, our hearts should remember
And follow.

The last verse of “Try to Remember” makes the point of the story: “without a hurt, the heart is hollow”. The pure love of children is unrealistic and does not last. It is our experiences and hurts that deepen the love and affection. It is perhaps this point the clarifies why The Fantasticks is such a timeless musical.

The traditional staging ofThe Fantasticks is very simple. Actors trunks from which all props emerge. Simple stages. A mute who oversees everything and comments on the proceedings with her eyes and movements, nothing more. A piano and drum for music. It is an easy show for a theatre to stage — its success depends on the believability of the performances.

OK, back to present day.

This is truly a fringe show. A platform, some boxes of props, paper, and simple curtains. You can move it in and out in 15 minutes (which is good, because that’s about what the Fringe folks give you). Small cast. Simple music. To do more to the story would destroy it; perhaps that’s why the film was so problematic.

As I said, the story didn’t change. So how did Good People bring its spin to the show? First, director Janet Miller (FB) started with the view of the show as the original fringe musical… of 1959. She brought back the original instrumentation: one keyboard under the musical direction of Corey Hirsch (FB), and one harpist (Jillian Risigari-Gai (FB)). For the most part, it worked. Certainly, the stretches that were only keyboard, or only harp, worked well. When both were playing, the result was more mixed (especially when the harp overpowered the keyboard). Sometimes it was beautiful keyboard with harp supporting, relaxing and melodic. Other times the notes seemed to clash. Overall, though I think it was a good experiment and might be improved by a little more balance between the two. I’ll also note, music-wise, that Ms. Miller did not present the 1959 musical: the word “rape” was mostly elided in deference to the more PC “ravishment” or “rage”. I guess, although this is the fringe, we can’t be too much on the edge :-). [Edited to Add (ETA): The director noted in a Facebook comment, “As an FYI, we would have liked nothing better than to use the Rape Song (as it is often referred to) but they do not license it anymore, and Musical Theatre International will send a Cease & Desist Notice if you try to sneak it in. So although we wanted to, we thought better of it “]

Performance-wise, this was wonderful. Let’s start with their El Gallo, a role that was originally played by Jerry Orbach. Alas, they can’t dig up and clone Orbach. One problem with the Theatre West production was that their Gallo, Lukas Bailey (FB), had the acting down but was weak on the singing. Good People’s Gallo, Christopher Karbo (FB), was spot on. He had the handsome good looks, he had the manner and the swagger, he had the playfulness, and most importantly, he had a lovely voice. He was a very strong Gallo, and a joy to watch when he was narrating, singing, and fighting.

As Luisa, Audrey Curd (FB) was wonderfully expressive. Her face and her movements perfectly captured the emotions of a 16-year-old, and were a delightful. Her singing, for the most part, was also quite good (there were one or two slightly-off notes, but not enough to hinder my enjoyment of her work). I particularly enjoyed her during the “Round and Round” number, her expressions in “This Plum is Too Ripe”, and her joy and enthusiasm in “Much More”. Matt, portrayed by Matt Franta (FB), was just a little weaker. He captured the 20-year old boy well, and again had strong facial expressions. At the show I was at, he had a few more off-notes on the songs — nothing wince-worthy, mind you, but just slightly off to my ear. Overall, though, the performance worked well.

My favorite characters in this piece are the fathers. Perhaps this is because they get my favorite songs, and perhaps because I’m a father myself. They’ve got some of the best comic relief and characters, and their observations on children are spot on. The two performers lucky to fill these shoes were Matt Stevens (FB) as Hucklebee and Michael P. Wallot (FB) as Bellomy. Both were in “Man of No Importance“, and both were great. Not surprisingly, I loved them in “Never Say No” and “Plant a Radish”, but they were also exceptional in “This Plum is Too Ripe”. They just seemed to enjoy each other’s company; you could see them as realistic neighbors.

Rounding out the cast were Joey D’Auria (FB) as Henry, the Old Actor; Corky Loupé (FB) as Mortimer, the man who dies; and Alix Rikki Ogawa (FB) as the Mute. When we saw the Theatre West production, the mute was played by Lee Meriwether, who gave a much older, more stern and traditional mute-ish portrayal. Ogawa’s mute was delightful. Young, playful, silent, there when you need her, and providing a humorous expression that just provided commentary without words. D’Autia captured the old actor well, perhaps because of his experience (although not in this program, the Ionescopade program noted he is a former Bozo the clown from Chicago). As for Loupe, well, he died well :-).

Turning to the technical: The set for this production, as noted above, is simple. Some boxes, a raised platform, some poles, a bench, a chair. The rest is all created. Robert Schroeder (FB) handled the task well. Lighting was handled by Katherine Barrett (FB), who also took care of stage management. There were more problems here (that is, with the lighting, not the stage management) — most of which I attribute to the Fringe, the nature of quick move out, and the sharing of theatres. In particular, at some points characters were in shade and difficult to see. Kathy Gillespie (FB) did the costumes, and these worked quite well — especially during the opening scene where they suddenly appear dressed. Rounding out the credits, Michael P. Wallot did the casting, the aforementioned Kimberly Fox did marketing, Rebecca Schroeder (FB) was the assistant stage manager, Oliver Lan did the graphic design, Kevin Gardner did the program design, and Zach Payne did social media. “The Fantastiks” was produced by Good People Theatre (FB).

“The Fantastiks” runs through June 29; performances are at the Lillian Theatre, 1 block W of Vine on Santa Monica. You can purchase tickets from the Fringe Web Site.

All this week, I have been writing and obsessing about the situation with Repertory East Playhouse. You can find the background on the story and information from those who were there in this post. I encourage you to read it and draw your own opinions. I’ve been a subscriber at REP for many years, and have seen many shows there. In this time of unjustified Internet outrage, the REP needs your support to survive. Donations are always encouraged, and the REP has a one-week booster campaign going to make up for funds lost due to the unexpected cancelling of Cat. Additionally, encourage those complaining about the REP to actually come and visit the theatre for a future show, and see what this theatre really is. The remainder of the REP season is: “Return to the Forbidden Planet (A Jukebox Musical retelling of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”)” (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). Tickets are available through the REP online box office. Most importantly — and the reason I’m mentioning it in this post — REP will be hosting a town hall style meeting to discuss issues of discrimination in the LGBTQ community on ~~Sunday June 22 at 6pm at the REP~~ (Pending Reschedule). There will be a panel discussion, a moderator and audience feedback and questions for local community leaders, REP alum etc. They will be discussing the role’s that bullying take and the way that as a community we can best respond. It must be clear: the REP does not stand for bullying in any way, shape, or form — and that includes bullying of members of the LGBTQ community (which is why this whole kerfluffle is odd — had management been informed, they would have had the heckler out of the auditorium and on his way in a Brooklyn Minute. They don’t put up with that nonsense.) #IStandWithTheRep.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: We lose next weekend to a Bat Mitzvah — but I’m still squeezing in a concert at the Saban Theatre on Monday, June 16: “To Theo, L’Chaim to Life!” with Tom Paxton, Peter Yarrow, Arlo Guthrie, and more. 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 I’m eyeing a number of productions in Escondido, including “Two Gentlemen of Verona” at the Old Globe, and “Pageant” at the Cygnet in Old Town. What they have at the Welk (“Oklahoma“), Patio Theatre (“Fiddler on the Roof“), and Moonlight Stage (“My Fair Lady“) are all retreads. Things start to get busy again in September and October, with “The Great Gatsby” at REP, “What I Learned in Paris” at the Colony, and “Pippin” at the Pantages. 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.